See also Canada in 2013
The Hill Times
The Coyne File
(compilation of columns on Canada.com)
Globe & Mail Commentary
National Post Full Comment
CBC At Issue

Andrew Coyne on the modern party leader: Pragmatic, disciplined and without political principles
Previously, party leaders were obliged to pretend to believe in policies before they could abandon them: now that first stage has been eliminated, freeing them to focus on slandering each other’s character and passing out baby pictures of themselves. The day is not far off when parties will have more or less ceased to exist except as extensions of the leader, which if nothing else would be clarifying.
Pride of place, of course, goes to the Conservatives, who have devoted most of the last decade to shedding any vestigial belief systems in the service of electing what they learned to call a Harper government. This was called “moving to the middle,” or in other words giving up, and was greatly applauded by the wisest heads as a sign of maturity. For as long as they continued to believe things they could never win power, and without power they could never put into effect all the things they no longer believed in. (13 April 2013)

Who is Nigel Wright, the man who bailed out Mike Duffy? – long, comprehensive and even-handed profile from the Globe & Mail that still doesn’t explain why he bailed out Mike Duffy.
Margaret Wente: If only Senator Duffy had sipped his Scotch quietly
Mr. Duffy’s survival is of no importance. But Nigel Wright is big game indeed. And when you are the PM’s chief of staff, you ought to know that you can’t give money to a Senator who is having audit difficulties, even if you feel awfully sorry for him.
The Conservative Party of Canada as Performance Art
The great satirists running our government continue the joke with Mike Duffy’s implosion.
(The Tyee) Like all true artists, Harper and his followers grew up alienated from the ordinary Canadians around them. Others might rejoice in being part of a just society, multiculturalism, and a country that the world respected. The proto-Conservatives of the 1970s and 1980s despised all that, not to mention the parliamentary democracy that had given birth to them.
Outsiders understand insiders very well; insiders rarely have a clue about outsiders. So Harper and his followers took the measure of the Liberals, Progressive Conservatives, and New Democrats, and developed a political movement inspired more by Dada than by fiscal or social conservatism.
Pierre Poilievre, meet Buster Keaton
In the process they developed a new form of satire, in which they could recite gibberish as “talking points” and millions of Canadians would nod as if they made sense. A movement developed within the Conservatives, with various MPs competing to see who could get away with the most outrageous assertion. The master at this is Pierre Poilievre, who became the Buster Keaton of this deadpan comedy art form with his classic one-liner, “The root cause of terrorism is terrorists.”
17 May
Pamela Wallin forced out of Tory caucus over preliminary audit results
(CTV) Prime Minister Stephen Harper forced Sen. Pamela Wallin out of the Conservative caucus after learning the preliminary findings of an audit looking into her travel expenses, a source has told CTV News.
Wallin issued a statement Friday evening saying she has recused herself from the caucus as she awaits the results of the external audit.
But a source told CTV’s Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife that the audit has already raised serious questions about Wallin’s spending, which involves hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Sen. Pamela Wallin leaving Conservative caucus, as Harper signals he’s losing patience … Both senators said they resigned, but it has become clear the developments are the result of Harper losing patience with Tories whose questionable expenses could be seen as bringing his Conservative government into disrepute.
As the Senate spending scandal deepens, Harper has apparently decided that any MPs or senators under investigation will be required to sit as independents and defend their actions outside of caucus.
Mike Duffy is blameless. Also, he is eight feet tall and covered in fur
“The PM was not aware of the specifics,” Andrew MacDougall, Mr. Harper’s director of communications, has said of this transaction when asked – a statement that at least doesn’t further strain the nation’s already overtaxed credulity: It could mean only that Mr. Harper didn’t know whether the cheque used was one of those scenic ones with pastel pine trees on it or the plain kind.
Michael Den Tandt: This scandal will linger even after Duffy’s departure from the Conservative caucus
“There’s blood in the water,” as a former editor of mine used to say, cheerfully, whenever a story like this came along. All that’s left now is to watch how many get eaten and in what order. This is Ottawa at its most brutal. The Harper Conservatives know the phenomenon well, having delighted in it when they were in opposition. They expect no quarter, and will be given none.
Tories exhibit same sense of entitlement they denounced in Liberals: Hébert
The latest developments in the Mike Duffy affair have exposed a systemic malaise that pervades the current government from bottom to top
Aside from Duffy’s own travails with accountability, the latest developments have exposed a systemic malaise that pervades the current government from bottom to top.
That starts with the misplaced sense of caucus solidarity that saw Conservative MPs close ranks around Duffy for so long.
16 May
Senator Mike Duffy’s statement on resigning from Conservative caucus The beginning of the end, we profoundly hope. Mike Duffy: Now what? Mike Duffy has always been a larger-than-life character in political Ottawa, a chortling bundle of affable good cheer, prodigious appetites, nudge-wink insider gossip, political acumen, relentless name-dropping and unvarnished ambition. He’s also been an unapologetic bridge-burner.
Andrew Coyne: The only right thing left for Mike Duffy to do now is resign
The bailout of Mike Duffy by the prime minister’s chief of staff is so astonishingly ill-judged it is difficult to know where to begin.
PM’s Chief Of Staff Paid Off Mike Duffy Senate Expenses
(HuffPost) Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s chief of staff Nigel Wright wrote a personal cheque worth more than $90,000 to pay back Senator Mike Duffy’s living expenses, Harper’s office confirmed Wednesday.
13 May
Prime Minister expected to conduct ‘major’ Cabinet shuffle this summer
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will be making more strategic decisions on where he wants to take the party and what he wants to showcase.
(Hill Times) Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s majority-governing Conservatives have been on the defensive over the last few weeks with $3.1-billion of public funds unaccounted for, a possible split in the party’s caucus and sagging public opinion poll numbers, so a summer Cabinet shuffle and fall Throne Speech are likely in the cards in order to “reinvigorate” the government, say Conservative insiders.
10 May
Andrew Coyne: Conservatives’ reputation as the ‘Nasty Party’ is well-deserved
(O Canada) When they are not refusing to disclose what they are doing, they are giving out false information; when they allow dissenting opinions to be voiced, they smear them as unpatriotic or worse; when they open their own mouths to speak, it is to read the same moronic talking points over and over, however these may conflict with the facts, common courtesy, or their own most solemn promises.
Secretive, controlling, manipulative, crude, autocratic, vicious, unprincipled, untrustworthy, paranoid … Even by the standards of Canadian politics, it’s quite the performance. We’ve had some thuggish or dishonest governments in the past, even some corrupt ones, but never one quite so determined to arouse the public’s hostility, to so little apparent purpose. Their policy legacy may prove short-lived, but it will be hard to erase the stamp of the Nasty Party.
Perhaps, in their self-delusion, the Tories imagine this is all the fault of the Ottawa media, or the unavoidable cost of governing as Conservatives in a Liberal country. I can assure them it is not. The odium in which they are now held is well-earned, and entirely self-inflicted.
Jeffrey Simpson: We all pay for the government’s hockey ads
There is no rational link any more between the original plan and today’s policies, since the short-term measures in the plan have largely expired. Its continued use in messaging, and the use of taxpayers’ dollars to extol its virtues, is to convey the government’s central political objective: that it is focused on the economy in a series of co-ordinated ways.
At Issue: Trouble for Conservatives?
Polls suggest the Conservatives are losing support. Should they be worried?
8 May
Harper Government Spends Millions Monitoring Press Of Own MPs
The Harper government has spent more than $23 million over the last two years on media monitoring — including more than $2.4 million tracking some of its own backbench MPs in television interviews, radio and print, according to documents tabled in the House of Commons earlier this week.
The names of 65 Conservative backbench MPs — or just about 64 per cent of all Tory MPs who have no ministerial or any parliamentary secretary duties — are included in a list of search terms the federal government paid third-party contractors to monitor in news media from April, 2011 to December, 2012, although some of the terms were also monitored in early 2013.
27 April
‘Little-known war’ of 1812 a big deal for Ottawa
(Globe & Mail) The Harper government looked to Sylvester Stallone for inspiration when it tried to overcome Canadians’ apathy and ignorance about the War of 1812, and the movie-trailer-style commercial it funded to celebrate the bicentennial was heavily micromanaged by senior players in Ottawa, documents show.
It’s further evidence of of how serious a political imperative the remembrance of the 200-year-old conflict is for the Harper Conservatives, who have sought to give military exploits a greater role in Canada’s identity.
18 April
Allan Gregg: The democratic danger of political attack ads
If negative advertising is so effective, maybe the media and politicians should ask themselves why other big advertisers (who are far more experienced and savvy) do not employ these same tactics.
5 April
A sympathetic and reasonable argument
Kelly McParland: The anti-abortion case against Mark Warawa and his rebellious MPs
… The micromanagement of caucus has unquestionably been taken to greater lengths by this party leader than by any previous Conservative. Initially, I’d suggest, because he had no choice. …
Has Harper gone too far? Probably. But not necessarily because he’s an intolerant autocrat, as the opposition chorus would suggest. … As they are discovering, as the U.S. Republicans discovered, and as the Wildrose Party discovered in in the most recent Alberta election, there is a very high price to be paid for allowing your party to be identified with its most outspoken elements. The price is, you lose. Stephen Harper doesn’t like to lose.
31 March
Andrew Coyne: Mob rule versus Mark Warawa
Tory ‘rogues’ being silenced by a frightened, mindless mob
What we have been watching these past few days is an exercise in raw power politics, designed as much to humiliate the individual in question as anything else. …
This is what has become of MPs, then — the people we elect to represent us, the ones who are supposed to give voice to our beliefs and stand up for our interests. They may not vote, in the vast majority of cases, except as the leader tells them. They may no longer, as of this week, bring private member’s bills or motions, except those the leader accepts. They may not even speak in the House, unless the leader allows.
26 March
Tory MPs rebel against Prime Minister’s Office control
Conservative MPs complain of control over member’s statements, motions
19 February
Conservative Support Has Taken Huge Tumble Since 2011 Election, EKOS Poll Finds
(HuffPost) When EKOS asked Canadians which party they would vote for if an election were held tomorrow, Conservatives garnered just 29.3 per cent support — nearly a 10-point decrease since the party won 39.6 per cent of the vote in the 2011 federal election.
EKOS President Frank Graves told iPolitics the numbers indicate “the government now is in a much more tenuous position with the electorate than it was at the time it gained its majority.”
However, Liberals shouldn’t get too excited. When considering only ‘likely’ voters, meaning those who voted in the 2011 federal election, Liberals earned only 21.2 per cent, with the Conservatives at 33.7 per cent support and the NDP at 30.1 per cent. … the poll indicates the Tories face other challenges besides a Trudeau-led Liberal Party. Slightly more than 51 per cent of those polled believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, compared with 35.4 per cent who think it’s headed in the right direction. “Levels of economic optimism also continue to decline to historical nadirs,” according to EKOS.
11 February
Kai Nagata: Brazeau Just Latest Thrown Under Bus by Harper
PM shows, again, his talent for discarding people once deemed vital to his aims.
(The Tyee) Harper has demonstrated remarkable resilience in the face of scandal. He will defend his wayward minions for days or weeks in the face of public outrage, so long as they are being judged in the context of his leadership. All that time, he is waiting for his moment, because he knows their weaknesses better than they do. After all, he hired them.
7 February
Patrick Brazeau Kicked Out Of Tory Caucus; Senator Reportedly In Police Custody
(HuffPost) Brazeau will continue to sit as a senator and draw his $132,300 salary. He won’t be allowed to sit as a Conservative Party member or attend caucus meetings.

National Research Council of Canada

Allan Gregg: 1984 in 2012 – The Assault on Reason
Notes for Remarks to Carleton University – September 5, 2012
It was only when we began to imagine that man and society was, if not perfectible, certainly improvable, that optimism and scientific endeavour sought to propel mankind forward.
And more than anything else, societal progress has been advanced by enlightened public policy that marshals our collective resources towards a larger public good. Once again it has been reason and scientific evidence that has delineated effective from ineffective policy. We have discovered that effective solutions can only be generated when they correspond to an accurate understanding of the problems they are designed to solve. Evidence, facts and reason therefore form the sine qua non of not only good policy, but good government.
I have spent my entire professional life as a researcher, dedicated to understanding the relationship between cause and effect. And I have to tell you, I’ve begun to see some troubling trends. It seems as though our government’s use of evidence and facts as the bases of policy is declining, and in their place, dogma, whim and political expediency are on the rise. And even more troubling …. Canadians seem to be buying it.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

How Ottawa’s plan to foster wireless competition sank
RITA TRICHUR, SEAN SILCOFF AND BOYD ERMAN
(Globe & Mail) In 2008, the government came up with a plan to set aside a portion of publicly owned radio waves – the means by which cellphone and other signals fly through the air – for new entrants to the wireless market. Three new companies – Wind Mobile, Mobilicity and Public Mobile – were among those newcomers who took part in the auction.
There appeared to be pent-up demand for the new challengers.
… Three years later, the future is looking less friendly for Joe Canuck. Wireless prices have come down, but the government’s goal of creating viable alternatives to the Big Three in a $19-billion industry is teetering toward collapse. …
The political costs of a failed policy could be significant. The Conservative government has invested political capital in making life better for wireless consumers, tapping into public sentiment over long-term contracts and hidden fees. The deep financial problems of the new players are putting pressure on Industry Minister Christian Paradis to either help the new entrants with more regulation or admit defeat and allow the upstarts to fail or get swallowed up by Telus, Rogers or BCE Inc. – leaving the market in much of Canada exactly where it was in 2008.
17 May
Matthew Fisher: Chris Hadfield, global sensation, got there with lots of Canadian help that may not be there in the future
(Postmedia) Hadfield’s talents did not grow in a vacuum. Lots of Canadian money was required to create the conditions that permitted him to flourish as a CF-18 Hornet pilot in Alberta, Texas and Maryland and to later become a revered astronaut, unofficial spokesman for NASA and global advocate for space exploration.
It would be a pity if Canada’s newest American icon and international YouTube sensation was permanently grounded at the height of his fame and influence because the Harper government decided that the country was no longer wealthy enough to afford to properly support him and other Canadian astronauts and scientists and engineers through the Canadian Space Agency. It is a subject that Hadfield will surely not be shy about bringing up when Prime Minister Stephen Harper inevitably tries to bask in this Canadian superstar’s reflected glory by inviting him for a grip and grin on Parliament Hill or at 24 Sussex Drive.
13 May
Tories ‘doing away with research’ in more cuts at Agriculture and Agri-Food, say unions
Nearly 1,000 public servants at six departments told last week their jobs could soon be gone.
(Hill Times) “Basically, they’re doing away with research. If you’re not going to facilitate industry, creating a gimmick for sale in two years, they don’t want to hear from you. Basically every research program that sort of put Canada ahead worldwide in agriculture, these guys just don’t see a value for any more,” said Bob Kingston, president of the Agriculture Union, which represents 235 of the affected Agriculture workers.
The cuts affect 144 commerce officers, 79 scientists, 76 IT specialists, 29 engineers, 14 biologists, five research managers and three procurement officers represented by the Public Service Alliance of Canada.
Paul Wells – Science in Canada: Failure doesn’t come cheap
(Maclean’s) Congratulations, National Research Council: Just about the only international coverage for your recent change in approach is this article in Slate …
I’ve been in Ottawa so long I’m well trained: My first instinct was to check whether the article’s author is a Canadian with a long history of donations to the Liberal party. But no: Phil Plait is one of the more prominent science bloggers in the U.S.
Phil Plait: Canada Sells Out Science
(Slate) Over the past few years, the Canadian government has been lurching into antiscience territory. For example, they’ve been muzzling scientists, essentially censoring them from talking about their research. Scientists have fought back against this, though from what I hear with limited success.
But a new development makes the situation appear to be far worse. In a stunning announcement, the National Research Council—the Canadian scientific research and development agency—has now said that they will only perform research that has “social or economic gain”.
This is not a joke. I wish it were.
John MacDougal, President of the NRC, literally said, “Scientific discovery is not valuable unless it has commercial value”. Gary Goodyear, the Canadian Minister of State for Science and Technology, also stated “There is [sic] only two reasons why we do science and technology. First is to create knowledge … second is to use that knowledge for social and economic benefit. Unfortunately, all too often the knowledge gained is opportunity lost.”
8 May
National Research Council’s business-friendly overhaul gets mixed reviews
Major changes that will shift the focus of the National Research Council from basic science towards more business-friendly research betray a serious misunderstanding of scientific progress, critics of the move say. …
The structural changes announced Tuesday to the NRC will come from the streamlining of approximately two-dozen different departments – “institute fiefdoms,” as Goodyear called them – into groups focused on specific sectors of the economy, such as the automotive sector.
Goodyear said the NRC will support businesses across the country through research centres in each province. McDougall said this organizational change means that any department of the NRC can be accessed from across the country.
McDougall said the changes make the research agency a more attractive partner for industry, as it will focus on technological innovation to provide products for Canadian industry.
Andrew Coyne: New research council mandate shows Conservative’s hostility to free market
The redirection of public funds from basic to applied research may be bad science, but it is even worse economics. Whatever the distortion of the NRC’s raison d’etre is implied, it is nothing compared to the distortion of the economy. Far from a pragmatic matching of public research dollars to the real-word needs of industry, it reveals a basic confusion about the appropriate public and private roles in funding research.
Pure research is the practical approach
(Ottawa Citizen op-ed) … the NRC should aim to serve the long-term well being of Canadians, rather than funding business solutions for companies who could pay for those solutions themselves. Corporate welfare is one potential danger of these changes, though it’s not the most hazardous potential outcome. There are essential partnership opportunities between government and industry. After all, the obscure territory between private and public goods is a minefield; quite often advances in industry serve the country and the world, and public-private endeavours often produce benefits that neither sector could achieve on its own.
The disconcerting bit of these changes isn’t that industry now seems to be in charge of the NRC; such a claim is probably overstated. The problem with this approach is that it will be, contrary to government expectations, less effective at serving Canadians.
7 May
National Research Council: Harper Tories Tell Agency To Focus On Industry, Not Raw Science
(Canadian Press via HuffPost) The government says the council traditionally was a supporter of business, but has wandered from that mandate in recent years — and will now get back to working on practical applications for industries.
The council has become a loose web of individual fiefdoms, each pursuing its own goals, Gary Goodyear, minister of state for science and technology, told a news conference Tuesday.
The result, he said, was an inflexible agency that had lost its ability to respond to the demands and needs of industry. (CBC) National Research Council now aims for ‘commercial value’ ‘Job-neutral’ restructuring to make agency streamlined, efficient and functional, president says
Michael Den Tandt: Behold, the revamped National Research Council — now at your service
The NRC has always been primarily an applied science body – but one whose work was led by scientists. Its notable historical successes, noted in the minister’s media kit, include the invention of the pacemaker (1940s), canola (1950s), computer animation (1970s) and the space shuttle’s Canadarm (1980s). That begs this question: Can the system that produced these innovations be so fundamentally flawed, that it needs to be reinvented?
One benefit of paying smart people to invent and develop technologies they think will be useful, as opposed to business managers requesting help with their research, and NRC staff having to choose among these requests, is simplicity. Another benefit of pure research, obviously, is that scientists bent on furthering knowledge have often reached breakthroughs that only later proved to have commercial applications. I’m thinking of Crick and Watson and their discovery of the structure of DNA in 1953. There are other examples too numerous to mention.
Research council’s makeover leaves Canadian industry setting the agenda
As part of the overhaul, the NRC is consolidating its disparate operations into a dozen business units and will focus on just five core areas of research: health costs, manufacturing, community infrastructure, security, and natural resources and the environment. Companies, or industries, will be able to tap the NRC’s expertise and labs, while sharing the cost of projects – as well as the intellectual property that results.
Canada drops out of race to tap methane hydrates
Funding ended for research into how to exploit world’s largest fossil energy resource
Canada is abandoning a 15-year program that was researching ways to tap a potentially revolutionary energy source, just as Japan is starting to use the results to exploit the new fossil-fuel frontier: methane hydrates.
See also: Methane hydrates: Energy’s most dangerous game – Oct. 2008
3 May
$1 million for smart energy solutions
Funding from Natural Resources Canada bolsters innovation in building technology
Montreal, May 3, 2013 – In a climate as prone to extremes as Canada’s, buildings are often inefficient to heat, light and cool. Fortunately, innovative solutions are being explored through the NSERC Smart Net-zero Energy Buildings Strategic Network (SNEBRN), a nationwide university initiative headquartered at Concordia, which has just received $1 million in new funding from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan).
The funding will help the network conduct further research and testing of progressive technologies, and to explore how to more efficiently integrate these technologies into buildings. The research has two principle aims: “proof of concept” studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of new technologies, and validation studies that show how these technologies can be integrated in the built environment. More
Harper commits $82M to clean-energy projects
New money for carbon-capture research in Alberta’s oilsands
(CBC) Fifteen projects will test the feasibility of various technologies, and 40 will be research and development projects aimed at bringing ideas to the testing stage. Energy efficiency, bioenergy, transportation, clean energy, unconventional oil and gas are some of the research areas.
The companies getting the funding are spread across seven provinces and two territories. The cash comes from the ecoENERGY Innovation Initiative program from the 2011 budget.
Harper made the $82 million announcement after touring CO2 Solutions Inc. in Quebec City with Industry Minister Christian Paradis and Veterans Affairs Minister Steven Blaney.
30 April
Science Cuts And Muzzling In Canada: How Conservatives Reshaped A Discipline
(HuffPost) The often antagonistic relationship between the governing Conservatives and Canada’s scientific community turned acrimonious soon after the Tories won a minority government in 2006 .
The government also went to work on a new national science and technology strategy with little input from the national science adviser’s office, Dufour said.
Announced by Harper in 2007, the strategy, called “Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada’s Advantage,” marked a major shift away from scientific goals to economic and labour-market priorities. The strategy established three priorities for science in Canada: to make the country a magnet for skilled people; to translate knowledge into commercial applications to generate wealth; and to lead developments that generate health, environmental, societal, and economic benefits.
Then, in early in 2008, Harper announced the elimination of the Office of the National Science Advisor.
29 April
Hope for Canada’s living laboratory
Water researchers across the country are breathing a sigh of relief as they learned that the Ontario government will support Canada’s Experimental Lakes Area through 2013.
When the federal government announced in May 2012 that it was no longer going to fund the $2 million program, researchers from across Canada and around the world stood up in protest, concerned that they were losing an important tool for understanding how to address threats to the quality of our lakes, streams, wetlands, and groundwater.
… The ELA is a unique facility located in Northwestern Ontario that allows scientists to study how the conditions of landscapes surrounding lakes and streams influence the health and behaviour of the water itself. It is the only place on Earth where watersheds can be studied in such a comprehensive manner.
1 April [We hope this is not an April Fool]
Information watchdog to investigate ‘muzzling’ of government scientists
Federal policies that restrict what government scientists can say publicly about their work are about to be put under the microscope.
(Globe & Mail) Federal Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault has agreed to investigate how government communications rules on taxpayer-funded science impact public access to information.
The complaint alleges that by keeping government scientists from speaking out about their work, the public is denied the chance to request records – because no one is ever made aware they exist in the first place.
The complaint “alleges that the right of access to information under the act is impeded by government policies, practices or guidelines that restrict or prohibit government scientists from speaking with the media and the Canadian public,” Legault’s office responded, saying it “falls with the scope” of the legislative mandate.
In addition to four government departments and two agencies cited in the complaint, Legault said she will also examine the Treasury Board Secretariat “because of its role in relation to the development and implementation of government policies.”
22 February
Censorship is alive and well in Canada – just ask government scientists
(Globe & Mail) … Oh wait, you can’t ask them, because they’ve got duct tape over their mouths (metaphorical duct tape, but hey – it’s still painful). This week the University of Victoria’s Environmental Law Clinic and Democracy Watch asked federal Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault to investigate claims that scientists are being prohibited from speaking freely with journalists – and through them, the public.
In a report called Muzzling Civil Servants: A Threat to Democracy, the UVic researchers present some chilling findings: Scientists are either told not to speak to journalists or to spout a chewed-over party line, rubber-stamped by their PR masters; the restrictions are particularly tight when a journalist is seeking information about research relating to climate change or the tar sands; Environment Canada scientists require approval from the Privy Council Office before speaking publicly on sensitive topics “such as climate change or protection of polar bear and caribou.”

2012

10 October
Governing in the dark: Ottawa’s dangerous unscientific revolution
Evidence-free decisions are merely uneducated guesswork. Scientific evidence is a form of insurance, a comparatively inexpensive yet effective way to ensure that much larger investments in government programs are not wasted, that opportunities are not squandered, and that others will not have to shoulder the burden of (whoops!) undesired and unanticipated consequences. In other words, scientific evidence forms the basis for true public accountability. And isn’t accountability the horse on which Harper rode into Parliament?
(Toronto Star) Most Canadians understand that our well-being depends on science. But Canadian science is under assault. And scientists, like Peter Finch in the film Network, are mad as hell. In July, more than 2,000 of them staged a mock funeral for scientific evidence on Parliament Hill to protest the Harper government’s dismantling of Canadian institutions that collect scientific evidence, the muzzling of government scientists, and the erosion of the role of scientific evidence in public debate and regulatory decisions.
… Predictably, the next day Minister of State for Science and Technology Gary Goodyear issued a hasty press release pointing out that the last budget included a $1.1 billion investment in science. Even the lay public saw through this embarrassingly transparent attempt to dodge the issue, which was about the gathering, unfiltered dissemination and use of scientific evidence, not about the funding of science writ large.
Even so, close examination of the $1.1 billion investment shows that much has been allocated to industry and commercial science partnerships. Meanwhile, the proportion of funding allocated to basic research, such as the budget of the Discovery Grants program of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, has been dropping steadily since 2006.
Ottawa set to ban Chinese firm from telecommunications bid
(Globe & Mail) Citing a rarely used national-security protocol, Ottawa has sent a signal to Chinese telecom equipment giant Huawei Technologies that it would block the firm from bidding to build the Canadian government’s latest telecommunications and e-mail network.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper fielding questions about Huawei on Tuesday said Ottawa recently invoked an infrequently used national-security exception that allows it to override trade agreement obligations and restrict bidders on contracts to supply parts of what’s been called Ottawa’s super network: a secure, centralized pipe for e-mail, phone calls and data.
Ottawa is being coy about which countries or suppliers will be locked out. But Mr. Harper’s director of communications hinted strongly that Huawei would be left in the cold.
9 October
John Ivison: China relationship requires fine balance between trade and security
When written in Chinese, the word “crisis” is composed of two characters — one represents opportunity and the other danger.
This is particularly apropos in light of Canada’s current China crisis — the potential for increased trade comes at a time when the Asian giant is spying on us and stealing our technology.
David Skillicorn, professor at the School of Computing at Queen’s University, said the company was heavily implicated in the theft of technology from former Canadian tech darling, Nortel Networks. Reports after Nortel went bankrupt in 2009 suggested hackers had wandered unimpeded inside Nortel’s networks, including the chief executive’s terminal, for a decade.
China Calls Huawei Report ‘Groundless’
(WSJ) China issued its strongest statement yet against a U.S. congressional report urging U.S. business to spurn two Chinese telecommunications companies, saying the move could hurt relations between the countries. And we would expect some other statement?
Canada ‘at risk’ from Chinese firm, U.S. warns
Head of U.S. committee says ordinary Canadians should be worried about Huawei
(CBC) In a scathing report released Monday in Washington, the congressional committee branded Huawei a threat to U.S. national security, and urged American telecommunications companies using the Chinese firm to “find other vendors.” The committee concluded that allowing Huawei to help build American networks could potentially be used by Chinese cyber-spies to steal U.S. state and commercial secrets, or even to disrupt everything from electrical power grids to banking systems in a time of conflict.
But in an exclusive interview with CBC News, committee chairman Mike Rogers warns that Canada is equally at risk. More Chinese telecom presence in Canada: security threat?
Chinese telecom giants Huawei, ZTE may be a security threat for Canada, U.S.: reports
(Yahoo!News Canada) Canada’s Communications Security Establishment also included Huawei in a report about potential threats to Ottawa’s communications and computer networks, show the documents obtained by the Globe under access-to-information legislation. A briefing note says that while Canada can’t block foreign technology, it should include computer security requirements in any government procurement contracts.
The warning apparently applies to network equipment the companies sell, such as routers and switches, but not to their mobile phones and other handheld devices. … The controversy is part of the ongoing suspicion that China is using its expanding global business interests as a direct instrument of government policy. It underlies the debate over whether the federal government should approve the $15-billion takeover of Calgary-based energy company Nexen Inc. by state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corp.
20 August
A not-quite Midas touch: Harper heads to Arctic with mixed record
(Brandon Sun) Each of the last six summers, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has journeyed to the North, sprinkling throughout its remote communities promises of federal funding and development.
But it seems that what Harper tries to turn to gold in his visits up North doesn’t always stay that way.
Many projects he has announced for the region in recent years are behind schedule and some places he stops later find themselves falling on hard times.
Last year, Harper visited the Kluane National Park, home of Mount Logan, Canada’s highest mountain. There, he announced a new visitor’s centre and extolled the region’s “lush valleys, immense ice fields (and) spectacular mountains.”
But a research station located just outside its gates has since had its federal funding cut, and the last federal budget will also see the national park’s services cut as well.
In 2010, Harper pronounced Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, as the home of the new Canadian High Arctic research station. The station had first been announced in the 2007 federal budget. …
Construction on the new station is behind schedule and while there was a commitment in the 2012 budget to continue supporting it, a formal dollar figure has yet to be announced.
Meanwhile, in addition to the closure of the Kluane facility, Canada’s northernmost research lab was also focused to shut its doors.
The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory was used by scientists from around the world but was unable to secure enough money from both the federal government and other sources to keep operating.
13 July
How Evidence Died
(The Death of Evidence) Democracy depends on informed opinion. Informed opinion relies on understanding all the evidence, not just that which supports a political objective or ideology. Science provides much of the best evidence, without regard to political agendas or ideology.
The Harper government has embarked on a systematic program to impede and divert the flow of scientific information to Canadians through two major strategies. The first involves the gutting of programs and institutions whose principal mandate is the collection of scientific evidence.
… Mr. Harper’s second strategy is perhaps less overt, but even more insidious: to impede the bringing forward of scientific evidence into the public debate.
How Can We Have Evidence-Based Policy Without Evidence?
(HuffPost) Last week, StatsCan quietly continued this trend when it published a media advisory listing programs identified for elimination or reduction to meet savings targets that were announced in the Economic Action Plan 2012 ($33.9 million by 2014-15).
… the cuts promise considerable future costs because they compromise the tools used to understand the state. This, in turn, has a high probability of leading to decisions that are no longer based on evidence, and therefore are likely to be ineffective uses of public money. Reductions to Statistics Canada activity are not new. Preceding the census cuts, the agency moved three of four key longitudinal surveys that were initiated in the 1990s to the “inactive list”: the National Population Health Survey; the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, and the Workplace and Employment Survey. These information-rich surveys involve repeated observations of the same people over long periods of time and began tracking Canadians in the early 1990s. We are no longer measuring outcomes for these individuals.
Last week’s cuts, which affect 34 surveys, brought an end to the fourth of the longitudinal surveys started in the 1990s: The Survey of Labour and Income Dynamics (SLID), which provides an understanding of the economic well-being of Canadians. [Emphasis added]

I was so proud of the scientific community yesterday. We had a great turnout, and shared a real sense of community around the need to speak out against these dreadful changes.
The other misinformation that is being spread is that this is about scientists wanting more money for their research, which is not the primary issue either. My friend Arne … made the analogy to a family. He said that in a democracy, we have to behave as grownups. We have to discuss facts, and decide on priorities based on evidence and information. When we cease to use information as the basis for decisions (policies, spending priorities), we are living in fairy land. That is the crux of what scientists are upset about – not the cuts per se but the implications of the cuts, and of other policies for the use of data and sharing of information, for informed policy decisions. Yes, the cuts are hurting our research bottom line, but that is not as important as the fact that the cuts contribute to a set of actions that take aim at all evidence-based approaches to informed policy. (Jeff’s interview on the CBC news [Dalhousie professor pans DFO cuts] makes these points eloquently).
- Jeannette Whitton, Associate Professor, Department of Botany | Director, UBC Herbarium, Beaty Biodiversity Museum | The University of British Columbia

11 July
Why Canada’s scientists need our support
Protests by scientists in Canada may seem like a national issue, but their funding cuts could have a global impact
(The Guardian) They weren’t simply sticking up for their pay cheques, they were sticking up for the right to ask difficult questions and provide uncomfortable knowledge, in particular when it comes to the Arctic. They were sticking up for the things they research as well as the right to keep doing their research. They were sticking up for the planet. The Canadian scientists who spoke to the Guardian were keen to stress this is less about research budgets versus the rest of the economy, and more simply evidence versus ideology.There have been mumbles that science in Canada was more than usually difficult for a while. In February, there were reports that scientists had won a historic battle when, in a private meeting on the impact of oil sands extraction in Alberta, they’d stood up for independent pollution monitoring. I read this concerned that they’d been put into a situation like that meeting in the first place.
In May, many were shocked to hear the Canadian government had cancelled its funding for the Experimental Lakes Area, a laboratory complex over 58 remote lakes in north-west Ontario that has been running since the 1960s. As one scientist told Nature magazine, it’s like turning off the world’s best telescope.
Canada’s natural resources minister might complain about foreign campaigners and “jet-setting celebrities” trying to hijack their country with their opposition to local environmental policy, but there are reasons why there was international outcry about the Experimental Lakes Area. Scientists from all over the world studied there for generations: it’s where the first evidence for acid rain came from. There are also reasons Canada won Fossil of the Year at the Durban talks last December, why the Daily Mail mentions Canadian people appealing to the Queen over Alberta oil sands and why, despite having passed an austerity budget in April, the Canadian government still found money to invest in Arctic drones. We can’t pretend Canadian science is simply a Canadian matter any more than we can pretend we can separate the natural world from our political decisions.
10 July
Canadian scientists protest against spending cuts
(Reuters) – Several hundred Canadian scientists and their supporters held an unprecedented protest march on Tuesday to demonstrate against the government’s decision to close down major facilities and fire research staff.
“Evidence is the way that adults navigate reality. To deny evidence is to live in a fairy world … when countries engage in fantasy it’s called state propaganda,” Simon Fraser University professor Arne Moores told a crowd of around 800 people gathered on Parliament Hill.
Scientists rally on Parliament Hill to mourn ‘Death of evidence’– Canadian scientists aren’t normally among the placard-waving crowd on Parliament Hill.
But today in Ottawa, scientists invoking an image of the Grim Reaper will take on the Stephen Harper government for what they call the “Death of evidence” brought about by federal cuts to everything from the long-form census to closure of the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory in Nunavut.
Unique glacier research facility in Yukon hit by federal cuts
Scientists at Kluane Lake research station hoping for a reprieve
National News: Statement on the Harper Government’s Support for Science, Technology and Innovation
The Honourable Gary Goodyear, Minister of State (Science and Technology), today issued the following statement:
“The Harper government has made historic investments in science, technology and research to create jobs, grow our economy and improve the quality of life for Canadians.
“Support for science and technology has been a fundamental priority of our government since 2006. This year, through Economic Action Plan 2012, we enhanced federal government support for leading-edge research.
“As a world leader in post-secondary research with a highly skilled workforce, Canada has strong fundamentals for innovation.
9 July
Canada’s PM Stephen Harper faces revolt by scientists
(The Guardian) Scientists to march through Ottawa in white lab coats in protest at cuts to research and environmental damage
Canada’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, faces a widening revolt by the country’s leading scientists against sweeping cuts to government research labs and broadly pro-industry policies.
Mock funeral for Canadian science
(RCI) The Canadian government has made extensive budget cuts, but scientists say their field is disproportionately affected. They cite several examples: PEARL, a world-renowned Arctic lab which observes the composition of the atmosphere lost its funding as did the Experimental Lakes Area in northwestern Ontario. Also cut was the National Round Table on Environment and Economy. This panel drew from business and science experts to advise the government on policy. University of Ottawa Biology Professor Scott Findlay calls these a few examples of the government’s war on science.
Scientists unite to protest ‘death’ of research
Budget cuts will kill evidence, group argues
(Ottawa Citizen) Budget cuts are only partly to blame for Canada’s loss of federal science, say the scientists who do the research. They also say politics is undermining the research that governments need to make decisions.
With 2,400 biologists coming to town this weekend for a conference, scientists from universities and government labs have organized a protest march to Parliament Hill at noon on Tuesday.
Political science on the Hill
Decision-makers should look to those in white coats for advice
Canadian scientists are notoriously reluctant to get involved in political debates, whether the topic be climate change or cuts to environmental research or amendments to federal laws. They tend to detach themselves from the public debate to concentrate on their academic work or to avoid attacks, for example, by the deniers of climate change. Whether sequestered in an ivory tower or locked in a bunker mentality, scientists are too often absent from debate.
If we are to make proper public policy decisions on issues such as releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere or releasing deleterious substances into rivers, we need to base those decisions on science. As American scientist and philosopher Lawrence Krauss has said, “Every major political issue has a scientific basis.”
That’s not to say scientists should be making the decisions in a democracy. Our elected officials should have the final say, but it is science that should provide the basis for political decisions.
The federal Conservatives seem to have got it the other way around, where they muzzle scientists or cut funding for research that contravenes their political ideology. They are fast-tracking environmental assessments and amending the Fisheries Act, all with an eye to building more pipelines more quickly from Alberta’s oilsands.
(CBC) Scientists rally on Parliament Hill to mourn ‘death of evidence’
5 July
NRC staff enraged by gift cards
Final-day treats ‘kick in the teeth’ for laid-off workers
Have a doughnut on your way out the door. That is the message several dozen employees of the National Research Council took away June 29 as the president of the agency issued gift cards for a coffee and a doughnut to all employees, including 65 who are being laid off this month.
“Thank you for the contribution you have made in helping NRC successfully work through our massive transformation,” read the letter from NRC president John McDougall. “To celebrate our success in gaining government support, here is a token of appreciation: have a coffee and a doughnut on me.”
Hon. Gary Goodyear Government does invest in science and technology
(iPolitics) We all remember the concern over Canada’s brain-drain of the last decade. Under Stephen Harper’s leadership, Canada is now experiencing a brain gain. We are attracting world-class researchers and supporting their work at levels never before seen in this country. Canadian higher-education expenditures on R&D have been the highest in the G7, measured as a percentage of GDP.
30 March
Canadian budget hits basic science
Innovation wins over basic research and the environment
To enhance partnerships between industry and academia, the budget includes a Can$37-million annual boost to the country’s three main granting agencies — the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. But the money will have to come from savings generated within each council. The NSERC and the CIHR have each planned savings of Can$15 million to their approximately Can$1-billion budgets in 2012–13, increasing to Can$30 million for each of the next two years.
27 March
Commercializing R&D to be a key focus in federal budget
Seeing ideas through to the market – a process called commercialization – has been a challenge for Canada’s research and development sector (R&D), with small companies often dying out or being snapped up by multinationals before they can get established in Canada.
As expected, the budget overhauls the National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, which runs most of the federal government’s research laboratories. The reforms follow many of the recommendations put forward last October by an expert panel that reviewed federal investment in the NRC (see ‘Panel would change Canada’s research landscape‘). The NRC has been given Can$67 million specifically for it to refocus on business-driven, industry-relevant research. Earlier this week, Gary Goodyear, the minister of state for science and technology, said the NRC had begun to “lose its focus”, and that it would be transformed into a one-stop shop for businesses and offer concierge services to link businesses with federal programmes aimed at boosting innovation.

