Just before the world met in Cancun for climate talks, Conservatives in the Senate -- abetted by the prime minister -- deprived Canadians of legislation that would address the pressing problem of global climate change and also usher in a prosperous clean energy economy.
When pressed why the Conservative Senate called the premature vote on the Climate Change Accountability Act on Nov. 16th, Prime Minister Stephen Harper retorted that it would have thrown "hundreds of thousands, possibly millions of people out of work."
job creation
Climate action will stimulate economy and jobs
Ten points in Canada's real economic update
The minister of finance has made his Fall Economic Update. We wanted to hear what he had to say about government spending -- but we didn't. Why? Because the real story is one of austerity.
The federal finance minister promised Canadians a look at what is happening with the economy. On the surface, the job is fairly straightforward. James Flaherty has to say whether the economy is growing, or not; and he has to say what he intends to do about it.
No technical recession, not that it matters
Yesterday's GDP numbers (a sprightly gain of 0.3 per cent at basic prices in July) ensure that there will not be a so-called "technical recession" in Canada -- at least, not yet.
Economists have a perverted definition of "recession," whereby it's considered official only if real GDP declines 2 quarters in a row. That's hilariously arbitrary. And the flip side of the coin is even more galling: "recovery" is with us, they say, once real GDP stops contracting and starts growing again. That's why Mark Carney could declare the recession over in July 2009 (when real GDP started to grow again), even though for most Canadians it hasn't stopped feeling like a recession ever since.