Perhaps when the prime minister goes back to Alberta the next time, his neighbours will ask him about this chart. Well, not the chart so much, but why their homes have gone down in value an average $42,000 would be a good start.
There are fewer true barometers of how an economy is doing than jobs, houses or the stock market. One is a lagging indicator, another a barometer of consumer sentiment and the third a leading indicator. All three, I would think, should be worrying our government. They’re certainly worrying Canadians.
Last Friday came news that 55,000 jobs were lost last month, leading a senior economist at BMO to say the economy is “flat on its back.” He and his colleagues had expected a small gain of 5,000 jobs, and certainly not this disaster – which was centred mostly in the industrial heartland of Ontario and Quebec.
Monday came more bad news about real estate, on top of last week’s dollops of it. Not only are resale numbers crashing and the national house price falling for the first time in 17 years, but the pace of new home construction is cooling fast. Annualized national starts, economists said, would be 210,000 in July. Instead they were 186,500 – just one of the few times in five years the 200,000 mark has been breached.
And there’s more to come. For example, of the 126 new condo developments launched in Toronto during 2007, only 62 are being built. A lot of the others will never break earth, because consumers – looking at this economy and falling house values – are cancelling deals and staying put.
And the stock market, well, danger there too for a prime minister. At just over 13,000, the TSX is off 2,000 points from its 52-week high – and that was just one month ago. As the price of commodities, including oil, decline (as I suggested would happen some weeks ago), the Canadian economy suddenly doesn’t look so hot anymore. We see what Mr. Harper’s economic policies have done in just 30 months to hollow out our industrial base, make us less competitive, whack the tourist business and erode confidence. Suddenly investors wonder why they’d come to a country that turned a $14 billion government surplus into a few dabs of red ink, where recession’s taking hold and government spending’s out of control.
But, mostly, people down the street from the Harpers will just wonder where the boom went. This time, it was uncommonly short.
Related:
Canadian housing enters ‘sustained downturn’
New home prices soften, construction plummets
Oil prices hit a three-month low
July housing data ‘fairly ugly’
Toronto market:
216 comments ↓
Not to mention that on October 31, 2006:
Suddenly investors wondered why they’d come to believe Stephen Harper when he promised he’d never “raid seniors’ nest eggs” by double taxing income trusts.
In one day, he turned seniors’ and retirees’ nest eggs into a $35 Billion Black Hole, while putting their financial futures in jeopardy.
And people down the street from the Harpers just wonder where their money and futures went.
“Ooops, Harper did it again.”
More stupidity from Flaherty (the Clown)
Interest deductibility rears its ugly head once again:
http://caiti-online.blogspot.com/2008/08/interest-deductibility-rears-its-ugly.html
2,500 of those jobs were lost at BCE solely because of their leveraged buyout….which was a sole result of Harper’s income trust tax that prevented BCE from remaining canada;s most widely held PUBLIC company….and because the trust tax only applies to PUBLIC companies…..so what happens?….duh….they go private
Guess what happens next, they go private by way of leveraged buyouts which shelters them from ever paying taxes.
PRESTO. Phantom tax leakage, becomes real tax leakage.
Harper is an incompetent bubble head with an ego the size of Texas. His home town state.
Suddenly investors wonder why they’d come
by Garth Turner on 08.11.08 @ 10:28 pm
The`ve been leaving since 2002
no justice, no investment
The tourist business was whacked due to a Canadian high dollar and hard times for U.S. travellers. A high dollar is bad, but seen as oil is in U.S. prices, was it not a good thing for us to have a high dollar? Gas would have been costing upwards of 2 dollars a litre had we not had our high dollar keeping the price down.
I was thinking about Harper coming back to Calgary, and I stumbled on the following:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-i-cant-stand-about-harper.html
What I Can’t Stand About Harper
“My partner put it best. She doesn’t like Harper because he doesn’t like us. Harper’s comments going back a decade reveal his contempt for the Canadian people and our social values. Harper is outside our values in a place more likely to be inhabited by right-wing ideologues, would-be Republicans. At a purely personal level I believe he has set himself up against me and against my country. Harper doesn’t want to serve and build Canada. He wants to transform it by shifting it far to the right following the same method that has worked in the United States.
I don’t like Harper because I find him parochial. His preference is for wholesale devolution, a rejigging of our confederation and a Balkanization of the nation.
I dislike Harper because he flies false flags and employs ruse to effect fundamental change. Take the GST cuts. Harper didn’t cut the GST for economic stimulus. In fact economists were nearly universal in holding economic stimulus would better be achieved by direct cuts in income taxes. What Harper was really doing, without being honest about it, was defunding the government. Doing that, covertly, is, in my view utterly subversive.
The world is now entering an era that promises great upheaval – socially, politically, economically – and Canada, while relatively blessed, won’t be immune. Yet our central government has been rendered impotent to act quickly and powerfully should that need arise. It has been deprived of its fiscal strength and that has been a deliberate but unspoken policy of the Harper cons.
I see in Stephen Harper a man guided by a narrow, mechanical ideology who pursues objectives but without any clear or compelling vision. He’s a glorified clerk. His lack of vision is reflected in a common failing of our time among the political classes – an utter indifference to posterity.
The times that are upon us mandate that we incorporate posterity into all our decision-making. What’s good for us in five years is important but not if it requires neglecting or impairing the welfare of the country for generations to follow. That surely must be the nub of the entire climate change dilemma. Looked at in the span of an election cycle, it’s vastly different than when taken on a generational scale.
Harper’s goals are immediate and that makes his focus small and devoid of the inconvenience of vision. It gives rise to that “bull in the china shop” decision making where immediate results eclipse long-term consequences. The Tar Sands development to lever Canada into an “energy superpower” reflects that way of thinking.
Our society, our nation, our world are facing long-term challenges that can’t be met by short-term thinking. It needs vision with an eye to posterity to begin developing long-term, effective responses – both remedial and adaptive.
The coming three decades will usher in enormous problems of a global dimension. Taken collectively they’re unprecedented in scale and impact. Global warming, desertification, overpopulation, resource depletion, freshwater exhaustion, species extinction, the arrival of peak oil. Society is going to undergo change, the nation is going to undergo change, the global community is going to undergo change, often unpleasant and threatening and ultimately unavoidable. It’s going to take strong social cohesion and clear vision-based consensus to find and implement the very best responses, short and long-term, to these challenges. Put another way, this will require leadership totally at odds with the corporate management style of movement conservatives.”
And that, in brief, is what I can’t stand about Stephen Harper. He’s stuck in a rigid and atrophied ideology that does not serve this country well, even in the short run, and will certainly harm it in the long run.
http://the-mound-of-sound.blogspot.com/2008/04/what-i-cant-stand-about-harper.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“You’ve got to remember that west of Winnipeg the ridings the Liberals hold are dominated by people who are either recent Asian immigrants or recent migrants from eastern Canada: people who live in ghettoes and who are not integrated into western Canadian society.”
~ Stephen Harper
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/08/11/tory-spending.html?ref=rss
Party sent $37,000 to his campaign, then took it back: ex-Tory
…………..Caldwell said he left the Tories “after what happened and my concern that the Conservative Party was no longer interested in rehabilitating parliamentary institutions.” He plans to run next as a Green Party candidate……..
Looks like one of Harper’s own gang felt betrayed by Harper. Interesting that the honest ones jump ship.
Looks like at least three of the neocons were honest
Another Conservative candidate attacks ‘in-out’ ad scheme
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2008/04/25/goudie-tories.html
……….Goudie is the second Conservative candidate who ran in Newfoundland and Labrador in the 2006 election to speak out against the advertising scheme.
Cynthia Downey, who ran in Random-Burin-St. George’s in southern Newfoundland, said her campaign was told nothing about the money that unexpectedly arrived from head office but was almost immediately pulled back.
Downey had already broken her ties with the party. She withdrew her campaign to seek the Conservative nomination in the next federal election over Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s turnabout on equalization………………..
I guess we should keep track of this information to share with our friends and family when an election is called. The general public don’t have time to find or read this info. Us retired folks have the time and the inclination to help our country by letting people know the truth of the Harper gang.
Yeah, but what about all the news in Ottawa from the Ethics Committee? I guess Doug Finley still feels he can call the shots.
*chuckles*. Wow Garth, you truly are out of touch of Albertans.
Most folks in Alberta & most in my neighborhood (4th Street SW, Mission) are happy prices have come down. Last year, a 1 bedroom cost 350K in this ‘hood, well beyond the reach of even those pulling in 100K a year. A 2 bedroom house near 23rd and 2nd St was up for 592K a month. It was on a 30 foot lot, 800 sq feet & built in 1920. If you wanna take a look at my ‘hood, mls.ca and Mission, I think it’s 007 in SW Calgary
Now you can find places here for 190K, reasonably affordable for single people making a “normal” income. I LIVE and WORK here in Calgary and I don’t see too many folks complaining about an easing of house prices. Nor of the availability of housing stock on the market.
Good of you to try to make an issue of it. Maybe next time you might BRING your ass out here to Calgary and actually experience it.
Irvine
Calgary, AB, Canada.
and not expecting you to post this.
How to operate a fully functioning democracy with a great economy .
Do everything opposite to what the Con-bots do .
A suggestion:
One of the first bills the Tories will be introducing when parliament resumes next month is their “Get Tough on Crime” Law and Order bill. I suggest the Liberals move an amendment to the bill to effect the following:
1 ) Electoral Fraud will be made a criminal offence (if it isn’t already).
2 ) Any violation of the funding regulations will be considered Electoral Fraud.
3 ) Any individual elected to a position that is subsequently convicted of electoral fraud will be deemed to have received zero votes in the election or by-election involved and the results adjusted accordingly.
So the effect would be that any Tory MPs involved in the “in and out” scheme found guilty of breaking the funding regulations would lose their seats (and their deposits) and the seat would be awarded to the candidate that finished 2nd in the riding. We would end up with a change of government without the expense of a general election, which I guess would still be required in Fall of ’09.
The NDP and BQ presumably would both support the amendment since they would each gain additional seats, even though it would mean the Liberals would become the majority party.
And it would serve the Tories right. They’re really big on law and order when it constrains someone else, but when it constrains them it’s perfectly OK to subvert it or even ignore it in pursuit of their agenda.
Works for me.
Regards,
EhBC
Shouldn’t Dion be talking up the Liberal economic solutions to the country’s problems as you so well illustrate Garth …. instead of talking up his pet environmental project, the Green Shift and it’s punitive carbon tax that is suppose to save the planet from Canada’s GHGs ??
Perhaps Dion should tell us how his government will rescue Canada from the current situation … rather than telling us to prepare the country’s environment 20 years from now.
If elected to govern Canada by this November, what immediate measures will a Liberal government implement to rescue jobs in Ontario and Quebec? How will you boost housing prices in Canada?
Stop whining and bitching and just tell Canadians what you intend to do .. as you have told Canadians what you intend to do with your now defunct Green Shift carbon tax.
Hey, Dion, Garth … just forget about that Green Shift carbon tax at your August 20th visit to Halton … It’s the Economy, stupid …!!!!
Hi Garth.
Can you bring this to the Liberal attention?
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=9788
“. . . the stock market, well, danger there too for a prime minister. At just over 13,000, the TSX is off 2,000 points from its 52-week high – and that was just one month ago. . . .”
Can I be dimdumb pleeze? Pretty pleeze with a bouquet of violet roses? Thanks!
For all he said about our economy being in “top shape”, a server at Timmy’s would say exactly the opposite, and that person would be right on.
Strictly from a dimdumb perspective, the following may / will happen:
The TSX and Dow will settle between 2,500 and 6,000. Lower it is, better opportunity to buy value- and growth-oriented mutual funds.
Oil will fall to around US$85-$105 / brl., and then end up going sky-high between $300-$500. Housing takes a veritable bath, almost drowning along the way.
Gold will soon reach between $3-$5,000 / oz., with silver and platinum rising in equal proportion.
Things will heat up world-wide enormously, which will in turn send pretty much all economies south for a few years.
Keep in mind that I am playing the role of dimdumb, so if I am totally wrong, sue CRAP, not me.
Rope’s line, “Economic circumstances . . .” become factual, so if I am right, don’t say you weren’t warned!
*******************************************
Wachovia is closing up (mortgage) shops in 19 states, eliminating several jobs; Bear Stearns goes belly-up, and there’s a $270 mln. windfall — for whom?
http://tinyurl.com/5lxua4
****************************************
Beginning to look a lot like showtime!
http://tinyurl.com/6odclq
I am happy about that. Why? Because there is a big difference between having a boom and a super boom. The former is a good thing, while the latter causes way too many problems that politicians in this country are simply too short-sighted to handle expertly and professionally.
So, as former Alberta premier Peter Lougheed has been saying for the past two years, let’s slow things down a bit.
Two things. Given the discussion regarding income trusts, would I be correct to assume that if the Liberals win the next election the first thing the party will do is to reverse Flaherty’s decision? And, for the record, I believe that the reversal and the breaking of the promise was bad, really bad.
Second: if you look for the silver lining, the downturn in housing prices makes buying a new home more affordable for those who would otherwise not be able to afford a home during the period of over-inflated housing prices. Granted, if you bought a house last year at 250k and now can only sell it for 225k, that is terrible. For those who bought a few years ago before the housing “boom”, a gain can be realized.
Personally, I think that markup on new homes should be mandated. During boom times, a builder can construct a home for 100k and sell it for 200k if the market will bear the price. I find that to be gouging at its very best. You’ll note that when housing prices drop, new starts drop as well.
If the market has a resurgence, you can bet your boots that those other condos in Toronto will be built. It’s all about greed.
Once again you have elevated the ability of any government in a capitalist system to control all aspects of the economy. All if the elements that you mention are the result of economic drivers outside of the control of this, or any government. Your missives are, however, a good indicator of just how intrusive and effective Liberals think governments can be in steering economic activity, and no doubt a peek into how you would continue to turn Canada into a socialist-style economy. Of course your Green Shift Tax is a good inicator of this as well. I’m not sure what sort of economy will be left for you guys to screw up once your tax makes our manufacturing sector uncompetative in the global marketplace, but I have no doubt that you’ll try. God help this country if you and your ilk ever get your hands on power. Of course increasingly, thank goodness, that appears less and less likely in the foreseeable future.
Not to worry, our good ode Republicans living under the Neoconservative banner in the North Wing will make hay on guns, crime, Afghanistan and bash those Liberal minded people who think having good social services and decent jobs will keep them safe. I want my Canada back and future for my children and grandchildren…..
Mr.Turner you have criticized the government over the job loses,which is fine it is the role of the opposition to do so.
But here is my problem:
You’re still an elected represented from Ontario. Do you think that the job loses are only the fault of the Conservatives? Do you think that the Premier of Ontario has nothing to do with the job loses? Why don’t you also complain about this? Please don’t tell me that it is not your place to do so,because that is a cop-out.
Do the other parties (NDP, Green, Bloc) have an environmental plan? If not, why are they not mentioned in this blog? If they do, why are they not mentioned in this blog?
Is it remotely possible that offending the other three is discouraged just in case the Libs win a minority and will need the support of the other three? I certainly hope not because then this whole thing will become about power and not about what is good for the people of Canada.
Garth,
We were told by the Conservative government that our economy was great.
That we would weather the storm.
That things were going to be fine.
We were told so.