The April report focuses on Europe, especially France as a weak link in the euro chain (“The fundamental problem is that French competitiveness has suffered since the introduction of the euro”.);  BCA’s concern was justified by recent news that France has slid into recession.
The commentary on Cyprus and the Middle East also reflects arguments heard at Wednesday Night.

In the May report, BCA underscores its previously stated skepticism regarding Austerity with the header Global Overview – Austerity Is Kaputt, joining our OWN Kimon Valaskakis and the New School of Athens along with a growing chorus led by Paul Krugman. The policy battle is not yet won, however, as the Christian Science Monitor reminds us: EU austerity hawks shrug off criticism of flawed academic paper. Despite a new paper detailing flaws in the Rogoff-Reinhart study that has been used to argue in favor of austerity policies, Europe’s austerity advocates are holding course.
Of equal interest is the section devoted to Evolution Of Cyber Security Threats,  especially in light of last week’s $45 million cyber heist. The report reminds us that:  Information technology is so completely interwoven into the social and economic fabric of modern society that the resultant interdependencies have created a new security paradigm; namely, that physical events have cyber consequences and cyber events have physical or tangible consequences.

The Special Report on the politics of the U.S.comes none too soon, given what is being characterized by some pundits as a scandal trifecta. But, are these really scandals; do they have legs or is much of the politicians’ and pundits’ outrage manufactured? [It’s Scandal Season! Why Obama is suddenly under siege.] What really counts, of course, is the impact these and other events will have on the mid-term elections.
In line with any examination of U.S. politics, it is appropriate to remember Kenneth Waltz, one of the world’s most influential scholars of international relations, who died earlier this week at the age of 88. His books Man, the State, and War and Theory of International Politics are classics in the field, and his influence on students, colleagues, and policymakers was profound. Waltz was a theorist who also delved into the most contentious debates in U.S. foreign policy, opposing the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and earning himself a reputation as a realist far outside the confines of the ivory tower. (Foreign Policy: Requiem for a realist)

Canadian politics – at all levels – offer far juicier fodder. We cannot help but notice that two former journalists, Senators Mike Duffy and Pamela Wallin, are now the subjects of  a scrutiny which they would have delightedly exercised in their previous professional lives.
David (Jones) vs David (Kilgour) debate the meaning of the BC elections
In Toronto, Mayor Ford continues to generate  headlines that are hard to top – but he always seems to manage.

Montreal, where Denis Coderre is at long last a declared candidate for the mayoralty – as of Thursday -  celebrated the 371st anniversary of its founding  on Friday, 17 May. And (coincidence?)  in the latest twist in the Bill 14 debate comes the Open Letter by Jean François Lisée and Diane De Courcy – judged by most to be very cleverly worded propaganda masking the fact that the PQ’s proposals are essentially unaltered and remain unacceptable. Beryl Wajsman continues to militate against the Bill, pointing out in a closely reasoned and constructive piece today that “they failed to address the central point – Bill 14 is not necessary and is nothing but an attempt to solidify the `pur et dur` base through more politics of division. Not enough because the Bill demeans all Quebecers, francophones as well as non-francophones. Not enough because the government is still not willing to stop the economic destruction of Quebec by ceasing to put up these false issues of discord.”

In the furore over Senator Duffy et al. it was barely noticed that Canada, represented by Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq (an interesting departure from tradition) has assumed the chair of the Arctic Council for the next two years. We are relieved that at least this vitally important international body is deemed worthy by our government.

We hope you did not miss the story of the deliciously timed jewelry heist Cannes film festival suffers $1m jewellery theft
BBC reports that The theft [which took place according to the Washington Post at a hotel opposite a municipal police station] happened on the same day that the festival was shown The Bling Ring, a new film by director Sofia Coppola about some high-school students who find out when celebrities are attending red carpet events in order to break into their homes and steal their designer clothes, bags, and shoes. Stephen Kinsman comments: “I bet a pink glove was found in the safe but the French don’t dare tell us. The Pink Panther is alive and well ! Perhaps Inspector Clouseau will make an ‘appearance’…”

I tell you naught for your comfort,
Yea, naught for your desire,
Save that the sky grows darker yet
And the sea rises higher.
– G.K. Chesterton

Deep sea ‘gold rush’ moves closer
(BBC) The prospect of a deep sea “gold rush” opening a controversial new frontier for mining on the ocean floor has moved a step closer.
The United Nations has published its first plan for managing the extraction of so-called “nodules” – small mineral-rich rocks – from the seabed.
A technical study was carried out by the UN’s International Seabed Authority – the body overseeing deep sea mining.
It says companies could apply for licences from as soon as 2016
Conservation experts have long warned that mining the seabed will be highly destructive and could have disastrous long-term consequences for marine life.
The ISA study itself recognizes that mining will cause “inevitable environmental damage”.
But the report comes amid what a spokesman describes as “an unprecedented surge” of interest from state-owned and private mining companies
7 May

Wind patterns are left in the ice pack that covers the Arctic Ocean north of Prudhoe Bay, Alaska March 19, 2011. Picture taken March 19, 2011.
Photo: Lucas Jackson

Acidification: the latest unknown for stressed Arctic ecosystem
(Planet Ark) The Arctic ecosystem, already under pressure from record ice melts, faces another potential threat in the form of rapid acidification of the ocean, according to an international study published on Monday.
Acidification, blamed on the transformation of rising levels of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the air into carbonic acid in the sea, makes it harder for shellfish and crabs to grow their shells, and might also impair fish reproduction, it said.
Cold water absorbs carbon dioxide more readily than warm water, making the Arctic especially vulnerable. The report said the average acidity of surface ocean waters worldwide was now about 30 percent higher than at the start of the Industrial Revolution.
“Arctic marine waters are experiencing widespread and rapid ocean acidification,” said the report by 60 experts for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme, commissioned by the eight nations with Arctic territories.
3 May
The White House Convenes Scientists to Discuss the World’s New Ocean
(Atlantic Wire) Despite its straight-from-science-fiction premise, it’s real: A group of scientists meeting at the White House to discuss a brand-new ocean. Impending Arctic ice melt makes this just another day in the geopolitics of climate change.
11 February
Exploitation of high seas at crisis levels
A commission will analyze threats to international waters — areas more than 200 nautical miles offshore — before next year’s meeting of the United Nations General Assembly in an effort to improve governance of resource use. “Without ever making a conscious decision to do it, we are losing unseen habitats whose equals on land would include the giant redwood glades of North America, the baobabs of Madagascar and Amazon rainforest,” writes Callum Roberts, a marine biologist. The Observer (London) (2/9), The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Green blog (2/11), The Observer (London) (2/9)

2012

Sea level rise “to be far worse” than forecasts
Coastal areas around the world face a greater risk of storm surges and flooding than thought, as sea levels are rising 60% faster than predicted, according to a study by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Researchers said they had excluded causes for the rise in water levels unrelated to climate. The Guardian (London) (11/27), AlertNet/Reuters (11/28)
27 November
Ocean health the focus of Tasmania marine meeting
(Reuters video) Marine scientists from around the world have converged on tiny Maria Island, off the coast of Tasmania, Australia, for a workshop to share research on how human activity is affecting marine diversity around the world.
18 July
U.S.: Republicans Sink Law of the Sea Ratification for Now
(IPS) – Defying the wishes of both the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the U.S. Navy, Republican senators have effectively halted – for now – an effort by the administration of President Barack Obama to gain ratification of the 30-year-old Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST).
The product of some 15 years of negotiations, LOST, which has been ratified by 161 countries and the European Union, sets rules governing most areas of ocean policy, including navigation and over- flight rights, exploitation of the seabed, conservation and research. … , a growing number of [Republicans] have argued that international treaties unduly constrain Washington’s freedom of action in the world and threaten its sovereignty.
10 July
Scientists Declare State of Emergency for World’s Coral Reefs
(IPS) Coral reef scientists urged local and national governments to take action to save the world’s coral reefs and said they’d be “on call 24/7″ to assist politicians and officials.
Without global action to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and greatly improve local protection, most of the world’s coral reefs will be devastated and the benefits they provide billions of people will be lost in the coming decades, scientists warned at the opening of 12th International Coral Reef Symposium (ICRS) in Cairns, Australia … more than 2,500 marine scientists have signed a consensus statement to that effect
Protecting reefs locally may mean reducing fishing, preventing pollution, constraining coastal development and other measures that may be seen as politically risky or difficult. However, scientists stand ready to back up local and global efforts to save reefs.
6 July
“No Future We Want Without the Ocean We Need”
(IPS) – The entire focus of Expo 2012, which completes its three month run Aug. 21, is on the protection of the world’s maritime resources, including overfishing, chemical pollution and warming oceans.
And by accident or by design, the protection of the world’s oceans was one of the few key success stories to come out of the Rio+20 summit in its final plan of action titled “The Future We Want” adopted by world leaders last month.
3 July
Rising sea levels threaten islanders with displacement
(SciDev.Net) A significant rise in sea levels due to global warming could result in the loss of species and habitats in the coastal areas of more than a thousand islands in South-East Asia and the Pacific region, leading to the potential displacement of many millions of people, according to a study.
Some of the areas at risk — such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, East Timor, Papua New Guinea and Thailand — are known biodiversity hotspots. Others, like Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu, possess endemic species.
The study, Future climate change driven sea-level rise: secondary consequences from human displacement for island biodiversity, points out that some species, particularly those mammals that range widely within low-lying coastal zones or in hinterland regions, could be wiped out entirely. People are also likely to have to migrate from coastal areas to island interiors due to permanent flooding in littoral settlements.
24 June
Rising sea levels to hit California hard by 2100
(Planet Ark) Seas could rise higher along the California coastline this century than in other places in the world, increasing the risk of flooding and storm damage, dune erosion and wetland destruction, the U.S. National Research Council reported Friday.
The report looked at how much seas could rise by 2100 along the US West Coast, and found that the water off California’s coast from the Mexican border to Cape Mendocino could rise between 16.5 inches and 66 inches by century’s end, compared to what they were in 2000.
22 June
Ocean Advocates Find Silver Linings After Rio+20 Disappointment
Although agreement was not reached on policing international waters, some firm commitments were made in Brazil.
(National Geographic News) It is not all bad news, just discouraging to hear the French ambassador say that the will of 183 countries concerning developing a framework for governance of the high seas had come unglued owing to opposition from a small number of powerful countries.”
[National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Sylvia] Earle is referring to the United States, Russia, Canada, and Venezuela in particular, who, according to reports, moved to block specific rulemaking on environmental protections in international waters during late-night, closed-door negotiations earlier this week.
…
Earle said she believes the U.S. government is resistant to start negotiations on a new international oceans treaty, since there has been recent movement to ratify the Law of the Sea Treaty, an international agreement that went into effect in 1994 but counts the U.S. as one of a handful of holdout countries. The Law of the Sea Treaty does include some environmental guidelines, but not as many specific protections as Earle would like.
20 June
Sigourney Weaver: At Rio+20 Earth Summit, An Important Step Forward for the World’s Oceans
(OnEarth) Our oceans generate most of our oxygen, regulate our climate, and provide most of our population with sustenance. They are essential to all life on earth. Yet our oceans face a threat as dangerous as any Pandora faced: ocean acidification.
Ocean acidification is an urgent and profound threat to our planet’s ocean life and to the coastal communities that depend upon healthy oceans for food and economic development opportunities. Without healthy populations of ocean fish, or vibrant reefs, many coastal communities could lose their primary food source or their most promising job opportunity. We cannot prosper unless the ocean prospers, too.
Despite the seriousness of this threat, too few people know about this issue. That is why I teamed up with the Natural Resources Defense Council (which publishes OnEarth) to create the movie ACID TEST: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification. It is critical that more people become aware of, and urge their lawmakers to address, ocean acidification.
19 June
Furious Greenpeace moves to ‘war footing’ at Rio+20
Pace quickens at Rio summit, as NGO director responds to weakened oceans proposals with promise of civil disobedience
15 June
The Mystery of the Sinking South Pacific Islands
(Spiegel) Environmentalist organizations have used images from South Pacific islands to illustrate the disastrous effects of rising sea levels. But a group of French researchers has found that the problem is much more complicated: The islands are also being pulled under by shifting tectonic plates.
And on the other side of the world
Venice’s Eternal Battle against Water
(Spiegel) Slowly but surely, Venice is sinking. The city has battled the water ever since it was founded 1,600 years ago in a marshy lagoon. Now it’s working on a gigantic project to prevent the floods that threaten its future — but experts are divided over whether it will work.
Why small fish need attention on World Oceans Day
Sardines, herring and squid are vital to ocean ecosystems and human economies, but many of them are in danger of overharvesting, writes Ben Enticknap of Oceana. Some activists are hoping the Rio+20 conference will address oceans and marine protections. “This year’s Oceans Day theme is ‘Youth: The Next Wave for Change.’ The future of ocean conservation will soon be in their hands, but we must leave them something to work with,” Enticknap writes. The Oregonian (Portland) (6/8), SciDev.net (6/8)
New global partnership to protect world’s oceans
Law of the Sea faces resistance in U.S. Senate
Some conservative U.S. senators are seeking a postponement of any vote on the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea until after the November elections. The treaty requires a two-thirds approval in the Senate. The Washington Post/Fine Print blog (5/28)
Adapting to rising seas with amphibious homes
The effects of extreme weather, especially floods, are fueling leaps of imagination among architects the world over. Floating houses, prisons and greenhouses are already in place in the Netherlands, which has been managing water since the Middle Ages and has shared its expertise with Indonesia, China, Thailand, Dubai and the Maldives. Architectural Record/The Associated Press (free registration) (4/3)
16 March
Expo 2012 to Focus on Protecting World’s Marine Resources
(IPS) – The United Nations, which is hosting a major international summit on the global environment in Brazil in late June, points out that while the world’s oceans account for 70 percent of the earth’s surface, only one percent of this area is protected.
The growing degradation of the oceans, including overfishing, pollution and loss of biodiversity, will be high on the agenda of the Rio+20 … Touching on many related issues will be Expo 2012, scheduled to take place May 12 through Aug. 12 in South Korea’s coastal city of Yeosu, which will focus on the protection of the world’s oceans and coastlines.
The World Bank today christened the Global Partnership for Oceans, a new coalition aimed at raising $1.5 billion to double protected areas in the world’s oceans, and rebuild fish stocks, to help counteract overfishing, habitat loss and environmental degradation. “Send out the S-O-S: We need to Save Our Seas,” said World Bank President Robert Zoellick. The Guardian (London) (2/24), Al-Jazeera (2/24)

2011

Island nations seek UN climate action
Leaders of island nations on Saturday pleaded with the United Nations to move more quickly to reduce carbon emissions worldwide in order to prevent flooding and damage from more severe storms in light of rising sea levels attributed to climate change. “Without international cooperation and concerted effort the impact of climate change will be devastating for all our nations,” Navinchandra Ramgoolam, prime minister of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, told the world body’s General Assembly.The Washington Post/The Associated Press (9/24)
15 July
UN Climate Body Struggling to Pinpoint Rising Sea Levels
(Spiegel) The United Nations’ forecast of how quickly global sea levels will rise this century is vital in determining how much money might be needed to combat the phenomenon. But predictions by researchers vary wildly, and the attempt to find consensus has become fractious.
When the next report from the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is issued in two years, it will include a forecast for how high the world’s oceans might rise by 2100. With 146 million people in the world currently living less than one meter above sea level, the forecast will be vital in determining how much money governments must spend on measures to protect people from the rising waters and to resettle those in the most acute danger.

World’s oceans face severe, rapid degeneration
The speed and rate of degeneration of the world’s oceans is far more severe than previously predicted and is comparable to five mass extinctions on geological record, according to a new report. The report cites the cumulative effects of climate change, seawater acidification, presence of pollutants and overfishing as driving the change, and warns the early stages of significant global extinction may already be under way. The Independent (London) (6/21)
3 May
Seas could rise up to 1.6 meters by 2100: study
(Reuters) – Quickening climate change in the Arctic including a thaw of Greenland’s ice could raise world sea levels by up to 1.6 meters by 2100, an international report showed on Tuesday.
Such a rise — above most past scientific estimates — would add to threats to coasts from Bangladesh to Florida, low-lying Pacific islands and cities from London to Shanghai. It would also, for instance, raise costs of building tsunami barriers in Japan.
“The past six years (until 2010) have been the warmest period ever recorded in the Arctic,” according to the Oslo-based Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP), which is backed by the eight-nation Arctic Council.
3 April 2010
Strange case of the disappearing islands
By Cleo Paskal
(New Zealand Herald) Because the convention [on the Law of the Sea] didn’t take environmental change in to account when it was drafted, it may end up creating new geopolitical hotspots. Some are trying to bypass this by finding bilateral or regional solutions.
As with Tuvalu, the Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives is composed entirely of low-lying coral atolls. Its president, Mohamed Nasheed, has been actively trying to secure a home for his citizens should evacuation prove necessary. One approach was land purchase. According to President Nasheed: “We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere. It’s an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome. After all, the Israelis [began by buying] land in Palestine.”
Another approach is to use the value of national sovereignty to “pay” for relocation. In that model, neighbouring India, for example, would take in the Maldivian immigrants in exchange for India being able to extend its national waters to include Maldivian waters.
The proceeds from this extended EEZ (fisheries rights, seabed mining, etc) could be used to resettle and set up a trust fund for Maldivian immigrants, along the lines of land claim settlements in Canada. Maldivians could also get preferential access to the waters for economic development and, should the islands ever re-emerge, resettlement could be possible. The advantage for India would be an orderly settlement of relatively wealthy immigrants, and an extension of its coastal security zone.
This model might also be applicable in the Pacific. For example, if as the scientists tell us, Tuvalu will eventually need to be evacuated, and New Zealand takes in the bulk of the refugees, that patch of ocean could be administered from New Zealand by and for the benefit of the immigrants, affording resettlement money and economic prospects associated with their old homeland for those who want it.
The administration could be done through a sort of combination government-in-exile and trust.
It is worth noting that the host country need not be New Zealand or Australia. Given the geostrategic importance of the region, a “bidding war” for the immigrants might ensue with countries such as China and Taiwan looking to take in the immigrants in exchange for increased access to the region.
25 March 2010
Rising Sea Levels Swallow Tiny Island, Settle 30-Year Dispute
New Moore Island is now completely submerged underwater. If you’ve never heard of it before, it’s located in the Bay of Bengal and part of the Sundarbans (the largest block of tidal halophytic mangrove forest in the world). It was also part of a 30 year dispute between India and Bangladesh; but at least that’s finally been resolved.
24 November 2009
Rising sea levels: A tale of two cities (Rotterdam and Maputo)
When people talk about the impact of rising sea levels, they often think of small island states that risk being submerged if global warming continues unchecked. But it’s not only those on low-lying islands who are in danger. Millions of people live by the sea – and are dependent on it for their livelihoods – and many of the world’s largest cities are on the coast. By 2050 the number of people living in delta cities is set to increase by as much as 70%, experts suggest, vastly increasing the number of those at risk.
18 October
Maldives cabinet makes a splash
(BBC) The government of the Maldives has held a cabinet meeting underwater to highlight the threat of global warming to the low-lying Indian Ocean nation.
President Mohamed Nasheed and his cabinet signed a document calling for global cuts in carbon emissions.
Ministers spent half an hour on the sea bed, communicating with white boards and hand signals.
Sea changes could bring disaster to Nile Delta
Polar glacier melting is a direct threat to one of the most densely populated regions in the world: Egypt’s Nile Delta. Home to two-thirds of the nation’s growing population, the Nile is susceptible to flooding as much of its long coastline is at or below sea level. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has declared the Nile Delta among the places most vulnerable to a change in sea elevation because even a modest change in sea levels would displace millions. The Guardian (London) (8/21)
19 July
At Risk From Rising Seas, Tuvalu Seeks Clean Power
(Reuters/Planet Ark) Tuvalu and many other low-lying atolls in the Pacific, the Indian Ocean and the Caribbean fear that rising sea levels could wipe them off the map. They want governments to agree a strong new U.N. deal in Copenhagen in December to slow climate change.
3 July
World’s largest ocean observatory takes shape
(University of Victoria) Canada is taking the world on a 25-year non-stop research expedition—into the deep ocean.
Led by the University of Victoria, NEPTUNE Canada pioneers a new generation of ocean observation systems that—using abundant power and the Internet—provide continuous, long-term monitoring of ocean processes and events, as they happen. Land-based researchers across Canada and around the world will use NEPTUNE Canada to conduct offshore and deep-sea experiments and receive real-time data without leaving their laboratories and offices.
Observations from NEPTUNE Canada will have wide-ranging policy applications in the areas of climate change, hazard mitigation (earthquakes and tsunamis), ocean pollution, port security and shipping, resource development, sovereignty and security, and ocean management. Its cutting-edge technologies are already generating commercialization and job creation opportunities.
NEPTUNE Canada is being developed through investments of more than $100 million from the Government of Canada, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, CANARIE, and the Government of British Columbia through the BC Knowledge Development Fund.
27 May
Melting Greenland ice sheets may threaten Northeast United States, Canada
BOULDER–Melting of the Greenland ice sheet this century may drive more water than previously thought toward the already threatened coastlines of New York, Boston, Halifax, and other cities in the northeastern United States and in Canada, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The study finds that if Greenland’s ice melts at moderate to high rates, ocean circulation by 2100 may shift and cause sea levels off the northeast coast of North America to rise by about 12 to 20 inches (about 30 to 50 centimeters) more than in other coastal areas. The research builds on recent reports that have found that sea level rise associated with global warming could adversely affect North America, and its findings suggest that the situation is more threatening than previously believed.
17 May
As Alaska Glaciers Melt, It’s Land That’s Rising
(NYT) JUNEAU, Alaska — Global warming conjures images of rising seas that threaten coastal areas. But in Juneau, as almost nowhere else in the world, climate change is having the opposite effect: As the glaciers here melt, the land is rising, causing the sea to retreat.
Maldives considers plan to relocate residents of island
Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives, has announced an unprecedented — even audacious — plan to try to relocate all 300,000 residents of the Maldives to a different nation. The plan would use tourism revenues to fund a sovereign wealth fund to secure the country’s future should it exist on its own territory or as a sovereign municipality within another area. The Maldives archipelago has an average elevation of 4 feet. New York Times (05/08)
13 March
A sinking feeling
Sea levels are rising twice as fast as had been thought
(The Economist print edition)  SCIENCE and politics are inextricably linked. At a scientific conference on climate change held this week in Copenhagen, four environmental experts announced that sea levels appear to be rising almost twice as rapidly as had been forecast by the United Nations just two years ago. The warning is aimed at politicians who will meet in the same city in December to discuss the same subject and, perhaps, to thrash out an international agreement to counter it.
The reason for the rapid change in the predicted rise in sea levels is a rapid increase in the information available. In 2007, when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change convened by the UN made its prediction that sea levels would rise by between 18cm and 59cm by 2100, a lack of knowledge about how the polar ice caps were behaving was behind much of the uncertainty. Since then they have been closely monitored, and the results are disturbing. Both the Greenland and the Antarctic caps have been melting at an accelerating rate. It is this melting ice that is raising sea levels much faster than had been expected. Indeed, scientists now reckon that sea levels will rise by between 50cm and 100cm by 2100, unless action is taken to curb climate change.
25 January 2009
Warming Trends Alter Conservation
Experts Think Old Paradigm of Fixed Boundaries Will Not Work as Sea Levels Rise
At the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (Photo at right by Andrea Bruce, Washington Post), sea-level rise threatens to drown the brackish marsh on which migrating shorebirds depend. In Northern California, the shrinking snowpack has reduced stream flows that sustain the delta smelt, a federally threatened fish species. Higher summer temperatures in northern Minnesota have depressed the birthrates of the area’s once-populous moose, and just 20 inhabit the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge that was designed in part to shelter them.
As climate change begins to transform the environment in the United States and overseas, policymakers and environmentalists are realizing that the old paradigm of setting aside tracts of land or sea to preserve species that might otherwise disappear is no longer sufficient. Experts are exploring new strategies, focusing on such steps as protecting migration corridors, collecting and transplanting seeds, making sanctuary boundaries flexible and managing forests in novel ways.
30 December 2008
A meltdown tinged with acid
(The Economist) EVEN if they do not live in the Maldives or Bangladesh, most people can appreciate the seriousness of rising sea levels. Much harder to grasp are most of the other consequences of global warming, and especially of the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
About a third of this CO2 ends up in the sea. Over geological time, virtually all the carbon released into the atmosphere has been taken out of it by living organisms and found its way into sediments, most of them in the sea (some has then gone into petroleum deposits). A vast amount of carbon is swilling about or sitting in the deep sea below 200 metres, where a biological pump pushes it round in such a way that any carbon atom entering the depths from the atmosphere will return to the surface every 500-1,200 years.
11 August 2008
Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean
…Ocean Warming and Acidification.
By Jeremy B. C. Jackson
(Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences) Rising temperatures and falling pH are as ominous for the future of corals and coral reefs (6, 11, 56, 91) as for calcareous plankton (7). Warming has caused mass mortality of corals by coral bleaching that has increased in frequency and intensity over the past two to three decades. Reduction of pH reduces coral growth rates and skeletal density, and may eventually stop calcification entirely, so that corals lose their skeletons and resemble small colonial sea anemones (92). Regardless of whether or not the corals can survive under such circumstances, reef formation would be severely reduced or halted if acidification proceeded at current rates.
15 February 2008
Study Finds Humans’ Effect on Oceans Comprehensive
(Wa Post)Human activities are affecting every square mile of the world’s oceans, according to a study by a team of American, British and Canadian researchers who mapped the severity of the effects from pole to pole.
The analysis of 17 global data sets, led by Benjamin S. Halpern of the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis in Santa Barbara, Calif., details how humans are reshaping the seas through overfishing, air and water pollution, commercial shipping and other activities. The study, published online yesterday by the journal Science, examines those effects on nearly two dozen marine ecosystems, including coral reefs and continental shelves. Some marine ecosystems are under acute pressure, the scientists concluded, including sea mounts, mangrove swamps, sea grass and coral reefs. Almost half of all coral reefs, they wrote, “experience medium high to very high impact” from humans. Overall, rising ocean temperatures represent the biggest threat to marine ecosystems.
10 March 2006
Bering Sea Climate Is Shifting
Whales, walruses, seabirds and fish are struggling to survive the changing climate of the Bering Sea, their northern feeding grounds perhaps permanently disrupted by warmer temperatures and melting ice, scientists reported Thursday in the journal Science.
By pulling together a broad range of observations and surveys, an international research team concluded that it is witnessing the transformation of an entire ecosystem in a region home to almost half of U.S. commercial fish production.
All in all, the researchers said, the Arctic climate of the northern Bering Sea is in full retreat, yielding to the sub-Arctic system of the south. The changes are profound and perhaps irreversible, even if cold weather eventually returns, the researchers said. …Overall, the Arctic is warming at twice the average global rate. …Consequently, the local sea ice melts three weeks earlier than in 1997, records of recent years show. Last year, Arctic ice retreated farther than in 25 years of satellite monitoring. …The researchers found that by 2002, Pacific gray whales were fleeing northward to feed in cooler currents, while pink salmon by the millions swarmed into warmer waters the whales had abandoned. Bottom-dwelling species, unable to adapt, were destroyed in large numbers. The broken shells of a vanished clam species carpeted the sea floor.
As sea ice diminished, breeding grounds for seals were disrupted and populations plummeted. Polar bears started to drown. Walruses, accustomed to diving in the shallows to feed along the sea bottom, found themselves adrift on broken ice floes in waters 6,500 feet deep. The animals starved.

Peggy Curran: Has Montreal had enough of political parties?
(Montreal Gazette) Over the winter, some pretty scandalous testimony at the Charbonneau commission was enough to send Gerald Tremblay packing and, last week, force Union Montreal to fold up its tent.
But long before that, people like my wise Gazette colleague Henry Aubin had been pushing for Montreal to abandon the notion of political parties altogether. Few cities have them, although many, such as Toronto, do have loose coalitions of local councillors who belong to federal or provincial parties or who rally around common ideals or broad political philosophies.

Bill Brownstein: Remembering Nick: paying tribute to a Montreal original
Brian McKenna recalls the moment as if it were yesterday. It was actually 15 years ago, and the Montreal filmmaker was telling the priest at St. Patrick’s Basilica that he felt certain his best friend could fill the big room at the church.
“You’re not really suggesting that a funeral for Nick Auf der Maur will fill 3,000 seats, are you?” the incredulous priest asked McKenna. McKenna simply nodded, fully understanding that a good Irish Catholic lad would never lie to a Monsignor.
As it turned out, McKenna didn’t have to go to confession. It was standing room only at the Basilica, and the crowd was estimated to be somewhere north of 3,500. And as the procession snaked its way west to Crescent St. for the wake following the funeral, police had to cordon off the streets from traffic to make way for the mourners. (3 April 2013)
See also Quebec ‘student’ protests 2012
Montreal City and Press
Heritage Montreal
The entertaining Montreal City Weblog does 99.9% of our Montreal-focused work for us. It is full of current news and information. Grateful and admiring kudos to blog author Kate McDonnell and to the many contributors armed with facts and widely divergent opinions.
More on Wednesday-Night.com ;
Tourisme Montréal ; Montreal International

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16 May
Denis Coderre makes mayoralty bid official amid protests
‘Real test to come,’ says Vision Montréal’s Louise Harel
8 May
Report casts harsh light on delinquent political leadership
Makes recommendations for contract-granting process
Dysfunctional leadership, a bloated bureaucracy and the absence of clear ethics rules nurtured a culture of corruption and collusion in the awarding of public contracts in Montreal, says a damning report released Wednesday.
But the report also cites structural problems, such as multiple layers of government, poor oversight and loopholes that allowed the city to approve contracts valued under $25,000 without going to public tender — a practice it found increased the risk of corruption, the creation of multiple “sausage” contracts, conflict of interest, inflated costs, false billing and favouritism.
The report says the merger of Montreal with several island suburbs a decade ago led to confusion about who was making decisions and how taxpayers’ money was being spent.
Jacques Léonard, who wrote the 40-page report, suggests an overhaul of Montreal’s borough structure — linking its finances more directly to the central city administration — is critical if the city is to operate in a clear, efficient and honest way.
2 May
Strange bedfellows indeed — ‘Team Montreal’ fighting to keep UN’s aviation agency ICAO
Federal, provincial, and city politicians have united to keep the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) from moving from its headquarters from the city of Montreal.
n two days of meetings (May 2 and 3), Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird, Quebec provincial Minister of International Relations Jean-François Lisée, and City of Montreal Mayor Michael Applebaum have been lobbying to keep ICAO.
30 April
Montreal politician demanded $100K, political organizer says
(CBC) Just before wrapping his first day of testimony, [Gilles] Cloutier told the commission that Frank Zampino — the mayor of St-Leonard and the eventual head of the City of Montreal’s executive committee — told him that his firm needed to come up with $100,000 to help with the election if they wanted a piece of the contracts in Montreal.
26 April
Liberal MP undercuts announcement he’s running for Montreal mayor by registering party three weeks early
While that official announcement is still three weeks away, he’s already got a party name.
The website for Quebec’s elections watchdog says the following name is already registered, and pending authorization: “Denis Coderre Team For Montreal.”
Harel floats notion of city-owned asphalt production plant
With Montreal’s city council set to vote on Friday on whether to award contracts to fill potholes to companies that may have been named at the Charbonneau Commission, Vision Montreal leader Louise Harel wants the city to conduct a feasibility study on the cost and benefits of a city-owned asphalt production plant.
Louise Harel wants to be mayor – but can she fill the potholes?
(James Mennie | Montreal Gazette) On Oct. 16, 2011, Vision Montreal leader Louise Harel announced that she would seek the mayoralty of Montreal, and even though Madame Harel is relative newcomer to the world of social media, she clearly understands the world has a somewhat shortened attention span from the days when she served as a Parti Quebecois cabinet minister.
How do I know this? Because today, April 3, 2013, Harel held a press conference to announce – again – that she was running for the mayoralty of Montreal. To be fair to Harel, things have indeed changed since her first announcement. Gerald Tremblay is no longer mayor of Montreal, the party he headed has been riven by resignations and the almost pit bull like confrontations that occurred during council meetings seems, for the moment at least, to have subsided into an apparent commitment on the part of all factions at city hall.
24 March
Former Montreal mayor, high-ranking politician to testify at corruption inquiry
Frank Zampino described as ‘most powerful man in Montreal’
22 March
Mayor asks Montrealers whether city should fill potholes
Montrealers have to choose between having potholes, or having them filled by companies caught up in the corruption inquiry. … City council refused on Monday to award a contract valued at $5 million over two years to seven asphalt companies because they’ve been named by or linked to the Charbonneau Commission corruption inquiry.
5 March
Railway baron’s family wants to maintain ‘spirit’ of Royal Vic site
‘Why should some entrepreneur make a bundle off a gift that was given for the benefit of the community?’ Letter: Heritage battle brewing over Royal Victoria Hospital’s fate
Before decisions are made on how and what to preserve on the Royal Victoria Hospital property, there must be a viable process by which the public can offer input on its reuse, guided by a cross-section of experts. What is needed on that site now and into the future? By whom? For what purpose? And all guided by the spirit of generosity of the original donors.
The author, Brian Merrett is a photographer and co-author of Montreal Architecture: A Guide to Styles and Buildings. He is the son of architect J. Campbell Merrett, who designed the infill buildings at the Royal Victoria Hospital.
McGill names scientist Suzanne Fortier as principal
(CBC) ‘Thrilled to be coming back,’ McGill alumnus says of new appointment
Suzanne Fortier, the research scientist who will replace Heather Munroe-Blum as principal of McGill University next September, says she is undeterred by the challenge of taking over the reins at a time of restraint and student unrest.
The unanimous choice of McGill’s Board of Governors, Fortier has accepted a five-year term, becoming the university’s 17th principal and vice-chancellor.
“I really have a strong attachment to the university,” said Fortier, who graduated from McGill with a BSc in 1972 and a PhD in 1976. “It really was a launching pad for me — an institution where I got a fantastic education, that opened [me] to the world. Not only the world geographically, but the world of ideas, the world of discoveries, the world of culture.”
Fortier has had an illustrious career as a scientist, educator and administrator, most recently as president of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) in Ottawa since 2006.
Prior to that, she was Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at Queen’s University, where she was also a chemistry professor.
21 February
The Sopranos of Montreal
(NYT) “We ask everyone to kindly leave,” said the voice over the loudspeaker in Montreal’s City Hall on Tuesday. Minutes earlier, a fire alarm had gone off — even though there was no fire.
As politicians and city officials filed outside into a gathering snowstorm, dozens of cops from Quebec’s Permanent Anti-Corruption Unit moved in for an unprecedented raid, searching for documents to prove allegations of fraud, misrepresentation and abuse of trust.
At that precise moment, other anticorruption officers were raiding six Montreal borough halls, as well as the headquarters of the former ruling party in the city, Union Montreal. The operations were all part of a sprawling multiyear investigation into illegal party funding that has rocked the city establishment, already claiming one mayor’s head and making his replacement very uncomfortable just months into the job.
24 January
Exclusive: Lisée on language and Montreal
By Beryl Wajsman on January 17, 2013
The man who is arguably Quebec’s busiest Minister, and some would say the one holding the brief on the most contentious issues, took time out for a rare weekend interview this past Saturday. Jean-François Lisée, Minister for International Relations, External Trade, La Francophonie and Minister responsible for Montreal, forthrightly addressed concerns on the politics and policies of language of the Marois administration that have many Montrealers, regardless of cultural background, angry and concerned. To his credit, Minister Lisée set no preconditions on the questions that would be posed.
Beryl Wajsman: Minister, during the campaign you characterized the drop in the number of francophones on the island of Montreal as a problem that had to be addressed and corrected. Many observers believe that connecting language and geography raises the spectre of segregation and legitimizes, in the minds of some people, an aggressive response to anyone speaking English as we have seen in the past four months in several unfortunate incidents in the city. What is your answer to these concerns?
Jean-François Lisée: Some of the interpretations of our government’s concern about Montreal, and my comments, are wrong and I am glad to be able to clear this up once and for all. Nothing in our policies or my views should be construed in any way as opening the door to restricting or directing who may or may not live on the Island. Nor should they be construed as seeking to change normal daily interactions of Montrealers, some of which are, naturally, conducted in English. We’re not suggesting counting heads or words. What we do want to guard against is a trend that, unchecked, could weaken the French character of Montreal. It is Quebec’s largest city after all and the foundation of much that goes on here. But we want to do it by finding persuasive incentives not by enacting coercive restrictions.
Witness who sunk Montreal mayor didn’t mention him in first interrogation
Lawyer Francois Dorval spent much of the morning attempting to poke holes in Dumont’s testimony. His most serious strike was the revelation about Tremblay.
“When it is a fact that’s as dramatic as revealing before the mayor that you’re over-budget and the official agent produces a document talking about two sets of accounting to get around the law — this is a detail you forgot?” an incredulous Dorval asked.
Concerns about Dumont’s credibility have dominated the commission this week, since it returned from its holiday break.
22 January
Simply do not understand the position of Dawson’s administration – unless there is something more to this story than we know.
Dawson compares student’s system security probe to break and enter
Hamed Al-Khabaz says he acted with the students’ security in mind  See Hamed helped for his side of the story.
21 January
Charbonneau Commission off to a bit of a rocky start?
Quebec inquiry star witness admitted earlier testimony was false
(CBC) Dumont’s lawyer had sought a postponement for medical reasons.
20 January
Un train léger sur le nouveau pont Champlain
(La Presse) Selon les documents obtenus par La Presse, la mise à jour des études du projet de système léger sur rail (SLR), qui datent de 2007, a donné naissance à un nouveau tracé beaucoup plus long que le tracé original: il s’étendrait des abords de la Gare centrale, au centre-ville de Montréal, jusqu’au secteur commercial du Quartier Dix/30, à Brossard.
Entre l’Île-des-Soeurs et le centre-ville de Montréal, le nouveau tracé passerait par le sud-ouest plutôt que par la Cité du Havre, et s’arrêterait dans les quartiers en revitalisation de Pointe-Saint-Charles, Griffintown et Bonaventure.
14 January
Ex-McGill hospital boss says he was victim of ‘spurious’ attacks
Elusive Dr. Arthur Porter at cancer clinic in Bahamas
10 January
Borough mayor outraged by threat of change to Lachine Hospital
Health Minister says taking hospital from MUHC not a done deal yet
(CBC) The borough mayor of Lachine is demanding a meeting with Quebec’s health minister, to protest against a plan to take Lachine Hospital out of the McGill University Health Centre and transfer it back into the fold of the local community health network.
7 January
John Parisella‘s amazingly restrained FB post about his two-hour wait for a taxi at Trudeau airport last night prompted one of his friends to link to this informative piece published in the Gazette in 2010 by the Montreal Economic Institute on the deplorable policy of regulation of taxis.

