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Canada has been completely screwed over by NAFTA. If we try to enact any kind of environmental protection, a US company sues Canada for millions. It creates a situation where if Canada wants to reduce the amount of water, lumber or other natural resources exported, or more tightly control the extraction of those resources, US companies can succesfully sue Canada for increased costs or lost profit.

NAFTA's Chapter 11 Makes Canada Most-Sued Country Under Free Trade Tribunals

It's great that poor countries can see increased growth from this, but the reality is large trade agreements often make a few people companies/people richer while reducing a country's sovreignty and the quality of life of the average joe.

All experiments with this have so far been unqualified successes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...

And before everyone goes "ERHMAHGHERD THE TAXPAYERS NEED TO SUPPORT A NATION OF HOMELESS JOBLESS BUMS!!!!", maybe consider the fact that you already are, except no-one's quality of life is actually improved.

"Germany Got Debt Relief After WWII, Refuses Same For Greece Today"
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

Yes, great analysis.

I assume the driving of labor "coming from below" and "knocking higher up the food chain" along with more and more labor from anywhere in the world will increasingly drive down labor costs(wages).

Would that mean that those in IT will have to work harder for less, with more competition?

The real questions(expertly avoided in the media) are these:
How will society "deal with"(manage) the millions of unemployed as these changes wrought by robots and expert systems happen?
How will "the market" deal with millions of consumers that no longer have the income to maintain the consumer spending driven economy?
How will governments(especially in the First World) maintain control when millions of their citizens are idle, with little or no prospects for employment and little or no disposable income.

Sure, we can assume the solutions such as a minimum income could alleviate such problems, but in a country like the USofA, with a polarized political scene, will anything like that ever happen?

A small, ineffective, mostly powerless part

What? The NDP is the official opposition! And not doing all that badly in the polls! Tom Mulcair has pledged to bring in proportional representation if elected, if you want something that "actually represents Canadians".

I'm not affiliated with the NDP in any way (I've voted for them once out of about five elections), but Mulcair has impressed me.

So what? What did the official opposition do to stop this bill? What could they have done? Nothing, and nada. Small, almost completely ineffective in getting anything done. My point stands.

I doubt that proportional representation will have much impact. Certainly it's a less awful idea than First Past the Post (FTFP), but the fact that we are still dealing with politicians remains.

When you go vote - do you read up on the position of the person you're going to elect? Does that matter, if they can go and change it right after they get into office? What exactly are you going to do to ensure that your politician represents the people? If this system actually worked, shouldn't we have better results already? Or do you think what we have now is really the best that we can do?

A small, ineffective, mostly powerless part

What? The NDP is the official opposition! And not doing all that badly in the polls! Tom Mulcair has pledged to bring in proportional representation if elected, if you want something that "actually represents Canadians".

I'm not affiliated with the NDP in any way (I've voted for them once out of about five elections), but Mulcair has impressed me.

Except I'm not American. I am British by descent, and have lived and worked on three continents. But your point is irrelevant anyway: The term is commonly used outside the USA as well. For example:

UK:
http://arstechnica.co.uk/gamin...
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/new...
http://www.theguardian.com/tec...
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news...
http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2015/...

CA:
http://circanews.com/news/cord...
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/n...
http://www.chathamdailynews.ca...
http://www.canadiancordcutting...
http://shayne.tablotvweb.nomad...

AU:
http://www.computerworld.com.a...
http://www.theaustralian.com.a...
http://www.businessinsider.com...
http://www.cnet.com/au/news/co...
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/...

Just because you're ignorant of its usage, that doesn't mean the term isn't broadly used around the world in countries with large English-speaking populations.

Ha! Yeah, well, Canada is just as huge and is only bordered by ONE country. And they use metric.

If are you living near the US border, as almost every Canadian does, you have to be comfortable using both systems.

Everyone knows most of Canada is uninhabited, but seeing really is believing.

This Is How Empty Canada Really Is (MAPS and PHOTOS)

Interesting read, but imo he missed the mark by not including a size chart for a frame of reference.

