If Necessary Blogging But Not Necessarily Blogging

Steady on, Montreal Simon

2012-01-26T18:49:00.001-07:00

Montreal Simon draws his bead away from Captain Anti-Canada for a post defending the honour of the world's greatest poet from a senseless and uncalled for slight.. He does a great job and the fact that the passion for his homeland matches that of his home shines through.

I usually refrain from responding to such attacks since they are usually the manifestation of jealousy. After all, only one nation could have invented whisky. But it does seem that to a large segment of the population gratuitous attacks, that would be unthinkable directed at any other ethnic group, are widely accepted. Such as being "Scotch" is a synonym for cheap.

Perhaps as a middle way, we can ask those who feel the need to expiate their feelings of inadequacy by maligning people of Scottish descent to refrain from doing so on January 25. When it comes to the rest of the year, fill your boots for all I care. But have show some respect for Robert Burns and Scotland on this one day.

Please.

One thing I don't understand about Harper and his ilk

2012-01-23T07:12:00.001-07:00

I get that he is a wee petty man full of hate. I understand that he would benefit more from spending his spare time on a professional's couch then writing a book about hockey (snerk). I recognize that although he is smart enough to be tactically cunning, he isn't intelligent enough to understand the historical background to the structure Canada and the rest of the modern world is built upon.What I can't come to grips with is why he is following his agenda. I could see why George W. Bush favored the rich. He is the scion of wealth and privilege. Harper's father was an accoutant for Imperial Oil. In other words; solidly middle class. But not at the upper end of that demographic. The destruction of the social safety net doesn't benefit those close to him.He will, of course, be richly rewarded by being named to several boards when his work is done. Until those markers are overshadowed by his inability to play with others. But in the end, having destroyed Canada in the services of interests other than those from his own background he will have no reward.The same goes for all of the people railing against taxes while claiming they support expanded Medicare. And on and on.I just don't get it.

Amongst the people I have absolutely no sympathy for

2011-12-21T21:41:00.002-07:00

are those who say things like this:

I am a Tory, but like many others who cast their ballot the same way I did not vote for the draconian and misguided measures in this regressive legislation.

It is not like the absolute power of the Prime Ministership has corrupted Harper. His corruption is a part of his very being and he has always had it on display. People who voted for him expecting him to behave better once he had a majority are fools. So are media types who are shocked at the continuation of dirty tricks since the election.

And I also have no sympathy for those farmers who voted for the Conservatives because they promised to get rid of the gun registry and are disappointed at the gutting of the Wheat Board. Listen up fools. It isn't like their antipathy to the Wheat Board was part of a hidden agenda.

Oh yeah. And those, Albertans in particular, who have voted Conservative federally and/or provincially and whine about education and health care funding. You made that bed go lie in it.

This also goes for my fellow citizens who see Harper for the malignant jerk he is and nevertheless stay home on election day. What makes them think that the same misanthrope who would spread lies about good and decent men, like Dion and Ignatieff, who have accomplished so much more than Harper, would listen to the desires of the majority of Canadians.

But they will repeat the pattern in the future. And it isn't their fault. Like the victim who hopes that by being nice, the bully will change his behaviour, these victims of Conservative bullying will vote Tory next time or stay home. They will complain and reminisce about what Canada used to do. But they won't recognize their part in it's destruction.

2011-12-16T19:19:00.001-07:00

Chantal Hebert plays the harridan today chastising the media for abrogating their responsibility by not truly reporting on the seriousness of Jack Layton's cancer. But this last sentence makes me think that she is trying, on a subconscious level at least, to expiate her sins for mostly giving Harper a free pass for the past 5 years:

Some lessons are learned the hard way. One of the harder ones of the 2011 political year is that the media, when it looks the other way rather than pursue unpleasant, unpopular but yet relevant avenues are really not doing anyone a service, least of all the voters they have a duty to inform.

There are the irretrievably stupid columnists who will parrot every lie the Conservatives put out there. Then there are the ones like Hebert. Ready to take a shot at the Liberals because they had been in office so long. These water carriers of convenience are well informed and had the measure of Harper prior to 2006. But they turned a blind eye to these faults. In Hebert's case the venom she directed at Dion might have a tinge of tribalism to it. But she reveled in piling on Martin and Ignatieff as well. All of this played into Harper's vote suppression strategy.

Now there seems to be an expectation that we will forget the previous cheerleading if Hebert and her ilk act surprised that the Conservatives are just as childishly undemocratic and full of right wing hate for Canada's institutions as they always have been.

But they have made their bed and history will make them lie in it. As historians dissect how one of the world's leading nations was systematically pulled apart from within, the role of the media in enabling Harper will fill several volumes.

A perfect example of Harper's antipathy towards Canada

2011-11-07T21:37:00.001-07:00

This nonsense of replacing the beaver as a symbol of Canada with the polar bear shows just how much Harper hates the country he governs. The beaver has been our symbol for over a hundred years but he wants to change it. This is symptomatic of more than his usual Liberal Derangement Syndrome. This is borne out of his disgust of Canada.

Anyone with any historical perspective understands that the beaver has historical roots to the coeur d'bois who laid the foundation for Canada through the fur trade. Perhaps the beaver doesn't present as imposing a figure as the polar bear but it was a good enough symbol for the troops at Vimy and Normandy.

But then Harper doesn't have a grasp on the meaning of bravery does he? What with the way he hides behind cowardly attack ads on his rivals. Or telling some sap he appointed Senator to propose the symbol switcheroo.

Eaton, a former Montrealer who married into the Toronto-based retail dynasty once famous for its catalogues, had previously sung the praises of the beaver before her recent turn against the animal, which she now calls a "dentally defective rat."

In a speech in Parliament last year, Eaton expressed admiration for the beaver as a pivotal player in "the founding of our country."
She quoted fur-trade historian Harold Innis in saying that "the history of Canada has been profoundly influenced by the habits of an animal that fittingly occupies a prominent place on her coat of arms. The beaver . . . "

He could have floated this out using any number of back benchers or Senators but he chose Eaton. Because it gave him a warm feeling in his special spot to order someone who was on record as supporting the beaver last year to come out against it. Pretty sad actually.

This idiocy over symbols should be taken as fair warning that Harper intends to leave no rodent un-turned in his quest to remake Canada into a Milton Friedman inspired dystopia. Since he probably even hates the name Canada, what will he want to call his new creation? Harperland? Harperstan? Sounds crazy but who would have thought we would ever have a government proposing we get rid of the beaver?

The implications of Harper's War on Labour.

2011-10-28T19:45:00.003-06:00

First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Socialist.

Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out --
Because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me -- and there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller
1892-1984

Lawrence Martin outlines the reasons for the Conservative War on Labour.

When they had a minority government, the Conservatives soft-pedaled labour issues. Now that they have a majority and a labour-backed NDP in opposition, they have moved into attack mode. It’s war on big labour and it’s intended as Stephen Harper’s new winning strategy. (My emphasis in bold)

If the implications of this strategy weren't so ominous I would enjoy the schadenfreude of seeing the NDP reap what it has sown. (Was the NDP really so stupid that they thought their alliance to destroy the Liberals and give Harper a majority would buy them immunity from the attack machine? It looks like that was the case).

The economic foolishness of this strategy is apparent to anyone who cares to think it through. There is no incentive for unions to concede on any single issue. The less a union gives in, the further ahead they are when the arbitrator makes a ruling.

But that is not the main issue with the strike busting tactic. Harper's contempt for Parliament shows how blithely he is willing to disregard centuries of democratic tradition. The anti-union chest beating allows Pappa Steve to check off items 2 and 10 of the fourteen defining characterisitics of fascism in one swoop. Union bashing might be politically popular but the actions our government is proposing violates Canada's obligations to provide Freedom of Assembly and Association. Once again, the questions must be asked. Is there a limit to what Harper will do to achieve and maintain power?

So I put aside, temporarily, my disdain for the NDP and their collusion with the Harper Party and speak out. This attack on Labour is wrong. It is another sign of the authoritarian tendencies of Harper and his Party.

The Conservative Party as a malignant organism

2011-10-18T07:01:00.001-06:00

Check out the most prominent ads on National Newswatch this morning.

They are actually the same ad. Advertizing a petition on the official website of the government party to influence the legislative agenda of that government. While I recognize that there is supposed to be an arms length relationship between the government and the party, this would be surreal if Harper hadn't already pulled us through the looking glass.

Why would they do this? They have already announced their intention to scrap the registry. With a majority there is nothing to stand in their way. The best reason I can come up with is that they want to squeeze the last $20 they can from each of the anti-gun registry rubes. Expect anti-Wheat Board ads for the Wheat Board rubes and so it will go.

The Conservative Party has demonstrated a phenomenal strength in its fund raising techniques. But the means to an end have become an end in itself. The Party fund raises, not as part of a means to effect a policy goal, but to fund the machine. It will generate legislation design to ensure the richness of the party rather than the well-being of the nation. It will wantonly destroy everything in its path without even knowing why. All that matters is the size of the bank account and paying the Party bureaucracy. The original purpose of the Party has been forgotten long ago. The Doomsday Machine becomes an apt metaphor.

This is the most dangerous aspect of this government and it's apparatus. Now if only we could envisage a way to explode some impulse engines in its gaping maw.

The revolution will be commercialized (In a good way)

2011-10-16T21:23:00.000-06:00

What is the meaning of this?

It means that a coherent purpose is coalescing from the inchoate rage. And the emerging message is a good one.

What I would have written about Harper's putative love of hockey

2011-10-12T22:06:00.000-06:00

If I could write like Kai Nagata. Read this and be comforted that not every journalist is fooled.

Be careful not to damage your hearing Mr. Simpson.

2011-09-24T12:14:00.003-06:00

Your cognitive dissonace is deafening.

I personally find it difficult to comprehend that there is a "base" of people that are still in the thrall of minimum sentences over pot but this seems to be the case.

Among many editorials slamming the omnibus bill to Harperize Canada, the one by Jeffery Simpson stands out. It is a good smackdown of the bill in particular. And Harperism in general with money quotes like this:

The Harper government has this weird contempt for solid evidence. It pops up from time to time when, in the face of expert evidence, the government just barrels ahead in another direction. Recall the government’s abolition of the long-form census, a move opposed by statisticians and groups that rely on the most accurate statistics possible. Recall the government’s insistence after the 2008 recession had begun that no recession was under way. Recall in the matter of criminal justice the parade of judicial spokesmen, lawyers, criminologists and prison experts urging, even imploring, the government to cease and desist.

Couldn't agree more. But didn't your paper twice strongly endorse Mr. Harper well after this trait was made clear?

Even scarier is Mr. Nicholson’s assurance that “this is not the end; this is just the beginning of our efforts.” He promises that “we’ll introduce other legislation as well.”

Some day, many years and many failures from now, it will fall to some other government to undo these measures.

Mr. Simpson, along with Lawrence Martin et al., have often displayed their cognizance of this destiny under a Conservative government. How will we get rid of a patently incompetent government if commentators with the gravitas of Messrs. Simpson and Martin have employers who emphatically support Harper?

It is a bad strategy to fight a two front war

2011-09-05T21:36:00.000-06:00

It is axiomatic in warfare that you should never get involved in a war on two fronts.

A key feature of Harper's strategy since 2006 has been to frame the new Liberal leaders before they had a chance to frame themselves. These relentless ad campaigns were unprecedented, repellent and, unfortunately, successful. Only a fool would expect that a similar fate did not await the next Liberal leader.

The incipient NDP leadership campaign adds an additional facet to this. Now that the Liberals and the NDP will have quasi-contemporaneous campaigns, which new leader will the Conservatives attack? The Liberal or the NDP? Or both? While the latter may appear more likely, how effective will a two front campaign be? Will spewing that much poison backfire? How much will it cost?

I have no idea what the answers to these questions are. And I expect the Conservatives don't either. But there is a high probability that they won't be able to resist a second front.

Conventional Wisdom has it that...

2011-05-24T20:03:00.003-06:00

It will be convenient to have a name for the ideas which are esteemed at any time for their acceptability, and it should be a term that emphasizes this predictability. I shall refer to these ideas henceforth as the conventional wisdom.

John Kenneth Galbraith

The Affluent Society

Canada is now at D-Day plus 22* and the CW has begun to congeal. The time has come Vigilance said to blog of many things and address a series of truth(s) universally acknowledged**. To wit: The Harper Regime is a colossus astride the entrance to Ottawa and will form the new Natural Governing Party". Centrism is dead as a political force and as a result so are the Liberals. And most ludicrous of all: "The NDP is the only true voice of progressiveism in Canada" or the equally risible: "The success of the NDP in #elxn41 means an immutable change in the Canadian political landscape".

But the point of this post is not to unnecessarily torture great lines from English literature. I intend to address these canards and by doing so illustrate how the Liberal Party can rise from the dead to lead Canada into it's next century.

*D-Day -= Defeat Day

**Even if you don't agree with the sentiments, it was a noble attempt to mash up some great lines from classic literature.

