Blog Posts by Andy Radia

Richard Falk addresses the participants during the Istanbul session of The World Tribunal on Iraq.It's another black eye for the United Nations.

Canada is joining the United States in calling for the removal of Richard Falk, a controversial UN human rights rapporteur who wrote an essay asserting that American policies were the impetus of the Boston Marathon bombings.

"Once again, United Nations official Richard Falk has spewed more mean-spirited, anti-Semitic rhetoric, this time blaming the attacks in Boston on President [Barack] Obama and the State of Israel," Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said in a statement released on Wednesday afternoon.

"There is a dangerous pattern to Mr. Falk’s anti-Western and anti-Semitic comments. The United Nations should be ashamed to even be associated with such an individual.

"I respectfully call on the United Nations Human Rights Council—again—to remove Mr. Falk from his position immediately. Mr. Falk’s consistently mean-spirited comments cast a dark shadow over the United Nations and what it can accomplish. Comments like these do a great

Read More »from Canada condemns UN official for blaming U.S. policies for Boston bombings

President George W. Bush (Reuters)'They' were right: Time does heal all wounds.

On Thursday, George W. Bush will take part in a dedication ceremony for his presidential library as part of a storied American tradition whereby former presidents donate and exhibit their documents, artifacts and gifts of state from their time in office.

Ahead of the ceremony, it appears that the much maligned president is experiencing a resurgence in popularity. In fact, according to The Hill, Bush and current President Barack Obama now have the same approval rating.

A Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Tuesday shows 47 percent approve of Bush, with 50 percent disapproving. When Bush left office in 2009 after his second term, his approval rating was 33 percent positive to 66 percent negative, one of the lowest figures among presidents.

Among registered voters, the former president’s approval rating of 47 is equal to that of Obama’s in the last Post-ABC poll.

The numbers are little surprising considering Bush's record: There was the Iraq

Read More »from George W. Bush’s popularity grows in the United States, not so much in Canada

The Liberal Party has made good on a promise to swiftly respond to Conservative party attack ads against their newly minted leader Justin Trudeau.

On Wednesday — just 10 days after the Tories released a series of "Justin over his head" commercials — the Liberals have answered in kind. The Liberal ads, however, are different from the Tory's in two distinct ways: they're not really negative and they actually feature their leader.

Interestingly, the ad en Francais, is a little different:

According to the Liberal Party, the ads will run online as well as on television.

[ Related: Are political attack ads the same as bullying? ]

Jeff Jedras, a Liberal activist from Toronto says he's pleased that his party is responding to the Tory attacks.

"Just the fact we are responding is important to many Liberals, particularly to those who have donated in recent years to the Strong Start Fund, so the party would be able to respond in just this eventuality," Jedras, who served as leadership candidate Deborah

Read More »from Trudeau Liberals launch new advertising campaign to counter Tory attack ads

I think there's some analysts in Ottawa that have either become too sensitive or — as the Conservatives suggest — are really trying to protect Justin Trudeau.

Several columns have been written over the past couple days — here, here and here — which strongly suggest the Conservative attack ads against Trudeau are akin to bullying.

[ Related: Tories undaunted by criticisms about Trudeau attack ads ]

Here's one published Monday from the Chronicle Herald's Dan Leger:

Negative messaging attacks character and in that sense, it’s pure bullying. Nobody reading this needs to be reminded how bullying has become a toxic factor in society or how well it works in media. And it isn’t just for kids.

I’d argue that political attack ads, like those launched by the Conservatives against Trudeau, constitute a form of cyber-bullying. They’re aimed at a visible target like Trudeau, but they go way beyond that. The real target, or victim if you will, is the broader audience.

For good reasons of free

Read More »from Are political attack ads the same as bullying?

Senator Hervieux-Payette's tweetThe Tories have taken umbrage to a tweet by a Liberal Senator about the foiled VIA Rail terrorism plot.

On Tuesday, Conservative HQ sent out an email claiming that Senator Herviuex-Payette wrote a tweet saying this: "Harper wants to align Canada with the US, wants the same republican policies: he will get also the same terrorists."

The tweet no longer exists, but the Tories have a screen capture of it here.

In the fundraising email to supporters, Jenni Byrne, the Conservative Party's director of political operations, complained about the tweet and at the same time took another swipe at Trudeau about his 'root causes' comment with regard to the Boston Marathon explosions.

[ Related: Was Harper justified in attacking Trudeau over Boston Marathon comments? ]

Here's the email:

"Yesterday, the RCMP announced they had foiled a potential terrorist attack here in Canada – and Justin Trudeau’s Liberal team thought it was a good idea to use the moment to score cheap political points against our

Read More »from Tories angry at Liberal senator’s now-deleted tweet about Via Rail terrorism plot

Preston ManningIt's not only in the United States where money can buy elections.

Global News has uncovered a video of a prominent property developer talking about donating money to the "right" candidates in order to take "control" over Calgary city council.

"There are some people that are on the City Council that are totally out of control," Alberta-based developer Cal Wenzel says in the video speaking to about 150 industry professionals.

"Unless we get somebody in there that's really going to be more on our side, than the dark side, we're talking another 4 years after next October.

"[Former Mayor Dave Bronconnier] is sitting there saying it doesn't matter if you got the mayor on your side or not, you need eight votes. He said as long you have eight votes, you can control whatever happens."

[ Related: Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi takes the high ground on mayoral scandals ]

Developers funding the campaigns of developer-friendly candidates is not all that surprising — it happens in every community

Read More »from Is Preston Manning involved in a scheme to ‘control’ Calgary city council?

There's something missing from the campaign materials of several B.C. Liberal candidates.

If you look closely, you'll notice that some of them don't include any reference to the "B.C Liberals" or "Christy Clark"

Over the weekend, the Vancouver Sun, profiled one such cabinet minister's brochure.

Read through Bill Bennett's election-campaign pamphlet and you'd be hard-pressed to know he's running for the Liberal Party or that Christy Clark is his leader.

That's because there's no Liberal name. No Liberal logo. And not one picture of a smiling Christy Clark anywhere to be seen.

Bennett says that he's proud of Christy Clark's record as premier but that there might be some "brand issues" with the Liberals.

[ Related: B.C. NDP leader Adrian Dix running a 'we'll see' campaign ]

He isn't the only one with materials sans Christy Clark; the Sun lists half a dozen.

Even the most senior cabinet minister, Finance Minister Michael de Jong, excludes references to both Clark and the Liberals on his

Read More »from B.C. Liberal candidates omit references to Christy Clark on campaign literature

Keystone Pipeline protest in Washington DCOn this Earth Day, there's some bad news for those lovers of the Earth, also know as environmentalists.

A new poll, released Monday, suggests that while Canadians and Americans are keen on reducing greenhouse gasses, the vast majority of them support the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that could transport up 830,000 barrels of oil per day from northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico.

The poll — completed by Nik Nanos, a public policy scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington — claims that 74 per cent of Americans and 68 per cent of Canadians that have heard about Keystone do support, or somewhat support, their respective governments approving the controversial project.

[ Related: Redford takes Keystone talks to Washington ]

"What I found striking was the percentage of Americans who said that [having] a stable supply of energy was important, nearly 9 of 10," Nanos told Yahoo! Canada News.

"Americans are quite fixated on energy security and this fixation

Read More »from Environmentalists’ worst nightmare: Majority of Canadians, Americans support Keystone XL pipeline