Starship Size Comparison Chart

Because a picture is worth 1000 words. Or in this case, more.

No. The anti-vax movement has been largely driven by greed, stupidity, and the parents need to "blame" someone.

No. The anti-vax movement has been entirely driven by unethical pharmaceutical behemoths killing/maiming thousands of children in third world countries, unloading worthless crap on ignorant asshats and raking in massive unearned profits on the misery of millions.
  Glaxo Smith Kline was fined a paltry amount after performing unethical "experiments" on children and killing fourteen of them. Would you trust these jackasses to inject your kids? Hell, their own scientists had to be bribed to cover that shit up. Faked vaccine data lessens confidence in Merck products.
  Merck has lied for years about the efficacy of their vaccines. Why would anybody trust them?
Other countries ban defective vaccines, it's not rocket science to shun poisonous garbage that makes your populace sick and decreases productivity for potentially years. MMR vaccine, lookin' at you.
And that's not even counting poor vaccine quality control, a persistent issue for these massive corporations. In that one case Merck got caught before they could offload those 1,000,000 deadly doses on some unfortunates in Africa and collect tax credits for their philanthropy from the IRS.
FFS even the Nigerians are skeptical by now. Looking at the preponderance of shady practices, outright lies and poor quality of your average vaccine peddler it's no wonder the anti-vax movement is gaining momentum. But don't take my word for anything, go get your annual flu vaccine and risk paralysis or worse, and forget about that "immune system" crap the hippies are trying to foist on everybody. Nutrition isn't that important and you have a basement to live in and keyboard crumbs to make.

That said:
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

Walmart employees in Quebec, Canada tried to unionize. Walmart just closed up shop and went someplace else laying off everyone. Year later (10 actually), they lose in supreme court and are forced to pay damages. However no word on what those damages are, and I bet they are fighting that. Not to mention the fact they the folks don't get jobs back, or retroactively for the last decade. On top on that, the people who work at Walmart, aren't exactly going to be rolling in it either, many would have lost big in the meantime trying to make ends meet while waiting a decade for maybe some kind of court settlement. It is no wonder that employees are afraid to unionize. Unions have been getting busted or weaker for a long time now. Which if you think about it is crazy, when we start talking about the 1% and how the we have never had such wealth inequality before...

Canada went through an H1B-esque abuse scandal in 2013 where Royal Bank of Canada tossed their IT department out on its ass:

http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/04/11/rbc_chief_issues_open_letter_apology_to_canadians_over_outsourcing.html

More recently (2014/2015) there was a huge story over abuses by several big chains:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/news/tim-hortons-foreign-workers/

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

Personally, I think Canada is the greatest place to live in the world, but I'm biased!

Bell Canada has lost its way some time ago. It started with the idea of a 'vertically integrated market' ( https://openmedia.ca/blog/fina... ) , then it got a spanking from the CRTC about download exemptions (see http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2... ) quickly followed by not being allowed to keep the plan in place during the trial ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com... ). Slip in a CRTC decision to unbundle TV channels, aka “pick-and-pay”, and Bell Media President puts his foot in it, by 'Meddling' in News Coverage ( http://www.theglobeandmail.com... ). Now it's a 'Privacy' problem for all those vertically integrated customers. Draw your own conclusions about who is to blame, but my money is on an entirely clueless Management Team.

Yes, but that still doesn't cover a lot of places.
Here: City of 100k, 400km (248mi) from the nearest 1,000,000+ city,
My house: 8km (~5mi) from city center
Bus service: 7:00am->9:00pm hourly. Weekend service ends sooner. Some holidays with no service. Uptown (where much of the shopping is) requires a transfer in town.

Hardly a McMansion, and not far from city center, but also no way to get by without a car when you work late/early hours, are on-call, and/or don't otherwise want to walk through thick snow in the winter.

There *IS* a corner-store in my neighbourhood. If I just need a loaf of bread and some tomatoes I happily get some exercise and walk... but for anything more than that - frankly - you need a car.

(yes, it would be nice to have better bus service, but no luck with that thus far, and sometimes we're lucky if they clear our streets properly during a heavy snow let alone bike lanes).