I think the Senate appointments are awesome

2011-05-19T14:44:00.002-06:00

It will allow Layton to hold Harper to account. Why I expect it will
be so mercilessly effective that Harper will express regret for having
won the election.

The tearing of a new one for Steve begins in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

Revenge is a dish best served cold

2011-05-08T08:38:00.004-06:00

Revenge is more satisfying as a considered response enacted when unexpected

I have been somewhat silent for a while due to a busy work and personal life. I also had trouble rousing myself for an ongoing spate of blogging when the impact seemed so futile. The die was cast. If the G20, Census, F-35s and the litany of tawdry scandals couldn't get Canadians to put down the Timmies, get beyond the corporate media and think about the implications of a Harper Government then I might as well take a break and let it happen. This includes politically active progressive Canadians who would rather fight amongst themselves than focus on thereal opponent. Beyond the odd outrage that presages our medium term future I could only get roused to sign in to the blog by sad news regarding an online friend. (That and I got an iPad. I love it but they suck for blogging).

The lassitude and ennui evaporated on Monday night. I remain a passionate progressive centrist. Now that the deed is done, the time has come to resume the fight for the Canada I know and love. There is little point in enumerating the reasons I will fight against Harper's incipient misdeeds. The threat on her right flank bears harsher scrutiny now that the mask of purity has dropped from Layton's Lefties.

In the spirit of being a good loser I resolved to wait a week to let the NDP supporters revel in their success regardless of the means by which it was achieved. Something akin to allowing your child go on a bit of a bender on their 18th birthday and then waking them up when their hangover is at it''s worst and tell them that they are adults now. (This is not an indictment of Ruth Ellen Brosseau. Regardless of her shortcomings and nomination foibles, she was elected fair and square and the verdict of the people is always correct. Her legacy is up to her. I wish her well.)

Just as Harper has ridden the coat-tails of better men such as MacDonald, Stanfield and others to disguise his pettiness, Layton stands on the shoulders of Douglas, Broadbent and Lewis. Unlike Newton he didn't use this advantage to see further. He leveraged this heritage to be nothing more than a weak reflection of Harper. Dippers unwilling to accept this are more partisan than progressive. "Liberal Derangement Syndrome" is a sickness afflicting both sides of the spectrum.

As for the Liberals. Everyone recognizes that this is a historic defeat. But that is the point. For the first time, they are the third place party. The flip side is that they have either been in office or second for 144 years. That is akin to either hoisting the Cup or making the Finals every year. It is amazing that the collapse hasn't happened at least a couple of times before. It has to everyone else. The reason it hasn't is because, regardless of our faults and mistakes, we did the best job of representing the people.

Just after Dunkirk, when Hitler* seemed ascendant, the chinks in Germany's armour were becoming apparent. These too can be identified with the Harper Party. There are similar and more glaring weaknesses to exploit in Harper-Left. Both sides of the coin can lay claim to ~20% of true believers in the electorate. That leaves six tenths for the Liberals as their natural constituency.

A long period of rebuilding is ahead of us. It must be undertaken. The world has changed and the Liberal Party must too. Canada needs us whether they realize it or not. Our revenge will be to emerge from this chrysalis stage to get back to the job of building the Canada the people want.

*N. B.: For the hard of thinking, this is a reference to perceived strategic superiority. Not a comparison of anyone to Hitler so Godwin's Law does not apply.

Attack ads and the law of unintended consequences

2011-04-25T22:10:00.001-06:00

So the Conservatives have spent $36 million making Ignatieff toxic in the eyes of voters who are gullible enough to believe such dreck. But what happens if the majority of Canadians who despise the Conservatives are motivated to vote against Harper? They are innoculated against voting for the Liberals. So they turn to the one Leader that Harper would like to see elected less than Ignatieff. As the pundits say, politicians use attack ads because they work. But not always they way the attacker intended.

The government we deserve

2011-04-17T10:13:00.002-06:00

There should have been enough evidence of corruption, sleaze and
incompetence to drive the polling of the Conservatives down to single
digits by now. If news that the F-35s will be delivered without
engines doesn't 't do it nothing will.

At that point the possibility that it is not the Harper campaign that
is in a bubble must be considered. It is a large portion of the
electorate. They don't want to be bothered with their civic
responsibilities and that is exactly what Harper is offering with his
miasmatic campaign. "Vote for me and never have to worry about issues
again.". Or don't vote at all for that matter.

This is why "Rise Up!" is so important. If it gets traction, it will
change everything. I am under no misconceptions as to the reach of
this blog but the more people progressives of all stripes can GOTV the
better chance we have to save Canada.

My sincere thanks to Michael Ignatieff

2011-04-16T20:57:00.003-06:00

If the unthinkable does happen (which I don't think will happen - more on that in a later post) and Harper takes over our government with a majority, at least one person made an impassioned plea to try and get the people of Canada to wake up and stop it.

On Harper's treatment of Guergis

2011-04-15T15:42:00.002-06:00

I feel a lot of sympathy for her. She has put a face on the anguish suffered by everyone who has crossed Harper's path. Whether her treatment (looked at in the context of Linda Keen and Belinda Stronach) is a sign of a particular misogyny on the part of Harper or a generally sociopathic personality is up in the air. I do wonder how any woman could consider voting for the Conservatives after this. But a lot will.

Ms. Guergis laid just about every emotion response out there for all to see. All that was missing was a recognition of the affect similar treatment of others must have had on them and remorse on her part for having take part as a member of his government. I feel for her. I will begin to respect her when she apologizes to Dion, Ignatieff and the rest of a very long list.

I was wrong about Harper

2011-04-04T19:13:00.003-06:00

I long suspected that Harper was so adamant about purchasing the F-35 jets because there was some gravy in it for him. He is, outside of his political career, a man of startlingly few accomplishments. It would not be surprising if he felt the need for a nest egg to fall back on. He wouldn't have been the first conservative politician to use aircraft purchases to make a few extra bucks. But I now realize that I had totally misjudged the situation.

He doesn't want to buy the planes to feather his nest. I don't believe that he is the least bit surprised that the price of these jets is screaming to the stratosphere. He probably wants to see them go higher. He has long sought to defund the government so that social programs are unaffordable. After cutting the GST to create a structural deficit and running up the largest deficits in Canadian history, committing us to $100 billion+ on planes we don't need will be the capstone to this act of sabotage.

Holding him to a minority isn't enough. He must be defeated.

Godwin's Law doesn't apply

2011-02-11T06:06:00.003-07:00

When the people you criticize use the tactics of fascists.

Meanwhile, we all enable this. Liberals will pine for the old days. Dippers will feel superior. Blocistes will enjoy poking the ROC in the eye and Green supporters will tell themsleves they are saving the planet.

There is a disturbance in the (progressive) Force

2011-02-10T22:28:00.002-07:00

I don't even know if she was a Star Wars fan or not. I do know that Penny Lankshear (aka Penlan) was a nice person that I never met face to face. I was hoping to at some point. She was an early supporter of this blog and a regular correspondent. I couldn't believe it when I read the news tonight.

Current circumstances have crowded blogging time out over the past few months. But from the moment we started conversing, whenever I sat down to document the disaster that conservatism has inflicted upon us I did so with a sense of community with people like her.

All my best to her family and friends.

It takes a whole country to sew on a swastika

2011-01-17T05:53:00.002-07:00

Dave at the Galloping Beaver had the post of 2011 so far. Maybe even all of last year too.

Why don't we just sew a swastika onto the flag now? Go ahead. Read it everyone else has. My only quibble is that the culprits aren't really the media. The fact that ~70% of the electorate remain implaccably opposed to Harper demonstrates that. We can't blame the brain dead Conservative supporters I live amongst here in C-Town.

It is the "Progressives" that oppose him. We are all divided against each other. Not united against Harper. The Liberals who resist fighting. The Dippers who think there is a chance Layton can make the break through and lead us to a socialst utopia. The Bloc supporters who vote for Duceppe to poke a stick in the ROC's eye. And no hope Greeners who think that by helping keep Harper in power they are working for a better environment.

The only way the banality of Harper's form of evil triumphs is if we let it. I could cite lots of examples from history but I think Brian does it best.

Dr. Harper and Mr. Crybaby

2011-01-16T08:27:00.002-07:00

I often vacillate between the opinion that Harper is an evil genius bent on installing a neo-conservative dystopia on our home and native land and that he is an incompetent hyper-sensitive mommy's boy. Probably he is a mixed up amalgam of the two. With a little neurotic religiosity thrown in.

This morning, however, Haroon Siddiqui has me leaning more towards the petulant and vindictive example of the Peter Principle in action.

Wherever could Palin and the Republicans have field tested the crosshairs map?

2011-01-10T21:12:00.001-07:00

Sarah Palin is, rightfully, getting heaps of grief for the possible inspiration her crosshairs ad provided to the Arizona gunman.

If Palin's electability is finally shredded by this image:

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/235504/SARAH-PALIN-TARGET-LIST.jpg

Why did Harper's survive this?

http://www.nowtoronto.com/_assets/issues/2130/conservativegraphic_468.jpg

Once againthe judgement of our media makes Colin Campbell look like King Solomon.

Resurfacing

2010-11-08T06:30:00.002-07:00

My blogging time has been supplanted by a reading jag of late. The tomes included The Armageddon Factor and Harperland.

Quickie reviews:

Evangelicals = scary crazy. I'm looking at you Stockie and Stevie.

Martin took it easy on Harper.

Quote Of The Day on

2010-10-13T07:01:00.001-06:00

"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.

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

2010-10-12T17:13:00.001-06:00

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.

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

2010-10-12T06:47:00.002-06:00

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.

John Doyla nails it

2010-10-12T06:28:00.002-06:00

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.

Where there is smoke, there is fire

2010-10-04T06:34:00.003-06:00

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.

Has the PMO released the Flying Monkeys?

2010-09-30T19:30:00.002-06:00

First it was Harper friendly MacLean's with the Quebec = corrupt messaging. Simple sound bite regardless of the facts.

Today, the Bad Cop of the PMO Pravdas has this headline: "Is Quebec the most DEFENSIVE Province in Canada? (Notice the bright red All caps "defensive"?)

Is this another example of hard hitting balanced investigated journalism? O.K. now. Stop laughing. I am just trying to be fair. Let us explore other reasons for this spate of "news" with a derisive focus on Quebec. Maybe it has to do with the recent polling of the Conservatives in Quebec. Maybe it has to do with the "Separatist Coalition" meme.

It is quite possible that The Greatest Strategic Genius Evah (TM) has determined that the Cons are going to get wiped out in Quebec. The dreams of a majority are over. Now it is time to solidify the base by riling up the French haters in the base. And so the Dictaphone tapes go out to the stenographers.

So what if it drives a wedge between Quebec and the ROC? All that matters is preserving Steve's power base. In the final analysis, I agree with the conclusions of the posts in TGB this morning.

How is the CBC Radio 1 program "Day Six" like the Campus Conservatives?

2010-09-26T07:57:00.002-06:00

O.K. It may seem like a tough one. Let me give you some clues. First to Calgarygrit for context regarding the CampusCons. To quote commenter drewski:

If I learned on thing as a kid, the really cool kids don't say they're cool, everyone knows it. So if they're trying this hard, it means only one thing, THEY ARENT COOL!

The strategy is obvious. Fool some naive first years to a meeting and expose them to all of the usual nonsensical conservative garbage and hope to catch a few of the mentally unbalanced ones. It reminds me of a fake ad in the Getaway. (The Getaway was a bi-annual spoof version of the Gateway, the U of A student paper). It went something like this:

The U of A Communist Club is renaming itself the U of A Ski Club. At least this way someone will come to our meetings.

As for Day Six, it puts a lot of effort into being hip. Brent Bambury prattles on about all of the latest trends. But as with the the Young Conservatives, it is just a Potemkin Village. Once they have lured you off the main street, it quickly becomes apparent that it is a vehicle for extremely loony right wing views. Last week, a featured guest was Ezra Levant. The day after he was confirmed to be full of it. Having Levant on the show just validates his distortions of reality.

Being a fair-minded sort, you might be inclined to think "But it all happened so close to the broadcast time there wasn't an opportunity to pull the segment and replace it with something else". Fair enough. Maybe it was a coincidence.

Fast forward to this weeks episode and the discussion on Harper's desperate effort to not be the first P. M. to lose Canada's regular turn on the Security Council. And the guest to discuss this issue with? John Bolton. Yes that John Bolton. The angry walrus mustached neo-con who, as U. S. Ambassador to the U.N., disrupted Security Council business as best he could. Almost as though he was following the Harper manual. A man whose appointment to the post was so controversial it could only be done as a recess appointment. A man who was instrumental in neutering the U.N. attempt to prevent the invasion of Iraq. Out of all of the former U.N. Ambassadors this is the one they chose?

The answer to the question posed in the title should now be apparent. Both try (and fail) to draw people in by being kewl to subject them to all sorts of right wing wackiness. I don't grudge the Conservative effort. They have to trick people into listening to their addled message.

