Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Tuesday Morning Links

This and that for your Tuesday reading.

- The outrage against the Cons' total online surveillance scheme continues, with Dan Leger, Mia Rabson and Michael Geist adding noteworthy comments to the mix.

- Meanwhile, the Star rightly criticizes the latest legislation to hand Con cabinet ministers the power to make major policy decisions by fiat with no accountability. But lest there be any doubt, that's been happening since long before the Star apparently noticed the issue surrounding refugees.

- And the minister responsible at that time is doing her own share of damage to vulnerable groups, in this case the workers whose retirement benefits stand to be slashed. So let's offer a reminder of what the Cons hope the public forgets: if we're facing a declining tax base and need to build up reserves, the sane thing for any government to do would be to make sure we're taking in enough revenue now to bridge the gap, rather than slashing taxes with no regard for (or outright hostility toward) our ability to fund social needs.

- Susan Delacourt rightly notes that the only surprising part of Vic Toews' ravings this week is the fact that anybody in the media bothered to challenge the Cons on their standard-issue demonization of all opposition.

- Finally, Jessica Bruno reports on the desperate need for better parliamentary oversight over federal government spending. But it's also worth being careful not to accept the Cons' distorted definition of what our representatives should be doing: surely it's equally important to identify and support what actually needs funding, rather than spending a disproportionate amount of time declaring what shouldn't be.

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