Canada’s key interest rate will end 2011 unchanged.   The Bank of Canada (BoC) left its policy rate at 1.00 percent this week, as anticipated.   In a statement, the Bank said European economic performance will be worse than expected, Canadian and United States growth are “slightly” better than expected, and inflation will “ease.” It […]

The Defenders of the Land (DotL), a network of Indigenous Communities, today condemned reports that in 2007, the Harper government established a national and international police surveillance network to spy on Indigenous Peoples and their supporters for defending Indigenous Peoples' self-determination and land rights. The...

You will no doubt recall the controversy surrounding the efforts of Quebec billionaire Pierre Peladeau to get a prized licence for his Sun News TV network. If he had succeeded, the cable companies would have been obliged to carry his extremist right wing news channel, dubbed by many as “Fox News North.” In the end, the CRTC...

Alex Atamanenko, MP (BC Southern Interior), introduced a Private Members Bill in the House of Commons today that would give conscientious objectors an official sanction to spend their taxes on nonviolent alternatives to war. Bill C-363, would allow Canadians, who object to paying taxes for military purposes on conscientious or religious grounds, to divert an […]

The battle to protect the Gulf of St. Lawrence from oil and gas development received a major boost this week when American actor, writer and director Ethan Hawke benevolently lent his support to the cause. Hawke, a landowner along the Gulf in Nova Scotia, was approached by coastal landowners, fishermen, Mi’kmaq leaders and concerned citizens […]

The amazingly resilient Occupy phenomenon is running up against the same ugly reality that so many social movements have encountered over the past 20 years: There is a world of difference between influence and power.  Governments and the corporations they serve have power — that is, the power of money (and the law) to make ...

Canadian hemp producers could benefit from a boost to their marketing brand abroad with the support of the Government of Canada. An investment of more than $55,000 was made by the federal government to the Canadian Hemp Trade Alliance (CHTA) as it kicks off its national convention in Winnipeg. With this investment, the CHTA will […]

The booming economies of the West are drawing more immigrants than the traditional landing spot of Eastern Canada, reports the CBC. Experts are saying that only a decade ago, Ontario took in the lion’s share of Canada’s immigrants, with half going to Toronto and 60 per cent to Ontario as a whole. But only 42 […]

Reports of RCMP officers enduring years of sexual harassment on the job has consumed the nation’s Public Safety minister’s days, reports Meagan Fitzpatrick of the CBC. On Monday Toews said is concerned about allegations of sexual harassment made by RCMP officers and will be talking to the new head of the RCMP on it. For […]

Canada’s Environment Minister has declared the polar bear as a species of special concern under the Species at Risk Act. “Canada is home to two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population and we have a unique conservation responsibility to effectively care for them,” said Peter Kent. “Listing the polar bear under the Species at Risk […]