In the case of Day Six, it is just another example that this is not the CBC of Gzowski days. Standing up to bullying by the right is so last century. They recognize the implied Conservative threats to the Mother Corp funding and have utterly capitulated.

Silly me. I thought she was talking about Harper's cabinet

2010-09-20T06:35:00.001-06:00

The 10 things Susan Delacourt feels we can do without.

Tolkien wasn't so bad after all

2010-09-19T22:07:00.002-06:00

It was with some trepidation that I clicked on the link in this tweet by Antonia Z. There are so many things coming out about people that I was worried about finding out some unsavoury things about the author of the books I loved so much as a teenager. Nice to see he wasn't so bad.

Go Sam go (the real hero). Pretty cool that there really was a Sam Gamgee.

Isn't reflexively attacking critics a display of lacking confidence

2010-09-19T10:55:00.002-06:00

Kady O' Malley has an interesting series of tweets regarding just what can form the justification of a non-confidence motion. It centres on an interesting question. "Could the LGR vote be framed as a confidence measure?"

Remember this weekend next time you hear "Left wing" main stream media

2010-09-19T09:36:00.002-06:00

Notwithstanding a very public abasement on Friday Ezra Levant has if anything been more visible in the mainstream media. Yesterday he was polluting CBC Radio 1. Today an interview on the CTV and another column in the Sun.*

This schmuck was just exposed as a fraud and a mendacious hack. A media worth following would have cancelled anything to do with this fool. I have a newsflash for the news media. People are tuning out because they recognize you bring little to the conversation.

*(You don't have to read his dross. I only linked to document this embarrassment).

An exploration of the Conservative - Postmedia - QMI relationship

2010-09-16T18:47:00.004-06:00

Both of these "newspapers" have a distinct utility to the Harper regime. Think of it as Bad Cop, Really Bad Cop. The Sun chain is used to disseminate the really odious stuff. Think Lock and Load type editorials. They are the Really Bad Cop. This is the tool the Conservatives use to spread the hate.

The National Post is allowed to gussy itself up as a respectable newspaper. Neanderthals with excellent vocabularies. Decent Arts and Sports sections. Financial pages are coherent enough. And the editorial line up, although starboard leaning, comes across as quasi-sane when compared to the dreck on the Sun pages. The Post is the Bad Cop.

Even then you can see the dictation from the PMO shining through the articles. Yesterday. And today.‘Orwellian’ bureaucrats shielding PM from media surprises: documents

Read it if you must but the key unanswered question is; "Why are the bureaucrats doing this shielding?". Is it out of love and concern for the PM? Nearby chairs? Are they going rogue? Or is it more likely that they are following orders?

I expect that you, being a logical creature, will chose the latter. And the implications are that Harper being a coward and unable to face up to his mistakes planted this garbage in the Bad Cop paper to assign the blame for his recent cock-ups on the bureaucrats. Leaders cowboy up and accept responsibility for their mistakes. Stephen Harper: Not A Leader.

In search of the perfect post

2010-09-16T18:11:00.002-06:00

Impolitical comes close with this post tearing John Baird a new one. It was perfect up until the last three sentences.

Knock. It. Off.

In my mind "Keep. It. Up." would have been more appropriate for the cause. Once they have sterilized the electoral soil in the GTA, people this unbalanced will move on to insulting voters elsewhere.

May gets Harper's suppress the vote strategy

2010-09-16T06:12:00.002-06:00

Lawrence Martin gives May some condescending keyboard time in a review of her speculation of a fall election. Even the title is a bit rude and more in keeping with a QMI piece. The points May addresses is important so I am going to quote extensively (MEIB).

The theory – shared by few – is that Stephen Harper will call an election this fall. People don’t understand what he is up to, Ms. May said. It doesn’t matter that he’s not even at 35 per cent in the polls and the Liberals are crowding him. The point we’re missing is that “he doesn’t think about elections the way the rest of the world thinks about elections.”
For him, it isn’t “I am trying to become more popular.” Rather, his strategy, she says, rests on “voter abandonment.” He wants to drive the ever-diminishing participation in Canadian elections down further. Then it becomes a matter of which party can get its base to vote in the largest numbers. The Harper base, as she noted, is more committed.
In the 2008 election campaign, she maintained, Mr. Harper purposely drove down voter participation in several ways. He called a snap election, he had the minimum numbers of days for a campaign, he had election day right after the long Thanksgiving weekend, he had changes in the Elections Act that meant people couldn’t vote without additional ID, and his attack ads had increased cynicism toward politics. The result was that every party’s total vote number went down, except the Green Party’s. The Liberals’ dropped the most and Mr. Harper was able to increase his minority.
In the May view, the cynical plan this time is to drive down the numbers even more. Michael Ignatieff, Ms. May said, doesn’t know what is about to hit him. From his pre-political history, he has made more controversial statements than can be imagined. The Tories have them all stored and ready for attack-ad delivery. An example, she said, is some incredible statements the Liberal Leader made on torture when he appeared once on the Charlie Rose show. “The Conservatives must have a video archive of him saying things that Harper believes will make him unelectable.” The Prime Minister is saving them for the campaign because “he wants the shock value.”
She added: “I think we’re going to be into a November election. We’ll see it coming, when we start getting soft, warm friendly ads about how wonderful Stephen Harper is. They’ll probably feature him with the Queen and the G8 leaders. Then the attack ads will hit.”
Everybody thinks Mr. Harper’s right-wing manoeuvring, like his move on the census, has been disastrous, Ms. May said. “I bet he doesn’t think so. For his base, which is essentially the tea party of Canada, these are good messages.”

I am one of the few Mr. Martin refers to. I have been saying this since the last election. If you subscribe to conventional wisdom you will think that low turn outs make a mandate less legitimate. Since when has Harper cared about legitimacy?

Ignatieff's past comments are troublesome. The best way to cleanse this stain is for Iggy to go out and repudiate his past comments in a sincere and thorough fashion. Does he have the guts to do it?

Overall, I am glad Ms. May has highlighted this strategy and she is correct in her assertion that the way to defeat Harper is to get out the vote. Ideally Harper is defeated as a result of a massive turnout. But does it not raise a question? If he is success in his tactic, might May, Duceppe and Layton just as well wear buttons proclaiming that "I support Harper"?

With regards the notion that the Conservatives achieved their LGR goals

2010-09-16T04:40:00.000-06:00

Most importantly. I don't care. The Opposition appears to be able to stand up for what is right. And it is about time. Secondly, it hasn't come to pass yet.

Even though I pointed out the pitfalls for Harper in abolishing the LGR a couple of weeks ago, I don't for a second buy the notion this is part of a grand design. This theme was nowhere on the horizon from any of the usual sources. And then once it appears the Conservatives will lose the vote, Don "The PMO Pipeline" Martin further debases himself with: Tories thrilled by NDP’s rumoured saving of the gun registry

This entire article screams of sour grapes and ass covering. To state that the Conservatives are happy with the turn of events implies that they had not thought the ramifications through. Kind of destroys the vestiges of Stephen "Strategic Genius" Harper. Conversely to see this as part of a master plan is ludicrous. The entire scenario is so convoluted with so many critical variables only a fool would have tried to set it into motion. It depends on manouvering the NDP into position and then destroying the vote advantage by a planned means (MEIB).

The blame (or credit) goes to a one-issue MP yahoo named Garry Breitkruez who unleashed rabid registry overkill last month.
By suggesting RCMP were just itching to storm the homes of anyone whose gun license has expired and seize their weapons was the sort of distortion which made it increasingly difficult for New Democat MPs to join the Conservatives in a registry take-down. Which may have been his bizarre assignment all along.
...
Things didn’t any better when they sent studious attack dog Pierre Poilievre to the microphone wrapped in the Maple Leaf to denounce the Liberal’s anti-registry position as a conspiracy insulting all rural Canadians.
...
Deep in the bowels of Conservative party backrooms, gleeful laughter can be heard from a government celebrating a defeat.

This is just Harper whining through one of his mouthpieces in a fit of pique. True, Stephen Harper is evil. But he isn't Dr. Evil.

Shorter Don Martin

2010-09-14T21:23:00.002-06:00

"It is always good news for Harper"

Mr. Martin must be the only pundit left who buys into the omniscient Steve shtick. Of course since he writes for the NP we can rest assured that hardly anyone reads his columns.

Harper gets no travel points for this trip

2010-09-09T06:39:00.002-06:00

Signs of a restless media? Harper's meaningless visit only puzzles. The likely reason for the visit. (MEIB)

The timing and abruptness of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's campaign-style visit to central Vancouver Island is puzzling....
The prime minister made no new funding announcements and offered few clues about the purpose of his visit, leaving us to speculate that he may be more concerned about recent public opinion polls than he and his party like to admit.

The impression made on the local media.

It's interesting to contrast the approach Harper had with local media and the public during his visit to the Island on Wednesday with that of Ignatieff when he visited Nanaimo.
Harper's carefully managed and scripted visit kept him away from the public.
Ignatieff met and listened to the concerns of the public at a Nanaimo cafe on Aug. 20.
Harper and two other Tory heavyweights -- Defence Minister Peter McKay and Treasury Board president Stockwell Day -- were on the Island Wednesday, flown out here at taxpayer expense. Presumably, taxpayers also paid for the large security contingent that kept Islanders from getting close to their prime minister.
Ignatieff's trip was paid for by the Liberal Party of Canada and he was accompanied in Nanaimo by Toronto-area MP Ken Dryden.
Both Harper and Ignatieff have a reputation for being aloof. If Wednesday's visit is any indication, Harper's is well-deserved.
Why come all this way at taxpayer expense and refuse to discuss issues with local media? The visit can hardly be called a goodwill or glad-handling exercise when local people were kept away from the PM.

The conclusion by the hinterland.

He ridiculed the suggestion this visit was part of any pre-election campaign and said it was just a coincidence he was following Ignatieff just two and a half weeks after the Liberal leader's visit to Nanaimo.
Harper was correct in one thing however: Canadians don't want a federal election right now, but he should realize they do want their federal representatives to make good use of taxpayers' money. Flying to the Island with his entourage and saying nothing about local issues can hardly be seen putting taxpayers' money to good use.
If Harper wants to increase his party's chances of forming the next government, he is going to have to do much better than Wednesday's waste of time.

The virtuous circle continuous to turn.

Alberta has a bad case of unrequited love

2010-09-07T18:57:00.002-06:00

It is an all too common form of a psychologically abusive relationship. The faithful wife has supported her chosen mate through thick and thin. She has given him all she has to give. Even through the harshest criticism of his failures which hurt the family, she stood by her man. She hopes to eventually be rewarded with beautiful jewels. But they never come.

But it never comes to pass. Instead she finds out through local gossips that her man has been showering affection and money on the beautiful women with the exotic accent four houses to the east. This beauty has thus far resisted his flirtations. He is too coarse and uncouth for her refined tastes. But he is stilling willing to try.

Meanwhile she sits at home and waits for him to notice her. Perhaps if she had an affair of her own. That sure would smarten him up.

Either Robert Silver sincerely flatters me

2010-09-07T18:38:00.003-06:00

Or it is a case of great minds think alike and fools seldom differ.

A week ago in a post titled: Abolishing the Long Gun Registry: What is in it for Harper? I laid out how there is no upside for Harper in dismantling the LGR. Today, Robert Silver said: Harper could be the real gun registry loser.

I mean, what are the odds that he doesn't read this blog?

A question about must carry channel provisions

2010-09-06T21:54:00.001-06:00

If Fox News North gets must carry ruling and the current must carry channels get the same amount of money they currently receive, does it not follow that our cable rates will go up? Is this not something that would hit home with the "Timmies" demographic?

Sounds like ammunition to me. Will Harper expose a flank here. The increase doesn't have to be much. Just the ability to say that "Harper increased your cable bill so Kory could force propaganda on you".

Canada's sovereignty and place in the world

2010-09-05T11:28:00.005-06:00

It seems to be a slow news day. Everyone is taking a rest after Friday's self-immolation by Krafty Kory. It appears The FFN guiding light has run away to lick his wounds at the Magic Kingdom and see if that really is the place where dreams come true.

So this is a good time to bring up a couple of things from this week that have been like two burrs under my saddle that I haven't been able to blog about and thereby remove.

The first is with regard this post by Impolitical. About that Prime Ministerial Coup. She fights unfairly by the application of logic, a weapon to which Mr. Ivison cannot avail himself of, to conclude (MEIB):

Canada has been absent for the past decade. OK...and this means that it would be a coup should we be elected now? Well, if you look at our history of membership on the Council since 1966, if we were to be elected now it wouldn't really be a "coup." It would just be us taking our pretty regular turn, every decade. Here are our years of membership:

1967-68
1977-78
1989-90
1999-00

So if we are elected in 2010, that seems like right on schedule to me. Or, if you're John Ivison, aka standing "on the brink of a foreign policy coup." Gee, hopefully we beat out Portugal, who have been on the Security Council a whopping total of 4 years since 1966, to take our regular turn.