Even in bigger cities, weather is sometimes restrictive for travelling by vehicle, let alone by bike or on foot. Further east you're lucky if you can get out of your house in some places.

I'd agree with you almost entirely except for your subtle compassion for Bell. Telecoms love to claim that the infrastructure is theirs because they built it. The only problem is, in the majority of situations, the tax payers have actually subsidized the infrastructure cost. Even where they haven't they are still permitted to absolute control over assets on government land. It seems pretty brazen to me to insist they can install their infrastructure on public land without oversight.

Bell, Telus, Rogers, and Shaw realize record profits... year over year. This is simply because, together, they enjoy what is the bane of capitalism: monopoly. Individually none of them hold a monopoly, but together they hold a monopolistic cartel over us. This is why I, and everyone else, pays $100+ a month for telecom services. You're smart and stream most of your media? Guess what, they have a plan for that too. I know a few people on the inside that tell me telecoms have open meetings about raising internet service prices to offset (what they call) "cable-cutters".

Our system of government, flawed as it may be, is completely broken by monopolized industry. This is why industries like banking and telecoms are so heavily regulated. I'd agree that regualtion isn't the answer, but not for the same reasons as you do. Regulation in this sense is like putting a bandaid on gangrene.

"What's the problem with the book? It's just like real life!"

Tell me, that it is not... I dare you...

Now, maybe, the book should not be encouraging yet another generation of girls to act like that — but real-life it is nonetheless.

Please, don't hate.

Holy spin! This is so out of whack with reality. The "big three" have Canada by the nuts and they have no intention of letting go, and our fearless leaders seem pretty ok with that, despite their "gestures" toward a competitive market.

lot's of links here, for instance http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/d.... The "big three" are lying sacks of shit and clearly golf at the same club since their prices are exactly the same at all times. That there is competitive market, yep.

Hmmm.... likely country for terrorism... And much worse than having WMDs:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

news reports say he was hit by "nearly a dozen bullets". not that that invalidates any of your points.

Sorry. I had the quote wrong. From http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/07/08/vic-toews-resigns_n_3561532.html:

Toews drew derision during a debate on the government's online surveillance bill in February 2012 for telling a Liberal critic he could "either stand with us or with the child pornographers."

So long as he does a good job (and he has) and does use his position of power to push those beliefs on others (he hasn't) you have nothing to complain about.

Right. It's not like his government is shutting down libraries and burning books. That kind of thing only happens on American TV.

To clarify, in this case they claim that netflix doesn't do enough to encourage the production and consumption of Canadian entertainment, a requirement they place on other distributors.

So they're, in theory, doing exactly what you say, just in less harsh terms. They want to ensure the continued interest of Canadian producers, and not American.

And they're using arbitrary leverage like demanding subscriber lists to push netflix to obey. It's not neat or nice. But they're kinda being upfront that it's just leverage not genuine interest in the records.

How do American shows filmed in Vancouver fare in terms of Canada-friendly programs?

It was the number of subscribers:

http://business.financialpost....

Estimates of the number of Canadian subscribes are only available from surveys:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2...

To clarify, in this case they claim that netflix doesn't do enough to encourage the production and consumption of Canadian entertainment, a requirement they place on other distributors.

So they're, in theory, doing exactly what you say, just in less harsh terms. They want to ensure the continued interest of Canadian producers, and not American.

And they're using arbitrary leverage like demanding subscriber lists to push netflix to obey. It's not neat or nice. But they're kinda being upfront that it's just leverage not genuine interest in the records.

Yeah but Canada is Canada, and the USA are the USA. The mindset of American cops is extremely different from Canadian cops.

they have the gall to project their xenophobia onto quebecois and make claims about how racist we are...

I'm Canadian, I like Quebec, and I've met some fine, fun people in Montreal, which is mostly pretty welcoming to Anglophones like me. But more than once I've gotten a surly "maudit Anglais" attitude from people in less populated areas when I stop at a gas station or a depanneur.