How could these guys be so off?
but why their homes have gone down in value an average $42,000 would be a good start. ~ Garth
Garth, admittedly I am not a real estate guru on your level, but common sense tells me that the housing market was over inflated and red-hot. Perhaps the house you referred to was $42K over priced and now sanity is finally taking hold.
With the way our housing market was, the average family could not even consider buying a home of their own. As far as I can see, the home values are still not within realistic levels and have a bit to come down even further.
Perhaps this is why so many turned to the 40 year mortgage because of the over inflated crazy high prices, this was the only way they could purchase that house? Seems to make sense.
I know in my area, housing seems to still be very high in price and farms are increasing in value.
Speaking strictly about Alberta, rents and the housing market went especially nuts and really do need to ‘readjust’.
For what it’s worth from this worthless troll who is an average on the ground Canadian. Leasa
Housing prices have been rising way too fast over the past number of years in many parts of the country. I think a correction is not only happening, but welcome by those wanting to afford a house on par with that which someone with the same job would have gotten 20 years ago.
For instance, take a family of 4 where both adults are teachers with 4 or 5 years experience. What house would they have afforded 20 years ago, and what would they afford today? One would think the homes they could afford would be roughly the same over time. In some areas of the country it is, while in others it isn’t.
Here on the East coast, with a few exceptions home prices have not fluctuated all that much. They may even be undervalued still. On the downside it means people weren’t making an overnight fortune in real estate, but on the bright side, those who do own homes shouldn’t experience a devastating crash either.
BTW Garth, CBC radio had a financial guy on this morning dissing you. He said according to the World Monetary Fund (I think that is the one he referenced) Canada’s home are undervalued by about 2%. Referring you, he said that in ’99 you claimed housing was no longer an appreciating asset after which home prices went on to double in most parts of the country. I believe the line he used was ‘even a broken clock is right twice a day’, inferring your bleak outlook may eventually be right. You might want to check in to that and offer CBC radio a rebuttal.
Any word on if you can join Dion in New Brunswick in Sept and do some public events?
Cheers,
joe
Some good points, Harry. I don’t know if you live in Ontario but before Dalton was elected, that’s all he did. No solutions, just complaints. That’s the problem with today’s style of politics: all criticism and no solutions.
No matter what the governing party does, those who are outside the governing party do nothing but criticize for the sake of criticizing and we Canadians are left with…nothing.
A song dedicated to CRAP
http://www.links2love.com/love_lyrics_134.htm
Hey, Dion, Garth … just forget about that Green Shift carbon tax at your August 20th visit to Halton … It’s the Economy, stupid …!!!!
By HARRY S on 08.12.08 12:47 am
You might want to tell that to your leader.
Call me a Guru, but I sit here amazed at how seemingly few people today understand their own personal finances and reality.
What is happening economically was clearly visible 30 years ago. The signs have been clear as the writing on King Nebachadnezzar’s wall. ‘Mene, Mene, Upharsim.’ ‘Your kingdom has been weighed and found wanting. It is FINISHED!’
John Ralston Saul stated the case clearly in ‘The Collapse of Globalism and The Reinvention of The World.’, but few listened.
Jared Diamond stated how societies succeed or fail, and few paid attention.
For decades we have been ever so worried about the ‘Hidden Agenda’, the Men in Black, yada, yada, yada, but like a bunch of drug addicts continued to play the game believing ‘things will never change.’
Welcome to REALITY. The economic policies of endless profits, endless and unlimited growth, incurring of debt for ‘feel good’ moments has now turned to ROT!
The real estate market is NOT a market. It is there to provide housing for PEOPLE, not income for investors. Any blithering fool would accept that because there is always a saturation point at which personal income can not meet the costs, and those costs are all combined.
The Piper has the bag inflated and has begun the funeral drudge towards the gravesite.
Welcome to the Fall of the Roman Empire Part Deux.
Better find your values because they are what will determine whether you survive or not!
In an election this global mess will not stick to Harper. He united the right and a lot of the country which was not easy. If it was easy his party would have won at least one seat in 416 and they didn’t.
Boy, the Cons on the ethics committee sure looked weak, foolish and misinformed yesterday.
They did everything they could to shut down the committee, even trying to get “I’m the King and this is my Castle” -Doug Finley–to make a statement just because he happened to show up and demand an audience!!!
The Cons must really be desperate to stop any truth telling at these hearings.
Gary Goodyear–what the hell has possessed him of late??
Harry: You obviously have not read the Green Shift plan–it is intrinsically tied to the Economy.
Can’t you read???
I’m not sure what sort of economy will be left for you guys to screw up once your tax makes our manufacturing sector uncompetative in the global marketplace, but I have no doubt that you’ll try. By Liblooking on 08.12.08 5:55 am
And how exactly is encouraging Canadian manufacturers to be more energy efficient and productive, providing them with tax reductions, and giving them an accelerated capital cost allowance going to hurt them?
“That’s the problem with today’s style of politics: all criticism and no solutions. By eastofeden on 08.12.08 7:51 am”
You are talking about Harpo’s style of politics. Dion has put forth the only comprehensive and integrated approach to deal with climate change, reducing poverty in Canada, and shifting taxes away from income and onto negative consumption. It is Harpo that simply attacks and tries to confuse issues.
Every day Dion is showing himself to be far more of a leader than Harper can even dream of becoming.
“Yeah, but what about all the news in Ottawa from the Ethics Committee? I guess Doug Finley still feels he can call the shots.
By Marg on 08.12.08 12:06 am”
The arrogance and small-mindedness of Finley is only surpassed by that of Harpo.
As more of this information comes out to the public, the more people will realize the necessity of Elections Canada raiding the Conservative headquarters. As this unfolds I’m sure that the Conservatives will become more and more vile in their attacks on Elections Canada…..perhaps they know that with the files now in the hands of Elections Canada that criminal charges will be following?
Large Swiss bank posts huge loss due to US mortgage crisis….
http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/news/businessnews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=9285922
Things aren’t over yet folks….CEO of Freddie Mac has stated that it’s about 1/2 done. Some Canadian banks like CIBC have taken a bath on this – with the likelihood of more to come.
JP Morgan’s mortgage losses grow in latest quarter….looks like the CEO of Freddie Mac was right in predicting that this disaster is only half done.
http://finance.sympatico.msn.ca/investing/news/businessnews/article.aspx?cp-documentid=9284964
And, in a separate report AMEX announced losses on its credit card division… seems folks aren’t paying their credit card bills either. Surprise? Not!
“Garth,
We were told by the Conservative government that our economy was great.
That we would weather the storm.
That things were going to be fine.
We were told so.
How could these guys be so off?
By AToryNoMore on 08.12.08 7:32 am”
Simple…they lied.
“The real estate market is NOT a market. It is there to provide housing for PEOPLE, not income for investors. Any blithering fool would accept that because there is always a saturation point at which personal income can not meet the costs, and those costs are all combined.”
Yes, Bill-Muskoka. Bang on. I could not have said it better than you just did in that one paragraph. A few blogs ago, I said something similar: I bought my house in order to live in it. Some people flip real estate but they know the risks. I bought the house I could afford to not only purchase but to keep. Purchasing a home is one thing. Keeping up with the expenses inherent in home ownership is quite another and far too many people get themselves in trouble financially because they overextend themselves. It is their own fault for doing this. Period.
In an election this global mess will not stick to Harper. He united the right and a lot of the country which was not easy. If it was easy his party would have won at least one seat in 416 and they didn’t.
By jo on 08.12.08 8:40 am
Harper may have “united the right” but it is not clear how many Canadians are really that right wing. There are also quite a few Canadians who are “on the right” that have been expressing serious concerns about the kind of right wing ideology the government is following.
Even if you see the world as divided into two ideologies, unless you are totally sheltered from the real world, you will find that both right and left wing ideologies contain many variations.
I would argue that most people do not ascribe to any of these ideologies but see the world based on their own realities.
The concept of uniting the right is a myth that was largely promoted by the media and was used effectively by Harper and his advisors to achieve political power. Whether this myth can be perpetuated as something positive through an election campaign with major ethical and economic problems emerging is not evident.
For what it’s worth from this worthless troll who is an average on the ground Canadian. Leasa
By Leasa on 08.12.08 7:39 am
Lyin’ Leasa,
The “average on the ground Canadian” is not a compulsive liar.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 7:51 am
M.Dion has put forth a policy called “The Green Shift”. Whether you support it or not, it is at least out there for all to debate.
I give him points for the moral fortitude to do this. I believe it ranks right up there with Bob Stanfield campaigning on Wage and Price Controls, and Joe Clark’s efforts to raise the price of gas.
It is at least an attempt to get Canadians to recognize that polluting and ravaging our environment is not without cost. Clearly, for some this is a negative message. There are a lot of people who will not acknowledge that we are destroying our environment, and are not prepared to take any action to prevent it.
It is very hard, if not impossible, to get elected on a platform that calls for sacrifice from the populace. Everyone wants to hear how we can all have good things, and that it will cost someone else.
People, we tend to elect governments that tell us everything is all right, and we have nothing to worry about. Trudeau was a master of it.
I think ‘we’ as a whole, get the government we deserve. We don’t want to hear bad news, and are prepared to ignore it for as long as possible.
None of the witnesses show up at the Ethics committee this morning. The Conservatives obviously got to them big time.
By barb the proofreader on 08.11.08 10:56 pm
Barb,
Very impressive. Your postings are honest, thorough and perceptive. Thanks to you and to the vigilance of others who have posted recently the evidence is clear.
Just as there is indisputable evidence that the pig farmer in B.C is guilty of murder there is now overwhelming evidence that the Leasa is guilty of lying.
Further, you are to be congratulated on the class with which you have fielded Leasa’s abuse. While you may only have proved that she is a liar, she, by her own responses, is again exposed as the hate filled, vicious, foul mouthed, condescending, hyper partisan hypocrite that she really is.
Regarding your other well thought out, thoroughly researched, informative and clearly expressed postings, keep up the good work.
Judy, I can respect your loyalty to the Liberal party and understand completely that you will defend it against anybody who criticizes it.
I am reading the green plan for the second time and am finding some great points as well as some grey areas. The plan, as I stated many posts ago, needs some tweaking because I am finding some grey areas which make me nervous. The plan is good and it is well-intended but I still do not think that it is ready nor do I believe that it should be our first priority, after reading Garth’s blogs and supporters’ comments.
If I had just glommed onto this blog within the past 5 days, I’d think that the housing market, job losses and income trusts were the hot issues of the day. I am not seeing any outrage over the environment but I am seeing outrage about those three topics.
So, if this blog and its commenters’ posts are any indication of what is hot, the environment takes a distance fourth place. Yes, the green plan is tied to the economy but not in a way which speaks to me.
Income trusts: lots of heated comments about the about-face on them. So, will the Liberals, if in power, reverse the decision which has been the focus of so much heated discussion?
Job Losses: what, exactly, can the government do if a company decides to move its business to Asia or if a company simply cannot generate enough revenue to survive?
Housing Market: Prices were unreasonably high as a result of unbridled gouging tactics on the part of builders. I love my home and wouldn’t trade it for any other home but even I will admit that it is overvalued. Between the time I signed the purchase papers and the time I took possession, the price of the same home had increased by 25k in the space of only 5 months. Housing markets rise and fall regardless of the governing party.
Life goes on. We boomers and seniors have weathered many storms and this is nothing compared to some of the storms we have weathered in the past.
Ahso! Now we know how the Power Brokers (aka Perverts) do things.
‘Pretty’ girl lip-synched at Olympic ceremonies
Her Master’s Voice
The voice was that of another girl: 7 1/2 -year-old Yang Peiyi.
The musical director of the ceremonies, Chen Qigang revealed in a Beijing radio interview a member of the Politburo – the highest ranking body of China’s ruling Communist Party – decided Lin was pretty, but her voice was not the best.
A change had to be made in the “national interest,” Chen said.
Organizers then decided to use audio from 7 1/2 year old Yang Peiyi to fill in.
Chen said the little girl on the stage probably thought it was her own voice that was being used.
Phoney Footsteps
Organizers have already faced serious criticism for digitally inserting footage of fireworks into television coverage to make the ceremonies even more spectacular than they were.
This is not at all surprising. We have all seen Bush with the ‘hump’ on his back and read how he was being ‘advised’ during many speeches (We also know how totally stupid he speaks on his own).
Amazingly, the Back Room Boys have also created a Bush Dummy who lip syncs speeches and policies…His name is Stephen Harper. Funny, how the neo-Cons and Harper think it’s his own voice too! We all know that Caesar Disgustus has many of his own Dummies he ‘manages in the
nationalparty interest…they are called his Caucus.’None of the witnesses show up at the Ethics committee this morning. The Conservatives obviously got to them big time.
By Margaret Bedore on 08.12.08 10:10 am
———————
I just hope that if this continues that one or two of them have the guts to provide Proof via, letter, email or voice communication. (Recording ) of a conversation warning them to stay away would be most excellent. I guess yesterdays fiasco wasn’t enough show of stupidity on the Conservatives members of the committee.
By Ed Brooks on 08.12.08 10:05 am
M.Dion has put forth a policy called “The Green Shift”. Whether you support it or not, it is at least out there for all to debate.
………………………………………..
Okay, let’s debate … and let’s start with the GHG reduction targets for the Green Shift, because Dion has defined his Carbon Tax over 4 years of the plan. However there is only one(1) paragraph in the entire 44 pages of the Green Shift devoted to GHG reduction and it’s located on page 16, namely:
Canadians know Canada won’t meet its obligations under the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol. However, the Kyoto Protocol is an ongoing international effort, and we must build momentum now in order to close that gap in the next phase of the agreement, after 2012. We believe that our target should be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. This should be increased to at least 25 per cent if other countries take on comparable efforts. This is in line with what the science tells us we need to do. We must achieve absolute greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and we must begin today. Canada cannot solve climate change on its own. Until we take serious action to reduce our own emissions, we will have little credibility on the global stage to ensure other countries are doing their part.
……….
Now I ask you, Ed …. are you satisfied with this objective within the Green Shift to, as you put it:
There are a lot of people who will not acknowledge that we are destroying our environment, and are not prepared to take any action to prevent it.
What specific actions are provided within the Green Shift to meet your expectations? Let’s start with that issue.
By C. B. Innes on 08.12.08 9:54 am
What Mr. Harper united were two parties (PC and Alliance) who were both perceived by voters as right of centre. This did remove the confusion for those who perceive themselves as leaning to the right in making a determiniation as to who to vote for.
What Mr. Harper has lost since the merger and the election are many Progressive Conservatives who can not stand the direction that Mr. Harper has taken the party.
An interesting question that pollster might want to ask: How many Canadians support the Conservatives because they are not the Liberals? I.E., it isn’t how much they like the Conservatives, as it is that they dislike the Liberals.
It’s the ‘twisted’ nature of politics in this country; support the party you are least angry with.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 9:48 am
Housing is an investment for the financial institutions that provide the mortgages even if it is not considered an investment for purchasers, other than a place to live. While I have seen a great deal of blame being attached to young families who want a home of their own, I have seen little evaluation of financial institutions role in creating the problem.
The value of housing was largely driven by the willingness of mortgage companies to push the value of housing up by providing credit to those who could not really afford the kind of homes they were buying. This artifically created demand. It seemed that they thought that they could keep the value increasing to ensure their investment by lengthing mortgage terms and eliminating down payments. In Australia they even went to providing 75 year mortgages and I believe someone here mentioned that the same was done in Europe.
