This week @ rabble.ca: Is Harpers goose finally cooked?

Details: Published on Tuesday, 25 August 2015 11:15; Written by editor

20 Aug 2015

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Things continued to heat up this week in the Duffy trial as Stephen Harper's PMO was put under the microscope. rabble.ca parliamentary reporter Karl Nerenberg was there and brought us his analysis from the proceedings -- see his reports here. What does this all mean for Stephen Harper and his Conservatives? Is Harper's goose finally cooked? Read what bloggers Gerry Caplan and David Climenhaga have to say about the Conservatives' fortunes after another week on trial. Want to have your say? Join the election conversation with babble, our online discussion forum!

The need to balance the needs of the economy with those of the environment, first raised by Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau and NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair during last week's Maclean's leaders' debate has become an election issue. This means that culture has become an election issue too. Find out why in Heather Menzies' commentary here.

On August 27 help pump up the annual Feminist Art Conference in Toronto with drinks, food and performances including LAL. Join us at the Younger than Beyonce Gallery 563 Dundas Street East, Suite 201 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Tickets $15.

This week's top news

BC Hydro targets eagles' homes in Peace River Valley with Site C prep
The proposed building of the Site C dam would flood 5,550 hectares and destroy agricultural land and wildlife habitats. On top of that, BC Hydro is now going to cut down trees, destroying eagle nests.
By Rita Wong

Commit to rabble.ca. Commit to changing Canada. #WIN2015
Our contributors are building something priceless. Here are Trish Hennessy and Jase Tanner talking about why they commit to rabble.ca, and why you should get involved in #WIN2015.
By rabble staff

Harper government spent millions on overseas tar sands advocacy
A Greenpeace Freedom of Information request reveals the Harper government has spent millions of taxpayers' dollars pushing the tar sands agenda internationally.
By Megan Devlin

Call to action: Boycott and divest from G4S!
Support BDS Vancouver - Coast Salish Territories in its campaign to boycott British security company G4S. Find out how you can get involved here.
By BDS Vancouver - Coast Salish Territories

Controversy swirls over Amnesty International's statement on buying and selling of sex
Sex worker advocates are thrilled, but critics claim the resolution condones those who buy women for sex.
By Megan Devlin

PSAC stands up for public servants, angers Sun editorialists
PSAC has launched one of the highest-profile election campaigns against Harper because the 170,000 government workers they represent have a lot at stake. However, the Sun doesn't see it that way.
By Nora Loreto

This week's top blogs

The duderific Maclean's debate: A male political and media culture upheld
What does one white male moderator, three white male "experts" and three white male party leaders get you? The Maclean's debate.
By Cyndi Mayhew

Quality child care shouldn't be just a matter of luck
The second blog in the series and based on a presentation delivered as the annual Margaret Laurence Lecture at Trent University in March 2015.
By Martha Friendly

Is men and masculinity studies really radical?
Men and masculinity studies is old hat, so why is The New York Times pretending it's new?
By Laura Brightwell

Is there enough Orange Wave left in Wild Rose Country to propel more Alberta New Democrats to Ottawa?
If and when this starts to look less like a threesome and more like a two-way race, that's when sitzkrieg will turn to blitzkrieg.
By David J. Climenhaga

Nova Scotia's 'new approach' to labour: Gut collective agreements
More than 300 collective agreements are up for re-negotiation this year in Nova Scotia. Finance Minister Randy Delorey leaves little to the imagination about what the government hopes to accomplish.
By Stephen Kimber

The Globe and Mail suggests 'hacking' Vancouver housing crisis by living in your car
Nice one, Globe editors.
By Michael Stewart

Join our call for a national housing strategy
Two street nurses write an appeal to the nation to help them put housing on the agenda in this federal election.
By Cathy Crowe

This week's top columns

A rallying cry for Black liberation: The legacy of Julian Bond
Civil rights pioneer Julian Bond died this week at the age of 75. Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan reflect on his contributions to racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.
By Amy Goodman, Denis Moynihan

A miscreant's guide to horizontal video
Horizontal frames can tell great stories. Despite dramatic shifts in technology from passion plays to True Detective, tales told in motion have stayed with the horizontal format.
By Wayne MacPhail

