Political Mudslinging Demeans Us All

By stacey

Why political mudslinging lowers us all while damaging our democratic system.

Eco-Discrimination

By stacey

Do you want a new stadium in your backyard? How about a landfill or a nuclear power plant? I know what you’re thinking – who on earth would want to live with the noise, smell, or danger? I wouldn’t!

There’s a new buzz word that I really dig that’s being used to describe this conundrum – eco-discrimination. The hot topics of the day, such as the unanimous (albeit grudgingly) support in the Saskatchewan Legislature of nuclear power, or the equally hot debate surrounding Regina’s new stadium, often neglect that massive amounts of discrimination go into decisions like these. Especially when it comes to location – and the consequences are grave. Read more »

Regina Douglas Park is Heating Up

By Greg Hluska

The Saskatchewan Party recently announced that they are holding a nomination meeting for Regina Douglas Park on August 12, 2009.  The nomination meeting will be held at 6:30 pm at St. Mary’s Hall on 2020 Winnipeg Street.  After this meeting, there will be three confirmed candidates in Regina Douglas Park.  On July 7, the New Democratic Party announced that Dwain Lingenfelter will be their candidate, and on July 10, the Saskatchewan Green Party announced that perennial candidate, Victor Becker Lau will be flying their flag.  Unfortunately, there is no information on the Saskatchewan Liberal Party’s intentions for that election.

So far, the election seems like it will be another interesting one.  Victor Becker Lau has already come out swinging, pointing out four major issues that affect the constituency.  In Becker Lau’s mind, nuclear power, poverty, affordable education and electoral reform are going to be key issues in this by-election.  Larissa Shasko (Leader of the Saskatchewan Green Party) fired a well-timed salvo at the Saskatchewan Liberal Party, stating that “A two-party system between the NDP and the SaskParty is failing the environmental and social aspirations of the people of Saskatchewan.”

Read more »

Dawn of a New Era

By stacey

So here’s the question: does social media influence political policy? Over the last few years, the rise of social media as a medium in which to interact with people locally and around the world has created a dramatically different landscape for those hoping to be elected as well as for those in power. Social media exemplified by Twitter, Facebook, and a whole host of blogs, has produced an entire generation of people that can not only get their viewpoints out to the public vis a vie the internet, but also be contacted by politicians in a new way.

 For instance, let’s say that you’re sitting at your computer when you hear a knock at your door. You get up, open the door and see a politician running in a local election. Now let’s say you’re sitting at your computer and you see that the same politician is following your twitter account, or has added you as a friend on Facebook; or maybe they made a comment on your blog. To which are you more receptive? Read more »

A Note on Partisanship

By stacey

There’s something that has caught my attention from the very start of the Regina Streets Magazine, and it continues to peak my interest since the start of this website. That is, we get just as many comments and compliments from the “right” of the political spectrum as we do from the “left”.

 I think that partisanship is both detrimental and ridiculous, in politics and in life. Take this magazine. Do I have to be on the left to talk about the causes and effects of poverty? Do I have to be on the right to have a strong corporate business model and believe in microdevelopment? Absolutely not. Read more »

Saskatchewan Unemployment Numbers – More Statistics and Analysis

By Greg Hluska

Yesterday, I talked about a controversy that has erupted around Saskatchewan’s unemployment numbers.  Since unemployment is such a major factor in poverty, I felt it was important to give some more statistics about unemployment in Saskatchewan.

The Saskatchewan Party and the Provincial N.D.P. are looking at the same basic numbers and coming to two dramatically different conclusions.  The Saskatchewan Party says, “Regina and Saskatoon have the two lowest unemployment rates in the country.  Our future is bright.”  And the Provincial N.D.P. says, “But wait a minute, unemployment may be low, but more people are seeking unemployment benefits now than one year ago.  Things are not as bright as they seem, in fact, the sky is falling.” Read more »

Rights vs. Rights: Age Old Debate Continues

By stacey

In the case of the SaskParty’s newly invigorated interest in whether religious figures are protected from having to preside over legal same-sex marriages, the question is once again becoming how to reconcile freedom of religion with equality rights. In Canada, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms protects your freedom of religion… but NO Charter right allows you to discriminate against others. Read more »

Please Saskatchewan, be reasonable!

By stacey

My oh my! Are the blogs ever hopping these days! Particularly over the SaskParty’s recent move to examine Canada’s same-sex marriage laws in the context of making sure those religious figures that don’t want to perform the marriages don’t have to. In regards to this topic, the majority of the blogs I have read contained nasty, repugnant, hurtful, and illogical low-blow comments, and hell… everyone has the right to an opinion. Ironically, these comments are being made by both those who support same-sex marriage, but also those who don’t. Read more »

The Provincial NDP and the Environment

By Greg Hluska

A few days ago, I posted one of the motions passed at the 2008 Saskatchewan Party convention.  Though Stacey and I disagreed about the exact intent of the resolution, we both agree that finding alternatives to plastic bags is a needed first step in protection our province’s fragile environment.  In the interest of being fair and giving equal coverage to all major parties in Saskatchewan, I decided that today’s article would be about some of the work the Provincial N.D.P. has been doing for the environment.

The N.D.P.’s web site has a very interesting passage about protecting the environment: Read more »

Dear Saskatchewan NDP….

By Greg Hluska

Have any of you checked out the NDP’s web site lately?  If you click on the ‘issues’ section, you get to see a great example of poor web site management.  That page’s main image shows a picture of a beaming Dwain Lingenfelter with the slogan, “Winning Leadership:  Leadership with Vision”.  However, the content on the page still talks about former leader Lorne Calvert….

And here I was hoping that Barack Obama’s landslide win the last United States election would show our politicians that the internet is an important part of the political process!