There is no doubt that a correction will eventually have to happen at enormous cost to a great many involved. This is what “free market” ideology is all about. It is about the ability of capital, driven by greed, to drive the market to unsustainable levels. Once the correction has taken place those left standing will be considered the “true global leaders.”
It is all about the survival of those without conscience and who are willing and able to play the game.
So, if this blog and its commenters’ posts are any indication of what is hot, the environment takes a distance fourth place. Yes, the green plan is tied to the economy but not in a way which speaks to me.
Income trusts: lots of heated comments about the about-face on them. So, will the Liberals, if in power, reverse the decision which has been the focus of so much heated discussion?
Job Losses: what, exactly, can the government do if a company decides to move its business to Asia or if a company simply cannot generate enough revenue to survive?
Housing Market: Prices were unreasonably high as a result of unbridled gouging tactics on the part of builders. I love my home and wouldn’t trade it for any other home but even I will admit that it is overvalued. Between the time I signed the purchase papers and the time I took possession, the price of the same home had increased by 25k in the space of only 5 months. Housing markets rise and fall regardless of the governing party.
Life goes on. We boomers and seniors have weathered many storms and this is nothing compared to some of the storms we have weathered in the past.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 10:29 am
The Green Shift doesn’t speak to you, does Harper’s plan speak to you for we can only look at one by comparing it to what we are being offered elsewhere and especially a comparison between the two obvious contenders at this point in time. I would suggest Dion’s plan economically speaks to Canadians far more than Harper’s plan.The Liberals have made their position quite clear on Income trusts. They will not be reversing the CPC decision but will be offering a fairer tax situation. I am sure you coud find the exact details at their website. So comparing the two main parties, the Liberals certainly will benefit those holding income trusts more than Mr. Harpers hatchet job on seniors and others with his broken promise.
The housing crisis is hardly the fault of the government but there are certain things they could have done to prepare for this downturn, e.g. not have allowed 40 years mortgages to begin with, and have limited spending to a reasonable limit rather than having the largest spending budget in Canadian history and throwing money to Quebec in the midst of an election. They could have invested in green energy as way of promoting job growth and worked to invest in energy efficient transportation for the average Canadian especially those outside the big cities.
Yes we seniors will survive, it will be a rocky road for some more than others, but my take is this government, who holds itself above accountability, is not prepared to face tough economic times and my prediction is, this economy, and their unwillingness to come clean, will be their death knell.
Ed Brooks: I agreed with you several blogs ago and I agree with you now. Yes, Dion is the only one who put forth a green plan and I believe that I have frequently made positive comments about him.
I would like to see the other parties come forth with a plan as well so that we can make some comparison. But I have to wonder why the other parties outside of the CPC are not being mentioned as being deficient in this regard. I am also shocked that the Green Party is so silent. You would think that the Green Party would be the leader in this type of initiative. So far, only Dion has taken the risk and for that I give him points.
A little off-topic but I’d very much like to see many more independent MPs; say, 15% of Parliament composed of independent MPs. This way, we could have some assurance of independent thought as opposed to following the party line regardless of constituents wishes.
You are correct when you say that we get the government we deserve. We are too easily swayed by style as opposed to substance.
Job Losses: what, exactly, can the government do if a company decides to move its business to Asia or if a company simply cannot generate enough revenue to survive?
Life goes on. We boomers and seniors have weathered many storms and this is nothing compared to some of the storms we have weathered in the past.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 10:29 am
Job losses.
Internationally restoring investor confidence in Canada.
Nationally slash small business taxes will retain as many jobs nationally as possible.
Interesting you should think this storm is nothing. Export volumes continue to fall of a cliff even with oil in June pushing value up. With oil dropping July and certainly the August numbers will get crushed. Vancouver hot housing prices are down 2% over the last 2 months, sales are down over 40 while new listings are up over 20, this falls economic numbers might have you rethinking we`ve weathered bigger storms.
East: In my small town just north of Guelph it is the environment that tops conversations.
This town is full of seniors–they welcome the Green Shift and its positive influence, especially on the supplement increase. Job losses are minimal here–housing starts and re-sells are strong–We are only 25 miles from the Bruce Nuclear facility.
I can only speak from what I see and hear in my own community.
And senior women are in the majority–not a good omen for Mr. Harper.
Leasa: What the dickens is an “average, on the ground Canadian”? Definition please.
Are there any above average, up in the air Canadians?
Or below average, underground Canadians?
Mr. Harper thinks we are all “ordinary”. He uses that word a lot to describe us.
The concept of uniting the right is a myth that was largely promoted by the media and was used effectively by Harper and his advisors to achieve political power. Whether this myth can be perpetuated as something positive through an election campaign with major ethical and economic problems emerging is not evident.
By C. B. Innes on 08.12.08 9:54 am
The MSM’s primary objective is to create FUD, which sells advertiser’s message. they seldom actually report all the facts so that people can form their own opinion. They take things out of context, slectively ‘smudge’ the whole picture, i.e., TRUTH, and are a major part of the ‘percetion problem’ which causes people to make irrational and unwise conclusions, especially in politics.
We have the power to ‘teach’ them how to be honest. BOYCOTT them! Expose them online, make them toe the line with reality check after reality check.
They are a their own self-serving propaganda machine.
Of course your Green Shift Tax is a good inicator of this as well. I’m not sure what sort of economy will be left for you guys to screw up once your tax makes our manufacturing sector uncompetative in the global marketplace, but I have no doubt that you’ll try. God help this country if you and your ilk ever get your hands on power. Of course increasingly, thank goodness, that appears less and less likely in the foreseeable future.
By Liblooking on 08.12.08 5:55 am
I’m not so sure what kind of shape the world will be in if nothing is done about global warming A.S.A.P & tackling this problem will come at a cost to all Canadians. We played a part in pollution, we have to play a part in cleaning it up & if a carbon tax is what’s needed, so be it. From what I’ve read & calculated on the Green Shift plan, the big time polluters pay the most & that sure looks like Big Oil & the government in power at the time for letting them get away with it. There is no doubt about that regardless of what any government says. If one would only use logic on how they will be able to afford the cost, think 1 or 2 less cups of coffee for every tank of gas, or one less beer on 2 tanks of gas & that would make up the cost. Doesn’t that make a sense & very little hardship on anyone? If you don’t agree, you haven’t got the ability to think period & that’s your problem. And while you’re at it, do you really think Harpers solution to global warming will not cost Canadians dearly? Do you really think that Harpers “my way or no way” attitude is going to win points with average Canadians? Keep on taking Mr. Dion. The more Canadians understand the Green Shift Plan, the more they will agree with him & that’s what the Cons are afraid of isn’t it Liblooking?. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that either.
But dream on Liblooker, your way of thinking could only be in your mind (CONS) if your one of them & all indications appear to be so. That kind of logic would only be believed in a brainwashed cult & it appears it worked on you. The blame you put on Ontario belongs to Flaherty & his boss with statements such as, don’t invest in Ontario etc. Get the picture buddy? Please tell us how Ontario could have prevented manufactures from going to the US? How about car manufactures who in the most part, are controlled by the US? Don’t you think that maybe Big Oil has something to do with that like the ridicules price of gas? Nah, you don’t obviously because of your narrow minded views. Is your beloved government so afraid of Dion that they will lie, cheat & break the law in order to get rid of him? Don’t say no buddy because that’s exactly what’s happening & the more exposure Dion gets, the less likely Harpoon & his goons will be around come 2009.
Btw, do you really think that a bunch of lying conniving crooks like the current government is any better for Canada? Not so buddy & I don’t really think you believe that as well. They have done enough damage already & they have got to go. The sooner the better would be good.
****
For what it’s worth from this worthless troll who is an average on the ground Canadian. Leasa
By Leasa on 08.12.08 7:39 am
You finally got something right Leasa.
Cheers
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 10:29 am
What a government can do to avoid companies running off to the cheapest place to do business is to have fair trade where we can export such things as automobiles to Japan and China by the same standards as we import theirs. We could demand that countries that used lax environment standards either impose a carbon tax on their exports and use that to clean up their environment or we will do it for them just as Mr. Obama is proposing to do with the oil sands product to be imported into the U.S. There are plenty of incentives government could offer for producing real energy efficient products rather than using the money for buying votes in Quebec or building up a mighty military force when we used to be admired for our peacekeeping role around the world and now have become Bushie lackies….
Life goes on. We boomers and seniors have weathered many storms and this is nothing compared to some of the storms we have weathered in the past.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 10:29 am
AMEN to that!
Garth
Yes, the housing market is free falling. If people did not plan for this or see this coming I have great sympathy. If you were a home owner in the 80’s, as many who post here, the precautionary principle entered our plans. Unfortunately, most Canadian homeowners did not have this shared experience.
OT but really scary – the Ethics Committee…
So not one, but all three Conservative mystery witnesses were a no show this am. It sounds like they were the Election 2006 Financial Agents for sitting Conservative Ministers.
No one is shocked by this deny and delay tactic. However, they were summoned and if they fail to show up eventually they could be in contempt of Parliament. The interesting tidbit is that the Clerk for the Ethics Committee was told by one potential witness they were instructed not to attend.
Well kids, if that is true and I have no reason to think the Clerk would misrepresent that statement we have a crisis on our hands. (BTW the Conservative gong guys are implying that the Clerk is a liar – nice way to treat a career civil servant.)
Why do I call it a crisis? This is a parliamentary committee and if the government of the day can interfere or intimidate witnesses to fail to attend – we will never again have balanced information to understand legislation deficiencies in any parliamentary committee.
And that’s my rant for the day.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 10:29 am
Likewise, government is NOT responsible for BAD Management by companies in our free-market system. Government IS responsible to assure there are proper and fair laws and rules in place to protect the citzens against unscrupulous business persons and schemes. Governement IS responsible to ensure that when taxpayer money is granted there are stringent performance conditions applied to the recipients.
Funny how Conservatives will whine and complain about individuals on ‘welfare’ but they are silent when it comes to corporations who cheat, lie, and steal taxpayer’s money with empty promises of ‘job security’ and economic ‘benefits.’
I call that HYPOCRISY plain and simple.
Like Frank Zappa said regarding the U.S. ‘We are a nation of laws, randomly enforced. pretty much like Conrad Black’s son, who got off with a pitance of a fine ($2,000) relative to his income and no jail time.
Conrad Black’s son Jonathan fined for fleeing mishap
He ALWAYS gets off easy according to his atrocious record because the courts are influenced by glamour. Electing BLIND judges may be the only solution. LOL
None of the witnesses show up at the Ethics committee this morning. The Conservatives obviously got to them big time.
By Margaret Bedore on 08.12.08 10:10 am
In the best style of the Sopranos and Mafia…as usual!
The natural opposition party
Adam Radwanski, August 11, 2008 at 12:12 PM EDT
It takes a lot to get me to sympathize with the ethics committee. But Doug Finley may have achieved it.
You can make a strong case that the committee should give it a rest with trying to super-sleuth its way through the in-and-out affair, and what I’m seeing on CPAC so far today isn’t doing much to change my mind. As usual, the MPs are busier debating each other than they are actually trying to extract information from witnesses; predictably, we’re back to the usual partisan circus.
That being said, parliamentary committees are still a fundamental component of our democratic system. As such, you’d expect leading members of our governing party to have at least a modicum of respect for them – not to make boorish gestures aimed at undermining their credibility. But then, that would assume our governing party wasn’t actively committed to undermining as many of our institutions as possible.
Once again, you get the sense the Tories would be considerably happier in opposition. But they’re certainly not going to let being in government stop them from ensuring that Parliament is as dysfunctional as possible.
….I have never been so DISGUSTED and embarrassed and fed up with a government in all my life. What a bunch of Mafia type thugs – unbelievable. Well, I guess one could call it a “dictatorship” now.
“The real estate market is NOT a market. It is there to provide housing for PEOPLE, not income for investors. Any blithering fool would accept that because there is always a saturation point at which personal income can not meet the costs, and those costs are all combined.”
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 9:48 am
Correction: Anything that is for sale, advertised in public is a market. There are various types of markets which vary in methods of transaction, and payment, etc., but they are still markets, including the so called underground and barter/trade dealings exchanges. Calling a spade a soil removal device does not change the nature of the tool!
We need to pull the plug on Harper ASAP
Perhaps Calgarians can ask these fellow Calgarians how Harper operates and why he shouldn’t be trusted:
con flip flop file: income trust
Western Investors protest Stephen Harper’s attack on Alberta’s Royalty Trusts
Mr Garth TurnerMP, FYI, anyone
Did you get to hear this CBC radio show last night? (Quirk&Quarks)
two topic inparticulare,
-Pulling the plug on a Carbon Sink
-The Hot Topic is, of course, climate change, but it’s also the title of a new book by two high-profile voices in the science community
-and; The Disappearing Bumblebee
You can down load shows to lisen to it at any time.
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/apr26.html
Garth, will you be taking Robert Thibault, to task for his comments regarding candidates over 60 being to old to run as M.P.s, and for saying that Marjory LeBreton, should be making tea? You claim to be non partisan, and rightfully condemn Tom Lukiwiski for his stupid comments, just wondering if you have a balenced view. Does Robert Thibaults comments speak for the whole of the Liberal party or is he just one too outspoken individual in the party?
By Gord on 08.12.08 10:14 am
Gordie! True to form, you are now comparing me to the BC pig farmer who killed all those women? I’ve been wondering where my fav. psycho-stalker has been because I knew you couldn’t resist helping barbie with her personal smears and lies. (hugs) Leasa
A correction in a hot housing market? Unheard of!
Thanks for being on the ball Goof Turner.
Mr Garth TurnerMP,
Fluoride is not needed by the human body! It is clear to me that it is causing much harm and sufering to some individuals. It is liking to less smart people and more retarded people in or society!
We need to simple turn of the tapes that add this industial toxic waste to are drinking water supply NOW!
Fluoride is also in fluoride free tooth pasts, it’s found in the raw materials used to make the pasts. It’s found in canned fish, like tuna. It’s in tea, so always add calcium ritch milk to your tea. Eat a good diet ritch in vitamin
‘C’, ‘D’, Calsuim, ‘E’.
Nearever give babies fluoride, or fluoridated water it will lower there I.Q. permanently. t very low levels it effects the thyroid & peneal glands.
If I was pregnant I’d also avoid fluoride if you want a full term normal weight baby.
The symtoms of flouride toxicity are the same as many of the common alments we now see in out society.
Why are ther no labs in North America tha can test the uran, blood, water, food for fluoride? It’s an easy test, the equipment to do it only cost about $2,500. The India health/government will not add fluoride to the water, they remove it as much as possible.
The safe upper limit they set is 0.0005PPM, with a rider that says the lesser the better!!!
The good science is clear! So we need to stop exposing human beings, you and your fanily to fluoride NOW!
We’d have more smart people and less retarded people. We’d save on health care costs, and reduce suffering, improving the human condition.
What is wrong with the public health officals? Were is the science, critical-thinking and humanity?
For the newest good sceince, find out for your self, since health Canada doesn’t seem to be doing there jobs!
http://www.fluoridealert.org/
I was just at the world conferance on drinking fluoridated water and it’s effect on the brian, soft tissues of the whole human body.
There isn’t even any clear evidence that drinking fluoridated water helps prevent tooth decay.
But there is plenty if clear evidence that it is very toxic to the body even at very very low levels!!!
