June 8th, 2017 | R. Barzilai
June 7th, 2017 | R. Rados
The situation between Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE has been on edge for a while, but things recently went sideways coincidentally following Donald Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia and following the latest arms deal approved between the US and Saudis. Qatar has been doing small things that go against the US-Saudi strategy in the Middle-East for years, but it all seems to have suddenly reached an inevitable point of no return. The media has been quick to blame Trump and Russia for what's happening, but in leaked emails Hillary Clinton said, “We need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia.” This suggests that some of what we're seeing now would have probably happened under a Clinton administration as well.
June 1st, 2017 | C. Wang
When the NDP is strong, it tends to bleed support away from the Liberals. Ever since Jack Layton became NDP leader over a decade ago, the party has been progressively moving in a New Left direction. This was interrupted by Tom Mulcair’s centrist campaign in 2015. Because Mulcair moved to the centre (and appealed to the Old Left), Trudeau was able to hijack the New Left and consequently win a majority in his first attempt. The Liberals and the NDP need to mirror one another in order to cannibalize progressive votes. When the political dynamic consists of Conservatives with a clear centre-right proposition on one side and Liberals & NDP eating each others lunch on the other...Conservatives win. It’s only a left-wing vote split that allows Conservatives to run up the middle and win.
June 1st, 2017 | S.P.
What if I told you that the open borders policies of Merkel and Macron and the European Union were deeply rooted in white supremacy rather than compassion and equity? It is easy to suggest a vast, left-wing conspiracy of sorts encompassing the globe and pursuing a pro-Islamist agenda, but a more reasoned look into human nature may give us a more accurate answer. The latter assumes the more obvious observation that we humans are not intellectually capable of achieving such a grandiose, well-calculated conspiracy. Therefore, looking at our nature as primitive beasts that emerged from a swamp of evolutionary biology gives us a more accurate assessment.
June 1st, 2017 | R. Rados
Social conservatives are an important segment of the Conservative Party, despite being demonized by members of their own party. They undoubtedly played a role in the leadership race, and they had every right to. Without them, the Conservative Party would never win. Aside from some of their contentious positions on marriage and abortion, social conservative values are an integral part of conservatism. If you believe children should abstain from sex and alcohol consumption, you hold social conservative values. If you believe that child rapists and murderers should face tougher punishments, congrats, you have socially conservative values.
June 1st, 2017 | J. Hodgson
The United Conservative Party is coming soon to a provincial election near you. I love the name and I love the party. It’s about time this endeavour is bearing tangible fruit. Jason Kenney is the obvious front-runner and Brian Jean is the prime contender. However, many people have been wondering about Derek Fildebrandt and his intentions. We decided to ask him. Surprisingly, this is our first talk with Mr. Fildebrandt and he was happy to oblige us with an interview. Here’s a transcript of our conversation.
June 1st, 2017 | M. Menuck
The modern day peasants revolt that has been subsuming Western politics in recent years has many causes, both economic and social. One unifying thread that can be found going through them, however, is a sense among a large section of the electorate that their concerns and desires no longer seem to count for much with the political class. For quite some time their governments seem to no longer be concerned with representing the people, or even with persuading them of the virtues of their agendas, but instead have acted as if the voters are simply some obstacle to be bypassed lest they slow down the inevitable march of progress.
June 1st, 2017 | R. Rados
In 2016, Canada spent an estimated $230 Billion on healthcare. That's 11% of the country's GDP. With a population of around 35 million, Canadians have had to saddle themselves with quite the tax burden. When GST, capital gains taxes, carbon taxes, other consumer taxes and income taxes are all combined, Canadians pay more than 50% of what they earn to the government. To compare, the United States spends approximately $600 Billion on its military. The US population exceeds 300 million and their overall tax burden is roughly the same as Canada's, with over 50% of people's earnings going to government to fund various entitlements above and beyond the military. Mathematically, based on population size and taxing capacity, Canadians spend an astronomical amount on their public healthcare system.
June 10th, 2017 | R. Rados
People have the right to be angry about the Paris Agreement and the Conservative Party's symbolic support for it, but being a strategic thinker and having Machiavellian thoughts running through my head at all hours of the day, I can understand the strategy and the long term reasoning behind it. Right-wing pundits don't think much about winning because that's not their job. A politician's job is to win and to plot out a strategic course to victory. That's what Andrew Scheer was doing and we should trust his judgment. To start, Canada is in the Paris Agreement whether any of us like it or not. That has no chance of changing until 2019. Canada will also have a national carbon tax whether any of us like it or not. The motion to reiterate Canada's acceptance of climate change and the Paris Agreement was nothing more than a symbolic gesture—or another Liberal trap like M-103, which aimed to drive a wedge between Conservatives and to paint them as bigots for rejecting it.
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