Now this leaves an obvious corollary unasked. "If Canada is not elected according to the established schedule, is that not a diplomatic disaster for Harper? Does it not indicate a world wide chastisement for the current government?"

That is better. Trigger will be happier now. Now for that other burr. It has to do with Harper's news conference meltdown this week regarding the unwanted jets. Impolitical and Dave at The Galloping Beaver did a much better job of covering the details of this than my attempt.

My saddle blanket won't be clean, however, until I re-emphasize this quote again:

But Jay Paxton, a spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay, argued that a competition was already run — by the Americans.

I am well aware of the ideological considerations driving this statement but has there ever been a more barefaced statement of their lack of commitment to Canadian sovereignty?

Harper has competition for title of "Strategic Genius"

2010-09-03T15:55:00.003-06:00

And it is being provided by Krafty Kory. Imagine what was running through his mind as he sits in front of his internet machine to pound out today's editorial.* (you don't really have to hit the link. It's not that good. The informative stuff follows). He must find a way to inoculate Fox News North from the Avaaz internet petition against his nascent network.

How does he attempt to do this? The way any true conservative would of course. Invalidate this expression of the popular will (Over 62,000 signatories as I type this. Don't be afraid to add yours) by adding several fake names. Throw in the names of some public figures who really should be impartial (Kady O' Malley and Chris Hall of the CBC to name two) and the whole thing can be brushed off.

Done and done. Now he can get back to the really important things like finding synonyms for words like lock. And load.

But a funny thing happened on the way to media domination. He got found out. Those journalists smart enough that they don't have to stoop to working for QMI cottoned on to the scam. And that is just the stuff that hasn't been covered on Twitter.

So then the poor sap has go on Twitter and act surprised that his name was "suddenly" added too. No one buys it. On top of this, Avaaz is pissed off and trying to get to the bottom of it all. But that isn't the worst. He is put on Power & Politics with Ricken Patel of Avaaz and gets shredded.

Genius at it's best.

*Now you might argue that it hasn't been proven that Kory is behind this all. That is true and this entire post might be baseless conjecture. But no more so than a Sun editorial, it it?

The virtuous circle

2010-09-03T09:43:00.002-06:00

At some point in time, Hitler had a falling out with virtually all his top generals over strategy and tactics. Occasionally, he would retire them or move them to the sidelines.

Stupid ideological decisions on the census and fighter procurement combined with. Michael Ignatieff starting to perform much more competently leads to. A series of polls starting to show Canadians believe the Liberals have a chance to defeat Harper. Results in the first signs of panic from the bunker. This all will lead to Liberals coalescing behind Ignatieff. This will lead to better polling for the Liberals. The resultant behaviour by Harper will provide much schadenfreude similar to that seen in this clip (bonus b. s. calling).

And on it goes.

But. But. The Liberals did it. v. 19578238754.1.0.3

2010-09-01T19:13:00.002-06:00

What a spineless bunch our oppressors are.

Blowing up F-35 deal would cause collateral damage, Tories say

The economic and diplomatic strings attached to Ottawa’s multi-billion dollar deal to buy the F-35 stealth fighters would make it extremely painful — if not impossible — for a future government to unravel or cut, senior Conservatives insisted Wednesday.

Gotta love the can't do attitude. That is the western spirit. Better not let a Sutter hear you say that.

But it isn't their fault.

“I don’t understand why the Opposition is playing political games with this,” Harper said at an aerospace announcement in Montreal.
“It was the Liberal government that in 2002 committed Canada to the development of this aircraft.”

Too bad they didn't the same respect for the Liberal Legacy with regards the Kelowna Accord, the surplus etc., etc., etc. But the jets will help us defend our sovereignty!. You mean sort of like this defence of the sole source nature of the contract?

But Jay Paxton, a spokesman for Defence Minister Peter MacKay, argued that a competition was already run — by the Americans.

But this article is puzzling in other ways. The Stenographer attending the Harper propaganda conference wrote:

When Chrétien cancelled the $4.8-billion replacement for the air force’s geriatric Sea Kings in 1994, he ripped up one contract with European Helicopter Industries Ltd, an Anglo-Italian consortium. It cost taxpayers $500 million in cancellation fees.
Tearing up — or putting on hold — the F-35 Lightning II plan would be far more costly.

This Speaker of Pillow Talk to Power presented the following evidence of the costs involved:

It could endanger Canadian defence contractors, who’ve already won $375 (how is this directly lost to the government? - CV) million worth of work on the planes, anger allied nations already committed to buying the planes and waste hundreds of millions of dollars under existing agreements signed as far back as 1997.
...
In Ottawa’s case, that’s amounted to US $160 million, which allows Canadian companies access to bid on contacts associated with the project. Think of it as the federal government paying the cover charge to get into a club.
Between now and 2051, the federal government is committed to spending an additional US $551 million in order to remain part of the club.

So all the evidence that was actually presented is that the government would lose the tax revenue on $375 million. The $160 million in development fees allowed us to bid on the contracts, so we lose those how? The future commitments allow us to bid on contracts that would presumably net Canada more than that. In what way is this impacted by cancelling the deal? Evidence please. In any event, there have been no examples provided to support the statement that the penalties would be higher than the EH-101 cancellation. Sadly the Sun and National Post aren't the only organizations prone to regurgitating the garbage provided by the government.

Harper is turning into a One Trick Phony

2010-09-01T06:54:00.002-06:00

Almost two years and one leader ago, the Liberals took part in an effort to form a minority government due to a lack of confidence in an incompetent Conservative regime. Since then Parliamentary governments in Britain and Australia have formed actual coalitions establishing a new normal for Westminster governments. But Mr. Angry?

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is adopting a strategy to gradually persuade voters they have a "stark choice" in the next campaign: a "stable" majority Conservative government, or a "coalition" government of Liberals, New Democrats and Quebec separatists.

Go ahead and use your persuasive powers. Ain't gonna get traction. The last "coalition" attempt was led by Stephane Dion. As much as I personally admired Dion, the Conservative trash talk had left its mark. This allowed the Conservative anti-democratic distortions about our form of government to stick.

But this is 2010. The year of the census. Fighter jets. ATV rides and rule making. The Liberal Express. Canadians have elected three minority governments in a row because that is the mood Canadians are in. There isn't any evidence they are ready to change their minds. But with ongoing improvement in the performance by Ignatieff and the implosion of the NDP; voters may very well decide to pass the minority mantle to the Liberals.

Harper's personal attitudes reflect the 1950s. His electoral strategy reflects 2008. Talk about yesterday's man.

The all powerful Liberal Party extends its reach

2010-09-01T06:31:00.002-06:00

The Dark Lord Donolo has gone beyond bloggers to coerce columnists into toeing the Liberal Line (I love alliteration!).

Columnists such as:

Heather Mallick

I feel like a fool for believing in the NDP’s devotion to women’s rights.
...
Why did this happen?
A smart NDP friend once explained that life is actually very nice for the caucus. Even though they aren’t in power as such, they have comfortable lives on the high moral ground. No radical or even interesting ideas emerge because it would disrupt the picnic. New ideas and brave stands are messy, like sand on the rug or spilled jam.
I abandoned the NDP after 12 members supported the Tories’ first go at the bill and I politely told a fundraiser over the phone never to contact me again for money or support. I like Joe Comartin, NDP justice critic, who’s working hard to change the NDP’s collective mind and would be happy to see him replace Layton.
No, the NDP will be staid, cowardly and in this case retrograde. The corpses of the Montreal Massacre are silent and the yapping gun-freedom brigade is so very loud.

The Star

Faced with the choice of whipping his caucus into line to save the long-gun registry or letting his MPs vote to kill it, NDP Leader Jack Layton has opted for the latter. It is a choice of expediency over principle

.The columnists at QMI and the NP have thus far been resistant to the commands of the OLO. They are next!

Abolishing the Long Gun Registry: What is in it for Harper?

2010-08-31T19:03:00.003-06:00

One thing I have not been able to figure out about this whole charade is how Harper benefits. The Conservative Party is almost exclusively driven by the need to raise money to perpetuate its party apparatus. The days of being a vehicle for promulgating consistent and coherent public policy are far in the past. Railing against the LGR has long been a sure-fire fundraising shtick for these charlatans. Why give it up? What bogeyman are they going to replace the LGR with?

Are they going through with this for electoral advantage? Hard to see that for three reasons. They can't take credit for it. Explaining after the fact that it was a presented as a private member's bill that was really a government bill doesn't scan as a sound bite; "Vote for me! I lied about the bill while I whipped my caucus to vote for it" That sweater vest don't hunt.

The other thing is that the Conservatives don't have much to gain by removing the LGR. They stand to gain a few seats in rural areas but this might very well be over-compensated by losses in the urban ridings. Never mind a majority. Why mess with the urban/rural cleavage?

The third reason it is an electoral loser is the damage this is doing to the NDP. Harper has been a huge beneficiary of vote splitting amongst the sane demographic. He needs a strong NDP. Why destroy your useful idiots?

I can't figure this one out. That is why I won't be surprised to see a last minute reprieve for the LGR, the NDP and the Conservative gravy train.

Four year karma's gonna get you

2010-08-31T05:59:00.002-06:00

Instant karma’s gonna get you

Gonna knock you right on the head

John Lennon

During the early days of the Harper Regime, when it was just a bad dream rather than the nightmare it has become, the NDP and it's supporters reveled in the Conservative tactic of making every bill a confidence measure. No matter how specious this tactic you could count on seeing Layton cheering on Harper. No matter the consequences to Canada and the NDP's ideals. To heck with the heritage left by Douglas, Lewis and Broadbent. All that Layton cared about was the damage it caused the Liberals. And how it gave him a chance to move into Stornoway.

It's payback time:

NDP Leader Jack Layton has spoken passionately about the need for a federal long-gun registry, but he could end up with its demise as part of his political legacy.
Mr. Layton is head of a largely urban caucus that owes a third of its seats to the rural regions of Canada, where the registry is widely despised. Those party dynamics leave him far more exposed than leaders of the other parties, forcing him to straddle an issue that divides the country along city and country lines.

or how about:

NDP Leader Jack Layton is a good man with a political problem: the long-gun registry that the Conservatives want to abolish.
Usually, the New Democrats spurn with varying degrees of bile anything the Conservatives desire. True, they kept the Conservatives afloat for a while in the minority Parliament, but that tactic reflected the NDP’s instinct for self-preservation, not any warming toward Stephen Harper and his crowd.
The long-gun registry, controversial since its inception under the Liberals, has always been seen by the Harper strategists as a “wedge issue” demarcating their party from the others. Indeed, it has done just that, but the registry has also driven a wedge into the NDP.

I am not enjoying this one bit. But it is a cautionary tale to all of us to forgo the easy partisan advantage and remain focused on the main goal. Getting Harper out of office.

I'm all for vote splitting

2010-08-30T14:30:00.001-06:00

When it is the far-right vote that might be split.

This past weekend hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to Washington for a rally about taking back their country. They came to hear speakers such as Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, and although not explicitly a Tea Party event, the crowd drew many from the movement that calls for government to get government off the backs of hard working people.
Andrew Lawton wants to bring that spirit to Canada.
Lawton, a conservative-leaning activist from London, Ont., is one of the organizers behind an online attempt to start a Tea Party movement in Canada.

Mr. Lawton, I wish you nothing but the best. Go ahead, tear apart Mr. Angry's tenuous coalition. The rise of the Reform Party and disillusionment with a Conservative government was a key factor in the collapse of the Progressive Conservative Party. May history repeat itself. This time as a farce.

How Toronto saved Canada

2010-08-30T13:11:00.002-06:00

Do you remember a book from a few years ago called"How the Irish saved civilization". Long story short; while the rest of Europe fell into an abyss following the collapse of the Roman Empire, monks in Ireland preserved the kernel of western civilization. This post is about how Toronto saved the rest of Canada from a Harper majority in 2008 and thereby Canada. She has since paid a heavy price what with the G20 and all but in the long run the gratitude from the ROC will be worth it.

A lot has been made lately about how the Liberals are reliant on the GTA since 32 of their 77 seats reside in the Big Smoke. This would be a bad thing if the Conservatives were still in the ascendancy and this redoubt was the last stand of the Liberal Party. But given the cumulative effects of Conservative ideology and incompetence on Harper's polling numbers combined with the strong performance of Iggy on the Liberal Express, we can look forward with hope to the next election.

When Canadians look back and realize how bad the Harperites really were and how close we came to losing Canada we can all thank Toronto for preserving the Liberal Party from extinction. That doesn't mean the rest of Canada will suddenly love T.O. or stop making fun of the Leafs. But She will deserve some recognition for saving us from seeing Harper get a majority on 2008. Maybe even from Calgarians other than yours truly.

Harper's Arctic ODDyssey (aka Harper's jet ski moment)

2010-08-28T09:12:00.000-06:00

This entire excursion has been recognized for what it is. A very expensive photo-op deserving of the ridicule it has been receiving.