The newest science presented at the conferance will be added to the site above very soon.
Check for fluoride in your well water and get the filters that remove it if present.
Stop adding fluoride to OUR drinking water supply, as if it is benin, because it is clearly NOT benin, or even required for good health.
It accually causes harms to people!
Remember the same people that said drinking fluoride was good for you, said smoking and DDT was safe.
The pro fluoride people will not debate
because they have no good science to back up there claims!
In fact the science pionts to the need to stop adding fluoride to water and stuff NOW!!! It is causing much suffering and damage to many peoples bodies and minds, at the cell level and down the the DNA relicating level!
Were are the good, well informed, critical-thinking people that are being payed to look out for the common good of the human beings in our society???
Hi Gord on 08.12.08 10:05 am
‘The “average on the ground Canadian” is not a compulsive liar.’
I agree, but the trouble is there are real sociopathes out there that do lie. There simple are not able to care.
There are wired quit differantly that most people.
We all need to remember this and stand on guard, so we all don’t getted f****D!
Unfortunatly there is no easy way to tell who they are just by looking at them. And will our large urban societies it’s easier for sociopathes to stay hidden in the masses.
Please excuse my typos .
Does Robert Thibaults comments speak for the whole of the Liberal party or is he just one too outspoken individual in the party?
By Marc on 08.12.08 12:17 pm
…what – worse than MacKay’s reference to a dog with respect to Stronach, or MacKay’s “stick to you knitting” comment to Alexa MacDonough, etc. Cut out the sanctimony please.
Liblooking: 08.12.08 5:55 a.m.
You say all elements mentioned by Garth are out of government control. Well, that’s a big generalization! You really need to re-think this because it is not true.
You use typical neo-con scare tactics. The neo-con philosophy is that government should be small and get out of the way of commerce. Is that why our neo-con government blocked a consensus to put chrysotile asbestos on the U.N. Rotterdam Convention list of substances that cannot be exported to another country without first obtaining “prior informed consent” of that country? Well, after all, you needed the Quebec votes, right?
Is this why a 20-year employee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency lost his job for outing a document to his union that showed how the neo-cons were trying to cut costs by allowing greater self-policing by the food industry. He felt it was in the best interests of Canadians to seek advice as to whether the document should be made public. He was right, it shouldn’t have been kept secret but the neo-cons knew full-well that the public would react badly to this dangerous slippage of due diligence and the precautionary principle.
And what about the budget details that leaked the proposal, approved by the Treasury Board, to cut costs at the C.F.I.A. by no longer paying beef farmers a cash incentive to have their cattle tested for BCE or to allow feed mill operators, meat producers and those who make meat products do their own safety inspections?
Gee, these neo-cons thought they could save the CFTA about 75 million. How’s that for small government? VERY SMALL, INDEED!
As for helping Canadians to cope with the obvious costs of slowing our GHG’s effectively, you don’t have a plan. In fact, you have struck out at least three times with your intentional foot-dragging.
You are just spinning your wheels her –and you spiel!
As for the Liberal plan to cope with emissions anf
WJP, Bill-Muskoka. Thank you. I wish there were laws to protect us. If there were laws or scruples, we boomers would not have lost our shirts on tech stocks while the execs walked off with millions.
We should require that countries from which we import goods have stringent pollution laws and we should impose an tariff on incoming goods from those countries. But, what we need more than anything are CANADIAN companies producing goods for us. When I look around my home, I am very hard pressed to find any item which was made by a wholly Canadian company. We bemoan the effect of our strong dollar (like that’s a bad thing?????) on our exports. What, exactly, are we exporting? It is a real challenge to find Canadian-made goods in the stores and it is almost impossible to buy anything which is produced by a wholly Canadian company?
Bill, in one of my earlier comments, I asked Garth if there would be oversight on grants to companies to develop green technology. There was no reply. So, I can only surmise that there will be no oversight.
WJP, you are too right. When I was in puberty (when dinosaurs roamed the earth), Canada was losing doctors to the USA like nobody’s business. The same holds true, today. I have seen the Canadian arms of many American companies fold and production moved to the USA. But nothing compares with the drain to pollution-spewing Asia. At one time, I could buy Canadian-made clothes and shoes. I could call a customer service line and speak with a Canadian call center somewhere in Canada. This whole global market thing sounded so good in theory but it spelled a death knell to Canadian business.
So, Bill, I take it that we’re both boomers. You seem to remember the old days as well as I do.
By Marc on 08.12.08 12:17 pm
Good one, Marc. I will bet dollars to donuts, you won’t hear any condemnatory remarks on this blog. But, you know what? Marjorie LeBreton is one feisty lady who can take care of herself and you can bet your boots that she’ll run over this guy easily. LeBreton is highly respected by all age groups and this Thibault has only made his leader look bad.
I will be surprised if Garth goes after Thibault. After all, Conservatives are bad and Liberals are good. Somehow, fault will be placed on LeBreton. Those of us who are acquainted with LeBreton know better.
As a near-senior, I can only sneer at Thibault and know that one day, he’ll get his own medicine. He has shown himself to be a slug and LeBreton has shown herself to be the classy, intelligent lady who she is. And, I daresay, Thibault may have something against women in politics or anywhere outside the kitchen. I don’t know that for fact, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that is how he thinks.
Thanks Gord.
I figure there’s no point in calling her names. I prefer to point out her deceitful deeds and let that speak it’s volumes.
And there’s no point in thinking she’ll leave. Besides, having her here, as with “the others”, is a good reminder of what is out there. Use the best ways to deal or live with “it”.
Anyway, she digs her own grave, but unfortunately she won’t jump in it, and nothing we do will stop her from coming back. She makes a complete fool of herself, and everyone sees that.
If an election is immanent, there is an issue that is being ignored – our corrupt national oil companies.
And corrupt they are. Their collective practices here in Canada (and throughout the world) are so fraudulent and immoral, it is difficult to understand why it is tolerated by our government. For example:
1. Even though oil company executives say there is no such thing as ‘price fixing’, everyone knows they do it. All the stations in Victoria are one price. All the stations in Vancouver are another, 10 cents per litre less. And so on throughout the country. Sometimes prices are less in Victoria than Vancouver. It is at the whim of the oil companies, to decide what the prices are going to be in what cities, to extract maximum profits. There is no competitive choice for their customers.
2. Recently, all the large oil companies in N America announced record profits, during the highest crude oil prices in history. Financial advisers suggest that folks get in on these profits by investing in the oil companies. Yet during the last few months, in spite of record profits, their share prices have plummeted. Anyone who purchased Imperial oil shares approx 3 months ago, has lost over $12 per share. The generous folks at Imperial pay a quarterly dividend of approx 10 cents per share. So about 40 cents per year per share, after a $12 loss. So the only people being ripped off more than their pump customers are their shareholders.
3. Finally, in the past month, crude oil prices have fallen from approx. $150 per barrel to $113. That is a drop of approx 25%. Yet in Victoria, gas prices have only been reduced from $1.52 to $1.42 per litre. That is a drop of just over 6%. This might explain their last quarterly $1.15 billion profits.
Through government approved price-fixing, price gouging at the pump, and share price manipulation, the oil companies have managed to exceed the moral corruption of the tabacco companies. Why are politicians not screaming bloody murder about this?
The party that agrees to do something about it gets my vote.
The Disappearing Bumblebee
You can down load shows to lisen to it at any time.
http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/apr26.html
By Greg W., Oakville on 08.12.08 11:59 am
Greg, FYI, the cause of the Hive Dessimation has been traced back to a virus from Israel, which infected Australian bees imported to North America. It has nothing to do with GW or CC. Sorry!
You can watch it on Nova on PBS.org.
By Greg W., Oakville on 08.12.08 11:59 am
Greg W
The carbon sink from the pine beetle infestation is enormous in BC’s interior. I saw it first hand driving to a family graduation in Williams Lake in June.
It is one thing to hear about it but to see it firsthand really hit’s home. I think was Brain or TS or both of them asking why BC does not have a harvesting program for the infested lodge pine forests to be converted to wood pellets.
Oh guys, that would be too logical and the pine beetle has moved on to Alberta’s forests.
It might be a good question to ask M. Dion at Garth’s Town Hall meeting.
Are you going?
By Truth B Told on 08.12.08 11:44 am
I see in your world there are only commodities, but no room for people.
Off topic but having just received my 4th “flyer” from MP Larry Miller in as many weeks I have a question for Garth (or anyone who can answer it). How can we tell if these pieces of highly partisan mail spam are printed and distributed at taxpayers expense or paid for by the CPC? There is no indication on them as to where, or for whom, they are printed, just a reference number (6003 on the latest one slamming the senate).
I am assuming they are part of the 10% scam currently being paid for by us taxpayers but have no real way of knowing that for sure. Is there a way of tracing these unsolicited, uninformative pieces of junk to their source? I’d ask MP Miller but last time he spoke to me the spin made me sick!
Why do I call it a crisis? This is a parliamentary committee and if the government of the day can interfere or intimidate witnesses to fail to attend – we will never again have balanced information to understand legislation deficiencies in any parliamentary committee.
And that’s my rant for the day.
By Bonnie N BC on 08.12.08 11:28 am
This is what we get with an illiterate goobernment. They are a MINORITY government, not the all powerful majority Harper imagines himself to be.
I won’t even bother mentioning that they work for ALL Candians and ANSWER to US!
By Vicguy on 08.12.08 1:41 pm
Don’t hold your breath. Successive federal and provincial governments of all parties have “studied” the cost of fuel and, guess what? There’s nothing wrong? There is no gouging, no collusion, nothing nefarious. In fact, everything is wonderful. What the heck are you on about? We are not being gouged by the oil producers. Your imagination is running away with you.
Remember, we are not being cheated or gouged. Many task forces and government studies have shown that oil producers are our friend. All political parties have told us this.
OTTAWA — Nova Scotia MP Robert Thibault “unequivocally and wholeheartedly” apologized on Tuesday for controversial remarks he made about a high-ranking Tory senator, just a day after saying there was nothing wrong with his comments .
So, Bill, I take it that we’re both boomers. You seem to remember the old days as well as I do.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 1:26 pm
Yes, one of the true Original Boomers. Been there done that and seen most of it first hand.
(hugs) Leasa
BY LEASA ON 08.12.08 12:28 PM
Leasa, as you know I don’t smear and I don’t lie.
And I just noticed, that you twisted what another commenter said. He clearly was trying to goad you, but if you take a deep breath and re-read what he said, he was talking about “indisputable evidence”. He didn’t need to use that guy’s>/I> case as an example that indisputable evidence locks up a case, because he probably figured you’d superimpose the wrong thing onto yourself – and you did. Girl, take a few more seconds to type up your replies – don’t fall for things like that. Maybe you’d start making more sense. If you want to attack Liberals, don’t do it without a knee-jerk reaction. Most people, not all, but most, have good radar. You may not believe that, but it’s true. [BTW do you really think I could be an MP!?! That was very kind of you to suggest that.]
Why am I the only person in Canada who has NOT received any of these flyers sent out by evil Con-Bots? Why did I not receive Jon Coates e-mail which supposedly went around the world and was sponsored by evil Con-Bots? Why am I being left out of all this fun stuff? Why are the flyers even on the radar? I daresay that we have more important dragons to slay than some pesky flyer.
By Maritime Pete on 08.12.08 12:30 pm
By Bill-Muskoka on 08.12.08 1:54 pm
Gentlemen, I lift my hat to both of you. Precise, concise, and eloquent.
By slg on 08.12.08 1:09 pm
I was just wondering if the criticism on this blog is fair, or if only Conservatives are condemned for saying stupid things. Pollivier is a racist for saying inappropriate statements about aboriginals, so male chauvinist who also dislikes people over 60, who are still working for a living? I think the complaining only goes one way on this blog, and any stupid thing a Conservative says is quickly condemned, and any stupid thing a Liberal says is not an issue.
By Vicguy on 08.12.08 1:41 pm
Gauging is not illegal in Canada. If it were, I would hope before another study on why gas prices are so high, politicians could answer why beer at a hockey or ball game costs 8 bucks a cup.
Four witnesses who were ordered to appear before a Commons committee looking into the Conservative “in-and-out” election-finance scheme were no-shows on Tuesday.
Their absence cut short the start of a second day of hearings at the ethics committee. It’s investigating allegations that the Tories overspent on their 2006 national campaign by $1.1 million.
Committee chairman Paul Szabo says he takes the absences as a clear indication that the Conservative party has told witnesses not to attend.
The witnesses worked as official agents for four Tory candidates who are now MPs, including Heritage Minister Josée Verner. They were issued subpoenas to appear
***************************
Hey Garth, was there a legal summons issued to these people? Are they now in violation of any laws?
Seems hard to believe that the Accountable, Transparent, Nu Gooberment is ignoring this. Yesterday it was Doug Finley who shows up and insists that a Government Committee work him into their schedule and has to escorted out by security, and now people refusing to show when requested/ordered to do so.
The Press is going to have a field day with, and the CPC Harperbot Neo-Clowns will all cry about the Leftwing MSM is out to get them. Duh!!! You guys are creating the news and you expect the MSM to ignore it,… DDDUHHH!!!
It is not enough for Garth to merely vote in favour of an early election. We have been doing this for far too long already.
This time, he must make his case in such a way that actually convinces and persuades Monsieur Dion to get off the fence, and to take a clear stand in response to the Prime Minister’s challenge.
So far Garth’s voice has fallen on deaf ears, and the electorate is made to endure month after month of this procrastination with no clear deadline in sight.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained, and he who hesitates is lost.
Firm and clear decisiveness and direction is the need of the hour.
Leasa, re: 2:03 ..correction, should read:
“If you want to attack Liberals, don’t do it with a knee-jerk reaction.”
[oh, and..oops on my italics error]
And did I say thanks for your compliment yesterday? yes, yes I did, thanks again.
By Marc on 08.12.08 2:11 pm
No, Mr. Thibault’s comment were over the top but surely you don’t expect Liberals to equate what he said to Tom L….he has apologized which doesn’t make his comments okay, but if I remember when Tom L. apologized, most CPC members said we should get over it.
No insults are okay, especially personal ones but we all dish them out and on a Liberal MPs site, I am not surprised they maybe be slanted. I have never been to blogging tories but I am sure they treat all Liberals with great respect.
I’ve heard and read reports today that four Con MP’s didn’t show up for the “in-and-out” hearings today (sorry, that still sounds risqué to me – must be the way my mind works), as several people have mentioned in previous posts, but who were the other three besides Josée Verner?
The news pieces said they were subponeaed (is that a word?). Can they just refuse to attend without any legal consequences?
Looks like the law and order agenda is only for all the little people who aren’t Con insiders.
There’s been lots of “kangaroo court” slurs being slung about by the Con policy types, too.
Interesting. Harpo should know something about kargaroo courts. Lt. Cmdr. Koebler, Omar Khadr’s lawyer at Guantánamo, says he’s going to sue Harper for failing to intervene and protect one of his own citizens from the laughable justice of the military tribunals of the Bush empire.
Now that I would love to see.
Re the real estate market, as Muskoka Bill and others have mentioned, your primary residence shouldn’t be an investment. Other property maybe, but not your house. There was a lot of that house-flipping stuff going on around here until recently. There’s a lake (always a good selling point) and people would buy up a small place, fix the kitchen and bathrooom, maybe new windows, doors and paint, and sell it for a huge price increase. People were moving in and out of the district faster than passengers on a commuter train.