2012

Céline Cooper writes: Lisée charts wrong course for Montreal
(The Gazette Opinion) Jean-François Lisée, the Parti Québécois’s minister responsible for Montreal, is to be commended for the talk titled Pourquoi je suis Montréalo-optimiste — a manifesto on his vision for the future of Montreal — that he gave last week to the Jeune Chambre de Commerce de Montréal.
I would like to open up a conversation with Minister Lisée about the dissonance between his vision for Montreal as a world-class city of creativity and innovation in a Quebec that is “open to the world,” and the social engineering being proposed to achieve those aims.
Positioning Montreal as a metropolis of innovation in the 21st century means affirming it as an inclusive city for our times.
Many theorists have suggested that we should start to think about the future of our interconnected and interdependent global societies through the city, rather than the “nation.” This is because cities are growing increasingly less dependent on traditional national narratives and are actually causing those narratives to evolve.
One of the things that sets Montreal apart from every emerging North American city of innovation — and there is plenty of competition in that area from cities like Boston, Toronto, Austin and San Francisco — is the French language and culture. Lisée and I share this view.
But if we truly want our metropole to become a hub of global innovation, we must start thinking positively about how our unique multi-linguistic resources connect us to the rest of the world. Our embattled CEGEPs and universities, for example, could be transformed into bridges that connect North American, African, Asian, Latin American and European economies, knowledge networks and intellectual markets in a way that institutions in other cities cannot.
13 December
Hélène-de-Champlain: une facture de 16,2 millions pour la Ville
L’interminable feuilleton de la réfection du pavillon Hélène-de-Champlain, qui devait coûter 5,3 millions en 2006 puis a perdu son partenaire privé le printemps dernier, achève. La facture qu’auront à éponger les contribuables montréalais sera de 16,2 millions, a décidé mercredi le comité exécutif, qui étudiait ce dossier controversé pour la quatrième fois depuis la fin du mois d’octobre. …
Le lieu est essentiellement connu pour avoir hébergé un restaurant exploité par l’animateur Pierre Marcotte de 1983 à 2009. [NO -  for the older generation, HdeC's glorious moments were during Expo 67 when it served as the Pavillon d'honneur, where the official receptions hosted by the Commissioner General took place. There was also a memorable dinner on the occasion of the 10th anniversary celebration before the interior was ruined by a series of tasteless and kitschy 'renovations'.]
11 December
Finally one politician who understands the importance of Expo 67!
Jean François Lisée: Guérir Montréal d’ici à 2017
Le ministre de la Métropole entend s’attaquer en priorité aux fléaux de la corruption et de la congestion routière
(Le Devoir) M. Lisée rêve que la métropole retrouve son prestige juste à temps pour le 50e anniversaire de l’Expo 67, en 2017. Le ministre accorde plus d’importance à ce 50e qu’au 375e anniversaire de Montréal, ou même au 150e anniversaire de la Confédération canadienne, qui tombent aussi en 2017.

« Pour moi, c’est beaucoup plus évocateur, a-t-il dit. Vrai, Maisonneuve et Jeanne Mance ont mis au monde Montréal il y a bientôt 375 ans, mais les Montréalais se sont mis au monde il y a bientôt 50 ans. »

16 November

Michael Applebaum voted Montreal’s first anglophone mayor in 100 years

(National Post) For the first time in 100 years, Montreal has an anglophone mayor following a string of improbable events that rocked the administration of a scandal-weary city.
Michael Applebaum won a vote at city council, 31-29, to become the city’s first non-francophone mayor since just before the First World War.
He will be an interim mayor and will serve for only a year, with a promise not to run in the next municipal election of November 2013. He is also determined to limit the tax increase that had been planned by Tremblay’s administration. “It will be 2.2 percent. That’s the inflation rate,” said Applebaum.
Henry Aubin: Short term as mayor gives Applebaum glorious opportunities
… Everyone knows Montreal’s municipal government is rickety, anachronistic, obese, overspending (even without corruption) and inertia-stricken. This is not primarily because of the particular individuals in charge of city hall (though, those individuals have certainly not helped), but, rather, because of underlying structures. …
My point is that Applebaum has an opportunity to think big and help prepare the way for intelligent reform. …
What Montreal Island needs right now is careful, impartial study of questions relating to various structures. For example: political structure (are municipal parties beneficial and, if not, should city taxpayers subsidize them?); democratic structure (does Montreal need 104 city and borough councillors?); administrative structure (what’s the proper relationship between the central city and the boroughs?); megacity structure (should, as Harel urges, boroughs have less power or, as Trent suggests, should they be allowed to evolve toward becoming distinct municipalities?); and regional structure (should off-island suburbs do more to support the island?).
(CTV) Applebaum said he plans to work hard for the city, and he bears no ill will toward Deschamps. In fact he is ready to have Deschamps maintain a role on the Executive Committee.
(CBC) Westmount Mayor Peter Trent said he was cynical at first, but is optimistic for the future of city politics.
“I see a breaking down of the party system, which I think is excellent.”
Trent said he is looking forward to more brainstorming and coming together at City Hall. He also suggested reducing the size of council.
“I was never a huge fan of Applebaum, but I must tell you that he has conducted himself with a great deal of dignity,” Trent said.
Update Peter Trent launches Demerger book
AVAILABLE NOV 15 – The Merger Delusion: How Swallowing Its Suburbs Made an Even Bigger Mess of Montreal
By Peter Trent
Overview
Powerless under the country’s constitution, Canadian municipal governments often find themselves in conflict with their provincial masters. In 2002, the Province of Quebec forcibly merged all cities on the Island of Montreal into a single municipality – a decision that was partially reversed in 2006. The first book-length study of the series of mergers imposed by the Parti Québécois government, The Merger Delusion is a sharp and insightful critique by a key player in anti-merger politics. Peter Trent, mayor of the City of Westmount, Quebec, foresaw the numerous financial and institutional problems posed by amalgamating municipalities into megacities. Here, he presents a stirring and detailed account of the battle he led against the provincial government, the City of Montreal, the Board of Trade, and many of his former colleagues.
Also available through Amazon and McGill Queen`s
13 November
Une révolution de palais à Montréal
(La Presse) Une semaine. Une seule petite semaine et tout a changé. Gérald Tremblay a démissionné. L’élection de son successeur devait être une formalité. Jeudi, Union Montréal a choisi Richard Deschamps, qui s’occupe du déneigement, des infrastructures et autres craques de trottoir. En principe, l’affaire était dans le sac.
C’était sans compter sur Michael Applebaum, ex-président du comité exécutif et bras droit de Gérald Tremblay.
5 November
Montreal Mayor Gérald Tremblay resigns
(Globe & Mail) The beleaguered mayor of scandal-ridden Montreal has resigned.
Gérald Tremblay stepped down from his post shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, one year before the end of his mandate, amid growing evidence he knew he was presiding over rot at city hall but avoided getting involved.
2 November
Henry Aubin: Change for change’s sake is not a compelling argument for getting rid of Mayor Gérald Tremblay
… his alleged turning of a blind eye to illegal behaviour ought to disqualify him from public office. But he’s there, he deserves a chance to try to clear his name (maybe he’ll get it in testifying before the commission later this month) and he can’t do much harm if he stays in office a final year.
The problem is not Gérald Tremblay per se so much as his large, cynical party. If he leaves, the party remains. Whomever the party might propose as a successor might not be an improvement.
If Union Montreal can somehow offer a Gerald Ford, fine, let’s wave Tremblay goodbye. If not, forget it for now.
[The polls says Denis Coderre is the front-runner: A CROP-La Presse poll a month ago gave the undeclared candidate 26-per-cent support, more than twice that of anyone else. (Louise Harel and Richard Bergeron came in at 12 per cent and 11 per cent, respectively.) But the federal MP from Montréal-Nord so far has a reputation closer to that of an old-school pol than of a beacon of reform.
Indeed, La Presse reported Fridaythat official records show that Lino Zambito, Elio Pagliarulo and several other business people linked to the Montreal area’s demimonde have made donations to Coderre’s Liberal riding association within the last 11 years. To be sure, the donations have been legal, but they won’t make it any easier for Coderre to cast himself as a gung-ho Mr. Clean.]
Mayoral term limits wouldn’t stop lure of kickbacks: Peter Trent
Montreal Island mayors cool to Marois’s idea
(Montreal Gazette) The Quebec government’s idea to limit mayors to three terms is a Band-Aid solution that won’t remove the lure of kickbacks in city councils, some Montreal Island mayors say.
Premier Pauline Marois mentioned mayoral term limits in her inaugural speech on Wednesday. After some push-back from Quebec City Mayor Régis Labeaume (in his second term) and Saguenay Mayor Jean Tremblay (in his third term), the premier, whose minority government needs opposition party support to pass bills, said the idea is merely up for discussion.
But term limits won’t affect the fundamental reasons city councillors and mayors are tempted to make deals with contractors in exchange for city contracts, Westmount Mayor Peter Trent said.
“This smacks of a silver-bullet solution,” said Trent, elected mayor four times since 1991.
“There’s no empirical evidence that limiting the number of terms a mayor can serve means you’re going to somehow reduce corruption,” said Trent, 66, who added he has not decided yet if he will run again in province-wide municipal elections set for Nov. 3, 2013. “Most of the (alleged) shenanigans occurred in Montreal Mayor Tremblay’s first and second terms, anyway.”
Tremblay administration under fire as mayor takes break
Mayor Peter Trent says reconsideration of tax hikes is too late
(CBC) The Trembaly administration said Thursday the city is ready to reconsider the property tax hike announced on Tuesday, to ease Montrealers’ mounting frustration over allegations of corruption at city hall.
Suburban mayors, including Trent, rejected the city’s budget proposal, which contained an average tax hike of 3.3 per cent.
“Citizens are frustrated. They feel that they’ve been robbed, with everything that they’ve seen in the commission, so what I’m looking at right now is the tax rate,” said head of the city’s executive committee Michael Applebaum.
The announcement that the majority Union Montreal party is considering overhauling the budget, comes as Mayor Gérald Tremblay announced he was taking a couple days off following allegations that he turned a blind eye to corruption. … If Tremblay chooses to step down, today is the final day that decision would lead to a by-election. Otherwise, city councillors would elect a person to hold the position on an interim basis, pending the municipal election in Nov. 2013.
City hall’s engulfed in a corruption scandal, mayor’s gone, budget plan’s in ashes
(Canadian Press) Montreal’s embattled mayor has decided to take a few days off while city hall is engulfed in a corruption scandal that has already torched some of his ability to govern.
The administration’s prerogative to pass a budget appears to have been undermined by the crisis of confidence sweeping over the city.
Mayor Gerald Tremblay’s administration announced Thursday that it would consider tabling a new annual budget — just 48 hours after presenting its original plan. In the midst of a scandal over waste and theft at city hall, the municipal administration had attempted to pass a 3.3 per cent increase in property taxes.
19 October
MUHC board may backtrack on road naming
Spokesperson specifies no such move being considered ‘at this point in time’
(Motreal Gazette) The new board of directors of the McGill University Health Centre could backtrack on a decision made less than a year ago to name the main entry road to its $1.3-billion superhospital complex in the Glen Yard after Arthur Porter, its former chief executive officer and executive director, an MUHC spokesperson said Saturday. They cannot be serious about even thinking about doing this!
19 October
Making new Champlain Bridge a standout design ‘could rebrand Montreal’
Stephen Leopold says Montrealers should drop their collective cynicism and start thinking big again — starting with the Champlain Bridge
(Montreal Gazette) To galvanize support for a distinctive span, Leopold launched Audacité Montréal in June, gaining support from high-profile Montrealers, including Paul Desmarais Jr., Stephen Jarislowsky and Gilbert Rozon.
This week, Audacité Montréal launched an online campaign to convince Ottawa to make the new Champlain an iconic international symbol, not just another utilitarian roadway.
The online effort — at audacitemontreal.com — includes a petition calling for “ an architectural icon of international magnitude to drive tourism and business — a bridge that will incite the pride and ‘can do’ spirit of Montrealers and Quebecers.”
2 October
Ex-city manager accused of pocketing money at Quebec inquiry
A former top bureaucrat who was once promoted by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s former chief spokesman to head the Port of Montreal is now being accused of pocketing cash in testimony at Quebec’s corruption commission.
Former construction boss Lino Zambito testified he had his arm twisted in 2005 to use sewer pipes supplied by a company favoured by then Montreal city manager Robert Abdallah, who would receive the $300,000 extra the pipes would cost. Mr. Zambito said he was promised the extra money would come from so-called “extras” that were frequently billed to the city to inflate contracts.
… Mr. Abdallah left city hall under mysterious circumstances in 2006. His name rose again to prominence last year when it emerged that in 2007 Mr. Harper’s then-spokesman, Dimitri Soudas, and Senator Leo Housakos, had suggested Mr. Abdallah to lead the port.
The Bloc Québécois produced tape recordings that showed businessman Bernard Poulin and Tony Accurso, another construction magnate embroiled in allegations surrounding Montreal’s system of bid-rigging, planned on soliciting the help of the two Conservatives to promote Mr. Abadallah’s candidacy. Other Conservative ministers, such as Michael Fortier, intervened to stop Mr. Abadallah from getting any further in the process.
27 September
Corruption: Gérald Tremblay «choqué» de ne pas avoir été avisé
(La Presse) Le maire de Montréal, Gérald Tremblay, estime qu’il est «profondément inacceptable» que la Gendarmerie royale du Canada (GRC) n’ait pas transmis aux autres corps policiers les images révélatrices diffusées cette semaine.
On y voit notamment des entrepreneurs en construction connus, qui ont obtenu des centaines de millions en contrats de la Ville de Montréal, donner de l’argent comptant à la mafia. «Lorsque j’ai vu les images à la télévision, comme citoyen, comme maire de Montréal, j’ai été profondément choqué, a-t-il déclaré aujourd’hui
26 September
Le maire Tremblay perd un précieux collaborateur
André Lavallée, ancien maire de l’arrondissement de Rosemont et conseiller de Gérald Tremblay pour les dossiers liés au centre-ville, quitte la métropole pour la capitale.
M. Lavallée prend la direction de Québec où il sera nommé, aujourd’hui, sous-ministre à la métropole et aux affaires municipales.
19 September
(Global) Marois’ best-known and most aggressive spokesman on language policy was placed in a role that, on the surface, gives him only peripheral involvement in the file.
Jean-François Lisée, another former journalist who advised past PQ premiers, will be responsible for international affairs. But he will also be minister responsible for Montreal — the scene of the vast majority of language disputes in the province.
Marois also tasked Lisee, who has been extremely vocal about the need for more stringent language laws, with the role of building bridges with Quebec Anglos. Read Global Montreal | New PQ government has minister responsible for making Quebec more independent
18 September
Anti-corruption unit raids English superhospital offices
The province’s anti-corruption unit is executing search warrants at offices of the McGill University Health Centre this morning.
Mafia expert reveals mob secrets at Quebec inquiry
Charbonneau corruption commission hears how crime families make billions
(CBC) A total of 50 witnesses are expected to be heard this fall, including many law-enforcement experts. CBC’s French-language news service has reported that former FBI agent Joseph Pistone, who infiltrated New York’s Bonanno mafia family for five years under the cover name Donnie Brasco, will be among them
30 August
Montreal to focus repairs on water infrastructure, roads
(CBC) The City of Montreal released its three-year plan for infrastructure on Thursday. It announced it wants to invest more than $4 billion in the coming years to fix old and broken infrastructure.
According to the plan, most of the money will go toward water, sewage and road projects.
Last spring, the city saw an increased amount of broken water mains, sinking streets and minor floods.
The city said 75 per cent of funds in the new plan will go toward repairs and the remainder will be focused on new construction. From the repair fund, $1.4 billion will go toward water infrastructure and nearly $700 million will be dedicated to roadwork.
22 August
Affront patrimonial
La Biosphère est une icône, une des rares oeuvres architecturales capables de représenter Montréal d’un seul coup d’oeil. Et pourtant, son avenir se joue actuellement à Ottawa, derrière des portes closes…
Sans en avoir discuté avec la Ville de Montréal, le gouvernement Harper a en effet décidé de transformer ce symbole hors du commun, à la fin 2013, en un banal édifice administratif, fermé au public. Il s’agit d’un affront patrimonial, rien de moins.
Le dôme conçu pour Expo 67 par l’architecte Richard Buckminster Fuller abrite à l’heure actuelle le Musée de l’environnement, une mission éducative que le fédéral veut revoir afin de «mieux concentrer les ressources d’Environnement Canada sur les activités qui contribuent directement à l’exécution de son mandat».
Montréal annule un appel d’offres pour la réfection de trottoirs
(La Presse) Montréal a annulé la semaine dernière un appel d’offres pour la réfection de trottoirs, car le prix proposé par le plus bas soumissionnaire était «beaucoup plus élevé» que ce que les fonctionnaires avaient prévu. … Selon un reportage de l’agence QMI publié en avril 2011, les quatre entreprises qui ont participé à cet appel d’offres, Pavage C.S.F, B.P. Asphalte, Pavages A.T.G et Mivela Construction, se sont partagé 78 des 79 contrats de réfection des trottoirs entre 2008 et 2010.
5 July
L’avenir de la Biosphère entre les mains de la Ville
Le gouvernement fédéral a informé la Ville de son plan de réaménagement afin de mettre fin aux activités muséales de la Biosphère. Des discussions sont en cours afin de renégocier l’entente entre la Ville, qui est la propriétaire, et le gouvernement, qui loue l’espace.
30 June
Un changement de vocation dénoncé
Le gouvernement Harper veut mettre fin aux activités muséales de la Biosphère
(Le Devoir) Environnement Canada affirme maintenant que les activités éducatives offertes dans l’ancien pavillon américain d’Expo 67 sont de « moindre importance » pour le ministère.
20 June
AudaCité Montréal : le pont doit être une icône touristique
MONTRÉAL, le 20 juin 2012 /CNW Telbec/ – Un groupe de leaders québécois de différents milieux et générations demande aux gouvernements de se servir de l’opportunité extraordinaire de remplacer le désuet pont Champlain par un pont du 21ième siècle, une icône, un emblème touristique pour Montréal, pour le Québec et le pays tout entier.
AudaCité Montréal est née de l’initiative du leader reconnu de l’immobilier Stephen Léopold, président et fondateur de Léopold Montréal Immobilier. « Les buts d’AudaCité Montréal sont ambitieux, mais fort réalisables. Il s’agit d’avoir la volonté de rêver encore. Il faut construire un pont qui deviendra le symbole mondial de Montréal, comme le fait le Golden Gate à San Francisco, la Tour Eiffel à Paris ou la Maison de l’Opéra à Sydney », a déclaré Stephen Léopold.
18 June
Montreal’s crumbling roads driving away business: survey
(Financial Post) Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec chief executive Michael Sabia raised some eyebrows recently when he said that the roads and infrastructure around Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport are so bad that you’d be forgiven if you thought you’d landed in the “Third World.”
A new survey by the Montreal Board of Trade suggests that executives in the Montreal metropolitan region believe the area’s crumbling road system, which now seems perpetually under construction, is the main reason the city’s economic competitiveness has stalled against other jurisdictions. A full 70% of business leaders polled said Montreal is a less attractive place to do business today than it was five years ago.
11 June
The man who sparked Quebec’s corruption inquiry
By Terence McKenna,
(CBC) Straight arrow Jacques Duchesneau, Montreal’s former police chief, is to be the star witness when the inquiry into construction industry begins formal hearings on Wednesday
8 June
Police arrest 40 on eve of Montreal Grand Prix
(RCI) Demonstrators were detained when hundreds of protesters tried to disrupt downtown festivities surrounding the Formula One Grand Prix auto race this weekend. Grand Prix organizers say that the student protests during the past three months have led many racing fans to skip this year’s race, which has failed to sell out for the first time in many years.
5 March
Schwartz’s Deli sold but stays on the Main
New owners promise no franchises
It’s official: the Montreal landmark Schwartz’s Deli has been sold to the families of Céline Dion and well–known restaurateur Paul Nakis – and it is staying on the Main.
3 March
McGillLeaks publishes confidential internal documents
Anonymous group launches online platform for leaks
(McGill Daily) The first release of documents contains donor and corporation profiles, correspondence pertaining to corporate funding, histories of corporate donations and relations, and industrial partnerships – notably a Memorandum of Understanding between McGill and Canadian pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline Inc.
16 February
McGill principal Heather Munroe-Blum will leave controversial legacy
Hailed by some for making university better, Monroe-Blum’s departure welcomed by others
14 January
Adam Daifallah: Make it a bridge to magnificence
(Montreal Gazette) The world’s best and brightest should be invited to make the Champlain replacement span a monument for the 21st century
Once in a generation there may come to a fortunate people a magnificent opportunity.
Today we Quebecers have an unparalleled chance to build a new structure that will astonish the world.
We have the opportunity to bring forth a new symbol of the Quebec and Canadian nations and of the wonderful metropolis of Montreal and its region: a spectacular, iconic new gateway to link Montreal to the rest of the world, a structure that, through inspired design, state-of-the-art technology, brilliant execution and sheer beauty, will be our equivalent to the Eiffel Tower, the Sydney Opera House and the Statue of Liberty. A structure that will drive Montreal’s strength for business and industry, academia, the arts, and residential and commercial real estate.

2011

6 December
MUHC’s Porter steps down
(Montreal Gazette) On Nov. 10, Porter resigned as chairman of Canada’s Security and Intelligence Review Committee – the country’s spy watchdog – after the National Post reported that he wired $200,000 last year to a Montreal-based international arms dealer for an infrastructure deal in his native Sierra Leone that ultimately fell through.
Sources have told The Gazette that both board members and Porter have since [the emergency board meeting] come to the conclusion that it would be in the best interests of the MUHC for him to leave immediately.
What’s not clear is the extent of his severance package.
28 November
La région de Montréal, la plus taxée au Québec
Les Québécois ont vu leurs comptes d’impôt foncier augmenter deux fois plus vite que l’inflation depuis cinq ans, révèle une compilation effectuée par La Presse. Et c’est de loin dans la région de Montréal que les propriétaires paient les taxes les plus élevées.
14 November
McGill University Health Centre forms special committee to oversee departure of Arthur Porter
The board of the McGill University Health Centre issued a statement Monday reiterating its support for embattled executive director Arthur Porter after an emergency meeting Sunday, but stated it has formed a special committee to oversee a smooth transition of leadership before Porter’s scheduled departure in April.
11 November
MUHC calls emergency meeting to discuss future of its CEO
(CTV) Last May, Porter announced he would not seek another term with the MUHC but would stay on until next spring to help find a successor.
À méditer ce week-end: quel cadeau offrir à Montréal pour son 375e?
Il reste maintenant 2017 jours pour choisir le legs de 2017…
Montréal fêtera alors ses 375 ans. L’Expo aura 50 ans. Et la Confédération, 150 ans. La Ville aimerait donc souligner la chose en grand. Pas en grandiose, mais en grand tout de même…
10 November
Dr. Arthur Porter resigns spy agency watchdog post
The company he keeps
(National Post) Recent revelations about the private business activities of Dr. Arthur T. Porter, the appointed chairman of SIRC, have given Canadians cause to question his judgment.
The revelations concern a business transaction that Dr. Porter entered into with Ari Ben-Menashe, a Canadian with a colourful past. Mr. Ben-Menashe has worked for Zimbabwean ruler Robert Mugabe, helping ensnare a political opponent of Mr. Mugabe with videotaped conversations ostensibly plotting the overthrow of Zimbabwe’s government. Mr. Ben-Menashe claims involvement in Iran-Contra, the illegal transfer of military hardware from the United States to Iran, via Israel, during the presidency of Ronald Reagan. He also has claimed to have been involved with Israeli intelligence, something that the Israeli government has confirmed.
Arthur Porter Resignation: Spy Watchdog Quits Amid Concerns About Business Dealings
(HuffPost) The head of Canada’s spy watchdog painted himself as a man of integrity even as he quit amid concerns about his business dealings. Spy watchdog’s business dealings raise eyebrows
Spy review board chief offered me job: Senator
Mr. Angus is chairman of MUHC, which he said makes him Dr. Porter’s “boss” at the health centre. He told the National Post last week that on one occasion over lunch, Dr. Porter “asked if I wanted to be the consulate, or the consul general, in Montreal. I really wasn’t interested and I felt it conflicted with my duties as a senator.” He said he immediately turned down the suggestion.
6 November
Céline Cooper: French is alive and well
(Montreal Gazette) Linguistic fluidity is Montreal’s creative manna, and it should be a source of celebration, not divisiveness
25 October
Quebec construction work stoppages enter 2nd day
Allegations of threats and intimidation rise
(CBC) Most of the 500 workers building the McGill University Health Centre’s superhospital in Montreal’s west end did not show up for work Tuesday, while others were forced out by groups bearing union insignia. There was a significant police presence on the scene.
A similar scene occurred Tuesday at the site of the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM) superhospital site in downtown Montreal, as well as many other sites in the province.
The McGill administration’s conduct doesn’t match its lofty words
(The Gazette) At every opportunity, the administration trumpets McGill’s standing as a world-class university – a university that, in the principal’s oft-used phrase, punches above its weight. Why then is it not attempting to pay its workers a world-class salary, rather than accepting mere parity with other Montreal universities as the goal? If McGill is a great university, a large part of the credit must go to the people now striking for fairer compensation.
The spin doctors in McGill’s administration have cast the workers as the villains and themselves as the pure defenders of all that is good about the university. This is the same administration that took a decade and two task forces to address inequities between salaries for non-tenured academic staff at McGill and other Montreal universities. And even then it raised salaries to below the city average for part-time university instructors.
19 October
The McGill strike, from both sides
The striker: ‘McGill has become a two-tier institute, haves vs. have-nots’
(The Gazette) In the 1990s the university said it could not give us a raise. We believed it, and for eight years we did not receive a raise. During our last contract, the university said it did not have any money and asked us to forgo a raise for six months. Again we agreed. The university never thanked us for our generosity. I supposed thanking us would have been demeaning.
Within the past year we began to receive emails from the administration informing us of changes to our pensions and benefits. During the current negotiations the university kindly offered a 1.2-per-cent raise that we could split into a 0.6-percent step increase and 0.6-per-cent general raise.
14 October
Gérard Deltell: «Montréal est ingouvernable»
Montréal compte trop d’élus, trop d’arrondissements, trop de pouvoirs qui échappent à son maire. Ce verdict sans détour, c’est celui du chef de l’Action démocratique du Québec, Gérard Deltell. Cinq ans après les défusions, selon lui, la preuve est faite: «Montréal est ingouvernable.»
6 October
8,5 milliards de dollars pour restaurer les réseaux d’eau
L’administration Tremblay propose un plan de 8,5 milliards de dollars étalé sur 10 ans pour restaurer les réseaux d’eau potable et d’eaux usées dans l’île de Montréal. Le plan comporte la relance du programme des compteurs d’eau. L’impôt foncier serait légèrement augmenté.
5 October
New $5B Champlain Bridge could include tolls
User fees likely to be collected to help pay for structure
A $5-billion bridge is in the works to replace Montreal’s aging Champlain Bridge, will come “at very low or no cost to taxpayers,” but is likely to include toll booths, Canada’s federal transport minister announced Wednesday.
1 October
Henry Aubin: Only public outrage can change the culture of collusion
The Tremblay administration has made only a relatively mild, pro forma request for an inquiry – and this in response to heat from opposition parties. To be sure, it has brought in some cost-cutting procedures on awarding contracts.
1 September
McGill support staff strike
(CBC) Support staff at McGill University walked off the job early Thursday morning, launching a general strike on the first day of class for many students.
18 August
Quebec wants federal help for Champlain Bridge
Quebec officials are looking for a ‘clear signal’ from Ottawa on the future of Montreal’s crumbling Champlain Bridge.
Mayors, ministers and Quebec’s premier concluded that much after a short summit in Montreal Thursday to discuss the state of the city’s alarmingly decrepit road network.
Premier Jean Charest said the province has tough decisions to make about its infrastructure budget, but it can’t go at it alone, and needs federal support, especially for the Champlain.
The Champlain Bridge, Canada’s busiest water span, falls under federal jurisdiction.
6 August
It has a finger in every pie
In the 1970s, Lalonde, Valois, Lamarre, Valois et associés – later known as SNC-Lavalin – built the Ville Marie Expressway. In 2008, SNC-Lavalin inspected the expressway for the government, sounding the alarm on its “critical” state. Yet neither the CEO of SNC-Lavalin, Pierre Duhaime, nor anyone else representing the company has said anything meaningful since the emergency closing of the thoroughfare.
Best comment on this event was posted on Alan Hustak’s FB page: They’ve spent so much time over the years inspecting the language on signs; they totally forgot to inspect the roads and bridges.
Ville Marie roof collapse: A narrow escape
Montreal narrowly escaped tragedy Sunday morning when a concrete beam and a section of the roof it was supporting collapsed onto the Ville Marie Expressway, somehow missing the hundreds of motorists that were on the road at the time.
About 9 a.m. Sunday, a transversal beam fell onto the eastbound half of the highway. The beam was supporting a concrete grid over the transitional zone at the entrance to a section of the Ville Marie Tunnel, which also fell. At least 15 metric tonnes of debris scattered across the roadway. A720: chaos annoncé dans le secteur
22 July
The editors of the Montreal Gazette have chosen the beginning of the annual construction holiday to address the existential question that most of us have been debating for decades – probably since 1971.
(Gazette editorial) It might be time to rethink the construction holiday
It seems they have woken up to the fact that “these two weeks are prime time for construction work. And while not all construction projects will shut down for the holiday – work will continue on most vital road-repair undertakings – many private-and public-work sites will shut down for that optimal time, and work to complete them will stretch that much more into the frigid months when the weather is less conducive to quality workmanship. Some in the engineering field suggest this to some extent explains the alarming decay of so much of our infrastructure at this latitude.” Journalism and civic mindedness at their finest.
Vacances de la construction: c’est parti!
(Cyberpresse) Ça y est: pour la vaste majorité des travailleurs de la construction, les vacances annuelles commencent aujourd’hui, en plein coeur de la vague de chaleur, et se prolongeront jusqu’au samedi 6 août.
Près de 145 000 chèques ont été remis cette année aux travailleurs, qui partent en congé avec 326 millions de dollars. L’indemnité de congé, établie selon le salaire des six derniers mois de travail de l’année précédente, est en hausse de 10% par rapport à 2010. «Il y a plus de travail, plus d’heures travaillées, donc plus d’argent», dit le porte-parole de la Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ), André Martin.
13 July
Meanwhile, Montreal’s traffic nightmare gets worse
Turcot repairs close Ville Marie, Décarie The concerns about the Champlain Bridge are not new. The Globe & Mail carried a story (Canada’s crumbling infrastructure: the silence is deafening) in April about the absence of discussion of decaying infrastructure problems in the election, and cited in particular the Champlain Bridge.
Champlain Bridge repairs to cost millions, fix nothing
The Conservative government has released a long-awaited report on Montreal’s deteriorating Champlain Bridge, completing a swift, 24-hour about-face on the contentious issue of the city’s aging road infrastructure.
The 86-page report says that simply prolonging the life of the crumbling Champlain Bridge would cost as much as $25 million a year for the next decade — and that still wouldn’t produce a long-term fix.
21 June
As though our transportation problems weren’t bad enough, the Bixi is under fire. Bixi program to lose millions for Montrealers, auditor general says (CTV) Bergeron’s report states that from its infancy in 2007, the fast-tracked implementation of the BIXI program was poorly planned, with no feasibility studies, no market research, no cost-benefit analysis, little risk analysis of any kind. More
16 June
CBC provides a helpful interactive map for anyone who ventures onto the streets An overview of construction in Montreal
Mercier closure angers mayors, commuters ; Good news and bad news for Champlain users
Bad news: Scheduled work on the Champlain Bridge will take place this weekend, despite the partial closure of the Mercier Bridge. Good news: It’s the last scheduled work until August. Réseau routier: l’inquiétude gagne le monde des affaires ;
19 January
We knew this, but here’s the proof.
Montréal: la fonction publique la plus chère au Québec
La fonction publique municipale coûte plus cher à Montréal que dans toute autre grande ville québécoise. Et pas seulement parce que la Ville compte plus d’employés: chacun de ceux-ci coûte en moyenne 100 000$ par année aux contribuables.

