Full-page newspaper notice in Halton this week. Dion’s event next Wednesday on track to be one of the largest in memory in the region. See more here.
___________________________________________________
By Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press – OTTAWA – A new poll suggests there could be trouble ahead for Stephen Harper’s Conservatives as the governing party prepares for the possibility of a fall election. According to The Canadian Press, Harris-Decima survey, the Liberals have pulled ahead in Ontario and Quebec, crucial battlegrounds that will determine the outcome of a nationwide vote.
Should those support levels hold during an election, said Harris-Decima senior vice-president Jeff Walker, the Tories could have difficulty maintaining their minority government, much less winning their coveted majority.
“They’re really having trouble,” Walker said.
You bet they are. Things are awful. I mean, look at Halton.
First, the Cons have no candidate, which is shockingly the case, I’m told, in a lot of Ontario ridings. In fact the situation is so bad in my loving constituency that the local Tories have called an emergency meeting for Thursday night, I’m told, with party poohbahs. At least three relative nobodies have been chomping to take me on for the past couple of years, but now with mere weeks before a potential election call, their advantage of door-knocking time has been completely lost. Not good.
Then there’s the phenom of Stephane Dion. The media and the Harper bots may have been mercilessly hard on the guy, but facts are facts. When he comes to Halton next Wednesday night for a Town Hall meeting, it will be one of the largest political gatherings in the area’s history. We’ve been busy taking reservations for seats since the event was announced, and the list of names is staggering, with another seven days to go. I was at the largest Stephen Harper rally in the district during the last campaign – one which brought in organized throngs from five ridings, including south Oakville, Burlington and Mississauga – and it will pale in comparison to this. Not good.
But, those are just some local harbingers of the electoral storm to come. As the latest polling shows, many Canadians have come to realize how hard it is to trust Stephen Harper. He was swept in promising open government, honesty, accountability and change. But in thirty months he’s been tarnished badly with Cadman, election financing scandal, Max and Julie, RCMP raids and a caucus so controlled and muzzled even a lamb like me was too much to bear.
Mr. Harper was voted into office in 2006 by middle class people who thought he’d bring lower income taxes, a better economy, more jobs and opportunities and income security. But the last 30 months resulted in a heartbreaking betrayal for income trust investors, no income tax relief, over 400,000 lost manufacturing jobs, a hollowing-out of our industrial base, rising family stress as energy prices climb and incomes don’t, higher inflation and interest rates, record-breaking federal spending and now a housing crunch thanks in part to disastrous mortgage policies.
It’s hard to trust a guy like that when he comes calling a second time. He made the Quebecois a nation. He’s stacking the courts. He’s fired good people like our nuclear regulator. He’s spent more time smearing his political opponents than actually helping citizens.
So I’m not too surprised at the national polls, or the local Conservative despair. This is what a party reaps when it sows the seeds of one-man rule; and when people want hope.
The ballot question will be Stephen Harper, yes or no?
203 comments ↓
The ballot question is The Green Shift. How that sells will determine what happens. Risky, and gutsy call by Dion to make the leader of the Opposition’s policy the central focus to a campaign. Hope it works.
I’m looking forward to the night. My hope is also to hear, maybe not on Wed night, but eventually a complete platform of solid policies.
Harper – Helllll No!!!
Bring on Dion, Bring on the Green Shift. It is time to repair the damage Harper has done to our reputation.
Its always about the economy…keep the conservatives accountable for their economic and political failures. Talk to your friends every day about this.
It’s good to see the Liberals are getting revved up for an election. I’m looking forward to one too. Come on Conservative majority.
Stephan Harper versus Stephanie Dion? Boy, this is gonna be an interesting election when it comes. Personally I think the election will be decided almost entirely by the swing voters. Problem is nobody knows how they will swing. They don’t know. Heck, I don’t know how I will vote yet.
A lot of what you say above about Harper doesn’t necessarily translate into ABC votes (and if it did, does not necessarily translate into Liberal votes).
The scandals are too vague, lacking teeth, to be material except among the politically motivated. They will be non-factors unless some dramatic development on the details (and impact!) occur.
The conservative record of government? I actually agree with a lot of it, but dislike and disagree with how they go about it.
Taxing Income Trust? I believe it should be taxed similar to other investment vehicles. I think Ralph Goodale should have done it when he had the chance. I dislike that the Conservatives beat the drums of election promises and then suddenly drop bombs on the thing.
The Ontario economy and the loss of manufacturing jobs I think is largely a provincial matter. I agree that for the most part the Feds should stay out of it. I disagree with their approach – you don’t really stay out of it by sitting on the sidelines telling the Province what to do and then loudly complaining when they don’t. Then claiming retroactively that they foresaw all of this and the little that they did in the past was done to aide the present is too much to accept.
Quebecois as a nation? I applaud the sentiment. This, however, remains too political to accept as anything but and too vague to help bring respect instead of division.
Firing our nuclear regulator? Again I agree that she was the wrong person for the job. However, to inflate the reasons and manufacture crisis to justify it was wrong. To fire her without offering any real alternate or better solution is not helpful.
In short, the Harper government reeks a bit of incompetence.
That said, the incompetence IMHO seems to be more related to a serious lack of experience. Harper’s style to handle it all is not effecient and his caucus seems to lack depth.
The liberal caucus seems to have greater depth, but Dion himself is an unproven factor.
I may be leaning, but I am not yet won over with the notion that I should swap an inexperienced government with an unknown/untested one. They are still on equal footing.
Should be interesting.
The sooner Harper is gone the sooner we regain our freedoms and representation!
I hate to be the harbinger of bad news Garth, but Dion doesn’t stand a chance in the next federal election. The GTA will always vote liberal, which explains why the rest of the country hates Toronto, but the Harper government has actually been able to get things done with their minority government. And don’t forget to take the cost of this election into account. The liberals are essentially bankrupt and are facing some serious financial liabilities with a few civil actions hanging over their heads. These are desperate times for your people Garth. And with an economy which is somewhat volatile, do you think that promoting a new tax to “save the environment” is a smart idea? I don’t. Especially when your people are confused about exactly how it’s going to impact the avg. Canadian. Don’t get me wrong Garth. I like you and I recognize that you have something of a hate-on for Harper. That’s understandable. But Canadians aren’t ready for a marxist in Ottawa (with respect).
Come on Conservative majority.
By Bob on 08.13.08 10:54 pm
Yep for sure, only in Alberta, cause the conservatives are going to be hit by a freight train in the rest of Canada!
Garth – you must be talking about those guys that hang out at Neds. They were there last Friday night, getting loaded and loud. We could hear them from three tables over. We just thought they were your typical rednecks but I guess they must be connected to the local pc’s after all. They were saying things like “how are we supposed to fight him (Garth) without a candidate? We should just call up the president and demand he get someone down here from Ottawa for an emergency meeting or we are going to walk.”
Guess the guys in Ottawa must have got the message. I heard they are all going over to the Dickens on Thursday night for a big meeting. So what do you think? Are they going to let one of the local guys be the candidate, or will they parachute someone in?
Garth I’m already a supporter and I want to be there,but if there is going to be a large turnout I’d rather stay home and leave room for people that are not yet convinced.Am I wrong? I know there are alot of others that wish they could attend,but are out of prov.so I feel that I shouldn’t pass up the chance.What do you think?
Yes or no?
Does that mean we still get a vote?
Why not just abolish Parliament? Its become such a nuisance. Harper knows what’s best, doesn’t he? He’s the one who wrote to me on November 24, 2006:
“Dear Mr. Fullard:
Thank you for your e-mail message regarding the government’s decision on income trusts. I am pleased to have this opportunity to respond.
I understand your disappointment with this decision. We recognize that Canadian investors, including many pensioners and seniors, have made important investments over the years and benefit from the current income trust structure. However, Canadians must trust that their government is watching out for them and is upholding the values that define us, like fairness.”
Canadians must trust? What a joke. Wouldn’t life be so much easier for Steve if Canadians “must trust.” As if he’s done anything whatsoever to earn that trust. In fact ………au contraire, mes amis.
Mark me down for a definite NO. insofar as Steve is concerned. Quite frankly, it’s becoming embarrassing….the whole Harper thing.
Come on Conservative majority.
By Bob on 08.13.08 10:54 pm
Yep for sure, only in Alberta, cause the conservatives are going to be hit by a freight train in the rest of Canada!
Big In Quebec too
How much “face” did King Harper lose when he refused to attend the Olympics opening ceremonies? That will surface in the after vote count analysis! On the World scene, a diplomat, he is not! Sending our Trade Minister in lieu of attending in person is a significant snub to the Chinese government ego. We will pay for this later!
By Gord on 08.12.08 10:14 am
I’ve been wondering where my fav. psycho-stalker has been…
By Leasa on 08.12.08 12:28 pm
Leasa,
Now in your desperation you are calling me a psycho stalker with all its criminal connotations. You are obviously taking a cue from your glorious leader who revels in slander by innuendo. You are no better. That you choose to emulate Harper’s worst traits speaks volumes about your character or lack of it. You simply are a living reminder that Harper firmly entrenced himself as Canada’s dirtiest politician ever when he accused Paul Martin of supporting child pornography.
No, Leasa, not stalking, which is illegal, but vigilance, which is the obligation of every loyal citizen. Since the price of democracy is constant vigilance you bear watching as long as you are an instrument of those who threaten democracy , decency and compassion.
Judging by recent comments on this blog there are others who are even more vigilant than I.
To put this in proper perspective, and to clear up any further misunderstanding about where I am coming from, for your convenience, I am reproducing my earlier posting. See the following:
Leasa,
You are obviously on a mission. Perhaps it is self appointed, perhaps you receive direction from up above. It is clear that you want to shut Garth down. Recently you dispelled any doubt about that when you appealed to Garth, as sweetly as you could and with veiled insults, to pursue other interests. Brain nailed you very effectively nailed you on that one. Failing a shutdown you are obviously trying to undermine Garth every way you can while cloaking your efforts with unctuous overtures.
You are to be congratulated on your intimate knowledge and understanding of the party line and up to the minute knowledge of the latest talking points.(Just who are you, REALLY) It is obvious that you have little interest in other sources of information unless they support the party line. When you do consult other sources you are expert at selecting only information which supports the party line, even if you have to add your own embellishment or distortion. As a result your logic frequently falls apart and some times is even farcical.
You hang most of your debating skills on one strategy. You never let go and apparently really believe that if you can get in the last word, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, that you have won the argument. Your ludicrous defense of the spelling of nit-picking(vs. “knit-picking”) is a case in point.
You claim you are the “least partisan person on this blog”, that you are open minded, that you don’t hate anyone and that you are really a “nice” person. If all of these things were true, they would be self evident and you wouldn’t have to mention them. Nor would you have to beg repeatedly for respect. You spend a lot of time polishing your image with folksy, motherhood chats and any other “nice” things that you can think of.
You, Leasa, are a modern day Tokyo Rose. Nobody came across the airways with her warm greetings any sweeter than she did when she was trying to demoralize our troops during WW2. She, too, masqueraded as “nice”. She, too, claimed she did not hate anyone. She claimed she was only interested in the comfort and welfare of the boys in uniform.
Like you, she would have liked all of those concerned with the welfare of our country to ignore her and pretend she wasn’t there so that she could more effectively undermine the troops. However those in authority saw it otherwise and took steps to ensure that her true colours were clearly visible to all concerned.