An interesting aside: Agatha Christie collected houses after she became a famous crime novelist. Her father, a gambler who bankrupted the family, left she and her mother homeless. When she became rich, she bought houses compulsively so she would never be homeless again.
What is all this going to do to the kids without the security of someplace to call home, I wonder?
David Bakody mentioned the hope he has for a Canada for his children and grandchildren. That’s what bothers me the most too.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 2:07 pm
Glad to see you applaud calling Garth a goof?
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 2:05 pm
Just possible they may think they are preaching to the choir…
and we Canadians are left with…nothing.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 7:51 am
Especially with our Neolown Harper Gang in charge!
Thanks for highlighting that reality to all of us here in Canada E of E
By Marc on 08.12.08 2:11 pm
Pollivier is a racist for saying inappropriate statements about aboriginals, so male chauvinist who also dislikes people over 60, who are still working for a living? Should read… Pollivier is a racist for saying inappropriate statements about aboriginals, so Robert Thibault is a male chauvinist who dislikes people over 60 who are still working for a living.
By Vicguy on 08.12.08 1:41 pm
You missed out by not publishing point #4!
These same multi-national mega petroleum barons may just tell the government that they were not allowed enough lead time to modify their production facilities to include the new about to be mandated higher ethanol percentage content. They may just say come the date for compliance that they can not and will just stop delivering ANY gasoline period. All of us former and current truckers know that in three days the nation will come to a total halt. If they include diesel fuel, then include all trucks and “refers” (refrigerator vans, then there will also be no food in the stores, too! THIS IS A STRANGLE HOLD ON OUR SOCIETY THAT YOU TRULY DO NOT FULLY COMPREHEND. And you thought that organized crime was about drug dealers and gun toting gangsters. Also remember that PMSH was raised by an accountant father employed by IMERIOUS AHSO! This HUSKY REFINERY union member’s brat sees the connection, even if you don’t!
When the electrical power failure hit North Eastern North America in only certain spots, I was lucky enough to have enough fuel on board to get to an area that had power and fill up! Our “just not enough time” delivery distribution logistics is an Achilles heel stronger than any political party, and capable of black mailing even the most conscientious MP or Political Party. How do you fuel all the Army Trucks if the refineries shut down? How do you feed an Army if there are no food vendors and “refers”?
This whole pollution picture solution is far more susceptible to subversion than you understand. Who owns what and controls what is not always obvious nor easily available. Recently I complained to a grocery store senior manager about the amount of their price increases. He replied, “If think this is bad, I am telling you that five years from now you will look back and realize that this is nothing.” That man knows what is in store for us “In the Pipeline”!
All I am suggesting is that we need to think very clearly about who we trust to elect to Ottawa next time around and hope that they can use some good judgment in what they select to do about GHGs and specifically CO2}, with out threatening the investments and infrastructure of the very wealthy.
The one thing that makes the most sense is that we should plant a massive amount of trees to NATURALLY capture Carbon and CO2}! The other problems are to be dealt with the same way you eat an elephant, one little bite at a time!
Bill-Muskoka. Amen to that. Been there, done that, bought a whole whack of t-shirts. I’m a late boomer, born in 1953. I remember asking my father once why there was a baby boom. His reply was along the lines of: well, soldiers going to war didn’t know if they’d return and after the war, soldiers returned and were married. That was his idea of sex education for aan 11 year-old. Good thing we had street corners and pool halls back then.
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5g_d_ljL_2gAIccMWGHNHv8vtpzvQ
Thibault = Sexist
Screw all the old excuses what the Cons said that were worse. This is a new century, but that old fart still believes in the old boys club. Way to go to lose the women’s vote in N.S. Idiot.
BY WJP ON 08.12.08 2:01 PM
WJP, good reminder that sexist insults still persist.
It reminds me of the time that Peter MacKay had to apologize to Alexa McDonough for telling her to “stick to your knitting”.
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 2:49 pm
Now you know how really uninformed I am, I didn’t even know she knitted!
WJP, Bill-Muskoka. Thank you. I wish there were laws to protect us. If there were laws or scruples..
This whole global market thing sounded so good in theory but it spelled a death knell to Canadian business.
BY EASTOFEDEN ON 08.12.08 1:26 PM
Exactly. The general population gets no benefit from globalization nor from deregulation. The ideas that are sold to us by politicians like Harper work to convince us we’d benefit, because we think the good talk is referring to us. But it’s just behind-the-scenes finagling by the corporate world to better themselves. If it smells bad, it is. Follow the money. Uncover the bad guys. Get them out.
I feel like we see things clearly in our youth, then we have to go out and work and we lose track. In the sixties I thought somebody was going to take care of all this. I guess it was our job. They sure got ahead of us.
Hey Garth,
I moved to Toronto a year ago and — having seen many property cycles come and go — am amazed at how people choose to ignore facts to justify their bullishness.
For instance, I was shocked when I saw the latest immigration figures out of Citizenship and Immigration Canada. It showed immigrants to Toronto dropped to 87,136 in 2007, the second year of decline! — 23% below 2005 levels. The data startled me because it was inconsistent with several conversations I’ve had since I migrated here. I’d been told that rising immigration was one of the structural forces sustaining what appeared to me to be an overheating housing market. Apparently, like myself, none of my antagonists had bothered to check the data.
I just wrote a blog entry called “Never Let the Facts Get in the Way of a Good Housing Bubble.” Hope you can check it out.
wjp on 08.12.08 2:26 pm
Lets not forget about M H-F (after she was elected as an MP) and her hate filled lie/rant about men on CTV.
No apology yet.
Off Topic
I just got my first 10%er. It asked
Who wil keep junkies off the streets and in rehab?
It must be from a liberal because the the Conservatives are closing the safe injection sites.
Now you know how really uninformed I am, I didn’t even know she knitted
BY WJP ON 08.12.08 2:55 PM
WJP, you are so informed.
By Ed Brooks on 08.12.08 10:05 am
M.Dion has put forth a policy called “The Green Shift”. Whether you support it or not, it is at least out there for all to debate.
………………………………………..
Okay, let’s debate … and let’s start with the GHG reduction targets for the Green Shift, because Dion has defined his Carbon Tax over 4 years of the plan.
However there is only one(1) paragraph in the entire 44 pages of the Green Shift devoted to GHG reduction and it’s located on page 16, namely:
Canadians know Canada won’t meet its obligations under the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol. However, the Kyoto Protocol is an ongoing international effort, and we must build momentum now in order to close that gap in the next phase of the agreement, after 2012. We believe that our target should be to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020. This should be increased to at least 25 per cent if other countries take on comparable efforts. This is in line with what the science tells us we need to do. We must achieve absolute greenhouse gas emissions reductions, and we must begin today. Canada cannot solve climate change on its own. Until we take serious action to reduce our own emissions, we will have little credibility on the global stage to ensure other countries are doing their part.
………………
Now I ask you, Ed …. are you satisfied with this objective within the Green Shift, as you put it:
There are a lot of people who will not acknowledge that we are destroying our environment, and are not prepared to take any action to prevent it.
What specific actions are provided within the Green Shift to meet your expectations? Let’s start with that issue.
3. Finally, in the past month, crude oil prices have fallen from approx. $150 per barrel to $113. That is a drop of approx 25%. Yet in Victoria, gas prices have only been reduced from $1.52 to $1.42 per litre. That is a drop of just over 6%. This might explain their last quarterly $1.15 billion profits.
I also think that the Canadian $ has taken a tumble in the past few weeks and since oil is quoted in US$, it explains why you have not seen that much of a change reflected at the pumps.
See graph below:
http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/graph120.html
“We are only 25 miles from the Bruce Nuclear facility.”
We are actually about 90 miles from the Bruce facility, but your mileage calculations are about as accurate as the rest of your post. I live in Guelph, and I can well be considered a senior, and I am very active with lots of other senior friends. I have yet to find one in my cirle who is embracing the Green Shift Tax. Maybe I’m hanging around with the wrong folks.
Looks like Robert Thibault has decided to had over his seat to the Conservatives…
“Thibault ended up in political hot water for the second time in a week after he called Marjory LeBreton, the government leader in the Senate, an “idiot.” He then said she should “go back to making tea” for former prime minister Brian Mulroney.”
We conservatives are very appreciative of your very big mouth Mr. Thibault.
Sorry! I left a sentence dangling in mid-air at the end of my last post. Was in a hurry to get to an appointment and didn’t see below the line that I had started to say that the Liberal plan to cope with emissions was comprehensive — helping to get a price put on carbon; giving incentives to industries to enable them to use new green technologies and to help our citizens, especially those most vulnerable, to manage increasing costs by way of tax cuts and other programs.
Is John Baird scrambling? Or is Stephen Harper just going to hang in there, trying to pacify the people until Alberta has exhausted its resources and its environment?
Nobody ever gets Poilièvre’s name correctly. Even in Ottawa (a bilingual city), interviewers still call him Pierre Poliver. Poilièvre.
Pwa-lee-ev-re. Easy.
Eastofeden Bill and others
You are all advocating what I have called a trade filter in the past.
Globalism needs to be replaced with a simple filter if a COMPANY wants to sell outside its borders. First an international carbon tax distinguishing between clean and dirty sources needs to be applied on every international sale. Second a minimum wage of say 5 dollars an hour U.S. is established to prevent sweat shops, slave labour and a trully international market where every nation is a buyer as well as a seller. Third a single set of employee safety, QUALITY and environmental standards need to be met or taxed. Fourth, any subsidies applied in a countries internal economy need to be added to the price before selling outside the country. Finally there can be no tarriffs of any kind but each country should be allowed protect 5 key industries by denying imports from outside the country.
Under this scenario countries are free to do as they want but any COMPANY that wants to sell internationaly has to meet these rules and adjust their price accordingly or face tarriffs in their potential market to recover these advantages. Every country is treated equally and it is up to them to pursue higher standards in order to compete internationally. Over half of todays corporations would go bankrupt under these rules because most of their profits would be eliminated. The most important feature must be that any company caught cheating is banned from selling internationally for ever and any country that has a number of these companies should have temporary 5 year bans on international sales until they clean up their act.
While Harper, Bush and their buddies have no creadability on this issue it will be interesting which leader comes forth with it. The one who does will be go down in history as the father of the new green world economy.
still here, garth? your ISP Elections Canada, or what?
WJP, I especially appreciated your Dion vs Harper which I’ll point form:
The Green Shift … Harper’s plan … a comparison between the two obvious contenders … I would suggest Dion’s plan economically speaks to Canadians far more than Harper’s plan
- The Liberals have made their position quite clear on Income trusts. They will not be reversing the CPC decision but will be offering a fairer tax situation. I am sure you coud find the exact details at their website. So comparing the two main parties, the Liberals certainly will benefit those holding income trusts more than Mr. Harpers hatchet job on seniors and others with his broken promise.
- The housing crisis … there are certain things [Harper] could have done to prepare for this downturn, e.g. not have allowed 40 years mortgages
- [Harper could] have limited spending to a reasonable limit rather than having the largest spending budget in Canadian history … and throwing money to Quebec in the midst of an election
- They could have invested in green energy as way of promoting job growth … and worked to invest in energy efficient transportation for the average Canadian especially those outside the big cities
Yes we seniors will survive, it will be a rocky road for some more than others, but my take is this government – who holds itself above accountability – is not prepared to face tough economic times – and my prediction is, this economy, and [Harper's] unwillingness to come clean, will be their death knell.
BY WJP 08.12.08 10:53 AM
WJP, sorry for shortening it, but I just thought your points are so valuable, I wanted to let you know that, once again, I’m saving one of your great posts. Hubby and I may just [as suggested by KPN? Sandy?] print out our own “flyers”. I still have your Scandals List saved for that, too.
By rural on 08.12.08 1:56 pm
Dear Rural
Good eye. I had not noticed the number on the return address on the Senate thingy. I have the same flyer with 6003 from Chuck Strahl. There may be two explanations:
One The Conservatives may be expensing the last few to the national party
Two Maybe someone at the Queen’s Printer is tracking the individual print runs to determine whether the Conservatives are exceeding the 10% rule
BTW the print quality has improved on the last few flyers.
Over to Garth? Is there any way of finding out?
William Dahl, I like the way you think. Now, if only somebody in power (and I do NOT care which party) would do something meaningful to do what you suggest.
Ain’t gonna happen, though, because politics is 99% style and 1% substance.
Pwa-lee-ev-re. Easy.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 3:37 p
In the steel mills, oil patch, and in truck stops it is still pronounced:
POLYWOG
Hey Garth. Got one of those 10% today about crime or something. Didn’t recognize the name of the MP. Something Williams?
Good thing we had street corners and pool halls back then.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 2:46 pm
True, and we could gather on those street corners without fear of a drive-by shooting, or some other miscreant morons attacking us. The pool halls were a gathering place to do this weird thing called ‘play pool.’
There were few if any gang colours. We had our faults, but nothing like the insanity today!.
The one thing that changed it the most, IMHO, was the replacing of fathers with moms as the discipline source. By God, we had far more fear of the Old Man than the police, because no lawyer could get you out of the consequences. A lot of things have changed for the better, but a lot has changed for the worse.
I still remember walking three miles to go get a pinapple soda and then go to the firse station to pet the Dalmation mascot, climb on the BIG hook & Ladder truck, and get to blow the siren.
We also were taught courtesy and common sense, and it was far more common than now. Rule #1: Do something stupid, expect to be injured. Think before you act. An almost lost concept today!
VICGUY 08.12.08 1:41 PM
The other problems are to be dealt with the same way you eat an elephant, one little bite at a time!
~ BY TRUTH B TOLD ON 08.12.08 2:45 PM
Truth B & Vic – you both hit the nail!
I hope everyone read your full comments.
And add point 5, how Big Oil one-upped the Tobacco Industry tactics with a well-oiled Denial Machine:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/32482/page/1
Truth B Told & Vicguy, thanks for all that. And I fully also state: “that we need to think very clearly about who we trust to elect to Ottawa next time around and hope that they can use some good judgment .”
By Bonnie N BC on 08.12.08 3:49 pm
Interesting that the flyers from two diffrent MPs with their individual return addresses and mug shots have the same id/print number. Could this be from the Party or Government (for lack of a better word) and not from the individual MP, makes one wonder exactly how much input to this mud slinging exercise, proportedly coming from them, they realy had?
JohnB: I don’t live in Guelph–I live an hour north of Guelph as I stated. So I am only 25 miles from the Bruce!!
Don’t call me a liar.
And isn’t it grand that seniors have choices in which political party they can trust?? Obviously the seniors here trust the Liberals.
And I guess the Seniors in Guelph trust the Conservatives.
Isn’t democracy grand???
I think I read of Bill Muskokas dislike of lawyers. If I got it right this one is for you. If not perhaps it will still be found humourus.
Rules for hunting lawyers
Washington state attorney season and bag limits
——————————————————————————–
1300.01 GENERAL
1. Any person with a valid Washington State hunting license may harvest attorneys.
2. Taking of attorneys with traps or deadfalls is permitted. The use of currency as bait is prohibited.
3. Killing of attorneys with a vehicle is prohibited. If accidentally struck, remove dead attorney to roadside and proceed to nearest car wash.