2010

20 December
Les Montréalais n’ont toujours pas digéré les fusions
Dix ans après les fusions forcées de 2001, les Montréalais n’ont toujours pas apprivoisé leur nouvelle ville. Ils la jugent moins bien gérée qu’avant, dirigée par trop d’élus et ont un avis partagé sur Gérald Tremblay, qu’à peine 17% des répondants considèrent comme un bon maire.
En deux mots, les fusions ont été une mauvaise chose, révèle un sondage Angus Reid-La Presse. Seul réconfort, et il est de taille, les Montréalais se disent plutôt satisfaits des services qu’ils reçoivent.
27 November
Montreal International: Launch of Attractiveness indicators for international organizations (IOs), a publication promoting Montréal as a prime location for international organizations to establish secretariats. Based on the key location factors considered by IOs, this publication highlights the attractiveness of the Montréal metropolitan region compared to other cities where IOs are established, such as New York, Paris, London, Brussels, Geneva, Amsterdam, Hamburg, Seoul and Singapore.
13 August
Karl Moore and Daniel Novak: Toronto tops Montreal for global career? Not really
Ontario’s capital clearly rules in the financial sector, but not in terms of diversity
Montreal’s major international headquarters include those of Power Corp., Bombardier, CN, SNC-Lavalin, CGI and Molson Coors (headquarters split between Montreal and Denver). Altogether these firms offer strategic access to a wide range of industries and many of them have emerged as leaders on the international stage.
27 July
Montreal in top 10 happiest places
Montrealers can smile knowing their city is considered one of the world’s top 10 happiest places.
Canada’s second-biggest city has made the list compiled by the popular travel guide, Lonely Planet.
Montreal is the second place named on the list, just under the South Pacific island paradise of Vanuatu.
While considerably colder than that tropical locale, Montreal apparently has a few other things going for it.
Lonely Planet says the clean, welcoming and refreshingly multicultural city is happy year-round — but especially so in the summer, when it hosts one of the world’s biggest comedy festivals. (HuffPost) 10 Happiest Places In The World
24 July
The Big O imbroglio
No, apparently , you can ‘t blow it up . And taking it apart would be very expensive and time-consuming.
Sylvain Lefebvre has a few ideas. The UQAM geography professor and expert on “festive spaces” has thought a lot about the stadium and its surroundings.
As much as possible, we must “eliminate the concrete and green it, create shaded areas, pleasant spaces to sit. The general idea is we can make it a space where it feels good to be, that people have a desire to visit: ‘It’s easy to get there -there are two metro stations, we can do some sports, we can eat on the terrasse.’ ”
Lefebvre’s proposal could fit in with an already-announced, $189-million plan for the area east and north of the Big O. Spearheaded by the city’s nature museums, the so-called Life District plan includes a new planetarium, a biodiversity centre and a series of green spaces linking them to the Biodome and the Botanical Garden.
23 July
City poster bylaw overturned
Court says it restricts freedom of expression
Last week, a three-judge panel declared the city’s stringent poster bylaw invalid. Montreal’s longtime municipal limitations on public postering, the panel ruled, violate the freedom-of-expression provisions of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
That capped, with success, a decade-long legal odyssey by anti-globalization activist Jaggi Singh, with advocacy from lawyer Julius Grey.
Urban oasis returns to verdant glory
The patchy pavement and dirt pathways are gone – after 10 years of planning and $9.6 million
More than a decade after the planning process began to restore the long rundown and increasingly shabby Dorchester Square, the job has finally been completed.
21 May
City council axes Marianopolis project
‘A pivotal moment’; Development company planned to build 325 condo units on the site
In what is being described as a defining moment in the preservation of Mount Royal, Montreal city council unanimously rejected a residential project for the former grounds of Marianopolis College yesterday and voted to limit any further development on the mountain.
The city-council resolution limits development to restoring the former seminary building and either reusing a gymnasium on the site or building something in its place that doesn’t exceed the current building’s height.
20 April
Is this a glimpse of the future Montreal?
(The Gazette) There’s the eye-catching dome of the SAT (Society for Arts and Technology) centre under construction on the Lower Main. There’s the horsetrack shape integrated into a rethink – by UQÀM urbanism students – of the old Blue Bonnets hippodrome off Décarie Expressway. There’s the green-think of the Montreal Biodiversity Centre, a project going up in the Botanical Gardens. Some are designed with maximum fun in mind (a high-speed roller coaster opening next month over the drained Lac des dauphins at La Ronde), some propose to expand on existing landmarks (such as Pointe-à-Callière archeological museum), some transform historic buildings for new use (the Erskine & American United Church will house Canadiana from the Museum of Fine Arts).
12 April
Ste-Catherine Street West to get $100M facelift
The block of Ste-Catherine Street West home to the historic but long-abandoned Seville Theatre will soon receive a $100-million facelift.
Two Montreal companies, investment firm Claridge and real estate developer Prével, announced Monday their plans to demolish the crumbling theatre and redevelop the stretch of Ste-Catherine Street between between Chomedey and Lambert Closse Streets into a new complex of condos and stores.
4 February
Municipal taxes, suburban anger
Municipalities face 10-13% hike in their share of tab for island-wide services
13 January
Property taxes to increase in Montreal
(CBC) The city said Wednesday that the economic crisis was one of the main reasons the city had to increase taxes.

Beneath the Surface — A review of key facts in the oilsands debate
(Pembina Institute) This report examines some common claims about the environmental performance of oilsands producers and the environmental impacts of oilsands production. Many of the claims included in this document are not false, but they selectively present information to minimize the negative impacts of oilsands production or overstate the positive strides that industry or governments have made toward addressing those impacts.
The information presented draws on independent research, public information and expert analysis to put key facts about oilsands production in their proper context. (January 2013)
See also Canada, the world and the tar sands
Garth Lenz: Images of beauty and devastation
What does environmental devastation actually look like? At TEDx Victoria, photographer Garth Lenz shares shocking photos of the Alberta Tar Sands mining project — and the beautiful (and vital) ecosystems under threat.
Garth Lenz’ touring exhibition, “The True Cost of Oil”, has played a major part in the fight against Alberta Tar Sands Mining. (Photos taken Nov 2011)
Slideshow of a selection of Garth Lenz’s breathtaking photos of the tarsands and the land on which they encroach
Sinopec, the oil sands and justice delayed Forwarded by David Kilgour with the comment This news appears even more relevant now. Do Canadians want our oil sands and possibly a new pipeline to Kitimat to be ‘developed’ by temporary workers from China without work safety, unions, etc? The methods reported here appear astonishingly similar to what China’s party-state companies have been doing in Zambia and elsewhere in Africa.
Enbridge Northern Gateway Project Joint Review Panel
NRDC November 29 2011 — Pipeline and Tanker Trouble: The Impact to British Columbia’s Communities, Rivers, and Pacific Coastline from Tar Sands Oil Transport (pdf)
Ah! Ha! The Financial Post now has a ‘trending’ section for Northern Gateway
(The Mark) Friends with benefits: Unearthing the connections between the Harper government, EthicalOil.org, and Sun Media
At Issue — The Politics of the Oilsands
David (Jones) Exploiting existing oil options is more practical than the alternatives vs. David (Kilgour): Use oil revenues to invest in alternative and renewable energy solutions
David (Jones) Nexen: China is not yet a country Canadian firms should partner with vs David (Kilgour) Nexen: We shouldn’t allow foreign control of any Canadian business

++++++++++++++++++++++++

Climate Change Scientist Calls Conservatives ‘Neanderthal’
The former NASA scientist criticized by Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver earlier this week for his views on the Keystone XL pipeline is responding by calling the Conservatives a desperate and “Neanderthal” government.
In an interview with Evan Solomon airing Saturday on CBC Radio’s The House, James Hansen defended his position that approving the proposed pipeline would be disastrous for the environment.
17 April
Texas: One more threat to the oil sands
The Alberta oil sands were once seen as the last big oil reserve available to be exploited in a stable, democratic country. But that is no longer the case as companies bore in on new pools of oil in the United States. The latest is the Permian Basin, an oil-rich region in Texas that has produced crude since the 1920s. … There is also the question of how large the Permian will actually become. Industry players have a tendency toward optimism in the early days of a play, meaning Pioneer’s figures should be treated with some caution. Even other oil drillers say initial estimates can fail to account for the magnitude of difficulty, or cost, of extracting new supplies. [See comment from Nick's Gleanings below]
3 April
How the Tar Sands Are Crushing Science in Canada
(io9.com) The Canadian government is currently under investigation for its efforts to obstruct the right of the media and public to speak to government scientists. These policies are widely believed to be a part of the government’s unspoken campaign to ensure that oil keeps flowing from the Athabasca tar sands — even if it’s at the cost of free scientific inquiry, the environment, and by consequence, democracy itself.
Federal Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault officially launched the investigation into the alleged ‘muzzling’ of Canadian scientists earlier this week. Calls for the inquiry came in the form of a recent 128-page report chronicling “systemic efforts” to obstruct public access to researchers — a request that originated from the non-profit group Democracy Watch. The agencies to be investigated include departments of the environment, fisheries and oceans, natural resources, and the National Research Council of Canada.
20 March
Environmental giant stops tar sands monitoring
(RCI)As the future of the Keystone XL pipeline that would carry oil from northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico continues to be debated in Canada and the US, the much-maligned oil sands project (at least by most environmentalists) has suffered a public relations blow.
The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, a division of Germany’s largest scientific organization, the Helmholtz Association, has declared a moratorium on oil sands environmental work. The centre is concerned its reputation could be tainted by association with development around Fort McMurray.
18 March
‘World class’ tanker safety system announced by federal government
(CBC) Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Denis Lebel and Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said the new measures are part of the new Safeguarding Canada’s Seas and Skies Act, which was introduced in Parliament earlier Monday. …
Tanker safety has become a hot issue in B.C. because of the Enbridge proposal to build the Northern Gateway Pipeline from the Alberta oilsands to a tanker terminal in Kitimat on the West Coast, raising concerns about oil spills in the marine environment.
Last summer Premier Christy Clark announced five conditions that would have to be met before the province signs off on any new heavy oil pipeline. One of those conditions was a requirement for a world class oil spill response system. … A recent UBC study estimated the cost of cleaning up a major oil spill on B.C.’s northern coast could hit $9.6 billion.
14 March

Canada and Climate: From Leader to Threat
By Henry Shue, Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for International Studies, Department of Politics and International Relations, at the University of Oxford
(OpenCanada.org) Debates over the policy of heavy, long-term reliance on tar sands oil have so far largely missed the most critical point when it comes to the climatic impacts, because they have failed to take our improved understanding of the dynamics of climate change into account.  It is true that Alberta’s GHG emissions from “expanding oil-sand production are Canada’s fastest-growing emissions source,” but prior to Swart and Weaver’s careful and conservative analysis in Nature Climate Change, attention was largely focused only these GHG emissions – those that result from extracting, shipping, and refining the tar sands oil. What matters incomparably more are the GHG emissions that would result from actually burning that extracted oil.
20 February
Canadian Oilsands Dependence Could Hurt Economy: Report
A new report warns of the perils to the Canadian economy of relying too much on the oilsands.
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives study says Canada is heading towards a “staples trap,” whereby the more quickly bitumen is exported, the less diversified and productive the economy becomes.
The study’s authors also warn of a looming “carbon trap” in which the Canadian economy is so closely linked to carbon-producing industries that it becomes difficult to adopt measures to deal with climate change. (CCPA) The Bitumen Cliff: Lessons and Challenges of Bitumen Mega-Developments for Canada’s Economy in an Age of Climate Change presents a wealth of empirical data indicating the negative side effects of unregulated bitumen developments for Canada’s trade, exchange rate, productivity, and income distribution performance and proposes a two-track approach to steer away from the “bitumen cliff.” Read more
7 January
Oilsands Pollution: Government Study Provides Conclusive Proof Development Damaging Alberta Lakes, Say Researchers
(CP via HuffPost) New research has provided the most conclusive proof yet that oilsands development in northern Alberta is polluting surrounding lakes.
The findings all but end the debate over industry’s contribution to toxins found in local watersheds, say the report’s authors.
The federally funded research by some of Canada’s top scientists was published Monday in the prestigious U.S. journal the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It concludes that levels of toxic hydrocarbons in six lakes in the oilsands region are between 2 1/2 and 23 times what they were before the mines were built.
While overall toxin levels remain low, trends aren’t good and some lakes are already approaching warning levels. The paper adds that the timing of the contamination and its chemical makeup both point to industrial sources.

2012

8 December
Greg Weston: Harper draws a line in the oilsands, for now
Future foreign takeovers in oilsands will happen only under ‘exceptional circumstances’
The Harper government’s long hand-wringing over the proposed Chinese takeover of one of Canada’s top 10 energy corporations in the Alberta oilsands was never really about rejecting or approving the $15.4-billion deal.
The main problem gripping the Harper government for months has been how to say yes without opening the door to a Chinese shopping spree in the Alberta oilsands.
The government’s solution is now clear, announced Friday by the prime minister in a flourish of tough talk rarely aimed at Canada’s trading partners, least of all directly and bluntly at the Chinese.
As expected, the government has approved the sale of Calgary-based Nexen to China’s state-owned energy giant CNOOC.
The deal is China’s largest foreign takeover of any company in any country.
But after Nexen, that’s it. No more. Other state-owned raiders of the oilsands will be stopped at the tailings pond.
Well, maybe.
The prime minister told reporters that future takeovers of Canadian oilsands companies would be allowed “only in an exceptional circumstance.”
The government is deliberately not defining what an “exceptional circumstance” might be, reserving for itself full powers of political discretion.
17 November
In U.S. energy renaissance, flares of fear for Alberta’s oil patch
(Globe & Mail) … The International Energy Agency predicted this week that the U.S. is set to become the largest oil-producing nation on earth, more prolific even than Saudi Arabia. One day, the IEA said, the U.S. could drive away most foreign imports. … At stake is the growth of an industry that keeps Western Canada’s economy vibrant, producing boatloads of well-paying jobs, welcome spinoff effects and government revenue. Already, amid weaker oil prices, some oil companies have contemplated deferring or cancelling projects, and just this week the Alberta government backed away from a goal to balance its budget. …
Enbridge believes it can be the solution by building new pipelines to bring Canadian oil to new markets, both abroad and in U.S. states not served by current pipelines. But it’s hard to find a new pipeline proposal – to the West Coast, to the Gulf Coast, to the East Coast – that is not wrangling with severe political and social skepticism.
And if opponents succeed in stopping or slowing those projects, the outlook is grim: Prices for Canadian oil “will get pushed down to the point that production stops growing,” says Chris Micsak, an oil analyst with Bentek, an international energy forecasting and analysis firm.
8 October
Questions over oil sands tailings disposal
(RCI) Once a site has been mined, the industry is proposing to fill in pits with a thick layer of tailings, then “cap” it with a mixture of fresh water and dirty mine-processed water. They claim that the heavier material will settle to the bottom and eventually solidify, leaving clean water on top that could one day be used for recreational purposes.
Critics say, the theory can only be proven by long term actual trials in a couple of test “end-pit lakes”. Testing which has not been done. [Emphasis added]
RCI’s Marc Montgomery spoke with University of Alberta professor David Schindler about the proposal.. He is an ecology professor with an expertise in lake studies.
3 October
Alberta’s Redford pushing for tougher conditions in CNOOC-Nexen deal: source
Alberta Premier Alison Redford asked the federal government to impose tougher management and employment conditions on CNOOC Ltd.’s $15.1 billion takeover offer of Nexen Inc. before approving the transaction, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Redford wants guarantees that at least 50% of Nexen’s board and management positions will be held by Canadians, the person said on condition they not be identified because the discussions are confidential. The request came in a recommendation provided to Industry Minister Christian Paradis and the government’s investment review division.
Alberta’s conditions may impose additional costs and risks for CNOOC at a time when oil sands producers face a rising supply of North American crude and a lack of pipeline infrastructure threatens to stall sales. Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government is reviewing the bid under the nation’s foreign takeover law, which specifies transactions need to have a “net benefit” to the country in order to win approval.
Andrew Coyne: Time for ‘net harm’ test in CNOOC-Nexen debate
(Financial Post) I doubt we’d be hearing so much about state ownership if it was Norway’s Statoil that was buying Nexen. Which is fair enough, up to a point: it’s legitimate, given China’s track record, to want to be sure that our laws would indeed be obeyed, notably with respect to environmental and labour standards, and to insist that our regulators have the access they need to enforce them. I see no reason to think that is impossible.
Still, if that’s where we’re drawing the line now — no longer opposed to foreign takeovers as such, but only to those emanating from repressive regimes — that’s progress in itself. The prime minister has promised a broader redrafting of foreign investment rules in the wake of the Nexen decision. If rejecting or modifying CNOOC’s bid provided cover for a general opening of our borders, that would be a pretty good trade.
2 October
CNOOC-Nexen Deal: NDP Calls For Consultations, Says Opinion ‘Crystallizing’ Against Takeover
(Canadian Press) UPDATE: Clement: Public Consultations On Chinese Oil Sands Deal ‘Illegal’ Treasury Board President Tony Clement has rejected the NDP’s call for public consultations on the takeover of Alberta energy company Nexen by state-owned Chinese oil giant CNOOC.
“Basically they’re calling on the government of Canada to break the law,” Clement said, as quoted at Bloomberg news. “The law is very clear. Under the Investment Canada Act, there is a legal process that if you diverge from that process in any way, you are going to be subject to legal consequences.”
The NDP says public opinion is crystallizing against the Nexen Inc. deal and is asking the government to hold public consultations before it makes a decision.
The Opposition has been conducting it own consultations with the public and interest groups and says it’s hearing many objections against the sale of the Calgary-based oil producer to a company owned by the Chinese government.
1 October
Opposition Day Watch: CNOOXen it is, then!
(CBC) … the NDP will devote tomorrow’s opposition day to the proposed CNOOC-Nexen takeover — specifically, the need for public consultations, as well as legislative clarification on what, exactly, “net benefit” actually means.
22 September
A reality check for the promise of the oil sands
(Globe & Mail) … Suncor Energy Inc. … has abandoned lofty growth targets in favour of a rigid focus on costs, and has even said it could abandon some projects. That scrutiny comes amid a broad moment of reckoning for an industry that has spent most of a decade in frenzied construction. Now, amid sagging share prices and profits held back by price shocks, the oil sands industry is being forced to contemplate how profitably it can build new projects. No one expects growth to stop. It may, however, slow as question marks rise over a sweep of spending plans formulated by companies now concerned that weaker global demand and surging U.S. production will soften future oil prices.
Threats to Canada, spy report
Canada’s spy agency warns that some foreign takeovers may threaten national security. The Canadian Security Intelligence Service says that foreign state-owned firms might make illegal transfers of technology or engage in other espionage.
The warnings come in the agency’s annual report and at the same time as shareholders approved the 15-billion dollar of oil company Nexen by the China National Offshore Oil Company.

Scrutinizing CNOOC takeover

(CBC) Power and Politics examines the pros and cons of China National Offshore Oil Company’s proposed $15.1B takeover of Canadian energy producer Nexen
4 questions about China’s Nexen bid
With final approval for the transaction now resting with Ottawa, critics across party lines have questioned whether Canada stands to gain a “net benefit” from the deal, pointing out some potential hidden costs.
1. Does China have ulterior motives?
2. Does it jeopardize Canadian control of the resource sector?
3. Will it affect Nexen’s existing investments in the community?
4. Should China’s human-rights record be a concern?
China trade minister to visit Canada, could mention CNOOC bid for Nexen
Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming will visit Canada next week as Ottawa deliberates whether to approve a landmark $15.1-billion takeover of oil producer Nexen Inc by state-owned Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd.
CNOOC said it did not expect Chen to raise the sensitive takeover bid during talks with the Canadian government. Canada China Business Council president Peter Harder, however, said he would not be surprised if Chen mentioned it in a speech to his group next Tuesday.
Nexen shareholders approve CNOOC takeover
Stephen Harper is now the only remaining hurdle standing between China and the Communist country’s largest ever foreign acquisition.
Nexen Inc. shareholders voted to approve the $15.1-billion takeover bid from Chinese state-controlled CNOOC Ltd. during a special meeting here early Thursday morning. Final approval is still required from Canada’s federal government and the Prime Minister and his cabinet have been directly involved in applying Ottawa’s ambiguous “net benefit” test, which the deal must pass before it can move ahead.
“Today’s shareholder vote is just one step in the transaction approval process,” Kevin Reinhart, who has been serving as Nexen’s interim chief executive since January, told those assembled at a downtown Calgary conference centre.
“Regulatory applications have now been filed with the applicable agencies in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., and it is now in their hands to assess the transaction against their criteria.”
18 September
Battle over CNOOC’s proposed Nexen takeover heats up in Ottawa
17 August
Keystone
By John H. Richardson
(Esquire) Whether to build the international pipeline, designed to convey the Tar-sands oil from the massive deposits in Western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast for refining, has not only become an explosive issue in this year’s presidential election, it has become central to the debate over the future habitability of planet earth. A special report.
26 July
CSIS said to be probing financial links between First Nations, China
(National Post) Canadian intelligence services appear to have probed financial links between First Nations groups and Chinese companies as scrutiny continues to mount on China’s interest in this country’s natural resources sector.
This week, Chinese oil company CNOOC Ltd. announced a $15-billion takeover bid for Calgary-based Nexen, a proposal that will have to pass scrutiny under the Canada Investment Act. The deal seems to be raising warning flags among politicians who fear the energy-hungry superpower’s influence in Canada’s oil patch.
But scrutiny of China’s investment reach appears to stretch back several years.
24 July
Handle Chinese investment with care
Canada should consider how much it really wants to depend on continued runaway economic growth and political stability in China, writes J. Michael Cole, former analyst at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, and currently a correspondent on China for Jane’s Defence Weekly.
(Ottawa Citizen) the idiosyncrasies in China’s economy and political system make it essential that we fully assess the potential implications of allowing China to gradually take over a major segment of our resources.
John Ibbitson: Ottawa will approve Nexen deal because it can’t afford not to
If Ottawa were to reject this takeover, it would be signalling to the Chinese government, which owns CNOOC, that no investment in Canada from their state-controlled companies will be tolerated.
And that’s a message that this country simply can’t afford to send.
Canada is a small country that exports natural resources, which means it has always depended on foreign capital to develop those resources. … The alternative is to leave the stuff in the ground, until someone nicer comes along. That could be a long wait.
23 July
China’s CNOOC offers $15B for Calgary oil firm Nexen
Nexen has faced numerous challenges over the past few years, most recently the troubled launch of its Long Lake oilsands project in northern Alberta. The project has yet to come close to its design capacity of 72,000 barrels of bitumen per day due to a number of operational glitches.
As it stands, Nexen is a sizable international conventional oil company. Only 28 per cent of Nexen’s output — and just 11 per cent of its revenue— comes from its Canadian operations.
Indeed, Nexen’s non-Canadian assets shouldn’t be dismissed, Bob Shultz of the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary said Monday. “The whole idea is to get assets from offshore to provide the oil that China needs to grow,” he said in an interview with CBC News.
Nexen currently produces 207,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. But the company has about 5.6 billion barrels of oil equivalent when its oilsands holdings are considered.
15 July
Bob Rae seeks middle ground on oilsands development
Interim Liberal leader Bob Rae waded into the oilsands debate Saturday suggesting that, while Alberta’s booming development is an important part of Canada’s economy, the discussion about how best to use it has been polarizing and unproductive.
Attempting to strike a middle ground between Opposition NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair’s strong stance against development and Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s position that the oilsands are crucial to creating “jobs and growth” for Canadians, Rae told CBC Radio’s The House that “the key word in all this is balance.” … He challenged the federal government to set clearer standards for development and to ensure that all stakeholders — including First Nations communities, which live around the oilsands — are on board.
8 July
Environmental Coalition Wants Alberta To Show Oilsands Recommendations Were Followed
(Canadian Press via HuffPost) Environmentalists are trying to force the Alberta government to show it’s followed through on previous recommendations to reduce the impact of oilsands mines before any more projects are approved.
The Oilsands Environmental Coalition has asked the regulatory panel examining Shell’s proposed Jackpine expansion to check into the status of dozens of recommendations by previous panels.
Those recommendations were conditions under which previous oilsands projects were given the OK, but there’s no information on whether they’ve been lived up to, said Simon Dyer of the Pembina Institute.
27 June
Maxime Bernier: Let entrepreneurs tackle tailings ponds
(Financial Post) I recently visited the newly built ­pilot plant of Gradek Energy in Montreal, a small business founded by Quebec entrepreneur Thomas Gradek. He is one of many entrepreneurs and researchers across the country who are working on innovative solutions to deal with the environmental consequences of exploiting the oil sands.
Mr. Gradek has invented a reusable bi-polymer bead that removes bitumen from the tailings ponds — the pools of waste created by the extraction process — leaving inoffensive organic matter and water as a byproduct. The recovered bitumen can be refined while the leftover organic matter can be reintroduced into the environment, free from contaminants. Valuable minerals found within the tailings ponds are also recovered. Water, which accounts for 85% of tailings ponds, can be reused in the oil extraction process. Since this water is already warm, this also brings energy savings.
19 May
The age of extreme oil: ‘This used to be a forest?’
One grey Thursday at the end of April, a plane touched down in Fort McMurray, Alta., carrying four Achuar Indians from the Peruvian Amazon. They had flown 8,000 kilometres from the rain forest to beseech Talisman Energy Inc., the Calgary-based oil and gas conglomerate, to stop drilling in their territory. Talisman’s annual general meeting was coming up, and the Achuar were invited to state their case to chief executive officer John Manzoni in front of the company’s shareholders.
But first, they wanted to see a Canadian oil patch for themselves, and meet the aboriginal people who lived there.
15 May
Ethical Oil challenges Harper, Mulcair to back reversal of Ontario pipeline
A pro-oil-sands lobby group is calling on politicians to support a proposal that would see an existing Southwestern Ontario pipeline reversed to send oil from west to east.
B.C. premier floats oil sands royalty sharing
Christy Clark targets risk-benefit ratio of proposed Northern Gateway pipeline
British Columbia Premier Christy Clark is becoming a particularly uncomfortable thorn in Alberta’s side.
In a wide-ranging interview with Brian Hutchinson at the National Post, the B.C. Liberal Party leader suggests – without explicitly saying so – that her government will not lend its support to Enbridge Inc.’s $5.5-billion Northern Gateway pipeline without first seeing a commitment to oil sands royalty sharing.
11 May
Who’s afraid of China?
Industry mum as citizens worry about giant’s rising influence in oil sands
China’s growing influence in oil sands development might be the most important issue facing Canada’s energy sector that nobody is talking about.
Canadian companies have happily accepted billions of dollars in investments from Chinese state-owned enterprises in recent years on the basis that the energy-hungry emerging Asian superpower will soon be their best customer.
Meanwhile, as the public grows increasingly concerned about the potential importation into Canada of questionable Chinese corporate practices and opposition politicians raise questions of possible interference with Canada’s national interests, industry associations, environmental groups and the government of Canada itself have stayed mute.
10 May
Oilsands critics put spotlight on foreign ownership
Anti-oilsands activists hit back at recent criticism of foreign funding of environmental charities Thursday by releasing a report showing oilsands companies are overwhelmingly foreign-owned.
ForestEthics Advocacy — a spin-off of ForestEthics, which is a registered charity — released a shareholder analysis conducted using Bloomberg statistics that found 71 per cent of all companies operating in the Fort McMurray, Alta., area are not Canadian.
3 April
Don’t call them ‘tar sands’
(Maclean’s)The industry-approved lingo for Alberta’s hydrocarbon gunk is ‘oil sands’
15 March
Critic’s Journal: Oil Sands Net Benefits will be Maximized if Scientists Monitoring the Environmental Impacts can Speak Freely about their Research
By Ted Hsu, Liberal Science & Technology Critic
12 March
Alberta, Ottawa, oil lobby formed secret committee
(Toronto Star) The federal and Alberta governments struck up a secret, high-level committee in early 2010 to coordinate the promotion of the oilsands with Canada’s most powerful industry lobby group, a document obtained through an access to information request reveals.
The committee brought together the president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) with deputy ministers from Natural Resources, Environment Canada, Alberta Energy and Alberta Environment to synchronize their lobbying offensive in the face of mounting protest and looming international regulations targeting the Alberta crude.
23 February
EU delays decision on whether oil sands crude more harmful to environment
(Toronto Star) Environmentalists and oil producers are vowing to keep up the fight after a European Union vote Thursday delayed a decision on whether to declare oil sands output more harmful to the environment than conventional crude.
20 February
Impact of burning oilsands tiny: study
(Vancouver Sun) … This past Sunday, [Andrew] Weaver and his doctoral student, Neil Swart, published an analysis in the scientific journal Nature Climate Change, an offshoot of Nature, the world’s most prestigious science journal.
In their paper, Swart and Weaver conclude the impact of burning all the economically viable proven reserve of Alberta’s oilsands – all 170 billion barrels – would be negligible. Burning all the proven reserve between 2012 and 2062, they say, would raise global temperatures by just 0.02 C to 0.05 C.
17 February
Nobel Winners Urge EU Leaders To Back Tar Sands Law
(Planet Ark) A group of Nobel peace prize winners urged European leaders in a letter on Thursday to support an EU Commission proposal to class fuel from oil sands as highly polluting.
“Tar sand development is the fastest growing source of greenhouse gas emissions in Canada, and threatens the health of the planet,” eight Nobel Peace Prize laureates, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and Iranian human rights activist Shirin Ebadi, said in the letter.
26 January
Federal documents spark outcry by oil sands critics
The documents, obtained through an access to information request and released by Greenpeace Canada, are a draft diplomatic strategy outlining ways to shape European perceptions of Canada’s oil sands. They show that the government’s messages are intended to shift attitudes in media and among top decision makers regarding the oil sands industry, which faces a possible effective import ban in Europe as the continent pursues a low-carbon fuel strategy.
23 January
Ottawa sees itself as protector of oil sands benefits
(Reuters) – Canada’s government has a responsibility to make sure people can take advantage of the economic benefits Alberta’s massive oil deposits can generate, the country’s energy minister said on Monday as he once again decried “radicals” bent on stopping Enbridge Inc’s Northern Gateway oil pipeline.
22 January
Boehner: ‘We May’ Try To Attach Keystone Pipeline Plan To Payroll Tax Cut, Again
(HuffPost) One week after the president — citing State Department concerns — put the kibosh on plans to build a pipeline through the United States for the purposes of carrying crude oil, Boehner told “Fox News Sunday” he would attempt to resuscitate the proposal.
XL Pipeline Opposition Funding: U.S. Groups That Funded Environmentalists Also Gave To Canadian Government
(Canadian Press) Rich American foundations are not only footing the bill for opposition to Canada’s oilsands.
Tax returns show the Canadian government has also been the beneficiary of millions of dollars in largesse from some of the wealthiest private organizations in the United States.
And some of that money came from the same U.S. groups that helped fund Canadian environmentalists.
18 January
Obama administration to reject Keystone pipeline
(WaPost) The Obama administration will announce this afternoon it is rejecting a Canadian firm’s application for a permit to build and operate a massive oil pipeline across the U.S.-Canada border, according to sources who have been briefed on the matter.
However the administration will allow TransCanada to reapply after it develops an alternate route through the sensitive habitat of Nebraska’s Sandhills. Deputy Secretary of State William J. Burns will make the announcement, which comes in response to a congressionally-mandated deadline of Feb. 21 for action on the proposed Keystone pipeline.
16 January
Harper says pipeline debate should be left to Canadians
Canada not ‘giant national park’ for U.S., prime minister says
12 January
In Canada’s energy sector, foreign influence cuts both ways
(Globe & Mail) It isn’t wrong for foreign oil companies to discuss projects with Canadian officials, or for foreign backers of Northern Gateway, like France’s Total and China’s Sinopec, to support it at hearings. Or for environmental groups to take American sums to oppose it. The panel’s reviewing evidence, not taking a poll.
CBC Showdown: Sierra Club vs “Ethical Oil” – One of them is a Ridiculous Radical
Terry Glavin: The real foreign interests in the oilsands
(Ottawa Citizen) If there were a global competition for the most brazen and preposterously transparent attempt by a ruling political party to change a necessary subject of national debate with alarmist distractions and hubbub, the Conservative escapade engineered in Ottawa these past few days really deserves some kind of grand prize.
The $5.5-billion Enbridge pipeline project is all about sending Alberta bitumen in huge oil tankers to China. Beijing’s own state enterprises are among the project’s major backers, and Beijing has been buying up Alberta’s oilpatch at such a dizzying pace lately it’s hard to keep up.
11 January
Reuters reports that Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper plans to visit China next month as his government looks to open new markets for oil sands crude in the wake of Washington’s decision to delay approval of a major pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
10 January
Oliver’s comments roil Northern Gateway environmental hearings
(Globe & Mail) Mr. Oliver issued an open letter Monday, saying that there are “environmental and other radical groups” that are trying to block the pipeline and squelch Canadian resource prosperity and job growth.
“They use funding from foreign special interest groups to undermine Canada’s national economic interest,” he said.
6 January
‘Foreign money’ could gum up pipeline approval, Harper warns
(Globe & Mail) The Prime Minister is threatening to prevent foreign environmental interests from delaying the approval of a pipeline that would take bitumen from the Alberta oil sands to the West Coast for shipment to Asian markets.
4 January
China’s oil-sands deal will have lasting impact
(Globe & Mail) Chinese firms aren’t just buying stakes, they’re buying whole operations. It’s a new phase of China’s step-by-step Canada strategy. It will change not just the oil patch but Canada’s foreign policy. And a game of international energy politics is afoot in Canada’s West. … resource investments around the world indicate China doesn’t want to rely on buying products on the markets. It wants to own. The Chinese companies expect there will eventually be pipelines to the West Coast that will allow shipments across the Pacific.
3 January
Of Beijing and bitumen
(Globe & Mail) The acquisition by the state-controlled PetroChina Co. Ltd.’s of 100 per cent of the MacKay River oil-sands project is a vivid reminder that the federal government’s review of Investment Canada’s foreign-takeover criteria has not yet been issued

Dr. Joe Schwarcz:
Within the last ten days I’ve been in New York, BC and Washington. I was there to talk about various issues in chemistry but in each instance the topic of conversation with my hosts quickly focused on “pastagate.” I felt ashamed to be from Quebec. We have become the laughing stock of the world. It is sheer lunacy that with numerous legitimate issues to be addressed , the narrow minded Quebec politicians worry about the French language losing its eminence because of what they see as a treacherous restaurant menu. And it’s equally disturbing that while the Parti Quebecois commits these linguistic atrocities, the Federal government just stays silent.
The simple minded critter who was in charge of the language police, and that is the proper description, claims that her heart was in the right place. Maybe so, but it is her brain that is missing.
Our infrastructure is crumbling, our education system is a mess, our emergency rooms are stressed to the limit and we are funding the Office de la Langue Francaise to the tune of some 30 million dollars a year. This is a crime! A colossal misappropriation of public funds. We are actually paying people to go around measuring signs and telling stores to cover up “on” buttons on microwave ovens. It is time to disband this foul operation and put the expertise of the employees to use in measuring the depth of potholes. Filling them probably lies outside their capability.
It is truly amazing that Minister Diane de Courcy, when announcing the resignation of the head of the OLF and declaring that questions in English would not be entertained, did not recognize the irony of standing in front of a sign declaring “Un Quebec for Tous.” Surely that rusty brain needs some oiling. Educated Americans used to be ashamed to say that George W. Bush was their president. Compared with our premier, he was an intellectual giant. — Published on his Facebook page, March 8, 2013 and shared over 3,000 times in less than a week

Lisée and De Courcy: We have listened
The amendments that will be tabled will result in a new and improved law to protect linguistic security and vitality — for everyone
By Jean-François Lisée and Diane De Courcy, Special to the Gazette
Perhaps we ought to have seen it coming, but some of our proposals were interpreted by a number of people in the anglo community not as starting points for discussion, but as an attempt to reduce the rights of English-speakers in Quebec.
The bill now goes on to a new stage and we will be tabling a number of amendments. At the same time, there will be discussions with the Coalition Avenir Québec on some of the issues. Yet we want to make it clear that having heard all of the arguments, and even had we been a majority government, we would have moved, on our own, on a number of issues. Here are the main issues, primarily raised by anglo-Quebecers:
Don Macpherson reacts (strongly):
A major omission and half-truths in piece by Lisée
… Another example: The article said “some people” have portrayed a proposed amendment in Bill 14 to the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms as discriminatory. And it implied those people are legislative illiterates who don’t know how to read a bill.
What the article neglected to mention is that these “some people” in question are the Quebec human-rights commission and the province’s bar association.
… But now, the article said, we must accept cuts in services in English to the sick and elderly to help “sustain the critical mass of the French-speaking majority, especially in Montreal,”
What Lisée meant by that, as he has made clear in the past, is that there aren’t enough people speaking French in the privacy of their own homes.
But not even Lisée had the nerve to come out and ask anglos in The Gazette to “empathize” with the PQ’s opinion that there are too many of us.
And another thing (or two) about Lisée and De Courcy on Bill 14
… In admissions to English-language CEGEPs, Bill 14 would favour graduates of English-language high schools over applicants from French-language ones.
That, the two Parti Québécois ministers said, is to help anglo kids whose education is “cut short” because they’re squeezed out of college by graduates of French schools with better marks. … They want to prevent non-anglophones from going to English CEGEPs. Political considerations, however, prevented the government from keeping the PQ’s promise to anti-English hawks to apply Bill 101′s restrictions on admission to English schools to the colleges.
They also neglected to mention that Bill 14 would require would-be graduates of English high schools and colleges to pass more difficult French tests. This could prevent some students from graduating, and discourage others from going on to CEGEP.
30 April
Parti Québécois moves forward on Bill 14
Liberals vow to oppose it
(The Gazette) With the Liberals digging in their heels, the Quebec government Tuesday set in motion the next phase in the adoption of its new language law, Bill 14.
A little after 4 p.m., Diane De Courcy, minister responsible for the Charter of the French Language, rose in the National Assembly to kick off a second reading of the bill.
She again described the bill as reasonable, and said she hoped the Liberals might “evolve” in their thinking when the bill is examined clause by clause by a National Assembly committee if it passes second reading.
But Liberal language critic Marc Tanguay rapidly indicated the party will not be co-operating, and said reasons to reject the new bill entirely “abound.”