But this little stunt encapsulates the little man.

According to one reporter awestruck by the audaciousness of our extemporaneous , personality charged PM (MEIB):

To the complete surprise of everyone, including his security detail, Prime Minister Stephen Harper enjoyed an impromptu high-speed joyride in Tuktoyaktuk Thursday afternoon.

Following a day of announcements and photos opportunities Mr. Harper was to have boarded a C130-J Hercules for the trip to Whitehorse, Yukon, where further events awaited.

Instead, to the obvious surprise of the security detail, he got onto a four-wheel all-terrain vehicle and headed at high speed out onto the airport runway, with police cruisers and ATV’s belatedly — and futilely — in pursuit.

The rogue PM eventually returned to the aircraft where he was surrounded by reporters and photographers, one of whom wondered whether he had a licence to operate the vehicle — especially on restricted space such as an air strip?

“I think I make the rules,” the PM quipped

Look at the video. He put a helmet on. If you are going on an "impromtu...joyride" that takes everyone by "complete surprise", you don't stop and put on a helmet. And the cruisers and other ATVs didn't have time to react? Give me a break. They were told to give him a head start. At least he did do it at the NAC. (s/t: SD at truthfool.org)

Like every other aspect of this man's live it is stage managed. It has to be because he is a hollow shell. This is why he is driven to pull apart a complex, energetic and soulful Canada that others have built through decades of hard work. He wants to make it as empty as he is himself.

But back to the reason for the title of the post. With the exception of Mr. Ibbitson's notable bit of hagiographic journalism, the ridicule he has attracted has been extensive and well deserved. I am hopeful the MSM continues to describe these junkets as the expensive photo-ops they are.

Harper plays follow the Leader

2010-08-26T06:23:00.001-06:00

If there is any questions about the effectiveness of the Liberal Express, here is a qualitative confirmation. Iggy dances (moderately well, imho). Soon afterwards a photo-op is desecrated by the sight of Mr. Angry apparently dislocating a hip or dancing.

What is next on the (not so) Hidden Agenda? Grow busy eyebrows?

Uncle Vic knows best

2010-08-25T06:27:00.003-06:00

Add another example to the list of the Conservative attempts to turn Canada into North Korea only with better hockey players.

The Conservative government is making no apologies for the delay in releasing a report praising the long-gun registry, even as a vote on a bill to kill it nears in the House of Commons next month.
“Canadians don’t need another report to know that the long-gun registry is very efficient at harassing law-abiding farmers and outdoors enthusiasts, while wasting billions of taxpayer dollars,” a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews told the Star Tuesday.
“They don’t need another report to know that the registry does nothing to prevent crime,” the spokesperson added, echoing the Conservative government’s staunch opposition to the registry, which costs $4 million a year to run.
And opposition critics say the government is prepared to sit on the Canadian firearms program evaluation report until after the vote so Canadians won’t be able to see the value in keeping the program.
“The government’s position is never let the facts get in the way of ideology,” Liberal MP Mark Holland (Ajax Pickering) told the Star.
Senior deputy RCMP commissioner Bill Sweeney told the Commons’ public safety committee in May that the report “was extremely positive” and should be released, Holland said.

A braver government. One certain of the justness of it's policy. One with the facts on it's side would hurry to release this report. This group of Kim Jong Il wanna-bes? Well you know.

I, for one, love Kory's Propaganda Poll

2010-08-21T09:03:00.002-06:00

Several top bloggers have pointed out how bad this QMI/Leger Poll is. Whether the derision is expressed as exclamations as to how execrable the "poll" and it's "analysis" is or as somewhat more dignified rebuttals; the tenor is the same. This poll is an embarrassment to pollsters everywhere.

I love it! QMI takes it's orders from Kory Teneycke. Mr. T takes his orders from the PMO. The PMO takes its orders from the Dark Lord himself. And Mr. Angry always follows the Rovian maxim: "Attack your opponents strengths". (go to page 4).

So... If Harper wants to message that, contrary to the evidence of our lying eyes, the Liberal Express is a flop it must have been more successful than we thought. Yes it was a lame attack. But the key point is that the Liberal Express was seen as worthy of vigorously attacking. Which in topsy turvy tory Canada means the Liberal Express was a big success. I think I see blue skies through all that forest fire smoke over Calgary this morning.

That is my poll analysis. It is worth what you paid for it.

Mass exodus of liberals from U.S.

2010-08-11T08:03:00.000-06:00

The Manitoba Herald*

as Reported by Clive Runnels
August 1, 2010

The flood of American liberals sneaking across the border into Canada has intensified in the past week, sparking calls for increased patrols to stop the illegal immigration. The recent actions of the Tea Party are prompting an exodus among left-leaning citizens who fear they'll soon be required to hunt, pray, and to agree with Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck.

Canadian border farmers say it's not uncommon to see dozens of sociology professors, animal-rights activists and Unitarians crossing their fields at night.

"I went out to milk the cows the other day, and there was a Hollywood producer huddled in the barn," said Manitoba farmer Red Greenfield, whose acreage borders North Dakota. The producer was cold, exhausted and hungry. He asked me if I could spare a latte and some free-range chicken. When I said I didn't have any, he left before I even got a chance to show him my screenplay, eh?"

In an effort to stop the illegal aliens, Greenfield erected higher fences, but the liberals scaled them. He then installed loudspeakers that blared Rush Limbaugh across the fields. "Not real effective," he said. "The liberals still got through and Rush annoyed the cows so much that they wouldn't give any milk."

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons and drive them across the border where they are simply left to fend for themselves.

"A lot of these people are not prepared for our rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a single bottle of imported drinking water.”

“They did have a nice little Napa Valley Cabernet, though."

When liberals are caught, they're sent back across the border, often wailing loudly that they fear retribution from conservatives. Rumors have been circulating about plans being made to build re-education camps where liberals will be forced to drink domestic beer and watch NASCAR races.

In recent days, liberals have turned to ingenious ways of crossing the border. Some have been disguised as senior citizens taking a bus trip to buy cheap Canadian prescription drugs. After catching a half-dozen young vegans in powdered wig disguises, Canadian immigration authorities began stopping buses and quizzing the supposed senior-citizens about Perry Como and Rosemary Clooney to prove that they were alive in the '50s.

"If they can't identify the accordion player on The Lawrence Welk Show, we become very suspicious about their age," an official said.

Canadian citizens have complained that the illegal immigrants are creating an organic-broccoli shortage and are renting all the Michael Moore movies. "I really feel sorry for American liberals, but the Canadian economy just can't support them," an Ottawa resident said.

"How many art-history majors does one country need?"

In an effort to ease tensions between the United States and Canada, Vice-President Biden met with the Canadian ambassador and pledged that the administration would take steps to reassure liberals. A source close to President Obama said, "We're going to have some Paul McCartney and Peter, Paul & Mary concerts. And we might even put some endangered species on postage stamps.”

“The President is determined to reach out," he said.

The Herald will be interested to see if Obama can actually raise Mary from the dead in time for the concert!

*This has been floating around the 'net for at least four years. But a good satire is worth repeating. A freind emailed it to me and I thought it needed to be shared. It is slightly less funny now that we have had Harper in power for that long. Where do progressives sneak to if he gets his majority?

BTW, I had no luck finding the provenance of the Manitoba Herald.

When you have lost Jeffery Simpson, you have lost the centre-right

2010-08-10T10:32:00.001-06:00

And when Harper has lost the centre-right he is toast.

No one columnist exemplifies that sane side of the conservatism more so than Jeffery Simpson. He is the main stream establishment personified. Nothing could be worse for the Conservatives than having him publish a piece that makes the opinions on Progressive Bloggers seem almost kind in comparison. Just for a taste, consider the following (MEIB):

The Harper government – that is, the Prime Minister and his entourage – tried to slip a fast one past Canadians. It announced the end of the long form in the dead of summer, on a Friday to boot, as a sop to their far-right core constituency.
They must have figured no one would be paying attention, so they could take out their dislike of Statistics Canada when no one was looking – a dislike grounded in their blinkered belief that the agency collects facts that are then used by pressure groups, often of the social activist variety, that want more and bigger government.
Canadian civic society immediately smelled a rat. At last count – the figures are provided by the redoubtable retired professor William Stanbury – more than 200 groups and institutions publicly oppose the Harper policy, while three support it.
The three are fringe, right-wing institutions: the Fraser Institute, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and the National Citizens Coalition, the little organization for which Stephen Harper himself once toiled in a Calgary office of two people (himself and a secretary). There've been a few supportive, far-right media shills, of course. But that's been it. ...
Canadians witnessed the disgusting spectacle of careerist ministers – Industry's Tony Clement in the lead – tap dancing to the Prime Minister's tune. Their justification for dispensing with the long form – the best chance of getting the most accurate data – was a mélange of distortions, misrepresentations and exaggerations of so gross a kind that Canadians recoiled in indignation. ...
Such are the consequences of having people in government who live in a world of political spin and who prefer ideology over data – who claim, for example, that statistics showing a decline in crime rates are not reliable because they don't fit the government's "tough on crime" agenda, or who say the situation in Afghanistan is improving despite the fact that the past two months have been the most violent since the war began.
The census debate, so provocative and so needless but for the exigencies of ideology, roused civic society as few decisions have done in recent decades. The census will lodge itself in a corner of the electorate's collective memory as a talisman for what the Harperites might do if given a freer rein and, as such, has ruined what little chance they had of achieving a majority.

Read the whole thing. He has written a few strongly worded critiques on the Conservatives recently (such as this) but not so full of disdain. This could very well be catastrophic for Harper.

Why? Because the margin by which they achieved government is so thin. It is also the way in which they reached their seat total. It was not done on the basis of attracting new voters. It was the result of getting traditional Liberal voters to stay home. I covered this topic in this series of posts after the 2008 election. If opinion leaders for the centre-right such as Simpson solidify the image of Harper has a dangerous ideologue and convinces all those stay at homes to vote this time, Mr. Angry is done.

Photographic evidence of Cabinet dissension over census fiasco

2010-08-10T06:09:00.005-06:00

In this photo John Baird and Tony Clement express their anger about the drop in Conservative popularity due to the census foolishness.In an odd turn of events, this photo was provided by the PMO itself). oops. I really should have read the caption first.

Clowns ham it up with Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Moncton, New Brunswick. July 19, 2010.

You have to admit. It was an easy mistake to make.

If elections are bad for the economy

2010-08-09T08:55:00.001-06:00

How should we interpret the extensive series of bills that the Conservatives presented as Confidence tests? Was this an attempt to subvert the economy. Surely the master economist must have realized the horrible effect this would have on the economic performance.

What does this also say about the NDP and their gleeful participation in this economic sabotage?

Canada's Democracy is too fragile for Harper

2010-08-06T11:35:00.001-06:00

Harper compounds his legacy of an economic deficit by increasing the immensity of his democratic one.

Nothing speaks more to his anti-democratic tendencies than this statement (MEIB):

Canada's economic recovery cannot afford to be disrupted by an "unnecessary" election, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said after announcing a minor cabinet shuffle.
...
Speaking to reporters outside Rideau Hall after the ceremony, the prime minister said the global economic recovery remains fragile and is the "No. 1 priority for Canadians."
"Time is needed to carry out our economic plan," Harper said. "Canada cannot allow a break in its economic recovery plan with an unnecessary election."
The comments come as a new Ekos poll suggests the Conservatives' lead over the Liberals among potential voters appears to have dried up, with both parties virtually tied at the same level of support.

I wasn't around during the Depression but I believe we had elections during that time. I expect the economy was one of the top priorities then too. It didn't get in the way of democracy. We had them during both World Wars. Leaders are not afraid to face the people during trying times.

Stephen Harper on the other hand. Not a leader.

The answer is yes

2010-08-06T09:50:00.000-06:00

The question was: "Is it possible for Harper to look any dorkier at the Stampede or even in day to day life?"
(S/T to Impolitical who used the occurrence of the PM's new two eyes to make a more mature and intelligent point)

That post by The All Knowing And All Seeing Political One caused me to grit my teeth and look at the PMO Photo of the Day Page. Always an interesting look at the image the PM wants to project. Remember these photos were selected to enhance his image. So without further ado.

Harper strokes his inner Breshnev
How about the underlying messages in this photo:Could the Queen look any more like she has had enough of her job if it entails talking to this dick one more time? Even Prince Philip can't be bothered to look at him. And this is the image the PMO put up? Not great coat-tails with which to roll into a fall election But maybe it was the best this photo-op provided:

Queen Elizabeth then pulled a face when listening to a speech by Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, during a visit to Government House, Winnipeg, she had reserved for use when catching Sarah Ferguson begging the corgis for scraps…

Could it be that the Queen just doesn't like Canda or it's PMs? I present evidence to the contrary.
No. She, like the most of the world that has had the misfortune of experiencing Harper, doesn't like him.

