James Laxer

The Niqab: A Smokescreen For Political Leaders on Both Sides of the Atlantic

2010-03-31T15:23:00.000-04:00

Menton, France: On Monday, the members of the National Assembly, Senators and Euro-Deputies of the mainstream right in France assembled to consider their future political course. High on their list of priorities is the introduction of a law in the National Assembly that would withhold a host of government services from Muslim women who wear the niqab (a veil that covers the face). The move by

The Great Economic Debate Canada Needs and Is Failing to Conduct

2010-03-14T09:13:00.000-04:00

The global economy is undergoing a dramatic transformation, the greatest since the decline of the British Empire as the world’s leading economic power. At their peril, politically active Canadians are failing to analyze the transformation and its consequences for Canada. With the political stage in the United States dominated by the sputtering Obama administration and the ever more extravagant

George Smitherman, the Privatizer: No Thanks

2010-03-04T06:24:00.000-05:00

You learn a lot about a candidate for public office when he or she first stakes out a position on a key issue. In this case, the candidate is George Smitherman, who recently left the Ontario Liberal cabinet, to run for mayor of Toronto. In an in-depth interview with the Toronto Star, Smitherman mused that he would consider privatizing garbage pick-up in Toronto and the privatization of some of

Fig Leaves Fall: The Phony Populism of the Harper Government

2010-02-28T04:03:00.000-05:00

The populist fig leaves worn by Stephen Harper and his ministers---you can order facsimiles online---to hide the truth that this government has only one priority---low taxes for the wealthy, at the expense of everyone else---were torn asunder by two events on the eve of the resumption of parliament this week.Last Thursday, Transport Minister John Baird stood behind a blue sign that read “

When Parliament Resumes: The Opposition Needs to Take Charge

2010-02-21T07:08:00.001-05:00

Urgent National Debate Needed on Harper Trade Deal

2010-02-06T03:01:00.000-05:00

(This post appeared in the online edition of the Toronto Star.)In the middle of a period of prorogation, when parliament is not sitting, the Harper government has sprung a sweeping new trade deal on Canadians. The agreement the Harper government has reached with the Obama administration is the most important extension of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) since that deal went into

So Far, Obama Hasn't Delivered the Goods

2010-01-20T14:29:00.000-05:00

(In an edited version, this post appeared in the Toronto Star on Sunday.) One year into Barack Obama’s term of office, two remarkable things stand out: how little he has achieved on the core issues on his agenda; and how potent the right-wing has grown during his watch. It’s too early to make a predication, but this has the feel of a one-term presidency about it. On the four great questions that

On Markets and Democracy: Harper is Dangerous

2010-01-12T10:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday on BNN, Stephen Harper said that financial markets don’t like the “kind of instability” that goes with confidence votes on such matters as the Speech from the Throne and the budget that could bring down his minority government. The prime minister’s decision to prorogue parliament actually created the necessity for a Speech from the Throne when the House returns. That’s what

The Next Step: Challenging Harper’s Agenda

2010-01-08T22:47:00.000-05:00

Having underestimated the acuity of the Canadian people, the Harper government has been placed on the defensive. While the mainstream media cheered them on and their pollsters reassured them that they were on a winning path, Stephen Harper and his ministers blithely assumed that Canadians were not interested in the Afghan detainees scandal and the environment, and that they couldn’t care less

Canada's Stolen Democracy: Welcome to 2010

2010-01-01T14:25:00.000-05:00

Stephen Harper has an aversion to Parliament. When the House of Commons sits, he and his ministers have to answer questions. The body language of the Prime Minister and his ministers, and their surly, disrespectful attitude to those on the other side of the aisle tells the story. The styles vary. When Harper stands up to answer a question, he does up his jacket in the manner of a butcher

Canada’s Lost Decade

2009-12-26T14:10:00.001-05:00

Canadians headed confidently into the new millennium, but they are limping out of its first decade uncertain about the future and what their country stands for. Living on the northern edge of Manifesto Destiny felt comfortable enough for most Canadians with Bill Clinton in the White House, notwithstanding his philandering ways. The 1990s was the age of the Dot.com bubble, a decade when American

