Jacked Up

Youth-anize the vote!

2011-04-04T20:03:00.000-04:00

I don't know if this will really surprise anyone, but it's just another instance of the unprecedented hostility Harper's Conservatives hold towards anyone with opposing views. It's the kind of openly hostile environment that leads to rogue supporters committing despicable acts.

It's especially prevalent because of how much media attention the youth vote has been getting in this election. It's becoming common knowledge that the more apathy the Conservatives can stir up the better it is for their fortunes in this election. Hopefully these students getting the boot will add fuel to the growing fire of interested youth rising up against the dis-respect this Conservative government has become notorious for.

Keon Responds to Vandals

2011-04-04T17:11:00.001-04:00

It's nice to see that so many people across the nation were as disgusted as I was by the vandalism of Ryan Keon's campaign signs in Nepean-Carleton. Apparently there's been an out-pouring of support from people of all different political stripes, from just about every corner of the country.

As awful as it is that someone would stoop to this kind of targeted assault on a campaign, and as a result the institution of democracy, it's at least encouraging to see that Ryan is undeterred and fighting on.

Despicable

2011-04-02T14:53:00.000-04:00

What is happening in Canada? This looks like some U.S. fanatical stuff, right here in South Ottawa.

It's honestly disturbing.

Keys to running a campaign

2011-04-01T10:04:00.000-04:00

Exams and papers on the go so no time to really comment on it other than:

Hilarious, thank you Scott Feschuk for summing up Harper's campaign thus far. Let's hope this is the track the Conservatives stay on for the rest of the campaign.

Holy Back-pedalling Batman!

2011-03-31T16:23:00.005-04:00

Less than 24 hours after publicly challenging Michael Ignatieff to a 1 on 1 debate, Harper is wussing out. Ignatieff originally responded to the challenge with:

"Any Time, Any Place."

Now first, it seemed that it wouldn't happen because the boring old media didn't like the idea of a face-off between the major parties while leaving out the NDP, but then good 'ol Don Newman stepped up to the plate and offered to moderate.

So now you have a challenge laid and accepted, and one of the most respected journalists in Canada offering to referee, looks like there's gonna be fireworks... right?!

WRONG! Harper backed down!!! He's now decided there's a whole whackload of conditions that need to be met, and that a 1 on 1 is actually not such a good idea for him.

Think of how huge that debate would have been, it easily could have been a major turning point in the election, particularly because Harper wouldn't be able to mis-inform the electorate for an entire 90 minutes (A possible record for the PM)!

You don't lay down a challenge and then back out, doesn't matter if it's 19th century duelling or 21st century professional MMA. It's just something you don't do!

I knew Harper was sleazy and dis-honest, but I at least figured he was a shrewd enough strategist. As a hockey fan at the least Harper should know, if you drop the gloves and challenge another player, you better not skate away as soon as he takes off his mitts.

Eroding Democracy

2011-03-31T10:54:00.001-04:00

Yes I'm aware that it's nearly 24 hours old and has pretty much made the rounds, but for anyone who hasn't read it yet, the linked article is worth the read:

Canada Watches Its Democracy Erode.

Contempt = Impeachment

2011-03-26T17:29:00.005-04:00

I'm not sure if the severity of this whole contempt thing is resonating with Canadians, but it should. For starters, Harper dismissed the non-confidence vote over contempt as (and I paraphrase) "just a vote in parliament". Can someone please tell me what should be more important to our Prime Minister, who's job it is to lead parliament, than a vote in parliament?? Arguably the most crucial aspect of a Prime Ministers job description is to try to retain the confidence of the House of Commons, and respect parliament by being honest (at the very least).

This Contempt ruling (and resulting vote of non-confidence) is basically the Canadian equivalent of impeachment. Legally, Parliament even has the power to imprison anyone convicted of contempt of parliament. It is not a joke. This was not "just another vote" Steve, you have orchestrated what was possibly the biggest slap in the face that democracy in Canada has ever seen.

Here we go!

2011-03-25T14:44:00.004-04:00

I have (clearly) not been blogging in quite awhile, but nothing gets me going like an election.

Harper's comments after the vote this afternoon make it clear that he does not want to address any of the real issues surrounding this non-confidence motion. He did not take any questions (surprise surprise), and he made it sound like the government fell over the budget instead of over the fact that he oversaw the first government in Canadian history to be found in contempt of parliament. The lack of respect the Conservatives have show for Canada's institutions are the real issue here, not the budget.

Also, when talking to the press, Harper mentioned that the economy is the main focus of the Conservatives, which is all fine and good (if they could handle it), but when it comes at the expense of every other democratic institution in our country it's just not good enough. I for one want a government that can manage the economy and at the same time support what should be a thriving and free democracy.

What?

2009-09-25T20:10:00.003-04:00

Non-Sequitur Comic

Carbon Capture is not the Answer

2009-09-24T13:20:00.003-04:00

Carbon Capture and storage may not be all it's been cracked up to be. I'm no expert on this subject, I figured it would end up backfiring because it was a "sweep it under the rug" solution. Turns out, it may be very economically and financially difficult to facilitate as well. That's according to a new peer-reviewed study as reported in the G&M.

Here's some of an interview conducted by CBC with the report's author, Graham Thompson:

CBC: ...So what did you find in your report?

THOMPSON: Yeah well it's gonna be very very difficult to do though there are some pilot projects. They have the one in Weyburn, Saskatchewan where they're taking CO2 that's been captured from Gestication plant in the US and they're pumping it by pipeline to Saskatchewan and putting it underground. Now that's about roughly one million tons of CO2 a year that they're doing there and what we're finding is the scale necessary to do this is going to be astronomical - as opposed to putting one million tons of CO2 into the ground as if you're in Weyburn, we're talking billions of tons a year, we're talking hundreds and hundreds of projects the size of Weyburn to sequester billions of tons around the planet and so that's gonna cost us a lot of money. Another way of looking at it is think of all the oil we pump out of the ground today worldwide, well imagine that in CO2 liquid form being put back into the ground and not being put back into the ground in the current oil wells. They're actually drilling new wells all over the world to pump into saline aquifers. It's going to be very expensive to do, trillions of dollars. The thing is that politicians are saying look, this is a solution. We can keep on burning oil and gas and coal if we can sequester the emissions underground and what they're not really telling you is no one knows how to do that long scale for centuries at the gigantic scale that we need to mitigate climate change.

CBC: What kind of response are you getting to your report, given that this carbon capture and storage is really a cornerstone of the discussions of how to reduce CO2 emissions? What are they saying to you?

THOMPSON: Well this paper was peer-reviewed so even though I'm a newspaper columnist I spent a year at University of Toronto on a fellowship and I was doing research on this so this paper actually was reviewed by scientists and I gotta say what people hear and are telling me as well is scientists, the ones who are questioning this are saying a big problem with CCS, carbon capture and sequestration is you know maybe we can do it ... at a small scale or a moderate scale but politicians are painting it as if we can do this on a huge scale and then the problem with that is it lulls people into a false sense of security that we'll solve this problem.

Don't get me wrong, i'm not against Carbon Capture as a part of the solution, but as the be all end all answer to CO2 emmissions? I think a lot of the money that would go into CSS, should be put towards green energy R&D, as well as actually facilitating the changes to our energy sources.

Obama is responsible for the Holocaust Museum Shooting!

2009-06-11T14:26:00.003-04:00

That's according to Glenn Beck and Fox news. Joseph Palermo at Huffington Post had quite a take on this kind of spin.

From his article:

In Beck's world President Obama brings "identity politics" and "political correctness" to the White House, and it's the "Left" that is "racist" because unlike conservatives, who judge people only on their individual merits and character (the three white men sitting at Beck's table nodding in agreement), all liberals see is people of different races and classes and genders, which "divides" America. And Obama's "socialistic" policies are leading people of dubious sanity to become unglued, and therefore the outbreak of right-wing violence is Obama's fault. Talk about spin! Only through a conscious and disingenuous effort could anyone link the shooting today at the Holocaust Museum to President Obama.

Beck and his guests at the opening of his show today all agreed that the Nazis were not rightwing but a bunch of leftwingers (like Obama and Nancy Pelosi). That is pretty weird when you think about how that tidbit of agitprop must disappoint a lot of white supremacists. All those white guys who hail Hitler and the Nazis because they were so good at kicking the crap out of Socialists, labor unionists, Communists and Soviets, women who didn't know their place, and even "degenerate" Dadaists and surrealists, and don't forget the Jews. What self-respecting Neo-Nazi or Ku Klux Klansman (or good ol' boy at the Council of Conservative Citizens) wants to hear that Hitler was like Michael Moore and Al Franken? But it doesn't matter because Beck is not appealing to his viewers' brains but to their guts. And all those "isms" sound the same to 'em anyhow.

Just when I thought the far right couldn't possibly get any more psychotic...

Next Minister Mentioned in "The Tape"

2009-06-10T17:24:00.003-04:00

It seems that Jim Prentice is next, according to this article at Oil Week Magazine.

New Tory Drug Law

2009-06-04T13:37:00.004-04:00

According to The Montreal Gazette,

A federal bill to impose automatic jail terms for drug crimes, for the first time in Canada, is headed for passage in the House of Commons in a final vote that could happen as early as today.

The Liberals are apparently going to vote in favour of this, despite being warned by numerous experts that it will assuredly do nothing but fill up Canadian prisons, and become more of a burden for Canadian tax payers.

That's not to mention that there is no evidence to support the theory that this will reduce drug crime. It'll just put some small time dealers in jail, while doing nothing to stop the big drug lords of course. Example A - the U.S. Their war on drugs has been a complete failure and waste of resources.

If Ignatieff is actually going to try and use education and knowledge in his favour (which he should), he can not support this bill. Instead he should do the rational and logical thing and oppose it. He should try to educate Canadians so that they will realize that prison sentences, particularly those of the mandatory variety, are horribly bad policy.

By supporting this bill Ignatieff is pandering to two kinds of people: those who are un-knowingly ignorant of the fact that this law will help no one, and those who are too stubborn to change their beliefs just because a few facts stand in the way.

The first kind of person is who Ignatieff should appeal to with reason and logic, and the other type, he won't win over anyway because it's the base of the Conservative party.

Raitt-Gate

2009-06-04T13:00:00.003-04:00

So the opposition want Lisa Raitt to resign over the fact that secret documents were left at CTV for almost a week. I can see the rationale, especially since Harper himself said that cabinet ministers would be held "personally accountable for the security of their staff and offices." And that "Ministers are always responsible for the security of classified documents."

Despite this, I think that Harper was right in refusing to let Raitt step down and heed the calls from opposition parties. Raitt was working when the file was mis-placed, and not carrying to a from her boyfriends house, like Bernier had been. She also was very likely un-aware that the binder was missing, as it was reportedly one of many, and Raitt herself had not been the one carrying it.