Why miniority governments on the brink of collapse work for Harper

2010-08-06T09:01:00.001-06:00

I followed my own advice and re-read The Shock Doctrine over my vacation. It got me to thinking that perhaps Mr. Angry is quite happy to govern during a period of constant minority governments. Especially when they are in danger of collapsing and throwing the country into another unwanted election. This distraction allows him to impose changes to the federation that would never be possible during more normal circumstances. Even with a majority the popular opposition to the radical changes would likely prevent some of the changes the he is making by baby steps.

Paul Wells has a parallel take. Only as a political columnist, he takes an, in my view, an inaccurate primarily political tack. He does seem to have seen a hint of the light through the partially open door.

The assumption behind so much of our political chatter is that Harper's grip on power hangs by a thread. He likes that assumption. It allows him to keep changing the country while everyone waits for him to fall.

Dan Gardner is a very good columnist

2010-08-06T07:13:00.002-06:00

When he is pissed off he is great.

A slim majority of Conservative party members believe homosexuals should be arrested and imprisoned in federal dinner theatres, where they would perform The Sound of Music and other wholesome entertainment for children and seniors. Twenty per cent of the Conservative caucus dropped acid with the Grateful Dead. At least three cabinet ministers have outstanding arrest warrants in Nepal; one is a former member of the Manson family.
In the past, I would not have presented these claims as facts because they're not "true," in the narrow sense of an assertion supported by logic and evidence. That stuff mattered to me. I was a "member of the reality-based community," as a Bush administration official famously said about people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality."
But no more. "When we act," that official said, "we create our own reality." That's where I am now. Stephen Harper, the Conservative government, and me. Creating our own reality. And dropping acid with the Dead.
The first stop for Stephen's purple van was the census. Had to be. The census produces numbers that represent reality and people get all bent out of shape if the government's decisions aren't in line with these "facts." Buzz kill. So the reality-creators had to mess it up. Which is pretty easy to do. Just make the mandatory long-form census voluntary and suppress the urge to shout "that's the point, Poindexter!" when statisticians object that the data will be corrupted.
Unfortunately, the reality-based community votes -- for now -- and the Chief Metaphysician had to offer some sort of explanation for why the government is sticking it to StatsCan. So he sent out Milhouse. "It's, um, it's wrong for the state to compel people to divulge private information," Milhouse said, as instructed.
Hilarious stuff. The state compels people to divulge private information in a hundred ways and Stephen's cool with all of them, so this made about as much sense as the gagging noises that came out of George W. Bush's mouth when that pretzel went down wrong. But logic is a reality-based thing. Say something as shamelessly silly as this and people who get the new reality-creation paradigm will smile contentedly while the old-fashioned types will sputter and froth and wear their thumbs out Twittering their outrage.
It's incredibly liberating, this new way of thinking. A little heady, even. It's like being Jim Carrey in Bruce Almighty. Say it and it's true! A fella could lose his head.
Which brings me to the barefoot dude playing a sitar at the back of the purple van. I speak, naturally, of Stockwell Day.
At a press conference this week, a reality-based reporter asked the minister to explain why the government is going to spend billions of dollars it doesn't have to build new prisons when crime has been on the decline for many years. Ah, but the decline in crime you cite is merely a statistical figment, Day sagely observed. It's based on crimes reported to police. People don't report crime like they used to and the government is terribly concerned about the surge in unreported crime.
There was a certain truthiness in this because there is indeed a StatsCan survey that asks people if they've been victims of crime and, if so, whether they reported the crime to the police. Most crimes aren't reported. And the last survey shows a decline in the rate of reporting from the one previous. For a guy in the purple van, that's way more than good enough.
The reality-based community might find it a little harder to accept, however. For one thing, the decline in reporting is tiny, from 37 per cent to 34 per cent. More importantly, the survey uses such a literal definition of "crime," and such sweeping questions, that a parent whose 10-year-old had a tantrum and broke a window at home would be considered the "victim" of a "crime" that was not reported to the police. Some of what the survey tallies is more clearly criminal, of course. But it's mostly very minor stuff. And since the only criminals sent to federal penitentiaries are those who get sentences of more than two years -- serious criminals, in other words -- this survey has essentially nothing to do with what Stockwell Day was talking about.
It's also a little odd that Day cited a survey which found that 94 per cent of Canadians believed they were personally safe, up significantly from earlier surveys. And it certainly didn't help that Day made his point with a six-year-old survey shortly after saying the census was useless because it was only conducted every five years. It might also have been awkward if anyone had told the minister that the voluntary survey he was citing was accurate because statisticians had weighted it to reduce response bias using data from the mandatory census -- a procedure which will no longer be possible thanks to the government's decision to screw with the census.
But all that is so reality-based. Facts, evidence, logic. Irony. We're moved beyond that. I might even say we've evolved, but some of the guys in the purple van might not like that. So let's just say we've opened the doors of perception. We make reality, man.
Hey, here's something most people don't know. Stephen Harper has a tattoo. Really. It's a quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche. "There are no facts, only interpretations." He got it one crazy weekend in
Tijuana. It's on his right buttock.
Oh, and the former member of the Manson family? Milhouse, of course.

Vacation! What to read while I am away

2010-07-19T08:00:00.001-06:00

I am packing to go on a trip to the 50th State. So I won't be blogging for a while. But fear not for I will leave you with much to read while

I away from the keyboard. So if you haven't already (and if you want to understand the phenomenon that is Harper and his government), please read:

The Shock Doctrine

Conservative without conscience

The Authoritarians

Sorry. No image available. But this great book is FREE.

The Family

And The Armageddon Factor.

There. That ought to keep you out of trouble.

Icons of the struggle against oppression from around the world - Re-release

2010-07-17T15:17:00.000-06:00

This Star article caught my attention like the assault of a soap bubble bursting in my eye.

He's now known as “Officer Bubbles.”
Const. Adam Josephs has gained considerable notoriety after being caught on tape threatening to arrest a G20 protester for blowing bubbles.
...
The G20 bubbles incident has also spurred a YouTube cartoon, called “Officer Bubbles.”
In it, a beefed-up police officer in sunglasses threatens to arrest a woman for dancing in the streets. The video ends with a joke that the next episode will feature Officer Bubbles shooting a kitten stuck in a tree.
Meanwhile, it's BYOB at Queen's Park Saturday — that is, bring your own bubbles.
A few hundred protesters are expected to blow bubbles en masse at noon to show support for a public inquiry into police actions during the G20.
Winkels hopes to attend.

In a shameless act of self-aggrandizement and celebration of this definitively Canadian way of non-violent protest I have re-ported this from earlier in the week. Join in. Change your Twitter background to bubbles!

Every struggle for freedom is on the road to victory when an iconic image develops that encapsulates the struggle.

Sometimes it is a person and a single act that they undertook. Such as Rosa Parks.

Sometimes a nation is inspired by an entire lifetime.

Of course there are the unknown heroes.

Lately there have been inspiring clothing colours.

But this is Canada. Home of the most feared players in the toughest sport on Earth. Descendants of the victors at Vimy. In short the toughest people on the planet (according to Grapes)

And this is our icon.

What Dan Gardner said.

2010-07-16T07:08:00.002-06:00

99 times out of a 100.

I believe he speaks the truth about loving to write about statistics (MEIB)

Then the campaigns and petitions began. A long, long list of organizations wrote to formally protest the government's "misguided decision" -- that's the phrase polite people use instead of "jackassery" -- and demand its repeal. And these weren't the usual pothead Marxists. It was the Statistical Society of Canada. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities. The Canadian Marketing Association. The Canadian Association for Business Economics. I doubt the membership of the Canadian Association for Business Economics spends a lot of time reading Das Kapital and taking bong hits.
Then the Earth shook. The change to the census will produce "seriously biased" data, the legendary statistician Ivan Fellegi told this newspaper. It is "indefensible." Coming from a man who spent half a century at Statistics Canada, including 23 years as Chief Statistician, this was rather like Moses returning from the mountain and explaining to the wayward Israelites that, no, you can't worship a golden calf, you idiots.
I should have known better. Remember when Senator Nancy Ruth was blasted for telling women's groups they should "shut the f--- up" about the Harper government's stand on foreign aid and abortion? Ruth was painted as a Conservative bully. That was wrong. Ruth was actually sympathetic to the women's groups and she was warning them that if they kept protesting the Harper government would dig in and get really nasty.
And she was right. That's how this government operates.
Facing an army of angry PhDs, Clement actually fought a Twitter battle about the change with economist Stephen Gordon. Needless to say, Gordon won, a fact confirmed when Fellegi came down from the mountain and smacked Clement with his stone tablets.
...
By repeating these empty claims without the slightest acknowledgement of what the critics had been saying, the minister was sticking his fingers in his ears while loudly humming Rule Britannia. It was a gesture of contempt. "I can't hear you!" Clement mocked. "I can't hear you!"
The same day, in The Globe and Mail, Bill Robson, president of the C.D. Howe Institute, gently agreed that changing the census is a mistake but he worried that "the reaction from many opponents risks cementing the government's resolve." Bill's a gentleman who would never approve of potty mouth but that sounds an awful lot like Nancy Ruth warning women's groups to "shut the f--- up" because they're dealing with a pack of vindictive knuckleheads.
Which is fine with me. Let the government's resolve to do the unspeakably stupid be cemented, I say. Sure it will waste money, hurt public policy, hamper business, and make us increasingly ignorant even as information becomes increasingly valuable. But I'll have lots more chances to write about statistical methodology.

What to do. What to do. Jets or healthcare.

2010-07-16T06:59:00.003-06:00

Spend $16 Billion on fighter jets. Or fund the most popular program evah. As Jeffery Simpson points out the jet purchase stinks from a military standpoint. Why would a government obsessed with cuts make such a foolish decision. Could it be that there are much better opportunities for graft from military purchases?

What Jim Travers said

2010-07-13T21:27:00.002-06:00

Today

Last Saturday

Last Thursday

Need I go on?

Umm, Steve. It already is

2010-07-13T07:05:00.000-06:00

In another example of Stephen Harper's tenuous grasp of reality, Mr. Angry quoth

As an Albertan, I have no interest in seeing this sector centralized in Toronto

As a pragmatic Albertan, I can recognize that putting the regulator in Mrs. Vigilance's hometown makes sense. But the Conservatives prove their ability to create a cluster where none need exist. But doesn't the lack of seats in T.O. stand in the way of his majority? Wouldn't pushing Toronto through as the logical course seem like the natural way to help some over last month's cluster?

Unless this is another example of the ways in which the hate that is at the core of the Conservative soul manifests itself in self-destructive tendencies.

Some freedoms aren't as fundamental as others

2010-07-12T18:18:00.002-06:00

On reflection, it is amazing how smoothly the transition from an open democratic society that respects free speech to an authoritarian dictatorship has happened. I hope they don't wake up the kids when they come in the middle of the night to carry me away.

Think I am being a bit over the top? Think about this (MEIB):

Montreal-based activist Jaggi Singh has been released on bail after agreeing to refrain from protests until his charges from last month’s G20 summit are dealt with in the courts.
“I personally find the no-protest and no-organizing (protests) conditions to be humiliating,” Singh said Monday evening after being freed on $75,000 surety and $10,000 bail. “It's so patently unconstitutional.”
He faces charges of criminal conspiracy, mischief, obstructing police and obstructing justice.
Singh is allowed to return to his home in Montreal, but must refrain from using cellphones.
Singh turned himself in to police on July 6. He is due back in court July 23 for a pre-trial scheduling hearing.

So much for free speech. (S/T to AZ from twitter)

G-20 policing: the tipping point? Or is going viral precisely the point?

2010-07-07T12:52:00.001-06:00

Dr. Dawg has an optimistic viewpoint on the outcome of the trials Mr. Pruyn was put through. Cathie From Canada thinks this story is going viral. While I am hesitant to disagree with them, I would posit that if the whole point of the G20 display of excessive policing is to intimidate rank and file Canadians, demonstrating your willingness to beat up an amputee is an effective way to accomplish that goal.

During the Tiananmen Square demonstrations...

2010-07-06T21:43:00.004-06:00

the Chinese government brought in troops for areas far away from Beijing to disperse the crowds. The soldiers in Units 27 & 28 were from a more remote and reactionary area of the country and could be counted on to attack citizens of the the capital when ordered to.

Oops. Wrong link. My bad. Here it is.

Section 2 of the Canadian Charter Of Rights and Freedoms

2010-06-29T12:11:00.001-06:00

Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:

(a) freedom of conscience and religion;

(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;

(c) freedom of peaceful assembly; and

(d) freedom of association.

I was shocked by the events of last weekend

2010-06-28T21:08:00.002-06:00

"Only a crisis—actual or perceived––produces real change. When that crisis occurs, the actions that are taken depend on the ideas that are lying around. . . . Our basic function [is] to develop alternatives to existing policies, to keep them alive and available until the politically impossible"—by which he meant enacting radical deregulation, privatization of national industries and public-sector programs, and deep cuts to the welfare state— "becomes the politically inevitable."