You, Leasa , with your lies and slander and “guilt by association” trips are clearly a threat. Just as the price of democracy is constant vigil, it behooves those of us who are on to you to give your true colours continuing visibility as long as you are an instrument of those who are a threat to truth, decency and the welfare of our country. After all you didn’t hesitate to slander Trudeau by implying that he was a Nazi.
Your own subversiveness needs to be constantly exposed. Go ahead. Keep spreading lies and half truths. Keep on misquoting others who post on this blog. Keep on providing URL’s that don’t support your arguments unless you provide your own embellishment. Keep on insulting those who oppose you or disagree with your hyper partisan point of view, especially other women. Contrary to your wishes we will continue to read your postings. We are here for the duration. We will continue to watch you and do what we can to ensure your true colours remain highly visible.
Since you decided to bring up the poll numbers let’s take a closer look.
“As the latest polling shows, many Canadians have come to realize how hard it is to trust Stephen Harper”
Many Canadians? you mean the same 30 or so percent that have polled Liberal since the last election?
“Cadman”
“election financing scandal”
“Max and Julie”
“RCMP raids”
“a caucus so controlled and muzzled”
“betrayal for income trust investors”
“no income tax relief”
“over 400,000 lost manufacturing jobs”
“rising family stress as energy prices climb and incomes don’t”
“higher inflation and interest rates”
“record-breaking federal spending”
“a housing crunch”
“He made the Quebecois a nation”
“He’s stacking the courts”
“He’s fired good people”
“spent more time smearing his political opponents than actually helping citizens.”
Wow, sounds pretty bad!
I think you forgot to add Bush puppet, religious zealot, pro-lifer and kitten eater.
You’d think with all that the Libby’s could poll above 30-34% wouldn’t you?
Fact is that as many or more people think that the Cons are a better choice than the Liberals. Fact is that campaigns and leaders matter in an election and Harper has Dion crushed in both departments. The Libs have realeased the biggest chunk of their election platform and it fell with a dull thud.
“Then there’s the phenom of Stephane Dion”
Haha, what’s his personal popularity rating, last I heard Layton was polling higher
If Dion doesn’t pull the trigger on the Harper minority government this September-October, Dion might as well step down as Liberal leader.
Should he attempt to cling to his position by directing the Liberal party to continue abstaining, I foresee an open rebellion and revolt against Dion’s leadership.
It can be said that Harper’s government has run out of issues and steam, but it can also be equally said that Dion’s leadership must be tested in an election this Fall to determine where the Liberal party is going.
If Dion refuses to pull the plug on Parliament in the next few months, he should resign as Liberal leader … plain and simple.
Yep for sure, only in Alberta, cause the conservatives are going to be hit by a freight train in the rest of Canada!
BY JOHNNY ON 08.13.08 11:06 PM
You never know with Albertans. I don’t think they’re too happy with all the spending that’s been going on. And then there’s the Wheat Pool……
Should be really interesting. Wonder if the RCMP is going to come up with another ‘investigation’?
Firing our nuclear regulator? Again I agree that she was the wrong person for the job. However, to inflate the reasons and manufacture crisis to justify it was wrong. To fire her without offering any real alternate or better solution is not helpful.
By Randy too on 08.13.08 11:01 pm
A word from the wise! Save your bets on that one until after the courts rule on the Unjust Dismissal Law Suit. The key to this one is in the wording of the Nuclear Regulatory Act and how the Supreme Court will interpret this document and view the actions of King Harper and his Cabinet! Some people read but do not comprehend the full meaning of the words and the intent of this Act.
Ms. Keene has much experience with it and had excellent expert legal advise before she testified. Parliamentarians were in no mood to adsorb most of what was said, but they did what was the right thing, which was to temporarily over ride the Act, which is what she told them was their responsibility and their role! Those of us who have had some dealings with this Act and also the American Nuclear Energy Reorganization Act of 1963 know there are some major short comings that have needed updating and amending for over 4 decades. ALL Canadian politicians and their leaders HAVE NOT DONE THEIR JOB ON THIS FILE FOR DECADES! This is complex, technical, and requires years of study and planning to do it justice. It also helps to hire the talent capable of comprehending the subject matter.
THINK VERY CAREFULLY ABOUT WHO YOU VOTE FOR NEXT TIME, OUR FUTURE IS AT STAKE!
We the People hire politicians who hire the legal “beagles” who draft and amend all our legislation.
Rule # 1 of management of employees is praise in public, discipline in private.
Why does King Stevie “Carper” constantly criticize Crown Employees in public?
A MANAGER HE IS NOT!
Rule # 2 of management is to delegate responsibility and hold them accountable for that which has been delegated to them.
FAILURE OR REFUSAL TO DELEGATE IS A CERTAIN SIGN OF WEAKNESS OF CHARACTER AND COMPREHENSION OF THE ROLE ASSUMED!
One of the best Presidents of the USA was Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. He was the genious behind the American Interstate Highway System concept which is one of the major reasons American businesses and industries have flourished. Our politicians have failed us miserably when it comes to our infra-structure. Then there is the four times our politicians failed our areospace industries. Starting with when Boeing was a Cdn company in 1937, the Dehaviland DHC-3 (would have been the worlds first passenger jet in 1952), the Avro Arrow later that decade, and again the Bomarc Missile cancellation.
NO GUTS, NO GUMPTION , NO GONADS!
Ranting ad nozeum is not the solution, but demanding better nominees to vote for is! Given the choice between a rocket scientist or religious economist, I will vote for a Marc Garneau first every time, since I know he has the “right stuff”!
But Canadians aren’t ready for a marxist in Ottawa (with respect).
ROFLMAO~!
The irony of these bozos who talk about “marxist”, when Stalin-light is currently PM.
Austin
Canada was riding a tube (wave ) of prosperity and good times when the Con-bots stole the last election .
A moron could have ruled this bucolic land of milk and honey .One tried for thirty six months only to land flat on his ass .
Fourteen billion dollars in surplus money pissed away like a bunch of drunken sailors .
All the fundamentals ,that saw us survive sixteen years of roller coaster finances,thrown over board or made to walk the plank .
Like pirates of the Caribbean they plundered the treasury leaving nought behind .
Con bot theme song
2. Fifteen men of the whole ship’s list
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Dead and be damned and the rest gone whist!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
The skipper lay with his nob in gore
Where the scullion’s axe his cheek had shore
And the scullion he was stabbed times four
And there they lay, and the soggy skies
Dripped down in up-staring eyes
In murk sunset and foul sunrise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
3. Fifteen men of ‘em stiff and stark
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ten of the crew had the murder mark!
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Twas a cutlass swipe or an ounce of lead
Or a yawing hole in a battered head
And the scuppers’ glut with a rotting red
And there they lay, aye, damn my eyes
Looking up at paradise
All souls bound just contrawise
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum.
4. Fifteen men of ‘em good and true
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
Ev’ry man jack could ha’ sailed with Old Pew,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
There was chest on chest of Spanish gold
With a ton of plate in the middle hold
And the cabins riot of stuff untold,
And they lay there that took the plum
With sightless glare and their lips struck dumb
While we shared all by the rule of thumb,
Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum!
By none of the above on 08.13.08 11:06 pm
Polly wanna ceacker ?
I know it’s tough in Alberta, but I suggest the Alberta Liberals get out and start door knocking here. There could be enough honest disgust with Harper, to overwhelm our institutionalized misunderstanding of the rest of Canada.
As the Libby Davies petition on 9/11 2001 will be tabled in the House of Commons September 15, 2008, it might be a good idea to have this information posted on 9/11 websites across Canada.
And it might be a good idea to let our MP’s know it will be coming up in Parliament, and to be ready to discuss it that day.
Garth Turner and Stephane Dion are well read on this topic.
So fAr Stephane has the only clear vision for all of Canada that will rebuild us one nation.
The swing vote that last couple of elections have been in BC and that seems to favor the Liberals this time since two scandals impacted voters in BC in a major way; Income Trust betrayal and the Cadman affair will affect the voting pattern.
Of course it really is going to be about the environment and we know how that vote turned out in BC.
Viva le Stephane Dion Viva le Canada!
im sure dion is a nice guy, but when Russia starts putting their flag on our arctic and its oil Canada will be better to have an unethical lying bastard in the pmos office cause thats whats on the other side- fire with fire. nice guys finish last
BY RANDY TOO ON 08.13.08 11:01 PM
Randy, that was a very thoughtful commentary, and interesting to read. I’ll take you at your word and the Liberals should too.
Now here’s what somebody else said today, and what I was about to post back to them. Not you, them, but I think it applies universally:
These scandels are very upsetting. They turn people off of voting as “all politicians are liars” and worse they shrink the voter turn out. It needs to change.
BY FRANK ON 08.13.08 9:56 AM
Frank,
It’s become overwhelmingly obvious that the old adage that all politicians lie, needs an addendum. There is a substantial gap in the volume, nature, frequency, and complexity of lies that occur – depending on which party.
All parties but one seem to have some protective responses, some scandalous people and a willingness to protect the innocent.
One party however, has been annexed – taken over – lost in a siege by zealots. Oh, they don’t think they are zealots, but read their history.
One party has resorted to lying in mass volume and they think it’s a good idea. It’s not news, it’s now historical fact.
Canadians need to start caring, get reading, get everybody else to care, suck it up and do the hard work of taking care of our country. We screwed up. Now we’re being screwed. We get what we deserve. If people cringe and hide and don’t vote, they are completely ignorant – and not only part of the problem… the ARE the problem. We need to roll up our sleeves and fight for our country. Who are we fighting? Research Harper and his pals. Here’s a start:
http://www.davidorchard.com/online/media-2004/flannagan-walrus-macdonald-200410xx.html
Don’t get mad. Get even.
Mr. Harper was voted into office in 2006 by middle class people who thought he’d bring lower income taxes, a better economy, more jobs and opportunities and income security.
The ballot question will be Stephen Harper, yes or no or none of the above?
Garth Turner on 08.13.08 @ 10:19 pm |
When did Cdns go from voting someone out to someone in?
Are you having us on like blaming a minority government the situation this country is in?
This message altered from it`s original form, mostly because it leaves out the largest single block of the electorate.
none of the above
“He’s fired good people like our nuclear regulator.”
on the bright side Lunn plus Clement plus the Governor in Council makes three. Its been a while since the “how to be an asshole” workshop I learned it in but that’s a magic number and once you hit it those involved can be sued personally.
the public purse won’t be the only available target once the Federal Court gives Keen her pedigree.
BY RANDY TOO ON 08.13.08 11:01 PM
As I re-read your post, your stance on Income Trusts was much like mine a few years ago. Check out CAITI, and watch the video that Garth did (great video Garth! and now I know who Brent is!)
The site and the videos are invaluable:
Scroll Waaay to the bottom, third from bottom video you’ll see Garth. 30 min. compelling.
http://caiti-online.blogspot.com/2008/07/ned-goodman-comments-on-flahertys.html
and this one:
http://www.caiti.info/ndp.php
and this:
http://www.caiti.info/resources_it_mythbusters.php
Did Finlay do a postal during committee on Monday? He’s supposed to be a muck in Con government/party? He had to be escorted out?
Is he ill? Seriously, does he have some sort emotional problem or mental illness?
Am I the only one who thinks his behaviour was irrational? I don’t watch CPAC so I didn’t get to see the body language. Just read the blurb on a Maclean’s blog.
