Libya, Australia and Brazil

The foreign affairs committee met yesterday
afternoon to discuss the situation in Libya. Progress toward a peace settlement has been slow, with incremental gains. It’s small surprise that the NDP doesn’t want to
extend the military mission past September. As the economy appears to
be melting down, it’s odd that the NDP will consent to a committee meeting on Libya, but
not on the economy. Huh?

And John Baird has ordered that all remaining
Libyan diplomats in Canada be expelled. Because he’s showing them who is the boss.

Memo to Jason Kenney: your touting of

Australia’s asylum-seeker system is about to take a huge credibility blow. That country’s own high court has suspended its plans to send
asylum seekers to Malaysia, calling the government legal team’s efforts “half-baked.” Not a good harbinger for how it might play out here.

While in Brazil, Harper and his ministers signed a number of agreements with the government there. Never mind that our ambassadors are empowered to do so, but hey, when there are photo
ops to be had, Harper is all over them. Or rather, he ensures that his private
photographer is there while legitimate Canadian and Brazilian
media are shut out. (I wonder – come the New Order, who will be the new minister of truth?)

The Correctional Services watchdog says
that prison violence is up. You know, because of crowding and lack of access to
programming. Vic Toews says that can’t be right and that Canadians gave
the government a strong mandate to crack down on crime. Evidence, meet
ideology.

Here’s a look at the beefed-up SUVs that
are part of the prime minister’s presidential-envy motorcade.

Here is the Maclean’s story on the week leading up to Jack Layton’s
announcement about his cancer diagnosis.

The head of one public sector union is
taking swipes at Nycole Turmel.

And the president of the Czech Republic is snippy with Canada and 12 other countries because those 13 ambassadors gave

 

their support to gay pride in Prague. The horror!

Keep Reading

Trans issues didn’t doom the Democrats

OPINION: The Republicans won ending on a giant anti-trans note, but Democrats ultimately failed to communicate on class

Xtra Explains: Trans girls and sports

Debunking some of the biggest myths around trans girls and fairness in sports

How ‘mature minor’ laws let trans kids make their own decisions

Canadian law lets some youth make medical or legal decisions for themselves, but how does it work?

To combat transphobia, we need to engage with the people who spread it

OPINION: opening up a dialogue with those we disagree with is key if we want to achieve widespread social change