Link to Hill Times article

Link to online video

OTTAWA — Hundreds of frustrated scientists clad in their telltale white lab coats descended Monday on Parliament Hill to demand that the Harper government stop muzzling scientists and cutting research funding.

T. JOHN’S, N.L. – As Kathy Dunderdale was poised almost two years ago to become Newfoundland and Labrador’s first elected female premier, she spoke about wanting not merely a four-year stint in power but an eight-year run.

590 VOCM Radio, Backtalk with Paddy Daly Online recording unavailable

Link to Canada.com article

Re: “Political loans bill ‘basically dead,’ says NDP MP Scott” (The Hill Times, Aug. 12). I would like to see the new mega-bill introduce into law all of Democracy Watch’s recommendations from their “Money in Politics Campaign,” including: disclose all donations and loans a week before election day, limit and disclose donations in nomination and party leadership races, impose spending limits in party leadership races, limit and disclose paid volunteer labour provided by organizations, disclose the identity of each individual donor’s employer (as in the U.S.) and direct organizational affiliations, and increase the penalty for breaking these laws to include jail time. I also think that these recommendations, as well as the current federal political financing and lobbying laws, must apply to provinces as well. Corporations, unions, and groups representing their interests should not be allowed to donate to any kind of political campaign anywhere in Canada, nor should they be allowed to lobby in secret. Democracies die behind closed doors.

Back in March, my debut article pertaining to reforming Canada’s outdated system of government appeared in The Hill Times just as the Senate scandal started making headlines nationwide. My article centered on the possibility to abolish the Senate as a first-stage and possibly reconstituting it as a Triple E Chamber. The Hill Times was the first rag to contain this suggestion.

As the Senate draws fire over the spending habits of one of its members, the resignation of a politician in the House of Commons has prompted ethical questions of a different sort.

Some Canadians wring their hands periodically about creeping Americanization of this country, even though there are still plenty of things that set us apart.