Brigette DePape's "Stop Harper!" campaign

Brigette DePape is a Canadian activist from Winnipeg, Manitoba who came to Canadian national attention on June 3, 2011.

While a participant in the Canadian Senate Page Program in 2011, DePape stood in protest during the Throne Speech in the Senate, silently holding up a sign that said "Stop Harper!" This action led to her prompt dismissal, for breaching the non-partisan nature of the page position and disrupting the Governor General in Parliament.

Page Brigette DePape stands in the middle of the floor of the Senate as Governor General David Johnston delivers the Speech from the Throne in the Senate Chamber on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Friday June 3, 2011.

A few days after her protest in the Senate chamber, Michael Moore offered DePape a job. DePape stated that she had also received job offers from the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Council of Canadians.

On June 8, 2011, DePape announced the creation of a "Stop Harper Fund" to support "organizations and individuals engaging in creative non-violent direct actions against the Harper government's agenda." The fund planned to organized an advisory committee to direct funds to selected organizations, and legal and fiscal governance to ensure the donations were spent in accordance with the fund's stated mandate.

She was photographed holding a sign reading "Stop Harper's Gang" when Danielle Smith (leader of the Wildrose party) cast her vote.

Former Commons page Brigette DePape holds up a sign as Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith leaves a polling station with her husband David Moretta, left, in High River, Alberta to cast her ballot for the Alberta election Monday, April, 23, 2012. DePape disrupted the federal throne speech last year with her "Stop Harper" sign. 

Brigette DePape speaks to reporters as Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith's bus leaves a polling station in High River, Alta., Monday, April, 23, 2012. 

The Council Of Canadians
Brigette DePape's blog

Canadian Cities By GDP

Per capita GDP, 2009.
Source: StatsCan

20: London, Ont. - $40,905
19: Kingston, Ont. - $40,968
18: Saguenay, Que. - $41,398
17: Montreal - $41,505
16: Winnipeg - $41,810
15: Moncton, N.B. - $41,995
14: Sudbury, Ont. - $42,138
13: Halifax - $43,471
12: Quebec City - $43,559
11: Kitchener-Waterloo - $43,989
10: Guelph, Ont. - $44,217
9: Vancouver - $44,249
8: Victoria, B.C. - $46,763
7: Toronto - $48,532
6: Saskatoon - $49,213
5: St. John's - $49,844
4: Ottawa - $55,506
3: Edmonton - $59,941
2: Calgary - $61,246
1: Regina - $65,404

The agency’s analysis of gross domestic product (GDP) for Canada’s 33 major metro regions shows St. John’s, Nfld., is now richer than Toronto.

Which Canadians Take The Most Sick Days?

Source: Canadian Taxpayers Federation

10: Alberta
Private sector: 5.6 sick days
Government workers: 9.1 sick days

9: Ontario
Private sector: 5.8 sick days
Government workers: 8.8 sick days

8: Prince Edward Island
Private sector: 6.3 sick days
Government workers: 11.3 sick days

Nationwide
Private sector: 6.7 sick days
Federal government workers: 17.9

7: Saskatchewan
Private sector: 6.9 sick days
Government workers: 11 sick days

6: New Brunswick
Private sector: 7.1 sick days
Government workers: 10.7 sick days

5. Manitoba
Private sector: 7.1 sick days
Government workers: 12.1 sick days

4: British Columbia
Private sector: 7.4 sick days
Government workers: 12 sick days

3: Newfoundland and Labrador
Private sector: 7.9 sick days
Government workers: 10.7 sick days

2: Nova Scotia
Private sector: 8.4 sick days
Government workers: 12 sick days

1. Quebec
Private sector: 8.5 sick days
Government workers: 12.2 sick days

Some 1 million Canadians will call in sick on either Black Friday or Cyber Monday in order to go shopping, according to a new survey from IPG Mediabrands

That’s bad news for most employers but good news for retailers, who can expect to see $13.4 billion in sales on the two days ($6.8 billion on Black Friday and $6.6 billion on Cyber Monday).

That could actually more than offset the cost of the lost work days. A Conference Board of Canada report looking at 2012 found absenteeism costs Canada’s economy about $16.6 billion, and that's for an entire year.
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5 PMs Who've Served Longer Than Harper

Stephen Harper is now the sixth longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history.

On November 13, 2014 -- his 3,203-rd day on the job -- Stephen Harper leapfrogged former PM (and fellow Conservative) Brian Mulroney to become the sixth longest-serving prime minister in Canadian history.

But he still has a ways to go to catch the five former leaders ahead of him.

In his acclaimed 2013 book, 'The Longer I'm Prime Minister: Stephen Harper and Canada, 2006 –,' Paul Wells equated Harper's endurance, in part, to his discipline. Wells wrote that Harper has avoided chasing after bold projects that can blow up in a leader's face and has not allowed a rival from within his ranks rise to the point of challenging him.

"Harper brings a temper and a vengeful streak to office, but he is also awesomely clear-eyed," Wells wrote. "Because he is temperamentally the most conservative Canadian prime minister of his lifetime, he will not ever run out of ideas for conservative things to do. So on any day he has a choice: he can do the big conservative thing that would be the end of his career, or he can do some of the small conservative things that won't. He is amazed that earlier leaders had a hard time choosing."