The reason that i'm saying all this is, if opposition parties are going to call for Raitt's head over this issue, they will be painted as political opportunists. This is an important issue, but you have to pick your battles. If we're calling on a minister to be fired every week, people are going to stop taking us seriously. Canadians have been losing interest in politics at alarmingly high levels lately, and it's precisely this kind of attitude that is doing it.

Interesting Take on EI

2009-05-31T21:22:00.004-04:00

I just had to point out Randall Denley's column from this mornings Citizen (second time in a week, he's on a roll!).

Just a couple of the highlights:

The Liberals have taken a position that is clear and easily explainable... They want employment insurance, as we euphemistically call it, to be available anywhere across the country after only 360 hours of work. The Liberals believe 150,000 people would be helped by their policy, but the political benefit is even greater. The employment insurance system we have now is so complex and difficult to understand that any Canadian who fears losing his job would rightly worry about whether he would quality for payments. Expect the worriers to back the Liberal plan.

As it is now, Canadians must work between 420 and 700 hours to collect EI, depending on the rate of unemployment in the region in which they live.

The Conservatives have chosen to champion this absurdly complex system, although they certainly didn't invent it. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff wants change so Prime Minister Stephen Harper is against it. It's as simple as that. The substance of the matter is irrelevant

It's not an easy problem to solve. Something that treats all Canadians in the same way would be a good start, and the Liberals are on the right track there.

The recession has made fixing EI a priority. The Liberals are right to push it and the Conservatives would be smart to respond.

Denley is normally pretty Conservative friendly, so to see him speaking kind words about the Liberals lately is an encouraging sign!

Harper, Baird, Flaherty, EI and the Economy.

2009-05-26T09:53:00.005-04:00

I'll start with two separate paragraphs, from two separate articles (The first from the Ottawa Citizen, the second from the Globe and Mail:

Baird falsely portrayed the Liberal scheme for a 360-hour standard as one that would require a massive payroll tax. The Liberals said they would fund the move through general revenue.

"It would hurt an economy that is struggling," Baird said in response to a question from Layton. "Those of us on this side of the House will not buy into that socialist scheme to raise taxes purported by the leader of the Liberal party."

Notice that the citizen, in no uncertain terms, is calling Baird out for his blatantly un-true statements.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said last week that the Liberals “are suggesting that what we should do is bring in an EI system where any Canadian, anywhere in the country, in perpetuity, could work 45 days and collect EI benefits for a period up to a year.”

In fact, under the Liberal plan, someone with the minimum number of hours would qualify for just 19 weeks of EI, not a full year. And the enhanced benefits would end with the recession.

I guess the stream of bullsh*t trickles down from the top. But I think most people recognize that the Conservatives are always ready to do what it takes to stay in power, which is lie lie lie. If people knew the truth then the Cons would be in a lot of trouble, and they apparently recognize that.

The truth is that EI is possibly one of the best ways to stimulate the economy. What do you think someone who is un-employed is going to do with their first cheque in a month? Put it in their TSFA? Or buy some food and other necessities for themselves and their families. The tax exemptions that the Conservatives gave us did nothing obviously other than put a couple hundred extra in the bank (and add tens of billions to the national deficit). EI reform could pump millions into the Canadian economy.

Baird is right about one thing; the economy is struggling. It's struggling to survive this governments inept actions. I said it yesterday but i'll say it again: Conservatives are TERRIBLE when it comes to managing an economy. Tax cuts are nice, but "Tax cut" is not a synonym for "Fiscally responsible".

Wake up people, Flaherty racked up Ontario's debt, and now he's doing the same thing to Canada. How many times can you be wrong on one subject? And I don't mean wrong like he mis-under-estimated by a little bit. This is a giant screw up.

Mulroney brought Canada close to the point of being in the red as much as our total GDP. Can Flaherty and Harper top him? I wouldn't rule them out.

Tory Authority Slipping

2009-05-24T21:20:00.004-04:00

Randall Denley and I don't always see eye to eye, but his piece today in the Ottawa Citizen was pretty much right on the mark.

I say pretty much because at one point, Denley says that .

..Of these various conservative politicians, about all one could say is that they obviously aren't taking performance enhancing substances. The problem for conservatives is not just the lack of talent in leadership positions, it's the tired, small, negative views of what our city, our province and our country could become. What's the big conservative idea, the thing that would make the city, the province and the country better? About all conservatives had to offer was fiscal prudence, and even that has been abandoned at the federal level.

Denley talks as though fiscal prudence has been the legacy of Conservative governments, (a pill that way too many people are un-hesitantly willing to swallow). In reality, there have been very few recent Conservative governments in all of North America that one could call fiscally responsible.

Otherwise the article was spot on.

On a side note, Trudeau is seen as by far the best Prime Minister in the last 40 years according to a new survey. Who comes in as least popular?? Take a wild guess.

The Positive Politics Challenge

2009-05-20T11:17:00.004-04:00

In the wake of another round of Conservative attack ads,I thought it was a great time to remind liberals of the "Positive politics Challenge".

The goal is to engage the grassroots, and show Canadians that there is a bright, policy driven alternative to the senseless attacks of the Conservatives. Check out the Facebook group linked above, or the youtube page at:

http://www.youtube.com/ylcjlcvideo

Chalk River

2009-05-19T21:22:00.003-04:00

So the Nuclear Reactor in Chalk River, that currently supplies up to 80% of global medical isotopes has been shut down again. The reactor has been plagued with problems ever since it was shut down late in 2007 for safety upgrades by then President Linda Keen.

Keen was later fired by Harper's government, who said that she "lacked judgement" when she closed the plant for safety reasons. Since then the plant has experienced numerous leaks and other safety issues, the latest of which will shut it down for nearly a month. If lacking judgement is the criteria for being fired, I can think of many Conservative caucus members who should be on the chopping block for just this incident, starting with head honcho Harper.

What have the Harper Conservatives been doing?? They assured Canadians that a prolonged closure of the facility would not happen again just months ago. They obviously haven't planned for anything, and have continued to just shuffle this problem to the back of the pile.

As usual, the Conservatives are already trying to shift the blame. Tony Clement, Canada's Industry Minister said on CBC tonight that there were "plans" in place to deal with the problem. Hmmm, who are they going to fire this time?? And if they do have plans, why didn't they just plan ahead to prevent such an extended closure of such a critical facility?

What Recession?

2009-03-31T16:24:00.003-04:00

If they wanted to save jobs...

2009-03-25T12:42:00.002-04:00

The Conservatives just missed an easy and comparatively cheap way to save 800 Canadian jobs. I guess with Harper though, partisanship will always beat the welfare of Canadians.

Harper makes a good point

2009-03-22T14:07:00.003-04:00

So Harper went to go speak at a fishing and hunting conference yesterday. While there, he encouraged farmers and hunters to rally against the long gun registry by writing their MP's and urging them to support a private members bill. The private members bill in question is trying to scrap the long gun registry altogether. This is something that has been loudly opposed by the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

In a letter to Stephen Harper, they urge him to vote against the private members bill, and cite the following reasons:

"It is our assessment that Bill C-301—by softening controls on machine guns, by
allowing the transport of fully automatic and semi-automatic assault weapons to
civilian shooting ranges, by ending the registration of long guns such as rifles and
shotguns (the weapons most often used in domestic homicides and suicides),
and by relaxing the current restrictions on handguns, semi-automatic assault and
tactical weapons—would seriously compromise a system that is working to the
betterment of personal, community and police officer safety."

According to todays Ottawa Citizen, Harper said: "There are MPs in all these parties that know what we know: that law-abiding hunters and farmers are not part of the crime problem, and that you should be respected and not demonized".

Well said Steve, i'm totally in accordance with that. From now on, let's only make the non-law-abiding gun owners register their guns. We'll only make the people who are going to use their guns in domestic homicides and suicides register their weapons. Now all we need is some kind of magical formula to figure out which gun owners are going to use their weapons in a violent crime.

Honestly, how hard is it to just register your guns. It may even save someones life someday.

Students fight back against Conservative scandal

2009-03-18T16:30:00.003-04:00

The Canadian Federation of Students today called on Stephen Harper to disclose how much funding has gone in to the intentional disruption of democracy on University and College campuses accross Canada.

Many prominent Conservatives have been involved in coaching young Conservative student council candidates on how to siphon off money by creating front organizations, and taking over the student government within the schools to further their own partisan agendas.

The Conservative party of Canada never stops amazing me on their lack of class. Apparently they don't even care about democracy in Canada anymore.

Wow, as I was writting about the Conservative war on free press...

2009-03-16T17:11:00.003-04:00

So as I wrote about the Conservative attack on journalism in Canada, I noticed this disturbing article.

"At a session held in early February by the Ontario Progressive Campus Conservative Association (OPCCA) and the Manning Centre for Building Democracy, campus Conservatives, party campaigners, and a Member of Parliament discussed strategies to gain funding from student unions for the Conservative Party and ways to run for—and win—positions within student unions."

Particularly disturbing is that MP Peter Braid from Kitchener-Waterloo was in attendance, and his campaign manager was giving advice to students on how to manipulate student union funds, and use them to support their own Conservative agenda within the school, and even the federal Conservative party.

Of all the scandals in politics these days, intentionally corrupting academic institutions, and using their resources for partisan political gain has to be the most offensive I have heard of.

Braid isn't the only MP involved either. Numerous Conservative MP's have attended similar presentations all over Canada.

Hopefully Mr. Accountable himself, Stephen Harper, will do something to stop this obscene practice of infiltrating what are supposed to be our most precious and un-biased institutions.

So much for freedom of the press

2009-03-16T16:17:00.004-04:00

Since Harper has been Prime Minister, I don't think anyone would argue, there has been a bit of a crackdown on journalists. First, he told Canada that he would no longer tolerate press conferences, because those pesky interviewers dared to ask him some tough questions.

Then Conservatives had the RCMP haul away journalists in the middle of an election campaign, to keep them from asking candidates questions.

Then there was the whole thing with Obama. You know, where only two Canadian journalists could ask questions, and only those chosen by Mr. Harper himself... Or else!!

And now, the media will not be allowed to cover or hear Mr. Bush speak to 1500 invite only guests in Calgary.

With Canadians like Ezra Levant always going on about freedom of speech in any form, even when it's hateful and racist, I wonder why they aren't making such a big fuss about this media control. Harper has introduced chinese-esque journalism restrictions in Canada as a way to cling to power, and unfortunately no one seems to really notice or care.

Next thing we know, when we really do want to protest these despicable changes, we'll be stuck with limitations similar to these.

Open and Accountable to who?

2009-02-26T15:28:00.002-05:00

Because after promising openness and accountability, as well as strong leadership, I haven't seen any of the above from Harper's Conservative government.

Apparently, neither have the federal watchdogs.

Harper Spreading Democracy... ?!