Canadians aren’t ready for a marxist in Ottawa
BY NONE OF THE ABOVE 08.13.08 11:06 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
O-f-o
I knew it would have to come to this. I predicted it. I just said it today to hubby. He will laugh when he reads your comment. When all else fails, accuse the Liberals of being Marxist, Communist or Socialist, or all of the above. Tommy Douglas would have such a good laugh too..
“Oh, they said, he’s a Bolshevik! So they put him in jail.
But I want to remind you, that you can lock up a mouse or a man, but you can’t lock up an idea.
Sorry ‘None’, the Republicans already tried your trick… yesterday’s lies. They had Jon Voight get up and cry it about Obama, in the papers and on Larry King. Not buying it anymore. Your timing is bad, eh?
Was Stephen Harper watching Larry King last night too?
Well – you know what – we’re on to you. Scare-mongering and spreading dis-information like that ain’t gonna cut it anymore. In fact, every time you call reasonable people names like that – it gives us every right to call you a fascist. Which is actually quite true since many historians are now comparing the new conservative hijackers to that age old phenomenon that Harper and his ilk resemble.. It keeps rearing it’s ugly head – like clockwork.
A Clockwork Orange that is..
“The best that conservatives can hope for is that public opinion will simply harden into a cynicism — that people will transfer the blame for the recent period of conservative misrule to the very institutions that conservatives have abused so grotesquely.
The man no longer stands for anything. He has transformed himself from a maverick into a cipher, a hood ornament on a hit-and-run machine. He has no more political content now than the constantly changing cast of cynical right-wingers
That’s why this election must be a referendum on — the destructive doctrines
It is a contest to put the blame where it belongs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
surprise..
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121858664610635097.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
By Randy too on 08.13.08 11:01 pm
Wow, excellent post, Randy.
By Mel on 08.13.08 10:14 pm
Excellent post, Mel. I do not believe Thibault was wise at all, in fact I think he was pretty stupid to flap his gums the way he did. And, he didn’t stop with just one remark, but continued to dig himself a little deeper.
His apology said nothing and as for being misunderstood, yeah right. It amazes me that people will come out with blatantly offensive dialogue and then say that it was misunderstood. So, if I call somebody a scum-sucking bottom-feeder I could say that I was misunderstood and that I really meant that I have the utmost respect for scum-sucking bottom-feeders and strive to have more of them in the government. Sure, and I have some nice swamp land to sell.
Off the cuff remarks do, as you say, reveal the truth. It’s the same as somebody excusing his or her remarks by saying something like: “I was drunk and didn’t mean what I said”. Uh, no. That’s when the truth really comes out, when controls and inhibitions are at a low level.
Whether one does or does not like Lebreton is irrelevant. She is a human being and deserves at least some respect for that. And, our parliament is not the venue for such remarks as Thibault’s remarks. It is also not the proper venue for McKay’s or Klein’s remarks with regard to Stronach. Personally, I’m not impressed with Stronach but, as I said about Lebreton, she is a human being and deserves some respect for that and the public forum is not the place for such remarks. Especially from our supposed leaders.
It’s the same for the personal remarks levelled at Dion’s ability to articulate in English. Personally, I find him to be intelligent and warm; the type of guy I’d like to have as a friend or at least a coffee partner with whom I could share some interesting conversation. As a potential leader of our nation, I am not overly confident (and that’s my right) but I do feel warm toward the man. He should not be criticized for his competence with the English language; he tries and he does come across well. It is his second language, after all. I am bilingual but I’m far more articulate in English than I am in French and I don’t think I’m any less intelligent or capable because of that.
The same goes for slurs regarding Harper’s intelligence. Personally, I find him to be cold and a bit of a stuffed shirt but I do perceive him to be quite intelligent.
By barb the proofreader on 08.13.08 5:30 pm
I like your posts, Barb; they are rational and open-minded. I may not always agree with you but you do present POVs which can stand on their own.
I’ll take part of your comment and go just a little further. Religion itself is not the cause of conflict but, rather, people who misuse it or cause conflict in the name of religion. Personally, I do not refer to myself as a religious man; I refer to myself as a man of faith. Religion is man-made while faith is…well, faith.
For those of us who take our faith seriously (whatever the faith), it is disheartening, to say the least, when somebody kills or causes conflict in the name of his or her diety or religion. That is so wrong. I do not consider, McVety for example, to be a Christian man. He is simply a power-hungry megalomaniac who is using religion as a prop and that turns me off like you wouldn’t believe. Hypocrites come in all shapes and sizes.
It would be the same as killing or causing conflict in the name of anything else. It is wrong, wrong, wrong.
Keep on with your well thought out posts, Barb. Even when I don’t agree with you, I still enjoy reading and considering your perspective.
Every member in our family of five is voting for Dion without reservation whenever the next election is called. Our three adult children are completely disgusted with Harper and his antics. Apparently their veiws are shared with many, many other 20-somethings.
Canada needs a government led by a man of vision, innovation, intelligence, and equimanity. There is only one choice… Stephane Dion. For the first time in our lives we will be making political donations next week… one to the national Liberal campaign and one to Garth’s local campaign.
Keep up the great work Garth! My wife and I are very much looking forward to meeting Stephane Dion next week and seeing you again.
Come on Canada – let’s get even more momentum behind the ‘dump Harpo’ movement!!!!
“But Canadians aren’t ready for a marxist in Ottawa (with respect).
By none of the above on 08.13.08 11:06 pm”
Since when does showing true concern for the environment, shifting taxes onto negative consumption and away from people’s income, helping the poorest Canadians, incenting business with tax cuts and an accelerated capital cost allowance make someone a Marxist? Do you even know what Marxist doctrine is about? It appears not.
Here is an interesting piece from the Canadian Press. For those of you who follow Garth’s blog on a regular basis you may remember that I spent a number of hours going through the detail of the Elections Canada search warrant backup information and found a number of Conservative emails etc. that indicated the Conservatives wanted to change the invoicing on some advertising that had already run for the national campaign and have the ads re-invoiced to local candidates, as well as some other ‘unusual’ practices. This piece from the Canadian Press suggests some ‘top level’ Conservative involvement. Hmmmm… no wonder Harpo is getting even more vicioius than usual… the heat is getting to him.
Ad execs say they worried about the legality of Tory campaign ad system
Wed Aug 13, 2:49 PM
By Tim Naumetz, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA – Advertising executives who placed controversial campaign ads for the Conservative party in the last election say their firm was at one point worried about the legality of what the Tories wanted done.
One of the ad agents also told the Commons ethics committee that Patrick Muttart, a top aide to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, was the main campaign contact for the “in and out” advertising scheme which has drawn fire from Elections Canada.
Andrew Kumpf, vice-president of Retail Media, said Muttart is also his chief contact with the Conservative party for advertising for the next federal election.
The Muttart disclosure was a surprise to MPs on the committee and New Democrat Pat Martin said it suggests control over the ad campaigns went “right to the top”.
Kumpf told the committee his ad placement agency had second thoughts about whether federal election law allowed it to act for both the Conservative party and individual candidates.
At the centre of the controversy are Elections Canada allegations that the Conservatives orchestrated unorthodox cash transfers to 67 candidates in order to allow the party to exceed its campaign spending limit.
The party sent the money to the ridings, then instructed agents for the candidates to quickly transfer it back to party headquarters as payment for radio and television ads which were broadcast regionally but produced for the party’s national campaign.
Elections Canada alleged last April in an affidavit that the agents and candidates did not incur these ad expenses and had no control over the content of the ads, or where and when they were run. Had this advertising been included in the national campaign accounts, the party would have overrun its spending limit by $1.1 million, the agency said.
David Campbell, another Retail Media executive during the election, told the committee on Wednesday the firm dealt only with the party while placing the ads, arguing it would have been an “administrative nightmare” to try to deal with 67 individual ridings.
Another executive with Retail Media’s parent firm said the advertisers were also concerned the advertising would exceed campaign spending limits.
But the ad men told the committee they were assured by the Conservatives that the advertising was legal The assurances came in telephone conference calls among the ad agency, Conservative officials and Paul Lepsoe, then the party’s general legal counsel.
Because of Lepsoe’s involvement, Kumpf and Campbell said, they could not disclose what was said during the calls because of solicitor-client privilege between the party and its lawyer.
Kumpf said his concern centred on whether Retail Media could be the media placement agency for both the party and the candidates. Federal election law stipulates candidate and party campaign expenses must be accounted and controlled separately.
“Party officials decided it was fine, it was perfectly legal,” he told the committee.
The committee hearings have been stormy and Wednesday saw more failed procedural arguments and objections from Conservative MPs.
Another Canadian Press piece…this one is on the Conservatives telling potential witnesses to ignore the HOC committee. This is a blatant disregard for a legitimate investigation being held according to Parliamentary rules. This action speaks volumes on the lack of ethics and accountability of the Conservatives and the depths to which they will stoop to avoid being held accountable for their actions.
Tories ignored subpoenas to appear at ad hearings, MPs are told
Wed Aug 13, 8:13 PM
By Tim Naumetz, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA – Three Conservative campaign agents ignored summonses they received more than a week ago to appear at a Commons inquiry into the Tory “in and out” advertising affair, MPs were told Wednesday.
The chair of the Commons ethics committee also identified a fourth former Conservative campaign agent who informed a House official that he and others who worked on the 2006 election campaign were instructed by the party not to testify.
Combined with earlier comments from yet another Conservative – who said a party official informed him and other potential witnesses from Toronto that they could ignore the summonses if they wished – the news fuelled angry reactions from opposition MPs.
Wednesday marked the first time Liberal committee chair Paul Szabo has identified the specific agents whose comments have sparked accusations of a “conspiracy” in Conservative ranks to subvert the inquiry into $1.3 million in campaign advertising expenses.
Szabo quoted from a report he received from a bailiff firm the committee hired in an attempt to compel the former campaign agents and defeated candidates to appear.
It said a Conservative who was the official agent for Heritage Minister Josee Verner, another who was the campaign agent for Tory MP Sylvie Boucher, a parliamentary secretary to Prime Minister Stephen Harper, and another who was official agent for Conservative MP Daniel Petit were all served summonses by Aug. 6.
Szabo also read from a report prepared by the committee’s chief clerk that quoted another official agent, Marc Duval, saying he and others had been told to stay away.
“He informed me that the party has told them to decline all invitations,” the report quoted Duval as saying. Duval, who was the campaign agent for Tory MP Luc Harvey, could not be reached by summons-bearing bailiffs after that because he left for vacation, said Szabo.
The latest disclosures, which came on top of similar statements the previous day from the official campaign agent for a Toronto riding, prompted calls from opposition MPs for sanctions against those who failed to turn out for the hearings.
“It sets a terrible precedent for the committee, that people can just thumb their noses at us,” said NDP MP Pat Martin. “Somebody co-ordinated this, it was a boycott of our committee.”
More than a dozen witnesses who were scheduled to appear Wednesday afternoon also failed to show, including Patrick Muttart, a close aide to Harper, and other senior party officials or former party officials.
The committee was into its third day of intermittent testimony over a Conservative advertising scheme that allegedly allowed the party to exceed its 2006 election spending limit by $1.1 million.
The party transferred thousands of dollars into the campaign bank accounts of 67 selected candidates and quickly transferred the money back out, ostensibly in payment for radio and television advertising on behalf of the candidates.
But executives with the advertising firm that placed the ads testified Wednesday that they dealt only with the national party.
They also said that at one point during the campaign they were so concerned about the legality of the transactions that they held two conference calls with party officials and their lawyer.
