David Caughey

I'm all for spending political energy on issues that make the biggest difference. But as I see democratic backsliding in so many parts of the world, I've found myself feeling quite sentimental about these kinds of low stakes debates that wouldn't happen anywheres else but in a democracy.

And in particular, what is the role of backbenchers if not to bring light to these issues that clearly aren't going to receive the attention of cabinet (or shadow cabinet, for that matter)?

But I think the counterpoint is why shouldn't we? Should we stop expecting government to look for little, incremental benefits to our lives because they don't deliver the highest impact?

At the same time (pun not intended), while repeal would be a clear net-benefit, it's also clear that the benefits would be small. And faced with so much resistance from people who've become (irrationally) fond of it in a small c conservative sense, why should we spend political energy on this topic?

It is useless as an energy demand policy (which was its original purpose), so on those merits (it is a failed policy) it should be repealed. (I understand most experts recommend that if we were going to stop changing the hours, we actually switch to DST all year round.)

I've vacillated between caring deeply and very little about this, but I think it's an interesting example of the role of legislators, and what is the point of democracy.

IIRC it was a shared grade between both teams - so we prepped together so we knew the main points we were going to discuss, but as we got into the details of arguments we broke out into our individual teams because there still was a before and after poll to see which team had "won".

What has been your experience with debate style assignments? My fondest memory of this format was a standard debate format, followed by reactions from the prof afterward highlighting any missed points. Requiring live reaction to arguments also takes away the ability to use AI as a crutch?

NEW: Looks like CycleToronto won in court. Justice Schabas finds Ontario's law (AND version 2) to remove bike lanes infringe S7 of the Charter and is not saved by S1, in large part because the govt had no evidence to back up its claims.

Not to dispute the basic premise that huge defence spending increases will necessitate big cuts elsewhere, which is obvious. But based on the Parliamentary Budget Officer's reports on climate-related files I've covered, I'm a bit reluctant to take his reports on anything else as gospel.

Really great to see @rokhanna.bsky.social stand up for tracking - removing advanced classes from schools is literally the single most unpopular policy we've ever polled

I have tariffed
the penguins
that are on
Heard Island

and which
you were probably
assuming
did not export goods

forgive me
they were taking advantage of us
so cunning
and so cold

The Canadian dollar looks like someone having a heart attack

They're really putting the FFS into tariffs is what they're doing

Civil servants shouldn't quit their jobs Don't give in to Trump's attempted purge

It’s important that we all encourage and support people who are staying on the job in a difficult time and discourage Trump’s ambition of encouraging everyone to self-purge and do his job for him.

www.slowboring.com/p/civil-serv...

Surely this will be the moment where I finally learn how to correctly spell tarrif/tariff/tarriff.

Understood :) Makes a lot of sense, especially #3!

Genuine question: what is making you unusually reticent? I have to assume partisans accuse you of trying to influence outcomes every time you write about politics, so why try to avoid those accusations for this particular race?

Yes. Also it is mostly not a cost but an investment that will pay dividends for generations to come

Here's an idea:

Let's stop hoping the Governor General will exercise a degree of discretion not seen in Canada since the office was held British aristocrats.

How about an Act of Parliament regulating the length of prorogations?

A B.C. city put a family doctor on the payroll to address a shortage. Now, many physicians want in Colwood, B.C. mayor says the city is sorting through more than 100 submissions from doctors in Canada, the U.S. and Britain interested in the new clinic operating under a municipal funding model

To address the physician shortage, a B.C. city put a family doc on the municipal payroll -- with vacation, parental leave, pension and other benefits. Now, other physicians want in, by @andreawoo.bsky.social @alannasmith.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com

UBC research shows increase in birth-control use after province made contraception free Researchers noted a significant shift to IUDs, implants and other types of long-acting birth control as soon as those products became 100 per cent publicly funded

B.C.’s decision to make #contraception free led to a spike in women choosing long-acting options like IUDs, which are better than the pill at preventing unwanted pregnancies, new data show, by @kellygrant1.bsky.social www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/artic... via @theglobeandmail.com #ReproRights

“In the years since 1982, developing countries have transferred an estimated $4200 billion in interest payments to their creditors in Europe and North America, far outstripping the official-sector development aid these countries received during the same period.“

Source: x.com/heimbergecon...

Any chance you'll cover this as an upshift on an upcoming ep of the pod? Don't have a Bloomberg sub and curious how it got revived!