http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm Rick Mercer's Blog en-us Tue, 09 Feb 2010 05:20:25 -0600 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:36:00 -0600 BlogCFC http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss info@rickmercer.com info@rickmercer.com http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/2/2/No-Touching For Stephen Harper, a good cabinet minister is like a well-behaved child from the fifties. They should be seen and not heard, minus the seen part. Which is why the first time most of us heard there was a woman named Gail Shea in cabinet was when ano... Default Tue, 02 Feb 2010 19:36:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/2/2/No-Touching http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/27/Politicians-Are-Not-the-Kind-of-Tools-Our-Soldiers-Need There's no doubt about it; Canadians have been very generous in Haiti. People in this country have given an incredible amount of money. But once again it's members of the Canadian Forces that are doing the heavy lifting. Because really by the time mo... Default Wed, 27 Jan 2010 07:19:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/27/Politicians-Are-Not-the-Kind-of-Tools-Our-Soldiers-Need http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/19/Polls-Suggest-Somebody-Did-Something-Stupid So how about those polls hey? For the first time in a very long time the Liberals and the Tories are essentially tied, well at least they're within the margin of error. Now polls never tell the full story but this much is certain: whenever the pa... Default Tue, 19 Jan 2010 21:01:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/19/Polls-Suggest-Somebody-Did-Something-Stupid http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/12/A-Matter-of-Interest So here it is, the holidays are over, and everyone is back to work. That is, unless of course you're a member of parliament. Because as we all know the Prime Minister has decided to suspend parliament so we can all focus on the Olympics. Which I thin... Default Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:12:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/12/A-Matter-of-Interest http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days There's a very good reason why the word prorogue doesn't come up that often in our society. Why would it? The word has absolutely no resonance with anyone in Canada because the notion that you can shut down anything for months at a time is a total fa... Default Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:35:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2010/1/5/22-Days-of-Snow-Days http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/12/1/An-Escalating-Issue Every now and then an issue comes along that transcends politics; that transcends all socio-economic realities. And sometimes the truth needs to be said no matter how painful that truth may be to some people. This is one of those times and this is it... Default Tue, 01 Dec 2009 21:56:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/12/1/An-Escalating-Issue http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/24/The-Cheque-is-in-the-Mail It goes without saying that Members of Parliament have certain privileges that the rest of us do not, as they should. After all, these are honourable citizens who answered a higher calling to represent the needs and wants of their constituents and t... Default Tue, 24 Nov 2009 21:17:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/24/The-Cheque-is-in-the-Mail http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/17/The-Royal-Tour-2009-Seats-Still-Available So the future King of Canada, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla have left our shores and have returned safely home to England. And sticking with that long held Canadian tradition of absolute politeness practiced at dinner parties all over this grea... Default Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:52:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/17/The-Royal-Tour-2009-Seats-Still-Available http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/3/The-Media-Government-and-Fear Well there's no doubt about it, at this point in time it's clear, this country is under attack by a highly contagious virus. And I'm not talking about the swine flu here, we've got a vaccine for that. I'm talking about good old fashioned fear. I'v... Default Tue, 03 Nov 2009 20:01:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/11/3/The-Media-Government-and-Fear http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/27/Get-Your-Shovels-Ready Well it seems like yesterday the federal government was rolling out their economic stimulus program and now ten months later the shovels are at work - but they're not shoveling dirt. Conservative ridings are getting way more money than anyone else... Default Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:04:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/27/Get-Your-Shovels-Ready http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/20/Wash-Your-Hands-and-Stay-Off-the-Internet I cannot begin to tell you how confused I am about the swine flu. Every single day there are different reports and conflicting advice. All I know is, at this point I swear to God I'm 80 percent hand sanitizer. I walk past one of those Purell pumps... Default Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:04:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/20/Wash-Your-Hands-and-Stay-Off-the-Internet http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/13/Deficit--What-Deficit Well there was really only one story in Ottawa last week. The Champagne corks that were popping out of the Prime Minister's Office could be seen from outer space. Stephen Harper has hit the magic 40 percent approval rating, which means a majority g... Default Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:34:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/13/Deficit--What-Deficit http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/6/The-Vegetables-and-the-Primates Big goings on in the House of Commons this past week - the Liberals tabled a straightforward non-confidence motion. If it passed the entire minority government would have collapsed. Now this may not seem like a big deal but it is. It's only happened ... Default Tue, 06 Oct 2009 21:35:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/10/6/The-Vegetables-and-the-Primates http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/9/29/Punch-Drunk Politics I admit I'm a little disappointed that there is no election. Not because I think there should be an election. I just like watching them as a blood sport; and like all fight fans, I always hope that the next fight is gonna be better than the last figh... Default Tue, 29 Sep 2009 00:00:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/9/29/Punch-Drunk Politics http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/9/25/Down-at-the-Wharf He could have been anywhere from fifty to sixty-five years of age, he has worked his entire life on container ships in the St Lawrence Seaway, and he put three daughters through university. He has at different times in his life voted for three diff... Default Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:21:00 -0600 http://www.rickmercer.com/blog/index.cfm/2009/9/25/Down-at-the-Wharf