PM Layton, common sense revolution, PIAC, Option consommateurs, transport action

May 2, 2011 Election day in Canada. Wrong turn after global economic crisis. Telus wants regulation. Smaller food packages, same price.

"Does the election mark Common Sense Revolution 2.0?
Toronto Star, Olivia Ward, Apr 30 2011
Armine Yalnizyan, a senior economist at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) told the Toronto Star:  “We're at a turning point where the global economic crisis might have triggered a different look at where we're heading. But everyone wants to blame everyone else, and they're blaming all the wrong actors"

TSmart electricity meters spark privacy questions
Vancouver Sun, Derrick Penner, Apr. 29
Jim Quail, executive director of the B.C. Public Interest Advocacy Centre, said the concern is that if meters can identify patterns of electricity usage at homes in a neighbourhood, which could be a problem if criminals were able to hack into the system. “So if someone wants to know what houses to break into in a subdivision some weekend, and if they can hack into meters in the area they can tell,” Quail told the Vancouver Sun.

Transit commission OKs sweeping route changes 
Your Ottawa Region, Laura Mueller, Apr 28, 2011
A number of last-minute tweaks were made to some local routes in the plan approved by the transit commission on April 20. David Jeans of Transport Action Canada, said: “The timing of these changes will be very disruptive ( because the week after Labour Day is when people return from vacation, start the new school year and perhaps new jobs) and that will be the first day that most people hear about these changes,”  Laura Mueller, wrote for Your Ottawa Region on Apr 28, 2011.

Food packages hide reduced contents; Don't be fooled by food containers - check the per-unit price on shelf
As Montreal consumer advocate François Decary-Gilardeau, of the non-profit consumer rights group Option Consommateurs, puts it: "Things are getting smaller all the time, but the prices never go down. It's not illegal, but... (1526 words)
Postmedia News, Susan Semenak, Apr. 29


The Gazette, Jason Magder, Apr. 29
Telecommunications company Telus Corp. is urging the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission not to allow its competitors to horde content for the exclusive use of their subscribers. The company is the only one of the major telecommunications companies that does not hold television networks as part of its assets," the Montreal Gazette reported.