Blog Posts by Andy Radia

Unlike their Liberal colleagues, the NDP are fighting fire with fire against the Conservatives.

According to the Globe and Mail, the federal New Democrats are urging their members and donors to help them retaliate against attack ads launched two weeks ago by the Conservatives against NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair.

[Related:  Tories' latest attack ad on Mulcair falls short of the mark ]

In an e-mail sent Tuesday, NDP national director Chantal Vallerand asks party supporters to distribute a new video created to discredit Prime Minister Stephen Harper's record on the economy.

The ad, also released Tuesday, features ominous background music and unflattering pictures of Harper while a a voice accuses the Conservatives of attacking "the most vulnerable Canadians."

Here's the ad posted on the NDP website:

Read More »from NDP bites back, releasing its own attack ad against Stephen Harper

Turkey's Hilal Baskol (R) kicks the ball to score as Iran's players try to block during the women's soccer bronze medal match at the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in this August 24, 2010 file photo.Once again, Quebec has solidified its reputation as one of Canada's most culturally intolerant provinces.

La Belle Provence went through their "reasonable accommodation" debate a few years ago and enacted legislation which essentially restricted Muslim women from wearing a Niqab when working in the public sector or doing business with government officials.

Last year, the province's National Assembly unanimously voted to bar the Sikh kirpan from the legislative buildings. (The kirpan is accommodated across Canada, including in the House of Commons and the Supreme Court of Canada.)

Now the victim of the province's collective hard-line stance against cultural 'freedoms'  is a 9 year old girl who just wanted to play soccer.

Just days after soccer's international governing body -- FIFA -- allowed Muslim female players to wear headscarves during matches, a young Quebec girl was sent off the pitch in Gatineau for wearing a hijab.

According to PostMedia News , nine year old Rayane Benatti was

Read More »from Rayane Benatti, 9 year old Quebec girl banned from soccer game for wearing hijab

Petitions are often used by interest groups or members of the public to lobby the government about a specific issue.

Strangely, immigration minister Jason Kenney is using one to thank himself.

"We, the undersigned, thank Jason Kenney for his efforts to streamline benefits afforded to refugees (sic) claimants under the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) and bring them in line with the benefits received by taxpaying Canadians, including new Canadians," says the petition posted to Kenney's personal website.

"We don't think that smuggled migrants and bogus asylum claimants should be getting better health care benefits than Canadian seniors and taxpayers."

In addition to a name and postal code, the petition asks 'supporters' to provide an email address.

Kenney's office did not respond to an email from Yahoo! Canada News with regards to what they

Read More »from Immigration Minister Jason Kenney thanks himself in a petition posted on his website

Vic Toews speaks during Question Period in the House of Commons. REUTERS/Chris Wattie Stephen Harper may have just found a way to rid himself of another problem-cabinet minister.

On the heels of International Development Minister Bev Oda's resignation last week, unnamed sources have told the Winnipeg Free Press that public safety minister Vic Toews "is destined" for a federal appointment to Manitoba's Court of Appeal.

"There are nine judges on the Manitoba Court of Appeal — one works part time — but one is due to retire shortly when he hits the compulsory retirement age of 75. There is also one opening on the Court of Queen's Bench that needs filling. Sources say Toews is in line for the Court of Appeal opening, but it's an appointment that does not have to be made immediately," reports the Times Colonist.

[ More from Political Points: NDP bites back, releasing its own attack ad against Stephen Harper ]

In an email distributed to media outlets on Tuesday afternoon, Toews' office seem to sidestep the rumours.

"Every year stories come up saying that Minister Toews is

Read More »from Vic Toews could be headed out of cabinet and on to Manitoba’s highest court

Canadians who can't attend Tuesday's funeral march are invited to participate in a virtual candlelight vigil on Flickr.In recent months, critics of the Harper government have given us innovative  protests such as: "Black Out Speak Out," and "#DenounceHarper."

The latest movement, however, may just take the cake for most creative.

Members of Canada's scientific community are taking to the streets of Ottawa on Tuesday, staging a funeral procession — complete with a coffin, black-clad mourners and a scythe-wielding grim reaper — to mourn the "death of evidence" in what  organizers say is the federal government's war on science.

"Science in Canada is under attack," notes the group's website.

"It's clear that the Harper government does not value science or evidence and is systematically trying to reduce the flow of scientific information to Canadians. We have seen this through the cuts to federal science programs, changes to legislation in Bill C-38, and the muzzling of government scientists."

[ More from Political Points: Immigration Minister Jason Kenney thanks himself in petition posted on his website ]

Read More »from Scientists to protest research cuts with funeral march on Parliament Hill

A TV grab released by France 2 shows Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah.It appears Canada is still under threat from a potential al-Qaeda attack.

The Globe and Mail is reporting that Mohamed Merah -- the French gunman who killed French soldiers and attacked a Jewish school last spring in Toulouse -- was told at a terrorist training camp that he should launch strikes against Canada.

Merah made the claim to a French counter-terrorism officer during the 32-hour standoff which ultimately ended in a shootout and his death. His comments were revealed in an audio recording leaked to the public on Sunday.

"I was sent by al-Qaeda. I was trained by the Pakistani Talibans. There's a whole organization behind this," Merah is heard saying.

Describing how he spent two months in a camp in Pakistan, Merah said he met French, Chinese, Tajik, Afghan, Pakistani, American, German and Spanish jihadists.

"There are brothers who deal with sending brothers to other countries. They proposed to me to launch strikes in America, in Canada, et cetera," Merah said.

He told the police

Read More »from Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah listed Canada among proposed al-Qaeda targets

Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Calgary Stampede on July 6, 2012. REUTERS/Todd KorolOver the past year, many political analysts and social media enthusiasts have branded Stephen Harper as "undemocratic" and "dictatorial."

Last Friday, one of the world's most influential magazines 'piled-on' calling Harper a "bully."

"Mr. Harper has acquired a reputation for playing fast and loose with the rules.  He twice prorogued Parliament, once to avoid a censure vote and then apparently to duck embarrassing questions from a parliamentary committee," noted an editorial in the Economist magazine.

"The government is intolerant of criticism and dissent. Civil libertarians who oppose giving police easier access to internet users' browsing histories were branded by Conservatives as supporters of child pornographers. They condemned greens worried about the development of Alberta's tar sands as radicals laundering foreign money; the government is investigating the charitable status of some green groups. It killed off an advisory body of businessmen, scientists and officials because it

Read More »from Does it really matter if Stephen Harper is a bully?

Was the McGuinty government's deal with Catholic teachers too much for the unions to bear?The prospect of a fall teacher's strike in Ontario  became much more real Friday after four powerful unions denounced the McGuinty government's deal with Catholic teachers.

On Thursday, Ontario reached a  two-year deal with the Ontario English Catholic Teachers Association (OECTA) which will essentially freeze wages and force three unpaid days off on teachers.  The Liberals touted the 17 page agreement with the 45,000-member OECTA as a "roadmap" for future deals.

But the other unions aren't too impressed.

On Friday morning, the presidents of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation (OSSTF), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario, Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario (ETFO) and Association des enseignantes et des enseignants franco-ontariens (AEFO) held a joint media conference to say the Catholic deal is unworkable for their members, unfair to teachers and detrimental to students.

[ Related: Liberals strike 'historic' wage-freeze deal with Catholic teachers ]

Read More »from McGuinty’s deal with OECTA could prompt a teacher’s strike come fall