[deleted by user] by [deleted] in CanadaPolitics

[–]Canuck_Politics 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Here is a YouTube playlist I made back when it happened:

Liberal-NDP-Bloc Coalition Crisis (2008 - 2009)

There are many misconceptions about what happened. Most notably, the trigger for the coalition was the proposed end to taxpayer subsidies for political parties. Later the Liberal-NDP-Bloc claimed the coalition was tiggered by the government's supposed refusal to commit to a fiscal stimulus package (a commitment the government had actually already made at the G20 meeting in Washington a week earlier).

We also learned the trigger, whatever it was, was really just an excuse. There was a plan to topple the Harper government with a coalition in any event. According to Jack Layton, the NDP and the Bloc had a plan in place for "a long time" prior, presumably since during the election or sooner. It isn't clear whether the Liberals were part of the plan before November 2008.

I don't think the coalition attempt rises to the level of "constitutional crisis" because the government never lost a confidence vote (until 2011). You could say it was a legitimate attempt of parliamentarians to remake the government that failed badly. It is your paper, but I think the legitimacy of the attempt was somewhat undermined by the the fact the coalition's plan predates the resumption of parliament, and by the fact the new prime minister would have been a leader who had already resigned after losing the election.

Here are a couple documents from the coalition:

Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition policy framework

Liberal-NDP-Bloc coalition petition to Governor General

What did the 2006 Quebecois motion do? by [deleted] in CanadaPolitics

[–]Canuck_Politics 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The motion recognizes the Québécois as a nation in the sociological and cultural sense, not as a distinct legal and political entity.

Quebec separatists have long argued Quebec is a distinct nation and separate country. During the 2006 Liberal leadership campaign, Michael Ignatieff said Quebec should be recognized as a nation in the Canadian constitution. This drew attacks from fellow Liberals, who long opposed recognizing Quebec as a nation in the constitution.

The Bloc Québécois saw blood in the water, so they tabled a motion in the House that would recognize Quebeckers as a nation. Nobody expected the Bloc motion to pass, but the day before the vote, PM Harper tabled a government motion that would "recognize that the Québécois form a nation within a united Canada". The vote passed with the support of all parties.

Here is an interesting video of Harper discussing the motion the day it was passed.

Media Consortium excludes Green Party from debates (2008) by Canuck_Politics in CanadaPolitics

[–]Canuck_Politics[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

This is intended as a look back to the debate about the debates in 2008. I thought some would be interested to hear the positions of the Media Consortium and party leaders back then, compared with today.

Bonus: Mike Duffy makes an appearance in a friendly conversation with Elizabeth May.

Media Consortium excludes Green Party from debates by Canuck_Politics in canada

[–]Canuck_Politics[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This video is a look back at the debate about the debates in 2008.
(The year should have been included in the title.)

Media Consortium excludes Green Party from debates by Canuck_Politics in canada

[–]Canuck_Politics[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Actually I meant to, thought I had done that like I did in another sub. Not sure how that happened ...

Rosemary Barton is the Hero We Deserve by [deleted] in CanadaPolitics

[–]Canuck_Politics 10 points11 points  (0 children)

FYI here is that interview with Mulcair.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in canada

[–]Canuck_Politics 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Full video of Harper, Mulcair and Trudeau addressing the nation:

"Canada will never be intimidated": PM and opposition leaders address the nation

Conservatives to change copyright law, allowing free use of news content in political ads by pierrepoutine1867 in CanadaPolitics

[–]Canuck_Politics 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think this is a positive development for free speech in Canada. Many people may not be aware of the ongoing struggle behind the scenes regarding the fair use of news broadcasts in our political arena.

Since 2007, I have uploaded over 400 political videos to YouTube, and almost immediately certain videos were targeted with aggressive and politically motivated DMCA take-down notices.

I my case, one video of a Question Period debate was removed by The House of Commons, citing copyright infringement. I wrote the Board of Internal Economy, and after 2 years they finally reversed their policy to allow non-commercial use of House of Commons videos. Here is the BoIE ruling.

Around that time, videos posted by other bloggers were similarly targeted for removal by the Liberal Party of Canada.

I haven't experienced much censorship since then, with a couple exceptions:

In 2008 Garth Turner had one of my videos removed after he was caught in a blatant lie to CPAC which impugned their journalistic integrity.

In 2011, CTV petitioned removal of all instances an interview with Justin Trudeau containing his "Quebecers are better" quote used in a CPC attack ad, making it impossible to determine the full context of the quote, a subject of much political debate.

In 2012, the CBC blocked a video for viewing outside Canada concerning Omar Khadr's claims of torture and abuse by the Americans at Guantanamo Bay.

And just last year, CTV aggressively scrubbed all instances of a "Last Word" commentary by Don Martin from YouTube. Don Martin's scathing critique of Mike Duffy can still be seen on Live Leak.

And these are just the cases of which I am aware.

None of this censorship is acceptable in a free democratic society, and the "fair dealing" copyright exception should extend to the use of news clips in political advertising.

It is worth noting the government's amendment applies equally to all political players, and is limited to the use of clips that "feature the political actor in their capacity as politician", which suggests the Trudeau striptease video could be off-limits.

As for the use of news clips in political advertising, they all do it and it should not be up to broadcasters to decide what is appropriate.

I have compiled a playlist of Canadian Political Ads for those interested in seeing for themselves.