Milton Friedman

I was shocked by the events of last weekend. And so were you but not just in a "How outrageous!" sort of way. You were subjected to tactics straight out of The Shock Doctrine.

Lots of people are asking questions:

When they knew there was always going to be trouble (which they did, which is why they spent $1 billion on security), why did the Harper government continue to insist that the centre of Canada's largest city would be the preferred location for the summit – when it clearly could've, and should've, been held somewhere else?

2. Out of that billion dollars, couldn't a few bucks have been set aside to hire some police officers to prevent the violence and destruction taking place elsewhere in the city – as seen, to cite just one example, in this disturbing raw footage (click "Anarchist Tear Apart Yonge Street" in CTV News Video Player) showing not one cop (not one ) intervening to stop mayhem on Canada's biggest and busiest street?

Were other actions by the police not somewhat suspicious?

To which I would like to add a few of my own. Did it not seem like they made sure that the over the top reaction would be heavily reported? Did it not seem like they were going out of their way to harass reporters and peaceful protesters? Isn't it odd that so many were from Conservative friendly outlets like the CTV, the National Post and the Sun? Why would they attack people singing the national anthem when Yonge Street is burning?

Had enough time to think? Of course it did. They wanted us to see what they would bring down on T.O. if they wanted to. They want us to see what they will do to bystanders and media types. Even friendly ones. As Ms. Klein lays out in the opening part of her excellent book, you don't have to intimidate many people. You just have to do it to a few and in such a way that everyone takes notice. Let us know that they will arrest as many as it takes to intimidate us. Then resistance crumbles.

This disaster may have been the result of extreme Conservative incompetence. Or it may be the outgrowth of extreme Conservative tactics. But they did get their point across. Stand up to us and you will be randomly brutalized.

Recommendations for a progressive summer reading list.

2010-06-27T08:58:00.002-06:00

Know thy lot, Know thine enemies, Know thyself.”

“Know thy enemy and know thy self and you will win a hundred battles.”
Sun Tzu Wu

The following books will help you follow this maxim.

The Family. What is amazing about this book, besides the scariness of the religious right's reach is the undercurrent of how religion is a vehicle to allow people to conform to a hierarchical organization.

I wanted to get a take on how this is happening in Canada but I have to wait until I get to the head of the Calgary Public Library's queue for The Armageddon Factor.

In the meantime, I have been ploughing through a few others that are interesting and relevant. Conservatives Without Conscience outlines how the Authoritarian tendencies of recent Republican leaders and their followers have damaged the United States political system. It is so good I might have to open up the change purse and buy a copy.

And if you have read that one, you need to follow it up with The Authoritarians by Dr. Bob Altemeyer from the University of Manitoba. Really good. And free to download!

I expect to be quoting from both of the latter books extensively in future posts. After I finish The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest.

Perhaps there is a rational explanation for the $1 Billion in G8/20 security costs

2010-06-25T19:33:00.003-06:00

It is stuff like this that makes the cynic in me think that a significant part of the reason for the excessive security is to inure us to the overt presence of state security operatives in our everyday lives. If they can shut down Bay Street, why not Water Street?

Makes those Liberal "Soldiers in or streets" ads from 2006 seem not so crazy. Don't trust me. Trust this bastion of Liberal sympathizers.

2010-06-23T22:45:00.002-06:00

Somewhere tonight Stephane Dion is saying to himself "Where were these guys two tears ago".

Oil industry supports carbon tax

The head of Canada's largest integrated oil company on Tuesday came out in favour of a carbon tax as part of a national energy strategy to reduce emissions and promote "responsible" energy development, but provincial government representatives quickly shot down the idea.
Speaking at an environment conference in Calgary, Suncor CEO Rick George said he would support a carbon tax if the fiscal burden was evenly shared between industry and consumers and applied evenly across the country.
"I'm not necessarily opposed to a carbon tax, but what we have to do is tax all carbon equally," he told reporters. "A molecule of carbon is the same whether it's produced out of an oilsands plant or the tailpipe of your car."

A representative of the Stelmach government came out to counter this argument but no one paid any attention.

Observation on the Foto of the Day

2010-06-23T12:31:00.001-06:00

Impolitical does the dirty work of going through the propaganda photos from the PMO to make a funny caption for The Foto Of The Day so we don't have to. There is one striking similarity regarding this image and the earlier one reported on. And that is that his back is to the camera in both. Could this be a sub-conscious expression of his contempt for the Canadian people? The thought crossed my mind on the weekend. Mr. ControlFreak authorized these photos for addition to the gallery. These photos are staged. Seeing a second one in relatively close proximity to the first is interesting.

But Harper couldn't possibly be corrupt. He hangs out with Nickelback

2010-06-19T12:00:00.004-06:00

"Mark my words Francois, sinister forces are at work."

Inspector Jacques Clouseau

During the Pink Panther movies, the criminals were perpetrating their crimes right in front of the bumbling Inspector Clouseau. In a similar fashion, a pattern continues to develop of this Conservative government breaking all sorts of rules designed to prevent corruption. One day, as with Mulroney, the media will notice what is going on in front of their noses and kick up a fuss.

In the meantime you will look deep to find stories like this (MEIB).

The prime minister's own department has been repeatedly breaking the rules for issuing government contracts.
Almost a third of the contracts awarded by the Privy Council Office have been "retroactive," that is, they were drawn up only after the work or service had started.
"There is some risk associated with the relatively high number of contracts issued for work that has already begun, i.e., after the fact," says a newly released audit.
Auditors examined a sample of 70 contracts from the 2,200 the Privy Council Office signed in the 18-month period ending June 2009. The value of all the contracts was $31 million; no dollar figure was given for the sample.
Twenty-nine per cent of the sample contracts were created retroactively, contrary to Treasury Board rules that were toughened by the Federal Accountability Act, implemented after the Conservatives came to power in 2006.
Many were valued at less than $5,000, but one was for unspecified "professional services" worth $95,000. Auditors also noted two amendments to contracts were made after the additional work had begun.
The findings of the report, dated Feb. 17 this year, parallel those in another Privy Council Office audit also completed in February.
The internal probe of the massive legal bill for the inquiry into Brian Mulroney's dealings with Karlheinz Schreiber found officials improperly "backdated" approvals for lawyers' expenses that went over budget. Costs of the Oliphant Commission were at least $16 million, mostly for lawyers' fees.
The latest audit also found a sole-source contract that was not justified. Its value and purpose were not disclosed in the report.

I will take Mr. Soudas up on his interesting contention

2010-06-19T08:42:00.003-06:00

Harper's Chief Vuvuzela lays it on the line.

Canada’s twin summits are ringing in at nearly a million dollars a minute but the cost is worth it because Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other leaders will get a chance to let their hair down and talk “face-to-face,” a PMO spokesperson said Friday.
Explaining the eye-popping cost of next weekend’s meetings, which will ding taxpayers for about $833,000 per minute of actual leaders’ meeting time, Dimitri Soudas said G8 and G20 leaders face daunting challenges from a struggling economy, global warming, rogue nuclear states and crises in Afghanistan, the Korean peninsula and the Middle East.
“You actually need leaders sitting around the table having these difficult discussions, making progress,” Soudas told reporters in a pre-summit briefing.
The leaders “sit down and make collective decisions on what’s best for the global economy,” Soudas said. “So that is exactly why we need these type of summits, that is exactly why leaders sitting around the table face-to-face—and not through Twitter, Skype or video-conferencing—will eventually produce more results.”
Soudas also suggested that once leaders get down to business, any questions about Harper’s credibility as a result of the $1.2 billion cost of the meetings and the controversy over the “fake lake” at the media centre will be left far behind.

If the Conservatives feel they will be able to enumerate a list of tangible benefits from the summit let them do so. Let them also provide us with a statement on the return on the 1.2 billion+ investment we have made in this. Would this money have been better spent on reducing the deficit? Funding healthcare? Building a Chalk River replacement? If Mr. Soudas would care to provide a credible cost-benefit analysis relative to other possible uses for this enormous sum all will be forgiven.

Saturday Morning Blogging Part II: Jim Travers - the Anti-Taber

2010-06-19T07:44:00.003-06:00

No additional comment needed. Go read it, please.

Photo caption contest and related rant

2010-06-19T06:41:00.011-06:00

The PMO has released this photograph of Mr. Lonely-For-A-Reason

and here is my suggested caption:

After all of the other kids have headed out for the summer, Stephen Harper serves a detention for his outrages against Canadian democracy. He will be there for quite a while.

I will reference two articles to make a point about the shoddy journalism at the Grope and Flail.

As Rosemary Barton points out on CBC.ca,

The photo is, of course, staged.

*But part of the reason Harper can get away with his depredations against democracy is due to the tendency of the fourth estate to unquestionably regurgitate Conservative propaganda. Jane Taber and the prime journalistic real estate she occupies is an ongoing example of this. Her take on the photo (MEIB):

From time to time, the Prime Minister’s photographer sends out to the press gallery candid shots of Stephen Harper. On Thursday, he captured the Prime Minister in a very solitary moment in a totally empty House of Commons. It was to signify the rising of the House for the summer as MPs go back to their ridings*

For Ms. Taber's benefit, I will provide a definition of candid and encourage her and her readers to read the third usage: .

Not posed or rehearsed: a candid snapshot.
n.An unposed informal photograph.

Regardless of political leanings no one who has followed the antics of this Prime Minister thinks there is anything spontaneous emanating from the PMO. Everything is arranged for it's presumed effect. Harper's image manipulation is only possible with the cooperation of the media. In the case of Ms. Taber, it is hard to tell whether this is due to Conservative leanings or because there is enough air up there to film an entire Jacques Cousteau special. The net effect is that once Canada has completed the descent into the tar pit of a Harper dictatorship Taber and her ilk will still not have realized the role they played in leading us there.

*P.S.: My apologies for the fonts. Blogger sucks.

I bet this G20 won't cost $1.2 billion+

2010-06-17T23:13:00.001-06:00

I have always had a lot of respect for Belinda Stronach since she proved herself the only Conservative strong enough to resist Stephen Harper's bullying. That is why they went after her hammer and tong style.

This initiative seems to me that it might actually come out with more tangible results than the meeting costing several orders of magnitude more money.

She's a delegate from Turkey, poised, educated and attending an international summit in Toronto, but what this 18-year-old has to say may rival the words of the G20 bigwigs.

"Even though I hope with all my heart that the real G20 will also seek to have real solutions, I still think maybe us 20 girls, making changes in our own communities, will also make a similar impact," said Irem Tumer, shrugging as she spoke plaintively.

The mostly male world leaders will descend on Toronto for the G20 summit next week. But Tumer and 20 other young women from around the world have been tossing around their own ideas, discussing global policy and offering a voice for 3.3 billion women worldwide.

Tumer and the others — one representing the African Union and 20 mirroring the role of G20 delegates — began Day 1 of the G(irls) 20 summit in Toronto on Wednesday.

The summit is the brainchild of Belinda Stronach, a former MP and now executive vice-chairman of Magna International Inc.

Stronach challenged the girls to become a voice for women in the international community as she spoke to the crowded room at the Rotman School of Management in Toronto.

"Girls have to recognize the value that they can contribute. We have to change the mindset of boys and men so they value girls worldwide," said Stronach.

Panellists, some shedding tears, spoke about violence, poverty and lack of education — all identified as barriers to a woman's success.

Smart move by Mercer

2010-06-17T12:58:00.001-06:00

Like any good entertainer, he knows enough not to let the stage you are performing on overwhelm your performance. As a comedian he knew that his bits will be swamped by the inintentional slapstick and rants flowing from the daily operations of the Nun Spews Network.

A passing thought on the timing of blog-rogation timing

2010-06-09T21:42:00.002-06:00

Last week there was a spate of notices that a log of the good ones were taking a break. I kind of wonder if they regret their timing giving the low hanging fruit Harper has been giving us.

A billion dollars can pay for a lot of things

2010-06-08T12:37:00.002-06:00

It appears it is not enough to check that the private security company to do the work has a licence to work in Ontario. Spendthrift and incompetent. That is The Harper Government.

Update: Link added. Thanks Thor. Oh yeah. And spelling mistakes fixed.

Tomorrow's Tory-spin today

2010-06-06T21:10:00.004-06:00

Coming soon from a PMO near you will be the following talking point: "Harper government manages a thousand fold decrease in embarrassing wastes of taxpayer money".

Of course sane people will read the following:

Canadian and international journalists covering the G8 summit in Muskoka later this month will be able to file their reports from the leisurely comfort of a cottage dock, their feet dangling in the water, surrounded by the stunning sights and sounds of the fabled Ontario resort country three hours north of Toronto.
The only catch is they won’t be anywhere near Muskoka.
Instead, the federal government is shelling out millions of dollars to re-create cottage country — complete with a small lake — inside a Toronto convention facility that will warehouse most of the media during the three-day windfest.

