The brief statements announcing the resignation of Stephen Harper's Chief-of-Staff Nigel Wright leave all the key questions in the Senate expenses scandal unanswered. 

In fact, Wright's statement raises new questions, especially this line: "I did not advise the Prime Minister of the means by which Sen. Duffy's expenses were repaid, either before of after the fact."

A reminder that all of rabble.ca's B.C. election coverage can be found here. This is my latest, originally published in The Source. 

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In May 1989, the student newspaper at Simon Fraser University ran a story about embattled student union president-elect Christy Clark under the headline 'Unfit for office?' Clark was late paying a fine for violating election rules, and so she was removed from office.

Twenty-four years later, Christy Clark is desperately trying to avoid being kicked out of office again.

We've got several articles forthcoming over the next couple of weeks on issues related to tar sands pipelines in B.C. -- a hot button election issue that has proven more surprising and controversial than expected. 

 Here's my latest column on the B.C. election campaign, originally published in The Source newspaper in Vancouver, which looks at the NDP's underwhelming campaign pledges for addressing poverty. For more B.C. election-related news, visit our issues page here. 

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My latest column on B.C. politics looks at two things rabble.ca will soon be focusing on: Earth Day and the B.C. election. Next week, we kick off a full week of Earth Day related coverage (April 16-22); and, for the next month, we will be reporting on the B.C. election campaign, paying particular attention to the ways in which the May 14 provincial vote will impact federal politics and hot button issues like the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline proposal. 

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I knew it had to be a hoax, even if the dateline didn't read April 1.

A story buzzing around social media yesterday morning claimed that John Baird had been embarrassed by reporters at a press conference in Amman, Jordan.

The piece asserted that journalists had peppered Baird with a series of questions about Canadian politics, concluding: "An unidentified reporter suggested that Canada sounded more like an autocracy than a democracy ... At this point Minister Baird indicated that the Press Conference was over."

Now come on.

With the B.C. election now less than 50 days away, the NDP continues to maintain a wide lead in the polls. It's hard to imagine Adrian Dix not becoming premier May 14. But, since this is B.C. politics, nothing should be precluded. 

The mainstream media and corporate elite appear to be much less alarmed about the prospect of a B.C. NDP win than in the past. This speaks, in part, to just how much Premier Christy Clark is loathed and distrusted. But it also speaks to the fact that this is an NDP government-in-waiting self-consciously non-threatening (to the corporate elite) in their rhetoric, style and program. 

The Journey of Nishiyuu arrives in Ottawa today -- the completion of an epic journey of Indigenous youth that started in the community of Whapmagoostui on Hudson Bay in northern Quebec. 

Hundreds of supporters, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, will be on hand today in Ottawa to greet them. Members of the labour movement and other civil society groups will be there to show their support. Some Members of Parliament, from opposition parties, will be there when the group arrives on Parliament Hill shortly after 1p.m. EST today. 

Today marks ten years since the beginning of the disastrous and immoral war against Iraq. Estimates of the total number of war related deaths vary widely, but the toll has been massive. Hundreds of thousands killed; countless numbers terrorized and tortured; millions displaced.

After a decade, Iraq is broken, shattered and, despite assurances to the contrary, still occupied -- by mercenaries along with the remaining U.S. presence that helps prop up a corrupt regime.

Recent raids targeting migrant workers in Vancouver have sparked protest and justifiable anger -- fueled in large part by the revelation that a film crew was tagging along with Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) agents, filming for a reality TV show, Border Security: Canada's Front Line.

Here at rabble.ca, Michael Stewart has convincingly argued that this security state - entertainment tag team should ultimately be blamed on the right-wing politics of the current federal government: 

For months here in B.C., and with the May 14 election now fast approaching, I've been waiting for the mainstream media to switch into attack mode on the frontrunning NDP, but it appears that's not going to happen.