2009-02-25T10:09:00.004-05:00

So the Harper government is creating an agency that will help spread democracy abroad. Good for them, fledgling democracies do need all the help they can get in getting established. My problem though is that this is coming from Harper, a man who doesn't even know the definition of democracy.

Now i'm not even talking about the fact that he rules with an iron fist, and will boot members from his caucus for *gasp* standing up for their constituents against the plethora of broken Conservative promises.

No, what I mean is that Stephen Harper has proven that he does not know the definition of the word democracy, as evidenced by this quote: "The Opposition does not have the democratic right to impose a coalition."

On second thought, maybe this agency could not only help fledgling democracies, but also those "democratic" governments that have lost their way, and are hiding from the public and even the media.

Trains

2009-02-24T22:50:00.004-05:00

I'm too tired to ramble in depth about this but I mentioned it a minute ago so I figured i'd better say something. What is the matter with Harper and Baird (aside from the obvious)? They've got a real grudge against trains.

First, Baird sabotaged Ottawa's plan for light rail, and now, Harper is doing the same on a larger scale. After McGuinty and Charest managed to agree on something, and not just something, something productive, Harper is trying to kill it. What, doesn't pollute enough for you Steve? Or is it that you don't want something other than your magical tax cuts to create any jobs and relieve some stress on the markets?

On a side note, I wrote this open letter to McGuinty back in November, and it seems like he's taking my advice on a lot of the things I pointed out. Good job. Your back in my good books Dalton. Somebody has to make those hard decisions, and we can't let this opportunity for a massive infrastructure overhaul pass us by.

I was about to blog on trains

2009-02-24T22:28:00.004-05:00

But then I got caught up in Bobby Jindal's rebuttal to Obama's speech to congress.

This is the "rising star" in the republican party? I've actually seen locally made independent television commercials with better dialogue and delivery than that. That's not even taking into account the content.

According to Jindal, high speed rail and volcano monitoring are a horrible waste of money. I guess he never heard of Mount St. Helen, or the fact that the construction, maintenance and operation of a train are all job creators. Harper and Baird are all aboard the latter philosophy as well, but i'll get onto that in a bit.

What does Jindal say America needs to do to create jobs? Cut taxes of course!! That and drill for more oil "right here at home" in America.

The Republican party, in its current format, must die!

Duffy's time in senate has been a grotesque scene.

2009-02-13T20:23:00.003-05:00

Now I've always known that Stephen Harper was lacking when it came to foresight. His in-action on environment, denial of a recession etc are all good enough indicators that he's more concerned with immediate political gain than he is about actually analyzing a situation and contemplating the possible outcomes of his decisions.

Mike Duffy is proving to be yet another example of Stephen Harper's poor decision making. After Harper tried hinting at Duffy that maybe he should watch his tongue after saying (P.E.I. Premier) "Ghiz may get the 'shaft' by getting in bed with the premier of Newfoundland, and that the sight of two politicians in bed is '… a grotesque scene.'
He went even further during a party event in Winsloe, replacing the words 'two politicians' with the words 'two men.'"

Even after Harper publicly said that Duffy's comments were "inappropriate", Duffy went further and personally attacked Ghiz today, saying that Ghiz "is a “Rambo wannabe” who couldn’t match his late father’s intellect".

Now I get Harper's strategy, if he appoints to the Senate people as useless, classless and tactless as Mike Duffy, all Canadians will want to do away with our second chamber. Mike Duffy is supposed to be our sober second thought. Great.

Anyway, poor Premier Ghiz had no idea where all these personal attacks were coming from, he had even made some positive comments upon the appointment of Duffy. Ghiz said that with all the problems facing the province, he wishes Duffy would stop focusing on personal attacks (reminds me of Harper).

“Perhaps Mr. Duffy might just need to take a little time to grow into this new role,” said Ghiz.

Well I don't know about Ghiz, but in my opinion, if Duffy grew anymore it would be a... well... a pretty grotesque scene.

This is a joke

2009-02-12T21:37:00.001-05:00

It's really unfortunate that Canada has a federal government that is more than happy to make a farce out of the house of commons.

The Arts

2009-02-04T19:40:00.005-05:00

So according to the 2001 census as reported today by CBC radio one, the average earnings for someone who made their living from the arts was $22,000 dollars annually. Not only that, but since then it has decreased by a third, to $14,000 dollars per year. These figures are even taking into account that one percent of artists who have actually made it big time, so imagine what your regular every day artist really makes.

I don't know what kind of galas Stephen Harper thinks these artists are going to, unless there are some fancy galas at your local soup kitchen. This is just another example of Harper blatantly mis-leading the public to further his own agenda, regardless of how it hurts Canada's citizens and even Canada's economy.

The end of Conservatism

2009-01-29T16:43:00.003-05:00

That's what Andrew Coyne wrote about today. Basically he said that the Harper governments decision to spend so much and go into a deficit is the last straw, and that they now have failed to uphold any fiscal Conservative values. All of which could have been a lot less serious had Harper focused more on addressing the issues that were popping up for years, rather than putting all his energy into playing political games. Coyne's position is that basically Harper sold out by spending and going into deficit.

I'm not sure if he remembers the last Canadian Conservative government or not, it was a long time before Harper. Or maybe it's just selective memory, because the last Conservative government of Canada was also a monumental screw up. Same with the last Conservative government of Ontario, and all the Conservative governments of the U.S. within any kind of recent memory. All of these Conservative governments going into huge debt.

So it seems to me that Harper is just following the oft trodden path of Conservatives past by plunging Canada into a massive deficit. The only difference is this time it could potentially leave Canada in the red for over a decade.

Conservative times are tough times.

Canadians are more Conservative?

2009-01-19T11:11:00.000-05:00

That's what Harper was saying last year leading up to the election, that the people of Canada tended to lean more to the right of the political spectrum. Well according to the results of a poll recently released, common sense trumps Conservatism (for most people). Or maybe it wasn't that Canadians were more Conservative, they were just having a hard time making informed decisions with all the deliberate mis-information that the CPC had blanketed the nation with.

According to the poll, Canadians are mostly opposed to the idea of GST cuts in contrast to infrastructure and government action on keeping inflation down.

What the Conservative's are proving through offering these GST cuts is the amount of pandering they are willing do in order to cling to power, even when it's in the midst of a national crisis. They have no regrets in screwing over hundreds of thousands of Canadians, as long as they have the votes to get elected. That's not what Canada is about.

At least it seems Canadians are realizing the lies that were told to them by the Cons during the last election. Has Flaherty ever managed any finances well?? Has any national Conservative party for that matter? Not in recent memory anyway.

If the Conservatives table a budget that threatens to put Canada in a deficit for decades to come, whether it be coalition or election, the Liberal party has to do what's neccessary to protect Canadians.

CTV - Bob Fife

2009-01-09T23:56:00.000-05:00

After Duffy was appointed to the Senate for being such a loyal partisan hack, I was thinking to myself: how could they pass up poor old Bob Fife who so passionately spews Conservative talking points all over the evening news night in and night out? Well tonight Mr. Fife publicly stated that he would be happy to represent the Conservative party in the Senate. Who knows, apparently Harper will appoint any visible Conservative supporter, so maybe Bob's wish will come true. There are 12 spots to be filled this year, assuming Harper manages to cling to power.

Fife was working overtime for the Conservatives tonight, saying it would be "irresponsible" for the opposition parties to vote against the up-coming budget because of all the spending it includes (which is according to him a "dream come true" to the left-er parties). Fetterly could barely get a word in while Fife was droning on and on about how much this budget will do for Canada.

I think it will be tough to responsibly vote for this budget, seeing how the Conservatives have proved their incompetency on virtually every issue facing Canadians. The budget will need to somehow show that Flaherty is ready to confront this mess, and not worsen it further. Harper and Flaherty are now even open to "all suggestions." I have one, give the coalition a shot. Or how about, admit Conservative times are hard times, and ditch the ideology for good.

Lastly, it almost made me physically nauseous when the CTV crew were singing Duffy's praises. They lauded his integrity and professionalism over the years... Ya, ok, but only if asking leading questions and visibly showing disdain for journalistic ethics is considered integrity. There is an upside, at least he won't have as public a forum to promote his buddy Harper and the Conservative agenda. Lucky for Harper, he still has Fife at CTV to give out the daily Conservative talking points.

Canadians are still Green apparently?

2008-12-21T14:56:00.000-05:00

That's according to a new poll, as reported in the Globe And Mail.

The article also mentions how Green industries could have been moving along at full steam right now, and not asking for billions in bailouts. These Green industries could have been hiring more and more employees (and the few we do have in Canada are), instead of laying off thousands right before the holidays.

It's too bad there weren't some sort of... Green... move, or... switch, that could help stimulate the economy in these tough times. If only there were someone who could have warned us in - oh let's say October - that the Conservatives were lying about running a deficit, and about the economy being stable. Too bad there was no politician who wasn't afraid to go against the political norms to do what was right for Canada, the Economy, and the Environment, because if there had been, surely Canadians would have leapt at such a progressive and positive opportunity.

Rick Mercer

2008-12-06T12:31:00.000-05:00

He has really (justifiably) skewered Harper lately for his shady politics, and his article in today's Globe was no different.

"It began, of course, with the (Conservative) government's economic statement, a colossal misstep for Mr. Harper. The nastiness and partisanship caught everyone off guard. Sane cabinet ministers had to grin and bear it as the leader revealed a strategy that not only highlighted the very worst elements of his personality, but reinforced the nagging cliché; that this Conservative Party cares more about inflicting pain on those they dislike than offering support for anyone in need."

Right on the button Rick.

Mr. Harper is on a borderline sociopathical mission of malice, to a degree that the only person I can think to compare him to is Karl Rove (Harper may actually find that flattering).

That is all.

Harpercrites Exposed!

2008-12-03T15:36:00.000-05:00

The Conservatives just can't seem to get enough of eating their own words.

“The brutal fact here is that something has happened that has never happened before in Canadian history,” Mr. Day, the current Conservative Minister of Trade, said on CTV Newsnet on Tuesday. “And that is two federal leaders have actually signed a deal with a separatist party whose goal it is to destroy the country.”

In 2000 Stockwell Day was involved in secret back room dealings with the Bloc Québecois. A document obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that the scheme would have propelled then Alliance leader Stockwell Day to power in the coalition.

Enough said.

Democracy Delayed is Democracy Denied

2008-12-03T10:37:00.000-05:00

So let's do a little comparative analysis:

Number 1: David Warren calls a possible coalition a "Thai-style coup d'état".

Now as much as I like the guy, I don't think Dion could fool anyone into thinking he was the commander of a ruthless army. And last time I checked no politicians had been dragged into the street and shot, so we're not QUITE at the Thai level yet. I'm confident that even the dimest of the dim can see that, which leaves only Mr. Warren himself believing that claim.

