Friday April 27, 2012 – This Smash the State Report starts off with info on the re-opening of the abortion debate in Canada, then jumps into the Quebec student strike with a critique from Stefan Christoff of mainstream coverage, before an update of t…

Monday, April 2 saw the second day of Peter Julian’s extended budget speech. And perhaps the point most worth noting is how many Canadians outside of Parliament took the opportunity have their voices heard in the budget debate. The Big Issue So l…

Monday, April 2 saw the second day of Peter Julian’s extended budget speech. And perhaps the point most worth noting is how many Canadians outside of Parliament took the opportunity have their voices heard in the budget debate.The Big IssueSo let’s foc…

A segment on May Day including a reading from Libcom – A Short History of Mayday, a what’s next from Occupy Belfast, we introduce The Peak’s #MayDay Issue out of Guelph, then close the show off two interviews from recompositions.com, one with Phinnea…

Assorted content for your weekend reading.- Gerald Caplan looks at the principled leadership which Stephen Harper embarrassingly made into an attack on the NDP as an example what Canada desperately needs now:Repeating that war settles nothing, Mr. Wood…

Assorted content for your weekend reading. – Gerald Caplan looks at the principled leadership which Stephen Harper embarrassingly made into an attack on the NDP as an example what Canada desperately needs now: Repeating that war settles nothing, Mr. Wo…

Aa penny for your thoughts. A penny saved is a penny earned. Penny wise and pound foolish. That’s my two cents worth, and pretty soon it won’t be worth a plugged nickle. ————————————- WINNIPEG – The last Canadian penny ever to be made shuddered down a chute and into a small glass bowl at the [...]

David Harvey, anthropology professor, geographer and authority on Karl Marx’s work Capital, has just published Rebel Cities: From the Right to the City to the Urban Revolution. The book addresses the state of inequality in capitalist society, the role …

We have an update of actions against austerity as the Quebec Student Strike rages on, with street battles, mass arrests and bad faith negotiating, solidarity actions take place in Kitchener, and a piece about Jean Charest’s destructive plan nord.
Thi…

I had a great change of pace last week, when I stayed out at the CAW Family Education Centre at Port Elgin to teach a 5-day course on “Economics for Trade Unionists” through the CAW’s Paid Educational Leave program.
While I have guest lectured many tim…

Almost exactly one year ago I wrote a piece on my old blog about Canada’s economic situation. In it I concluded there were two possible outcomes in the medium term: So Canada, we have a big decision ahead of us. Do we decouple the CAD from the US…

SaskPower’s VP May failed to respond to my followup points, so I’ve included her entire initial reply at my earlier post. I wrote a letter months ago to ask why solar power information on the SaskPower website is out of date and now wrong. The response was underwhelming. The webpages remain out of date, one [...]

The 14 economic advisors Flaherty consults on policy and budgets are all from the financial sector, mostly banksters. Here’s what James K. Galbraith says about the implicit danger of such a stacked deck:  ”….economic policy shou…

The Finance Minister may have been told to stop dumping on the Ontario government,…

For reasons I can’t explain, I feel a need to redo my kitchen. Which is odd, because I really like my kitchen. Never mind that we renovated it 10 years ago when we moved into our house, or that (by design) it’s relatively neutral and timele…

The CCPA released my report: “The Big Banks’ Big Secret” which provides the first public estimates of the emergency funds taken by Canadian banks. The report bases its estimates on publicly available data from CMHC, the Office of the Superintendent of …

This year, once again, I’ll celebrate my birthday as Canadians file their tax returns.
I was born on April 30th. And considering my line of work, that coincidence might be ironic. Or perhaps just particularly appropriate.
I know, I know. Taxes, right? …

Friday, March 30 was the first day of Peter Julian’s budget filibuster. But while it accomplished its goal of avoiding several hours worth of Con talking points, was there much to take from Julian’s own comments?The Big IssueWell, let’s highlight a few…

Friday, March 30 was the first day of Peter Julian’s budget filibuster. But while it accomplished its goal of avoiding several hours worth of Con talking points, was there much to take from Julian’s own comments? The Big Issue Well, let&#82…

31%That’s how much of Canada’s economy is made up of income, sales, corporate, property and other taxes we pay to all levels of government. (Source)
~$38 billionThat’s how much less Canadians now pay in individual income tax compared to 2000. (Source)r…