One of the Conservative candidates who did show up for the hearing told MPs that he and his official agent withheld their participation in the program until they were convinced it was legal.
Steve Halicki, the defeated Conservative candidate in the Toronto riding of York South Weston, nonetheless admitted it was presented as a way for his campaign to fill its coffers with money it could not raise in the riding. At the same time, it stood to add $24,000 to the amount Halicki could claim in campaign expense rebates.
Another defeated Conservative candidate from Newfoundland and Labrador and her official agent insisted they received no benefit from a $7,700 transfer from the party to their campaign, and they were never informed what it was to be used for.
The candidate, Cynthia Downey, told the committee she did not see any television advertising or hear radio ads promoting her in the campaign, and believed that if her campaign had been allowed to use the cash she might have won the election.
One of the ad executives from Retail Media, the firm that placed all the advertising for the Conservative election campaign, disclosed that Muttart was his main contact for the media buying program. Andrew Kumpf also testified that Muttart is the party’s main advertising contact for the coming campaign.
The NDP’s Martin said Muttart’s involvement suggests control over the advertising plan went “all the way to the top” of the party.
Partisan bickering in the three days of committee hearings this week has sparked insults from both sides, rare even for the wrangling that has become characteristic of this minority Parliament.
At one point Wednesday, Tory MP Dean Del Maestro angrily denounced Martin for swearing during the hearings.
“I shouldn’t have to put up with this, neither should anyone else at the table,” said Del Maestro, telling the committee he had been brought up “not to take the Lord’s name in vain”.
Szabo told reporters the committee may decide to appeal to the full Commons to order the witnesses to appear when Parliament resumes in the fall, or recommend a separate investigation into the failures to appear.
That investigation, however, would be conducted by a separate rules committee of the House – which has been paralyzed since February because the Conservatives refuse to nominate an MP for election as chairman.
do you think that promoting a new tax to “save the environment” is a smart idea
By none of the above on 08.13.08 11:06 pm
Yes, it’s particularly BAD, when an environmental group has to take the government to court to force them to implement Parliamentary legislation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDqXeOLW8RU
It’s STOOPPITT to claim you’re turning the corner when you haven’t left the starting point. You do take a gold, silver and bronze for lying. Nobody wants to stand on the podium with you.
CO2 SEQUESTRATION … Not until 2015, and that’s deemed a highly speculative timeline.
Garth Turner you are becoming quite the Blog Master on the political front. Your statements are clear, concise and correct ! These 3 C’s indeed make an “A” well done.
As for the disgrace of those who have failed the called in to appear at the In and Out hearings read this from my post to Canada and the World.
Ladies and Gentlemen what a dog gone display of contempt for court these clowns are showing the children and hard working people of not only Canada but the world. All this while Harper stands on his soap box preaching Nation Building in Afghanistan having spent the lives of many of brave soldiers and now aid workers……..Go for it tell me you are proud of being a Conservative!
BROUGHT TO YOU BY HARPER & THE DITHERERS
August 3, 2008
TAR SANDS KILL! – ESSENTIAL FACTS & RESOURCES
http://ecosanity.org/blogsanity/?p=348
Alberta 2020
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_jOBURovPM
Filed under: Greenpeace, Water Depletion, Climate Code Red, Peak Oil, Alberta Tar Sands — Glenn MacIntosh @ 11:16 pm
Alberta Oil Sands featured on “60 Minutes”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYML36YbXo8
HARPER aka CRUEL AND THE GANG … THE SAGA OF GUILTY UNTIL PROVED INNOCENT
…………HARPER, ABLONCZY, DAY……
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20070126/arar_quotes_070126/20070126/
I love watching and reading about Liberals frothing at the mouth over polls conducted by the Decima arm of the Liberal Party. It gives them lots of hope for the results of the next election. My advice: don’t start believing your own echo chambers (like this blog). Bring on the election. I’m looking forward to Harper wiping the floor with Mr. Dion. Of course if you are waiting for Mr. Dion to pull the plug, it won’t happen any time soon because the private polling is telling a whole different story, isn’t it Garth.
The liberals are essentially bankrupt and are facing some serious financial liabilities with a few civil actions hanging over their heads.
By none of the above on 08.13.08 11:06 pm
Your delaying TACK-TICKS and LIES won’t work. We’ve all heard HARPER’S VENTRILOQUIST talking to Tom Zytaruk about Cadman. We’ve got a “tap” on Harper’s ‘phone because he’s claiming he sent Emperor Byron of Muldoon, Ka-Ching Ka-Ching Dynasty to Coventry.
….TURNING THE CORNER BY BIRDY [BOO!] BAIRD
Last update: 9:31 a.m. EDT Aug. 9, 2008
An attempt to put “meat on the bones” of previous public declarations of intent. Problem is … IT DOESN’T.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/v5/images/newspaper/20070428/cartoon-600.png
GIVE IT A RATING PYOTR ….
http://www.chiangmainews.com/images/news/elephantpoo_l.gif
*Yawn* Blah blah blah. Bring on the election, then we’ll talk.
But Canadians aren’t ready for a marxist in Ottawa (with respect).
By none of the above on 08.13.08 11:06 pm
You posted the same thing, but you were Janice that day, without any mention of respect. I’ll quietly forget what Harry S said …
SCREW YOU …!!!
— SCREW YOU …!!!
SCREW YOU …!!!
…SCREW THAT …!!!
Harry S is a great master debater
Garth,
One other interesting ploy that everyone seems to have forgotten about, & which should be added to the list, is the Committee Handbook the Cons made & distributed, to all CPoC MP’s, on how to disrupt, obstruct, filibuster &, for some committees, completely immobolize them from being able to function & do this nations business. You know, business for the PEOPLE – the ones who pay their salaries so as to get work done for ALL of us.
It was/is disgusting & certainly not “democracy in action”. More like a “dictatorship”.
And it is obvious that it is still being used by the CPoC MP’s at the Ethics Committee hearings this week into the In-Out Scam. Appalling behaviours there!
This is something that the public needs to be reminded of during an election & now as well. Most people have forgotten about it as it was reported on in the media quite some time ago.
The same goes for slurs regarding Harper’s intelligence. Personally, I find him to be cold and a bit of a stuffed shirt but I do perceive him to be quite intelligent.
By eastofeden on 08.14.08 4:57 am
I would say cunning but intelligent? Would you say spending the country to the highest level ever in face of a pending downturn in the economy is a wise and intelligent move, especially when one’s background is supposedly economics? Would you say lying to income trust investors was intelligent? Would you say trying to buy votes in Quebec with an in flow of cash during their election intelligent? Seems, according to the latest poll, to have been quite transparent to Quebec voters.
Do you think it was intelligent to appoint Gordon O’Connor as defence minister, or Bernier to foreign affairs? Do you think it was intelligent to appoint Michael Fortier to the senate after railing for months about an appointed senate?
Do you think it was intelligent to come out and say he supported the “in & out scheme” when the bottom line attempt is to take money from the taxpayer?
Cunning, deceitful and dishonest maybe but intelligent, I think NOT!
O-f-o
By barb the proofreader on 08.14.08 2:26
I agree Barb … He’s simply Ofoll
I can hardly wait to watch the Ethics Committee meetings this morning online on ParlVu.
If you have time watch why Canadians are rejecting the Conservatives.
It’s priceless!
http://parlvu.parl.gc.ca/parlvuen%2Dca/
Mr. Dion to pull the plug, it won’t happen any time soon because the private polling is telling a whole different story, isn’t it Garth.
By Liblooking on 08.14.08 6:44 am
I suspect the BLOC will be the problem. If their numbers don’t get any higher – I think they will stop an election.
So, bluster all you want against Dion – fact is, you’d anyway no matter what – and you call that thinking…hmmm…
The NDP numbers aren’t good. I personally know of 7 people in my area that were staunch NDP – some worked at GM. One is going Green, the rest Liberals. Why? Because Jack Layton has spent all his time bashing Liberals for the sake of a “few” seats rather than go after Harper like he should. They feel Layton is out for himself rather than principle and what’s right for Canadians….interesting.
Independent Economists Discredit Conservative Gov’t Tax Leakage Claims
OTTAWA, Feb. 1, 2007 /CNW Telbec/ – In remarks delivered to the House of Commons Finance Committee Thursday, Dennis Bruce, Vice President of HLB Decision Economics Inc., provided data and supporting documentation to discredit the Department of Finance’s tax leakage claims. “The department is sharply overstating tax leakage,” said Mr. Bruce.
HLB Decision Economics, an Ottawa-based independent consulting firm that provides analytical consulting services to industry and governments worldwide, has been working on behalf of the income trust sector to develop a comparative analysis of taxes generated under the income trust structure versus the corporate structure.
Mr. Bruce told committee members that his firm worked with the Department of Finance as it prepared the federal government’s 2005 consultation paper on the tax effects of income trusts. Specifically, HLB was asked by the department to develop a common methodology and assumptions for deriving tax leakage estimates.
Mr. Bruce said that HLB and the Finance Department achieved consensus on the methodology with one exception – they disagreed on whether to include deferred taxes. Deferred taxes are derived from distributions, capital gains, and dividends received in tax exempt accounts. While they are not immediately taxable, they are taxable upon withdrawal from such accounts.
“The discussions that you are hearing about deferred taxes reflect confusion about budgeting convention versus policy analysis,” said Mr. Bruce.”While federal budgeting is done on a current basis, federal policy analysis is done on a life-cycle basis. Accounting for the life-cycle effects of tax changes, namely deferred taxes, is appropriate in the consideration of tax policy.”
Mr. Bruce went on to outline the factors that resulted in the differences between HLB’s tax leakage estimates and the tax leakage figures put forward by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. These factors include:
1) The Department’s assumed effective corporate tax rate for energy trusts fails to reflect the reductions in the tax rates for resource corporations from 2004 through 2006, from 27.12% to 24.12%. This results in an overstatement of tax leakage of $84 million;
2) The Department’s figure for income trust units held in tax exempt accounts is overstated. Derived from data from surveys, Statistics Canada, interviews and Scotia Capital Markets data, the percentage of units held in tax exempt accounts is 31 percent, less than the Department’s 38 percent estimate. This results in an overstatement of tax leakage of $125 million;
3) The value of deferred taxes is excluded from the Department of Finance analysis. This results in an overstatement of tax leakage of $80 million; and,
4) The Finance Department’s atypical inclusion of the impact of limited partnerships, which reduces the tax leakage to $45 million.
5) The impact of future legislated tax changes post 2010 has not been accounted for. Doing so reduces the ongoing federal tax leakage after 2010 by $232 million.
Mr. Bruce stressed that the discrepancies between HLB and the Finance Department led his firm to conclude that the Finance Department is “sharply overstating tax leakage.”
Specifically, HLB concluded that:
- Federal tax leakage for 2006 was $164 million, not the half billion dollars stated by the Department; and,
- Ongoing tax leakage, post 2010, after taking into account legislated tax changes, is $32 million per year, about five percent of the Department’s figures.
For further information: Dennis Bruce, Vice President, HDR – HLB Decision Economics Inc. (613) 234-0080; Cell: (709) 632-1708
Op-ed Article by Dennis Bruce of HDR | HLB Decision Economics Inc.
Trusts Redux: Tax Policy Suitable for Halloween
October 31, 2007
As an economist I welcome Minister Flaherty’s October 30 announced intention to boost Canadian productivity and prosperity by reducing the general federal corporate income tax rate to 15 per cent by 2012. The measure should be embraced by all: It will position Canada favorably in the global economy for decades to come. But while I laud the strategic direction on corporate taxes, I continue to question the government’s consistency on tax policy in general.