Number 2: All the Conservative's are ranting and raving about the Bloc, a seperatist party, having SOOO much power.

They will not be in cabinet. They will only support mandatory confidence votes (the plethora of arbitrary confidence votes Harper held are not mandatory). Harper himself has negotiated a possible coalition government with the Bloc. And for a bunch who keep crying that democracy is going down the drain (which I'll address in a minute), they sure are content to stifle the democratic voices of Quebeckers.

This is besides the point that many of the people ranting about this party that "wants to tear the country to shreds", were saying that Alberta had to seperate to save Conservatism not all that long ago.

Number 3: Conservatives, with the support of their base, want to prorogue Parliament in order to cling to power for another month, an action that would stifle any kind of progress.

I'm pretty sure that denying a democratic vote is denying democracy. There are thousands of Canadians out there who can't afford (and I mean that in every sense), to have no action taken on the economy, and that's exactly what Harper is contemplating. If Harper gets his way, these people will have just enough time to hear his proroguation, before losing their jobs in the holiday season.

Do what's really best for Canadians and accept your fate Steve!

Number 4: "It's just not democratic!" say the Cons.

This one kills me every time. Forget the fact that Harper has tried to organize a coalition himself. Forget the fact that roughly two thirds of Canadians didn't vote for him, and let's even forget the fact that in our legal/governmental system, it in fact is totally democratic.

The simplest most to the point definition of Democracy is: Rule of the Majority.

That is exactly what is happening, the Majority of Candians did not support the Conservative party of Canada, and now, the Majority of MP's in the house of commons have decided to cooperate to lead Canada.

Now, my Tory friends, please give the senseless fanaticism a rest.

How low can he go!?

2008-11-30T20:22:00.000-05:00

So rumor has it that Harper may prorogue government until the new year. After all the tories were ranting and raving about a coalition being a power grab, he may go ahead and stop a democratic non-confidence vote in a feeble attempt to cling to power...

That's not even mentioning this Canadian watergate...

Which brings me back to the title, how low can he go?

Green 'Stimulus'

2008-11-19T10:10:00.000-05:00

So after staying quiet through the majority of Canada's last federal election, environmentalists have decided to publicly promote "Green Stimulus" as a solution to our economic woes. A green stimulus is basically government investment in Green technologies such as renewable energy, and public transit.

The hope is that this would create new manufacturing jobs and save our environment at the same time. In the U.S. 2 million jobs have been created since the government there invested some money into it, and in European countries such as Germany, renewable energy has resulted in saving and creating jobs all over the nation.

This is all fine and good, and I am quite an advocate for environmentalism and renewable energy as an economy saver. The only thing that really bugs me, is that this is virtually the same idea as what Stephane Dion proposed in his Green Shift, minus the incentives for farmers and small business owners.

These Environmentalists had a REAL shot at getting their agenda put through on a national level, and when it came down to it, they were for the most part silent. It was the Economists that eventually spoke out in favour of the Green Shift.

As I said, I am all for environment, but when an entire advocacy group that supposedly has so many supporters turns their back on a real solution, it makes me wonder how genuine these people really are.

Instead of rallying and publicly throwing support behind the only major party to ever intertwine environment and economics as the backbone of their political policy, they are now preaching to the wilfully ignorant Conservative government, who would rather base Canada's economy on a few commodoties that are in their last stages of sustainability. What then?

Who needs checks and balances!?!?

2008-11-14T11:28:00.000-05:00

Well apparently the Conservatives don't think Canada does!! Delegates at the Conservative policy convention are pushing for the

"reaffirmation of Parliament's power to ignore the Supreme Court's rulings through the notwithstanding clause of the Constitution."

Isn't it in law 101 that we learn about how the Supreme Court is one of these checks and balances? Without it, the government can trample its citizens rights without anything to overturn the offending legislation.

Makes you wonder what the Conservatives want to do that would require them to ignore the will of the Supreme Court of Canada. It's especially scary when you consider that the Conservatives are the only party that blatantly promote in-equality because of their self righteous ideologies. Let's hope that the only other form of check and balance on our PM, the rest of parliament, won't let something like this happen.

A letter to Premier McGuinty

2008-11-12T23:24:00.000-05:00

Dear Premier McGuinty,

I am writing this open letter to you in the hopes that you won’t make the same mistakes that have plagued Canada (and Ontario) for decades. I know that you are contemplating investing Billions in Nuclear energy in what I’m sure you will call “An investment in Ontario’s future”, and I strongly urge you to consider not going down this costly and in-efficient road.

NONE of Ontario’s nuclear reactors have ever been constructed on time or budget, and Ontarians are still paying for it on every electricity bill. To even be considering a massive “investment” in nuclear energy is quite insulting on its own.

Premier McGuinty, you have often talked about dedication to investing in renewable energy, but the action (or lack thereof) that your government has taken is really dis-heartening. Your ministry of Ontario website brags about how Ontario is on target to produce 15,700 megawatts annually through renewable energy by 2025. In no un-certain terms, that is pathetic. In one day, one single day, Ontario has used as much as 24,820 megawatts of electricity.

An example of the mixed messages your government has sent us is the fact that your bureaucracy allowed Ontario dairy farmer Paul Klaesi to spend over a million dollars of his own money to build the power connection (on public land) from the provinces grid to his farm. Ontario’s power company then forced him to sell it back to them for a dollar. He did all of this on a promise from your government that the excess power he generated would be bought from the province. Well, that is under review, and he’s being told they may not.

Or a more industrial scale example, of Trillium power trying to gain approval for a massive wind farm 20 km off shore from lake Ontario near Kingston. The investors are ready to go, with the only problem being a lack of approval. These turbines would need to be built near by, which would compensate for many of the manufacturing jobs lost in the automotive industry.
Ontario is blessed with such a plethora of opportunities for growing our renewable energy production; it is almost tragic that you have not capitalized on it at all in your lengthy tenure as premier.

Canada has missed out on many great opportunities to boost its economy and job growth, as well as reduce our emissions drastically. Canadians abroad are becoming overwhelmingly successful because of European governments who made a stand and forced these revolutionary changes. The plants built, manufacturing jobs created, and the ability to sell power back to the grid, have made these countries and their citizens very successful.

With the dollar tumbling, manufacturing crumbling, and the environment burning, there has NEVER been a more appropriate time to invest in a massive infrastructure overhaul. Premier McGuinty, you currently have an opportunity that you can’t afford to pass up. The people of this province can’t afford for you to pass it up. If you choose to invest in coal and nuclear energy once again, you will have destroyed an opportunity to bring Ontario and even Canada back to the forefront of global progress.

We obviously have a regressive federal government, at the very least we need you to be progressive.

I hope you won’t ignore the needs of your province for the politically expedient solution.

Mormons upset over being targeted by protests

2008-11-09T23:59:00.000-05:00

Well maybe they should have considered that there may be consequences to campaigning against equality for the LGBT communities.

Here's the backround for anyone who missed it: Story

Environmental AmBUSH

2008-11-03T22:06:00.000-05:00

Factory farms in the United States, produce approximately three times more waste than all of it's citizens combined. These farms, which produce animals for consumption on an industrial scale, are one of the biggest polluters of fresh water in North America.

The other day George Bush made sure that these types of farms would be exempt from needing any permits for their discharge, and that there would be no options for enforcement against any company that broke these rules.

This is the kind of pollution that causes E-coli in drinking water, and has devasted fish populations before.

Yet another reason to elect Obama, so that there will be some real action on the Environment in America

Don't Vote!

2008-11-03T14:27:00.000-05:00

I guess Canadians didn't get the sarcasm??

But seriously, we need enthusiasm like this in our country.

What's plaguing the Republicans?

2008-10-29T00:48:00.000-04:00

I had to share this fantastic essay with everyone.

I thought Canada needed doctors

2008-10-29T00:27:00.000-04:00

So Stanley Muwanguzi is a doctor from South Africa who has been practicing in Canada since 2002. He is now being told he is not eligible to for immigration because he has a 22 year old daughter with cerebral palsy who could be too much a drain on Canada's healthcare system. She has been in the same institution in South Africa since she was a toddler and her family has explicitly said they don't intend to move her.

Did I mention that Muwanguzi's son is a doctor who also wants to move here, and his daughter is a pre-med student at the University of Alberta?? Looks like we may lose some more talented doctors to the U.S. because of a faulty review system.

This is something that has been happening in Canada more and more frequently, and not just when it comes to the doctor shortage either. Policy makers are leaving NO room for any interpretation for special circumstances. This kind of in-flexibility really does nothing but cause problems. All thinking has been removed from the process, and the job of acceptance or rejection realistically could be done by a computer since it has obviously become so black and white.

Stories like this have unfortunately become rather common in Canada. Hopefully Muwanguzi's appeal will be successful.

Conservatives for change

2008-10-23T20:39:00.000-04:00

Well I couldn't have said it any better, so here is an inspiring story about how many life long Conservatives and Republicans have opened their eyes and realized that McCain is not the right choice, and their testimony on video.

Story

Video

Thoughts about a week old election

2008-10-20T22:43:00.000-04:00

So I didn't blog for a few days and avoided the media after the election so I could catch up with school, and mull over the election results before expressing my opinion. There are a number of things that concern me.

Firstly the turnout. I get it, our election wasn't that exciting (to many people), but wow. With roughly one third of Canadians not even bothering to vote, the Conservatives nearly won a majority with the support of only 1 in 5 Canadians. Obviously a Conservative government really bothers me, but that's not my point right now.

How can we encourage people to vote? Do Canadians not realize that thousands have fought and died for this right? Some people may argue that abstaining is a valid form of protest and expressing their dis-content with all the parties, but I find it extremely hard to believe that 33% of Canadians can't find any desireable qualities in any of the plethora of parties in the nation.

In my mind, the only conclusions i've been able to reach, are 1) people just don't care, they think politics is a waste of time and that it won't affect them, and/or 2) people believe their vote doesn't make a difference either way. Even with the fact that each vote puts money into party coffers, I do see the rationale behind the second point.

If the Bloc are able to win 50ish seats with 10% national support, it makes no sense that the Green's are unable to win a seat with 6%. Perhaps proportional representation would not have made too much of a difference in the results of this election (for anyone other than the Green party), but it may convince that 33% of Canadians that their vote will count. Electoral reform is a tough issue to tackle, and maybe i'm jumping the gun here, but Canada's voter turn-out has been falling which, in my opinion it's indicative of a serious problem.

Onto Dion stepping down, this is quite disappointing. This only proves that lies and smear tactics will work with Canadians. It really upsets me that the Conservatives were able to get away with sheer lies all throughout the campaign. This is also indicative of a serious problem.

Another problem, the rogue Liberals who insisted on hacking away at Dion from the inside right up until election day. I guess some people didn't learn from the example earlier in this decade that fighting within party lines only further alienates people who once were loyal supporters. Sure their agenda was met, and Dion is stepping down, but all they have done is shown Canadians that there is still a significant lack of unity within the party. That's counterproductive to even the potential leader they support.

