tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754Fri, 01 Jun 2012 01:05:31 +0000http://blog.jameslaxer.com/noreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)Blogger344125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-2074860037607544118Thu, 10 May 2012 14:27:00 +00002012-05-11T17:14:37.075-04:00Since 1984, when Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives won a large majority of federal ridings in Quebec, the federal Liberal Party has failed to win a majority of seats in Quebec in any subsequent election, although they came close in 2000. Contrast the last three decades with the era from 1896 to 1984. In 1896, Liberal leader Wilfrid Laurier led his party to victory in a large majority http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2012/05/liberals-from-natural-governing-party.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-4807310285510735659Thu, 10 May 2012 14:16:00 +00002012-05-11T17:23:40.935-04:00On election night in January 2006, Jack Layton declared that Canadians had “voted out of hope for change” and expressed the conviction that the NDP caucus, 29 MPs as compared with 19 in 2004, would help place working people and seniors “at the front of the line” where they belong. Layton was proved stunningly, embarrassingly wrong, however. The Harper minority government turned out to be more http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2012/05/ndp-road-travelled-from-2006-to-2012.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-2649094414215275223Thu, 10 May 2012 14:07:00 +00002012-05-11T17:39:01.729-04:00Brian Mulroney’s success in leading the Progressive Conservative Party to a second majority victory in the general election of 1988 was the last hurrah of the old Conservative Party, the party whose lineage extended back to the great days of the Liberal Conservatives of the 19th century, under the leadership of Sir John A. Macdonald. It is ironic that the party’s final electoral victory was in http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2012/05/remaking-of-canadian-conservatism-1988.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-1173623609140862234Thu, 22 Mar 2012 11:09:00 +00002012-03-22T07:12:24.516-04:00First, with all due respect to party elders, the NDP has been movingto the centre for decades, most rapidly over the last six or sevenyears. The idea that we must come together to protect threatened NDPvalues from Tom Mulcair is a bit rich. I've looked at the platformsof all of the candidates, and while I will concede that there aredifferences, all candidates share what I would call a http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2012/03/tom-mulcair-for-sure.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-594325285165890422Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:14:00 +00002012-02-20T11:15:24.936-05:00Bankers, financiers, capital markets lawyers, investors and economists---people supposedly in the know---routinely make the argument that the United States is more resilient, flexible and adaptable than any other major country in the world. America is down they say, but not out. The Americans, according to this line of thinking, will bounce back to reclaim their global economic dominance. As http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2012/02/myth-of-american-resilience.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-1551427145509720325Tue, 07 Feb 2012 10:37:00 +00002012-02-07T05:39:33.580-05:00As we close in on one year of Stephen Harper’s majority, it is evident that this is a very special government. YOU are just not on its list of priorities. It’s not that this government does not have causes to which it is deeply committed: low taxes for business and the wealthy; the petroleum industry; military might; and prisons. If these are the government’s positives, its negatives follow http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2012/02/stephen-harpers-majority-government-not.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-6475314741701645129Wed, 07 Dec 2011 14:02:00 +00002011-12-07T09:03:16.819-05:00Stephen Harper and Barack Obama are announcing A Canada-U.S. border deal at the White House today.It is being presented to Canadians as an agreement that will yield greater access to the American market for Canadian exporters in return for the harmonization of Canadian security arrangements with those of the U.S. The idea is that we will benefit economically while satisfying the Americans that http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/12/harper-governments-bogus-case-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-2649283810105645616Sun, 25 Sep 2011 18:25:00 +00002011-09-25T14:28:55.772-04:00The Harper government has been negotiating a comprehensive border deal with the United States. It is being presented to Canadians as an agreement that will yield greater access to the American market for Canadian exporters in return for the harmonization of Canadian security arrangements with those of the U.S. The idea is that we will benefit economically while satisfying the Americans that we http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/09/harper-governments-bogus-case-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-7317456281029604534Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:35:00 +00002011-09-20T09:37:08.778-04:00On September 20, 1811, Tecumseh rode into Tuckhabatchee, in present day Alabama, the capital of the Muscogee people. Twenty warriors, members the Shawnee, Kickapoo and Winnebago nations, rode with him. The last months of a tense peace between the United States and the native peoples led by Tecumseh were quickly passing. And the U.S. and Britain were well down the path to war.Thousands of http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/09/two-centuries-ago-tecumsehs-freedom.