Canadian Politics

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Sunday Link-Off: Fireworks

arianny-celeste-fitnessgurls14-02There are two weeks that are an absolute curse to a blogger. One is that stretch between Christmas and New Year’s when the internet basically shuts down. The other is the Canada Day / Independence Day stretch where you want to shut down at the start and the American blogosphere shuts down at the other end and nobody gets anything done. It makes for some short linkdumps is what I’m trying to say.

We do have some links though. If you’re interested in the return of Rob Ford or what the WWE is banking its stock price on, this is a good post for you. First, since this is a post-Independence Day post, let’s start with Arianny Celeste.

Rob Ford is back running the show at City Hall. Is he the new man that he claims to be? (Toronto Sun)

And Ford is only 10 points behind Olivia Chow in the latest poll despite two months in rehab. Despite being closer than any other politician would be, he’s probably not close enough to pull off the comeback. (ThreeHundredEight)

The Grid magazine, Toronto’s free weekly news magazine, is closing its doors after three years due to poor finances. Now who will profile the lovely and talented Robyn Doolittle? (The Globe and Mail)

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Sunday Link-Off: The Majority Rules

michea-crawford-laredoute14-06Well, when the Ontario provincial election happened, I don’t think anyone expected or even dreamed that the Liberals would take a majority government. A minority government was what the polls were predicting but it turned out much larger than that.

We talk about that and a lot more in today’s set of Sunday links. But first, let’s kick things off with Michea Crawford.

A lot of people were surprised that the Liberals won the Ontario election with a majority. Even I was shocked and I voted red. Did the polling data indicate that this result was likely? (ThreeHundredEight)

One report suggests that the Globe & Mail editorial board wanted to endorse the Liberals. They were told to change their mind and pick Tim Hudak and the PCs. (Canadaland)

And speaking of late switches, a rare electoral error meant that the Thornhill riding that was declared for the Liberals is actually supposed to be a PC seat. (Metro News)

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Sunday Link-Off: #ONPoli

chloe-bennet-esquire14-01And so marks the first time that a linkdump has been titled a hashtag. I somehow doubt that this will end up being a trend but it’s fitting considering we have two links about the Ontario provincial election and the Toronto mayoral election. That’s all the Ontario politics that most people would care about. Granted, I don’t expect anyone to really worry too much about Ontario’s politics. I think we’re screwed regardless of who ends up in power.

Anyway, it’s time for us to do the Sunday links. For fun, let’s kick it off with Chloe Bennet of Agents of SHIELD fame.

In something that shouldn’t be news to anyone, there are Russians among the pro-separatist militants causing unrest in Ukraine. Still wouldn’t be shocked if the Russian government was involved in this somehow. (New York Times)

Tim Hudak’s Million Jobs Plan sounds all well and good. The only problem is that the math is so completely broken that they may have overestimated jobs created by a factor of eight, didn’t factor in their own 100,000 public sector job eliminations and failed to mention half of their million jobs are expected to be added to the Ontario economy without their intervention required. (MacLean’s)

And Tim Hudak wants to make a better tomorrow for Ontario by cutting education spending. That’ll help tomorrow’s Ontario. (Toronto Star)

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Sunday Link-Off: Harper Strikes Back

jessica-pare-esquire14-02It’s the beginning of another week which means that it’s time for us to give you another set of links. I’d like to think of the start of this post as Canada-centric while it finishes a more nationally agnostic. That doesn’t mean that there won’t be something for everyone in here.

But let’s start off with something Canadian. Since Mad Men is back on Sunday, here’s Jessica Pare.

The Fair Elections Act is going to cripple democracy in Canada but most Canadians aren’t arsed about the impending death of their democracy. Why are they so apathetic? (CBC News)

In news that should surprise no one, an upcoming UN report will suggest that Russia did everything in its power to make sure the secession of Crimea happened as they planned. (Foreign Policy)

A retiring SEC lawyer used his farewell speech to denounce the commission’s soft stance on traders who caused the recent financial crisis. I don’t think he’ll find many people off of Wall Street who will disagree. (Bloomberg)

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Sunday Link-Off: Just Super

martha-hunt-victoriassecret14-09Happy Super Bowl Sunday everyone! Hold on to your wallets today. Broncos -2 is probably going to see a lot of action on either side. I’d tell you what I’d bet but resident gambling guru Scott would say I have a gambling problem because I never win. He seldom loses so says he doesn’t have a problem. That’s how things work around here. Just like in sports, you’re judged on your win/loss record.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s kick off with Martha Hunt. (See what I did there?)

