Thursday, January 30, 2014

Worth Reading – January 30, 2014


I went all over the place in this week’s Worth Reading.

First, five projects that Toronto never completed but would change the city completely. It’s an amazing set of ideas. The first is the most impressive, which sought to build Paris-like boulevards through Toronto named after World War I battles.

Justin Trudeau made news this week by booting out Liberal Senators from the Liberal caucus. This piece from the Canadian Press gives a good outline of the events. 

Emmett MacFarlane, a political science professor, wrote an analysis of Trudeau’s Senate gambit in regards to its constitutionality. There has been some interesting criticism in regards to whether or not Trudeau overrode his party’s constitution. I think there are some issues, like is Trudeau no longer the leader of the Liberals in the Senate? They kept their name. Is this merely a political calculation to distance him from future spending irregularities?

Northern news: Thomas Berger, highly respected jurist, is helping First Nations fight the Yukon government on development in the Peel watershed. 

I really like this piece in the Rust Wire as it challenges our lazy thinking about development and job creation, which the author calls The Job Trap

Great piece in the St. Catharines Standard injects mental health into the Niagara Falls by-election

Are Stephen Harper’s fortunes tied directly to oil prices? The author makes the argument that with the economy so connected to energy development Harper’s re-election can be put at risk with a price slump.

Steve Paikin of TVO says that, despite polling and popular support, Olivia Chow (NDP – Trinity-Spadina, ON) is the underdog in the race for Mayor of Toronto. I agree.

The Liberal Party of Ontario has built its reputation in the province by keeping peace in the classroom and generally seeming to have improved standards. However, new numbers show declining numbers in mathematics. Martin Regg Cohn suggests this will have political consequences for Premier Kathleen Wynne

Toronto Star reports that John Tory is preparing to enter the race of Mayor of Toronto. 


Worth Watching


Laci Green discusses sexual objectification. 

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Rick Mercer's rant about a fake jobs program. 

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