A year ago today the Minister announced in his Tax Fairness Plan his intention to “restore balance and fairness to the federal tax system by creating a level playing field between income trusts and corporations,” to eliminate tax leakage and to remove distortions in investment decisions. To paraphrase the Department of Finance’s analysis, the avoidance of corporate taxes from entities after conversion to an income trust is not totally offset by the taxes paid on income trust distributions from individual unit-holders; therefore tax leakage. The Minister estimated that annual tax leakage was in the order of $500 million and stated that something had to be done “to restore balance and fairness in the tax system”. The Minister’s solution to create “tax fairness” and eliminate tax leakage was to implement a 31.5% Distribution Tax on trusts in 2011 and to not allow any new conversions to the income trust form. The market response to the “Tax Fairness Plan” announcement was very negative.
Having worked for the income trust industry and with the Department of Finance on determining the appropriate methodologies for tax leakage, I presented evidence on the tax leakage issue to the Parliamentary Standing Committee studying the issue. To be precise, I raised several concerns with the Department of Finance approach – all of which went to a “sharp over-statement” of tax leakage. The major flaw in the Department of Finance analysis was that it did not take a lifecycle view of the tax leakage issue but rather focused on a 2006 “test year”. By failing to account for the reality that corporate tax rates were legislated to be reduced to 19 percent by 2011, the Department took a short-sighted and punitive approach to the issue. Despite the debate and a dissenting Committee Report “Taxing Income Trusts: Reconcilable or Irreconcilable Differences”, the income trust provisions of the Tax Fairness Plan remain in place.
It is regrettable that the October 30 announcement did not occur a year ago. It would have all but eliminated the perceived tax leakage issue without the punitive distribution tax on income trusts. In fact, the Department of Finance’s own Tax Leakage Model would have given an estimate of merely $80 million in tax leakage when accounting for yesterday’s corporate tax cuts instead of the $500 million stated by the Minister at the time. The Department’s own analysis would not have supported a tax on income trust distributions. If the October 30 announcement had been made last Halloween, the billions lost by investors would not have occurred and the playing field would have been leveled by 2011 – all this according to Department of Finance methods of analysis. These losses cannot be recovered and one has to question the path that led us to this point and Finance’s tax policy strategy.
I believe that even the $80 million estimate sharply overstates the leakage. This aside, yesterday’s corporate tax cuts would now allow the abolishment of the income trust distribution tax all together without incurring federal tax leakage – this, again, according to the Department of Finance’s own model.
Dennis Bruce is Vice President with HDR Decision Economics and has studied the income trust tax leakage issue since 2003. He twice testified before the House of Commons Finance Committee on the question Income Trust tax leakage.
Dennis Bruce
Vice President
HDR | HLB Decision Economics Inc.
1525 Carling Avenue, Suite 500
Ottawa, Ontario
Tel: 613-234-0080 Cell: 709-632-1708
HDR – ONE COMPANY | Many Solutions ™
My goodness, Barb, do you remember Clockwork Orange? I was in my early teens when it came out and haven’t thought about it in eons. Boy, that sure takes me back. Remember how “out there” it was considered?
Be Pragmatic: Vote Liberal
I respectfully urge all income trust investors who were betrayed by Harper, Flaherty & their CON ilk to be pragmatic when voting in the next federal election.
Only the Liberal Party has a much more compassionate and fair income trust policy, with a reasonable chance of turfing this CON cadre of crooks.
Additionally, why not help the cause and put “your money where your mouth is” by making a donation to the Liberal Party Of Canada.
A $100 donation, for example, will only cost $25, after a federal political contribution tax credit of $75.
Please see the donation webpage at:
https://www.liberal.ca/donate_e.aspx
Pyotr, you’re in fine form this morning. Man, you are one snarky guy. I love it. Bring on the snark. I’m still chuckling over: Emperor Byron of Muldoon, Ka-Ching Ka-Ching Dynasty to Coventry. Too funny.
And lest we forget…
Tories Blasted For “Dirty Tricks” Handbook On Paralyzing Parliament
Updated Fri. May. 18 2007 5:16 PM (EDIT)
Canadian Press
OTTAWA — The Harper government is being accused of a machiavellian plot to wreak parliamentary havoc after a secret Tory handbook on obstructing and manipulating Commons committees was leaked to the press.
Opposition parties pounced on news reports Friday about the 200-page handbook as proof that the Conservatives are to blame for the toxic atmosphere that has paralyzed Parliament this week.
“The government’s deliberate plan is to cause a dysfunctional, chaotic Parliament,” Liberal House Leader Ralph Goodale told the House of Commons.
New Democrat Libby Davies said the manual explodes the Tories’ contention that opposition parties are to blame for the parliamentary constipation.
“So much for blaming the opposition for the obstruction of Parliament,” she said.
“Now we learn, in fact, that the monkey wrench gang have had a plan all along and not just any plan, a 200-page playbook on how to frustrate, obstruct and shut down the democratic process.”
Bloc Quebecois MP Monique Guay said the manual demonstrates the government’s “flagrant lack of respect” for the democratic process.
The opposition demanded that the manual, given to Tory committee chairs, be tabled in the House of Commons.
Peter Van Loan, the government’s House leader, ignored the demand.
The government was so embarrassed and annoyed by the leak, that, according to a source, it ordered all committee chairs to return their copies of the handbook, apparently in a bid to determine who broke confidence.
The handbook, obtained by National Post columnist Don Martin, reportedly advises chairs on how to promote the government’s agenda, select witnesses friendly to the Conservative party and coach them to give favourable testimony. It also reportedly instructs them on how to filibuster and otherwise disrupt committee proceedings and, if all else fails, how to shut committees down entirely.
Some of those stalling tactics have been on display this week.
Tory MPs on the information and ethics committee stalled an inquiry into alleged censorship of a report on the treatment of Afghan detainees. They debated the propriety of the witness list for more than five hours while two critics of the government’s handling of the matter cooled their heels in the corridor.
The official languages committee has been shut down all week after Tory chair Guy Lauzon cancelled a hearing moments before witnesses were to testify about the impact of the government’s cancellation of the court challenges program. All three opposition parties voted to remove Lauzon from the chair but the Tories are refusing to select a replacement, leaving the committee in limbo.
Tories have also launched filibusters to obstruct proceedings in the Commons agriculture and procedural affairs committees and a Senate committee study of a Liberal bill requiring the government to adhere to the Kyoto treaty on greenhouse gas emissions.
Davies, a 10-year parliamentary veteran, said the Tories have taken manipulation to extremes she’s never seen before.
“They’ve codified it. They’ve set it down. They’ve given instructions.”
Both Davies and Goodale agreed that the recent dysfunction may be part of a long term Tory strategy to persuade voters that minority Parliaments don’t work, that they need to elect a majority next time.
But Goodale predicted the ploy won’t work because Canadians will realize that the Tories are the “authors of this stalemate.”
Goodale said the manual also demonstrates that the government is in the grip of an “obsessive, manipulative mania,” run by a prime minister who has “a kind of control fetish” in which there can’t be “one comma or one sentence or one word uttered without his personal approval.”
State of the World’s Future
Larry Edelson–MONEY MARKETS–08-14-08
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/Issues.aspx?NewsletterEntryId=2085
“I’ll discuss the state of the markets shortly. First, I’d like to discuss the state of the world’s future.
According to a long-term study just released by the U.S. Naval Services Department, a series of tipping points could dramatically alter the global prospects for economic growth and humanity — for the worse.
Right now, for instance, fully half the world is vulnerable to social instability resulting from rising food and energy prices, lack of water, failing state governments, and pollution.
102 countries are at risk of chaos. 46 countries, comprising 2.7 BILLION people, are at risk of armed conflict with lack of adequate natural resources as the root cause for many of them. Another 56 countries, with 1.2 billion people, are at risk of severe social instability.
There are now 14 ongoing wars around the world: Five in Africa, four in Asia, two in the Americas, two in the Middle East, plus the world-wide war on terrorism”
DISIRREGARDLESS WE CAN GET RID OF HARPER
I find the currect Liberal platform very confusing. I heard conflicting explanations of how the greenshift will work. A lot of people are confused as well. IF IT CAN NOT BE EXPLAINED, THE LIBERALS WILL LOOSE THE ELECTION.
A Clockwork Orange that is..
By barb the proofreader on 08.14.08 2:26 am
—————————————-
Ah yes, the old “In-Out, In-Out.”
Good old lascivious “droog” Alex of “A Clockwork Orange” fame must have also been involved in the sceme.
Bring on more CRAP!
We need more crisis and cleavage. The entertainment will only get better in the FALL.
I’ve heard mention of this Conservative handbook many times. Is it something that anyone outside of the fold has actually seen, or got their hands on?
It could make for a very effective prop in the campaign, no? Point out that while the Conservatives have completely failed to come up with any kind of environment plan, for example, they did write this plan to destroy the institutions of government that serve the people of Canada. And then maybe read a few choice passages.
If an election is called this fall, and I hope to god that is case, it not done deal. Harper has a huge war chest to call on, and he isn’t afraid to use it. He isn’t even afraid to ignore the Election Canada spending limits, he will do his “In-and-Out” scheme again, and he will flood the media bandwidth with lie after lie.
This is the thing about lies, if you keep them coming frequently enough, fast enough, and constantly changing, the public and media doesn’t have time to disprove them. Tell one lie, wait two days and then next, and repeat.
Harper also has the Blogging Tories that will carry his pathetic water buckets without question.
Harper has been using the Canadian Tax Payer’s money to spread his 10 Per Cent’ers.
Harper, in an election will unleash a wave of Republican like negative campaigning that will be hard to beat.
The truth will always be the best weapon if there is time to fight the lies, but Harper will not allow for that, he will call for the shortest election period that he can possibly allow.
It will be a blitz Krege
They feel Layton is out for himself rather than principle and what’s right for Canadians….interesting.
By slg on 08.14.08 8:10 am
—————————————-
It seems others are also of like-mind.
Perhaps you may have seen this article. Note the last quote/sentence!
Disappointed By Layton, Former MPP Likes `Pretty Solid’ Dion
The NDP is becoming a “non sequitur” federally.
The Toronto Star
Susan Delacourt
Ottawa Bureau
Jul 12, 2008 04:30 AM (EDIT)
OTTAWA-Reid Scott, a former judge, Toronto city councillor and one of the first people in Canada to be elected under the NDP banner, is abandoning his six-decade long attachment to the party and joining the federal Liberals.
Impressed by Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion’s carbon tax plan and disaffected by Jack Layton’s leadership of the NDP, Scott sent a letter this week to the federal Liberals, saying he would like to take out a membership.
“He’s got great integrity and courage,” Scott said. “I spent 20 years on the bench and I can tell a genuine person from a phony and I think Dion is basically pretty solid.”
Now, he thinks the NDP is becoming a “non sequitur” federally. He confesses he doesn’t understand what Layton is doing.
“I’ve sort of given up on them. I think Layton is not the leader I expected … He’s no Tommy Douglas. He’s sort of in bed with Harper half the time, and only interested in his own advancement.”
