Twitter CEO Attacks Professor For Pointing Out Board Has No Women

What was Dick Costolo thinking?

On Sunday, Twitter's CEO pushed back against criticism of the company's apparent lack of female higher-ups with an ad hominem attack against one of its critics.

This Supreme Court Case Could Usher In a "System of Legalized Corruption"

The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday in McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission, a case that's been dubbed "the next Citizens United." The plaintiff, GOP donor Shaun McCutcheon, and his conservative allies say the case is about getting rid of restrictions on political spending that stifle free speech. Campaign finance watchdogs, meanwhile, fear the case could eviscerate an important piece of what's left of the federal laws governing money in politics. McCutcheon, says Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, will decide "whether we return to the system of legalized corruption we have had in the past and that has led to some of the worst Washington corruption scandals in the nation's history."

Distractions galore for Stephen Harper and Tory throne speech

MONTREAL—If Prime Minister Stephen Harper had wanted his upcoming throne speech to get lost in the heavy traffic of a critically busy political season his timing would be impeccable.

A national Conservative convention scheduled for the end of the month was always going to divert attention quickly from the just re-opened parliamentary theatre.

With the ink on next week’s throne speech barely dry, Harper and his ministers will head to Calgary on Oct. 31 for the party’s bi-annual gathering. Until it is over, much of the political energy of the government will be focused on ensuring that the convention showcases its strengths and not the ethics-related cracks that have appeared in its caucus as a result of the Senate expense scandal or the pre-leadership manoeuvring of some ambitious ministers.

Harper concerned over Brazil spy claims

BALI, Indonesia - Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he's "very concerned" about reports that Canada's top-secret electronic spy agency is conducting industrial espionage in Brazil.

Harper said Canadian officials are "reaching out very proactively" to their counterparts in Brazil.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff is accusing the Ottawa-based Communications Security Establishment Canada of mounting a sophisticated spy operation against her country's Ministry of Mines and Energy.

Indie ISPs fight back after Big Telecom block Canadians from accessing affordable services

TekSavvy CEO Marc Gaudrault is speaking out and calling for regulators to prevent Big Telecom giants from blocking our access to affordable independent services. Gaudrault’s call comes after many of his company’s users recently experienced prolonged service delays -- delays that appear to be rightly blamed on Big Telecom conglomerates that are acting like gatekeepers to the Internet.

Big telecom companies like Rogers, Bell, and Telus control access to digital infrastructure that indie ISPs like Teksavvy, Distributel, and Acanac require to deliver service. The indie ISPs are mandated to pay for the cost of managing the infrastructure plus a markup. In other words they have to pay for the cost of the networks plus a guaranteed profit for Big Telecom. This is even more galling when we consider that Big Telecom enjoys government support such as being exempt from paying rent on public land used for the infrastructure.

Aboriginal sovereignty doesn't need a 'Royal' proclamation

Today is a day which will challenge Indigenous peoples and Canadians in the ongoing and very uncomfortable decolonization process. Will people celebrate October 7, 2013 as the 250th year since the issuance of The Royal Proclamation of 1763? Or will Canadians and Indigenous peoples see beyond the government hype and propaganda that comes with celebrating the War of 1812 or the Royal Proclamation? Will most Canadians even know what the Royal Proclamation is or that it is a constitutionally protected document? What is it that Idle No More activists all over the country are calling for -- a celebration of the Royal Proclamation or something else?

In summary, the Royal Proclamation was issued in 1763 by King George III after the British Crown acquired lands claimed by the French in North America. It was intended to encourage settlement of North America by the British, even over lands formerly claimed as French. It was also intended to transition Indigenous peoples from French allegiances to British sovereignty. It further purported to establish reserved lands for Indigenous peoples in which they could  to hunt and fish. Yet, these "protected" lands were still to be made available for settlement, so long as it was done according to the rules set out in the Proclamation.

The big surprise: Harper in Asia

During his visit to Malaysia, on his way to the Asia-Pacific summit in Bali, the prime minister unveiled his agenda for Canada's future. No surprise, his three subjects of conversation remain the same: taxes, security and energy.

Harper chose to outline his moves while abroad. Not a new approach, he picked Davos, Switzerland to announce he was going to cut access to the Old Age Pension, for instance.

Mr. Free Market Economics and No State Interference, Stephen Harper welcomed the largest ($36 billion) foreign ownership initiative in Canadian history.

'The Oil Man and the Sea'

Of the 60 or so grizzlies who dine on the Koeye River's salmon each fall, Ilja shot six. He shot them all in the space of three hours, two days after the Northern Gateway Joint Review Panel left Heiltsuk territory.

We pulled out of Bella Bella the morning after they did, motoring south down Lama Passage, into the lake of Fitz Hugh Channel, through the current-laden junction with Burke Channel, on past the ghost town of Namu and its 10,000-year-old middens. Calvert Island came into sight off our starboard bow. Between Calvert's northern tip and the island chain above it there was a narrow gap through which you could see Hecate Strait. That gap was Hakai Pass, and it was the chink in the armour of outer islands through which an oil tanker's spill could easily flow if the tide was rising and the current flooding in. Directly in the current's path, open as a warm embrace, was the Koeye rivermouth.

New Health Minister Ambrose seen as a ‘fixer’

Rona Ambrose has a reputation as a fixer within Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Cabinet and the medical community is hoping she’ll continue to play that role now that she’s been appointed federal Health minister.

Ms. Ambrose (Edmonton-Spruce Grove) has made only a few public appearances and announcements as Minister of Health since being appointed to the file in Mr. Harper’s (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) July Cabinet shuffle. Last week she met with her provincial and territorial counterparts in Toronto for the annual Health ministers conference, where she announced an end to the use of illicit drugs in treating drug addictions under Health Canada’s Special Access Program.

Canada spying in Brazil: more to come, Greenwald promises

Canada hasn't seen the last of stories alleging spying activity in Brazil, journalist Glenn Greenwald told CBC News on Monday.

Greenwald collaborated with the news agency that first reported the latest details, working from records leaked to him by former U.S. National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, he said in an interview with Carol Off, host of CBC Radio's As It Happens.

And there may be more to come.