INCOME AND WEALTH INEQUALITY: AN UNDERLYING CAUSE OF THE CRASH

2009-12-21T20:03:00.000-05:00

(In a question posted on my blog, Bill Bell asked me to explain why I believe that one of the basic causes of the economic crash of 2008 was the widening income and wealth gap between the rich and the rest of the population. Drawn from excerpts from my book Beyond the Bubble, here is my answer to that crucial question.)The last thirty years have been the golden age of inequality. While that

From Stimulus to Austerity: The Next Chapter in Canadian Policy Making

2009-12-21T10:25:00.000-05:00

Since the global economic crash in the autumn of 2008, Canadians have been jolted by reports about where we are headed that are by turns pessimistic and optimistic. It is bafflingly difficult for people to reach reasonable conclusions about the future of the country or of their community. For much of 2009, the Bank of Canada made fairly optimistic predictions about the course of the Canadian

Beyond the Bubble Lecture Part V

2009-12-15T11:52:00.001-05:00

Beyond the Bubble Lecture Part IV

2009-12-15T11:51:00.001-05:00

This part of the lecture is in two segments, both below.

Beyond the Bubble Lecture Part III

2009-12-15T11:50:00.001-05:00

This part of the lecture is in two segments.

Beyond the Bubble Lecture Part II

2009-12-15T11:45:00.000-05:00

This lecture is in two segments, both below.

Beyond the Bubble Lecture Part I

2009-12-15T11:38:00.003-05:00

Harper Government Strategy on Torture: Talk out the Clock

2009-12-10T17:17:00.000-05:00

Richard Colvin: "According to our information, the likelihood is that all the Afghans we handed over were tortured…We kept hopeless records, and apparently to prevent any scrutiny, the Canadian Forces leadership concealed all this behind walls of secrecy….Instead of winning hearts and minds, we caused Kandaharis to fear the foreigners…Canada's detainee practices in my

Obama’s Goldilocks Plan for Afghanistan

2009-12-01T20:47:00.000-05:00

Barack Obama got mired in Afghanistan during his campaign for the presidency in 2008. To fend off attacks on him from Hillary Clinton and John McCain that depicted him as a geo-strategic lightweight, Obama talked tough about Afghanistan. To lend credence to his criticism of the U.S. conflict in Iraq, Obama said the war the Americans really had to win was in Afghanistan.

Under Harper: Canada Will Remain a Global Environmental Pariah

2009-11-30T19:30:00.000-05:00

As long as Stephen Harper’s government holds the reigns of power, Canada will remain a global environmental pariah. The reasons why this is so are not hard to find, but they are seldom analyzed in public discourse on the issue. To the extent that the Harper government has an economic strategy, beyond letting the

Harper and MacKay Have a Wicked Sense of Humour

2009-11-26T11:24:00.000-05:00

Sometimes Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay are given insufficient credit for their wry sense of humour. The serious, literal-minded members of the opposition need to lighten up. Yesterday, three Canadian generals testified before the parliamentary committee that is hearing testimony on the allegations that

Beyond the Bubble: Imagining a New Canadian Economy

2009-11-23T16:04:00.000-05:00

(Here is a brief summary of my new book, published earlier this month by Between The Lines Publishing, Toronto.)Beyond the Bubble: Imagining A New Canadian Economy, makes the case that the economic crash of 2008 marked the end of one world age and the beginning of another. What has ended is the neo-liberal age of globalization and the American-centred global economy. What

To the Torture Charges, the Harper Government's Response is to Deny, Smear and Bully

2009-11-20T14:54:00.000-05:00

Respected Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin, a highly credible source, told a House of Commons committee on Wednesday that all of the captives Canadian soldiers transferred to local authorities in 2006-2007 likely ended up being tortured. Colvin, who served in Afghanistan for 17 months, began sending warnings that this was happening in May 2006. He

In Afghanistan: The U.S. is Once Again Misbranding a War

2009-11-14T17:22:00.000-05:00

In Afghanistan, the U.S. government is putting the wrong brand on a war. It is the third time that the U.S. has done this since the early 1960s. In each case---in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan---the consequences have been disastrous. In the first case, the administration of Lyndon Johnson dispatched hundreds of thousands of American troops to fight