I wonder if these rogue Liberals are hoping to capitalize on fundraising from a wider base in order to counter the inevitable Conservative attack ads on their next leader. I'm sure Canadians and Liberals alike aren't interested in donating their hard earned dollars to a party who now unfortunately has a history of kicking out the legs of their own leader.

I feel for Dion, I understand his plea, and I believe in the NEED to not have any more Conservative governments as much as anyone, but it's really difficult for me to get behind the party after this pathetic display of loyalty to a leader, to other Liberals, and to the millions of Canadians who desperately needed Harper out.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. I'd like to hear anyones reaction to this or any arguments against my points. I'd be happy to discuss.

Here's a great incentive to defeat the Conservatives this election

2008-10-12T12:25:00.000-04:00

Stephen Harper hinted several times that if he lost this election, he would step down as the leader of the Conservative party. Whether NDP, Green, Bloc, or Liberal; I think that's a cause that over two thirds of Canadians can unite behind.

On a somewhat related note, Harper's team says he will not take any more questions from the media until election day, to ensure no last minute gaffes. Unbelievable. For someone who is supposed to be such a great leader, he sure seems pretty scared to talk un-scripted to ANYONE. Why is Harper so scared to just speak to the people he is supposed to lead? Maybe it's because he can't answer tough questions on his awful record, or maybe because he can't defend the policies he wants to implement which have been criticized by experts on all sides. Whatever the reason, I don't want a man who is so unsure of himself that he can't even speak to the media as my countries leader.

2008-10-10T19:14:00.000-04:00

Here's an interesting take on the Dion interview on CTV. I think Mike Duffy has proved he is un-fit to be calling himself a journalist. He has shown no journalistic ethics whatsoever and is a disgrace to Canadian Media. Anyway, here is the story from the National Post:

A Dion gaffe that shows Harper's mean streak Don Martin National PostPosted: October 09, 2008, 9:34 PM

WINNIPEG - It's the new low in a snake's belly of a campaign. Liberal leader Stephane Dion misunderstands a complicated question and the Conservatives trot out leader Stephen Harper to declare it the definitive proof this Liberal leader is unfit to serve as prime minister.

What, wondered CTV's Steve Murphy in a Thursday interview, would Dion do differently to help the economy if he was prime minister today? Mr. Dion is clearly having as much trouble grasping the concept of him being prime minister as the rest of the country, so he sought clarification. Did that mean being elected in 2006, now, or on Oct 14?, he wondered.

Two moretimes the question was put before Dion sputtered the pat answer about how he'd launch a 30-day economic consultation, etc. But the reaction was almost more telling about this campaign and its characters than the incident itself.

Giddy Conservatives delayed their campaign jet's departure from Winnipeg, declared the encounter worthy of a Saturday Night Live skit without having seen it and hauled out a television so a cluster of reporters could view the puzzled expression on Mr. Dion's face as he tried to fathom the question.

Aside from the questionable ethics of CTV airing a segment when both Mr.Dion and interviewer Steve Murphy twice agreed to restart the interview toclarify the question, this is a damning insight into how desperate the Conservatives have become in their battle to belittle a Liberal leader they never dreamed could pose a threat to their government.

Before showing the unedited video that both sides had agreed not to air, CTV host Mike Duffy urged Canadians to fire up their video recorders to capture a moment he predicted would haunt the Liberal leader for the rest of the campaign.

It was an undoubtedly awkward encounter and hard not to shake your head in amazement as Mr. Murphy incredulously tried to explain himself to a baffled Dion, who finally turned in exasperation to someone off camera forclarification. But spare some empathy for Mr. Dion. It's the end of a grueling campaign,the man has admitted to a hearing impairment and the question was open to interpretation while being phrased in Mr. Dion's second language.

The bigger question is how the Conservative response fits with Prime Minister Stephen Harper's efforts to tame his hard-nosed cold-hearted image with sweaters and baby hugs.

To use his first spontaneous media appearance of the campaign to declare Mr. Dion the most unworthy of the two candidates for prime minister based on a minute of misunderstanding is not the most flattering reaction for the prime minister.

In the end the incident they hoped to use to define Mr. Dion as a confused ditherer may actually provide more telling insight into the character ofStephen Harper.

dmartin@nationalpost.com

Could you please repeat the question?

2008-10-10T01:41:00.000-04:00

So the tories are saying now that Dion can't lead, because he didn't understand a very poorly worded question from CTV-Halifax anchor Steve Murphy. The question was:

"If you were Prime Minister now, what would you have done about the economy and this crisis, that Mr. Harper has not done?"

In the middle of an election it's perfectly reasonable to believe this could have meant any number of things. Does it mean what would he have done 2 years ago? Or does it mean what would he do if appointed Prime Minister right there right then?

My first language is English and that question would throw me off. Maybe a grammar lesson for Mr. Murphy is in order. You can't mix tenses in a single question, it just doesn't make sense.

He could have worded it, "If you had been Prime Minister, what would you have done", OR "If you were Prime Minister, what would you do?"

Now Harper is pouncing on this as a chance to accuse Dion of not having or knowing any economic policy. The Conservatives have no shame and know no boundaries in doing what they can to win votes.

He's still at it.

2008-10-09T15:26:00.000-04:00

So Harper again said today that a Liberal government would wildly increase spending, and that a Conservative government would continue their record of controlled spending within their means.

How stupid do you have to be to believe this?? This is coming from the highest spending government in Canadian history. A government whose spending increases are also the highest. Harper must be hedging his bets on winning the completely un-informed vote??

He also says that "Common sense" tells us that Liberal policies will drag our economy down. Well that's not the common sense of hundreds of experts on the issue... Experts who are from Harper's exact field. So I guess not only is Harper out of touch with ordinary Canadians, but he's completely lost touch with the common sense of those in the field of economics as well.

Conservative Platform release

2008-10-07T23:04:00.000-04:00

So from what i've seen and heard, the Conservatives have missed the mark. One of my favorite excerpts:

"I wonder if universities can revoke degrees? I mean, you can lose your Order of Canada if you later prove unworthy of the honour. So why can't Calgary U. withdraw the MA in economics it once gave Stephen Harper? How many times are you allowed to be dead wrong in your exact chosen field before someone concludes that a whopping miscarriage of academic justice was executed 15 years ago?"

On another high note, 31% national support for the Liberals!! Nanos is usually quite accurate, let's hope these trends continue.

Light blogging schedule

2008-10-05T18:34:00.000-04:00

I've been slacking a bit on blogging due to the fact that i've been busy helping out Ed Mahfouz in Nepean-Carleton. Ed is running against good old Pierre Poillievre, the Conservative incumbent (for those who aren't familiar with him). No one really thought that this riding would be much of a race, but the Liberals held this riding not too long ago. And since the debates it seems the area has been completely re-energized. More volunteers have been coming into the office, and up until the other day mine was the only house on the street with a Liberal lawn sign, and now it's a sea of red.

From what I can tell, Poillievre has been somewhat complacent and over confident in this riding. Hopefully Ed can capitalize on this, as he has been getting a positive response from almost everyone he meets. Coupled with the fact that Nanos polled the Liberals up at 30% national support this weekend, people should be starting to get more interested and involved. Maybe some voters will now decide against voting Green or NDP and realize that the Liberals still have a shot to replace the Conservatives.

Save the Planet: Stop Harper

2008-10-05T18:15:00.000-04:00

Avaaz.org has posted a song by many prominent Canadian artists who have banded together to try and prevent the Conservatives from winning the up-coming election. The campaign points out that Canada's Conservative government has been one of the main obstructions in the international fight against climate change.

Debate 13

2008-10-02T22:44:00.000-04:00

The last question is a real zinger for Harper who has lied/broken more promises than there were days in this campaign. How can Canadians trust this man? How can they sit idly by while their leader on the international stage is an embarassment. Canada is falling behind the world on almost every single issue.

WHOA! Hahaha Harper just urged Canadians to take a look at their platform!! Please Harper, direct me to this platform of yours and i'll gladly read it. Of course you have to write/release one first.

Ironically enough these topics go hand in hand since Harper broke tons of promises from his last platform, possibly part of the reason he decided not to realease one this time. If he doesn't release a platform, he can't be called out for breaking any promises!

Debate 12

2008-10-02T22:24:00.000-04:00

Harper is clear on his plan? The first thing he says he'll do if he's re-elected is make sure that the economy is ok. He says that his plan is clear on that. I don't see any Conservative platform with this plan. Does he even know his plan? "Is it under the sweater?"

Debate 11

2008-10-02T22:20:00.000-04:00

Harper keeps talking about in-sufficient sentencing!! If harsh sentences worked than the U.S. would be crime free.

Debate 10

2008-10-02T22:13:00.000-04:00

On crime: Another Conservative promise that will not only be bad for the economy (as most of them are), but also will not solve the problem it is designed to fix. Sending 14 year olds to jail for life is totally in-effective and just ends up costing Canada more, without lowering the crime rate. Social programs are a key part of cutting off the problem at its roots.

Not only that, but as Dion pointed out (as have many legal experts (it seems all the experts are against Conservative policies)) taking away the power of a judge to actually make informed decisions on a case by case basis is terribly dangerous. This is exactly what the Conservative plan is going to do. That is not democracy.

Debate 9

2008-10-02T22:06:00.000-04:00

Holy question dodger batman! Harper can't defend any of his non-sense, this time he was asked a direct question "If the arts programs you cut were under-performing so much, why has your Conservative government refused to show their analysis on those cuts".

You could see Harper mulling over his answer even while the question was being asked, and when it was his chance to speak... yup, he totally ignored the question. He went on about his relief to families and children who take lessons blah blah blah.

Take some responsibility Harper! Be honest about the real reasons behind the cuts, ideology!

Debate 8

2008-10-02T21:54:00.000-04:00

Harper's answer on the arts totally reminded me of one of his sweater vest commercials. That look in his eye and the camera slowly panning in towards him. Then he says he'll give cuts to families who send a kid to some sort of cultural activity. That doesn't do much for those who lost all their income because of his ideological tax cuts though. Harper doesn't care about the manufacturing sector, or the arts sector apparently, both are huge for our economy. If you think it's bad now, vote Harper in again and we'll see how far he can actually drag our economy down.

Debate 7

2008-10-02T21:49:00.000-04:00

The nerve of Harper criticizing Liberal health cuts!! He wants it to be privatized! Oh good, Layton has called him out on it.

Somehow Harper is still trying to prove he supports public health care though. Even though he led a private citizens group with the hopes of privatizing the system, which has worked REAL well in the U.S. (sarcasm).