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-8362601027475552324Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:54:00 +00002011-09-03T10:55:30.322-04:00 The Harper government’s Big Idea for the future of the Canadian economy is that Canada should become an “energy superpower”. What will make it so is the gargantuan development of the Alberta tar sands, which the Harperites and their friends depict as “ethical oil.” In truth, the development of the tar sands is reducing northern Alberta to a stinking hell. Long after this dystopian nightmare http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/09/why-tar-sands-are-destructive-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-5500347777231922165Mon, 29 Aug 2011 21:04:00 +00002011-08-29T17:05:47.455-04:00 We are in the grip of a socio-economic crisis in which the rich and the powerful in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Euro Zone countries and Canada refuse to share the burden of coping with the economic disaster they did so much to unleash. A few among them---Warren Buffet and Liliane Bettencourt----get it. The rich can overplay their hand and can end up spoiling the whole party forhttp://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/08/when-rich-and-powerful-overplay-their.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-1385451328731733782Mon, 22 Aug 2011 14:58:00 +00002011-08-22T11:00:08.879-04:00 To lose Jack Layton at the height of his capacity as a person and as a political leader, is especially sad. When Jack walked into my graduate course at York University in the early 1970s, it didn’t take me long to see that this was someone very special. The energy and the luminous intelligence were on full display, as well as his respect for others, and the joy he took in meeting people. http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/08/well-miss-you-jack.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-62385541832688391Sun, 07 Aug 2011 19:24:00 +00002011-08-07T15:25:34.758-04:00I launched myself onto Twitter yesterday, but only halfway. After signing up, I tweated a few times into the great vault of cyber-space. I even established a new rating agency along the lines of Standard and Poor’s, to be called the James Laxer Rating Agency. It will specialize in rating empires. In its first rating, the Agency downgraded the American Empire from a double D+ to a triple E.Buthttp://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/08/half-way-onto-twitter.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-5681565726548836764Wed, 03 Aug 2011 01:05:00 +00002011-08-02T21:07:16.540-04:00The Conservatives pride themselves on their ability to throw opposition leaders under the bus. And they’re at it now with NDP interim leader Nycole Turmel. She is a self-proclaimed federalist and always has been. She was a member of the BQ and of Quebec Solidaire and the Conservatives are trying to use this to prove that she and the NDP have serious questions to answer about their commitment http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/08/we-dont-need-lecture-from-alberta.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-4704326160206043Mon, 04 Jul 2011 21:55:00 +00002011-07-04T17:58:38.410-04:00Rob Ford has nothing to fear. Pride 2011 is history. He can slink back to his office at City Hall.I can report to the Mayor that nothing untoward happened at the great Pride Parade. A million plus people packed the streets on a brilliant day to celebrate humanity, and diversity. So much more than tolerance---it was a celebration, a proclamation of love and respect.I spent most the time http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/07/rob-ford-its-safe-to-come-back-to.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-5591020839162110855Thu, 23 Jun 2011 19:51:00 +00002011-06-23T15:52:55.392-04:00In my last post, rumours of Socialism’s death were greatly exaggerated.At age 215, Socialism had its neck on the chopping block at the recent NDP convention in Vancouver when a last minute reprieve spared it.The fate of Socialism was referred to the NDP executive where its future will be deliberated and a recommendation will be made to a future convention at an unspecified date. The mere thoughthttp://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/06/ndp-reprieve-socialism-lives-to-fight.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-6472491455371052796Sat, 18 Jun 2011 22:41:00 +00002011-06-18T18:43:28.975-04:00The NDP leadership has announced that Socialism, aged 215, is dead. “Nobody uses the word ‘democratic socialism’ in contemporary terms. It is very rare,” an unnamed senior party official told the press on the eve of the NDP convention in Vancouver. The convention was expected to remove the word “socialist” from the preamble to the party constitution. When unnamed NDP officials speak they get http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/06/bulletin-from-ndp-socialism-1796-2011.