Justin Trudeau has a plan to completely overhaul the Canadian Senate. The only problem is that the way he wants to make the change may make it very difficult to make happen. (MacLean’s)

Ontario’s minimum wage is going to $11 per hour with an automatic annual increase based on inflation. But is that increase really enough? (Canadian Business)

Headline of the year all of time: Toronto Mayor Rob Ford defends fellow Canadian Justin Bieber. (Talking Points Memo)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Return

kim-cloutier-aubade14-03The Lowdown Blog is back in business this morning. And because today is Wednesday, it’s time for us to do the middle of the week set of links. Some of these links are a little old but I think they’re still important reads for you.

Let’s start today’s links with blog favourite and Canadian model Kim Cloutier.

Ontario PC party leader Tim Hudak has unofficially kicked off his election campaign with a promise to create one million new jobs. However, history shows that it’s extremely unlikely to happen. (MacLean’s)

Is the Harper Government trying to destroy science in Canada? The government is engaged in the closing of scientific libraries and destruction of documents. (Daily Kos)

The Democratic Party might be leaning towards running Hilary in the 2016 Presidential election but they’re still not in great shape to hold onto The White House. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: ‘Tis The Season

xenia-deli-lulifama13-03It’s the first linkdump of December. WordPress turned on the Christmas decorations so the falling snow isn’t a problem with the site or your monitor but our little piece of Christmas spirit… Unless we manage to do a Christmas podcast. Then that’s our contribution to Christmas.

Anyway, let’s get started with Xenia Deli.

You would think that Justin Trudeau might be a radical for wanting to legalize marijuana but he’s only following the recommendation of a forty-year-old study that said there was no scientific basis for the ban. In fact, Canada’s drug bans are all rooted in racism. (Toronto Star)

Without ad revenue from Hockey Night In Canada, the CBC’s current business model is broken but no one is rushing to fix it. (National Post)

Could Russell Brand be the smartest man occasionally in Hollywood? His op-ed about Rupert Murdoch and NewsCorp is epic. (The Guardian)

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Wednesday Link-Off: More than Just Toronto

rachelle-goulding-macys13-03Welcome back my friends to the show that never ends… Well, it does when I run through all the links but I don’t think the WLO series is going anywhere. Anyway, it’s time for the middle of the week links. Since there are a lot of Canadian links in this post, let’s start it off with Canadian model Rachelle Goulding.

Everyone talks about Rob Ford but there’s a lot more wrong in Canadian government than just the Mayor of Toronto. (The Blot)

Speaking of Rob Ford, Vivid wants Rob Ford to star in one of their videos in order to compete with other Rob Ford parody videos. On both counts, please no! (TMZ)

The Pope and I have something in common. We don’t believe that trickle-down economics actually works. (Washington Post)

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Wednesday Link-Off: The Scandal that Never Ends

genevieve-morton-barenecessities13-04You know, I thought that we might finally be done covering the Rob Ford crack scandal but the story just never seems to end or get old. It’s just too interesting to avoid. That and I don’t think that the media are covering any other story.

Anyway, it’s time for the links. Let’s start with blog favourite Genevieve Morton.

So that Rob Ford crack tape is from February. So was he in a drunken stupor then? (Toronto Star)

Is Rob Ford beyond help and does he just need to get out of office? (National Post)

And the Ford Brothers’ new TV show was cancelled after one episode. Sun News Network says it’s because it cost too much but I don’t think anyone is sold on that. (Globe & Mail)

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Sunday Link-Off: Plenty to Eat at Home

hannah-davis-aerie13-02The week is over. The PlayStation 4 is out and I haven’t been left behind because I don’t own it. Similarly, I won’t be left behind because I’m not getting an Xbox One. Newsflash: Neither will you for the next six months while we wait for a  sufficient game library to roll out.

Apart from the console launch, this week brought us even more Rob Ford news. And here you were thinking that the fun was over. So let’s not delay any longer and get to the links. Here’s Hannah Davis.

Just when you thought that it was over in Toronto, the Rob Ford story got a lot more interesting over the last few days thanks to some new allegations from court documents. (Toronto Sun)

In addressing those allegations, Mayor Ford said some things that we wish he hadn’t. (Deadspin)

If you’re looking for the encyclopedia of Rob Ford buffoonery, check out this website. (MayorFord.info)

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