Murray Dobbin, now living in Powell River, BC, is one of Canada’s most popular progressive political commentators and analysts and has been a journalist, broadcaster, author and social activist for over forty years. He is a board member and research associate with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and former executive board member of the Council of Canadians. He is also a senior advisor to the Rideau Institute on International Affairs.
He has been a columnist for the Financial Post and Winnipeg Free Press, contributes guest editorials to the Globe and Mail and other Canadian dailies and now writes a bi-weekly column for the the on-line journals the Tyee and rabble.ca. He has also prepared several radio documentaries for CBC Radio’s Ideas series on subjects including taxes, human rights and the free-market reforms in New Zealand.
He has written five books, three of them critical profiles of Canadian politicians. His last book, “Paul Martin: CEO for Canada?” looked at Martin’s corporate approach to running the country. He was the first to publish books on Preston Manning and Kim Campbell. His 1998 book, “The Myth of the Good Corporate Citizen – Democracy under the rule of Big Business,” has been described as a citizens’ guide to globalization.
Murray is also well known as a public speaker, addressing union and NGO conventions and educational conferences. He focusses on the role of corporation in modern world, on the Bay Street initiative called deep integration, and on the threat to public services posed by public private partnerships (P3s). He is now exploring the ideas and practice of “prosperity without growth” a radical response to the economic and climate crises, and the development of a “politics of meaning” that addresses the need to do progresive politics differently. He can be reached at murraydobbin[at]shaw.ca.
Yes, please send me any stories you have on the CPCCA and i will follow up if I can…
Murray
Hi Victor…That’s fine by me…
cheers, Murray
Hi there… For sure feel free to use any of my articles. happy to have you link to my site…
cheers, Murray
Hi Adrian… I would be delighted to have you use my writings any time you like. I would just ask that you credit me and/or the Tyee, if the work appears there, and to run the articles in their entirety rather than editing them down (unless you send the edits to me for approval). Also, if you couldlink people to my bog that would be appreciated…
cheers, Murray
Hi Erik… Send me the quotes you like to use and Iam sure we can come to an agreement…
My email is mdobbin@telus.net
cheers, Murray
Hi Crystal… If you are referring to Powell River, where I live, there are lots of activists here and perhaps you could find a place to fit in with their work. My email is mdobbin@telus.net. Get in touch. There is an interesting event – called the Chamber of Commoners – taking place at Club Bon Accueil on June 9 at 7:00 p.m. It’s a activist networking meeting and will also be lots of fun. I won’t be there but I know you would enjoy it.
cheers, Murray
Provincial and federal NDP parties are completely separate beasts and always have been. You can’t attack Layton for Manitoba’s policies any more than you can attack Manitoba for Jack’s.
Thanks for such a generous compliment. Good advice is hard to give re: journalism. It is, in this era, a dying profession as newspapers cut back and TV news become entertainment. Your timing, while admirable, is not good re: making a living. I long ago established a very small foot print and live on very little – part of my philosophy anyway, but also a practical response to the “marketplace.” I think your instinct is right: at a certain point you learn more from doing and engaging the world than you do at school. You could start by doing some volunteer writing for on-line publications like rabble or thetyee.ca and then you build up a portfolio that you could take to a daily paper. My best advice, unfortunately, is to find some paying job (related or unrelated to public policy) and try to do writing on the side until you have a portfolio that can attract attention and then transition into full time work. Good luck…
murray
Hi Bruce… Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I was down east for a week and am still catching up on correspondence. Your questions are all good ones but for the moment at least they will have to wait. No one likes to talk about the $500 billion in mortgages CMHC holds – a big chuck of which are those sold a zero down and 40 year terms. When many of them default – as the bankers know they will – it is govt money which will be spent paying off the banks. And I did do a follow up blog quoting the Bank of Canada and moody’s who clearly disagree with the notion that the banks are prudently managed.
I hope to get back to you…
cheers, Murray