Worth Reading – January 17, 2013

The Ontario Liberal leadership vote is fast approaching. I have therefore tried to include some articles on that and some of the surrounding issues. If nothing else comes up next Tuesday’s post will probably be on that topic.

Conservative backbencher MP Brent Rathgeber (CPC - Edmonton-St.Albert, AB) wrote recently in a blog post about how MPs need to stand up and make their voices heard. Essentially he wants backbenchers in all parties to stop being automatons for their party’s leadership. Aaron Wherry of Macleans’ presents the piece with commentary.

I found this article incredibly fascinating. According to this historian the much-revered Second Amendment was written to preserve slavery in the United States. Obviously in the course of history the Second Amendment has come to protect individual gun rights and gun manufacturers, but its origins make it seem even more out of place in a modern society.

With the Ontario Liberals getting close to selecting their new leader, Andrea Horwather (ONDP – Hamilton Centre) has restated her desire to work with the government to make the legislature work and avoid an election. This really should not be treated as breaking news. This is the NDP’s position in Ottawa and Queen’s Park. Paul Wells of Macleans’ points out that the NDP is dreaming though. 

Martin Regg Cohn has an absolutely amazing long interview with Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, David Onley, on the prorogation and a few other matters. Onley is remarkably frank and transparent in this interview, I found it a great read, even if it was vaguely frustrating.

Ontario badly needs election financing laws. Adam Radwanski of the Globe and Mail highlights the fundraising practices among the Ontario Liberal leadership candidates here. For example, the top contenders received tens of thousands of dollars from the insurance lobby. It is definitely galling when measured against federal legislation and what I think most Canadians expect.

This is an issue I want to get more involved in. Civic Action, an advocacy group, is asking what you would do with 32 extra minutes? Investments in public transit and infrastructure would (hopefully) save GTHA commuters half-an-hour in their commutes. It’s an idea worth talking about.

I used this as the backbone to my post this Tuesday, but in case you missed it here is Mallick’s piece in the Toronto Star discussing racism towards Aboriginal people in Canada.