Political historian Jack Granatstein said that length of time in office is a "serious measure" of a PM's success.

"You have to keep winning elections. You have to keep your party quiet, happy and satisfied. And you have to manage the affairs of the country and its dealing abroad. Anyone who can do that for almost nine years is somebody who is very effective," Granatstein said.

"It doesn't mean you’re popular – God knows the dislike of Harper is extreme and widespread – but he is effective."


Tories are hoping Harper can win at least one more time when Canadians head to the ballot box next year. The party's main slogan, which has appeared in messages to supporters and in a campaign-style ad released in September, is "We're Better Off With Harper."

5. Jean Chretien - Liberal

Days in office: 3,689

4. Sir Wilfrid Laurier - Liberal

Days in office: 5,564

3. Pierre Trudeau - Liberal

Days in office: 5,642

2. Sir John A. Macdonald - Liberal-Conservative

Days in office: 6,934

1. William Lyon Mackenzie King - Liberal

Days in office: 7,837

Canadian Environmental Bill of Rights

LINDA DUNCAN INTRODUCES LANDMARK ENVIRONMENTAL RIGHTS BILL

Private Member’s Bill

Canada fares surprisingly poorly when it comes to protecting the environment. In 2013, the Conference Board of Canada ranked us 15th out of 17 countries based on a wide range of environmental metrics. Tens of thousands of Canadians die prematurely each year because of environmental hazards such as air pollution, and millions suffer illnesses.

Source :  No Breathing Room
               National Illness Costs of Air Pollution



NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair says the private member’s bill introduced by Edmonton MP Linda Duncan would safeguard the right of present and future generations to have a clean environment.

Duncan says the bill also gives people the right to take the federal government to court when those rights are denied. It’s the second time Duncan has tried to enact an environmental bill of rights. She says the Conservatives and Liberals shot down her first bill five years ago.

Source

World's Most Prosperous Countries

Legatum Prosperity Index, 2014



20. Hong Kong

19. Japan

18. Singapore

17. Belgium

16. Luxembourg

15. Austria

14. Germany

13. United Kingdom

12. Ireland

11. Iceland

10. United States

9. Netherlands

8. Finland

7. Australia

6. Sweden

5. Canada

4. Denmark

3. New Zealand

2. Switzerland

1. Norway

Canada has fallen one spot on a ranking of the world’s most prosperous countries, but is still doing better than it was just a few years ago.

5 Key Ontario Liberal Scandals

Kathleen Wynne hoped Ontario voters can look past these five scandals when they cast their ballots on June 12.

And they have so it seemed.

Let's not forget these scandals.

Ornge

Ontario's publicly funded air ambulance service has been under fire for almost two years over sky-high salaries, financial irregularities and corruption allegations. A legislative committee has been probing the service's complex structures and pay scales in detail, and opposition parties have been alleging wrongdoing with nearly every revelation. The auditor general has criticized the governing Liberals for failing to oversee  Ornge, despite giving it $730 million over five years and allowing it to borrow another $300 million. The Liberals insist Ornge went rogue with a web of for-profit companies and questionable business deals, as well as exorbitant salaries and lavish expenses.

Cancelled Gas Plants

Scandal has swirled around the government's decision to cancel the construction of two Toronto-area gas plants ahead of the 2011 election, in which the government then led by Dalton McGuinty was reduced to minority status. The cancellation costs have now been pegged at $1.1 billion, but opposition parties have accused the Liberals of actively trying to cover up that figure. Ontario's privacy commissioner has concluded that staff working for McGuinty and a former energy minister broke the law by deleting emails pertaining to the project. Ontario Provincial Police are also investigating the document deletions, seizing government computers at both Queen's Park and beyond.

eHealth

The provincial agency was given a $1-billion budget to develop electronic health records, but wound up building themselves a bad reputation. A lot of the eHealth money went for untendered contracts given to highly paid consultants who then billed taxpayers for additional expenses in a scandal that cost former health minister David Caplan his job. In 2009, the auditor general said the agency had very little progress to show  for its efforts, and opposition parties have alleged further financial mismanagement since then.

Windsor Parkway

The government has taken heat for not immediately acting when it learned a $1.4-billion infrastructure project didn't live up to safety standards. The Liberals were told that questionable materials were being used on the support beams on Windsor's Herb Gray Parkway in December 2012, but didn't halt the project until July. More than 500 support beams are being replaced by the project overseer at no cost to the tax payers,  but the NDP has accused the Wynne government of trying to cover up the affair and only backing down when threatened with media exposure.

PanAm Games

Premier Kathleen Wynne has hailed the 2015 games as a cause for celebration, but opposition parties call it just another scandal. The $1.4-billion budget for the games does not include some key expenses, like the $700 million athletes' village. The government has also come under fire for $7 million worth of bonuses paid out to 64 executives.

Liberal government releases previously leaked ORNGE report

Ont. gas-plant probe running out of gas