Quote Of The Day on

"I would bet the mortgage money that the world would like its old Canada back."  Courtesy of Dave from The Galloping Beaver in The Day the world rejected Stephen Harper.  It looks like the Nations truly are United.  They don't like Mr. Angry.

Canada has given the world many gifts.  Insulin.  Anne (This one was actually mostly for Japan).  Peacekeeping.  It is a long list.  Now is the time for one more present that only we can give the world.  We need to defeat Stephen Harper in an election so the rest of the world isn't faced with the unpleasant task of pointing out how much they dislike him.

One fact about democracy is that occasionally jerks get in.  This is usually a result of the grown-ups behaving badly (e.g.: Adscam, Lewinsky).  To punish them the electorate provides an opponent, who would otherwise be unelectable, with a chance at office to punish the miscreants.  That has run its course.  Time for the grown-ups to take over again.

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Blaming Ignatieff for UN failure is the most pathetic Harper ploy ever

Let me get this straight.The Prime Minister, Foreign Minister and various diplomats performed a full court press to try and avoid the embarrassment of losing out to Portugal in a vote for what has traditionally been a Canadian turn on the Security Council.  They applied all of the diplomatic resources available to them.  They made speeches to the U.N. General Assembly.  They begged.  They pleaded.  And the Leader of the Official Opposition made a few comments such as:

"This is a government that for four years has basically ignored the United Nations and now is suddenly showing up saying, 'Hey, put us on the council,'" he said.

"Don't mistake me. I know how important it is for Canada to get a seat on the Security Council, but Canadians have to ask a tough question: 'Has this government earned that place?' We're not convinced it has."

And this was the reason we lost the vote?  It is possible to draw a conclusion from this.  By the Conservatives own words, it is evident that Ignatieff has more standing and respect on the world stage than Harper and his entire ministers and all the weight of the Canadian diplomatic apparatus.  Ignatieff has the ear of the world.  The Conservatives  should, by a logical extension, step aside and let a Leader take over.

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Is there an explanation for the Conservatives apparently working at cross purposes on UN seat?

Is this more Conservative bungling or part of a loopy strategy?

International Trade Minister Peter Van Loan has announced a bid to strengthen the trade relationship with Israel — a move whose timing could affect Canada’s bid to win a seat on the United Nations Security Council.

The 192-member General Assembly votes Tuesday for five new members of the 15-member council — with Canada locked in a close three-way race against Germany and Portugal for two seats reserved for Western powers.

Since Arab and Muslim countries either control or have varying degrees of influence over a majority of the votes in the assembly, Van Loan’s announcement has the potential to lose Canada support in the ballot.

It seems odd that the Conservatives would with all their central control announce this right before the (expected to be) very close U.N. vote. This could ruin our chances. After all, Harper put off a trip to Timmies to make his pitch for the seat. Provoking the Arab Block puts all this at risk.

Why would they do this? Perhaps Steve V shows the reason.

the Conservatives apparently have ads (watched about 10 seconds) in the can, ready to blame Ignatieff and the Liberals, should we fail to secure a United Nations Security Council seat Tuesday. In a normal world, one would be surprised, with this bunch of take no responsbility weasel-like entities, par for the course.

Steve, fair-minded person that he his, puts this down to a damage control contingency plan. I have a far more Machiavellian mind set on this one. Is it possible that the Conservatives are intentionally trying to sink their U.N. bid so they have a reason to run the ads. Is their recent cleaving to the importance of the U.N. really so shallow? Does their antipathy towards the Liberals really run that deep?

Well, duh.

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John Doyla nails it

I have never read a column by Mr. Doyle before this one because I am not that into TV. I owe a stetson tip to Mr. Sinister for pointing it out.

The column works as a metaphor for all of the unsubtle changes Mr. Angry is bringing about to Canada. The desecration of the CBC as a voice of all Canadians. The blurring of the line between the military and everyday life.

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Where there is smoke, there is fire

The stench of a scandal hangs around a political party for a long time. It takes years to cleanse the stain. Now before all the Conservatives get excited and think I have suffered a brain injury and am, therefore, switching sides I should point out that I am referring to the Airbus scandal.

The unseemly stories of Mulroney accepting envelopes of cash from Schreiber forms the overarching theme of his legacy. I have long thought that as the F-35 story progresses we would hear more evidence of how intertwined the government is with Lockheed-Martin.

PM's next chief of staff most recently linked to a major U.S. aircraft manufacturer

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's designated new chief of staff was until last week a director of a major U.S. aircraft manufacturer that is partnered with defence industry giant Lockheed Martin in a bid to sell a fleet of precision attack and reconnaissance warplanes to the U.S. Air Force.

Opposition MPs are raising red flags over the link between Nigel Wright, expected to take over as Prime Minister Harper's (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) chief of staff in January, and the U.S. defence bid because of the controversial $17-billion sole-source contract Prime Minister Harper's Cabinet is awarding to Lockheed Martin to supply Canada with 65 stealth fighter jets.

Mr. Wright, a partner and managing director at Onex, last week informed Hawker Beechcraft Inc., the aircraft firm partnered with Lockheed Martin in the precision-attack plane bid, that he would be resigning his board post this month, according to a departure of directors notice from Hawker Beechcraft that financial news services posted in late September shortly after Prime Minister Harper announced his selection of Mr. Wright as his top political aide.

Despite that resignation, however, Mr. Wright's relationship with Hawker Beechcraft's parent, Onex, remains unclear. The only statement the company has apparently released since the appointment was a "note" to The National Post that the newspaper quoted the day Prime Minister Harper's office quietly circulated news of Mr. Wright's selection.

"Nigel will start work in Ottawa at the end of October and will return to Onex in 18 to 24 months to resume his leadership of the aerospace and defence and energy verticals," the note said, referring to Mr. Wright's prominent role in the acquisition, development and management of Hawker Beechcraft and other company interests.

However, while he takes up his new role with Prime Minister Harper, Mr. Wright retains a significant financial interest in Onex, Hawker Beechcraft and the stable of assets held fully or partly by Onex. According to a market and shareholder data base maintained by Bloomberg LP, Mr. Wright still owned 93,957 shares in Onex last Friday, with a market value of $2.7-million.

It is understandable that Mr. Wright takes this position to help protect his business interests. It will be incomprehensible if the media does not follow this up and raise some hell.

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