Debate 6

2008-10-02T21:38:00.000-04:00

Well Harper got totally grilled on the environment. Defineatly an F- for him in that category. He couldn't even defend his attack ads on the Green Shift because they simply aren't true. I hope Canada is tuning in to see this liar finally be accountable to someone for once.

Debate 5

2008-10-02T21:29:00.000-04:00

Harper wants to do less on the environment so that the economy will be ok... well that hasn't worked since he's been in power so far. And for an economist he sure doesn't listen to many experts in his field who say that the Green Shift will not only cut emissions effectively, but BOOST the economy. It has been very profitable in every country that has implemented it in the same fashion as the Liberals are proposing. As Layton said earlier to Harper, does he not care? Or is he just incompetent?

Debate 4

2008-10-02T21:24:00.000-04:00

Nice, Harper is asked "Are your policies working?" Even Harper stuttered on that one. Obviously he couldn't say "no" so he did what he does best and lied. He went back to his old "The economy is on course."

Well if the course is downward spiral Harper is right on the money.

Debate 3

2008-10-02T21:19:00.000-04:00

Jack attack on the Green Shift using bogus lies just like Harper. These two are pathetic. Oh well Dion backed it up referencing success stories and experts. The NDP and Cons have weak/in-existent environmental policy. No wonder they always attack the Liberals.

Debate 2

2008-10-02T21:06:00.000-04:00

Duceppe brought up a valid point that in these times we need sustainable development. The economy can not succeed without environmental success, they are tied together. Once again Harper side steps the question. It seems as though Harper doesn't know what's going on unless he's attacking someone or talking about his garbage policies. No wonder the Conservative's don't have a platform, they have no strategies that Canadians can actually get behind.

Debate 1

2008-10-02T20:56:00.000-04:00

Did Stephen Harper even have an answer to the first question? He did nothing but attack, and totally avoided answering what the Conservatives would do for the economy... oh wait, that's because the Conservative's think the economy is fine.

If this doesn't scare the hell out of you, well it should

2008-09-29T20:16:00.000-04:00

Jack Cafferty on Sarah Palin.

Conservative platform??

2008-09-29T10:37:00.000-04:00

So a lot of people are speculating on whether or not the Conservatives will release a platform. Of course they won't. Last time they released a platform, they broke tons of promises. Releasing a platform would give the other parties some ammo against the Tories by highlighting the fact that they don't stick to their guns when it comes to policy.

Another reason Harper won't release a platform is because he know those "ordinary Canadians" he's trying so hard to court would be terrified of his vision for the country. We've seen these failed policies south of the border. The Americans elected a right wing nut twice in a row, and now he has the lowest approval rating of any President in U.S. history. Looks like Canada is going to choose to learn the hard way that right wing politics are bad for everyone.

Criminal Justice Laws

2008-09-24T11:24:00.000-04:00

I've blogged before on this topic, but I will do it again since Harper has been going on about his tough on crime stance. I don't know how to make this any clearer, but to those who think harsh sentences work, it is proven in many, many studies, that sentences are not a deterrent. How many people speed, even though they know the risks of being caught? For immediate personal benefit, people will sometimes do things they realize are illegal.

In an article where experts gave their opinions on the proposed Conservative crime measures, Craig Jones who is director of a rehabilitation centre said that "It's an Old Testament view - eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth. And if somebody does something wrong we've got to throw the full force of the criminal justice system at them. If that worked, then the United States would be virtually crime free because they have mastered retribution and vengeance and incarceration . . . the evidence is: punishment, deterrence, denunciation does not work. It does not create safer communities."

Harper even admitted that he's listening to those "ordinary Canadians" again instead of educated experts on how to deal with crime, waving off suggestions that maybe he should listen to some criminologists. "He brushed aside the concerns of numerous criminologists who, having studied 25 years of American criminal justice policy, warn the Conservative approach won’t reduce crime but will fill expensive prisons."

Harper is pandering to the max. He is using failed policies or policies he himself knows won't work to try to win over the votes of Canadians who aren't aware of the facts.

To actually stop violent crime you must couple prison sentences with the community and social programs, but as soon as you mention these programs to Harper he calls you soft. This is another example of his unwavering ideological stances, even when they are clearly against the best interest of his country.

Harper's crime laws will make the justice system more expensive, as well as fail to actually stop any crime. He knows this and refuses to acknowledge it. This is not what Canada needs.

On election day, ignore partisan ideologies and vote for Canada.

Artists aren't ordinary people?

2008-09-24T11:09:00.001-04:00

That's according to our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper. Well let me assure those who are confused, artists are not rich and elite except for a small minority, just like most Canadians aren't rich. Here's a video which has some "ordinary Canadians" speaking out against the arts cuts: Video

Those poor old Republicans

2008-09-23T14:58:00.000-04:00

Today McCain's campaign had some words to say about the New York Times news paper. The campaign said that the Times were "150% behind Barack Obama". They also attacked the news paper's journalistic credibility. McCain's campaign said "Whatever the New York Times once was, it is today not by any standard a journalistic organization". Wow, harsh words.

So McCain is such a "straight shooter" and a "maverick" that he's taking on media bias in America. Good on him. I wouldn't have started with The Times though, when Fox News is still spreading their malicious propaganda. The other day a Fox news pundit even went so far as to call a CBC editorial author a "pig" several times because she expressed left wing views. Hmmm, that's not overly biased.

Ken Dryden's Inspirational Speech

2008-09-22T14:44:00.000-04:00

Here is the text of Ken's speech that was delivered yesterday:

We’re now about a third of the way through this election campaign. What’s been happening up until now? Where does it all seem to be going?

Stephane Dion has been talking about our economy – our economy now and in a very changing world; about the environment; about poverty, what it does to people, to kids, and the need to engage that fight now.

But really, up to this point, Mr. Harper has controlled the message of this election. Yet, this message has often been odd and surprising. Like their slogan: “We’re better off with Harper.” This is their slogan; their ad – “We’re better off – with Harper” – like saying “taking everything into consideration, despite all this or that, on the whole, really, probably we’d have to say, (“we’re better off with Harper”). Not exactly a ringing endorsement. Nothing energizing about it, nothing exciting. Nothing that makes you want to wake up in the morning and race into the possibilities of your day. Yet this is their message. Even in their dreams they can’t quite express anything stirring, anything big. Is this what being a Prime Minister is about? What Canada is about?

Then there’s the blue vest, the “Mr. Nice Guy” ads. Ad firms are paid millions to tell the story their client wants told. It’s much easier for them when it’s a new “product” or a new “person” launch. When the information they provide is the only information – when the public knows nothing else. The problem for Mr. Harper is that the public does know something else. They’ve been watching him for 2 ½ years and Stephen Harper, they know, may be lots of things, but he’s not a “nice guy.” He’s not.

Nice guys don’t cut literacy programs. Nice guys don’t cut funding to women’s groups, aboriginal groups, health and childcare and poverty and disability groups. Toying with them month after month, teasing them with silence and desperate hope. If, they say to themselves, if I don’t say anything, if I just go quiet, maybe I might get something. Please. Then crumbs, or nothing.
Nice guys don’t decide there’s only one voice in this country that matters. Not these voices of our communities. Not those of his own Cabinet or Caucus. Not voices in the arts who get their programs cut because they say things that might make us squirm. Not any voice competent and professional who disagrees – Linda Keen, Adrian Measner, Jean-Guy Fleury – who then feel the pulverizing weight of a Government machine come down on them just so they know: you don’t mess with “the vest”. Arts groups, literacy and poverty and childcare groups – it’s the same story. Nice guys don’t make the weak weaker and the vulnerable more vulnerable.

Nice guys don’t act like there are Canadians and not-quite Canadians. Those who fit Mr. Harper’s understanding of how life is supposed to be lived, and those, Canadians too – single mothers, addicts, gays and lesbians – who don’t. And nice guys don’t take someone else’s person, as he did Monsieur Dion, they don’t take their personality, their character, their life, what they’ve worked hard to build, what is decent and substantial and good. What they’ve earned. They don’t take that, twist it, stretch it, caricature and distort it. They don’t buy air time and in front of millions of people, assassinate it. And pretend, ahh, that’s just politics.

Oh, and the puffin and the poop – oops, sorry. Didn’t mean it. Just like I don’t mean all the other just-as-new ads on the Conservatives’ website, that reach tens of thousands just like the Mr. Nice Guy ads on TV, that are just as abusive as the others in the pre-Mr. Nice Guy time.

If it quacks like a duck, put a blue vest on it, it’s still a duck.

But who says you need a “nice guy” to be a Prime Minister? It’s a tough, often disagreeable job. As they say about war – with the enemy all around, who do you want in that foxhole next to you. In politics, in sports and business, some not-so-nice guys are good leaders and win, and some nice guys are good leaders and win too. And some nice guys and not-so-nice guys fail. Being a good leader isn’t about that. It’s something more.

From these first 13 days, it is clear that Mr. Harper has decided this election is about him. He’s saying to Canadians: I’m a leader. I know what I want – I’m decisive – I deliver. And that, he says, is leadership. And in uncertain economic and global times, he says, Canadians need that and want that. But what Mr. Harper confuses is the posture of leadership, and the substance of leadership. Leadership is . . . leading – getting others to follow. But critically, fundamentally, leadership is direction. It is going . . . somewhere. The question is “where”?

Leadership matters because the “where” matters, and it’s the job of a Prime Minister to know better than anyone else what the best “where” is. For the country. For your life and my life. That’s real leadership. As a golfer, I can hit the ball a long way. The problem is I can’t hit it in the right direction. And a ball hit – decisively, competently – in the wrong direction is a ball that goes further and further and further into the woods. History is filled with leaders who have competently, decisively gone in the wrong direction with disastrous results.

Where is Mr. Harper’s “where”?

He doesn’t seem to want to talk about that. In making this election all about him, he is doing his best to make this election about nothing. It’s his “Seinfeld campaign.” But in 2008, how can that be? This is a time when the cost of carbon economically and environmentally is forcing the world’s countries to re-imagine the future. To reward the constructive and punish the destructive. To act. To change. To create the hard-won possibilities to compete in the economy ahead. It’s a time when the gap between rich and poor is growing. When too many Canadians live the way no Canadians should have to live. When too many don’t have a real chance at a real future.

It’s a time when our children need more and better opportunities to learn – when they’re young and need a good start; later in college and university. A time when aboriginal peoples finally and forever need the chance of a full Canadian life. It’s a time when, as Canadians, we need to think about ourselves differently. We are 33 million people – one of the world’s largest economies; one of the world’s richest nations; with a land mass so big and abundant amidst a world of countries that have neither. We are safe, secure and stable; we can count on tomorrow, plan for tomorrow, imagine and build tomorrow, when just about everyone else cannot.