Good morning, all. I haven’t been able to contribute much lately as I have the happy fortune to live in Guelph, ON, where as you may know we have a federal by-election happening in early September. Needless to say, I have volunteered my time to the local Liberal candidate, Frank Valeriote, and can report that things are progressing very well indeed. I have been welcomed warmly when I have had occasion to meet the householders in my polls, and they have received the literature I give them with thanks and interest. Spirits at party headquarters are very high and the number of people dropping by with donations and offers of help is overwhelming the regular staff; they cannot recall such enthusiasm for an election in a long time.
Sorry for rambling, but I just wanted to give an update from the ground. Sun is shining today, and I’ve got a couple of hundred flyers to deliver. Have a good one, all.
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 8:19 am
Thank your Sir, now I want answers from our local CTV network why they do not hold Conservative’s feet to fire. Has there been an inside deal to shut down the CBC for new CTV contracts? Where is Loyd Robertson, Craig Oliver and yes even Sandy Rinaldo? and of course our local Steve Murphy who pooh poohs even a fine man like Bill Casey. Shame shame on these people and other who continue to hold the truth from Cnadians, Shame!
Please see the donation webpage at:
https://www.liberal.ca/donate_e.aspx
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 8:18 am
I too, am a PRAGMATIC. I’ve been in constant contact with WHIRLPOOL. They say they’ll be able to unleash me shortly … Permitting me to:
1. Remit the remaining $200 owing this year.
2. Receive my $450K settlement (50% of the assets) from the guy waiting for his father-in-law’s estate to be settled in Nigeria. He’d better cough up … I awreddy sent the guy $50K as part of the deal.
Do you know any good “Marxists” who have a good recipe for potato(e)* soup?
*Spelling compliments of Dan Quayle.
If Dion refuses to pull the plug on Parliament in the next few months, he should resign as Liberal leader … plain and simple.
By HARRY S on 08.13.08 11:46 pm
Well, Harry S – you know what they say, and it’s true: “empty wagons rattle the most”. You statements and bluster are empty and your wagon truly rattles.
Oh the brilliants from the CPC trolls – amazing stuff like “blah, blah, blah, bring it on”. Such intelligence.
By Randy too on 08.13.08 11:01 pm
I’m curious. What makes you say that?
By Liblooking on 08.14.08 6:44 am
I think you are only half right Liblooking. I spend a fair amount of time in Ottawa and have a number of friends “in the know”….and not affiliated with any party, by the way. Their connections are telling them that Liberal internal polling has them in the high teens and low twenties nationally on 3000+ person polls, i.e. a lower margin of error. BUT, they are also hearing that the Liberals will go to the polls this fall because they need to be rid of Dion. Rumour is that election borrowing will need to be from second-tier lenders since the big banks don’t want to touch them. The Liberal braintrust understands that dormant fundraising situation AND the dismal internal polls are directly related to them not having a credible leader. They either go to the polls this fall or they are stuck with him for at least another two years. The money counters in the Party are worried that the LPC might not survive that long financially. I’m betting on an election…UNLESS..the Bloc are in worse shape than the Liberals and want to run it out until October 2009.
DISIRREGARDLESS
By PYOTR PETROBITCH on 08.14.08 8:29 am
Awesome. Wish I could make up words like that.
Garth – I’d hardly consider you a lamb, but I do consider you one of the greatest politicians in the country, simple because you consistently give a place for people to talk.
At our current pace, we are still looking at more minorities with the pendulm swinging back to the Liberals. I hope there is more news coming from this party. The pace this country has moved in the last 4 years is disturbingly useless or negative.
I’m still chuckling over: Emperor Byron of Muldoon, Ka-Ching Ka-Ching Dynasty to Coventry. Too funny.
By eastofeden on 08.14.08 8:19 am
The guy in the adjacent riding … Mikey (Let Mikey Eat It) Wallace, weasel extraordinaire, “thinks” Byron maybe got a ‘raw deal’ because what he did could happen to anyone. Imagine, he received 3 separate envelopes containing either $75K or $100K (depending who you talk to) at secret pre-arranged hotel premises, over sumptuous dinners. Like Mikey The Weasel implies, he apparently had no choice in the matter. So, don’t let’s cause no FUDDER embarrassment to the poor soul.
We need a skull x-ray for Mikey The Weasel to see just how far apart his synapses really are.
I am not familiar with the term ‘snarky.’
It was not included in any verbal exchanges I listened to on the shortwave.
Garth
OT but I could not resist..
Tories face jeers for jilting Commons hearing
CAMPBELL CLARK
From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
August 13, 2008 at 9:38 PM EDT
Excerpt:
Three, including Mr. Muttart, sent letters, released by party lawyers, saying they would not attend, but eight others also did not show up and their Conservative colleagues said they did not know why.
“I don’t know the reasons. … What if somebody’s on vacation? What if somebody had a heart attack? What if somebody needs a kidney replacement? Or dialysis?” said Tory MP Gary Goodyear, the party’s apparent point man on the committee.
Let’s give Gary some more plausible reasons:
What if their car broke down and they are pushing it all the way to Ottawa?
What if their dog ate the summons?
What if they broke a leg? An arm? Their phone dialing finger?
What if Tony Soprano showed up and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse?
Most plausible:
What if the PMO threatened that if they showed up they would lose their jobs?
The Harris Decima numbers are good for the Liberals.
But here is a caution. If you look at the voters that say they will vote in the next election there are more Conservatives that Liberals that will get out.
If that’s the case there are some razor thin wins out there.
If the Conservatives have less support by percentage but more voter turnout for them they can win.
The target number by percentage for the Conservatives is a 70+% voter turnout for their supporter turnout.
I believe in the last federal election the Conservatives had something like a 62% voter turnout of their supporters.
The long and short of it is identify every voter.
Crank them heavily for the for the advance polls and on election day.
Get the voter turnout as high as it can be by percentage for the Liberals.
The most important thing is focus on what you know, win these by-elections by stunning margins and send a message.
The Conservatives wil be quite stealth in their campaigning, we just have to be better.
“I shouldn’t have to put up with this, neither should anyone else at the table,” said Del Maestro, telling the committee he had been brought up “not to take the Lord’s name in vain”.
By TS on 08.14.08 6:25 am
—————————————-
Ah, but the “Malevolent Maestro” has already angered his mysterious “Sky Captain” and, so, will not be allowed into the forthcoming “World Of Tomorrow.”
The NDP numbers aren’t good. I personally know of 7 people in my area that were staunch NDP – some worked at GM. One is going Green, the rest Liberals. Why? Because Jack Layton has spent all his time bashing Liberals for the sake of a “few” seats rather than go after Harper like he should. They feel Layton is out for himself rather than principle and what’s right for Canadians….interesting.
By slg on 08.14.08 8:10 am
———————-
Slg, those are exactly my sentiments about the NDP, whom I have supported all my voting life, except for the last election when I made the mistake of believing Harper and his party. Bill Blaikie has been my MP for over 25 years and I have let him know that due to the NDP’S constant supporting of the present Government I could & would no longer support the NDP at the Federal level any longer.
A question about in-and-out…
Most of the talk is about the CPC exceeding advertising limits by $1.1 million.
If I understand correctly, local candidates would be eligible to claim 60% refund from Elections Canada if this was accepted as local advertising expenses based on the “transitional funding”.
Does this mean, the CPC, in addition to exceeding the advertising spending limits, were also trying to “embezzle” (for want of a better term) $660,000.00 from the Canadian public coffers?
“Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating goods, usually money, by one to whom they have been entrusted. For instance, a clerk or cashier can embezzle money from his or her employer, or a civil servant can embezzle funds from the government. Embezzlement may range from the very minor, involving only small amounts, to the immense, involving large sums and sophisticated schemes.” – Wikipedia
If so, small wonder they are running SCARED. The legal ramifications are enormous.
Shame, shame on these people and others who continue to hold the truth from Canadians. Shame!
By David Bakody on 08.14.08 9:08 am
—————————————-
One does wonder at times about the “priorities” given to other news stories.
What I did find particularly “interesting” (or unbelievable, depending on your “sixth sense”), was that CTV did a report on its national news program the other day about that silly Robert Thibault thing, but there was nary a mention of the recent HOC committee theatrics.
The same goes for slurs regarding Harper’s intelligence. Personally, I find him to be cold and a bit of a stuffed shirt but I do perceive him to be quite intelligent.
By eastofeden on 08.14.08 4:57 am
Intelligent to the point of simple. Remember the movie Rain Man?
Cheers
Pyotr, snarky is an elevated form of sarcasm. Kind of a cross between sarcastic and sardonic. One of my colleagues and I, for amusement, try to out-snark each other when things go slack every now and then.
Yes, poor Byron, how he suffers. He’s right up there with Tubby Black and Babs. I’m still chuckling over your Byron crack, it just struck me as hilarious. Good things I was alone at the office when I first burst out laughing. Now, I’ve simmered to a low chuckle and chortle instead of the huge guffaw which first erupted.
“I’ve sort of given up on them. I think Layton is not the leader I expected … He’s no Tommy Douglas. He’s sort of in bed with Harper half the time, and only interested in his own advancement.”
I wonder what the “D” stands for in the NDP. The party was never totally democratic because of the manner in which it gives union leaders more clout than regular members. It has become even more a party of contradictions under Layton and I am not surprised.
The NDP Party seems to have selected Layton based on, what they saw, as his media appeal rather than his substance. It is becoming more and more evident that he lacks substance and as such he has no consistent direction that he wants to take the country. His whole focus is on trying to become the leader of the official opposition. He has blown a tremendous opportunity for the NDP.
Although the NDP supporters I know will still likely vote for the party candidate, they are not happy with Layton. They won’t support the Greens because they are loyal party followers and to support the Greens would threaten their party. They are more likely to vote Liberal.
The Green support will come from elsewhere and the party may draw from swing voters (who tend to vote for the Liberals and Conservatives) but its main source of potential support comes from former non-voters.
As far as the polls go, they are virtually meaningless, at least until an election campaign is well underway, because until that point they primarily measure the core vote for a party and not the important swing vote.
For example, the polling data would not include someone like me who is currently undecided but will vote in an election as an ABC voter.
When considering the matter of Harper’s intelligence, one must preserve the difference between intelligence and low cunning.
All an intelligent Harper would have had to do to satisfy the electorate and secure tenure in power was to produce the “change in government” he promised. The five priorities were not a bad start. An intelligent PM would not have dressed himself in Emerson and Fortier at his coronation, shocked a lot of people with these new clothes, then taken the “change in government” downhill from there.
I don’t think Dion has to worry about calling an election. Harper will do that with a call on the GG and reference to the obvious: broken down parliament as evidenced by unworkable committees. That puts the lid on “in-out” (no House in session, no subpoenas,) Schreiber, Cadman, and anything else simmering away, giving Harper at least a chance at political survival as opposed to more “crisis and cleavage” (Cap’n George) and certain destruction in Oct 09.
Dion best get cracking on emphasizing the “tax cut” part of the “tax shift” and making it credible. It does not seem to be sinking into people’s heads.
the melt
Here`s a company I reported on last November when their stock was at $12 and change and they made a public display of stepping on the rule of law. CSH-UN.TO
Our economy thanks to ingnoring the rule of law is viewed by international investors in the same light, bye bye investment and productivity gains.
Blaming a minority government for the situation our economy is in smacks of blaming Harper for the last ice age or the near extinction of the Buffalo while Harry praises Harper for the return of the Humpback.
lol, this is Cdn politics folks
distract, dismiss, deny
The same goes for slurs regarding Harper’s intelligence. Personally, I find him to be cold and a bit of a stuffed shirt but I do perceive him to be quite intelligent.