29 April

Let’s talk — calmly, CRITIQ says
(Montreal Gazette) Strong words and appeals for calm dialogue were both on the agenda on Sunday as Quebec’s newest civil rights group hosted its second conference in two months.
Canadian Rights in Quebec (CRITIQ), which now claims to have nearly 10,000 members (one-third of them francophone), [was] formed in late January in response to the tabling of Bill 14 — a controversial piece of legislation that will revamp the Charter of the French Language (Bill 101) in Quebec.
On Sunday, a four-man panel addressed the broad implications of the legislation and its potential impact on civil rights in Quebec at a CRITIQ conference titled simply “You Have a Right.”
19 April
Bill 14 hearings a rough-and-tumble ride
Out of the total of 86 briefs, the commission heard from 75 groups and citizens. Another 4,285 persons answered the online questionnaire.
Don Macpherson: What’s next for Bill 14?
… the concerns about individual rights and freedoms were given short shrift by the Parti Québécois language minister, Diane De Courcy. She ignored them completely in her communiqué assessing the hearings. And in her news conference, De Courcy refused to commit herself to making any amendments to the bill as a result of the hearings.
The PQ lacks a majority in the National Assembly, and the official-opposition Liberals reiterated that they will vote against the whole bill. So whether and how much of the bill will pass depends on the Coalition Avenir Québec party, which holds the balance of power — as well as on the government.
The CAQ caucus appears to be divided. Party leader François Legault has said he would like to vote for the bill, but some Coalition MNAs are believed to be against it. So far, the 19-member caucus has been able to agree only that three provisions in the bill, adversely affecting small businesses, officially bilingual municipalities and school-age Canadian Forces children, must be changed or dropped.
18 April
Public hearings on Quebec’s controversial Bill 14 wrap up
CÉGEP officials call proposed language law amendments discriminatory …
On Tuesday the government also heard from the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
The commission criticized the bill’s proposed changes to Quebec’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which would designate the use of an official language as a “human right.”
Opinion: Changes proposed by Bill 14 risk serious rights violations
By Pearl Eliadis
Last Friday, the Quebec Bar Association testified at legislative hearings in Quebec City on Bill 14, which proposes to amend several laws, including the French Language Charter, and impose new restrictions on (mainly) anglophone rights
When I first wrote about Bill 14 last fall (Opinion, Dec. 11, “Bill 14 chips away at English minority rights”), I highlighted the bill’s proposed change in definition of “ethnic minorities” to the nebulous “cultural communities.” Other writers have discussed this as well. The proposed new term, in my view, is worrisome because it serves as prologue to a litany of substantive rights violations in the bill.

10 April
Bill 101 should not be subject to tinkering, civil rights lawyer says
The Charter of the French Language is not the kind of law politicians should tinker with every few years for political reasons, respected civil rights lawyer Julius Grey says.
And one of the newly minted minority rights groups — this one including former Equality Party leader and MNA Robert Libman — has urged Quebec to reconsider Bill 14 in the name of social peace and linguistic harmony.
“I have adopted the slogan the nationalists had in the 1990s, ‘Ne touchez pas à la loi 101,’ ” Grey quipped as he opened his presentation to the National Assembly committee studying the bill.
… Unlike the more aggressive tone at Tuesday’s hearings, Grey’s presentation went off without a hitch with a number of committee members saying they were honoured he appeared.
Everyone shook his hand.
The mood was equally relaxed an hour earlier when the group, Canadian Rights in Quebec (CRITIQ), presented its brief and that despite the fact the group’s document blasts the bill to smithereens.
Group members included Libman, an architect who was the MNA for D’Arcy McGee from 1989-1994, Richard Yufe, a Montreal lawyer, and newspaper publisher Beryl Wajsman.
“We think the adoption of Bill 14 threatens social peace and risks opening old wounds,” Libman told the committee. He said his goal was to convince the Liberals and Coalition Avenir Québec MNA to vote down the bill. The Liberals plan to vote against the bill; the CAQ will unless there are radical changes.
Acrimony marks return of Bill 14 hearings
During an emotional day featuring sometimes inflammatory presentations and with one French-language activist, Mario Beaulieu, revealing he has received death threats, Diane De Courcy said the debate over her bill has taken on an acrimonious tone.
Abolish Quebec’s anglo hospitals: hardliners
A hard-line language group’s proposal to abolish anglophone hospitals has Quebec cabinet ministers scrambling to say this is not going to happen.
7 April
Josh Freed: Language peace is all around us
I recently spent the night in an oasis of language peace, far from the feuds of Bill 14, Pastagate, quibbling language inspectors, fuming angryphones, exhausted otherphones — and debates over whether to say “Bonjour hi,” or just use sign language.
No, I wasn’t in Ontario – I was in the Quartier Latin near lower St. Denis St., usually student protest headquarters. But on this night it was home to a monthly discussion group called “Génération d’idees” that brings together young people in their 20 and 30-somethings.
14 March
Don Macpherson: Most of Bill 14 now seems sure to be passed
The CAQ does hold the fate of Bill 14 in its hands, since the official-opposition Liberals oppose any change to the present language legislation and the Coalition holds the balance of power in the National Assembly.
But it’s important to note that the CAQ has come out against only four of the 94 sections of Bill 14 — and only in their present form.
These sections:
Could take away a municipality’s bilingual status if less than 50 per cent of its population has English as its mother tongue.
Would extend “francization” requirements to businesses with between 26 and 49 employees.
Would make it harder for French-speaking students to get into English-language colleges by favouring English-speaking applicants.
Would repeal an exemption allowing French-speaking military personnel to send their children to English-language schools.
So far, the CAQ has not objected to any other proposals in the bill.
12 March
Quebec unions share ‘horror stories’ of civil servants who used bilingualism to help citizens
As the union sees it, a “shameful bilingualism” is invading the civil service, and union president Lucie Martineau said the Parti Québécois government’s Bill 14, which updates the language charter known as Bill 101, does not go nearly far enough to correct things.
(National Post) As hearings began Tuesday into Quebec’s proposed tightening of its language law, the main union representing provincial civil servants had some horror stories to share about life on the frontlines.
The details were so shocking that employees’ names and workplaces were withheld to protect them from possible repercussions, the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Québec (SFPQ) wrote in a brief tabled at the National Assembly.
There was the perfectly bilingual clerk at Revenue Quebec who frequently meets people who are more at ease discussing their tax questions in English. The clerk prefers to go along rather than turn “a tax problem into a language debate” and possibly spark a complaint.
There was a technician dealing in benefits who was asked to submit an English version of a form to a Quebec-based company because its payroll department was in Winnipeg, and staff there did not understand French.
11 March
Once they start laughing at you, you’re through – and when the Economist is writing about you?
It is generally the case with figures of authority that when the masses start laughing at you, you are through.
(The Economist | Johnson) … Journalists with a sense of the ridiculous quickly piled on. An analysis of international media coverage of Quebec showed the story, quickly dubbed #pastagate on twitter, received 60 times the coverage of a trip by Pauline Marois, the premier, that had been meant to drum up investor interest in the province.
You can walk: Prominent Bill 14 supporter tells people who can’t order metro tickets in French Hateful and stupid!

Anglos’ turn to say: ‘Ne touchez pas à loi 101′
(The Gazette) Diane De Courcy is discovering something many of her predecessors have: Being Quebec’s language minister is no walk in the park. When De Courcy arrives at the National Assembly Tuesday morning to kick off five weeks of hearings into Bill 14, which revamps the Charter of the French Language, she will be a minister facing a convergence of many forces.
On the one side, are language hardliners calling on her to — as a headline in Le Devoir stated last week — “tighten the screws,” on the 36-year-old language law. On the other are the minorities, especially the anglophone community. Pastagate-empowered and organizing for a fight, this group says it will be docile no more.
Minus the old Alliance-Quebec anglophone rights group, a new group, Canadian Rights in Quebec (CRITIQ), has emerged in the wake of the bill. A spokesperson said Monday the group now has more than 5,000 members.
10 March
Beryl Wajsman: Language laws make Quebec an outlaw régime in international law
Ever since Bill 22, cultural nationalists – whether to placate sovereignists or to demonize non-francophones for votes – have show a wanton disregard for legal order. And opponents of nationalists need to differentiate between opposition to political nationalism and cultural nationalism.
8 March
Quebec language watchdog resigns in wake of ‘Pastagate’
(National Post) The head of Quebec’s French language watchdog has resigned following a series of embarrassing controversies.
The departure of Louise Marchand, president of the Office Quebecois de la langue francaise, was confirmed by the PQ government Friday morning.
Marchand’s exit follows a series of news stories that have drawn considerable ridicule upon the agency — in Quebec, the rest of Canada, and even abroad. … Bill 14 appears on shaky ground with one opposition party saying it will reject key elements of the legislation.
The leader of the Coalition for Quebec’s Future says he opposes plans to make French the mandatory language in the workplace for companies with between 25 and 49 employees. He also opposes plans to make it easier revoke the bilingual status of municipalities with dwindling English-speaking populations.
Francois Legault told a news conference in Quebec City this morning it is important to strike a balance between promoting French and respecting the rights of Anglophones.
La présidente de l’OQLF démissionne
7 March
PQ Scraps English-Immersion Plan
(Canadian Press) A plan to teach every Quebec child English in the sixth grade is being scrapped by the new Parti Quebecois government. The plan was created by the previous Liberal government and it would have placed all sixth-graders, those not already in English schools, in an intensive immersion program for half the year.
The new Parti Quebecois government, which is generally more nationalist on language matters, says it doesn’t actually have a problem with schools adopting that immersion program. But it says they can do so on a voluntary basis.
The move came after the provincial teachers’ union had complained that the objective of creating a wall-to-wall program for every school, by 2015, was unrealistic. It said the need for such a program, as well as the availability of English teachers, varied widely from one region to the next.
6 March
CRITIQ launch draws near record numbers opposed to Marois’ policies
(The MetropolitaIn) In what many have called the largest gathering against discriminatory Quebec acts that curtail civil rights since Premier Bourassa used the notwithstanding clause in 1989,some 800 people crowded into the downtown Delta Hotel in order to attend a conference staged by CRITIQ ( Canadian Rights in Quebec.) CRITIQ is a broad alliance of anglophones, allophones and francophones dedicated to ensuring that constitutionally enshrined Canadian civil rights – particularly with respect to language – are respected in Quebec.
It was clear from the speakers, and the attendees during question period, that there is a broad Montreal stirring across ethnic lines fed up with the Marois’ government’s overt assault on the province’s ethnic and linguistic minorities. Five of the city’s better-known activists spoke to the crowd about the urgency of defending their rights.
“The few cannot continue to fight for the many alone forever,” said Beryl Wajsman, publisher of the Métropolitain and President of the Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal. “Our individual rights are being challenged and now it’s our duty to rise up together and ensure that they are protected and respected. This is one law too far.” Beryl Wajsman: It Is Not Over! Stay Vigilant And Resolute/
Conseil supérieur de la langue française: Quebec must adopt hardline approach to make French common language
(The Gazette) Entitled “Reinvigorating the Linguistic Policy of Quebec,” the opinion was made public Wednesday by Robert Vezina, president of the Conseil, on the eve of hearings at the National Assembly on Bill 14, which seeks to reinforce Bill 101, the French language charter, first adopted in 1977.
With its opinion, the organization in essence supports the government in its effort, notably provisions on making French obligatory in businesses with 25 to 49 employees.
The Conseil indicates it is worried by the anglicisation of the business world and urges Quebec to take the measures necessary to reverse the trend.
Coincidentally comes this from the European Commission – what a contrast:
Learning foreign languages can become a way for Europeans to exit the economic doldrums and find employment opportunities across borders, says language and culture Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou.
As well as producing more mobile and language-savvy citizens, European institutions and businesses should learn to better cope with a multilingual society, Vassiliou told a conference of policymakers and academics at the European Economic and Social Committee on Tuesday (5 March), an EU consultative body.
“If we want more mobile students and workers, and businesses that can operate on a European and world scale, we need better language competences – and these must be better targeted to the current and future needs of the labour market,” she said.
The latest European Commission figures show that in 2011 just 42% of European 15-year-olds were competent in their first foreign language, despite often having learned it from seven years of age. [what were they learning before that?] Furthermore, the figure differed hugely across different EU countries, with 82% for Sweden and just 9% for Britain.
Bill 14 appears doomed to defeat
The Parti Quebecois’s plan to toughen Bill 101 could be in trouble.
(CTV) The Coalition Avenir Quebec confirmed Wednesday the existence of a draft of a letter stating it will oppose the most controversial aspects of Bill 14, the proposed legislation to beef up Quebec’s French language law.
In the letter, the CAQ stated it is opposed to the following provisions of Bill 14:
The right to remove a municipality’s existing bilingual status
Removal of the right of children of francophone military parents to attend English school
New measures forcing companies with 26 to 50 employees to conduct their internal communications in French
Measures to restrict francophone and allophone students from attending Anglophone CEGEPS.
Most of PQ language bill will not pass
(CJAD) A leaked internal letter for the CAQ shows that the party will block the most controversial elements in the Parti Quebecois’ language bill.
The CAQ wields the power to decide whether or not the bill will pass into law. The Liberals have already said they will vote against bill 14 in its entirety.
A letter that the CAQ is providing to its riding associations says large amounts if the legislation will have to go on the chopping block.
1 March
The new, heavier-handed Quebec language regime
(Globe & Mail) Under the section of the Charter of the French Language governing the OQLF as it currently stands, inspectors can “request” documents from people or businesses suspected of language violations. Under the amendments proposed in Bill 14, inspectors will have the power to “require the production of any book, account, record, file or other document for examination or for the purpose of making copies or extracts,” and to “seize any thing which he or she believes on reasonable grounds may prove the commission of an offence.” Those are policing powers, not powers of inspection. [emphasis added]
As well, where currently someone alleged to have committed an infraction is given time to comply before charges are laid, Bill 14 removes the mention of a compliance period. Instead, once an infraction is suspected, the OQLF “shall refer the matter to the Director of Criminal and Penal Prosecutions so that appropriate penal proceedings may be instituted.”
23 February
Quebec language police strike again, tell ‘caffe’ to ‘F’ off
Quebec’s language police have struck again, telling an Italian restaurant to take the “F” off, eh.
The Office quebecois de la langue francaise — bureaucrats who ensure French is Quebec’s dominant language on street signs and elsewhere — has told Conti Caffe to drop one “F” from a sign outside its Quebec City establishment.
That’s because “caffe” is Italian and, perhaps, confusing for those looking for a French “café,” CTV News reported.
Quebec language police claim Italian restaurant menu has ‘too much Italian’
Massimo Lecas, the owner of high-end Italian eatery Buonanotte … said the authorities told him to provide a French translation for the Italian words — including words such as “meatball” and “calamari,” for which he had already provided helpful French keys.
Update Quebec tongue troopers backtrack on Buonanotte’s menu
5 March
Dan Delmar: How a pasta-bowl tempest is changing Quebec
Pastagate became a worldwide news phenomenon, from Italy to the UK to the United States. As others have noted, international coverage of this story has been greater, by several orders of magnitude, than Quebec Premier Pauline Marois’ much-ballyhooed (in Quebec) trip to Scotland.
It is important to remember that Lecas’ ordeal is painfully common in Quebec. In fact, in the days following Pastagate, dozens of restaurateurs came out of the woodwork to share similarly absurd OQLF horror stories. … Facing intense media scrutiny and ridicule, the OQLF dropped its case against Buonanotte, while Lecas is revelling in all the publicity his restaurant has received. He’s even printed “j’aime le pasta” t-shirts.
What’s important here in Quebec is that the scandal has had legs in the francophone media.
… To question language dogma in Quebec is to poke a malnourished tiger in the eye. The mission of the OQLF rests upon the improvised, statistically disproven theory that the French language is on the verge of extinction because of the presence of English and other languages. Most rational observers would note that the only way to ensure a language’s survival is through education rather than repression, but all rationality is lost amid the insecurity that dominates the discourse on culture in Quebec.
25 February
BRILLIANT SPOOF!
Dear Diary: ‘We busted right in through the front door with our dictionaries drawn’
(National Post) Monday
The name’s Guy Brossard, Quebec language cop. Twenty-one years on the force, three divorces, a bum liver and a bad case of loving the “taverne” too well. I pack a Petit Robert and a flask of maple syrup. They call me a man of justice, that thin blue line that protects this province’s guileless “gens du pays” from what some would call soft ethnocide. Right around five o’clock I was just about to head home for a date with a bottle of bourbon when she stepped in: lips as red as a Canadiens sweater, eyes like a Holstein cow and legs that went for kilometres. You could say the dame was worth a stare. My mind was already working out the numbers on a physical negotiation when she piped up with a complaint: “They tell me you’re the best, Brossard, well, some I-talian joint downtown just tried to sell me a plate of ‘pasta.’ ”
24 January
PITY THE FRANCOPHONE PARENT IN QUEBEC! The language of education in Quebec – why does the majority continue to favour the minority?
By John Buchanan
(The Metropolitain) Ever since the PQ returned to power (and in the election campaign beforehand) language has been back on the political agenda. A draft law with new provisions to bill 101 is presently before the National Assembly, proposing to tighten the language rules for businesses with at least 26 employees (down from 50) and requiring CEGEPs to give priority to English students first before granting spots to francophones. In addition, the proposed law – in a perverse way – guarantees that any French employee cannot be fired because they are unilingual, raising the spectre of an endless parade before the tribunals of wrongful dismissal cases, based on language, and a fear amongst businesses of hiring unilinguals.
The PQ continues to bemoan the so-called decline of French although recent studies issued in no way suggest that French in the workplace and at home is in significant decline.
[Editor's comment: 1) I do not have the citations, but do know that a number of linguistic experts have made the point that early training in a second language produces more flexibility in reproducing sounds that are different from those of the first language, eventually enabling the speaker to replicate more ‘foreign’ sounds in other languages (I think this is the phenomenon referred to as an ear for languages).
2) We had a very dear friend, a Polish architect who spoke at least five languages, who maintained that people who speak only one language tend to only accept one way of looking at things, while those who have learned how to express themselves in two or more languages (particularly those with very different grammatical structures and syntax) are more likely to realize that there is more than one way of thinking about a topic. Not always true – some people can be pig-headed in multiple languages - but worth considering.]
20 January
Don Macpherson: Lachine Hospital transfer proposal a consolation prize
Now that the Parti Québécois is in power, it helps to know Mario Beaulieu, the spokesman for several anti-English pressure groups.
He opposed the construction of the new McGill teaching hospital, and he has had his hawk’s eye on the Lachine Hospital since its transfer to the MUHC was announced. …
The Lachine Hospital looked like a consolation prize to the hawks for their disappointment with the “new Bill 101” the Marois government proposed Dec. 5.
With Bill 14, the government reneged on its “CEGEPs 101” promise to the hawks to restrict admission to English-language colleges.
And that promise was to compensate hard-line nationalists for PQ leader Pauline Marois’s refusal to commit to holding a sovereignty referendum.
Now it looks as though Hébert will disappoint the hawks again, by leaving the Lachine Hospital in the MUHC.
But that doesn’t mean the end of language politics in the health sector.
One of the objectives of Bill 14 is to restrict access to public services in English at the provincial as well as the municipal level, including the health sector.

2012

18 November
Walmart and other major retailers take Quebec government to court over French signage requirements
Several major retailers are taking the Quebec government to court over the provincial language watchdog’s insistence they modify their commercial brand names to include some French.
The retailers include some of the biggest brand names in North America — Walmart, Best Buy and Costco. Their lawyers are expected in Quebec Superior Court on Thursday.
Quebec’s language watchdog, The Office Quebecois de la Langue Francaise, wants the retailers to change their signs to either give themselves a generic French name or add a slogan or explanation that reflects what it is they’re selling.
2 November
Opinion: A challenge to Jean-François Lisée
By Robert Libman,
Actions speak louder than words. On election night, Sept. 4, Pauline Marois actually uttered a few words in English and extended her hand to reassure an uneasy anglophone community about its future in Quebec. This was surprising enough, but she then took the unprecedented step of naming a minister responsible for relations with the anglophone community, Jean-François Lisée.
Lisée then proactively initiated a meeting with the heads of Montreal’s English school boards, something that former premier Jean Charest had previously refused to do. Lisée got appreciative marks from some for making this effort, which school-board officials cautiously greeted as a positive first step.
Many anglophones, however, saw this as nothing more than lip service, and their skepticism was reinforced by some of Lisée’s subsequent musings on the latest census figures, and his swipe at Justin Trudeau for Trudeau’s comments opposing any strengthening of Bill 101.
18 October
Janet Bagnall: Daycare proposal has some operators fuming
(Montreal Gazette) Many people involved in Quebec’s daycare system guessed, correctly it seems, that the government’s proposal to make French the only official language for children under the age of 5 of might not last out the week. The fact that the proposal appeared more trial balloon than serious policy-making didn’t make them any happier that their new government was even thinking of forcing children in daycare to speak French.
Desy Sacripante is the owner of Razmataz Kidz, a private daycare with 75 children. She said that she created a niche in what was a rapidly growing daycare market by offering a bilingual daycare program.
“I have my permit. I have my niche. And now you’re going to tell me that I can’t offer an English program when most of my clientele are allophones and want English? My clientele want their children to be competitive in the economic market. They want their children to speak English.
Under the Parti Québécois government, English is being removed from primary and secondary school and the CÉGEP system and now possibly the early childhood education centres, said Sacripante. “Where will children learn English? Does (Premier Pauline Marois) never expect them to leave Quebec?”
Quelques questions pour J-F Lisée
Par Steve Ambler le 30 août 2012
(The Metropolitain) Prenons deux individus, les deux parlant bien le français, le premier de Bordeaux et le deuxième de Shanghaï. Le premier parle français à la maison, et donc selon la logique du PQ vaut plus que le deuxième. C’est intéressant puisque on réussit de cette façon à contrôler non seulement la langue utilisée au travail mais aussi la langue utilisée à la maison. Est-ce que le PQ réfléchit aussi à une façon de contrôler la langue dans laquelle les individus pensent ? Maintenant, ajoutons un troisième individu au mélange. Un juif sépharade dont la famille est arrivée au Québec du Maroc avec le grand exode des juifs du monde arabe en ’48. Il parle français à la maison. Il parle le français à la maison, mais il est orthodoxe. Donc, il porte le kipa par conviction et, pour cette raison, ne peut travailler pour la fonction publique québécoise. Selon cette deuxième logique, il vaut moins comme personne que l’individu de Bordeaux, présumément d’origine catholique et peut-être portant une croix (ce qui est parfaitement acceptable). Lorsqu’on compare la valeur de l’individu de Shanghaï avec la valeur du juif sépharade, laquelle des deux logiques prédomine ? Est-ce que l’individu de Shanghaï vaut plus ou moins que l’individu d’origine marocaine ?
23 August
Jonathan Kay: Pauline Marois’ assaults on democratic values
This week, for instance, Ms. Marois revived a 2007 proposal that would bar non-French speakers from holding public office in Quebec. It would even bar non-French speakers from funding political parties or petitioning the legislature. As many aboriginal leaders have pointed out, one of its primary effects would be to bar virtually all First Nations figures, especially older ones, from electoral politics. (Even today, many aboriginal students study only English and their ancestral tongues.)
Indeed, the idea is so outrageous that on Wednesday, the PQ was forced to backtrack — putting out a statement to the effect that anyone already residing in Quebec, of whatever linguistic ability, would be excluded from the language requirement. Yet even this leaves open the possibility than a non-French-speaking Canadian citizen who arrives in Quebec in the future — whether from Toronto, Yellowknife or Madrid — would be unconstitutionally stripped of his or her democratic rights because they don’t speak one of this country’s two official languages. It is a disgrace that any serious politician in Canada would think to propose such a plan. (iPolitics) Pauline Marois offers menu of reprehensible nationalist policies
Seems a little correction was in order
22 August
Amid backlash, PQ clarifies French requirement for public office run
… faced with an uproar from non-francophones and native groups, the party issued a statement Wednesday flatly contradicting the leader. Non-francophone Canadians already residing in Quebec would be excluded from the language requirement since they are automatically Quebec citizens, the statement said.
The party’s flip-flop was the latest twist in a campaign where Ms. Marois has often played up identity issues in a bid to woo the francophone electorate.
Some commentators are even speculating that such proposals, which are likely to be overturned by the courts, are part of a deliberate attempt to hike up antagonism against federal institutions.
French fluency a prerequisite to public office under PQ government
MONTREAL – Under a Parti Québécois government, anglophones and immigrants would not be allowed to run for public office unless they spoke French, leader Pauline Marois told reporters Tuesday.
“This is what we call the right of eligibility, and it seems to me that out of respect for our language, which is the official language of Quebec, it is normal that someone who wants to represent citizens should speak this language,” Marois said during a press conference at a provincial nurses’ federation.
Marois said that if elected, she would reintroduce a controversial PQ bill requiring all new citizens of Quebec to learn French. But the new bill would go even further than the initial version of Bill 195, tabled in 2007.
To be eligible to run in provincial or municipal elections, a non-francophone would have to speak French well enough “to be able to explain his ideas, explain his point of view,” Marois said.
The proposed law would apply to people born and raised in Quebec, including members of First Nations, as well as immigrants.
“The principle is not whether you come from elsewhere or you come from here. The principle is that you have to be capable of communication with the citizens,” Marois said.
The PQ leader declined to explain how the government would test would-be candidates’ French skills. Would there be a written test, an oral one, or both?
“A written or an oral test has not been planned. We could look at the tools that already exist,” she said.
Civil-rights lawyer Julius Grey blasted the proposal as “part of the new identity face this campaign has taken and it’s very regrettable.”
“I think it’s a remarkably bad idea and it’s one that is manifestly unconstitutional and there’s absolutely no doubt that people like myself … will be in court the next day after it’s passed,” Grey said.
He said the proposed law would infringe Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which provides the right to participate in democratic affairs and does not have a test.
Grey compared the proposed law to the Jim Crow literacy tests given to African-Americans in the U.S. South to prevent them from voting.
“It’s quite shocking that you would interfere with the electorate’s choice,” Grey said. He noted that voters are quite capable of rejecting candidates whose language skills are not up to scratch.
“The attempt by the government to get in and stop them from running is unjustifiable. I can’t see any good that comes of it, nor is it fair, nor does it have anything to do with democratic principles,” he added.
Marois said candidates would not have to be “perfectly bilingual, but at least out of respect for the citizens of Quebec (they) would have to know the rudiments of the French language.” She noted that her own English “is deficient, as you know, but I think I succeed in expressing my thoughts quite well anyway, so people could be inspired by my experience.”
The PQ tabled Bill 195 at the height of the debate over the “reasonable accommodation” of religious minorities. It would have required immigrants to have a working knowledge of French before they could become citizens of Quebec. The bill was not adopted because the PQ was not in power at the time.
Marois said the details of the law would be worked out after the election.
“Obviously, this law will be debated. There will surely be a parliamentary commission,” she said.
In Monday night’s debate, Premier Jean Charest accused the PQ leader of infringing on non-francophones’ democratic rights.
But Marois said she saw no problem with limiting the political rights of language minorities since immigrants need to have a working knowledge of English or French to obtain Canadian citizenship.
Landed immigrants 18 to 54 must take a test to become citizens. It evaluates general knowledge of Canada and the ability to speak basic English or French.
Marois has also pledged to limit access to English CEGEPs to those eligible for English schooling, and to bar civil servants from wearing religious garb such as a Muslim head scarf or Jewish skullcap. However, she said government workers would be allowed to wear a discreet cross and that the crucifix in the National Assembly would remain because it is part of Quebec’s heritage.
Grey said he found it unfortunate that the PQ has been focusing on divisive questions of identity rather than addressing more important matters. “All of those things have taken away from the real issues, which are medicare, education, social justice, the economy and corruption,” he said.
At the press conference at the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ), Marois promised to give nurses authorization to write prescriptions for ointments to treat wounds and to order X-rays and lab tests. Earlier, she spoke to supporters at a pizza restaurant on St. Denis St. in the Latin Quarter.

Syria on Wednesday-Night.com
Stratfor: Syria – small but strategic
The U.S. has left Iraq, and Iran is ready to fill the resultant power vacuum and raise its stature in the region. Syria is the current battleground for this wider struggle. Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United States want to add Syria to the coalition of states counterbalancing Iran. Iran, on the other hand, needs to keep Syria as a strong ally in the Levant as a check on Israel. Then there are the Russians, whose relationship with the Syrians grants them access to the Mediterranean Sea and gives them leverage on the West. (20 July 2012)
Gwynne Dyer: The real reason why Russia and China back Assad
(Japan Times) Both Putin and the Chinese leadership are appalled by the growing influence of the “responsibility to protect” principle at the United Nations, which breaches the previously sacred doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of member states. “R2P” says that foreign intervention can be justifiable (with a U.N. Security Council resolution, of course) to stop huge human rights abuses committed by member governments.
The Russian and Chinese vetoes on the Security Council give them complete protection from foreign military intervention, but they still worry about it. (20 June 2012)
Asharq Al-Awsat: The al-Assad’s Syria: A history of violence
PBS Frontline: Syria undercover
BBC: Inside Homs, besieged centre of Syrian resistance
BBC: Syria protests: The forgotten decades of dissent
The Guardian: Syria news and archives
Alawite State – As the Syrian Civil War progresses, the repressions by President Assad and the military, which is largely dominated in the higher levels by Alawites, has led to increasing numbers of civilian deaths amongst the largely Sunni population. Reprisals have been feared against the community, leading to speculation of a re-creation of the Alawite State as a safe haven for Assad and the leaders should Damascus finally fall. The breakup of Syria and the re-creation of an Alawite State is however seen critically by most political analysts.[9][10][11][12] King Abdullah II of Jordan has called this scenario the “worst case” for the conflict, fearing a domino effect of defragmentation of the country along sectarian lines with consequences to the wider region.[13]

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Turkey, U.S. to pressure Syria; Russia supplies advanced missiles
The U.S. and Turkey are pledging to continue political pressure on the Syrian government and rebels to come to the peace table. Meanwhile, Russia is supplying advanced missiles to Syrian government and is advocating for Iran’s participation in peace discussions. Reuters (5/17), Al Jazeera (5/17), AlertNet/Reuters (5/16), The New York Times (5/16)
Qatar bankrolls Syrian revolt
Financial support from tiny gas-rich state overshadows western backing, but is being nudged aside by Saudi Arabia as the prime source of arms to rebels
Syria’s Uprising: sectarianism, regionalisation, and state order in the Levant
(FRIDE) As the Syrian revolution enters its third year, the risks to regional stability are escalating. Violence has spilled over all of Syria’s borders. The conflict has elevated sectarian tensions in Lebanon, threatening the 1990 Taif settlement that ended 15 years of civil war. It has sharpened ethnic and sectarian frictions in Iraq and engulfed southern Turkey. It has heightened tensions across the Syrian-Israeli border. Violence has also spilled into Syria from across the region. Regional involvement in the conflict is deepening. Syrian refugees, now numbering more than a million, are straining the economies and the social fabric of receiving countries. This paper addresses the implications of the regionalisation of Syria’s conflict and the challenges it presents to the stability of the post-Ottoman state order in the Levant.
UN to vote on resolution seeking Syria political transition
The United Nations General Assembly will vote Wednesday on an Arab-supported draft resolution calling for a political solution to the Syrian crisis. Russia is urging members to reject the resolution. Meanwhile, Lakhdar Brahimi will continue in his post as UN-Arab League envoy for Syria. Reuters (5/9), The Washington Post/The Associated Press (5/9)
8 May
Syria: Intervention Will Only Make it Worse
By Zbigniew Brzezinski
(Time) The various schemes that have been proposed for a kind of tiddlywinks intervention from around the edges of the conflict—no-fly zones, bombing Damascus and so forth—would simply make the situation worse. None of the proposals would result in an outcome strategically beneficial for the U.S. On the contrary, they would produce a more complex, undefined slide into the worst-case scenario. The only solution is to seek Russia’s and China’s support for U.N.-sponsored elections in which, with luck, Assad might be “persuaded” not to participate.
UN official: Syrian rebels may have used sarin; Ban warns against war’s “escalation”
A United Nations investigator says that Syrian rebel forces may have used sarin nerve gas, but the question remains open. A Free Syrian Army leader disputed the claim. Separately, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Russia and China warned about the escalation of war after Israel bombed Syrian facilities storing missiles for Hezbollah. Reuters (5/6), Al Jazeera (5/6), AlertNet/Reuters (5/5), Voice of America (5/6)
5 May
New Israeli airstrikes in Syria raise tensions
(CBC) Israeli warplanes struck targets in the Syrian capital Sunday for the second time in three days, officials and activists said, unleashing a series of massive explosions and raising fears of possible wider conflict in the region.
The attacks, which Israeli officials said targeted sophisticated, Iranian-made guided missiles believed to be bound for Lebanon’s Hezbollah militant group, marked a sharp spike in Israel’s involvement in Syria’s bloody civil war. Syrian state media reported that Israeli missiles struck a military and scientific research centre near Damascus and caused casualties. …
The generally muted response, read out by the information minister after an emergency government meeting, and appeared to signal that Damascus did not want the situation to escalate.
Instead, it tried to use the strikes to taint the opposition, claiming the attacks were evidence of an alliance between Israel and Islamic extremist groups [emphasis added] trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
20 February
Kyle Matthews: Does the lesson from Syria imply it is better to save no one?
(Globe & Mail) When NATO enforced UN Security Council Resolution 1973 by establishing a no-fly zone to halt Moammar Gadhafi’s regime from attacking the city of Benghazi, many critics voiced opposition. Their logic seemed to be that since the international community could not intervene everywhere that mass atrocities were looming, it should not bother trying at all.
4 February
Does the ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine mean Canada is obligated to intervene militarily in Syria?
(CBC/The Current)The ability to get any food to those displaced and fleeing is a serious problem in Syria. And the food isn’t the half of it … Syria continues a downward spiral while an international community talks .. threatens .. muses … worries and remains unmoving. What ever happened to Responsibility to Protect? And how irresponsible would military intervention be? – with Kyle Matthews and Paul Heinbecker.
6 January
Assad calls on Syrians to unite against ‘murderous criminals’
Obama administration rejects Assad’s proposal that would keep besieged leader in power
(AP via CBC) A defiant Syrian President Bashar Assad rallied a chanting and cheering crowd Sunday to fight the uprising against his authoritarian rule, dismissing any chance of dialogue with “murderous criminals” that he blames for nearly two years of violence that has left 60,000 dead.
In his first public speech in six months, Assad laid out terms for a peace plan that keeps himself in power, ignoring international demands to step down and pledging to continue the battle “as long as there is one terrorist left” in Syria. (Al Jazeera) Syria’s Assad outlines new peace plan — Opposition dismisses president’s initiative as he refuses to talk with those he calls “criminals and extremists”.
4 January
Iran’s economic stake in Syria
(Foreign Policy) Many analyses have been made about Iran’s strategic and geopolitical role in the Syrian regime, but not enough attention has been paid to the crucial and changing economic relations between the two countries. By analyzing Iran-Syria relations through this prism, one can shed light on the more nuanced, unconventional, and complicated aspects of Iran’s role in Syria.
2 January
Bilal Y. Saab and Andrew J. Tabler:  No Settlement In Damascus
(Foreign Affairs) Any negotiated settlement would have to produce two key collective goods for Syrians: security and political power. Simply calling on the Sunnis and Alawites to give up their guns won’t work. But providing a credible security alternative and helping develop an all-inclusive governing coalition could. The larger the post-Assad governing coalition, moreover, the more Alawites and Sunnis would be interested in sustaining the peace. But a difficult question would remain: If there is no agreement on giving the UN a peacekeeping role, what kind of credible international or regional force would be required to ensure security? History suggests that third parties rarely remain involved in post-civil war peacekeeping roles for long. In addition, they can be less than effective, and the experience of Kosovo bears that out.
These possible outcomes — a negotiated settlement and a rebel military victory in Syria — both have flaws. So far, regional powers have worked toward the latter, choosing sides in the conflict and trying to help their side win. If regional powers change course, opting seriously for negotiations to stop the bloodshed and build peace, the diplomatic challenge will be enormous. At this late date, such an attempt would be a long shot at best — and would likely prolong the Syria conflict instead of finishing it off.”