4. It is unlawful to chase, herd, or harvest attorneys from a snow machine, helicopter, or aircraft.
5. It shall be unlawful to shout “whiplash”, “ambulance”, or “free Perrier” for the purpose of trapping attorneys.
6. It shall be unlawful to hunt attorneys within 100 yards of BMW dealerships.
7. It shall be unlawful to use cocaine, young boys, $100 bills, prostitutes, or vehicle accidents to attract attorneys.
8. It shall be unlawful to hunt attorneys within 200 yards of courtrooms, law libraries, health spas, gay bars, ambulances, or hospitals.
9. If an attorney is elected to government office, it shall be a felony to hunt, trap, or possess it.
10. Stuffed or mounted attorneys must have a state health department inspection for AIDS, rabies, and vermin.
11. It shall be illegal for a hunter to disguise himself as a reporter, drug dealer, pimp, female legal clerk, sheep, accident victim, bookie, or tax accountant for the purpose of hunting attorneys.
BAG LIMITS
1. Yellow Bellied Sidewinder 2
2. Two-faced Tort Feasor 3
3. Back-stabbing Divorce Litigator 5
4. Big-mouthed Pub Gut 2
5. Honest Attorney EXTINCT
6. Cut-throat 2
7. Back-stabbing Whiner 2
8. Brown-nosed Judge Kisser 2
9. Silver-tongued Drug Defender $100 bounty
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 4:31 pm
The only person I can trust is my wife, and she is not running for office…tough criteria!!!
“that we need to think very clearly about who we trust to elect to Ottawa next time around and hope that they can use some good judgment .”
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 4:31 pm
—————————————-
New Harper Party Advertisement
“Hey Canada, I’m Stevie Harper and I’m a celebrity too. I want Canada to know that I’m, like, totally ready to lead.”
By rural on 08.12.08 4:45 pm
No it does not go to the MP – it goes to CRG (Conservative Research Group) which is the Conservative Deathstar.
You know the fancy “media” centre. Unless yours is going directly to the MP??? They are building a database of voters that respond. It’s called sifting.
Take a look at the mailing address.
The neo-con philosophy is that government should be small and get out of the way of commerce.
BY PAT. G. 08.12.08 1:21 PM
Pat,
And it’s such a long-running con game by the elites. You’d think the populace would finally reach a tipping point of figuring it out. The corporations and their class have successfully signed-up the right wing, but for different goals. [They are slightly less successful with the Left due to a factor.. some people are just more resistant to fear tactics and ambiguity. Not kidding. And no insult intended against the more fearful.] The conservative voter falls for that “small gov’t & un-tethered biz” philosophy despite the fact that it’s a miserable failure. It seems like a sound idea to them, [they are told it will help the little guy], but they do not know that it causes more harm than good. Poor things don’t realize it’s a rich man’s game. They don’t realize that the big boys always end up breaking the rules. They don’t realize that they are voting for the biggest enablers – - that the neocon’s handlers are always pushing for smaller government simply to get rid of the much-needed Watchdogs – the ones who help we the people watch over corporations. The Watchdogs.. who protect Canadians.
By Marc on 08.12.08 5:04 pm
LOL Thanks Marc, I get my best lawyer jokes from friends who are lawyers, and they love fresh material. Those will travel well.
Here is what Stephane Dion is attempting to tell us with the Green Shift–we have to do something about global warming or climate change and if we do, we can have a fairer, greener, richer Canada. Just see what Denmark has done.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10friedman1.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin
We just have to get our fellow Canadians to vote for the Green Shift and Stephane Dion and make our country another shining beacon like Denmark. We can do it. We will do it!!!!
3% increase in food year over year, what is the % for gasoline, add in electricity, natural gas and then tell me how the government can come up with an inflation rate based on the CPI of just over 2%? Are these not the necessities of life…and some are worried about the Green Shift, that is only an idea at this point…take a look at what is happening under Harper’s watch!!!
http://www.thestar.com/living/article/476435
BY ROBERT GIBBS 08.12.08 5:13PM
Robert,
Too funny, but give credit to WJP for the quote. I was quoting him from an earlier post.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BY WJP ON 08.12.08 5:12PM
WJP, I only trust hubby. I was going to suggest you run for office.
New Harper Party Advertisement
“Hey Canada, I’m Stevie Harper and I’m a celebrity too. I want Canada to know that I’m, like, totally ready to lead.”
By Robert Gibbs on 08.12.08 5:13 pm
Yeah! And I missed the sex tape link, too! Like, where is the blue eyed, blond, dittz? Bet big Julie is better!
But then you need to own a Harley!
“I also think that the Canadian $ has taken a tumble in the past few weeks and since oil is quoted in US$, it explains why you have not seen that much of a change reflected at the pumps.
See graph below:
http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/graph120.html
By LiberalTaxMan on 08.12.08 3:26 pm
Lib, I stand corrected.
OK, let’s convert the values in Canadian $ on the appropriate dates. On (approx) July 15, crude oil was $150 (US) per barrel. The Can$ was at .992 US$ so crude was approx $151.20 per barrel (Can). Today, crude oil is $113 (US) with the loonie at (approx) .94 US$, so $120.20 (Can) per barrel. That’s a drop of $31 Can$ or 20.5% compared to a drop at the pump of 6%.
That must explain it, eh?
Garth – I think you’ll find this VERY interesting:
Carbon tax head named
U of C prof pegged to give direction in new government job aimed at protecting the environment
By SHAWN LOGAN, SUN MEDIA
The Calgary Sun
The federal environment minister has tapped a University of Calgary professor to head a group charged with advising the government on whether to institute a national carbon tax.
……….hmmmm……..
They don’t realize that the big boys always end up breaking the rules. They don’t realize that they are voting for the biggest enablers – - that the neocon’s handlers are always pushing for smaller government simply to get rid of the much-needed Watchdogs – the ones who help we the people watch over corporations. The Watchdogs.. who protect Canadians.
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 5:18 pm
Another AMEN! Only ther Big Boys can afford Eddie Greenspan who gets the Black family off as much as he can persuade the courts to allow. Seems Connie has not been too successful, and one must ask ‘Where is the money coming from to pay Greenspan and his firm?’
Now Connie has apparently fired Fast Eddie and hired an American Gun for Hire!
Like the saying goes ’99% of lawyers give the rest a bad name.’
No wonder CBC, under the ‘Weebleship’ of Steve’s hand picked puppet, cancelled ‘This Is Wonderland’, the most accurate portrayal of our dysfunctional legal system.
They can’t have the public witnessing their gross actions, ladder climbing lieing, and outrageous personal lives.
Centuries ago, the lawyers built their very own temple of worship in Bolgna, Italy. No wonder they have so much bolonga, eh? It was the core building on the town square. (Thanks to James Burke’s ‘The Day the Universe Changed’ on PBS years ago).
When will Monsieur Dion finally tell us if he is going to pull the plug on this government and take us to the polls or not?
Are we waiting for the latest opinion poll or fickle change in the latest shifting sands of public opinion, or are we going to do the right thing and to take a stand on principle?
The times call for principled leadership. To procrastinate is not leadership. If the leaders lead, then the people will follow.
Decisive leadership is the cry of the hour. Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton have done their part to bring this government down on principled positions on confidence votes time after time after time over the last 1 1/2 years.
But Monsieur Dion continues to waffle, he continues to vacillate, he continues to waver, he continues to hesitate, he continues to say, “May be this, may be that.”
This is not inspiring the confidence that we need. This is not leadership. We want leadership that speaks where they are going (so the people can follow), and goes where they are speaking. This double-speak leaves many of the electorate confused and in the dark about what is going on, and will the real Monsieur Dion please rise to the plate?
If MPs are allowed to publicly use offensive language like Thibault’s without consequence, it shows that Stephane Dion’s commitment to women in politics rings hollow.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said Thibault’s apology isn’t enough and urged Dion to denounce the remarks. He said such remarks deter women from entering politics.
“Many of them are worried about the kind of tone that’s set where women are stereotyped,” he said.
Layton also cited an example of a prominent Conservative he said made similar comments in the past.
“We (had) the situation of Mr. (Peter) MacKay saying that Alexa McDonough should go back to her knitting,” he said, noting that all parties need to strive to make “politics more open to women.”
Every political leader must go to the ultimate degree to purge their parties of all sexism, and all stereotyping of the role of women, as if they were designed to “make tea” for men.
What tommyrot!
It looks like my last post got lost. Here it is again with slight changes.
Please read this excerpt and then the article and you will totally understand what Stephane Dion and his team are heading for with the Green Shift and towards a greener, fairer and richer Canada.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/10/opinion/10friedman1.html?_r=1&em&oref=slogin
Flush With Energy
By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN
Copenhagen
……………………………… In the last 10 years, Denmark’s exports of energy efficiency products have tripled. Energy technology exports rose 8 percent in 2007 to more than $10.5 billion in 2006, compared with a 2 percent rise in 2007 for Danish exports as a whole.
“It is one of our fastest-growing export areas,” said Hedegaard. It is one reason that unemployment in Denmark today is 1.6 percent. In 1973, said Hedegaard, “we got 99 percent of our energy from the Middle East. Today it is zero.”………………………
Me must “shift” our values and creativity and we can do it. We will do it. Stephane Dion will lead us to a greener, fairer, richer Canada.
Thibault’s remarks may or may not indicate that he does indeed have a low opinion of women. Still, why can’t politicians learn to think just a little bit on their feet? It can’t be that hard to try to measure your words just a bit. Now when Harper said we’d be screwed by the GreenShift, those words were measured. I have no way of knowing if Thibault’s comments were measured.
Talking about real estate. About 2 wks ago the house next to us sold for either $214 or $219. Siblings wanted a quick sale. It needs about $50K worth of renovations, but the only thing that needs immediate repair is the roof. For sale sign went up one aft. and next morning sold sign was put up and a day later sign was removed. We know the guy, Rod, a contractor, who bought it. He has several rental properties & had done work on the neighbour’s house. Yesterday, another for sale sign went up. Checked the price on line. Asking $260K. We on the street thought the original selling price was a steal. Thought Rod would renovate and then sell but, apparently, he’s just going to sell it as is. It has an in-law suite downstairs. Curious how long it’ll be on the market & what price Rod will actually sell it for. Yes, its a market.
By Mel on 08.12.08 5:57 pm
Then don’t vote for him, pretty simple!
By Mel on 08.12.08 5:57 pm
Mel … Dion’s leadership within the Liberal party was weak from the first day when he foolishly adopted the ‘Dream Team’ concept which is slowly undermining his leadership. He should have not appointed Ignatieff as deputy leader, and that revealed his insecurity and lack of self-confidence.
Your call to Dion is fraught with frustration, which can only be resolved with an election or an abdication … but in either case it spells disaster for the Liberal party.
I suspect Dion knows his leadership has failed and now he is left with difficult decisions that will affect all Liberals. Will he fall on the sword or will he go out in a blaze of infamy..??!!!
The federal environment minister has tapped a University of Calgary professor to head a group charged with advising the government on whether to institute a national carbon tax.
……….hmmmm……..
By slg on 08.12.08 5:53 pm
Oh please tell me it isn’t Tim Ball…
Not only is he funded by Exxon Mobil(FoS) the biggest oil company in the world – they have a CEO that openly does not believe in climate change. Even the PM would not dare…
Would they? OMG, this government is not rational….
By slg on 08.12.08 5:53 pm
Well Harper has a choice, impose one and keep the money in Canada or let Obama tax oil sands imports…no brainer really…it was going to happen all along, the only difference, NO TAX BREAK for Canadians….
Decisive leadership is the cry of the hour. Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton have done their part to bring this government down on principled positions on confidence votes time after time after time over the last 1 1/2 years.
Mel – easy to do as they have nothing to lose. Both parties know they don’t have a hope in hell of forming the government. Actually Layton has probably attacked the Libs more than the cons. Says something about him. I used to admire the NDP federally, but no more.
WJP, I only trust hubby. I was going to suggest you run for office.
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 5:28 pm
LMAO…you think Garth can be sharp!!!
I wouldn’t last one week!
Looks like paranoid Harper is up to more secretative behaviour… now it looks like censorship of diplomatic reports on human rights in foreign countries….
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080812%2ftories_hrrs_080812
A CALL FOR ASSISTANCE TO ALL READERS OF GARTH’S BLOG…..
I am in Dan Allison’s riding…. if any of you receive any “10% mailings” from Dean please let me know by way of Garth’s blog. I’d like to gather some factual information, and if junk has been going out under Allison’s name I’d like to take him to task in the local newspaper.
BY ROBERT GIBBS ON 08.12.08 5:13 PM
I gave credit for the quote to the wrong person. Sorry Truth B Told..
Robert, credit goes to Truth B Told for the quote:
“All I am suggesting is that we need to think very clearly about who we trust to elect to Ottawa next time around and hope that they can use some good judgment in what they select to do about GHGs and specifically CO2}, ”
~ TRUTH B TOLD ON 08.12.08 2:45 PM
..and cudos again to his/her whole post, as well as Vicguy, and PAT. G.
(Thanks to James Burke’s ‘The Day the Universe Changed’ on PBS years ago).
BY BILL-MUSKOKA 08.12.08 5:54 PM
And remember “Connections”?
I am outta here—-I have been trying to find a good reason to go back Liberal after being away 25 years, but I won`t find it here.—pretty petty bunch, and Hatman and Musky Bill are supposed to be witty or wise?—Later
Garth, honestly, I hate reading most of the comments here, they disgust me.
But I did a quick scan, and I’m a little appalled that in 150 or so comments, NOBODY seems to have pointed out the fact that theat graph states that housing prices have RISEN 10% from same time last year? And that the average price increase is normally 7.5%
Not decreased?
(Are the commenters here so vitriolic that they don’t even bother to read the posts before they spew?)
Or do I just not know how to read that chart?
You misread the chart. It does not measure absolute terms, but relative ones. — Garth
“Obviously the seniors here trust the Liberals.”
I’m thinking you might be living just a shade TOO close to the plant there honey. You ought to move to Guelph or somewhere that the radiation doesn’t have those adverse effects, LOL!!
WW from the KDC:
“I’ve been trying for some time to develop a lifestyle that doesn’t require my presence.” — Garry Trudeau
It would be really neat to have a wonderful life of free KFC, Wendy’s, wine, more food and song — and someone else picked up the tab for the lot!
****************************************
An ad for ScotiaMcLeod today spells out why China is an interesting place to invest, but the ad says individuals must have at least $500,000 or more of investable assets.
In part, the ad reads: “The Chinese Economy is becoming more competitive as the US is burdened with heavy debt . . . China’s national debt is about 18.9% of GDP. The US national debt is about 70% of GDP. In an economic slowdown, China has more resources than the US to cut taxes and increase spending to stimulate the economy.”
As the US and Canada continues to outsource most of their good jobs, it stands to reason that someone else is able to pick up the slack and run with the ball.
Enter The Dragon — and Bear (Russia) — who will eventually change the way this world is going. We probably won’t be around to see it, and that’s fine with me!
****************************************
Last two paras. of John Thomson’s column on castanet.net today; obviously, sheeple still spend money as if it’s going outta style . . .