Bill 101 and its revisions, (Bill 14 in particular), can also be a sore point, especially when taken to the extreme of ordering businesses to translate English Facebook pages into French.

Huffpo Canada story

A labour shortage you say? The hotest labour trend right now in Canada is Temporary Foreign Workers.

Take a look at some headlines from the past couple hours:
Pizza place faces federal grilling over temporary foreign workers
McDonald's foreign worker practices halted in face of investigation
PBO: Temporary Foreign Worker Program May Be Taking 1/4 Of New Jobs

You missed Vancouver: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/02/06/vancouver-most-expensive-city-to-live-economist_n_2631806.html

Blame government for your limited bandwidth choice, but don't go saying generically that corporations are not accountable.

Also it is VERY likely you have at least one wireless provider you could use, that offers at least the speeds you mentioned. And I'm not even talking cellular, which already meets those speeds in most major cities - and some people ARE switching to cellular because they are fed up with Comcast, further re-enforcing my point.

Just googled...there is one wireless provider in my area that *claims* to provide up to 5GB/s download (but only 512 u/l). So I suppose, technically, I have three options in the area, one of them wireless. Still, that's like saying "If you don't like taking the bus, just ride your bike and quit complaining." Yes, it'll get you there...eventually, and with much more effort on your part, and if everyone else who objected to the bus did the same, pretty soon the roads would be unusable in any case. As for using cellular data instead, well...it's clear you must not live in Canada.

And I didn't say corporations aren't accountable, what I am saying is that if the competition pool is sufficiently restricted, corporations will sometimes collude (directly or indirectly), usually to the detriment of their customers. Are you opposed to legislation that prevents price fixing? Sure, you can refuse to buy your milk at Target because they bumped it up to $100/gal, or they make you sign an EULA that says you can't drink it directly, you can only use it for baking or cooking, and then only with Robin Hood brand flour. But hey, you still need milk. If all the other stores in the area are doing the same thing, or decide to follow the leader, what are your options? Other than relocating, which is outside most people's capability, especially over something as small as milk...or broadband restrictions. I suppose you could try to raise your own cows...in the same vein, I suppose you could try becoming your own ISP, running your own cables, etc.

Now, net neutrality won't prevent price collusions, but at least it would provide some assurance that you can use the bandwidth you're paying for as you see fit. As it stands now, there's nothing requiring the providers to even tell you if they throttle any particular type of traffic or not. At least if it were explicitly listed in a T&C document, the consumer could make an informed choice before signing up and finding out that they can't access Netflix at anything but dialup speeds...but the Disney Channel comes through loud and clear.

CSEC Admits It 'Incidentally' Spies On Canadians

So, go to Europe then. Oh, that's right.

The German Prism: Berlin Wants to Spy Too
France - Alarm over massive spying provisions in new military programming law

Why is this going on? Is there some sort of pattern that could explain it?

Iran’s fingerprints in Fallujah
Report: Canadian Terrorists Planned Truck Bomb Attack
At Least 4,000 Suspected of Terrorism-Related Activity in Britain, MI5 Director Says
Dutch Arrest 12 Somalis on Terror Suspicions

THAT case was just a stupid case of ignoring scientific criticism for profit.

Of course, that would never happen anywhere else.

...from becoming a hemispheric disaster..
Even the laughable freeze-the-ground-around-it plan seems to have been hatched to mollify Olympic commission voters who still gave Japan the 2020 games as the 'safe' choice over Istanbul and Madrid.

Im quoting a certain recent article... by David Suzuki. A rather nasty potential worst case scenario outcome of fukushima, wouldnt you say?

This: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/09/27/motorcycle-driver-clocked-200-kilometres-deerfoot-trail_n_1919126.html

It's essentially allowing said criminals to continue to victimize society by leeching taxpayer dollars that could be spent elsewhere on more deserving causes. Execution is an alternative that is less humane in most cases, but it also permanently ends any further exploitation of society by those who can't be reformed and can't live in said society.

