Consumer Policy Institute warns of big rate hikes and pressure for taxpayer bailout.
Canada could be about to make corporate ‘crime’ less criminal — and more lucrative

Patricia Adams: There’s no evidence that deferred prosecution agreements enhance anything other than agency budgets.
Decriminalizing corporate corruption

Deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs) make a mockery of the criminal justice system. Join Probe International as we get to the root of this problem at our final Grounds for Thought discussion night of the year: Tuesday, November 28 @8PM.
No DPAs
Read Probe International’s submission to the Government of Canada’s invitation to Canadians for their views on potential enhancements to the Integrity Regime and on considerations regarding the possible adoption of a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) regime in Canada. Probe International’s response: No DPAs. Learn why.
How megaprojects bankrupt public power utilities and leave regulators in the dark: report

Government-owned power utilities across Canada are pushing ahead with multi-billion dollar megaprojects, while undermining the regulators put in place to protect consumers from such reckless behaviour, according to a new analysis from the Consumer Policy Institute.
Once again: Sichuan quake highlights dam risk
The 7.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan province earlier this month, and a devastating 2008 quake in the same province, are likely linked to the region’s dam-building program, says expert.
Solid as a rock
Ensuring public stability has become even more of a priority for President Xi Jinping in the sensitive lead-up time to the CPC Central Committee’s 19th Party Congress scheduled for later this year. Law enforcement and local officials must guard against potential threats as never before, including the threat of disaster. A 7.0-magnitude earthquake in southwest China’s Sichuan province earlier this month saw “earthquake rumours” added to the growing list of bans in recent weeks.
The rule of silence
Will the death of China’s best-known pro-democracy activist in state custody embolden the country’s dissident movement despite efforts to erase his memory?
How megaprojects bankrupt utilities

Brady Yauch, executive director of Consumer Policy Institute, describes the looming threat to public institutions – and to our pocketbooks.
Chinese dissident Hu Jia ‘critically ill’ in Beijing hospital
Veteran dissident Hu Jia hospitalized for acute illness under watch of China’s state security police.
International lawyers, judges call on Beijing to release detained rights lawyer Xie Yang

“Lawyers in China like Xie Yang are indispensable in ensuring human rights protection and upholding the rule of law in China” reads a statement issued by the International Commission of Jurists calling on Beijing to release Xie, who has reported torture during his incarceration.
China tightens its grip over which journalists can report news online
It’s World Press Freedom Day and in China that means more restrictions have been announced.
The U.S. keeps a list of trade beefs with Canada – and booze, property rights and Can-con are all on it
There is a hefty document published each year listing foreign trade policies the U.S. either doesn’t like, or that could pose a problem for U.S. exporters. So that begs the question: What Canadian trade policies annoy the U.S.?
What rivers with rights mean for the Mekong
What does the decision to recognize the Ganges and the Yamuna rivers as living entities mean for the construction of the controversial Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams on the Mekong River?
They’re watching you
Canadian leading cyber sleuth, Ron Deibert, discusses the use of technology to censor, hack and spy. Trevor Cole for The Globe & Mail.