2012

20 December
Al Qaeda grows powerful in Syria as endgame nears
(Reuters) – Having seen its star wane in Iraq, al Qaeda has staged a comeback in neighbouring Syria, posing a dilemma for the opposition fighting to remove President Bashar al-Assad and making the West balk at military backing for the revolt.
U.N. warns of foreign influx into sectarian Syria war
(Reuters) – Fighters from around the world have filtered into Syria to join a civil war that has split along sectarian lines, increasingly pitting the ruling Alawite community against the majority Sunni Muslims, U.N. human rights investigators said on Thursday.
The deepened sectarian divisions in Syria may diminish prospects for any post-conflict reconciliation even if President Bashar al-Assad is toppled. And the influx of foreign fighters raises the risk of the war spilling into neighboring countries, riven by the same sectarian fault lines that cut through Syria.
Cleo Paskal: Expert — West Helping Wahabbi Winter Spread to Syria
17 December
‘No winner’ in Syrian conflict, says VP
(Al Jazeeera) Farouq al-Sharaa, the Syrian vice-president, has said that neither the government nor the rebels seeking the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad can win the country’s 21-month conflict.
Sharaa has rarely been seen since the Syrian revolt erupted in March 2011 and is not part of the president’s inner circle directing the fight against the rebels. He is, however, the most prominent figure to say in public that Assad will not be able to win the conflict.
In another significant indicator that Assad is losing ground:
Syrian Alawites abandon homes
Shia community, long linked to al-Assad regime, flees as opposition fighters push into its territory.
16 December
Patrick Cockburn: Syria — The descent into Holy War
The world decided to back the rebels last week, but this is no fight between goodies and baddies
… there is compelling evidence that the movement has slid towards sectarian Islamic fundamentalism intent on waging holy war.
(The Independent) In the past week, 130 countries have recognised the National Coalition of Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces as the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people. But, at the same time, the US has denounced the al-Nusra Front, the most effective fighting force of the rebels, as being terrorists and an al-Qa’ida affiliate. Paradoxically, the US makes almost exactly same allegations of terrorism against al-Nusra as does the Syrian government. Even more bizarrely, though so many states now recognise the National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, it is unclear if the rebels inside Syria do so. Angry crowds in rebel-held areas of northern Syria on Friday chanted “we are all al-Nusra” as they demonstrated against the US decision.
12 December
“Friends of Syria” group recognizes opposition coalition
(Reuters) – Western and Arab nations sympathetic to Syria’s uprising against President Bashar al-Assad gave full political recognition on Wednesday to the opposition, reflecting a hardening consensus that the 20-month-old uprising might be nearing a tipping point.
At the same meeting, the leader of Syria’s opposition coalition called on the Alawite minority to launch a campaign of civil disobedience against Assad, an Alawite who faces a mainly Sunni Muslim uprising against his rule.
The gathering brings together many Western and Arab nations opposed to Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for 42 years. But it excludes Russia, China and Iran, which have backed Assad or blocked efforts to tighten international pressure on him.
11 December
Foreign Policy reports that Syrians no longer preparing chemical weapons
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters on Tuesday that the Syrian government no longer appears to be preparing chemical weapons for use against the rebels. “At this point the intelligence has really kind of leveled off,” he said. “We haven’t seen anything new indicating any aggressive steps to move forward in that way.” Reports last week indicated that forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad may have been loading sarin gas onto bombs.
4 December
Jennifer Welsh — The ‘Wicked Problem’ in Syria
Why there aren’t any good options for those on the outside
(OpenCanada.org) The secretary general claims that building a free and democratic Syria “will require political dialogue and negotiations.” But there is scant evidence that the prerequisites are in place. The closest we have ever come to real negotiations, it seems, was during Kofi Annan’s tenure as peace envoy, in the late spring and summer of 2012. With the UN Security Council and the government of Syria indicating support for Annan’s ‘six-point peace plan’, and the opposition indicating tacit agreement as well, there was a brief moment of hope.
But, according to those close to the mediation process, the moment evaporated due to a failure of the Syrian National Council to coalesce and exercise leadership, and of Assad and his entourage to articulate a real political strategy for transition. In addition, the massacre at Houla in late May 2012 dampened the hope and halted the momentum, making it next to impossible for Annan to initiate talks. Indeed, some believe it was staged precisely to quash any hint of negotiations.
Obama warns Syria over chemical weapons
US president says there will be “consequences” if President Assad uses chemical weapons on his own people.
(Al Jazeera) Earlier in the day, a senior White House spokesman said that the US and its allied intelligence had monitored Syrian movement of chemical weapons components in recent days.
19 November
Dr Charles Cogan — Syria: Would Putin Pull a ‘Pristina’?
(HuffPost) The French government of François Hollande is inviting other European Union countries, and even hopefully the EU as a whole, to join it in recognizing the new [amalgamated opposition] group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people.
It will take more than France to turn the tide in Syria. It will take Britain and others in the West, including the United States, as well as the Arab League (although the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries have already recognized the new Syrian opposition movement, as has Turkey).
But one must not underestimate the contrarian force represented by the Russia of Vladimir Putin. He may or may not be concerned by being on the wrong side of the Sunni-dominated Arab Spring, but he certainly hasn’t shown it thus far.
13 November
Syrian violence threatens refugee crisis, entangles Turkey, Israel
The Syrian civil war threatens to engage Turkey and Israel. Today, Syria bombed a rebel village on the border with Turkey, where Turkey has deployed military forces. In the Golan Heights, Israel destroyed a Syrian artillery unit after days of cross-border mortar fire. Meanwhile, Syrian refugees are triggering a growing humanitarian crisis, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/13)
8 November
Assad vows to ‘live and die’ in Syria
Syrian president rejects calls for him to seek exile, warning that foreign intervention will have global consequences.
(Al Jazeera) On Tuesday, British Prime Minister David Cameron floated the idea of granting Assad safe passage from the country, saying it “could be arranged,” although he wanted the Syrian leader to face international justice.
Assad also warned against foreign intervention in the country’s escalating conflict, saying such a move would have global consequences and shake regional stability.
2 November
West backs Qatari plan to unify Syrian opposition
Britain and US behind drive to create council to represent Syrian rebels, but Russia and main exile opposition group oppose it
(The Guardian) The plan, to be launched in Doha, Qatar, on Thursday, will bring the external opposition together with the revolutionary councils leading the insurrection inside Syria, behind a common programme for a democratic transition. The Syrian National Initiative (SNI) will create a council of about 50 members chaired by Riad Seif, a Sunni businessman who left Syria in June after being imprisoned by the regime.
The Doha initiative has been organised by the Qatari government and has drawn support from the US, Britain and France.
30 October
Syria on a cliff edge between Assad and Al Qaeda
(Debka) The ambassador [Chris Stevens] played a key role in US undercover operations to neutralize Libya and the region against destabilizing jihadists.
As an indirect consequence of the crisis around his death, the supply of SA-7 missiles from Libya to the Syrian rebels has dried up.
After looking around him, Assad felt he could safely put into practice his plot for the assassination of the Lebanese security chief Brig. Gen. Wassam in Beirut on Friday, Oct. 19.
By a single stroke, the Syrian knocked over the mainstay of US-Saudi intelligence operations in Syria. But, as a vital hub for the American war on al Qaeda in the region, the Lebanese security chief’s importance far transcended a single conflict. His death was a major blow for US intelligence.
So the two murders eliminated two linchpins of the US undercover war on al Qaeda in the region and left a free field for Assad and the jihadists to fight it out between them for supremacy.
19 October
Beirut car bomb kills leading Syrian foe
(Reuters) – Senior Lebanese intelligence official Wissam al-Hassan, who led the investigation that implicated Syria and Hezbollah in the assassination of former prime minister Rafik al-Hariri, was killed by a huge car bomb in Beirut on Friday.
Hassan was also the brains behind uncovering a bomb plot that led to the arrest and indictment in August of former Lebanese minister Michel Samaha, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al- Assad, in a setback for Damascus and its Lebanese allies including Hezbollah.
Saad al-Hariri, the son of Hariri, accused Assad of killing the top intelligence official.
The bomb, which exploded in a busy street during rush hour, killed seven other people and wounded about 80, officials said. The attack prompted Sunni Muslims to take to the streets in areas across the country, burning tires in protest.
The attack brought the war in neighboring Syria to the Lebanese capital, confirming fears that the conflict would spill over its borders. Lebanon’s religious communities are divided between those supporting Assad and those backing the rebels trying to overthrow him. Hassan, a Sunni Muslim from northern Lebanon, was a leading opponent of Assad within the Lebanese intelligence services.
4 October
As Conflict Spreads, Syrian Opposition Prepares for the Future
(IPS) – As the uprising in Syria becomes violently entangled with its neighbours, the expatriate opposition leadership is already formulating plans for a political transition following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
On Thursday, the United States Institute of Peace hosted an event entitled “Syria After Assad: Managing the Challenges of Transition”, at which panellists from USIP’s The Day After Project presented their transitional framework for a post-Assad Syria.
The panellists insisted that The Day After Project: Supporting a Democratic Transition in Syria is an “evolving, growing document” that is meant to provide guiding principles instead of concrete policy recommendations. The report covers a wide range of transitional issues including the rule of law, transitional justice, security sector reform, Constitutional design, economic and social reconstruction, and electoral reform.
The Day After Project is comprised of 45 members of the Syrian opposition, …  but only a few of the opposition leaders in Syria itself.
In an attempt to foster consensus across varied political perspectives and avoid policy decisions that fall within the jurisdiction of future governments, the report avoids specific policy prescriptions. Instead, it recommends objectives such as “judicial independence”, “respect for the…diversity of Syrian society”, and “measures to facilitate macroeconomic stability”  without addressing the formal structures or ideologies underpinning these principles.
Nevertheless, the authors of the report have incorporated a number of lessons from recent political transitions in the region. They stressed the importance of civilian authority over the army and the necessity of maintaining existing government structures without engaging in a process of “de-Baathifcation”, a lesson learned from neighbouring Iraq.
2 October
Syria’s Kurds prepare for life after Assad
About 1.7m Kurds have been quietly opening police stations, courts and local councils they hope will form the foundations of an autonomous region
(Financial Times) As the uprising has evolved, however, the Kurds – largely concentrated in the country’s north-east, which holds a significant portion of Syria’s limited but vital oil reserves – have been quietly preparing for a post-Assad future, opening police stations, courts and local councils that they hope will form the foundations of an autonomous region.
The proliferation of newly hung Kurdish flags and signs in the mother tongue in al-Hassaka province give the impression of liberation after years of rule under the Ba’ath party, which expropriated land in Kurdish areas, suppressed expressions of Kurdish identity and arrested thousands of Kurdish activists, especially after riots shook the Kurdish areas in 2004.
25 September
(FP Morning round-up) … fear that the violence in Syria will spill over into Iraq prompted Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to deploy guards to the western border in order to prevent adult men from crossing in from Syria. For months, Iraqi militants appeared to be travelling in the other direction to join the forces opposing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, but now Iraqi officials are concerned that the porous border could become the staging ground for a two-front Sunni insurgency.
23 September
Syria: the foreign fighters joining the war against Bashar al-Assad
Jihadi veterans of Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan join callow foreign idealists on frontline of Aleppo
(The Guardian) … The disparate levels of fighting ability among the men was immediately clear. The Chechens were older, taller, stronger and wore hiking boots and combat trousers. They carried their weapons with confidence and distanced themselves from the rest, moving around in a tight-knit unit-within-a-unit. One of the Turks was a former soldier who wore western-style webbing and equipment, while the three Tajiks and the Pakistani were evidently poor.  …
Inside the school was a Jordanian who often roamed the frontline with his Belgian gun, for which he had only 11 bullets. He was a secular and clean-shaven former officer in the Jordanian army who lived in eastern Europe running an import-export business. He had come to Aleppo without telling his wife and children where he was going.
10 September
Peter Fragiskatos on Syrian Kurds — Bashar al-Assad’s other problem
Recently, Kurdish groups have been able to gain basic freedoms denied to their people since 1946.
But can they last?
Syrian Kurds have become emboldened by the gains made by their brethren in Iraq, who have capitalized on the ouster of Saddam Hussein and now enjoy de-facto independence. Persisting demands for basic cultural rights — let alone autonomy — are resented by the Arab elements of the opposition and have caused serious rifts to develop. Given the previous history between the two groups, it would not take much for tensions to ignite on a wider level. And if that happens, the legacy of the past could push Syria’s civil war into new and even more devastating directions.
(National Post) In July, the Assad regime, anxious to put down challenges from rebels in Aleppo and other areas, pulled its troops out of many (but not all) of the Kurdish-inhabited regions of the north. Since then, Kurdish groups have been able to gain basic freedoms denied to their people since Syria became independent in 1946. For example, language instruction is now taking place and cultural centres have opened. Syrian flags have even been replaced with Kurdish ones. Kurdish activists are vowing to push for autonomy, along the lines of what Quebec enjoys in Canada, when the war comes to an end.
Estimated to number around 1.5 million, the Kurds make up 10% of the total population in Syria. While most are Muslims, they are distinguished from the Arabs (who represent the largest ethnic group) not only because they speak Kurmanji — the main language used by Syrian Kurds — but by a particular historical experience defined by oppression and exclusion and carried out by a state intent on protecting the position of the Arab majority.
Syrian Kurds Find the Language of Freedom
(IPS) The colonial borders drawn in secret between Britain and France in 1916 over the Baghdad railway line divided the local Kurdish families into Turkey and Syria. The subsequent Treaty of Sevres (1920) considered the creation of an independent Kurdish state but the agreement was never fulfilled.
Since the Internet arrived, Damascus has enforced a severe veto over the main social networks and all sorts of websites the regime considers potentially dangerous. Such blockade has been worsened by the erratic Syrian telephone communications since the beginning of the war.
Most Syrian Kurds, however, benefit from almost barrier-free Internet access thanks to the Turkish network across the border that can be easily accessed. Albeit unintentionally, that would be the Turkish government’s contribution to a cohesion of the Kurdish people amid their cultural revolution.
29 August
Robert Fisk: Inside Daraya – how a failed prisoner swap turned into a massacre
Exclusive: The first Western journalist to enter the town that felt Assad’s fury hears witness accounts of Syria’s bloodiest episode
24 August
New UN Syria envoy underscores difficulty of task
Lakhdar Brahimi said he was “honored, flattered, humbled and scared” to become United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria. The longtime diplomat from Algeria emphasized Friday that the Syrian people will be “our first masters” and that he would “consider their interests above and before everything else.” The Washington Post/The Associated Press (8/24), Reuters (8/24)
Syrian Crisis Brings a Blessing for Kurds
(IPS) Spread across Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, stateless Kurds number about 40 million. About half live on Turkish soil. Between two and four million Kurds live in north-east Syria. Syria was carved out of the Turkish Ottoman Empire less than a century ago.
After a wave of protests in late July, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad loosened his grip on Syria’s Kurdish region. Local Kurdish leaders now claim control over half their territory, including the border posts with Iraq’s Kurdish Autonomous Region. … There are no reliable figures yet on the number of Kurds returning to Syria. Some said they were returning for only a short while because of the new relative stability of this region where the Kurds now seem in charge. …
The coming of the Ba’ath party to power in 1963 led to an Arabisation policy that worked against the Kurds in Syria, the country’s second biggest ethnic group.
Kurdish language was prohibited, and many Kurds were even denied Syrian citizenship. Some Kurds were deported, and Arab settlements established in Kurdish areas.
Today the Kurdish colours – green, red and yellow – are sprayed over walls and murals. The Kurdish flag flies at the entrance of Girke Lege, 35 kilometres from the Iraqi border and 15 km from the Turkish one, suggesting that the situation has changed substantially in the past months.
22 August
Robert Fisk: ‘Rebel army? They’re a gang of foreigners’
Our writer hears the Syrian forces’ justification for a battle that is tearing apart one of the world’s oldest cities
(The Independent) … the thought cannot escape us that the prime purpose of men like Sergeant Dawoud – and all his fellow soldiers here – was not, surely, to liberate Aleppo but to liberate the occupied Golan Heights, right next to the land which the “jihadis” apparently thought they were “liberating” yesterday – until they discovered that Aleppo was not Jerusalem [emphasis added]
6 August
Syria’s “Liberated” Future: Ethnic-Religious Cleansing and Genocide
(Veracity Voice) It took over a year but suddenly the Syrian war isn’t so black and white, good guys versus bad guy. The Syrian government is by no means to be glorified, but the utter devastation that is being brought to the country was done so on a false premise, by foreign backers — Saudi Arabia and the U.S. — who wanted nothing except to see the country annihilated so that Iran would be isolated and easier to topple. To sell this bloodbath as an advance of democracy — as U.S. politicians and media have done — is beyond hypocritical; it falls under the category reserved for those who are labeled war criminals.
3 August
Recovering from the Asma attack
(Now Lebanon) Remember that disgraceful moment when Vogue published a sycophantic portrait of Asma al-Assad in early 2011, just before her husband began murdering his own people? Now the author, Joan Juliet Buck, has penned a piece for Newsweek explaining she wrote it. The title is not promising: “Mrs. Assad Duped Me.” … Buck does an abysmal job of explaining why someone well versed in the crimes of Assad’s rule could have written such a flattering article anyway, at the behest of a PR company no less. In fact she doesn’t really try. The article is inferior revisionism, an effort to recast her Syria trip and her own allegedly negative reactions to it, in the light of subsequent events, while placing the blame on Asma al-Assad for putting up a phony façade of compassion.
30 July
The fascinating story of the infamous Vogue profile of Asma al-Assad
Tina Brown: Syria’s First Lady of Hell
Joan Juliet Buck: Mrs. Assad Duped Me — Just before the Arab Spring, Vogue writer Joan Juliet Buck did an infamous interview with Syria’s first lady. For the first time, she tells the story behind the debacle.
24 July
Dr. Charles G. Cogan: “Chess Is the Way We Establish Mastery Over the West”
(HuffPost) These words, uttered by a Soviet General during the Cold War, serve to remind us, in our frustration over the veto on Syria in the United Nations last week, that the Russians are really pretty good at checkmating us. They have so far effectively blocked any action that would remove the Alawite minority dictatorship and usher into power a new, democratic regime in Damascus.
Consequences of the Fall of the Syrian Regime
(Stratfor) We have entered the endgame in Syria. That doesn’t mean that we have reached the end by any means, but it does mean that the precondition has been met for the fall of the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. We have argued that so long as the military and security apparatus remain intact and effective, the regime could endure. Although they continue to function, neither appears intact any longer; their control of key areas such as Damascus and Aleppo is in doubt, and the reliability of their personnel, given defections, is no longer certain. We had thought that there was a reasonable chance of the al Assad regime surviving completely. That is no longer the case. At a certain point — in our view, after the defection of a Syrian pilot June 21 and then the defection of the Tlass clan — key members of the regime began to recalculate the probability of survival and their interests. The regime has not unraveled, but it is unraveling.
23 June
Robert Fisk: If Alawites are turning against Assad then his fate is sealed
The Long View: There seems to be a Baathist pattern of destroying Sunni villages on the edge of the Alawite heartland
(The Independent) While the drama of last week’s assault on Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Damascus stunned the Arab world, the sudden outbreak of violence in Aleppo this weekend was in one way far more important. For Aleppo is the richest city in Syria – infinitely more so than Damascus – and if the revolution has now touched this centre of wealth, then the tacit agreement between the Alawite-controlled government and the Sunni middle classes must truly be cracking.
As the birthplace of agriculture – the Euphrates is only 70 miles to the east – Aleppo is also the headquarters of the International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (Icarda), one of the finest institutions of its kind in the world. It increases food production in Asia and Africa in an area containing a billion people, 50 per cent of whom earn their living from agriculture. Donors include Britain, Canada, the US, Germany, Holland, the World Bank – you name it. And its 500 employees are still operating in Aleppo. See also Sectarianism bites into Syria’s rebels – The deathwish of fighters in Damascus terrifies many who oppose Assad
21 July
Jennifer Welsh: The Council Fiddles While Damascus Burns
(OpenCanada.org) There is plenty of blame to spread around. But this past week also shows how difficult it is to exercise collective responsibility. Soon, however, the imperative to do so may get even stronger. As a western government official noted in the Financial Times yesterday, if Assad’s counter-offensive fails and a sectarian conflict ensues, we may – for the first time – witness the collapse of a regime with significant stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction. Can the West, Russia, and China put differences aside to ensure those stockpiles remain secure?
Fate of UN Syria mission to be decided as endgame seems imminent
The mandate for the United Nations monitoring mission in Syria is set to expire today, a day after Russia and China vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have extended the UN presence and made possible sanctions against the regime of Bashar Assad. Rebels seized border crossings with Turkey and Iraq as world powers scrambled to prevent violence from spilling over into neighboring countries.
18 July
Jennifer Welsh: Western Diplomacy Meets Russian Intransigence
(OpenCanada.org) The overwhelming interest here is to end the violence and further militarization of the conflict. Furthermore, for western states, there is a broader interest in ensuring that we don’t force Russia and China together into a hostile authoritarian coalition. History tells us that Russia and China do co-operate, when it serves their purposes. But that co-operation is not pre-ordained – genuine differences and areas of competition remain between them. Let’s be sure our diplomacy doesn’t unwittingly make their like-mindedness on this issue a permanent union.
Vote on Syria sanctions, mission vetoed at Security Council
Meanwhile, reports emerged of Syrian troops planning an offensive amid no public appearances by Assad since a Wednesday bombing that killed multiple senior officials.CNN (7/19), BBC (7/19), Google/The Associated Press (7/18), Reuters (7/19), The Christian Science Monitor (7/18)
17 July
Syria Is Now a ‘Civil War.’ Does That Matter?
(HuffPost) After a year and a half of escalating violence and thousands killed, the International Red Cross has finally gotten around to labeling Syria a “civil war.”   … does this distinction, from either a legal or policy perspective, really matter? From a legal perspective, the actors in the conflict are now subject to what’s called “international humanitarian law,” which means that the Geneva Conventions — that is, the laws that regulate actors’ conduct of jus in bello — apply (for a nice roundup of the legal implications, see  blog post). It doesn’t necessarily mean that prisoners will get comfier digs, civilians will no longer be unlawfully targeted, or that Assad will be prosecuted as a war criminal in The Hague. But it does provide greater legal ammo to human rights defenders who want him charged pronto.
Syria’s top defector says Assad not afraid to use chemical weapons
(CSM) Syria is believed to have the Arab world’s largest stockpile of chemical weapons. An ex-official warned that Assad would use them if backed into a corner.
26 June
Syria puts double whammy on Turkey
By M K Bhadrakumar
(Asia Times) The shooting down of a Turkish fighter aircraft by Syria on Friday has become a classic case of coercive diplomacy.
According to Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA), air-defense forces shot down the plane 1 kilometer off the coast from the Syrian port city of Latakia. A Turkish search-and-rescue aircraft rushed to the area of the crash but came under Syrian fire and had to pull out.
The Russian naval base at Tartus is only 90 kilometers by road from Latakia. The incident took place on a day that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem was on a visit to Russia. … The shooting down of the Turkish jet also coincides with a hardening of the Russian position on Syria.
Susan Rice urges improved Security Council response on Syria
Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said that the world body’s Security Council needs to “stand up” in Syria, particularly for civilians suffering from violence there. UN envoy Kofi Annan has suggested the participation of Iran in multinational talks to end the crisis in Syria, where suspended UN observer mission appears likely to be downsized.The Telegraph (London) (6/26), Salon/The Associated Press (6/25), ForeignPolicy.com/Turtle Bay blog (6/22), Reuters (6/25)
24 June
NATO to meet after Turkey accuses Syria over downed jet
(AFP) NATO said it will hold an emergency meeting after Ankara on Sunday accused Syria of downing a Turkish jet in international airspace, raising fears that tensions could soar in the tinderbox region. (BBC) Turkey seeks diplomacy not war
22 June
High-level Syrian military officers prepare to defect
(Foreign Policy) The Daily Telegraph reports that senior military officers from Syrian president Bashar al-Assad’s regime are preparing to join the opposition. U.S. officials told the newspaper that these figures have started to communicate with opposition forces and Western governments as they make contingency plans for the fall of the regime. The military officers have also started to move their money into Lebanese and Chinese banks. This report comes a day after a Syrian pilot, flying a MiG-21 fighter jet, defected to Jordan
15 June
Inside Syria’s shabiha death squads
(Toronto Star) Paul Salem, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, said President Assad, who took power in 2000, had presided over “a state that has become a kind of mafia extortion network” in which militias and the businessmen who pay them have grown beyond his control.
13 June
Exclusive: Arab states arm rebels as UN talks of Syrian civil war
Saudi Arabia and Qatar ‘supplying weapons’ to anti-Assad forces, while fears mount for civilians
(The Independent) Rebel fighters from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have received weapons from the two Gulf countries, which were transported into Syria via Turkey with the implicit support of the country’s intelligence agency, MIT, according to a Western diplomat in Ankara.
UN report accuses Syria of abuses against children
The United Nations has accused Syrian government forces and allied militias of using children, some as young as 9, as human shields, in addition to subjecting them to arbitrary arrest, murder, torture and sexual assault. The UN’s annual report on children and armed conflict, which identifies 32 “persistent perpetrators” and 20 other countries as abusers of children — more than twice as many as in 2010. “Rarely have I seen such brutality against children as in Syria,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, a special representative for the world body.The Globe and Mail (Toronto)/The Associated Press (6/12), Deutsche Welle (Germany) (6/12)
Annan: Syria is headed toward “all-out civil war”
Responsibility for the flailing United Nations-brokered peace plan in Syria lies primarily with the regime of President Bashar Assad, said envoy Kofi Annan. UN monitors reportedly were being shot at with heavy weapons and armor-piercing ammunition, most recently as they attempted to verify an alleged massacre of 78 people, mostly women and children, by a pro-Assad militia in the village of Qubair. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the regime had lost not only its legitimacy, but “its fundamental humanity.”
Syria’s latest massacre leaves Annan’s peace plan in tatters
(The Guardian) UN faces urgent task to prevent further bloodshed in Syria, while Russia and China remain opposed to external intervention
… The key … is Russia. If the Syrian crisis can be resolved politically, it will involve negotiations on Assad’s departure – a solution modelled on the way Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh was cajoled, with copper-bottomed guarantees, into surrendering power, albeit leaving much of the regime intact.
6 June
Dr. Charles G. Cogan: Take It From Talleyrand — ‘It Is Urgent to Wait’
(HuffPost) One of the bons mots attributed to Talleyrand’s was the phrase, “Il est urgent d’attendre” (“It is urgent to wait”). Perhaps that is what the West should do in Syria, while continuing its remonstrances against the Assad regime in the UN and elsewhere. The Arab Spring, the case of Bahrain apart, represents in part a resurgence of the Sunni world, and perhaps this will emerge finally in Syria, with time.
Syria’s Assad appoints new prime minister
(Foreign Policy) On Wednesday, Syria’s state-run media reported that President Bashar al-Assad had appointed his agriculture minister, Riyad Farid Hijab, as prime minister and tasked him with forming a “new government” without elaborating on what the government reshuffle would entail. The move came shortly after Syria expelled Western diplomats from the country but agreed to grant international aid agencies greater access in the country.
29 May
French President Says Armed Intervention In Syria ‘Not Excluded’
(Radio Free Europe) French President Francois Hollande has said the use of armed force could be possible in Syria if it is backed by the United Nations Security Council.
Hollande was speaking to France 2 television on May 29 following the massacre of 108 people — most of them children and women — in the Syrian village of Houla last week.
“[An armed intervention] is not excluded on the condition that it is carried out with respect to international law, meaning after deliberation by the United Nations Security Council,” Hollande said.
11 May
Suicide bombings in Syria: Cease-fire in shambles, Al Qaeda role is feared
The suicide bombings’ heavy toll in Damascus, far from creating international resolve, reveal a deepening split among world powers. Meanwhile signs of Al Qaeda involvement are mounting.
7 May
Syria edges closer to civil war
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that the world was “in a race against time to prevent full-scale civil war” in Syria, while the International Committee of the Red Cross said aspects of the 14-month uprising already qualified as localized civil wars. Parliamentary elections Monday were boycotted by opponents of the regime of President Bashar Assad
Democracy suffers in NATO-backed Syrian fighting
By M.D. Nalapat
Today, more than 14 million voters in Syria will have the chance to select among several thousand candidates for 250 parliamentary seats.
Cities across the country are plastered with posters of the candidates, with many adopting an Obama-esque “Change we can believe in” slogan.
However, the armed groups that have been backed by the NATO powers for the past 15 months have rejected the polls, and are showing their hostility by targeting candidates for assassination, usually by the use of explosives.
Since the armed uprising began, several thousand members of the security forces and their family members have been killed by the insurgents, who themselves have lost thousands of their own.
However, those relying on Western media are told that every such death has been caused by the security forces, ignoring the deadly violence that is being unleashed in the country by groups of armed mobs.
19 April
Alawites for Assad
Why the Syrian Sect Backs the Regime
(Foreign Affairs) A sect of Shia Islam, the Alawites comprise roughly 13 percent of the population and form the bulk of Syria’s key military units, intelligence services, and ultra-loyalist militias, called shabiha (“ghosts” in Arabic). As the uprising in Syria drags on, there are signs that some Alawites are beginning to move away from the regime. But most continue to fight for Assad — largely out of fear that the Sunni community will seek revenge for past and present atrocities not only against him but also against Alawites as a group. This sense of vulnerability feeding Alawite loyalty is rooted in the sect’s history.
28 March
Why the Violence Will Go On
(CIC) While [Kofi Annan's] efforts are impressive and his past performance has been remarkable, we cannot hold out much hope that this ceasefire will stick. I am not an expert on Syria, but everything I know about the international relations of civil wars screams at me that this civil war will go on.
For one thing, it is a civil war by conventional definitions. All it takes to have a civil war is two sides with the ability and will to harm each other. In the past, Syrian violence fell short of this definition because the violence was all one-sided. Not anymore.
28 March
Syria: The evil results of doing good
The Annan Plan is ‘worse than feckless’, because it buys the Assad regime time and precludes more effective options.
(Al Jazeera) does anyone honestly think that the Syrian regime, committed as it is to a programme of violent intimidation and collective punishment, will provide “full humanitarian access”, or a daily “humanitarian pause” for those whom it suspects of aiding its adversaries? What are the chances that the tender Mr Assad will release detainees who may promptly rejoin the struggle against him, or that he will permit foreign journalists to freely document his atrocities? Who would want to bet his life, or the lives of those dear to him, that Bashar and his generals will honour a ceasefire, or engage in good faith in a “political dialogue” with those who are challenging their power?
Pursuing such “solutions” is worse than feckless, for it forestalls other, potentially effective actions. By permitting the Syrian regime added time, it is morally equivalent to aiding and abetting Bashar al-Assad.
Applying R2P in Syria
The United Nations-endorsed Responsibility To Protect initiative has applications to the ongoing violence in Syria, writes former U.S. diplomat Bennett Ramberg. He advises five steps to implementing a R2P strategy covering Syria, including a media campaign aimed at encouraging defections, a renewed Arab League call for Bashar Assad’s resignation and a diplomatic push to persuade Russia and China to withdraw their objections to Security Council resolutions condemning the Syrian government. The Daily Star (Lebanon)(3/19)
Syria is wracked by bombs amid UN humanitarian visit
Representatives from the United Nations and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation were to participate in a humanitarian mission to Syria as car bombs killed dozens and injured more than a 100 over the weekend in Aleppo and Damascus. In a letter, the government told UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan that opposition must lay down their arms and that neighboring countries control the flow of arms past their borders. Additionally, fighting was reported in a wealthy enclave of Damascus — some of the first fighting to reach the capital since the uprising began. Mail & Guardian Online (South Africa)/Agence France-Presse (3/18)
1 March
(BBC) Fleeing Homs with tales of slaughter
Paul Conroy: Homs is comparable to Srebrenica or Rwanda
The British photo journalist wounded in the Syrian city of Homs, Paul Conroy … fears the slaughter there may be comparable to past murderous events in Srebrenica or Rwanda. He also warned that there would be “no more witnesses” from Homs, since its population was being “systematically slaughtered”. [He] was injured last week in an attack in the city which killed two journalists, including his colleague Marie Colvin – to whom he paid tribute.
Final dispatch from Homs, the battered city Marie Colvin was the only British journalist reporting from inside the besieged Syrian enclave of Baba Amr. This is her final report
A Tribute to Marie Colvin
Posted by John Cassidy
(The New Yorker) We all have to die sometime. Marie died doing what she loved, what made her feel most alive, what turns journalism from a job into something bigger and more noble: a mission. It’s perhaps not much of a consolation to her many friends and her family, but it’s what happened.
20 February
Hugo Dixon (Editor, Reuters Breakingviews, Thomson Reuters) argues that, despite the intense provocation by the Assad regime, a nonviolent struggle is preferable to militarisation and civil war.
Damascene reversion
Non-violent struggle has roughly twice the chance of bringing down dictators as armed struggle, according to a study of 20th and early 21st Century conflicts, Why Civil Resistance Works, by Erica Chenoweth and Maria Stephan. Among the many reasons for this, those close to the regime feel less threatened by non-violent tactics and so are more likely to shift their allegiance while it is easier to involve millions of people in Gandhian style civil disobedience than in military operations.
Out-muscling a dictator, of course, also works sometimes. Chenoweth and Stephan found that this was particularly so when foreign powers helped. The problem is that armed struggle results in more carnage than non-violent struggle and reduces the chances that what follows the dictator will be a peaceful democracy. Involving foreign powers, meanwhile, means the revolution has to dance to their agendas.

