John Miedema

You’re free to read, right? On the web, in Canada? Maybe China has a great firewall, but Canada? How many of you work behind a firewall that does not let you access web mail and other web content? We let that slide because, well, we are employees who should follow company policies. Would you feel the same if your employer did not let you read personal letters or certain books during your lunch hour?
What can you do about it? One idea. The Citizen Lab is an interdisciplinary laboratory based …

About 500 people gathered at the Richmond and Central corner of Victoria Park, London, Ontario today for a rally protesting Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament for three months. It was an upbeat rally with Londoners energetically endorsing speakers from community groups and political parties. I have to wonder how many Conservatives also object to the prorogation, but from the beginning Stephen Harper has throttled any dissent within his party. He quickly stepped to do the same with the media, and now he is trying to do it with parliament …

It appears certain that Canadians are going to the polls this Fall or Spring. There’s no hiding my bias. The day the Conservatives got their first minority, they clamped down on media access and stifled free speech in their own party. They support regressive copyright legislation. In that election and the one that followed, I supported the Greens. The Greens are a progressive party, but early indications are looking grim. Early polls suggest Liberal support has slipped, and Harper is rallying for a majority. I have made up my mind. …

Joe Preston, Member of Parliament
Elgin-Middlesex-London
2-24 First Avenue
St. Thomas ON N5R 4M5
Dear Mr. Preston,
I am one of your constituents. We met on a plane from London to Ottawa a few weeks ago and talked about matters of mutual concern in our riding. I appreciated your candour and perspective.
A private member’s bill, C-398, has been tabled by NDP MP Charlie Angus to make sure future development of the Internet is not impeded by unfair throttling or interference by the telecom corporations. Bandwidth throttling is often misrepresented as being only about music …

The Canadian Parliament is set to make history on Monday with a confidence motion that would defeat the Conservative minority government, and potentially install Stephane Dion as Prime Minister, leading a coalition of the Liberals and the NDP, and with the signed support of the Bloc. Unlike 99.99% of the time, the Governor General is the key to what happens next. Will she let Harper “prorogue” parliament till the new year? If not, will she call an election? Holy smokes. Just when we thoughts politics in Canada had subsided to …

Update 5:45 PM EST. Conservatives drop party-funding cuts from key motion. CBC.
Dear Mr. Harper, Mr. Flaherty, and Mr. Preston,
I am deeply concerned about your proposed cut of the subsidy to Canadian federal political parties.
While I understand this cut affects all parties, it is particularly harmful to fledgling political parties, such as the Green Party which received 6.8% of the popular vote in this year’s election. Canadians are speaking through the popular vote, but this vote is not adequately represented in the current first-past-the-post electoral system. As you know, the subsidy …