Tag Archives: legislative process

Universal ambivalence (pharmacare news)

Bill C-64 now at third reading in the Senate Per CBC, the federal pharmacare bill made it through committee study in the Senate this past week and is scheduled for a final vote on October 10. No further amendments were … Continue reading

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Saturday night analysis of Ministerial directives under s. 107 of the Canada Labour Code

How’s that for an engaging title. I am, I would say unsurprisingly or even predictably, interested in the ongoing railway labour dispute. Although it’s not clear from the articles I’ve read, the relevant union seems to be fighting for some … Continue reading

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Quick-fire round of government failures

There are too many news stories I want to spend time on, so it’s time for a quick-fire round of government failures.

(Treaty negotiations, undocumented workers, violence against women.) Continue reading

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Bullshit jobs

I was reading an article in The Economist from 2018, an interview with David Graeber entitled “Bullshit jobs and the yoke of managerial feudalism,” and thinking about my own professional experience. Continue reading

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Societal untruths

On this April first I’m thinking about some of the different ways society encourages or enables us to deceive each other.

There’s April Fools’ Day, of course, and there’s Santa Claus. Government entities like NORAD and Canada Post even get in on that “benevolent” lie.

And then there’s Parliamentary privilege… Continue reading

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Arbitrary deadlines

In case anyone is interested, there has been no activity on the pharmacare bill the federal government introduced a month ago and bragged about as a “giant step forward for our health system” and “a concrete step toward true and lasting gender equality.” Continue reading

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Far from pharmacare

The new federal pharmacare bill has been posted.

I was curious to see how far left the NDP had managed to push the Liberals, and to guess how long it might plausibly be before Canadians start getting even contraception and insulin paid for, much less any other drugs required to live a happy and health life. Continue reading

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