With our French and English past, with our present where people from almost everywhere live within our borders – we are a country which has learned to live with difference, accept difference, learn from difference; live the global world of the future, when to much of the rest of the world difference still means guns and blood. Countries come and go, prominent at one time, pushed to the sidelines in another. History is a long time. And undeniably, whatever Canada has been in the past we will be far more in the future. The world knows that. We need to know that too. And our leaders need to know that, and embody it and act that way in everything they do.

There is more to us, more to Canada, than tax breaks as the answer for everything. More to Canada than life as pieces and parts – East; West. Quebec; the Rest of Canada – firewalls everywhere. More to us than Mr. Harper’s small, pinched vision of ourselves and our future. “Better off with Harper”? NO. We are more than this.

This election is about something.

Stephane Dion may get a lot of criticism, but he is trying to make this campaign about something. Mr. Harper is not. Leadership, real leadership, is first of all, most of all, knowing what’s important – then focusing on it, sharing it with others, then determinedly, relentlessly, together, getting there. I don’t believe in “hidden agendas.” I find arguments like that just too easy. I just want to know where Mr. Harper’s going. Tell me. Tell us. What is your vision of this country? How should it work? What should it be? What is the best “US” now and for the future? How does Canada become what Canada can be? Tell us. We need to know.

Tell us how, person to person, we, as Canadians, should relate to each other? What we can expect of others, and what others can expect of us? Tell us what role government should play, and shouldn’t? Tell us about families, in busy, complicated real, not fanciful lives, how as parents we give ourselves and our kids a real chance at all that’s in us to be. Families are not just card games with kids – tell us. We need to know.

And once you’ve told us that, tell us why you’re not saying to Canadians that to realize this vision, one you believe so important to our present and future, so unbelievably exciting to you and to all of us, that you need us, all of us, that you need a majority to do it? Say it, say it, why wouldn’t you? Shout it from the rooftops – – after you’ve told us your vision of the country, and for the country. After you’ve decided this campaign is not about nothing.

Mr. Harper wants this campaign to be about nothing because on all those things the campaign needs to be about, he has nothing to offer. This campaign is NOT about Mr. Harper. It is NOT about him. It is about our present and future economy, about climate change, poverty and learning. It is about all Canadians having a real chance. It’s about encouraging, allowing, seeking out voices different from our own, that make us smarter; that bring us to our best and keep us from our worst. It’s about our understanding of ourselves as a country, about the importance of Canada in the world of our future. This is a campaign about BIG, IMPORTANT things.

In an election about nothing, Mr. Harper will win. In an election about something, we will win. We have 23 days.

THIS IS NOT ABOUT HIM. THIS IS NOT ABOUT NOTHING.

End Speech. Now tell me that is not compelling.

Wake up Canada

2008-09-21T11:19:00.000-04:00

Just in case you haven't read Rob Silver's blog on the end of Canada's environmental movement yet, click here.

Dion Stands up for The Arts (coupures dans la culture)

2008-09-21T10:56:00.000-04:00

Yesterday Stephane Dion pledged $530 Million for artists accross Canada which includes a reversal of the cuts that the Conservatives made. This is good news for all of Canada since the amount spent on the arts in this country brings back revenue at an exponential rate.

For those who don't mind a little bit of swearing (and French), here's a video showing how the Conservatives decided where to cut arts money. As it points out at the end of the video, each dollar invested in the arts brings $11 back in benefits to Canada. Even if you don't understand any French, watch the video.

This is not a Conservative Party

2008-09-19T16:03:00.000-04:00

Artists from accross Canada, in collaboration with The Department of Culture are staging a nation wide musical protest against our current Conservative government. The concerts will be held a few days before the election all accross the country.

From the Department of Culture website: "This is not a fight about money. This is not a fight for the inherent value of cultural expression. This is not a fight about this or that ideology. This is not a fight about what percentage of GDP should go here or there. This is not a fight to save our national reputation. This is a fight for all of the above. It’s about how all of these things serve each other - arts, healthcare, sports, education, agriculture, the environment, and immigration. We are battling the false dichotomies espoused by the Conservative government and their ilk. This is a movement to fight for progressive social and cultural values through artist-initiated actions that employ the skills, experiences, collaborative methods and imagination that define artists’ work. When it comes to the current government specifically, we don’t like their priorities, we don’t like their values, we don’t like their secrecy, we don’t like the many cuts to our allies and we don’t like the cuts to the arts."

The Event page for Ottawa touts a similar message. For anyone who likes music, supports the arts, or even if you just can't stand living under this oppressive Conservative government any longer, spread the word and look for concerts in your area!

Strong Economic (mis)Management from Harper

2008-09-18T16:29:00.000-04:00

Well here are some facts about Harper's and Jim Flaherty's economic record:

Mr. Harper's Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, sat at the cabinet table with John Baird and Tony Clement that produced a budget going into an election that left Ontario with $5.6-billion deficit.

The Harper government is the largest spending government in Canada's history.

Against the advice of an overwhelming majority of economists, Mr. Flaherty cut the GST instead of other taxes, costing the federal budget $11 billion annually (emphasis on “instead of other taxes”).

Federal spending increased over 14 per cent in the two years under the Conservative government.

Statistics Canada has reported that the Canadian economy is enduring the worst economic growth and productivity since 1990 when Brian Mulroney was Prime Minister.

Could someone please point me in the direction of any recent National Conservative government that had a good economic record???

Cons show their true colours

2008-09-18T13:11:00.000-04:00

We all know that the Tories have a history of being insulting and full of contempt towards many average Canadians, but you'd think they would rake that kind of behaviour in during an election campaign at the very least. Once again however two Conservatives have been caught making shocking remarks about the Listeria outbreak and a comment that could be seen as racist and prejudice, reffering to aboriginal protesters being drunk.

If they can't curb this kind of behaviour at a strategically crucial time when their in the public eye, what do you think they say behind closed doors?

Well said Mr. Dion.

2008-09-15T10:19:00.000-04:00

As week two of the election started up, Stephane Dion went on the offensive again against Stephen Harper. Dion attacked Mr. Harper's credibility on several (of the many) promises that Harper has broken since becoming Prime Minister. Here is a quote that really stood out:

“How can we trust a man whose first gesture had been to [break] his promise when he decided to appoint a non-elected Senator as a minister, and his last gesture has been to [break] his promise when he decided to rush to an election when he had a law on fixed election dates.”

Open and Accountable?

2008-09-12T17:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Stephen Harper suspended Ryan Sparrow from the Conservative campaign for making unacceptable comments concerning the father of a soldier who was killed in Afghanistan. Later, when Harper was about to be faced with answering some questions from the media, he had the RCMP make sure that the camera-men and reporter could not get near him. Bob Fife from CTV said that Harper's "political aides (were) absolutely refusing to let us get near the Prime Minister. And then (they were) instructing the RCMP to pull us away, to push us away so that we couldn't ask the Prime Minister any questions." This is a recurring theme from the Conservatives who seem to hate taking responsibility for anything!

An article from Alexander Panetta of the Canadian Press put it beautifully: "The Tories responded this brush fire as they often have: They whacked it with a sledgehammer."

The article then lists some other examples: "It was the default position for much of their time in government to any difficult question they faced on the floor of the House of Commons. The prime minister has employed that modus operandi since taking office. The opposition asks about prisoner abuses in Afghanistan? They're supporting terrorists. Sticky questions about Canada's policy on the detention of Afghan prisoners of war? They didn't shy away from blaming their generals."

And as i've written before, Harper has no qualms over firing public servants who dare to criticize him. Since Harper has consistently refused to be open, and has even more issues with being accountable, let's make him accountable for his lies and deceit on October 14.

Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant

2008-09-10T16:09:00.000-04:00

It was only a matter of time before Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant for the riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke made an outrageous claim during the campaign. In the past she has made some awfully ridiculous comments such as comparing abortions to the beheading of hostages, and saying that if firearms did not resist the gun registry they were going "like lambs to the gas chamber". She's not the only Conservative that makes insane statements, but i'll stay on topic.

Today, Gallant sent out fliers (funded by the tax payers), to her constituents claiming that the Green Shift would destroy people's lives by taxing fire wood and gas at the pumps. In the flier in bold font, Galant even has the nerve to say that Dion will tax gas at the pumps by up to 60%! Both of these claims are purposeful and vicious lies. Period. And they are not accidents, someone doesn't come up with percentages unless they have a source or are deliberately mis-leading someone. Shame on Cheryl Galant, as a veteran MP you think she would know better (however her record shows that's not the case). Of course she also neglected to inform anyone in her riding of the income tax cuts that they would receive from the Green Shift as well. Once again the Tories have proven that they will deliberately and purposely mis-inform Canadians in order to steal votes.

You can see the flier here, here, here, and here (especially).

Tough on Crime?

2008-09-09T13:25:00.000-04:00

One of Harper's election talking points is how he has made Canada safer by being tough on crime. First of all, Harper has not been tough on crime, he's been tough on criminals. There's a difference. To be tough on crime you have to cut crime off at the source, not use a band-aid solutions like filling up our jails with small time offenders. Harsh prison sentences have been shown in many studies to do nothing but exacerbate the problems that they seek to diminish.

To effectively be tough on crime, you must effectively implement social and aid programs that help to rehabilitate and dissuade troubled youth and other offenders. This includes things like safe injection sites, rather than putting these addicts into prison. As well you have to be willing to take Millitary weapons off the streets. As Dion said "You can't be tough on crime when you're soft on guns."

The Conservatives would rather spend the money that could effectively save people and give them normal lives, on throwing these same dis-advantaged people into jail. Unfortunately this does nothing at all to curb crime rates! One study (Golash) put it like this: “Everyone has resisted the temptation to park illegally or evade taxes. But often people still do park illegally even when the threat of a ticket is high. Threat of negative consequences is often a factor in our decisions but not a decisive factor. For example; Criminal sanctions for child abuse are irrelevant for most parents because they love their kids. They are equally irrelevant for people who can’t control their anger. Even for those that can control their impulses, and that are aware of the consequences, they may commit crimes anyways for immediate benefit or relief."

For the record: I am not saying that jail terms are always bad, just that to be tough on crime, jail sentences are not the way to go. It's time to ditch the ideologies and start focusing on facts.

Sources: Dieter, Richard (2007). ‘Costs of the death penalty and related issues.’ 2-3
Golash, Deirdre. The Case Against Punishment. New York University Press 2005.
Garland, David. Mass imprisonment. Social Causes and Consequences. Thousand Oaks Publishers 2001.
Newburn, Tim and Trevor Jones. Symbolizing crime control. Theoretical Criminology, Vol 11(2), 2007.
Sorensen, John and Dan Sternen. The Effect of State Sentencing policies on Incarceration Rates. Crime and Delinquency, July 2002.
Cayley, David. The Expanding Prison, House of Anansi Press Limited, 1998.

Conservative Broken Platform Promise of the Day

2008-09-09T13:21:00.000-04:00

"A Conservative government will: Stop the Liberal attack on retirement savings and preserve income trusts by not imposing any new taxes on them." - Conservative Party of Canada Federal Election Platform.