In most countries where capital punishment has been banned, it was done so because there were too many cases where people were later exonerated after their execution. Let's skip the argument over the ethics of executions as they're done in the US, though, because that is a way to a very vitriolic exchange.

The US is a strange case, though. You have an enormous prison population as a proportion of your general population. Money becomes an issue when such a large percentage of the population is incarcerated, but when you have a more reasonable justice system (and a social security net which removes a large percentage of the impetus for crime... insert obligatory link: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/24/breaking-bad-canada-comic-health_n_3984793.html ), the increased cost of keeping somebody alive for the duration of their prison sentence is still reasonable.

Their strongest arguments against including him are based on the idea that he has developed technology but that the Hult prize was for a business plan.
Note however that Jakub Dzamba won 3rd prize in McGill University’s Dobson Cup Business Plan Competition in 2012: Dobson Competition

The 2013 Hult prize winners from McGill University, according to Jakub, asked him to help on their entry and offered to get him listed as a team member or make him a partner in any business they started. It sounds like Jakub gave them substantial assistance if not the impetus for their entry.

Hult Competition is not innocent:
According to Jakub they reneged on their promises once it became apparent that the Hult competition would not let them add a 6th member.

University complicit:
According to the Huffington Post article the University Administration tried to get him to sign a gag order as part of a larger agreement.
Also note that it was at this point that: "McGill would file a pending patent for the cricket farms Dzamba designed in his name alone." which was used as an argument against him by one of the team members:
"McGill University, which values academic integrity and owns the patent, states unequivocally that our business has zero to do with Jakub," team member Jesse Pearlstein fired back.

Make him tune into Canadian election coverage for a few hours...

That probably runs into problems with 'cruel and unusual punishment'.

Have you seen how Canada handles political debates? Or Rick Mercer interviewing Prime Minister Jean Chrétien? Has the State of the Union address ever been crashed by Marg Delahunty dressed as a warrior princess?

And have you seen how Canadians deal with (or at least used to deal with) US-style conservatives?

I have a lot of respect for the USA's Rick Mercer wannabes, but they would be shot at by the Secret Service if they tried any of the stunts that the Canadian press does.

That's true to some extent, but we're also pretty complacent about some things. I'm almost certain that the same kind of overreaching communications surveillance goes on here (somewhere in the basement of CSIS or DND). The same kind of legislative enablers as are in our laws as in the Patriot Act in the US. There are also indications that the same kind of program has been started. More precisely, it was *re*-started in 2011 after an earlier program was stopped because of privacy and legal concerns. Furthermore, I assume that practically all Canadian communications traffic is monitored by the NSA because it is foreign, and knowing our government, it's probably done with complete cooperation. I've yet to see signs of the same kind of outrage as has occurred in the US because of it.

The main problem I see with such a system, even to a lesser extent with a system with term limits, is it takes a LONG TIME to get used to the job. Like any job there's a time before you become productive and useful in any reasonable capacity.

During that time, it's the civil service that holds the power. So long-term you'd just end up with all the power-hungry outsized-ego alpha types vying for the top jobs in civil service. And a random 4 year puppet show for the public.

We're seeing some of that in Canada, just look at how rampant, and blatant, political interference by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has become. That's a bunch of unelected bureaucrats who tell our "elected officials" what to do, and what to say, and are basicly running the show behind the scenes. Sometimes even without the Prime-Ministers knowledge! (If you believe Harper. I'm not sure what's worse, the PM not knowing what his office is doing, or condoning it ala the Nigel Wright Mike Duffy scandal)

Some of our MPs have even resigned from the government to sit as independents to be free to represent their constituents.

So, I think we would need a more thoroughly thought-out solution, with safeguards to prevent these sorts of issues in the unelected civil-service. Otherwise we'll end up back where we started, if not worse.

Jonathan

Yup. Under the current administration, Canada is in some ways worse than the States with respect to domestic policy – it's just that the world is emphatically not watching, because – hey – it's Canada. Who cares?