General Assembly is poised for Syria vote
The UN General Assembly is poised on Thursday to debate and vote on an Arab-sponsored resolution intended to help stem the bloodshed in Syria as government forces expanded a tank offensive to the city of Hama, and security forces raided homes and made arrests in a neighborhood of Damascus. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said the UN should weigh the designation of “humanitarian corridors” to allow aid agencies to reach people trapped by the increasing violence. Reuters (2/15), Al-Jazeera (2/15)
Islamists against Assad — Foreign Extremists a Danger to Syria’s Revolution
(Spiegel) Al-Qaida’s leader is calling on Muslims to join in Syria’s revolution and to fight the Assad regime. But jihadists from neighboring countries may already have joined the ranks of the opposition Free Syrian Army. Their presence could be the death blow to the revolution.
… should the suspicions be confirmed that the Syrian uprising has been infiltrated by unknown, uncontrollable extremists, the willingness of the world to help would surely dramatically decrease. The volunteers from other countries could therefore unwittingly deal a death blow to the Syrian revolution.
Russia softens over Syria as UN decries violence
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay on Monday told the 193-nation General Assembly that Syria has launched “an indiscriminate attack on civilian areas” in the city of Homs, adding pressure on Russia, which for the first time since the onset of violence in March indicated it was ready to consider international intervention. Some Arab leaders hinted that they might arm opponents to President Bashar al-Assad unless he stops the crackdown on anti-government protests. The Globe and Mail (Toronto) (2/14), Reuters> (2/14)
11 February
Syria draft resolution heads to UN General Assembly
(BBC) Saudi Arabia is circulating a draft resolution calling for an end to violence by all sides and for President Bashar al-Assad to step aside.
It is similar to one which Russia and China vetoed in the Security Council.
8 February
Syria: Three-Level Chess Game
By Charles Cogan
(HuffPost) … what we seem to have is a three-level chess game in Syria: internal (the Sunnis, an overwhelming majority, against the Alawites, now in a Gotterdammerung struggle to maintain themselves; regional (the Iranians and their allies against the Saudis and their allies); and worldwide (the Russians and Chinese, who as autocratic powers do not support internal uprisings, versus the West).
6 February
Syria’s crisis — The UN stands divided
(The Economist) … Russia’s alliance with Syria is longstanding. It has sold Mr Assad and his predecessors arms for decades. Its refusal to back the UN resolution reflects its fears that Saudi Arabia and Qatar, backed by Europe and America, are pushing for regime change in Damascus which would erode Russia’s influence in the region.
Syria steps up bombardment after council vetoes
The vetoes by Russia and China on Saturday of a UN Security Council resolution aimed at ending the violence in Syria appear to have emboldened the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, whose forces used helicopters and rockets to shell the cities of Homs, Idlib and Zabadani. Western and Arab diplomats used words like “disgusted” and “appalled” to characterize the vetoes. BBC (2/5), Bloomberg Businessweek (2/6)
UN victory may push Syria’s Assad into unwinnable war
(Reuters) – Syria’s victory in dodging a U.N. resolution it deemed a license for regime change may only escalate its internal conflict into a full-fledged civil war that many analysts believe President Bashar al-Assad cannot ultimately win.
Veto of UN resolution on Syria stirs outrage
(Gulf Times) Outrage grew yesterday after Russia and China blocked a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its crackdown on protests, with the opposition saying it handed the regime a “licence to kill”.
30 January
Drones for Human Rights
By [Sauvé alumnus] ANDREW STOBO SNIDERMAN and MARK HANIS
(NYT Op-ed) DRONES are not just for firing missiles in Pakistan. In Iraq, the State Department is using them to watch for threats to Americans. It’s time we used the revolution in military affairs to serve human rights advocacy.
With drones, we could take clear pictures and videos of human rights abuses, and we could start with Syria.
The need there is even more urgent now, because the Arab League’s observers suspended operations last week.
28 January
‘Call to arms’ as Syria violence escalates
(Al Jazeera) European and Arab nations have pressed for UN Security Council backing for an Arab League plan calling on Syria’s president to stand down, but Russia said their proposed resolution crossed its “red lines”.
26 January
Why We Have a Responsibility to Protect Syria
Even though the military challenges might make it unfeasible, we should acknowledge the moral and historical cases for intervening
(The Atlantic) … there are a number of reasons why intervention, today, would be premature (Michael Weiss runs through some of them in his excellent article in Foreign Affairs). But it may not be premature in a month or in two. The international community must begin considering a variety of military options — the establishment of “safe zones” seems the most plausible — and determine which enjoys the highest likelihood of causing more good than harm. This is now — after nearly a year of waiting and hoping — the right thing to do. It is also the responsible thing to do.
24 January
Will the West interfere in Syria?
(Al Jazeera) As Gulf states pull their observers from Syria, we ask what it will mean if this crisis is internationalised.
Arab League turns to U.N. as Gulf observers quit Syria
(Reuters) – Gulf Arab states withdrew their observers from Syria on Tuesday after it rejected an Arab League plan for President Bashar al-Assad to surrender power, prompting the group’s chief to call for U.N. help in ending Syria’s bloody upheaval.
19 January
How Libya’s Success Became Syria’s Failure
(UN Dispatch) At a forum marking the 10th anniversary of the Responsibility to Protect yesterday, Ban Ki Moon called the unfolding human tragedy in Syria “the next test of our common humanity.”
But if nothing changes, it looks like we’ll fail this test. Why? The reason has less to do with Syria than with the diplomatic fallout from the NATO-led Libya intervention. Most non-western countries on the Security Council are still smarting over how NATO carried out the Libya military campaign. Russia and China, which are traditionally wary of this kind of intervention, took a big risk and withheld their veto to Resolution 1973 which authorized the use of force in Libya. They did so because they believed that the resolution very narrowly circumscribed the kind of force that NATO would use. They expected civilian protection. What NATO became was the de facto air force of Libyan rebels
16 January
UN to train Syria Arab League monitors
(BBC) The United Nations is to begin training Arab League observers monitoring the uprising in Syria.
The training will begin in Cairo after Arab League foreign ministers meet this weekend to discuss the progress of the mission so far, a UN spokesperson said.
11 January
Syria’s Al Assad Digs In Against Opponents
(Stratfor) Should al Assad’s regime survive, the biggest regional winner will be Iran. Syria’s already close alliance with Tehran will be strengthened should the regime persevere.
Arab League retrenches Syria monitoring, shelves UN help
The Arab League said Sunday that it would nearly double the number of monitors in Syria, from 165 to 300, to better try to hold President Bashar Al-Assad to his pledge to stop the campaign of violence against anti-government protesters. The regional Arab body said it would not ask for assistance from the United Nations before its next scheduled meeting on Jan. 19. Reuters (1/8), The Wall Street Journal (1/9)
Arab ministers want UN to train Syria monitors
‘We want to do more,’ says Qatari prime minister
(CBC) Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo have decided to ask the UN to help train monitors who are on a surveillance mission in Syria while renewing calls for the Syrian government to immediately stop its violent crackdown on dissidents.
4 January
Arab League’s Syria mission sputters
The Arab League, which has already faced criticism for appointing a close associate of Sudanese President and war-crimes suspect Omar al-Bashir to lead its Syrian mission, has now announced that it will send 50 more monitors to Syria to beef up its effort to stem a 10-month crackdown on protesters.
Arab League, dissidents disagree on progress in Syria
(LATimes) The league says Assad’s government has taken steps to comply with a regional initiative to stop the killing, but opposition activists, citing dozens more deaths, are incredulous over those remarks.
1 January
Is the Arab League mission doomed to fail?
(Al Jazeera) Despite the presence of the Arab League observers in Syria the government crackdown on protesters continues.

2011

28 December
Human rights advocates raise alarm about Syria’s crackdown
Syrian and international human rights advocates are expressing concern Arab League observers visiting the country are failing to receive or report an accurate picture of the situation, and that Syrian authorities are hiding detainees. A months-long deadly crackdown on pro-reform protesters that has killed thousands prompted the observer visit. Los Angeles Times/World Now blog (12/28), The Guardian (London) (12/28), The Wall Street Journal/The Associated Press (12/28)
Syrians plead with observers as police tear gas tens of thousands in hotbed Homs
(AFP via National Post) Syrian police used tear gas to disperse some 70,000 people who took to the streets of Homs on Tuesday … The protests come as Arab League observers visited the flashpoint central city to monitor a deal to end a nine-month crackdown on anti-regime protests.
30 November
Syria’s Christians Side with Assad Out of Fear
(Spiegel) Many of Syria’s 2.5 million Christians are supporting President Bashar Assad amidst ongoing protests in the country. They prefer a brutal dictator who guarantees the rights of religious minorities to the uncertain future that Assad’s departure would bring. The president is exploiting their fears of Islamists for his own ends. … when Syrian dictator Bashar Assad summoned his country’s Christian leaders to the presidential palace … The message they received from their head of state was short and simple: Either support me, or your churches will burn.
24 November
Arabs give Syria an ultimatum
(RCI) An Arab League committee on Thursday gave Syria 24 hours to agree to allow an observer mission into the country, or it could face sanctions that include stopping financial dealings and freezing assets. The bloodshed in the country continued, with activists reporting at least 15 people killed, including civilians and security forces. Thursday’s threat was a humiliating blow to Damascus, a founding member of the Arab League. It comes as international pressure mounts on President Bashar al-Assad to stop the brutal crackdown on an uprising against his regime. The U.N. says has at least 3,500 have been killed since mid-March.
Pressure is increasing on Damascus
Syrian authorities signaled willingness Thursday to agree to an Arab League plan to send observers into Syria, while French and Turkish officials called for action against the Syrian government. Syrian opposition groups have indicated they may seek help from the United Nations to create buffer zones for the protection of civilian populations if Bashar Al-Assad’s government does not end a deadly crackdown. The Washington Post/The Associated Press (11/18)
Syria seeks meeting as suspension from Arab League looms
The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League after the 22-member organization voted to suspend the country’s membership by Wednesday if it does not comply with a peace plan to end the violence against anti-government demonstrators that has killed more than 3,500 since spring. Turkish, Qatari, Saudi and French diplomatic outposts were attacked after the vote Saturday, only the second of its kind in the history of the regional Arab League, with some members threatening to push for economic and political sanctions. The Guardian (London) (11/13), Los Angeles Times/World Now blog (11/13), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (11/13), Al Jazeera
12 November
… the Qatari foreign minister Hamad bin Jassim, reading out of the decision, warned Assad that further non-compliance would result in “more steps to protect the citizens of Syria” by the Arab League – a broad hint at military intervention to aid the beleaguered opposition.
Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan are already arming Syrian opposition groups and Turkey is hosting their command and training facilities. The scenario is beginning to resemble the Libyan format. There too, Qatari, Jordanian and Turkish military elements took part in the NATO operation to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi. And Bashar Assad may be nearing the end of his tether. Read more on DEBKA
Arab League sanctions for Syria
(BBC) The Arab League has voted to suspend Syria from its meetings and impose sanctions against Damascus over its failure to end a government crackdown on protesters.
It asked member states to withdraw their ambassadors, and urged Damascus to end violence against protesters.
The vote came after Syria ignored an Arab League proposal envisaging the start of dialogue with the opposition.
10 November
Bashar al-Assad urged to take up offer of asylum in Arab world
(The Telegraph) Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, has been urged to spare himself the grizzly fate of Col Muammar Gaddafi in Libya by taking up an offer of asylum elsewhere in the Arab world.
8 November
Syria’s fragmented opposition
As anti-government forces try to develop a united voice, Al Jazeera looks at the disparate groups within.
Egg attack disrupts Syrian opposition talks
Leading opposition figures pelted with eggs by protesters as they arrive for talks with Arab League in Cairo.
Al Jazeera’s correspondent, Jane Arraf, said Wednesday’s incident was an indication of how divided the Syrian opposition is.
She said: “The protesters, many of which are Syrian exiles, are saying that these people meeting at the Arab League are agents of the Syrian government, calling them traitors.”
Arraf added that the protesters were “the ones who want action, military action, targeted sanctions, a no-fly zone, the removal of Bashar al-Assad [the Syrian president], and this is not what these opposition members are asking for.”
2 November
Syria Agrees to Arab League Plan
(IPS/Al Jazeera) – The Syrian government has accepted several measures suggested by the Arab League aimed at halting the violence in the country, including the removal of tanks and armoured vehicles from the streets.
The breakthrough was announced at an emergency meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, where the regional body gathered to discuss plans to ease the violence and end the unrest in Syria.
25 October
Syria ‘using hospitals for torture’ – Amnesty
(BBC) Patients in government-run hospitals in Syria are being tortured in an attempt to suppress dissent, an Amnesty International report alleges.
18 October
Syrian National Council Seeks Legitimacy At Home and Abroad
(IPS) – As the death toll from more than six months of popular unrest climbs past the 3,000 mark, the opposition to the government of President Bashar al-Assad is intensifying efforts to present a unified face to both the outside world and the Syrian people.
On Monday, clashes in the city of Homs reportedly took the lives of several dozen people, including soldiers and members of the regime’s security forces who have been responsible for most of violence since the uprising first broke out in Dera’a seven months ago.
Meanwhile, the Syrian National Council, the governing apparatus of the Syrian opposition, has been developing more sophisticated governance structures and communication strategies in order to boost its legitimacy as a sole representative of the Syrian people.
11 October
U.S. Arms Bahrain While Decrying Russian Weapons in Syria
(IPS) – Peeved at Russia’s Security Council veto derailing a Western- sponsored resolution against Syria last week, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice implicitly accused the Russians of protecting the beleaguered government of President Bashar al-Assad primarily to safeguard their lucrative arms market in the Middle Eastern country.
5 October
China and Russia veto UN resolution condemning Syria
(BBC) China and Russia have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Syria over its crackdown on anti-government protesters.
The US envoy to the UN Susan Rice, who walked out after the vote, said opposition to the resolution was a “cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people”
4 October
Turkey imposes sanctions on Syria in protest over deaths
Turkish prime minister condemns the Bashar al-Assad regime and vows not to remain a bystander
(The Guardian) Erdogan, who has taken a regional lead in condemning Turkey’s restive southern neighbour, compared the actions of Assad to those of his father, Hafez al-Assad, who ordered the Hama massacre in 1982 after an anti-regime rebellion.
1 September
Interview: Will Syria Follow Libya?
Interviewee: Edward C. Luck, Special Advisor to the UN Secretary-General
(Council on Foreign Relations) Syrian leaders have avoided the inflammatory rhetoric that inspired international condemnation of Libya, NATO’s involvement, and the eventual collapse of Muammar al-Qaddafi’s government. But the UN’s Edward Luck, a special adviser for carrying out the “Responsibility to Protect” doctrine, believes that pressure is nevertheless mounting on Syria. “Many countries in the region are hardening their attitude and putting more pressure on the Syrian government to act,” says Luck. “And we hope that will convince them to change course.”
14 August
Syria Crackdown Using Gunboats To Crush Uprising
(HuffPost) Syria used gunboats for the first time Sunday to crush the uprising against Bashar Assad’s regime, hammering parts of the Mediterranean coastal city of Latakia after thousands marched there over the weekend to demand the president’s ouster. At least 25 people were killed, according to activists.
The coordinated attacks by gunboats and ground troops were the latest wave of a brutal offensive against anti-government protests launched at the beginning of the month. The assault showed Assad has no intention of scaling back the campaign even though it has brought international outrage and new U.S. and European sanctions.
1 August
Syria: Under the hammer
After four months of protest Assad has lost even the bare minimum, the sullen acquiescence of his people, to govern
21 June
Syria, Libya and Middle East unrest
(The Guardian) Syria’s president Bashar al-Assad is looking increasingly isolated today after what is widely-seen as defiant but poorly-judged speech. He offered some concessions but his description of protesters as “saboteurs” sparked spontaneous demonstrations at home and condemnation abroad. President Assad offers concessions but fails to stop Syrian demonstrators
13 June
Syria: hundreds flee scorched earth tactics of Assad regime
(The Telegraph) Hundreds of men and boys took to the Syrian hills around the beleaguered town of Jisr al-Shughour, fleeing the scorched earth tactics of the Assad regime’s tanks and militias
31 May
Tortured and killed: Hamza al-Khateeb, age 13
The mutilation and death in custody of a 13-year-old child has sparked further furious protests in Syrian city of Daraa.
(Al Jazeera) The child had spent nearly a month in the custody of Syrian security, and when they finally returned his corpse it bore the scars of brutal torture: Lacerations, bruises and burns to his feet, elbows, face and knees, consistent with the use of electric shock devices and of being whipped with cable, both techniques of torture documented by Human Rights Watch as being used in Syrian prisons during the bloody three-month crackdown on protestors.
19 April
Syrian regime may be about to face its most dangerous moment yet
Bashar al-Assad’s decision to ditch Syria’s notorious emergency law is his biggest concession to protesters so far
9 April
Syria’s biggest day of unrest yet sees at least 20 people killed
Protests move closer to the centre of Damascus as Bashar al-Assad’s concessions fail to quell calls for reform

Public opinion on the topic of climate change is notoriously fickle, changing — quite literally sometimes — with the weather. The latest bit of evidence on this: Yale’s April 2013 climate change survey, which found, among other things, that Americans’ conviction that global warming is happening had dropped by seven points, to 63 percent, over the preceding six months. The decline, the authors surmised, was most likely due to “the cold winter of 2012-13 and an unusually cold March just before the survey was conducted.”
A far smaller percentage — 49 percent — understood that human activities are contributing to the problem. … a far more troubling metric from Yale’s latest poll suggests that only 42 percent of Americans believe that scientists are in agreement on climate change.
…  [However, results] published Thursday in the journal Environmental Research Letters, were clear: of the more than 4,000 abstracts that had anything to say about human-driven climate change, 97 percent endorsed the notion. A little less than 3 percent either rejected the idea or remained undecided.
“There is a gaping chasm between the actual consensus and the public perception,” Cook said in a statement accompanying the study’s release. “It’s staggering given the evidence for consensus that less than half of the general public think scientists agree that humans are causing global warming. This is significant because when people understand that scientists agree on global warming, they’re more likely to support policies that take action on it.” (16 May 2013)

Environmental Alarmism, Then and Now:
The Club of Rome’s Problem — and Ours
By Bjørn Lomborg
(Foreign Affairs July/August 2012) By recommending that the world limit development in order to head off a supposed future collapse, The Limits to Growth led people to question the value of pursuing economic growth. Had its suggestions been followed over subsequent decades, there would have been no “rise of the rest”; no half a billion Chinese, Indians, and others lifted out of grinding poverty; no massive improvements in health, longevity, and quality of life for billions of people across the planet. Even though the Club of Rome’s general school of thought has mercifully gone the way of other 1970s-era relics, such as mood rings and pet rocks, the effects linger in popular and elite consciousness. People get more excited about the fate of the Kyoto Protocol than the fate of the Doha Round — even though an expansion of trade would do hundreds or thousands of times as much good as feeble limitations of emissions, and do so more cheaply, quickly, and efficiently for the very people who are most vulnerable. It is past time to acknowledge that economic growth, for lack of a better word, is good, and that what the world needs is more of it, not less.
The Climate Change Task Force (CCTF) is an independent, non-governmental committee comprised of leading international climate change thinkers, scientists, Nobel Peace Laureates, as well as former and current Heads of State, calling upon civil society and the public at large to urgently engage in the climate debate.
Roman Warm Period (Europe — Mediterranean) — Summary
(CO2 Science) Climate alarmists contend that the degree of global warmth over the latter part of the 20th century, and continuing to the present day, was greater than it was at any other time over the past one to two millennia, because this contention helps support their claim that what they call the “unprecedented” temperatures of the past few decades were CO2-induced. Hence, they cannot stomach the thought that the Medieval Warm Period of a thousand years ago could have been just as warm as, or even warmer than, it has been recently, especially since there was so much less CO2 in the air a thousand years ago than there is now. Likewise, they are equally loath to admit that temperatures of the Roman Warm Period of two thousand years ago may also have rivaled, or exceeded, those of the recent past, since atmospheric CO2 concentrations at that time were also much lower than they are today.
17-year-old Kiwi shames world leaders into action at Rio
Twenty years ago, a 12-year-old rocked the Earth Summit in Rio with a plea to world leaders to get serious about saving the planet. Her name was Severn Suzuki, and today, she hands the torch to another young’un, Brittany Trilford, 17, who will address the leaders of 140 nations as the Rio+20 Earth Summit finally gets off to its official start.

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Low-key U.S. plan for each nation to set climate goals wins ground
(Reuters) – A U.S.-led plan to let all countries set their own goals for fighting climate change is gaining grudging support at U.N. talks, even though the current level of pledges is far too low to limit rising temperatures substantially.
27 April
An Earth Scientist Explores the Biggest Climate Threat: Fear
(NYT Dot Earth) … pushing back against apocalyptic depictions of the collision between humans and the climate system — written by Peter B. Kelemen, the Arthur D. Storke Professor and vice chair in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University.
… the climate that worries me most is the climate of fear, the belief that our current trajectory leads inevitably to total disaster. This belief discourages constructive action, and can result in irrational acts by people in despair, individually, or as nations, willing to do anything to derail the juggernaut we are told is carrying us, inevitably, to destruction.
26 April
Land O’ Lakes: Melting Glaciers Transform Alpine Landscape
Climate change is dramatically altering the Swiss Alps, where hundreds of bodies of water are being created by melting glaciers. Though the lakes can attract tourists and even generate electricity, local residents also fear catastrophic tidal waves.
30 March
Climate science — A sensitive matter
The climate may be heating up less in response to greenhouse-gas emissions than was once thought. But that does not mean the problem is going away
(The Economist) The mismatch between rising greenhouse-gas emissions and not-rising temperatures is among the biggest puzzles in climate science just now. It does not mean global warming is a delusion. Flat though they are, temperatures in the first decade of the 21st century remain almost 1°C above their level in the first decade of the 20th. But the puzzle does need explaining.
The mismatch might mean that—for some unexplained reason—there has been a temporary lag between more carbon dioxide and higher temperatures in 2000-10. Or it might be that the 1990s, when temperatures were rising fast, was the anomalous period. Or, as an increasing body of research is suggesting, it may be that the climate is responding to higher concentrations of carbon dioxide in ways that had not been properly understood before. This possibility, if true, could have profound significance both for climate science and for environmental and social policy.
11 March
Greenland adds nutrient to ocean in side-effect of thaw: study
(Planet Ark) A melt of Greenland’s ice is washing large amounts of the nutrient iron into the Atlantic Ocean where it might aid marine life in a rare positive side-effect of climate change, a study showed on Sunday.
Greenland’s thaw, which is raising world sea levels, is also adding about 300,000 tonnes of iron a year to the North Atlantic, based on projections from the muddy melt water of three glaciers in the southwest, it said.
That is similar to the amount of iron blown to the region in dust by winds. Scientists say that iron is a vital nutrient and that a lack of the element in parts of the oceans limits growth of everything from tiny plankton to fish and whales.
Why developing nations are the key to solving climate change
A new book argues that because Western governments have failed to take meaningful action against climate change, the task falls to developing countries such as China and India, which accounted for 83% of emissions growth from 2000 to 2011. “As a first stab at analysing one of the world’s most intractable problems, it provides a wealth of analysis and fuel for thought,” writes The Economist. The Economist (tiered subscription model) (2/2)
Solving climate change from the top down and bottom up
The World Economic Forum in Davos has released multiple reports highlighting the need to address climate change. While Davos, United Nations conferences and similar events can set the agenda, they need to be complemented by “bottom up” strategies, says Richard Samans of the Global Green Growth Institute. “What I’m talking about as a bottom-up response is having specific sectors meet performance standards where it makes the most difference, like power plants. Or do things with land use that sucks carbon out of the atmosphere,” he says. Reuters (1/25), PBS/The Rundown blog (1/27), Responding to Climate Change (U.K.) (1/28)

2012

Methane: Good Gas, Bad Gas
(National Geographic | December 2012) Burn natural gas and it warms your house. But let it leak,from fracked wells or the melting Arctic, and it warms the whole planet.

UN Leak Shows More Evidence Humans Cause Global Warming

(Bloomberg) A leaked draft of the UN’s most comprehensive study ever on climate change shows increasing evidence that links human activity to global warming.
It is “extremely likely” mankind is responsible for more than half of the observed temperature rises since the 1950s, a United Nations agency said in a draft report. In the UN’s last study, in 2007, human influence on the temperature rise was deemed “very likely.” …
The IPCC said in a statement today …
“This report further confirms that there really is no doubt about the fact that the Earth is warming, and there is no reasonable doubt that greenhouse-gas emissions from human activities are the primary driver of that warming,” Bob Ward, policy director at the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, said in a phone interview. “The evidence is now more robust.”
Climate linked to Mayan fall, Genghis Khan’s rise
Research points to climate change as the likely reason for the demise of the Mayan civilization some 1,000 years ago and the campaign by Genghis Khan that conquered half of Eurasia in the early 1200s. “We might like to think that our own institutions are a bit less vulnerable to the elements than these civilizations, but then again — the climate we may be in for will likely be much more unusual,” writes Joshua Keating. ForeignPolicy.com/Passport blog (12/12), The Economist (12/8)

Kyoto Protocol extended in climate compromise

Delegates at the United Nations climate talks that ended Saturday in Doha, Qatar, agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol through 2020 and create a road map by 2015 to replace the pact. The world’s governments remained divided over who should pay the costs for helping the most vulnerable countries cope with the effects of climate change through 2020, when industrial nations are slated to contribute $100 billion annually from public and private sources. Reuters (12/9), The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (12/8), IRINNews.org (12/9)

Factbox: Key decisions at Doha talks on climate change
(Reuters) The conference agreed to an eight-year extension to 2020 of the Kyoto Protocol, the only legally binding U.N. pact for combating global warming.
It now obliges about 35 industrialized countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions by an average of at least 5.2 percent below 1990 levels during the period 2008-12. Nations will pick their own targets for 2020.
But backers of Kyoto will dwindle from 2013 to a group including the European Union, Australia, Ukraine, Switzerland and Norway. Together they account for less than 15 percent of world greenhouse gas emissions.
Others of the original Kyoto group — Russia, Japan and Canada — are pulling out, saying that it is time for big emerging economies led by China and India to join in setting targets for limiting their surging emissions.
Next Time You Come to a Climate Conference, Do Your Homework Beforehand
(Scrapbook of a climate hawk) So once again the UN climate process has been saved. In an unprecedented display, the conference’s president rush-gavelled through the key decisions and overruled Russia’s procedural objection.
However, once again saving the process came at the expense of actually achieving substantive results.
7 December
Civil society breaks the silence, confronts governments at climate negotiations
(rabble.ca) This year’s relatively quiet climate negotiations turned up the volume yesterday when two members of the Arab Youth Climate Movement (AYCM) were arrested for holding up a banner. Onlookers erupted in cheers as they were escorted out. They were asking the hosts, the Qatari government, for leadership. Instead, they were immediately ejected from COP18 and instructed to leave the country.
After the cheers subsided, the mood was sombre. The process at COP18 is failing; the climate deal on the table is not an ambitious one. It is not sufficient to avert the climate catastrophe that will occur if emissions are not curbed. Civil society has been speaking loudly and clearly at COP, through the AYCM’s action and others, demanding initiative on the part of governments. But are they listening?
The silence was also broken for the first time between Canadian climate groups and Environment Minister Peter Kent. Despite asking for meetings in past years, requests have been consistently denied. In his tenure as Environment Minister, Kent has met with environmental groups four times, and on non-climate issues. He has met with representatives of the oil and gas industry 54 times, and many of these meetings focused on tar sands advocacy.
Last-minute scramble for climate deal at UN talks
Negotiations continued through the night Thursday at United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, with envoys trying to mesh procedure with political will. A key proposal is the annual delivery of $100 billion in aid by 2020 to pay for projects to cope with the effects of global warming. The lead negotiator from the Philippines, Naderev Saño, broke down in tears in the hall, saying, “I appeal to the whole world, I appeal to leaders from all over the world, to open our eyes to the stark reality that we face. … It cannot be a way of life that we end up running always from storms.” Bloomberg Businessweek (12/7), The Washington Post/The Associated Press (12/7), The Guardian (London)/Poverty Matters blog (12/6)
Carbon offsets could point the way to climate future
Halfway through the United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres said she does not see “much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions” to slow global warming. One option is the Clean Development Mechanism, the global environmental currency that awards transferable credits for building green projects in developing countries. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/IHT Rendezvous blog (12/3), Fox News Latino/The Associated Press (12/1)
Tensions emerge at UN climate talks as delegates debate extending Kyoto Protocol
2012 is shaping up as among hottest years recorded
This year is in line to become one of the 10 hottest globally on record and the hottest in the lower 48 U.S. states, the World Meteorological Organization reports. Temperatures would be even higher if not for cooling La Niña weather patterns this year, according to the United Nations agency. “Climate change is taking place before our eyes and will continue to do so as a result of the concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, which have risen constantly and again reached new records,” WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud said. Bloomberg (11/28), The Guardian (London) (11/28), The Washington Post/The Associated Press (11/28)

Will UN talks spur climate action?
The two-week conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change begins today in Doha, Qatar, where leaders from nearly 200 nations will meet with environmentalists and academics in an effort to create policies to counter climate change and help poor countries adapt. Chief among the priorities is an extension of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. A report says that financial pledges made three years ago by rich countries have gone largely fulfilled, while those that were honored have lacked transparency. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/IHT Rendezvous blog (11/26), BBC (11/25), The Guardian (London) (11/25), AlertNet/Reuters (11/25)
Meaningful action sought at UN climate talks
A week before climate negotiators from nearly 200 countries are slated to meet in Doha, Qatar, researchers are calling for a shake-up in the voting process and delegation sizes. The United Nations talks follow a World Bank report that warns of sharp temperature increases this century. While the meeting is not expected to yield breakthroughs, it is important for work toward a deal in 2015, says climate policy officer Sönke Kreft. AlertNet/Reuters (11/18), AlertNet (11/19), Reuters (11/20), Spiegel Online (Germany) (11/19)
18 November
No nation immune to climate change: World Bank
(WEN/Planet Ark) All nations will suffer the effects of a warmer world, but it is the world’s poorest countries that will be hit hardest by food shortages, rising sea levels, cyclones and drought, the World Bank said in a report on climate change.
Under new World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, the global development lender has launched a more aggressive stance to integrate climate change into development.
“We will never end poverty if we don’t tackle climate change. It is one of the single biggest challenges to social justice today,” Kim told reporters on a conference call on Friday.
The report, called “Turn Down the Heat,” highlights the devastating impact of a world hotter by 4 degrees Celsius (7.2 Fahrenheit) by the end of the century, a likely scenario under current policies, according to the report.
U.S. considers moving climate talks away from UN
The U.S. may try to shift substantive negotiations to reduce greenhouse gases from the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change to the Major Economies Forum, an organization of the largest carbon producers. UN officials, however, resist the idea. “The one and only place where formal negotiations and, above all, decisions take place and where treaties are negotiated is the UNFCCC,” said Christiana Figueres, UN climate chief. The Guardian (London)/EurActiv (11/16)
11 November
Hurricane Sandy’s lessons: How America can protect its coasts
The superstorm’s devastation has awakened urgent interest in protecting populated coasts. Is it really possible?
(The Week) Climate activists say that to stop the inexorable rise of the oceans, we should adopt immediate, major restrictions on the burning of fossil fuels. But political resistance to emissions limits is strong in developed and developing countries alike, so there is almost no chance of reaching an agreement on a global reduction of even 20 percent. And it’s probably too late anyway: Due to the amount of carbon dioxide we’ve already pumped into the atmosphere, even the most draconian measures to slash carbon emissions would not reduce rising tides. “Sea-level rise cannot be stopped for at least the next several hundred years,” climate scientist Gerald Meehl concluded in an article published this summer in Nature. Curtailing emissions would only slightly slow what now appears to be inevitable.
Can we adapt to higher seas?
It can be done, but it’s an epic battle requiring ever-more-heroic means.
9 November
Are scientists too cautious to help us stop climate change?
(Foreign Policy) Conventional wisdom about climate change may have begun to gel in the aftermath of Sandy, but did global warming really cause the vicious hybrid storm that devastated much of the eastern seaboard last week? The short answer is no. Attributing Sandy or any other single event to long-term climate trends is rather like blaming El Niño for a car accident on the Santa Monica Freeway. But that’s hardly an excuse for policymakers to keep kicking the climate can down the road. Science actually doesn’t tell us much about that kind of causality, so it’s time to stop acting like it does.
At its best, climate science deals in probabilities. This means that under ideal conditions, scientists can estimate how a given climate signal alters the chances of a particular event. For example, we can now begin to estimate how global warming changes the probability of destructive hurricane landfalls. But in the case of hybrid storms like Sandy, which combine hurricane and winter storm characteristics, science hasn’t even progressed to the point of assessing probabilities.
Ban: Sandy shows climate change is “new normal”
Superstorms and extreme weather caused by climate change are “the new normal,” according to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “This may be an uncomfortable truth, but it is one we ignore at our peril. … This should be one of the main lessons of Hurricane Sandy,” Ban said. Reuters (11/9)
30 October
Did Climate Change Cause Hurricane Sandy?
(Scientific American) many variables go into creating a big storm, so the size of Hurricane Sandy, or any specific storm, cannot be attributed to climate change. That’s true, and it’s based on good science. However, that statement does not mean that we cannot say that climate change is making storms bigger. It is doing just that—a statement also based on good science, and one that the insurance industry is embracing, by the way. (Huh? More on that in a moment.)
Scientists have long taken a similarly cautious stance, but more are starting to drop the caveat and link climate change directly to intense storms and other extreme weather events, such as the warm 2012 winter in the eastern U.S. and the frigid one in Europe at the same time. They are emboldened because researchers have gotten very good in the past decade at determining what affects the variables that create big storms.
Gas flares waste energy, add to carbon emissions
An estimated $50 billion in natural gas is wasted each year by the world’s top oil-producing countries through flaring, according to the World Bank. The emissions from gas flares contribute about as much to climate change as the economy of Italy. “Given the need for energy in so many countries — 1 in 5 people in the world are without electricity — we simply cannot afford to waste this gas any more,” said Rachel Kyte, the bank’s vice president for sustainable development. The Guardian (London) (10/24)
Climate change is linked to deaths, financial loss
A study is linking climate change to the deaths of nearly 400,000 people annually, with a yearly economic toll of $1.2 trillion, or 1.6% of global gross domestic product. Developing countries will continue to bear the brunt of the effects of climate change through 2030, by which time the cost to global GDP is projected to reach 3.2%, according to the study, Climate Vulnerability Monitor. The Guardian (London) (9/25), AlertNet (9/26)
Effects of climate change on Himalayas mixed
The oft-disputed effects of climate change on Himalayan glaciers are mixed, according to analyses by the U.S. National Research Council and National Academy of Sciences. While glaciers are melting faster in the eastern and central regions of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, western areas may be expanding. That means that, in the short term, the retreat of glaciers will influence regional water supplies less than factors such as population, consumption and precipitation. The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Dot Earth blog (9/12), The New York Times (tiered subscription model)/Green blog (9/12)
4 August
Droughts show global warming is ‘scientific fact’
NASA researcher’s study ‘reframes the question,’ UVic professor says
The relentless, weather-gone-crazy type of heat that has blistered the U.S., Canada and other parts of the world in recent years is so rare it can’t be anything but man-made global warming, a new statistical analysis says. The research by a man often called the “godfather of global warming” says that, from the 1950s through the 1980s, the likelihood of such sweltering temperatures occurring was rarer than 1 in 300. Now, the odds are closer to 1 in 10, according to the study by James Hansen.
2 August
Jeffrey Sachs: The Dangerous New Era Of Climate Change
For many years, the risk of climate change was widely regarded as something far in the future, a risk perhaps facing our children or their children. But recent global events suggest that we have now entered a new and very dangerous era of global climate shifts, one that corporate lobbies and media propagandists are still attempting to deny
(Economy Watch) For years, climate scientists have been warning the world that the heavy use of fossil fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) threatens the world with human-induced climate change. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, a byproduct of burning fossil fuels, would warm the planet and change rainfall and storm patterns and raise sea levels. Now those changes are hitting in every direction, even as powerful corporate lobbies and media propagandists like Rupert Murdoch try to deny the truth.
Study spurs about-face among climate skeptics
Scientists once skeptical of assertions that man-made global warming is real have been changing their minds in reaction to a study indicating that temperatures have risen 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit over the past 250 years — and reportedly almost entirely because of human emissions of greenhouse gases. “We were not expecting this, but as scientists, it is our duty to let the evidence change our minds,” said Richard Muller, a physicist at the Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature project. The Guardian (London) (7/29)
13 July
The Quest for a Fair Global Climate Policy
(IDN InDepth News Analysis) The Germanwatch has published ‘The Climate Change Performance Index’, which on the basis of standardised criteria, evaluates and compares the climate protection performance of 58 countries that are together responsible for more than 90 percent of global energy-related CO2 emissions. 80 percent of the evaluation is based on objective indicators of emissions trend and emissions level. 20 percent of the index results are built upon national and international climate policy assessments by more than 200 experts from the respective countries.
The 2011 Index, published end of the year, shows worrying results. “The worldwide addiction to coal has not been stopped, but rather increased. 80 percent of the index is influenced by emissions trends and absolute emissions levels,” says Jan Burck, author of the Index at Germanwatch. Five out of the ten biggest emitters, namely Iran (60), China (57), Russia (56), Canada (54) and USA (52) were rated with the label ‘very poor’ performance.
“Among these countries, China is the only one with a good policy rating. Its encouraging development of renewable energies and energy efficiency targets in the 12th Five Year Plan can help China to climb up a few ranks in the future. But most countries cannot lean back either. Instead, we need a ‘coalition of the responsible’ for a better climate protection”, adds Burck. [IDN-InDepthNews - July 13, 2012]
11 July
The climate of the climate change debate is changing
Quantifying how greenhouse gases contribute to extreme weather is a crucial step in calculating the cost of human influence
(The Guardian) Tuesday marked the publication of a series of papers examining the factors behind extreme weather events in 2011. Nothing remarkable about that, you might think, except, if all goes well, this will be the first of a regular, annual assessment quantifying how external drivers of climate contribute to damaging weather.
Some of these drivers, like volcanoes, are things we can do nothing about. But others, like rising levels of greenhouse gases, we can. And quantifying how greenhouse gases contribute to extreme weather is a crucial step in pinning down the real cost of human influence on climate. While most people think of climate change in terms of shrinking ice-sheets and slowly rising sea levels, it is weather events that actually do harm.
The Climate Stalemate
(OpenCanada.org) Fortunately, in the face of multilateral deadlock, a different kind of response has emerged. Global networks of cities like the C40 group and ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection program – both of which had headquarters in Toronto, with David Miller heading up C40 during his time as mayor – are working to alter municipal economies, transportation systems, and energy use. Corporations, environmental NGOs, and governments are forming alliances like The Climate Group, the Connected Urban Development Program, and Climate Wise to devise ways to deliver climate-friendly technology and move towards a low-carbon economy. States, provinces, environmental organizations, and corporations are developing carbon markets in the global North and South that promise low-cost means of reducing emissions. Three Canadian provinces (Quebec, Ontario, and British Columbia) are poised to join California in what is potentially one of the most ambitious of these programs in North America – the Western Climate Initiative. These kinds of innovations, or climate-governance experiments, are reshaping how individuals, communities, cities, provinces, corporations, and nations respond to climate change.
10 July
Heating Up
(NYT editorial) The recent heat wave that has fried much of the country, ruined crops and led to heat-related deaths has again raised the question of whether this and other extreme weather events can be attributed to human-induced climate change. The answer, increasingly, is a qualified yes.
8 July
Donna Laframboise Flown To Australia By Climate Science Denying Think Tank
(Desmogblog) CANADIAN blogger and climate science sceptic Donna Laframboise has flown off for a tour of Australia to tell anyone willing to listen that the world’s foremost body on climate change, the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, is something resembling a shambling mess.
Laframboise’s trip has been organised by free market think tank the Institute of Public Affairs, which has a long history of promoting doubt about the science of human-caused climate change and the risks of the unmitigated burning of fossil fuels.
The blogger, who describes herself as an investigative journalist, gets to visit Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth to promote her book “The Delinquent Teenager Who Was Mistaken For The World’s Top Climate Expert – IPCC Expose.”
The IPA describe’s Laframboise as a “world renowned author” which is stretching credibility to breaking point. This “world renowned author” has written just two books. Her first was about feminism published in 1996. The Delinquent Teenager is her second, and is currently ranked #17952 in the book seller Amazon’s Kindle store [#41,202 in the U.S. Amazon Kindle Store.] Read on, it’s a delicious, documented, Donna debunk.
18 June
Statement by the Climate Change Task Force:
Action to Face the Urgent Realities of Climate Change (PDF)
IEA: World on brink of catastrophic climate change
If energy use continues at today’s rates, emissions of greenhouse gases could increase 33% by the end of the decade and nearly 100% by midcentury, according to Maria van der Hoeven of the International Energy Agency. “The world’s energy system is being pushed to breaking point,” Van der Hoeven writes on the eve of a meeting of key energy ministers in London. The Guardian (London) (4/24)
28 February
You can’t take the tar sands out of the climate equation
By Mark Jaccard, professor at Simon Fraser University and lead author for sustainable energy policy in the coming Global Energy Assessment
(Globe & Mail) … Their conclusion is that combustion of all the oil in the tar sands would not cause more than a 0.36 degree Celsius increase in average global temperatures – while scientists and political leaders agree that we can’t allow temperatures to increase more than two degrees.
Dr. Weaver and Mr. Swart are climate modellers. If they had consulted any of the world-leading independent energy-economy modellers at MIT, University of Maryland, Berlin, Vienna or Stanford, they would have done a different study by looking at combined sets of reductions around the world, and recognizing that all components currently or potentially in use are part of the solution.
What researchers who do this consistently find is that it’s already too late to prevent a two-degree increase because of the inertia in our global energy system, which is 85 per cent based on burning coal, oil and natural gas. We would have to blow up our factories, electricity plants and vehicles to achieve that goal.
They also show that, even if we just hope to keep the increase below four degrees, then we can’t allow any expansion of the tar sands, and certainly no new pipelines such as Keystone and Northern Gateway to support any expanded use of fossil fuels.
26 February
The Inner Workings of the Denial Machine
David Suzuki: Documents expose the Heartland Institute, a “charitable” organization, as engaged in secretive lobbying and public-relations efforts aimed at stalling measures to protect the environment.
(The Mark) Heartland is just one of many organizations dedicated to spreading doubt and confusion about legitimate science. These groups share a lack of transparency and an agenda to promote corporate interests at the expense of human health, the environment, and even the economy (if we believe the economy should function primarily in the interests of citizens rather than corporations).
24 February
This should be read very carefully and all the way through.
How environmentalists are losing the war
In winning a tactical victory over the Keystone pipeline, activists used rhetoric that blew up in their faces this week, writes Dan Gardner
23 February
John Moore: A peek into the climate denier industry
The curtain has been drawn back on the professional denier industry, and its media enablers are frantically crying “there is nothing to see here.” Leaked documents from the Chicago-based Heartland Institute expose the efforts of the conservative “research organization” to sow doubt about climate change.
22 February
Media coverage of oilsands prompts scientists’ rebuke
(iPolitics) Since the provocative paper was published on Sunday afternoon, the phones at the University of Victoria have been ringing off the hook, with calls from journalists around the world. In the blogosphere, Swart and Weaver’s paper has been embraced by some oilsands advocates as validation and endorsement of oilsands production, and poo-poo’d by others as old news. Meanwhile, some climate change activists have condemned the findings, with some even suggesting that Weaver has been bought off by “Big Oil.” Not everyone has bothered to read the paper, which takes the more nuanced view that while the oilsands add little to the world’s carbon footprint, they are a significant enabler of fossil fuel addiction.
21 February
Canada’s oil sands: Not so dirty after all
(Globe & Mail) Canada’s government, which has threatened a trade war over a proposed European rule to penalize oil-sands crude in a bid to clean up transportation fuels, has a powerful new argument in its favour, as new research shows other energy sources are far more dangerous to the climate. … The research, by University of Victoria scientists Andrew Weaver and Neil Swart, calculates the climate impact of producing the oil sands. Dr. Weaver is an internationally respected scientist who has contributed to United Nations climate-change documents. (CBC) Climate expert says coal not oilsands real threat — Burning all oilsands would cause fraction of coal’s warming effect, prof says
Leaks indicate plans of climate change skeptics
Internal documents leaked from the Heartland Institute reveal a new initiative from the Chicago-based nonprofit to stymie the teaching of global warming in U.S. public schools, providing a rare look into the operations, salaries and fundraising behind the climate skepticism that has become part of the American culture wars. Heartland has been paying experts and scientists to cast doubt on climate science, documents show. The New York Times (tiered subscription model) (2/15), The Guardian (London) (2/15) More from The Guardian: Heartland Institute claims fraud after leak of climate change documents — Thinktank said to be undermining climate science says it was victim of theft and forgery – but identifies only one memo as fake
Investors set sights on climate change at UN conference
More than 400 representatives of large institutional investors met Thursday at the United Nations to reconsider climate change from a business perspective on the heels of 5% growth in green energy investment, to $260 billion, in 2011. “The carbon-burning economy is tomorrow’s Rust Belt. Your job, it seems to me, is to invest in the Microsofts and Googles of the green economy,” Roland Rich, head of the UN Democracy Fund, told investors, who control a collective $26 trillion worldwide. The conference was convened by the UN, the United Nations Foundation and the Ceres coalition. Reuters (1/12), The Sacramento Bee (Calif.)/McClatchy Newspapers (free registration) (1/12), The Guardian (London) (1/12)

