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There is an important difference between celebration and commemoration. In considering Canada 150, the government tagline for this year’s sesquicentennial festivities, the contributors to this special issue of the Monitor argue too little of what we are seeing can, or is even intended to, lead the country to a fuller understanding of its history. To truly commemorate—whether it is Canada’s Confederation or any other moment—we need to address those things we find distasteful and disappointing, as well as those things that make us proud.
On Tuesday, April 4, 2017, the CCPA held its fourth annual telephone town hall, which enabled us to engage in a live, interactive dialogue with almost 3,000 of our supporters from coast to coast, and from the comfort of their own homes. CCPA supporters joined us from around the country, as Executive Director, Peter Bleyer, hosted a lively discussion with CCPA economists and researchers, including David Macdonald, Trish Hennessey, Erika Shaker, Scott Sinclair, Sheila Block, Hadrian Mertins-Kirkwood and Monitor editor, Stuart Trew. 
We in Manitoba find ourselves in need of a serious discussion about how to coordinate services, including lodging, for the refugee claimants who are continuing to cross the Canada-US border at Emerson, Manitoba.  This involves puzzling out the place of supports and services in the broader refugee system as well as locating refugee claimants within this system.
The first in a series Population Indicators 1,303,900 Manitoba’s population estimated by Statistics Canada as of January 1, 2016.[1] 16,200 The amount the Manitoba Bureau of Statistics estimates Statistics Canada undercounted Manitoba’s population number above. This impacts per capita transfers from the federal government to Manitoba.
OTTAWA—The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Bleyer as its new Executive Director. “We are excited to welcome Peter to the CCPA,” says CCPA President Larry Brown. “Peter brings leadership and energy to the Centre and has worked to advance progressive policy in Canada for many years.”
Illustration by Amy Thompson
Image credit: Report of the Auditor General of Canada, November 2004. A recent run-of-the-mill telemarketing call from one of Canada’s largest credit companies took on a threatening tone. Who knew that owning a credit card, purchases on which produced redeemable points for free groceries, also entailed an insidious tradeoff that invaded our privacy and left a chilling aftertaste?
This is a cautionary story of what might happen if we return to the bad old days of the RCMP Security Service, which was caught disrupting and using dirty tricks against a wide range of unsuspecting groups before it was eventually disbanded, its spying responsibilities handed to a newly formed Canadian Security Intelligence Service. It is important to remember this period in light of proposed legislation that would expand CSIS’s investigative powers as well as the types of activities its agents, and the RCMP, will consider as threats to the country.  ***