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Archive for the ‘elections’


Obama and EPA libraries

Published November 17th, 2008 in elections, environment libraries | No Comments »

In October, Obama sent out letters to a few US Agencies addressing concerns and issues that the President of the American Federation of Government Employees (John Cage) had inquired about. Concerning the letter to the EPA, Obama states:

I strongly oppose attempts by the Bush Administration to thwart publication of EPA researchers’ scientific findings, as well as the attempt to eliminate the agency’s library system. In an Obama Administration, the principle of scientific integrity will be an absolute, and I will never sanction any attempt to subvert the work of scientists.

Where do the Conservatives stand on Media and Culture?

Published October 15th, 2008 in culture, elections, media democracy | No Comments »

… no where, it seems. Campaign for Democratic Media sent a series of questions to the five major federal parties to asses their stand on media and cultural issues. The Conservatives are the only party that did not replied. If you are as worried as I am with the non existant party platform that the Conservatives ran on (and for which about 20% of the total population of Canadians actually voted for), perhaps this list of non-anwers should make us worry even more about the future of media and culture in Canada.

Digital Wish List: Week 2

Published September 25th, 2008 in elections, internet rights, net neutrality | No Comments »

This week’s episode of Spark on the CBC gives an interview with Ron Deibert who runs the Citizen Lab at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto. His digital wishlist for the Canadian election is available as a video and can be summarized in three excellent points:

  1. An elected government should ensure net neutrality
  2. An elected government should protect the Internet internationally to ensure free, unfettered access to information in all countries
  3. An elected government should support technological innovations that have goals other than those of making money (or those that follow the market rationale). For example, technological innovations that can support human rights.

Ron Deibert says that the Internet is a shared global communication medium but it’s being “carved up, colonized, and militarized” and an elected government in Canada should do all it can to stop this.

Digital wish list for the elections

Published September 18th, 2008 in elections, internet rights, net neutrality, telecommunications policy | No Comments »

There is a great series on CBC’s Spark during the elections caled Canada’s Digital Wish List.

We’re asking people who work in technology and innovation to tell us what they think Canada needs to do now in order to be considered a major innovator in the future.

The first item on the list is given by Heather Creech, Director of Knowledge Communications at the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD). She wishes for a strong vision and national policy for our access to the Internet. She decries how Canada is no longer a leader in broadband access. She believes that the Internet infrastructure should be looked at as seriously as roads and health care. This infrastructure includes not only lines and cables, but also the content, the software, and the engineers that make the whole system work.

She definitely is dead on, but with the campaign being centered mostly on how low the shots can go, I’m skeptical about seeing such serious issues discussed by our leaders.