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Photo credit: Reuters

The humble hero
Containers have been more important for globalisation than freer trade
(The Economist) Over time all this reshaped global trade. Ports became bigger and their number smaller. More types of goods could be traded economically. Speed and reliability of shipping enabled just-in-time production, which in turn allowed firms to grow leaner and more responsive to markets as even distant suppliers could now provide wares quickly and on schedule. International supply chains also grew more intricate and inclusive. This helped accelerate industrialisation in emerging economies such as China, according to Richard Baldwin, an economist at the Graduate Institute of Geneva. Trade links enabled developing economies simply to join existing supply chains rather than build an entire industry from the ground up. But for those connections, the Chinese miracle might have been much less miraculous.
Not only has the container been more important than past trade negotiations—its lessons ought also to focus minds at future talks. When governments meet at the WTO’s December conference in Bali they should make a special effort in what is called “trade facilitation”—efforts to boost efficiency at customs through regulatory harmonisation and better infrastructure. By some estimates, a 50% improvement in these areas could mean benefits as big as the elimination of all remaining tariffs. This would not be a glamorous outcome, but the big ones seldom are. (18 May)
10 May
Taking Global Trade for Granted
With so many problems facing the WTO, it’s easy to overlook the organization’s sucesses
(OpenCanada.org) Trade barriers are historically low, trade rules are working, and world trade continues to expand. How to keep countries engaged in the WTO – and rally enthusiasm for freer global trade – when the job seems mostly done?
The GATT, the WTO’s predecessor, was a response to the economic “failures” of the 1930s – roller-coaster exchange rates, beggar-thy-neighbour trade policies, hostile regional blocs – which did so much to fuel the outbreak of the Second World War. Together with the IMF and the World Bank, the multilateral trading system was based on the idea that a durable world peace could only be constructed on the foundations of an open, integrated, and prosperous world economy.
The system has succeeded beyond its architects’ wildest imaginations. Whereas tariffs averaged a colossal 44 per cent after the war, choking international trade and balkanizing the world economy, today over half of all exports – from coal to computer chips – face no tariffs, while another third contend with “nuisance tariffs” of just 2 or 3 per cent.
WTO chief urged to reach out to small nations
(Emerging Markets) The decision by a majority of the members of the World Trade Organization to oppose the United States and European Union and back Brazil’s Roberto Azevedo as its new director general shows the era of transatlantic stitch-up for key global jobs is over, experts said.
The final leg of the five-month race for the job ended this week when Azevedo beat Herminio Blanco, the former Mexican trade minister who had received the support of Washington and Brussels.
“Although Blanco is closer to any free trader’s heart, if he’d won with US and EU support it might have polarized the WTO membership,” said one trade expert who asked not be named. “The days of transatlantic stitch ups are over.”
7 May
Azevedo looks to resurrect WTO with patient diplomacy
(Reuters) – Roberto Azevedo, picked on Tuesday to head the World Trade Organization, is in every respect the quintessential Brazilian diplomat: a well-spoken, competent and smooth negotiator with a knack for wooing adversaries into his corner.
A career diplomat with two decades of experience dealing with trade disputes, Azevedo will need those qualities more than ever to bridge the gap between developed and developing nations if he wants to reboot stalled global trade negotiations and breathe new life into the Geneva-based WTO.
It is a huge task. With the global economy still struggling, protectionism is on the rise and faith in free trade – and the WTO itself – is running low in many countries.
30 April
The Next Head of the WTO? Choose Wisely.
It’s time to put someone from the BRICS in charge of the world’s leading trade body.
(Foreign Policy) In a historic first, the next leader of the World Trade Organization will hail from Latin America. A field of nine candidates has now been winnowed down to two, one from Mexico and one from Brazil, meaning that, at a crucial moment in the history of the international trading system, the leader of the central organization for resolving global trade differences and shaping future agreements will come from the emerging part of the Western Hemisphere. …
According to trade-community insiders in Washington and around the world with whom I have spoken over the past few days, Blanco is seen as the preferred candidate of the United States and much of what might be described as the traditional or old-school trade establishment. Azevedo, on the other hand, appears to have deeper support among the BRICs and among many of the other representatives of the emerging world.

2012

27 June
How to Make Trade Easier
By Robert B. Zoellick, Ahmad M. Al-Madani, Donald Kaberuka, Haruhiko Kuroda, Thomas Mirow, Luis A. Moreno
(Project Syndicate) The world is now in the fourth year of the Great Recession. So far, the economies belonging to the World Trade Organization have resisted the kind of widespread protectionism that would make a bad situation much worse. But protectionist pressures are building as weary politicians hear more and more calls for economic nationalism.
EU, U.S., Japan seek further WTO steps over China rare earths
(Reuters) – The European Union, the United States and Japan on Wednesday requested a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organization (WTO) after failing to resolve a battle over China’s export restrictions on rare earth minerals.
25 June
Global trade justice groups ask WTO to disband biased expert panel on “Future of Trade”
Another letter from the Our World is Not for Sale network, endorsed by the Council of Canadians and dozens of other global fair trade and trade justice organizations, this one to WTO Director General Pascal Lamy on his WTO Panel on Defining the Future of Trade. Like the OWINFS letter to G20 leaders last week, we insist that only democratically elected WTO member states should decide the future of global trade talks. The letter also expresses dismay that the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) was excluded from the WTO panel.
20 June
G20 pledges to support economic growth, free trade
(The Economic Times of India) “We underline the importance of an open, predictable, rules-based, transparent multilateral trading system and are committed to ensure the centrality of the World Trade Organization (WTO),” it added.
The leaders extended by one year their vow not to put up new trade barriers at the G20 summit and pledged to roll back any new protectionist measure that may have arisen, including new export restrictions and WTO inconsistent measures to stimulate exports.
The G20 nations also reiterated their commitment to work towards concluding e Doha round negotiations of the WTO, including outcomes in specific areas where progress is possible, such as trade facilitation, and other issues of concern for least developed countries.
However, the leaders did not give any deadline for the conclusion of the stalled Doha round of the WTO talks.
24 April
Red ink holds UN trade challenge at bay
By Vijay Prashad
(Asia Times) The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) started its 13th conference at the weekend in Doha, Qatar. Delegates walking around the convention center had to negotiate a 10-meter Louise Bourgeois statue of a spider, a fitting image for a meeting where powerful countries have begun to spin their webs into which will tumble the unwitting. … The main differences between the G-77 + China and the JZ/EU groupings is evident in two areas: (1) the role of the state in development, (2) the question of financial regulation.
Buried in the Accra Accord (the final document of UNCTAD XII in 2008) is an indication of the philosophical difference between the South and the North on state policy and development. The North prefers the “market” as the conductor of social affairs. The South is keen on State intervention to frame the market’s operations.
… Certain countries protected themselves from the worst effects of the financial crisis by using “macro-prudential measures designed to manage capital inflows, such as taxes on certain inflows, minimum holding periods, and currency-specific requirements” (p 26). The IMF does not take an adverse position on these policies and frameworks, but sees them as playing “an important role in ameliorating the impact of volatile capital flows on financial stability”.
Nothing of the kind is being permitted in the UNCTAD draft. The JZ Group struck down this common-sense statement, “Adequate regulation and supervision of financial markets, and debt management, can play important roles with regard to crisis prevention and resolution.” An IMF subservient to the North is allowed latitude to praise macro-prudential tools, but these are not to be championed by UNCTAD.
13 April
Lamy names panel to identify 21st century trade challenges
(WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy today (13 April 2012) announced the composition of a panel of WTO stakeholders [WTO Panel on Defining the Future of Trade] he has charged with examining and analysing challenges to global trade opening in the 21st century.
10 February
Davos 2012 on Doha
Conclusion: Don’t bury Doha just yet. But understand that it’s in a deep freeze unless countries find the political will and energy to revive it. Meanwhile, countries will continue to pursue the low-hanging fruit of bilateral negotiations because they yield quick results, also continuing the effort in the WTO to sign off on those aspects of the Doha agenda on which they are able to reach consensus.

2011

17 December
Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference
(WTO) In parallel to the Plenary Session, where Ministers made prepared statements, three Working Sessions took place with the following themes: “Importance of the Multilateral Trading System and the WTO”, “Trade and Development” and “Doha Development Agenda”. The Conference approved the accessions of Russia, Samoa and Montenegro
18 July
World Bank chief blames Barack Obama for Doha trade talks deadlock
Robert Zoellick speaks out amid fears the Doha round could fail, leading to a new era of protectionism
(The Guardian) The president of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, blamed Barack Obama has for the deadlock in global trade talks and called on the White House to show the leadership that would bring almost a decade of fruitless negotiations to a successful conclusion.
Amid growing concern that a complete failure in the stymied Doha round could result in a new era of protectionism, Zoellick accused the United States of peddling “excuses” when officials in Washington called the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) talks structurally flawed. …
13 June
WTO scrambles to salvage Doha talks
(FT) Even a plan for a simple standalone agreement to give more privileges to the world’s poorest nations is foundering on a clash of interests
Talks ignore global value chains – WTO
(Independent Online, South Africa) The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has launched a “made in the world” initiative in a bid to ensure that trade policies and regulations more accurately reflect the fact that traded goods are rarely made in just one “country of origin”.
Pascal Lamy, the director-general of the body that sets the rules governing international trade, hopes the initiative will lead to better-informed and smarter trade negotiations. At a recent function to launch the initiative Lamy bemoaned the fact that although the nature of international trade had changed significantly in recent years, trade data had not. … Thus, in 2009 the US had a trade deficit in iPhones with China of $1.9 billion (R12.9bn at Friday’s exchange rate). However, the single largest portion of the value of the iPhones being shipped from China to the US had been created in Japan. Germany and South Korea were also responsible for considerably more of the iPhones’ value than China.
China only accounted for $73.5 million of the $1.9bn value of that trade. Japan accounted for $685m, Germany $341m and South Korea $259m, while the rest of the world accounted for $543m.
11 May
LDCs Seek Mini Trade Deal
(IPS) – Leaders from the Least Developed Countries are making a strong push in Istanbul for a mini trade deal for their 48 impoverished nations – ahead of any worldwide agreement under the Doha Round.
Leaders from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are said to be looking for some kind of deal to fall in place by the end of the year – they aim to secure a pledge of commitment towards that goal at the Fourth U.N. Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) under way in Istanbul this week. The conference is held every ten years, and the LDC leaders consider this a critical moment to secure their demands.
3 May
Doha Round doomed?
(National Post) Sadly, after 10 years and countless disappointments, the talks remain bogged down, mired in complexity and endless bickering. The WTO Secretary-General, Pascal Lamy, normally given to cautiously positive assessments, stated last week that there were “unbridgeable gaps” and that the situation facing the round was “grave.” Could multilateralism in trade be dead?
To some, this is just a realistic appraisal of life in the WTO and the daunting task of mustering consensus in a world body composed of more than 150 member governments. Consensus-building is limited by the enormous complexity of the items on the table, mind numbing in their detail, scope and depth, more so than any other in the annals of international diplomacy.
After Doha
Why the Negotiations Are Doomed and What We Should Do About It
By Susan C. Schwab
(Foreign Affairs May/June 2011)
30 April
Jagdish Bhaghwati: The Doha Round’s premature obituary
The Doha Round and World Trade Organisation need countries to maintain their membership and trade negotiations.
The Doha Round, the first multilateral trade negotiation conducted under the auspices of the World Trade Organisation, is at a critical stage. Now in their 10th year, with much negotiated, the talks need a final political nudge, lest Doha – and hence the WTO – disappear from the world’s radar screen.
Indeed, the danger is already real: when I was in Geneva a year ago and staying at the upscale Mandarin Oriental, I asked the concierge how far away the WTO was. He looked at me and asked: “Is the World Trade Organisation a travel agency?”
The threat of irrelevance is understood by leading statesmen, who have committed themselves to putting their shoulders to the wheel. British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono have unequivocally endorsed the recommendation of the High-level Expert Group on Trade, which Peter Sutherland and I co-chair, that we ought to abandon the Doha Round if it is not concluded by the end of this year.

2010

On Clean Energy, China Skirts Rules
Heavily subsidized land and loans for an exporter like Sunzone are the rule, not the exception, for clean energy businesses in Changsha and across China, Chinese executives said in interviews over the last three months.
But this kind of help violates World Trade Organization rules banning virtually all subsidies to exporters, and could be successfully challenged at the agency’s tribunals in Geneva …
W.T.O. rules allow countries to subsidize goods and services in their home markets, as long as those subsidies do not discriminate against imports. But the rules prohibit export subsidies, to prevent governments from trying to help their companies gain in world markets. The W.T.O. also requires countries to declare all national, state and local subsidies every two years, so that if one country’s exports surge suspiciously, other countries’ trade officials can easily check to see if that product is being subsidized.
But China has virtually ignored the requirement since joining the W.T.O.
16 August
W.T.O. Rules Against European Union on Tariffs for Electronics
“This ruling affirms the principle that changes in technology are not an excuse to apply new duties to products covered by the Information Technology Agreement”.
2 June
EU uses WTO China Trade Policy Review to encourage Beijing towards continued reform and greater transparency
… the EU has called on China to shoulder its responsibilities in the multilateral trading system and stick to WTO rules and its accession commitments such as non-discrimination. For example, China now needs to take on an increased leadership role, especially in the Doha talks, that reflects its global economic weight. The EU has also expressed concerns about a slow-down in reform and less transparency. Furthermore, it has submitted more than 200 technical questions to China on many aspects of its trade policy.
23 March
W.T.O. Affirms Ruling of Improper Airbus Aid
The World Trade Organization ruled on Tuesday that the European plane maker Airbus received improper subsidies for its $13 billion A380 superjumbo jet and several other airplanes, hurting Boeing, its American rival, industry officials in the United States and Europe said.
The ruling affirmed the organization’s interim findings last September in response to a longstanding complaint by the United States over European support for Airbus.
15 March
China Uses Rules On Global Trade To Its Advantage
China’s exports are soaring even as other major economies struggle to recover from recession, but evidence is mounting that Beijing is skillfully using inconsistencies in international trade rules to spur its own economy at expense of others, including United States; it is engaged in two-pronged effort to maintain its export dominance by fighting protectionism among its trade partners and holding down value of its own currency; Beijing is exploiting a fundamental difference between two major international bodies: the World Trade Organization, which wields strict, enforceable penalties for countries that impede trade, and the International Monetary Fund.

2009

4 December
Redesigning the World Trade Organization for the Twenty-first Century
This book explains why institutional reform of the WTO is needed at this critical juncture in world history and provides innovative, practical proposals for modernizing the WTO to enable it to respond to the challenges of the twenty-first century. Contributors focus on five critical areas: transparency, decision- and rule-making procedures, internal management structures, participation by non-governmental organizations and civil society and relationships with regional trade agreements.
The Vanishing WTO
By Marc Levinson, Senior Fellow for International Business, Council on Foreign Relations (CFR)
(CFR) …  A year ago, economic policymakers around the world were terrified that the economic downturn would lead to trade wars as countries sought to protect their flagging manufacturing sectors. So far, the feared descent into tit-for-tat protectionism has not occurred. …  The WTO still matters enough that governments around the world want to avoid the stigma of being branded a trade-law violator by a WTO legal panel.
The WTO also deserves credit for dealing effectively with complaints of unfair trade practices by one country against another. … Although the WTO legal process can be as ponderous as that in any U.S. court, there is no question that it has helped defuse problems that once would have led to diplomatic fireworks.
As a cop on the trade beat, and as a meeting place for trade negotiators, the WTO serves its purpose. Where it has fallen short is in accomplishing the more ambitious goal it was assigned when it began back in 1995: expanding trade.
14 September
America, China and protectionism – How strong is Barack Obama’s belief in free trade?
(The Economist) ALTHOUGH Barack Obama alarmed free traders last year with protectionist-sounding pronouncements on the campaign trail, such as one about the need to renegotiate NAFTA, optimists among them dismissed this as mere posturing designed to placate restive trade unions. Yet a decision by the White House to impose punitive tariffs (35% for the first year, falling by five percentage points a year, to 25% in the third year) on Chinese-made pneumatic tyres now raises serious doubts about Mr Obama’s commitment to free trade.
3 September
Will Obama Steer New Course in Delhi and Pittsburgh?
By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON, Sep 3 (IPS) – A “mini-ministerial” meeting has been convened by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Delhi to help member countries draft a roadmap to conclude the troubled Doha round and set the stage for the G20 later this month and the WTO ministerial in Geneva in November.
27 July
The collapse in world trade has stopped, but there is no sign of a recovery

WORLD trade has been one of the worst casualties of the global economic slowdown and the source of some particularly startling figures. Towards the end of last year trade all but collapsed. According to the World Bank, the value of exports from a sample of 65 countries accounting for 97% of world trade rose by 20.2% in September, compared with a year earlier. But by November exports were worth 17.3% less than a year earlier, before slumping by a whopping 32.6% in the year to January. In March the managers of South Korea’s Busan port, long one of the world’s busiest, said that it had run out of space to store nearly 32,000 empty containers. The Baltic Dry Index, which measures demand for the ships that transport bulk goods such as iron ore or coal, fell from 11,793 at the end of May last year to a pitiful 663 in early December.
9 July
[G8] Leaders seek trade deal by 2010
The world’s biggest economies agreed to conclude a comprehensive trade deal in 2010, in the latest attempt to revive the stalled Doha round and boost the world economy
(FT) Rich countries gathered for the G8 summit signed a deal with 10 other large economies – including India, China and Brazil – that trade talks must resume urgently, with a deadline set for completion next year. The agreement in the Italian town of L’Aquila will be hailed by world leaders as a decisive moment in reviving the global economy and a statement of intent to conclude a trade round which began in Doha in 2001. But there will be widespread cynicism over whether such commitments are credible. Every G8 summit – not to mention other international summits – ends with leaders paying lip service to finalising a trade round.
The U.S. says China’s plan to equip all personal computers with Web filtering software is a violation of its WTO obligations.
24 June
As China Stirs Economy, Some See Protectionism
Ron Kirk, the United States trade representative, announced on Tuesday that the United States and the European Union had filed a complaint with the World Trade Organization accusing China of limiting exports like bauxite and zinc, of which China is one of the world’s largest producers, to give an unfair advantage to Chinese manufacturers that use the materials. The policies could help ensure that China’s economy continues to grow, but at the risk of increasing global trade tensions at a sensitive time when more countries are resorting to administrative measures to restrict trade and the W.T.O. has warned against protectionism.
1 May
Wheat holds up well as global exporting collapses (FAO report)
“According to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the volume of all goods and services moving in world trade in 2009 will be down by 9% from 2008, which is the sharpest reduction since World War II. Developed nations will suffer the greatest declines, with their export volume projected to drop by at least 10%. Developing nations, including some that provide principal outlets for export shipments of grains, will see export decreases of no more than 2% to 3%, the WTO forecasts.” (World-Grain.com free subscription)
24 April
WTO’s Lamy says Doha round relaunch awaits U.S.
(Forbes/Reuters) – A renewed effort to finish long-running world trade talks cannot begin until the United States is ready to engage, the head of the World Trade Organization said on Friday.
23 April
U.S. to push on Doha, Bush trade deals: Kirk
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration is committed to concluding long-running world trade talks and wants to move forward on trade deals with Panama, Colombia and South Korea negotiated by former President George W. Bush, U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk said on Thursday.

2008

31 October
WASHINGTON: NO BREAKTHROUGH EXPECTED IN TRADE TALKS
(RCI) A Canadian trade official says a breakthrough in world trade talks is unlikely to happen before US President Bush leaves office in January. But Don Stephenson, a Canadian assistant deputy trade minister, says a meeting of world leaders next month in Washington to discuss the global economic crisis might be able to restore some momentum to the so-called Doha trade talks. Many leaders have said the talks could help restore confidence and alleviate the current global economic crisis.
31 July
Seeking a trade deal
(Globe & Mail) The Canadians who participated in the Doha process, including Trade Minister Michael Fortier, say they will now turn to negotiating bilateral agreements with individual countries. That is a smart decision, and a first priority should be to get an agreement in place with the European Union. Canada has been a laggard in negotiating trade and investment deals with other countries, and we need to catch up.
But we also must fully support any attempt to restart multilateral talks, as these broad agreements have the potential for the greatest positive impact on the economies of the world. The progress made in the Doha round is certainly worth preserving.
To gain credibility on the international trade scene, Canada must also rethink its position on supply management, our outdated system of marketing boards that provide protection for domestic producers of eggs, poultry and dairy products.
Doha collapse to cost farmers $10M daily
Canada’s position on supply mangement no help: CAFTA
OTTAWA – Canadian farm producers not covered by supply management boards said yesterday the collapse of the WTO’s Doha round talks will cost them close to $10-million a day in lost potential sales, or $3.65-billion a year.
Meanwhile, they add that Canada’s position at the Doha talks — that the country’s supply management boards were to remain untouched as part of any trade liberalization talks — did not aid their case in trying to gain access to new global markets.
China’s Shift on Food Was Key to Trade Impasse
(NYT) China and India have seldom shared the same views on free trade in recent years, but they were on the same side when the talks collapsed here on Tuesday because China made an abrupt about-face, signaling it may have leavened its interest in free trade with concerns about food security.
July 30
China Picks Its Side In World Trade Talks
(alibaba.com) BEIJING — China’s willingness to let the latest round of global trade talks collapse is a sign of how the emerging giant’s ties with other developing nations are becoming increasingly important, as it sees fewer future gains from negotiations with rich countries like the U.S.
The talks at the World Trade Organization in Geneva foundered after member countries couldn’t agree on a proposal to allow developing nations to use special “safeguard” tariffs to shield their farmers from floods of low-priced imports. Wealthy nations led by the U.S. heaped blame on India and China for blocking a global deal over a narrow point. The poorer countries, chiefly India, in turn blasted the rich nations for coddling their farmers with subsidies at a time of record food prices.
Doha talks collapse over farmer protection trigger
Citing a collective failure, the World Trade Organization ended the the Doha round of talks on trade, now in its seventh year. Protection for Indian and Chinese farmers and the mechanism that would trigger those protections, though not a mainstay debate like banana imports in Europe, was said to be the rock upon which the talks foundered. Several ministers expressed surprise that the talks could be doomed by a technical question — although by one report, China and India were willing to compromise, but the U.S. was not. The New York Times (7/30) , Reuters (7/30) , Financial Times (7/30)
29 July
L’impossible désaccord sur Doha
Marcel Boyer, IEDM
(Le Devoir) Le sort des négociations commerciales du cycle de Doha se jouera autour d’un accord prometteur, mais toujours partiel et fragile, entre les pays du Groupe des sept (États-Unis, Union européenne, Brésil, Inde, Australie, Chine, Japon). Les négociations se poursuivront exceptionnellement encore quelques heures.
Why the Doha Round of talks finally died
(Times online) The bricks are crumbling in the house of global trade and the Brics, those fashionable emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, China, are crumbling, too, wracked by inflation, slackening growth and the flight of hot money.
In Geneva, Kamal Nath, the Indian Trade Minister, was gritting his teeth, doing his best to justify a wrecking operation that has earned him brickbats from all round. He has brought to an end a seven-year struggle for a global trade agreement that would open borders and reduce subsidies and he knows it.
Mr Nath’s problem was the wretched farmers, not the East Anglian sugar barons or the American cotton kings, so often the butt of abuse. There is another group of farmers who wallow in subsidies, wreck government budgets and who demand high tariff walls to keep out imports of cheaper food.
These are India’s peasantry and their political power is being felt on a global scale. Mr Nath could not afford to ignore them: India’s rural population numbers 600 million, the last BJP Government was brought down for ignoring them and this Congress Party Government is unlikely to make that mistake.
WTO Talks Fail in Ninth Day Over Farm Duties Impasse
(Bloomberg) WTO talks have moved in fits and starts since November 2001 as industrialized and emerging markets clashed over how to open up trade. Lamy has estimated that a deal would add as much as $100 billion to the global economy at a time when slowing growth and soaring food and fuel prices are undercutting living standards around the world.
CHRONOLOGY: Key dates in WTO’s Doha round
(Reuters) – Talks to rescue a new world trade deal collapsed on Tuesday after ministers from some 35 countries failed to overcome divisions in nine days of intense talks.
27 July
Visa offer adds to Doha momentum
By Alan Beattie, World Trade Editor
(FT) The European Union and the US have offered more temporary work visas for skilled professionals in a bid to maintain momentum in the so-called “Doha round” of trade talks, which made an unexpected spurt of progress on Friday.
25 July
Hopes of reaching world trade deal revive at WTO
GENEVA (Reuters) – Ministers hailed an emerging trade deal on Friday, as compromise proposals revitalized deadlocked talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
The compromise emerged from a five-hour meeting of seven key WTO players looking for common ground in efforts to prise open markets for agricultural and industrial goods.
The paper includes a further cut in the cap on contentious U.S. farm subsidies to $14.5 billion.
It also changes proposals allowing developing countries to shield their farm sectors and some industrial goods from the full force of tariff cuts, which have been at the centre of this week’s deadlocked discussions.
24 July
FACTBOX: Subsidy issues in WTO’s Doha round farm talks
(Reuters) The farm talks are taking place on the basis of a draft text revised on July 10; [they] have three groups of topics — domestic support (subsidies), market access (tariffs) and export competition.
(RCI) Thirty of the world’s leading trade negotiators are meeting at the World Trade Organization’s headquarters in a last-ditch to conclude a treaty to liberalize world trade. WTO chief Pascal Lamy called the conference to salvage the negotiations that began at Doha, Qatar, seven years ago. There was little sign of progress late Wednesday evening. The talks have been bogged down with differences between wealth and developing nations. The U.S. and EU have until now refused to give up farm subsidies and tariffs, and developing nations have declined up open up their markets to imported industrial products and financial services. At this latest round, the U.S. and EU have offered to reduce market-distorting subsidies to farmers and were awaiting a counteroffer on their industrial products.
21 July
(Globe & Mail ROB) OTTAWA — International Trade Minister Michael Fortier says he’s confident Canada will be able to protect its sheltered dairy, egg and poultry industries from disruption if countries strike a deal on lowering global commercial barriers at crucial talks in Geneva this week.
20 July
Zoellick: ‘Now or never’ for trade talks
(UPI) “Progress on agriculture is paramount,” Zoellick said in a statement. “An open and fair system would create opportunities for developing country farmers to expand production, for consumers in all countries to lower prices, and for governments to save on the costs of subsidies, improving budgets
“Both developing and developed economies stand to gain from lower barriers to goods and agriculture.”
17 July
Within a week the Doha round of trade talks could be ready to serve or left to rot
FROM hope to acrimony; from acrimony to apathy; and now back towards hope again: the Doha round of world trade talks has almost come full circle. Launching the round in Qatar’s capital city in November 2001, as the world reeled from terrorist outrages and the dotcom bust, trade ministers declared their determination to liberalise trade so that “the system plays its full part in promoting recovery, growth and development.” By 2003 the hope had gone: a ministerial meeting in Cancún, a Mexican resort, broke up early amid angry recriminations. Two years ago progress was so feeble that Pascal Lamy, director-general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), suspended negotiations.
3 juin
Le cycle de négociations de Doha et le commerce agricole
(IEDM) Note économique sur les facteurs à l’origine de la crise alimentaire et des solutions pour y remédier
par Marcel Boyer & Sylvain Charlebois
Cela peut sembler contre-intuitif puisque les pays ont tendance à s’isoler pendant les temps difficiles, mais le défi que présente la crise alimentaire actuelle invite tous les pays à s’entendre sur des politiques communes dans l’objectif de promouvoir le commerce. Les politiques protectionnistes des pays industrialisés et les distorsions qu’elles provoquent dans les règles commerciales du secteur de l’agriculture sont des facteurs fondamentaux qui empêchent l’ajustement de la production et de la distribution agricole mondiale à une demande en croissance. Un environnement commercial plus libre permettrait une plus grande flexibilité et davantage d’innovation afin de s’adapter aux conditions du marché, comme le font toutes les autres industries.
29 May
Does freer farm trade help poor people?
THE global food crisis has shone a harsh spotlight on the consequences of government meddling in agriculture. Poor people go hungry, in part, because Americans pay their farmers to divert crops from food to fuel. But in at least two areas, the crisis has emboldened those who are sceptical of free markets in food.
The first is “food security”. Politicians in rich and poor countries have seized on recent price spikes as proof that free farm trade is a risky business and self-sufficiency a worthy goal. The second area concerns the poor.