Your tax dollars at work. ...
Foreign Affairs estimates the cost for the project will be $1.9 million, including draining the lake and dismantling the whole thing after three days.

and this

It is all another stunning achievement by organizers of the great Canadian summits of squander, three days of hot air and tear gas that will cost taxpayers an estimated $1.2 billion and counting.

And agree that while the $1.9 million dollars waste is three orders of magnitude less than pissing away 1.2 billion it isn't much to crow about and put it down to another example of mind-boggling HGI (Harper Government Incompetence).

Harper’s Message Event Proposals reveal ‘hyper-extreme’ political control

2010-06-06T16:54:00.002-06:00

While an interesting piece with some new details about the process there is not really too much surprising here. It would only be a surprise to the Albertosaurus conservatii and it's relatives. It does lead to two thoughts.

There is a thesis waiting to be written on the similarities between the message control of the Harperclones and Stalin era propaganda efforts (MEIB).

An MP’s Sunday afternoon visit to a seniors’ home. The federal purchase of powerful new military aircraft. A journalism student’s innocuous query about Africa.
One thing connects them all — the Conservative government scripted each event using a potent but little-known communication tool called the Message Event Proposal....
An MEP template typically includes the following subtitles: Event, Event type, Desired headline, Key messages, Media lines, Strategic objectives, Desired soundbite, Ideal speaking backdrop, Ideal event photograph, Tone, Attire, Rollout materials, Background, and Strategic considerations.

Bit by bit, MEP by MEP, Harper is changing Canada into Oceania. One day we will look back on 2010 and see this as one of the last chances to have stopped him. Then all we will have left is trying to stay out of Room 101.

The other notion is that if the Conservatives applied this type of rigorous thinking and planning to actually running the country they might not be doing such a bad job of it.

Don't get too excited Harpo. I said might.

Compare and contrast

2010-06-03T22:59:00.001-06:00

What our Prime Minister says.

And what people who know what they are talking about say.

Mr Angry does us proud on the international stage...again

2010-06-03T13:00:00.001-06:00

First he misses photo ops at 2 successive conferences. Then he uses very undiplomatic language when childishly referring to the parties that won a majority of the electorate's support as "losers". and to cap it off, he makes insulting hand gestures at the British PM. Personally I think he was trying to explaining why he was late for the first photo op. As in "I was trying to go number...". Look at the picture and figure it out for yourself.

Why being a blogger is better than being a highly paid national columnist

2010-06-03T06:08:00.002-06:00

Because being a columnist is a job. And that job requires that you publish a piece on a regular basis. So on occasion, even columnists who do their job quite well find themselves staring at a deadline with nothing to write about. A blogger can say: "Eff it. I'm going for a road ride." A columnist must put electrons to computer screen. You want an example. Consider the plight of poor Lawrence Martin today.

So what is it that makes a man boring? Might it be that his favourite sport is badminton? ...

The question arises because our allegedly dull Prime Minister is about to host the G20. It’s Stephen Harper’s biggest image test yet, and some seem to think that with him in the chair, the ennui will be unbearable for the other 19.

To refute this postulate, Mr Martin reaches for some painful to watch stage managed evidence that Mr Angry is actually Stimulating Stevie.

Can we imagine Coolidge hanging out with some of the big bands of his era, jamming in the back rooms of the White House with, say, Hoagy Carmichael? Mr. Harper has recently had Bryan Adams and Nickelback over to 24 Sussex – and it wasn’t for talks on a new equalization formula. Rather, for live sessions (with Adams at least) with the Prime Minister at the keyboard. He’s got a music room set up for visiting virtuosos. Son Ben joins in with some wicked guitar playing.

Does anyone who thinks about it believe this is anything more than an embarrassing photo-op? The very fact that stunts such as this are required to prove Harper's humanness exists points to his lack of personality.

Forget the evidence provided by unscripted Steve.

This is the same father who was once pilloried in the media for a scene outside of his son’s school. He shook Ben’s hand while dropping him off, which was said to typify the Harperian rigidity.

But don't worry Mr. Martin. Given the anti-democratic and scandalous tendencies of the Conservatives there will be real issues to report on tomorrow.

What is that? You say there are real issues to bring up rather than this fluff. Oh. Never mind.

Not exactly ground breaking research yor Emience

2010-06-02T22:18:00.002-06:00

In the latest news, Tom Flanagan, also known around here as Harper's Eminence Grease, is presenting a paper at a conference in Montreal and the Star got some crib notes. Let us see what cutting edge insights the former insider and current sewer outlet from the PMO to the Globe and Mail has to impart.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper is a controlling leader running a “garrison party” in permanent campaign mode, says his former campaign director Tom Flanagan. ...

Flanagan writes that Harper’s shaping of the party structures and determination not to allow “intermediate” groupings such as youth wings, or separate political entities for regional, ethnic, aboriginal or other different groups under the party’s umbrella means that “there are no points of refuge in which opposition to the leadership could coalesce.” ...

This is hardly news. If being at the forefront of Political Science is the mark of an effective Professor, Flanagan is either a has been or never was.

I can answer Impolitical's question

2010-06-01T05:44:00.002-06:00

Her question:

How much does a Conservative "stronghold" riding put up with these days anyway?

My answer: Quite a lot. Or so it appears. And those same voters whine about how hard it is to shake Calgary's image as being Redneck Central.

I'll see Harper two cents on his use of our two billion dollars

2010-05-29T16:42:00.010-06:00

I suppose the single word that describes my reaction to the news of security costs in excess of a billion dollars so that Harper can make a fool of himself on the international stage again is inured. "To habituate to something undesirable, especially by prolonged subjection; accustom" That sounds about right.

After four years of Conservative government, it is no longer a surprise that these idiots couldn't organize a piss-up in a brewery. With all of the levers of a modern First World government at their disposal the list of cock-ups Harper's Hosers have created is impressive. Listeriosis, Chalk River, H1N1, Deficits and others too depressing to enumerate. All that does is make me shake my head at Harper's chutzpah in continuing his quest to become King. Hitler may have been possessed with similar authoritarian urges but at least he was competent.

In a similar fashion I am not surprised by this announcement:

Canada ready to spend $1B on maternal health: sources

Now don't get me wrong. Maternal health is an important issue and pledging $1,000,000,000 towards the cause is impressive regardless of the strings attached. But what drove this announcement?

If it was proposed after careful consideration of the problem, the best mode of addressing it and a proper costing of this approach then this is an announcement of a competent government regardless of the political orientation.

If hints were dropped on a Sunday by government sources regarding a hot potato topic with the dollar figure conveniently equal to the cost of their most recent debacle, the policy has less to do with maternal health and more to do with a set up so government members can play a version of "Who's on first?" regarding G8/G20 security expenses.

An awfully cynical way to spend a billion dollars of taxpayer's money. But being inured allows me to ponder other questions.

What of their steadfast supporters? What does it say about them. Has he tread the ground worshiped by fiscal conservatives. Anyone? Anyone?

Do any western Canadians recognize the "grass roots democracy" pledges of Harper's Reform roots? Surely enough sentient social conservatives exist to recognize the cynical and convenient vote pandering that is underway in the recent maternal health maneuvers.

Regardless of impressions left by the Ignatieff attack ads, what does it say about soft Conservative supporters? Are they really so preoccupied with American Idol that they are willing to the accept this sort of government?

If Harper's government can survive these questions, then we get the government we deserve. Perhaps some day we will become self aware enough as a nation to be ashamed of ourselves.

Writer's block doesn't just occur at the initiation of an editorial

2010-05-18T06:26:00.002-06:00

On occasion Lawrence Martin types up editorialettes for Metro based on notions that are not considered ready for prime time in the Globe. He does so today with "Stephen Harper rides the wheel of fortune." Perhaps this piece didn't make it into the G&M because it just didn't feel finished.

Sure he enumerated the lucky breaks Harper has enjoyed. The article is short so I will paste the whole thing:

The streak of fortune continues.
One of the unwritten stories about Stephen Harper is how the fates continually smile on him. Few Canadian politicians have ever been as fortunate.
The latest break came last week. Just when it appeared the Conservatives were about to lose a huge swath of supportive media in a newspaper sell-off, a darkhorse bidder saved the day.
Liberally-inclined Torstar appeared to be the favourite to win the National Post and the other Canwest papers, all of them in the conservative philosophical corner. The thought of it had the Harper Conservatives climbing the walls. The country’s media landscape was about to change.
But a surprise bid from by a group led by National Post chairman Paul Godfrey saved the day.
Just how sensitive the Conservatives are to media has been demonstrated in their attacks on the CBC for using a pollster, Frank Graves, who says the Liberals should employ a culture war strategy against Harper. What the feverish Tory reaction should tell the Liberals is that such a strategy is a good one.
The break on the newspaper sale followed a highly fortunate turn in January, when just as momentum for a national day of protest against his prorogation of Parliament was building, the Haitian calamity struck. It wiped out all other news and gave Harper a chance to change the dial, which he did effectively with an impressive Haitian relief effort. The prorogue protest went ahead but was half the size it would have been.
In years previous, the wheel of fortune seemed to always spin his way as well. During the coalition crisis he was at death’s doorstep when the opposition parties blew the deal by bringing Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe into a press conference. Then the Governor General saved Harper’s bacon by granting his wish to shut down Parliament, thereby avoiding a confidence vote.
He received a remarkable break in the 2006 election, which brought him to power. Midway through it, the RCMP announced an investigation into the Liberals, which turned momentum in Harper’s favour. Before that, during his opposition days, Harper got the break of a lifetime when the sponsorship scandal exploded, sending the Liberals plummeting in the polls.
He got good breaks in both his Canadian Alliance and Conservative leadership campaigns when no big-name opponents came forward to challenge for the titles. He’s had great fortune as well in drawing weak opposition leaders thus far.
It’s amazing. For other politicians luck usually runs out. For Stephen Harper, it just keeps on coming.

But it just seems unfinished. It must have been frustrating to not be able to pin down that last point.

I can help here. Might I suggest something along the lines of:

With all this luck Mr. Harper cannot not consistently build support beyond the crazies of his base. What happens when the luck runs out. Even a little.

Now I know what Ford Prefect felt like at the start of Douglas Adams' opus

2010-05-11T22:13:00.007-06:00

"But Mr Dent, the plans have been available in the local planning
office for the last nine month."

"Oh yes, well as soon as I heard I went straight round to see
them, yesterday afternoon. You hadn't exactly gone out of your
way to call attention to them had you? I mean like actually
telling anybody or anything."

"But the plans were on display ..."

"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find
them."

"That's the display department."

"With a torch."

"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

"So had the stairs."

"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom
of a locked filing cabinet stuck in a disused lavatory with a
sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard."

The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Chapter 1

Douglas Adams

Why do I know how Prefect felt? Because I read this. If the BP bulldozer of a blow-out hadn't occurred this change in the regulations would have stayed in the dark, in the cellar without any stairs. Changes such as this:

Canadian regulators relaxed offshore drilling regulations late last year, giving the energy industry more flexibility when putting in place safeguards against oil spills.
Previously, companies were required to install specific kinds of equipment, such as safety valves and blowout preventers. The old regulations outlined everything from how companies should cement the casing on an oil well, to how they should conduct pressure tests.
Under the new regulations, which came into force in December, well operators must set environmental-protection goals, list the equipment they will use to achieve those goals and disclose their plans for inspecting, testing and maintaining such gear. But they are not required to install specific equipment.

Just what we need. Another example of the doctrinaire conservative dogma that industry be allowed to regulate itself. "The operator will take all the necessary precautions because it is in their own best interests to avoid the costs of a blow-out. All hail Adam Smith." This sort of nonsense leads to pap such as expressed here:

A spokeswoman for the National Energy Board said the new regulations represent a "modern" approach that allows companies to use different environmental-protection technologies, depending on the nature of the project.
"What if we were to specify that there must be a blowout preventer, and some innovation comes along where there's actually something better?" said Sarah Kiley. "A goal-based approach allows for innovation, that technology advancement."

I have no idea who Sarah Kiley is but I have been involved in the drilling of several wells and while I am not an engineer, I am certain that there is nothing on the horizon that can replace a BOP. Sure something might come along. Just write the regulations to take that into account.

The people in charge of getting the wells drilled are, as a whole, good well meaning people. But their job is to cut pennies from multi-million dollar drilling programs. But they will obey the rules. If they need to have precautions in place, these intelligent professionals will do so in the most cost effective way possible. But if they can cut costs by being able to self-regulate they will. They will assume the calculated risks. The counter argument is that the costs of a blow-out are so onerous, it is in their own best Smithian interests to take the precautions.

"But regulations increase costs and make us uncompetitive." Then leave them under the sea floor until the price justifies the risk.

But if the exploration companies are able to stall and negotiate down to ten percent of the initial penalty, it makes sense to take the chances and cut the safety corners. Most of the time people doing their best will manage to avoid catastrophe. But eliminating regulations will in the aggregate lead to more disasters that no one wants.

And in the end, the victim of this unintended consequences is you, me, our kids, the sea life and everyone else.

This isn't any easier to take if you don't have a hangover.