Who benefits from the GST cut?

2008-09-08T15:02:00.000-04:00

As i'm sure many people know, Stephen Harper has cut the GST by 2% since coming into power (Oh rejoice!). The Conservatives have used this cut a number of times as an example for standing up for working Canadians. Well here's some results from a study done showing who really benefits from this 2% cut (1% at the time of the study):

"As of 2007, it is estimated that 48.6% of Canadian families will make under $40,000 in family income. This means that a whole lot of families barely make it above the poverty line. Only 5.4% of Canadian families are estimated to have household incomes of $150,000 or more.
Which families does the GST cut help? Lower income families will get an average of about $129. On average, higher income families will get about $907. This is to be expected: the more your consume, the more money you save from a cut in sales tax. This is a tax cut which disproportionately favours high-income families. For every dollar of this tax cut received by low-income families, over 3 dollars goes to families that are not low-income."

While i'm on the topic, this morning Conservatives Jason Kenney and Lawrence Cannon told Canadians that Dion was going to raise the GST back to 7%. I'm curious where they got this information? Again it seems that Conservatives have no problem blatantly lying to Canadians to further their own political agenda.

Conservative broken Platform Promise of the day

2008-09-08T11:57:00.000-04:00

During the last election campaign, the Conservatives promised that if elected to government they would "Demand that the U.S. government play by the rules on softwood lumber. The U.S. must abide by the NAFTA ruling on softwood lumber, repeal the Byrd Amendment, and return the more than $5 billion in illegal softwood lumber tariffs to Canadian producers." ("Stand Up For Canada,". I don't know what happened, but Harper never delivered, though he and Bush did seemingly become quite good friends.

Also - Stephane Dion seems to be content with his underdog position. He also spoke about his campaign and how he will fight the Tories with integrity, saying he would "Fight fear with hope, lies with facts, and Republican-style attack ads with Canadian-style courage.”

Conservative Broken Platform Promise of the Day

2008-09-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

This will (hopefully) be a daily reminder of things that the Federal Conservatives promised before the last election, and never delivered on. Today was the first one.

The Conservatives promised that "Elections are to be held every four years except when a government loses the confidence of the House." Obviously a promise which has been broken.

On another note; can you believe that Steven Harper of all people said “I anticipate a very nasty, personal attack campaign. That's what the opposition's done in the past.
“Whether Canadians agree with what we're doing or not, I don't think they're going to believe the kind of personal attacks and scare tactics we've seen in the past.” ????

It seems Harper still thinks he is the opposition I guess? Ever since being elected the federal Conservatives have non-stop issued personal attack ads on Dion. Even the Conservative website has half it's front page devoted to attacks against Dion. I do agree with Harper in hoping that Canadians will see through the Conservative scare tactics though.

Harper

2008-09-06T15:57:00.000-04:00

For someone who's always talking about strong leadership, Harper isn't much of a leader. I think Canadians need to think about the difference between leadership and control. Harper doesn't lead his caucus, he controls them and will have them booted on a whim if he doesn't like something they say. He doesn't lead Canada's bureaucracy, he orders them around and fires them for criticizing him. Does Canada want a leader or a dictator? I urge everyone to think carefully about electing someone who has shown clear disregard for everything but his own interests.

Danny Williams

2008-09-05T17:13:00.000-04:00

Well at least Danny Williams, the Conservative Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador is making sure Harper is accountable for all his broken promises. I like his slogan. ABC - Anything But Conservative!

Jack Layton

2008-09-05T11:52:00.000-04:00

Clearly Mr. Layton doesn't care about Canada as much as he cares about getting votes. Fair enough without seats the NDP would become obsolete, and that is of course incentive enough to do what you can to get MP's elected, but at what cost? Since Layton has become leader of the NDP he has repeatedly sang in tune with the Conservatives in criticizing the Liberals. Again, that's ok, that's the job of opposition parties, to criticize eachother. However Layton seems to stick to only criticizing the Liberals, probably trying to sway their more left leaning voters. By doing this, Layton is splitting the vote of the only real opposition to the Conservatives (a party that he should ideologically be so opposed to, that he'd do anything to keep them out of power).

Layton, though, has sided with the Conservatives against the Liberals on numerous occasions, including supporting an environmental plan that is backed by John Baird. It's no wonder the Conservatives don't have much to say about the NDP, they're smart enough to realize the benefits that Mr. Layton provides them.

If Layton really believes his party's platforms are right for Canada, then this behaviour demonstrates how far he is willing to go to gather votes. He's willing to sacrifice what's right for Canada, in order to gain a few seats. Will the NDP dump Layton before he is the reason for a Conservative majority? It may be too late...

John McCain's 2008 RNC Speech

2008-09-04T23:58:00.000-04:00

Presidential candidate John McCain presented his speech to the Republican National Convention tonight. He opened by praising many people, including at least a few minutes on President George W. Bush. Shortly after that, McCain said, and I quote “let me offer an advance warning to the old, big spending, do-nothing, me first, country second crowd: change is coming.”
Is it just me? Or does it seem like McCain has forgotten that for the last 8 years the Republicans have run the country! Change to the big spending??? I vividly recall McCain saying he would stay in Iraq for another 100 years, a war that in the last 6 years, has cost almost $600 billion…
Anyway, another thing that really got to me during the speech was when McCain said “My health care plan will make it easier for more Americans to find and keep good health care insurance. His plan will … force families into a government run health care system where a bureaucrat stands between you and your doctor.”
A bureaucrat between you and your doctor? I suppose that’s a lot worse than the current system, where large insurance companies leave thousands of families without any coverage. Also notice how Obama says ALL AMERICANS can find health care, and McCain is content with “more” Americans. So just some. Well I guess that’s the usual Conservative message of “every man for himself” (unless they’re all defending the rich together).
As Obama said, I don’t think McCain doesn’t care about other people, he just doesn’t know.

Trust

2008-09-04T17:54:00.000-04:00

I think this cartoon from The Hamilton Spectator nicely sums up the Conservative strategy:

What About Abortion?

2008-09-03T16:20:00.000-04:00

To prove that they are not going to re-open the abortion debate, the Cons recently revoked their support for the "un-born victims of crime" bill, and proposed a new bill, making it an aggravating factor in a crime, if the attacker knew that a woman was pregnant. This bill that the Tories recently proposed sounds suspiciously like this one (proposed by Liberal Brent St. Denis).

Paul Wells put it well in an article for Macleans magazine:

"A ranking Conservative hid behind anonymity to smear St. Denis's bill as "an abortion bill" on Friday. The Conservative minister of justice presented the substance of St. Denis's bill as his own on Monday, as proof the Harperites don't support abortion. Disarray continues to push this government to heights of cynicism. Or is it the cynicism that has produced the disarray?"

Hypocrites

2008-09-01T18:11:00.000-04:00

Not that it's any of our concern (and I wish her and her baby well) but the story just broke about Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's 17 year old daughter being pregnant. I guess the "just say no" sex education policy isn't really working! You think that this would stun the Republican's but McCain's adviser came to her defence immediately, saying that it was a private matter.

Funny whenever there's an issue that may damage their campaign/platforms, Conservatives turn to the "It's private", defence. Like when Harper said of the Couillard fiasco that it was a private matter that didn't concern the public.

How can they say this when they are so vocally against gay marriage? Surely that's a private matter too no? Somehow other people's personal lifestyles need to be campaigned against, but if it hurts the Conservatives, "It's private".

A Real Leader

2008-08-31T22:25:00.000-04:00

Leading up to what will almost certainly be a fall election, Steven Harper has stepped up advertising and radio attack ads against Stephane Dion and his Green Shift. This has been a recurring theme with the Conservative party under Harper. It seems they are determined to convince Canadians that Dion is a bad guy. The front page of the Conservative website immediately has three articles about Dion! It makes me wonder: Why must the Conservatives focus on trying to tear down Dion, and not on their own work, and their own policies.

In my opinion, a real leader tries to bring a nation together and support national unity, not tear it apart and cause conflict with numerous groups across the country. A real leader would have a clear goal, and focus on promoting the benefits of that goal, and not portray the alleged weaknesses of their opponent. A real leader would lead by example, and not assist the U.S. in stifling directives supported by almost every other nation worldwide.

Most of all, a real leader should do what is best for the planet, as well as their country, and not just what is easy. A leader must be ready to do what is hard, in order to do what is right.

So who's the real leader?

Conservative's for fixed election dates

2008-08-31T10:59:00.001-04:00

Some interesting quotes from Conservative MP's in 2006 on the introduction of fixed election dates. A law that Steven Harper will be breaking just two years after creating it should he call an election this week.

To the polls we go!

2008-08-29T17:55:00.000-04:00

A new poll shows that about half of Canadians want a fall election. Well that's ok with me, I can't wait to help send Steve and his pit-bulls packing from parliament. Calling an election under the current circumstances highlights just how shady the Mr. Harper is.

Barack Obama's DNC Speech

2008-08-28T22:59:00.000-04:00

Although Barack Obama was speaking to America tonight, he might as well have been speaking to Canadian Liberal and Progressives here in Canada. Facing an election here at home, much of what Obama said tonight is applicable to our own situation. One particular part that caught my attention was when Obama said "I know there are those who dismiss such beliefs as happy talk. They claim that our insistence on something larger, something firmer and more honest in our public life is just a Trojan Horse for higher taxes and the abandonment of traditional values. And that's to be expected. Because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. If you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from."

Sounds like a particular strategy that our federal Conservatives have been aggressively employing here in Canada for awhile, no?

Obama continued, "And you know what -- it's worked before. Because it feeds into the cynicism we all have about government. When Washington doesn't work, all its promises seem empty. If your hopes have been dashed again and again, then it's best to stop hoping, and settle for what you already know.
I get it. I realize that I am not the likeliest candidate for this office. I don't fit the typical pedigree, and I haven't spent my career in the halls of Washington.
But I stand before you tonight because all across America something is stirring. What the naysayers don't understand is that this election has never been about me. It's about you. It's about you.
For 18 long months, you have stood up, one by one, and said enough to the politics of the past. You understand that in this election, the greatest risk we can take is to try the same old politics with the same old players and expect a different result. You have shown what history teaches us -- that at defining moments like this one, the change we need doesn't come from Washington. Change comes to Washington. Change happens because the American people demand it -- because they rise up and insist on new ideas and new leadership, a new politics for a new time.
America, this is one of those moments."

Seems like Canada and the U.S. are in a paralell situation. We both have Conservative governments whose platforms can't stand on their own two feet and rely on casting negative images onto their opponents. Both of these Conservative governments have sat back and watched the strong economies built up by their Liberal predecessors disappear.

Hopefully in both cases enough people have learned that these governments promote losing policies, and through their in-action, huge risk to the countries that they seek to lead...