Quality public child care: An economic no-brainer
The economic arguments in favour of public, accessible child care are powerful. Here is a commentary summarizing the many benefits of a universal public child-care program.
By Jim Stanford

Trudeau Liberals hunt for centre-right voters
The Liberal strategy under Justin Trudeau appears to be the same one pursued in the Ignatieff era: wait for the Conservatives to collapse, and then scoop up the centre-right vote.
By Duncan Cameron

Harper's recycled anti-terror rhetoric is getting tired
Stephen Harper's national security advisers are not doing a very good job. They seem to be whispering about new anti-terror measures -- but these are really nothing more than re-packaged old actions.
By Monia Mazigh

MORE FROM...
Naomi Klein, Linda McQuaig, Rick Salutin, Duncan Cameron, Wayne MacPhail, Murray Dobbin and others! Read columns...

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This week's top podcasts

Eggsploitation: The booming egg donation industry
Meghan Murphy speaks with Jennifer Lahl about the booming egg donation industry and its impact on women.
By Meghan Murphy

Activists meeting, learning, and recharging in rural Nova Scotia
Hillary Lindsay and Omri Haiven talk about the Tatamagouche Summer Free School that happens each August on Nova Scotia's north shore.
By Scott Neigh

GroundWire | August 17, 2015: Fair Elections Act, Energy East pipeline, prisoners' rights
This episode of GroundWire was produced at Kootenay Co-op Radio, a co-operative community radio station which broadcasts on Sinixt traditional territory.
By GroundWire

This week's top rabbletv

Not Rex: Stephen Harper's election campaign in a bubble
Stephen Harper is a coward! He launched the longest and costliest election campaign in recent history and will face the Canadian public... never.
By Humberto DaSilva

This week's top books

Harper's takeover of Canada: What do we have left?
The Harper government has been in power since 2006. In that time, it has managed to systematically dismantle Canada's democracy. How? Read on.
By Christine Smith (McFarlane)

In this issue

Upcoming events

TorontoElection 2015: How do we stop Harper?
After a decade of Harper's rule, what do we do to stop him and undo his devastating legacy? What are the alternatives?
By International Socialists

OttawaCharlie Angus: Children of the Broken Treaty
Children of the Broken Treaty exposes a system of apartheid in Canada that led to the largest youth-driven human rights movement in the country's history.
By Octopus Books

VancouverPicnic against austerity
We invite you to join us for an end-of-summer picnic to continue to build our collective conversations and movements against austerity.

This week's top in cahoots

By The Numbers: The future generation
With an ever-changing economic landscape and rates of unemployment and underemployment, young people are among the biggest victims of the stumbling economic recovery.
By United Food and Commercial Workers

OSSTF/FEESO, OPSBA and the government reach a tentative agreement
OSSTF/FEESO is pleased to report that a tentative agreement has been reached at the Teacher/Occasional Teacher central bargaining table with the Government of Ontario and the OPSBA.
By Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation

What is proportional representation and why do we need it in Canada?
Canada's "winner-take-all" system in elections is not working. Here's what we need instead.
By Fair Vote Canada

Alberta government halts privatization of lab services
Privatization schemes are being tested all over Canada. A government halting privatization? Now that's great.
By National Union of Public and General Employees

Active babble topics

Montreal mayor destroys Canada Postbox slab in park
By lagatta

Tales from the trenches: Campaign 2015
By sherpa-finn

Tom Mulcair promises $1/4 billion to recruit cops
By Unionist

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This week's top tool

Be a Game-Changer: Pledge to vote
In the last federal election nearly two out of every three young people did not vote. If more of us vote in the 2015 election, we can be the game-changers no one saw coming!

Poll

Is strategic voting the best way to defeat the Harper Conservatives?

We are getting dangerously close to the federal election... oh wait no we're not, it's still weeks away. However, the topic of strategic voting is certainly heating up as this long election campaign continues.

Do you think that strategic voting is the best way to defeat the Harper Conservatives?

Choices Yes. It's a harsh reality brought about by our flawed electoral system. Yes. And then hopefully the new government will usher in electoral reform. Maybe... but I just can't get on board. I have to vote for who I believe in. No. I think strategic voting goes against the democratic action of voting. None of the above.