It looks like Canadian shoppers are continuing their spending ways as they remain in better financial shape than their colleagues south of the border, but a slowdown seems likely…
U.S. home improvement retailer Lowe’s Cos. Inc. will open three more stores in Canada by the end of January to add to the seven it already launched here since late last year. The move comes amid continuing speculation that the Mooresville, N.C.-based chain will eventually buy rival Rona Inc. of Boucherville, Que., as it races to take on market leader Home Depot Inc. That rumour just never seems to go away. The Lowe’s stores so far in Canada are all in Ontario…
****************************************
Wasn’t the Dow at something like 13 grand a while back? . . .
http://tinyurl.com/6a6o9f
****************************************
. . . and if wealthy investors are fleeing, they know something average folk don’t.
http://tinyurl.com/67dxwc
If MPs are allowed to publicly use offensive language By Mel on 08.12.08 6:05 pm
I’ve heard some pretty nasty talk when one particular female left the Conservatives and went to the Liberals or have you forgotten that one?
High stakes secret review of Canada Post
http://www.citizen.on.ca/news/2008/0710/mailbox/026.html
What’s up with this?
Most folks in Alberta
BY IRVINE ON 08.12.08 12:08 AM
Most?
Irvine, how come you left out the most important part about Calgary, that our house prices have moved for different reasons than the rest of the country. Have some sensitivity for all other regions, who will feel the crunch. Garth is addressing a wider audience than just you.
I don’t think our price drop here fits other city’s profiles – particularly your example from a year ago. We are coming off an era when an average 98 people per day were moving to Calgary and housing was short to say the least. Prices skyrocketed because of that – and there’s always a day when that remedies itself.
But if as you say, you don’t see too many people complaining, then you should get around more. Plenty of near-retirees here had looked down the road and began building retirement homes, if not dreams, in their places of choice. A year later the prospect of selling, and moving into retirement digs in the near future, ain’t looking quite the same. And of course, that’s where Garth’s old point comes up, that “families in this country have more than 80% of their entire net worth in one asset, their homes.” Hey, if you are perfect Irvine, that’s fine. But not everybody has all the luck and charm you do.
Why am I the only person in Canada who has NOT received any of these flyers sent out by evil Con-Bots? Why did I not receive Jon Coates e-mail which supposedly went around the world and was sponsored by evil Con-Bots? Why am I being left out of all this fun stuff? Why are the flyers even on the radar? I daresay that we have more important dragons to slay than some pesky flyer.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 2:05 pm
Your not the only one that does not receive them. However, we all help pay for them.
The trading floor and tables at NYSE
http://marketrac.nyse.com/mt/index.html
By slg on 08.12.08 5:53 pm
Well Harper has a choice, impose one and keep the money in Canada or let Obama tax oil sands imports…no brainer really…it was going to happen all along, the only difference, NO TAX BREAK for Canadians….
By wjp on 08.12.08 6:20 pm
Just one other thing, with Harper, you wouldn’t find out about the tax until after the election!!
Hi Bill-Muskoka on 08.12.08 1:51 pm,
You have missunderstood me. I was not saying the GW has anything to do will the bee die off issue.
It just happens to be one of the separate segments covered by the CBC radio show, that I gave a link for.
Hmmm…
It appears housing prices in the graph Garth shows skyrocketed in the past couple of years and are now falling substantially back to where they normally exist. What, exactly, is it Harper should be apologizing for or, more telling, is Garth claiming the Liberals would act to keep prices at their inflated levels.
Come to think of it Garth has never really articulated what the Liberals would do on the housing “crisis” he keeps claiming is here.
This one has “delete” written all over it, eh Garth? Goodness knows we don’t want Garthie to have to ante up substance!
…what you intend to do with your now defunct Green Shift carbon tax…It’s the Economy, stupid …!!!!
By HARRY S on 08.12.08 12:47 am
Is green shift dead?
Hi Bonnie N BC on 08.12.08 1:53 pm,
I’m pritty sure I can get to the open public town hall type meeting in Oakville on Aug 20.(It’s not taking place accually at the town hall, so check to be sure you have the address.
That Mr DionMP and Mr. TurnerMP are speaking at and then taking questionn for the people that are present.
Women of the world, unite against the offensive remarks of Robert Thibealt. You have nothing to lose but the sexist’s statement of male chauvinists.
All that Robert Thibeault has done is to put his foot in his mouth, and give Brian Mulroney ammunition to use in his libel suit against him. This sort of thing does not sit well with the electorate, especially the militant feminist element who are finding a voice.
As we plant, so shall we reap.
Didn’t I hear he apologized unequivocably? — Garth
Lunn panders to industry at expense to Canadians’ health
August 12, 2008
OTTAWA – Natural Resources Minister Gary Lunn has chosen to pander to the fast food industry over the facts of scientific evidence and the interest of Canadians’ health by tampering with the ministry’s website, Liberal Natural Resources Critic Omar Alghabra said today.
“Six months ago Natural Resources Canada was warning that emissions from idling cars can lead to serious health problems and even death,” said Mr. Alghabra. “Now the health warnings have been completely removed from the website, and recommended standards for idling cars have been significantly weakened.”
Media stories this week report the changes to the Natural Resources Canada website came after a meeting in which Minister Lunn was told by the fast food industry that strict idling standards were bad for business – particularly drive thru business.
The original site warned that air pollution causes thousands of deaths annually in Canada and recommended that cars only idle for a maximum of ten seconds when not in traffic. In a private meeting with the Minister in February the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association called those recommendations too strong. The day after that meeting the site was shut down, only to reopen later this summer with a compromised message that accepts idling lengths of up to one minute rather than the previously recommended ten seconds.
“Science tells us that thousands of deaths are caused by air pollution each year in Canada, and that vehicle emissions are a major cause of that pollution,” said Mr. Alghabra. “Clearly, Mr. Lunn preferred to pander to the interests of an industry instead of looking at the hard evidence and defending the health of Canadians.”
This is the latest in a string of decisions in which the Harper Conservatives, and this Minister in particular, have ignored scientific advice in the name of playing politics. Minister Lunn was at the centre of a controversy that resulted in an experienced public servant and nuclear safety expert being fired for providing fact-based advice to her political masters.
By HARRY S on 08.12.08 12:47 am
Is green shift dead?
By Buford Wilson on 08.12.08 7:37 pm
Nope just Harry’s brain…braindead!!!
By Greg W., Oakville on 08.12.08 7:35 pm
Fair enough mon ami.
How many others have noticed that the more things change the more they remain the same in the world of our dictator. When challenged with the truth and the facts his angler rises beyond controllable levels. Such is now the case with Stephen Harper and his clones>
By Mel on 08.12.08 7:42 pm
Mel just wants a reason not to vote Liberal and is trying his/her best to sway others…Mel will be outta here in a week!!! You have heard of drive by smears…well this is drive by whine…care for some cheese Mel?
Here is a great opportunity for Stephane Dion to display some strong and decisive leadership by expelling Thibault from the Liberal caucus for his outrageous ageist and sexist remarks.
Apologies are not enough ..!!!!!
Dion has proclaimed himself the champion of women and seniors and he shouldn’t betray the trust he has built up with those groups.
Speak up, Stephane and prove that you are a strong and inclusive leader of the Liberal party. Canadians are waiting for your decisive action on this sorry sorry affair.
After recieving the 4th 10% flyer in the last 3 weeks, I emailed the M.P. Barry Devolin.
Hello Mr. Devolin, I have received 4 flyers compliments of yourself in the last 3 weeks. I live in British Columbia, New West.-Coquitlam riding, far away from your riding. I have received total of these partisan flyers as about 15 in a little more then 4 months. I respectfully ask, who is paying for these flyers, the Conservative Party of Canada, or us taxpayers? My other question is do you think that in any way possible all these flyers being bombarded to our riding and or neighbourhood, will be helpful to Ms. Yonah Martins future campaign? Ms. Yonah Martin is the candidate running for the Conservative Party of Canada in any upcoming election. I have never recieved such volume in such a short time from any government. If in fact us taxpayers are funding this bombardment, I cannot in good faith vote for a party that practices such waste of our hard earned dollars, and unfortunatly Ms. Yonah Martin will be the unintended victim as I will cast my vote elsewhere, giving herself no chance to convince myself that she is a worthy candidate deserving of representing this riding. I respectfully await your reply answering my questions, and trying to convince myself that the Conservative Party of Canada, is not wasting my tax dollars, and is still worty of my vote. I am sure I am not the only one in this riding that feels this way. Our household also holds 4 registered voters, and the 2004 election was won by a mere 200 odd votes, making our votes much important. Best regards Marc
To date I believe it is 15 flyers in 4 months. I guess the House of Commons printer does not take the summer off?
As we plant, so shall we reap.
Didn’t I hear he apologized unequivocably? — Garth
By Mel on 08.12.08 7:42 pm
————–
That’s right Garth he did. Mel did you hear Peter McKay apologize to Belinda yet for his Dog remark? Nope didn’t think so.
Here is a great opportunity for Stephane Dion to display some strong and decisive leadership by expelling Thibault from the Liberal caucus for his outrageous ageist and sexist remarks.
Apologies are not enough ..!!!!!
HARRY
———
Harry, did Harper Expel Peter for his remarks in the House about Belinda Stronach? Why don’t you go and crawl back in your hole you mole.
The solution to the CPC 10-Percent’ers
http://canadiancynic.blogspot.com/2008/08/pay-attention.html
Didn’t I hear he apologized unequivocably? — Garth
Yes and rightfully he should have. Do you hold Conservative M.P.s to a higher standard then Liberal M.P.s? M.P. Pierre Poilievre apoligized for his inappropriate comments, and you still found the time to call him a racist on your Shuffle This post. Is it fair not to accept Mr. Poilievres’ apology and accept Mr. Thibaults’? Can someone not make a stupid comment, apoligize for it and be forgiven without bringing politics into it? You seem unfair.
Here is a great opportunity for Stephane Dion to display some strong and decisive leadership by expelling Thibault from the Liberal caucus for his outrageous ageist and sexist remarks.
Apologies are not enough ..!!!!!
Dion has proclaimed himself the champion of women and seniors and he shouldn’t betray the trust he has built up with those groups.
Speak up, Stephane and prove that you are a strong and inclusive leader of the Liberal party. Canadians are waiting for your decisive action on this sorry sorry affair.
By HARRY S on 08.12.08 8:39 pm
It is sexist for you to assue that men don’t knit.
So Harry, when were calling for CPC members to be expelled when they made off calour remarks, and believe me Harry, there have been many and far worse made by CPC members of Government.
Or should I get some fake pearls to match your mock outrage.
What a nancy-boy
What goes up must come down.
Ralph Klien 2007
People were warned Garth!
Mel just wants a reason not to vote Liberal and is trying his/her best to sway others…
By wjp on 08.12.08 8:26 pm
I think it`s beyond reason how long this election circus of bashing the other into losing and getting people to vote against the other person has survived. It just goes to show no matter how discontent Cdns are they will never have anything to vote for. The coming economic conditions will change all that. The consumer numbers coming out over the next couple of weeks will confirm what I said this morning. The July and certainly the August economic numbers will get crushed. The next election, green shift, tough on crime, sexiest remarks or bailing out developers have no more reliance to coming times than which party has a more toxic reaction to truth. Compared, there is no party to vote against that will change the situation.
Not even worth saying `none of the above` because none of the above matter, economic conditions are now taking control. Two weeks and the rest of the story comes out.
the melt is on
The feeling one gets at a political speech:
Deja Moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull before.
LeBreton is an idiot and nothing but another lying CON.there’s not a True progressive left in the Harper Crime Family.I watched that old bat lying through her mug too much on the Toadie show better known as “Mike Duffy Live”.
Iwas raised by PC parents and they were nothing like the what the CPC and thier supporters are like.They were more like the Garth Turners and Bill Caseys.If there were any decent PCers left in the Harper Crime Family they’d be sitting as Indies instead ofletting themselves be slimed with the CRAP that is the CON Party. I’ve voted for PCers more than Liberals,but never would I vote for this CRAP. If the liberals piss me off Liz May’s Green party will get my vote for she is also a good Progressive.I do hope to see her in the HOC after the next election she will ADD Canadian Politics unlike that Hag LeBreton the Lying old Bat that spews nothing but the CON talking points.The sooner she retires the better.
A sad time for Canada..our Harper minority government has now without a doubt became a dictatorship.They operate above the law..summons to appear are ignored.Anyone ever been audited by income tax? The average citizen would be destroyed if they acted in the manner harper and his pack of thugs operate! Disgusting!
Harper is calling DION’s election bluff, will he or won’t he? One this one, after ALL the Liberal abstaining, Harper is right!!! Ouch, THAT hurt to say.
Ball taught at the University of Winnipeg from 1973 to 1996.
De facto head of Natural Resources Stewardship Project .
Put yourself in Garth’s shoes for a minute and realize how,totally, frustrating it must be for him to know how stupid the Con-bots have acted with our economy .
He knew that fourty year, zero down, mortgages would be disastrous for our young people .
Talking up our dollar caused the manufacturing sector to disintegrate .
Every time Flaherty made a move it was the wrong one .
So,sure lets give the Con-bots four more years to wipe out what is left of Canada after rebuilding it in Harpo’s image .
They had better be prepared for an unprecedented crime wave .
Why am I the only person in Canada who has NOT received any of these flyers sent out by evil Con-Bots? Why did I not receive Jon Coates e-mail which supposedly went around the world and was sponsored by evil Con-Bots? Why am I being left out of all this fun stuff? Why are the flyers even on the radar? I daresay that we have more important dragons to slay than some pesky flyer.
By eastofeden on 08.12.08 2:05 pm
Your not the only one that does not receive them. However, we all help pay for them.
BY C. B. INNES ON 08.12.08 7:28 PM
LMAO
Mel … Dion’s leadership within the Liberal party was weak from the first day when he foolishly adopted the ‘Dream Team’ concept which is slowly undermining his leadership. He should have not appointed Ignatieff as deputy leader, and that revealed his insecurity and lack of self-confidence.
Your call to Dion is fraught with frustration, which can only be resolved with an election or an abdication … but in either case it spells disaster for the Liberal party.
I suspect Dion knows his leadership has failed and now he is left with difficult decisions that will affect all Liberals. Will he fall on the sword or will he go out in a blaze of infamy..??!!!
BY HARRY S ON 08.12.08 6:18 PM
Your line of thinking is superficial. Where you see insecurity, I see confidence and brilliance.
I don’t think the Conservatives get it but they will, the hard way.
Bonne chance!
Electoral Fraud will be made a criminal offence (if it isn’t already
BY EHBC 08.12.08 12:39 AM
That reminds me..
My 91 year old father wants to blog this:
Dad wants a law that if politicians break election promises, they go to jail.
[EHBC, he'll love your suggestions too. I'll tell him.]
Our dollar is still far over valued .
Restricting our ability to ship manufactured goods and strangling our GDP .
By Men With Hats on 08.12.08 10:24 pm
Not too often I get to converse with a fan of stagflation. With commodity prices dropping as fast as Cdn MSM credibility the revenue that produced mostly public service sector jobs is over, just lost 55,000.
Besides Ontario started this slide in 2002 due to a lack of investment. Even with our par dollar Cdn companies did not upgrade to increase productivity and certainly won`t as dropping global demand drops government revenue and consequentiality the Cdn dollar.
I`ve laid out 1 in a 5 point economic plan with 0 responses. Perhaps we have different reasons for pulling those seat belts tight but we agree it certainly will be a rough ride.
“there’s not a True progressive left in the Harper Crime Family”
BY SUE ON 08.12.08 9:42 PM
Sue, I found a very interesting book review:
“A conservative look at neocons”
July 2004
http://articles.latimes.com/2004/jul/25/books/bk-sleeper25
[for any lurking neocons, Stefan Halper is not your leader]
They had better be prepared for an unprecedented crime wave .