Environmental charities are officially enemies of the state, budget watchdogs have to file freedom of information requests with their own money to get the information their mandates require, environmental protection and first nations rights have been gutted at the documented request of petroleum lobbies, it is now illegal to cover your face at a protest, activism of any kind is being branded as terrorism, and tens of millions of dollars are spent on blatant openly-reviled propaganda, while poverty is a growing problem.

Canada's a mess.

Yup. Under the current administration, Canada is in some ways worse than the States with respect to domestic policy – it's just that the world is emphatically not watching, because – hey – it's Canada. Who cares?

Environmental charities are officially enemies of the state, budget watchdogs have to file freedom of information requests with their own money to get the information their mandates require, environmental protection and first nations rights have been gutted at the documented request of petroleum lobbies, it is now illegal to cover your face at a protest, activism of any kind is being branded as terrorism, and tens of millions of dollars are spent on blatant openly-reviled propaganda, while poverty is a growing problem.

Canada's a mess.

Yup. Under the current administration, Canada is in some ways worse than the States with respect to domestic policy – it's just that the world is emphatically not watching, because – hey – it's Canada. Who cares?

Environmental charities are officially enemies of the state, budget watchdogs have to file freedom of information requests with their own money to get the information their mandates require, environmental protection and first nations rights have been gutted at the documented request of petroleum lobbies, it is now illegal to cover your face at a protest, activism of any kind is being branded as terrorism, and tens of millions of dollars are spent on blatant openly-reviled propaganda, while poverty is a growing problem.

Canada's a mess.

How much more acceptable do you think this is?

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/10/mars-one-project-canadians_n_3250517.html

XKCD's "Time" is ending?

You know what this means...

Only one thing!

RAGNAROK!

It is, of course, a difficult subject to study – since the super-rich have no interest in putting themselves under the public microscope. There have been indirect attempts, however, for instance: Higher social class predicts increased unethical behavior" (see popular accounts if you don't have PNAS access).

As to the all-too-familiar cries of "conspiracy theory! conspiracy theory!" – you ought to find a less tired and trite means of arbitrarily forcing closure on discussion. Considering 'conspiracy theories' have routinely been borne out in history (e.g., COINTELPRO, Iran-Contra, and oh let's see - warrantless blanket surveillance?), the knee-jerk reaction that conspiracy theories are inherently ridiculous is itself a tremendous ideological victory.

The irony is that people who cry "conspiracy theory!" are actually proposing something much more ridiculous: That the very small collection of men who own and control most of the world do not meet and discuss their interests behind closed doors, and do not leverage their tremendous wealth and power to further their personal interests. That the consistent policies of governments from every stripe over decades and decades to extend corporate power and the preeminence of property rights above all other rights (including national sovereignty, in the case of free trade agreements) has somehow been a coincidence – with no influence from the power holders who benefit from these decisions.

Truly the reactionaries and nay-sayers propose the wildest theories of all...

He moved to Canada, just like everybody who keeps threatening to.

The 51st state is following right along with the land of the free.

He moved to Canada, just like everybody who keeps threatening to.

The 51st state is following right along with the land of the free.

Can you provide more details on this statement? What events are you referring to? What proofs they turn off their cameras do you have?

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/24/edmonton-police-brutality-video_n_3332668.html

You can see them turn the camera back on in the video when they discover they are being filmed.

You can also watch as they sit on top of a prone man -- who was only guilty of littering (and presumably only if he left the scene after missing the garbage can) -- while restraining him on the ground, punching him repeatedly in the face.

While doing so, with the video off but audio recording enabled, the police officer repeatedly shouts to stop resisting and to turn over -- which the victim obviously cannot do because he's, you know, being restrained against the ground.

However, an audit of the audio would collaborate a "I was trying to get him to stop fighting me and lay down and he wouldn't" defense.

Personally, I feel the officers should not be able to turn off their cameras on their own, instead requiring dispatch to send a signal to do so. I do not believe police officers should have an expectation of privacy while on duty, especially given the special authority we allot them as officers of the peace.

There is a second, very similar, instance of this happening in Canada recently, which I believe is the reason this bill was proposed. Apparently the Edmonton police have a reputation not dissimilar to our own LAPD for corruption.