§ Weird
Ross Rebagliati, the snowboarder who won olympic gold for Canada while baked is claiming that a character on a TV show about Whistler is based on him: Rebagliati says the TV character is a blond, blue-eyed Olympic snowboarding gold medallist from Whistler who is shown driving drunk and womanizing. —CBC May it’s just because I find his monotonous voice and... more
§ Rant
I’ve never really got Stompin’ Tom, however until now my I’ve always thought my lack of appreciation stemmed from my inability to grasp the Canadian folk singer’s public appeal1. But now, it seems I barely understand what Stompin’ Tom is saying now that he has taken to referring to himself in the third person and raging that his non-commissioned production... more
§ Politics
About the time I matured enough to dismiss errant patriotism, I realized that Canada’s parliamentary system is a legislatively imbalanced pig. Not being naive enough to expect a shift to a congressional system, I could at least desperately hope that Canada’s upper house, the Senate, could be reformed into a meaningful body that contributes and—dare I say it—expedites the law... more
§ Canada
The Canadian government has approved the takeover of homegrown department-store giant Hudson’s Bay Co. by a U.S. investor. … HBC lost more than $50 million in the most recent quarter, and sales have continued to fall as shoppers flock to cheaper big-box alternatives like Wal-Mart. Hudson’s Bay Co., founded in 1670, is Canada’s oldest company and largest department-store chain with... more
§ Politics
Damn it. Once again, Canada’s politicians have asked voters to go fishing and, just like in Brokeback Mountain, nobody managed to catch any trout. Another minority government, Conservative instead of Liberal, is hardly a step forward. Once again, federal politics is mired in a legislative standstill that only leads to citizens being screwed in the long run. But can we... more
§ Politics
The CBC reports that Derek Zeisman, former Conservative candidate for the British Columbia Southern Interior riding, promises to resign if convicted of smuggling charges: Speaking from his hospital bed, Zeisman has apologized to the people of his riding, his campaign team and the Conservative party, saying he betrayed their trust by failing to disclose that he’s “under investigation for six... more
§ Politics
Apparently the NDP has broken new ground by becoming the first federal party to release a televised campaign ad aimed at minority voters: The New Democratic Party has unveiled its latest TV commercial, this one directed at Chinese-Canadian voters. It’ll be the same face, but a different language. A new ad supporting Jack Layton and the NDP has been unveiled... more
§ Politics
Jim Harris, leader of the Green Party, has finally taken advantage of recent Liberal and Conservative candidate dumpings to launch his first humdinger of the campaign: In this campaign only the Green Party and NDP are running full slates. Both the Liberals and Conservatives have now disavowed one candidate each. Jeepers. Remind me again why Jim Harris’ absence from the... more
§ Politics
According to hearsay from WesternStandard, Steven Harper is a Trekkie! This would probably be a personal tidbit that would help humanize Harper a bit—well, humanize Harper to me that is, seeing as most people would consider a Trek fan to be a barely functioning, techno-babbling cretin. Unfortunately though, the Conservative leader is reported to be a fan of the original... more
§ Politics
In one fell swoop, Rick Mercer has taken a much more effective, and delightful, shot at the Conservatives by speculating over possible cabinet positions to award the party’s stupider MPs. Rob Anders – Minister of State (Multiculturalism) Rob Anders is the guy to reach out to Canada’s diverse multicultural communities. “Nelson Mandela is a terrorist.” - Rob Anders “Rob is... more