By Men With Hats on 08.12.08 10:39 pm
Give us a break, Harper is not responsible for the highest number of parent denied children in our history. He is responsible for allowing it`s continuation for another 2.5 years. His two biggest failures are not fixing that problem or restoring international investor confidence.
When the slide gets into full tilt the public will be blaming the entire federal government. Rest assured I will not let Harper or the Conservatives off the hook any less than the other political parties.
they all knew, they all did it, they are all to blame
That reminds me..
My 91 year old father wants to blog this:
Dad wants a law that if politicians break election promises, they go to jail.
[EHBC, he'll love your suggestions too. I'll tell him.]
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 11:00 pm
Wow, 91? Is he a vet? What outfit? I have close ties to the PPCLI.
By Bill-Muskoka on 08.12.08 4:25 pm
Drive by shooting wasn’t even a concept back then except in gangster movies. You are, sadly, correct about parents having been the source of discipline and, unfortunately, the word “discipline” has disappeared from our vocabulary.
My mom’s number one rule was along the lines of: not one of us has the right to negatively affect the life of another person. You know, we didn’t even walk across other people’s lawns because it was not ours. We were taught RESPECT for others.
What now is called “outdated” was the foundation of a respectful society. Sure, we had crime and other bad things, including drugs, but on average, we were respectful of each other and we got along and built real communities. We took care of our families and friends and we didn’t look to any government body to help us. We lived as a community of human beings.
I’m suddenly very nostalgic and I’m longing for even a little bit of that back.
Yes and rightfully he should have. Do you hold Conservative M.P.s to a higher standard then Liberal M.P.s? M.P. Pierre Poilievre apoligized for his inappropriate comments, and you still found the time to call him a racist on your Shuffle This post. Is it fair not to accept Mr. Poilievres’ apology and accept Mr. Thibaults’? Can someone not make a stupid comment, apoligize for it and be forgiven without bringing politics into it? You seem unfair.
By Marc on 08.12.08 8:52 pm
And you quite partisan!
“I have been trying to find a good reason to go back Liberal after being away 25 years, but I won`t find it here.—pretty petty bunch, and Hatman and Musky Bill are supposed to be witty or wise?—Later”
By William on 08.12.08 6:45 pm
William, I agree.
“Yes and rightfully he should have. Do you hold Conservative M.P.s to a higher standard then Liberal M.P.s? M.P. Pierre Poilievre apoligized for his inappropriate comments, and you still found the time to call him a racist on your Shuffle This post. Is it fair not to accept Mr. Poilievres’ apology and accept Mr. Thibaults’? Can someone not make a stupid comment, apoligize for it and be forgiven without bringing politics into it? You seem unfair.”
By Marc on 08.12.08 8:52 pm
“And you quite partisan!”
By wjp on 08.13.08 6:27 am
And you, wjp, are being non-partisan and completely objective?
I do see a pattern here where members of one party hold a different standard for their own party than they do for the competition.
The only thing that can break that is a willingness to humble oneself, and to show mercy to the opposition when intemperate comments are made in the same way that we would want mercy for our own indiscretions.
We all need forgiveness at some time or other, and we all need to be willing to give it to others.
I find myself in complete agreement with many of the sentiments that have been written by Eastofeden, one of the most good-natured and fair-minded commentators on this particular forum.
“What now is called ‘outdated’ was the foundation of a respectful society. Sure, we had crime and other bad things, including drugs, but on average, we were respectful of each other and we got along and built real communities. We took care of our families and friends and we didn’t look to any government body to help us. We lived as a community of human beings.
“I’m suddenly very nostalgic and I’m longing for even a little bit of that back.”
By eastofeden on 08.13.08 4:57 am
Yes, eastofeden, I think that we all long for something back, something that we once had, but have lost along the way.
We all know that while something is missing, the longings for that something still remain.
Politics alone does not seem to be able to reconnect us to that objective morality that showed a greater respect for ALL human beings in a time of crisis, regardless of which political party they belonged to.
It is my view that we arn’t going to solve any of our most basic economic and environmental problems without dealing with deeper issues like truth and reconciliation first.
Unfortunately there is no easy way to tell who they are just by looking at them. And with our large urban societies it’s easier for sociopaths to stay hidden in the masses.
By Greg W., Oakville on 08.12.08 12:40 pm
Greg,
Now we Leasa out in the open, at least when she is posting under her own name. Of course sometimes when she posts under another name she will initial it simply with an “L”, hoping as is often the case, this will go unnoticed. She does this so that if questioned later she will claim that she “signed” it. This of course does not wash and is just another way she has of telling lies. She is even devious about her deviousness. Clever, but dishonest just the same.
Since Leasa is probably the most devious and dishonest person on the blog she bears watching and continuing exposure.
Sorry, MWH, I have to disagree with you about our dollar being over-valued. I remember way back when our dollar was at par and even over par for a blip of a period. I have never been happy with the US dollar being the world standard and ours being the poor relation. Imported goods are usually valued in US dollars and considering all of the products which we import, a strong dollar should produce lower prices.
However, as indicated in last week’s McLeans, we are still being gouged. There is no reason why Canadian prices should be so much higher than US prices. I stopped buying books a few years ago because the price differential is an insult to Canadians. I had no choice but to buy a new car last year but it infuriated me to see that the same Corolla just across the border was thousands less. There is absolutely no reason for this but we Canadians accept this sort of second-rate treatment.
And remember “Connections”?
By barb the proofreader on 08.12.08 6:44 pm
I shall never forget that epitome of excellence in programming. Perhaps the most informative and educational series yet produced.
I need to see about getting both on DVD. James Burke brought history to a state of ‘connectivity’ that exceeds all others.
Such excellence should be repeated more often than silliness like ‘Wizard of Oz’, ‘The Ten Commandments’, ‘Gone with the Wind’, and ‘Anne of green Gables.’ Those two series truly educated the masses in from whence we came.
Interestingly, I was just reading ‘History of The Orenda Test Establishment at Nobel’ which is the history of Parry Sound, its days as a ‘boom’ town (Literally because they made munitions there during WWI), and how one plant begat another until the Orenda Engine test facility occupied the site. The author is John L. Armstrong. (ISBN 0-9680684-7-2)
If you have an interest in the other part of the AVRO Arrow story, then this is THE book. Spiral bound and filled with documentation.
This is the poignant story of Canadians who believed they could and DID. I find it appalling what Bev Oda did with the new immigration policy. SHe thinks the only ones worthy of admittance to Canada as Permanent residents are university or college educates professionals and technical people. She regardws factory workers as uneducated and unskilled. Well herte is a bit of news for her. It is the ‘factory’ workers’ who more often than not figure out the solutions the ‘educated’ ones cannot because the educated ones have NO EXPERIENCE, just a head filled with theoretical mush. Obviously, she views them as her inferiors, but then she falls into the ‘head filled with mush’ category and no experience.
New immigration class unveiled
Not every temporary foreign worker would qualify. Only those in managerial, professional, technical occupations and skilled trades are eligible and they must also have two years of work experience in their field and minimum language proficiency.
Unskilled labourers, factory workers, farmers and undocumented workers would not be eligible for the program.
Obviously Finley has no concept of manufacturing skill sets or labour needs. Typical assignment of an MP to a file they are incompetent to handle. We need to look at their residency in Oddawahaha based on their ‘value to Canada.’?
I’m suddenly very nostalgic and I’m longing for even a little bit of that back.
By eastofeden on 08.13.08 4:57 am
Then here is some nastalgia for you to reflect on. Unfortunately, many in the CPC think it is still the 1950′s. LOL
Quotes You May Have Heard In The 1950′s
1. “I’ll tell you one thing, if things keep going the way they are, it’s going to be impossible to buy a week’s groceries for $20.”
2. “Have you seen the new cars coming out next year? It won’t be long when $5,000 will only buy a used one.”
3. “If cigarettes keep going up in price, I’m going to quit. A quarter a pack is ridiculous.”
4. “Did you hear the post office is thinking about charging a dime just to mail a letter?”
5. “The Government is wanting to get its hands on everything. Pretty soon it’s going to be impossible to run a family business or farm.”
6. “If they raise the hourly minimum wage to $1, nobody will be able to hire outside help at the store.”
7. “When I first started driving, who would have thought gas would someday cost 50 cents a gallon. Guess we’d be better off leaving the car in the garage.”
8. “Kids today are impossible. Those duck tail hair cuts make it impossible to stay groomed. Next thing you know, boys will be wearing their hair as long as the girls.”
9. “Also, their music drives me wild. This ‘Rock Around The Clock’ thing is nothing but racket.”
10. “I’m afraid to send my kids to the movies any more. Ever since they let Clark Gable get by with saying ‘damn’ in ‘Gone With he Wind,’ it seems every movie has a ‘hell’ or ‘damn’ in it.”
11. “Also, it won’t be long until couples are sleeping in the same bed in the movies. What is this world coming to?”
12. “Pretty soon you won’t be able to buy a good 10 cent cigar.”
13. “I read the other day where some scientist thinks it’s possible to put a man on the moon by the end of the of the century. They even have some fellows they call astronauts preparing for it down in Texas.”
14. “Did you see where some baseball player just signed a contract for $75,000 a year just to play ball? It wouldn’t surprise me if someday they’ll be making more than the president.”
15. “Do you suppose television will ever reach our part of the country?”
16. “I never thought I’d see the day all our kitchen appliances would be electric. They are even making electric typewriters now.”
17. “It’s too bad things are so tough nowadays. I see where a few married women are having to work to make ends meet.”
18. “It won’t be long before young couples are going to have to hire someone to watch their kids so they can both work.”
19. “I’ll tell you one thing. If my kid ever talks back to me, they won’t be able to sit down for a week.”
20. “Did you know the new church in town is allowing women to wear pants to their service?”
21. “Next thing you know is, the government will start paying us not to grow crops.”
22. “I’m just afraid the Volkswagen car is going to open the door to a whole lot of foreign business.”
23. “Thank goodness I won’t live to see the day when the Government takes half our income in taxes. I sometimes wonder if we are electing the best people to congress.”
24. “Why in the world would you want to send your daughter to college. Isn’t she going to get married? It would be different if she could be a doctor or a lawyer.”
25. “I just hate to see the young people smoking. As I tell my kids, “Don’t take a cigarette from ANYONE. You never know what might be in it.”
26. “The drive-in restaurant is convenient in nice weather, but I seriously doubt they will ever catch on.”
27. “There is no sense going to St. Louis or Omaha anymore for a weekend. It costs nearly $15 a night to stay in a hotel.”
28. “Anymore no one can afford to be sick, $35 a day in the hospital is too rich for my blood.”
29. “If a few idiots want to risk their necks flying across the country that’s fine, but nothing will ever replace trains.”
30. “I don’t know about you but if they raise the price of coffee to 15 cents, I’ll just have to drink mine at home.”
31. “If they think I’ll pay 50 cents for a hair cut, forget it. I’ll have my wife learn to cut hair.”
32. “We won’t be going out much anymore. Our baby sitter informed us she now wants 25 cents an hour. Kids think money grows on trees.”
33. “Cars which dim their lights by sensors, automatic transmissions, and who knows what else? Pretty soon they will have electric windows.”
34. “Unbelievable, an outfit called Birdseye has packaged frozen peas. Who the heck would buy frozen food?”
Deja Moo: The feeling that you’ve heard this bull before.
By A.R.Wainwright on 08.12.08 9:28 pm
ROFLMAO! Good one ARW.
Oops! ‘what Bev Oda’ should have read Diane Finley. I have that goofy image of Oda looking like a mindless puppet cheering Steve stuck in my head. Reminds me of ‘Lord of The Rings’ with the Trolls gathered around. LOL
“I have been trying to find a good reason to go back Liberal after being away 25 years, but I won`t find it here.—pretty petty bunch, and Hatman and Musky Bill are supposed to be witty or wise?—Later”
By William on 08.12.08 6:45 pm
William, I agree.
By Mel on 08.13.08 7:38 am
Sorry to disappoint .
By Mel on 08.13.08 7:45 am
Not the least bit partisan…oh I want to see the den of thieves we have in Ottawa at the moment turfed but if I had my druthers, we would have 100 Independent MPs to represent the population based on the % each province has in Canada….
I’ll give you a view of what I would like to see…
FOR A NEW INDEPENDENT GOVERNMENT IN CANADA
Here is the plan…
1. Each Province and/or Territory is allotted one member of parliament based on their percentage of the population of Canada. For example if Alberta has say 18 % of the population, they get 18 seats. (There will be possibly a few more than 100 seats to accommodate those provinces who have .5 % or more or who might have less than 1% of the population)
Each Province or Territory must have at least one seat.
2. Within each Provincial caucus, the members slated to be in the cabinet will be voted in by the elected members.
3. Each Province and Territory will have one member in Cabinet, the four largest Provinces in population two. (Total 16 members)
4. The Prime Minister will be elected by the 16 members of Cabinet and approved by the Parliament as a whole.
5. Funding for elections will be provided by the federal government and will be limited to the minimal amount necessary. (the amount to be determined by Elections Canada)
No individual or corporate donations will be accepted, the penalty for accepting them will be dismissal from Parliament and a by election will be held in that riding within 60 days.
6. Recall from cabinet can be effected by a vote of 75% of Parliament.
7. Recall from Parliament can be effected by a 60% participation in the form of a petition of the MPs riding.
Mr. Turner, sorry I am not buying it. The Conservatives can no more control the world economic situation/value of the American dollar than the Liberals. In future try to keep in mind that Ottawa is not the centre of the Universe, but only an enclave representing 33 million people a very tiny economy by international standards. I suggest that you read: The World is Flat by Thomas L Friedman, it will help you gain some perspective.
By wjp on 08.13.08 2:24 pm
Your plan for a revised reformed Parliament in Canada is a non starter. First, Quebec would never agree to amend the Constitution,
Second, the politicians, in particular the party leaders would never agree to such a plan that threatens their power base.
Third, the odds of you and anyone like you being able to sell this or any plan to a majority of Canadians if a referendum could be arranged is between zero and nil. It would not even draw odds at Los Vegas!
Fourth, Your proposed 100 members is inadequate for the real work that is needed to be done given the vastness of the country, the diversity of the population, and the diversity of the industries and commerce.
I like your idea that the existing systemic problems ought to be addressed, but I point out that many minds need to be corralled into a working committee to do much more than shallow thinking and broad pen stroke dictates to identify and resolve the flaws.
It deserves a Constitutional Conference at a minimum. Great minds like Professor Russell Peters of the U of T Law School need to be on such a board. It took us years to get to this mess and it won’t be solved over night. Furthermore, the level of problem identification and resolution used to date is not sufficient or capable of getting us out of this swamp!
Finally, the powers that be are far more deeply entrenched than you are aware of, watch your back side man!
Mr. Turner, sorry I am not buying it. The Conservatives can no more control the world economic situation/value of the American dollar than the Liberals. In future try to keep in mind that Ottawa is not the centre of the Universe, but only an enclave representing 33 million people a very tiny economy by international standards. I suggest that you read: The World is Flat by Thomas L Friedman, it will help you gain some perspective.
By Darrin Duell on 08.13.08 3:23 pm
Hmmm! I thought we lived in Middle Earth.