Michael Stewart

Trump's hateful campaign paved the way to Keystone XL's rebirth -- while Trudeau applauds

Michael Stewart — Wed, 25 Jan 2017 22:41:57 +0000

Today, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared U.S. President's decision to allow Trans Canada to re-apply for a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline was "a great moment for Alberta."

Disgusted that Kevin O'Leary wants to be our Prime Minister? Thank Canada's public broadcaster.

Michael Stewart — Thu, 19 Jan 2017 19:10:50 +0000

It's been one day since human sinkhole Kevin O'Leary joined the Conservative leadership race as candidate no. 14 and already the Canadian media is working to make it seem like this isn't a giant national embarrassment.

Konrad Yakabuski calls O'Leary a "change maker" and various media are reporting that his entry "energizes" a so-far tepid leadership race. Vice's Justin Ling hilariously tweeted yesterday "I, for what it's worth, think O'Leary is a generally smart guy who says smart things." God help us.

14 times we were right when everyone else was wrong in 2016

rabble staff — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 21:45:21 +0000

Let's face it: the best thing about being progressive is being right all the time. Let the right-wing ghouls have all the money, influence and power, we on the left will take moral superiority and an endless stream of I-told-you-sos any day of the week, am I right?

Well, 2016 was no different. As this year took the world on a slow, inexorable descent into a snake pit and then filled that snake pit with garbage and then lit the garbage on fire and then you realized that it wasn't a snake pit at all but actually your bed where you sleep every night only now it's covered with venemous serpents and flaming trash, our rabble writers took comfort in being right the whole time.

Six reasons 2016 wasn't just a giant dumpster fire

Michael Stewart — Wed, 14 Dec 2016 21:26:18 +0000

Breaking: 2016 sucked. Not in the usual way life sucks, like the way a bowl of rice pudding sucks, a milquetoast, flavourless gruel that masquerades as a dessert while quietly eroding your ability to enjoy even the simplest of life's pleasures.

No, 2016 sucked like cancer. It was a canvas of pimples and boils in the care of an overzealous teenager. We sat helpless as he attacked every pustule with increased ferocity and relentlessness, each one bigger and more putrid than the last. Then someone elected him president.

A recap: The attacks in Paris. Brussels. Lahore. Istanbul. Nice. Istanbul. The hate-crime shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando. Brexit. Fentanyl. Aleppo. Aleppo. Aleppo.

Liberals, Monsef make a mockery of MPs and Canadians who worked for electoral reform

Michael Stewart — Thu, 01 Dec 2016 22:08:14 +0000

Predictably, Justin Trudeau's clear and precise campaign promise -- that the 2015 federal election would be the last under first past the post -- has become a giant tire fire.

The special committee of MPs tasked with studying electoral reform in Canada released its report today, on schedule. It recommended that Canada prepares to move toward a proportional representation system, ultimately decided by a referendum.

Trudeau's Kinder Morgan approval final, cynical betrayal to Canadians who voted for real change

Michael Stewart — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 23:13:36 +0000

As expected, Justin Trudeau defied the popular will of Canadians, scientists, environmental groups, municipalities, the province of B.C. and the sovereignty of First Nations by approving the embattled Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline.

The pipeline will run from Edmonton to Burnaby, B.C. carrying 895,000 barrels of diluted bitumen per day to oversea markets. It's owned by Kinder Morgan, a Texas-based corporation with a well-earned reputation for arrogance and cost-cutting. Since Kinder Morgan purchased Trans Mountain in 2005, there have been four major spills along that route, including Burnaby itself in 2007. The president of Kinder Morgan Canada Ian Anderson said just last month that he wasn't "smart enough" to know if climate change was real.

Canadian banks are helping bankroll the Dakota Access Pipeline

Michael Stewart — Mon, 31 Oct 2016 19:09:58 +0000

If you ever doubt the power the Big Banks have over shaping climate change policy and practice, consider this: $3.75 billion of the $3.8 billion it will cost to build the Dakota Access pipeline is on credit.

According to a report from Food and Water Watch, an American consumer rights watchdog, at least three Canadian banks -- Scotiabank, TD and RBC -- are helping to bankroll the 1,800 km pipeline that travels directly through the traditional and treatied territories of the Standing Rock Sioux.

Abolishing the police is a solution we need to start taking seriously

Michael Stewart — Fri, 08 Jul 2016 04:56:41 +0000

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This past week, Toronto Police were disinvited from the city's Pride parade after a brave action from Black Lives Matter; Sheila Fraser was appointed special adviser to address widespread and systemic sexual harassment in the RCMP; and American cops were caught on video executing two Black men -- the latest in an endless index of lives lost by a ruthless organization incredulously referred to as our nations' "finest."

How long can B.C.'s politicians live in fantasy over Vancouver's housing crisis?

Michael Stewart — Wed, 01 Jun 2016 23:38:27 +0000

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British Columbia's affordability crisis is hurtling toward catastrophe -- and our elected officials, with very few exceptions, are intoxicated by their own fantasies.

Kevin Vickers tackling an Irish protester in Dublin is pretty far from heroic

Michael Stewart — Thu, 26 May 2016 18:07:06 +0000

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Kevin Vickers became a Canadian hero for shooting and killing Michael Zehaf-Bibeau after his attack on Parliament Hill in 2014, which left army reservist Cpl. Nathan Cirillo dead. Vickers was rewarded with the plum ambassadorship of Ireland as a result.

Despite widespread resistance, NEB recommends Kinder Morgan pipeline for approval

Michael Stewart — Thu, 19 May 2016 21:10:38 +0000

Thursday, May 19, 2016

"This issue is too important to leave up to industry or politicians to decide," said Dogwood campaigner Kai Nagata.

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The National Energy Board (NEB) has recommended the approval of Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, despite widespread opposition amongst affected communities and First Nations.

The report contains 157 conditions, including expanded marine oil spill response, detailed carbon offset plans and holding $1.1 billion in liability insurance.

Trudeau greenlights Energy East on condition it's built using recycled materials

rabble staff — Fri, 01 Apr 2016 06:48:48 +0000

Friday, April 1, 2016

PMO promises controversial project will be "greenest pipeline in the world."

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Update: Happy April Fools Day everybody!

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has rubber-stamped the controversial Energy East pipeline project on the condition it is built using only recycled materials, rabble.ca has learned.

We tried to escape Vancouver's housing nightmare, but Vancouver followed us here

Michael Stewart — Mon, 28 Mar 2016 22:25:53 +0000

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About a year ago, I wrote about the bittersweet feeling of having to flee Vancouver for the (slightly) more affordable shores of Victoria.

The prosecution in the Ghomeshi trial isn't incompetent. The game is rigged.

Michael Stewart — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 22:43:27 +0000

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All month long, Marie Henein has been giving a masterclass in "whacking," the controversial technique where defence attorneys aggressively undermine an alleged sexual assault survivor's credibility by any means necessary.

If the only outcome of Making a Murderer is setting Steve Avery free, we've squandered a marvelous chance

Michael Stewart — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 22:50:04 +0000

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Oh you better believe there are spoilers.