By eastofeden on 08.14.08 4:57 am
It all depends on how you measure intelligence. Harper has an excellent grasp of a simplified version of free market economics.
Over the last couple of years I have looked at the philosophers who he claims are his biggest influences. The problem that I have identified from that study is that he has ignored all of the warnings that these thinkers have provided and is making the identical errors that they warned against.
His “right wing” free market ideology is more like that of Ayn Rand than that of Smith or Hayek (which he claims as major influences).
Maybe commonsense and intelligence are unrelated and if so it seems that it is the former that Harper lacks.
Does that call into question his intelligence? I don’t know but it does rise concerns.
Garth
What if their car broke down and they are pushing it all the way to Ottawa?
Holy catfish someone did – Mr. Goldstein!!! (I was kidding but who knew…)
Gary Goodyear is going on and on and on about Mr. Goldstein magically appearing at the beginning of the Ethics Committee and Gary wants to here from “your” witness immediately!!!
Mr. Goldstein (according to Kady who’s liveblogging in the room) was yelling at the Chair.
Motion passed Mr. Goldstein will be heard at the end of today after all items on the agenda of today are dealt with.
…Firing our nuclear regulator? Again I agree that she was the wrong person for the job…
By Randy too on 08.13.08 11:01 pm
I’m curious. What makes you say that?
By Geiseric the Lame on 08.14.08 9:18 am
Why I say she was the wrong person for the job?
I admit that this is a topic I am somewhat passionate about but in truth lack a lot of insight and knowledge. I believe – especially if we are to take our dependency on fossil fuel seriously – that nuclear energy is critical to our future. I also believe that the Canadian government (not just the conservatives) have been dragging their feet for a very long time on this.
Where am I going with this? Keen came into the spotlight with her decision to maintain a prolonged shutdown of AECL that some claim lead to a shortage of isotopes. Read between the headlines though. There wasn’t any “new” event that lead to this shutdown, just something the regulators “happened” to notice and suddenly determined was dangerous. I could stop right here – if this was a dangerous situation why was it not noticed and acted upon earlier? What kind of regulation practice is that?
Then came to light all the bickering between AECL and CNSC over the years. Sigh.
In one sense Keen seems to be ill-equiped for the job. She relies on others more technical than her to feed her with an opinion. Shouldn’t we have someone at the helm who is capable of making the technical decisions needed?
If this is not meant to be a technical position, then the alternative to me would be for her to push for regulatory(sp?) advancements. Actually regulate, report, and properly advise the government on what steps then need to take and over what period of time. We should not need a crisis (real or made up) to hear any of this.
None of this leave me with any confidence that we could expand out nuclear involvement – as I believe we must. So I believe she was the wrong person for the job.
Do I believe she should have been fired? Replaced maybe through quiet negotiations, but not fired and definetely not in the fashion she was or for the reasons that were claimed.
Another Canadian Income Fund To Be Taken Over By Wealthy US Private Equity Firms
-A Direct Result Of Harper’s Income Trust Policy
-Further Actual ‘Tax Leakage’ To Be Caused
-Average Canadian Retail Investors & Taxpayers Loose; Wealthy US Investors Win
TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2008 /CNW/ – Sleep Country Canada Income Fund to be purchased by US private equity firms Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and Westerkirk Capital Inc. …
You need to contribute more to Liberal ad-making! You do a very good job of complimenting and talking up Dion, and a great job of bashing the Cons and pointing out their flaws.
“But the last 30 months resulted in a heartbreaking betrayal for income trust investors, no income tax relief, over 400,000 lost manufacturing jobs, a hollowing-out of our industrial base, rising family stress as energy prices climb and incomes don’t, higher inflation and interest rates, record-breaking federal spending and now a housing crunch thanks in part to disastrous mortgage policies”
I think if the general public was presented with a simple list like this of all the Conservative letdowns, support for the Cons would decrease substantially.
Dion best get cracking on emphasizing the “tax cut” part of the “tax shift” and making it credible. It does not seem to be sinking into people’s heads.
By Herb on 08.14.08 10:24 am
I think jacking up the cost of goods to force an already broke consumer to spend thousands of dollars to save a few might have already sunk in. Most consumers and soon the majority of consumers can`t afford the cost of converting to green alternatives now.
Too bad Dion didn`t run on the return democracy, the rule of law, restoring international investor confidence and what to do with a very troubled youth soon to be outnumbered by seniors.
I`m sure Cdns would show more interest than in an environment plan that will do nothing for climate change globally.
Dion needs some advisers that know more than how to get the electorate to vote against their opponents.
Just saying Herb
Harper threatens to topple own gov’t
http://www.canada.com/story.html?id=222fb54e-7884-4031-8fe9-303ab95b9ed2
GARTH; Today DAVID ORCHARD will become a Liberal candidate in a riding in Saskatchewan that was lost to the Conservatives a few months ago.Won’t that be interesting to have former PROGRESIVES (Garth and David) under Mr.Dion’s skin.Should be an interesting show ahead!!!!!
Mr. Orchard and I have little in common. — Garth
Now, now, Irene. Yup, I remember Rain Man. I love Dustin Hoffman but I cannot stand watching Tom Cruise in any movie. It was agony just to get halfway through it. I have a friend whose son is like the man Dustin Hoffman played.
Well looks like I was right long time ago when I said that Harper is purposely sabotaging committee hearings just so he can claim it is the fault of opposition parties for Parliament not functioning.
Harper threatens to topple own govt.
The GG should tell him to take a hike and consult with the opposition if they would like to try and make parliament work till 2009 election date.
Hi Trevor on 08.13.08 11:35 pm,
Also don’t forget that Harper has asked election Canada to see about implementing electronic voting and vote counting. You have heard of HACKERS!
If this happens you can forget bout ever living in a Free society again.
Who says we need instant results?
Paper ballots and hand counting has always worked before, and you can be sure that no fraud or criminal acts is involved in we the people choosing our PM to represent us in parliament. You simple need to look south of the boarded to see what has happened.
Do you see the guy that was sworn in, testified to being paid to write computer code for the voting machine so they will give you any result you wish, no mater what the people actually want.
Harper as change the communication act so that starting in 2010 your internet sever will be able to charge you every time you go to a web site, every time! Like a TAX!
It will effectively close down the’ free internet’ to us all. Slaves don’t need to know that. Can you say, ‘yes Big Brother’. We’ll be feed only what they want us to know through the corporate run media!
What kind of world do you what your family to try and survive in?
Have you been paying attention?
Are you a critical-thinker?
Do you care about the other human beings on out only home, Earth?
What are you going to do to keep your freedoms, and your basic human rights,
For your family, and generation to come?
IT For Income Trusts
Remember, Remember
The 1st Of November
The Conservative’s Income Trust Treason And Plot
I Know Of No Reason
Why The Income Trust Treason
Should Ever Be Forgot
By Randy too on 08.14.08 10:36 am
I’ll stop you right there. It was never Keen’s decision to make. That task belongs to the tribunal which she chairs. Even if it did get to that stage, she didn’t even have a vote.
Hi HARRY S on 08.13.08 11:46 pm,
I don’t agree with your logic.
Since PMSH is the Governmnet in a minority Government, it is up to them to Govern, hope fully for the good of all. (With PMSH track record I’m not very hopefull)
The opposition parties are there to keep an eye on the Government, so to speak. They are not there to make a Govenment that is being run well fall. You don’t cause an election just to have a personallity contest, one with some expence at that.
Mr. Dion does not own Harper anything in regards to having his wobally Government fall, especially just because PMSH has darded him.
PMSH sounds more like a mindless dictator every day.
PMSH seem to know allot about being ‘insane’ and ‘screwing everyone’.
By Randy on 08.14.08 11:18 am
I love it when Harper gets the bullyish yappieness on!
That’s when he really screws up.
Bring it on cowboy!
IT For Income Trusts
Remember, Remember
The 1st Of November
The Conservative’s Income Trust Treason And Plot
I Know Of No Reason
Why The Income Trust Treason
Should Ever Be Forgot
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 11:21 am
That is a treason that we can throw in their faces come election time.
Robert, did you also know that the US , which once allowed a similar income trust structure for US companies, eliminated them in 1987 with a 10 year expire time.
Coincidence, I think not.
Mr. Goldstein will be heard at the end of today after all items on the agenda of today are dealt with.
By Bonnie N BC on 08.14.08 10:35 am
—————————————-
I would first like to…
Point of order, Chairman!
In response to…
Point of order, Chairman!
When we booked…
Point of order, Chairman!
The Conservatives laund…
Point of order, Chairman!
We instructed everyone not to…
Point of order, Chairman!
Only the Liberal Party has a much more compassionate and fair income trust policy, with a reasonable chance of turfing this CON cadre of crooks.
Additionally, why not help the cause and put “your money where your mouth is” by making a donation to the Liberal Party Of Canada.
A $100 donation, for example, will only cost $25, after a federal political contribution tax credit of $75.
Please see the donation webpage at:
https://www.liberal.ca/donate_e.aspx
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 8:18 am
I heartily agree Robert. Put your money where you’re mouth is. I screwed up a couple of donations by forgetting to put .com at the end of my email addy and finally found out a week or so ago what the problem was. How stupid of me. Am starting to make up those donations. As you say, commit to $100 and it only costs you $25. First time I’ve been donating to a political party. Surprise, CanRev has asked me to show proof of my donations last year. No problem. I have the receipts. A few years ago I started claiming medical expenses. Sure enough I was asked to provide receipts which I did. Am still waiting for CanRev to credit us for interest expenses on a loan for investments which I forgot to claim for the last several years. This year I’ll be claiming part of car/gas/insurance expenses DH incurs for work as its mandatory that he has a car for his job. We should have been claiming it for the past 10 years but we didn’t know. The small guy gets screwed. This year I’ll consult a tax accountant. No doubt I’ll be asked to provide receipts next year. This may sound paranoid, but wonder if those who contributed to the Lib party are being targeted.
Point of order, Chairman!
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 11:41 am
So very true Robert. Can’t stomach watching these neocons so I’ll read all about it on Kady’s blog. She’s so funny.
By Zorpheous on 08.14.08 8:57 am
It will be a blitz Krege[sic]
……………………………………………………..
You got that right, Zorph …. but in the final analysis it will come down to who Canadians want as their prime minister .. Stephen Harper or Stephane Dion.
Who do they trust more … tax-cutting Harper or carbon taxing Dion?
Who do they feel represents Canada best … Canadian Stephen or frenchman Stephane?
Who do they most associate with … family man Harper or professor Dion?
But most of all … will Canadians want another Liberal prime minister from Quebec?
These are psychologically emotional factors and influences how people vote.
Looking at popularity polling we have 15% Dion leading a 30% Liberal brand … while the popularity of Harper and the Conservative party are about equal. We must conclude that half of those voting Liberal do not want Dion as their prime minister .. so obvious..!!!
It is one thing to say, “Together we can build a better Canada,” and another thing to demonize Canadians who hold a different political point of view.
So we are not really building Canada “together,” are we?
The rancor that is developing between different political factions must be addressed if we are to truly build a “better Canada.” One party cannot do it alone.
We must reach out in reconciliation and in humility.
Point of order, Chairman!
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 11:41 am
I know watching this Ethics Committee meeting is very painful.
Dean Del Mastro thinks he’s Perry Mason now!
Their strategy is so obvious. Boy do they think the public is dumb…
The Conservative gong boys look so ridiculous!