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-8772390618812622019Sat, 07 May 2011 12:18:00 +00002011-05-07T08:19:57.884-04:00As in the piece I posted on the historic demise of the Liberals, this piece deals, not with the recent election, but with the transformation of Canadian conservatism and the rise of the Conservative Party of Canada.Brian Mulroney’s success in leading the Progressive Conservative Party to a second majority victory in the general election of 1988 was the last hurrah of the old Conservative Party, http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/05/who-is-stephen-harper-and-where-did-his.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-6329534399136798808Fri, 06 May 2011 17:26:00 +00002011-05-06T13:27:37.038-04:00There is much to be said about the utter failure of Michael Ignatieff’s Liberal Party during the recent election campaign. Here I’m going to look at the demise of the “Natural Governing Party” from a historical perspective.Since 1984, when Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservatives won a large majority of federal ridings in Quebec, the federal Liberal Party has failed to win a majority of seats http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/05/liberals-from-natural-governing-party.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-5276407466140062146Thu, 05 May 2011 19:06:00 +00002011-05-05T15:09:39.265-04:00Sheriff Stephen can’t skate, but he does know how to cull a herd.After his big win, the Sheriff sat on a fence post and mused about the future and the past.“Our people have been waiting for this for a very long time,” he offered. “And I, for one, am not going to disappoint them. Oh, by the way, I got a call from Fredrich Hayek to congratulate me last night.”I though Hayek was dead, I interjectedhttp://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/05/time-for-sheriff-stephen-to-cull-herd.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-5520294366284700864Mon, 25 Apr 2011 20:15:00 +00002011-04-25T16:16:58.392-04:00(Read it here first. This is an exact copy of the Globe editorial. Only the words have been made up.)Last week on these pages, we expressed our preference for Michael Ignatieff over Jack Layton. We found Mr. Layton to be living in a past when income gaps between the rich and the rest of the population were narrower than today, and social programs were stronger than now. Mr. Layton’s Canada is http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/04/advance-copy-of-globe-and-mail.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-1878845158963137982Sat, 23 Apr 2011 20:32:00 +00002011-04-23T16:35:33.126-04:00Now we’ve seen everything---Stephen Harper, who only a few years ago counseled Albertans to build “firewalls” around their province to protect it from Canada, has proclaimed himself the indispensable champion of national unity. Without him at the helm of a majority government, this one-time quasi-Alberta separatist would have us believe there will be no one to protect the country from a new http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/04/stephen-harper-now-hes-champion-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-7981477595359029665Fri, 22 Apr 2011 18:39:00 +00002011-04-22T14:41:32.250-04:00As the Prime Minister of a long-established, if complacent, democracy, Stephen Harper is supposed to say that for him the will of the people is paramount. He is supposed to declare that whatever House of Commons Canadians establish through their votes, he will accept it and work with it. He is supposed to say that he is the servant of the people.Remarkably, Harper says none of these things. Hehttp://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/04/stephen-harper-sans-moi-le-deluge.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-7915126240657587734Wed, 20 Apr 2011 15:11:00 +00002011-04-20T11:14:37.322-04:00(Let’s raise the tone of the debate. This is about values, and principles, not which level of government has jurisdiction. Vote for what you believe in.)1. If you believe that the wealthy are the bastion of liberty in a world threatened by the torpor of equality and that the example of the poor is needed to prod the young on to enterprise, success and innovation.2. If you believe that Stockwellhttp://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/04/ten-compelling-reasons-to-vote-for.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30617754.post-6999078597727801168Fri, 15 Apr 2011 09:40:00 +00002011-04-15T05:43:50.304-04:00There is a yawning gap between the platform Stephen Harper is presenting to the Canadian people and what Canadians tell pollsters are their major concerns. The dangerous disconnect between what the people want and the plans of those who control the state is all too clear in our fraying democracy.Canadians list health care and jobs as their top priorities. Harper’s leading issues are: corporate http://blog.jameslaxer.com/2011/04/great-disconnect-stephen-harpers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (James Laxer)6