Robert, did you also know that the US , which once allowed a similar income trust structure for US companies, eliminated them in 1987 with a 10 year expire time.
Coincidence, I think not.
By Ron p on 08.14.08 11:38 am
—————————————-
Ron:
Yes, thanks, I did.
And in fact, the US still has a fairly large market (significantly larger than the current Canadian market) of these businesses structured as trusts or limited partnerships, sometimes referred to as Master Limited Partnerships, I believe.
There’s also the very large world market for REITs.
And, many other countries have similarly structured businesses – even Singapore.
Regards.
Blaming a minority government for the situation our economy is in smacks of blaming Harper for the last ice age or the near extinction of the Buffalo while Harry praises Harper for the return of the Humpback.
lol, this is Cdn politics folks
distract, dismiss, deny
By got rope? on 08.14.08 10:24 am
A couple of points to consider.
I agree that you cannot blame Harper for the economic problems that have been brewing for years. On the other hand, Harper has been a major advocate for pursuing a direction that I believe was inevitably going to create these problems. In fact, he would probably deny that this direction is responsible and he is committed to maintaining and insuring that direction will further facilitated by transferring more power to those “stakeholders” who have a private interest in maintaining that direction for their personal profit.
Where Harper can be blamed is for pushing forward with an agenda that I believe is going to make the situation much worse for the majority of people while enriching a small economic class with close ties to government.
Because of his economic dogma he is the wrong person to deal with the economic situation.
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 8:19 am
Thank your Sir, now I want answers from our local CTV network why they do not hold Conservative’s feet to fire. Has there been an inside deal to shut down the CBC for new CTV contracts? Where is Loyd Robertson, Craig Oliver and yes even Sandy Rinaldo? and of course our local Steve Murphy who pooh poohs even a fine man like Bill Casey. Shame shame on these people and other who continue to hold the truth from Cnadians, Shame!
By David Bakody on 08.14.08 9:08 am
I couldn’t agree with you more. Reporting a half truth is like telling a lie.
Our MSM is only interested in reporting stories that get ratings.
Now you would think that every aspect of our gov’t activities would be properly reported, no spin, just the facts. WE THE PEOPLE are the Gov’t and WE simply want the facts to be made available to us.
*Spelling compliments of Dan Quayle.
By PYOTR PETROBITCH on 08.14.08 9:08 am
You are so funny Pyotr. Love your posts Barb the Proofreader, TS, WJP, CBI & so many others. I learn so much. Hope I don’t run out of gigs on my laptop. I’ve been saving so much as I don’t know how long some of the archives will be available and/or if they will be modified.
Having watched the meeting of the Ethics Committee for about an hour and having witnessed the concerted actions of its CPC members, I have come to the
conclusion that the Harper Government and its supporters are a stain on the Coat of Arms of Canada to be wiped off at the earliest opportunity.
I will be apologizing separately to Mr. Szabo for the shit-kicking (can’t think of a more appropriate word that would be polite) he is being subjected to on behalf of parliamentary democracy in this country.
Harper threatens to topple own govt.
The GG should tell him to take a hike and consult with the opposition if they would like to try and make parliament work till 2009 election date.
By Randy on 08.14.08 11:18 am
As you know, I am hardly a Harper fan, but, he has no choice but to go to the GG asap. Things are going to get a lot worse on a lot of fronts. The economy is in for a kicking and inflation is about to spiral, we were supposedly saved the first round by the escalating dollar, although that should have reduced consumer pricing by a good margin however, if you noted, they stayed about the same. From here, we begin to see some real stagflation. So to go to the GG now would be a cunning move. Then there are all the outstanding scandals to deal with, if he could get ahead of them, then he could try to brush them aside when they come to pass, just as he has all along. The only bad mistake he could make here is in seemingly toppling his own government when every piece of legislation has passed without any undue opposition. People will question the motive and this will cause them to get informed. This is the last thing he can afford, an informed electorate. The opposition parties must make this their priority, to question publically his reasons for going to the GG. Personally I think he has underestimated voters. (those who vote) I think they know a lot more about what is going on than he thinks. When he gives the reason about dysfuntional committees, the opposition has to ram that little handbook down his throat repeatedly.
Regardless, I think he is done, like dinner!!
The Con party “insiders” are indeed going postal. Their shaky foundations are crumbling and their criminal behaviour is being exposed. People like Finley, who are used to controlling the show, get a little antsy when things don’t turn out the way they wanted. Flanagan imbibed Machivelli with his formula as a baby. I suspect he was a principal author of the Con handbook. Some of his op articles in the Globe and Mail are enough to make your blood run cold.
Everything the Cons have been doing has been taken from the Repub/neocon playbook in the U.S. What is going on there is what will happen here if we don’t turf these guys out.
The in-and-out is just the latest (that we know about) example. Even the ad agency knew that there was something extremely fishy about the scheme but was assured in a conference call with three Con big cheeses plus their official lawyer (anybody have a name for that guy?) that it was all perfectly legal.
I think that a lawyer knowingly advising someone that a clear case of breaking the law is legal is grounds for being disbarred. (I still live in hope.)
But they could always cite Michael Mukasey, attorney general for the U.S. on criteria for legality:
“Where there is evidence of criminal wrongdoing, we vigorously investigate it,” Mukasey said in a speech at the American Bar Association. “And where there is enough evidence to charge someone with a crime, we vigorously prosecute. But not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/mukasey-will-not-prosecute-in-doj-hiring-scandal-2008-08-12.html
“…not every wrong, or even every violation of the law, is a crime.”
Huh? Damn, and here’s me thinking that that was the definition of a crime.
—–
American real estate crisis in a headline:
One Third of New Owners Owe More Than House Is Worth
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3uzhDOF9FXI&refer=worldwide
Applies to anyone who bought a house in the last five years. Ant this thing hasn’t even bottomed out yet.
—–
I don’t know what’s up with Canada’s insistence on deporting U.S. army deserter Jeremy Hinzmann.
He did a hitch in Afghanistan in a non-combat role becase he registered as a conscientious objector. He refused to fight in the illegal war in Iraq.
The “authorities” insist he faces no danger if he’s sent to a U.S. prison.
Have these authorities checked out U.S. prisons lately?
Since when is refusing to fight in an illegal imperialistic war an unwanted trait?
What that says is that we don’t want people of conscience with a strong moral sense in Canada.
They make the Cons uncomfortable – not really their SORT, you know.
Totally OT – CBI – how’s your garden doing? We’ve had so much rain. Watched a farmer in C.B. last eve. saying that 50+ of his crop has been decimated and he’s not sure whether he’ll be able to replant next year. Peoplein P.Q. & Ont. are concerned as well. It was supposed to be sunny today & this am their calling for more rain this aft. My cukes, Haricot Vert (French style green beans), lettuce, chard doing well, but not much else, except the WEEDS. At least we haven’t had to water the garden much this year. Offered to pay someone to water last week, but he apparently only had to water my hanging baskets once. Tip, if you do you’re own potted containers, buy the cheapest diapers you can, tear them apart and put them in. Layer of soil, diaper, then soil. If the pots are really large & heavy, lay landscaping cloth to cover the hole, put styrophome or crushed plastic bottles, then the above. Miss my ability to garden as I used to.
I must fire my proofreader.
That should be Machiavelli. Sorry for shorting you one vowel, Niccolò.
Garth, I think the Liberal Party should buy full page advertisements in all the major newspapers in Canada telling Canadians what the Harper’s Government has been doing since they took office. Like they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. You don’t need Mr. Dion to go around explaining what Harper’s has done wrong, just itemized them for all to see. You can start with Income Trust, Cadman Affair, In & Out, etc.etc.
“…smacks of blaming Harper for the last ice age…”
By got rope? on 08.14.08 10:24 am
—
“A couple of points to consider.”
By C. B. Innes on 08.14.08 11:57 am
—————————————-
One more point to consider:
The retort’s a complete Non Sequitur, considering Harper believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old anyway.
We must reach out in reconciliation and in humility.
By Mel on 08.14.08 11:53 am
We`ve tried asking the criminals to stop committing so much crime. We`ve punished politicians by voting against them.
I suggest a return to democracy and the rule of law would be a better approach than reconciling a system broken by corruption.
Hi Ron p on 08.14.08 11:38 am,
Treason! Remember the secrative SPP deal Harper signed! That is Treason!
remember the undercover cops that were trying to start a riot at the anti-SPP demonstation in Canada! Harper saided to the media he was discusted with the protectors. He said this just before the undercover cops were found out, and stopped by the people, from starting a roit. Did PMSH have pre-knowlege of this subvertion, or did he order it?
Bill Blaikie has been my MP for over 25 years and I have let him know that due to the NDP’S constant supporting of the present Government I could & would no longer support the NDP at the Federal level any longer.
BY RANDY ON 08.14.08 9:45 AM
Blaikie is a good man. NDP have some really good people. I’ve proudly voted NDP in the past. Couldn’t stand what the Martin ‘people’ were doing.
As for the Nuclear Commission? There was a committee meeting on the subject back in 2001. There were guidelines on bringing the regs to International standards. Keene was more qualified than anyone on the AECL board. A lot of politics were going on but she did the right thing and she shouldn’t have been fired for it.
Because of his economic dogma he is the wrong person to deal with the economic situation.
C. B. Innes 08.14.08 11:57 am
Because of unbridled corruption our elected federal government is wrong to deal with our economic situation.
no justice, no investment
Looking at popularity polling we have 15% Dion leading a 30% Liberal brand … while the popularity of Harper and the Conservative party are about equal. We must conclude that half of those voting Liberal do not want Dion as their prime minister .. so obvious..!!!
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 11:51 am
Not “we must conclude” Harry, it should read “I have concluded”, I doubt there are very many here who would agree with you on anything you post, especially with your attitude of entitlement!!!
^^^ NEWS FLASH ^^^
Just saw PMSH on CBC TV and he said that if Parliament cannot function productively, he will have to decide if it should continue!!!
Looks like Harper will take the leadership necessary to stop the opposition parties from making Parliament a mockery of justice and only use it for political disruption.
So will Dion happily sit back and let Harper dissolve Parliament and precipitate a general election, once again exposing Dion’s cowardice and total lack of responsible political leadership?
‘Fish or cut bait’ will become ‘sh!t or get off the pot’… and we know how badly Dion is stinking up Parliament with his anti-democratic kangaroo court committee debacles.
I would love to have Harper go to the GG and dissolve Parliament before it even reconvenes on September 15th and before the 3 by-elections too .. LOL
Pyotr, snarky is an elevated form of sarcasm. Kind of a cross between sarcastic and sardonic. One of my colleagues and I, for amusement, try to out-snark each other when things go slack every now and then.
Yes, poor Byron, how he suffers. He’s right up there with Tubby Black and Babs. I’m still chuckling over your Byron crack, it just struck me as hilarious. Good things I was alone at the office when I first burst out laughing. Now, I’ve simmered to a low chuckle and chortle instead of the huge guffaw which first erupted.
By eastofeden on 08.14.08 10:13 am
Just in case you think me insensitive to the tragedies which visit other people, I want to correct that perception. When I first heard about Byron’s double-dealing, lack of will and unfortunate compulsions, the tears, quite literally, ran right down my legs.
It wasn’t until Mikey (Let Mikey Eat It) Wallace, weasel extraordinaire, commented to the effect that we should give Byron a ‘pass’ because, after all, ‘it could happen to anyone,’ I really got my booties full of water.
“Too bad Dion didn`t run on the return democracy, the rule of law, …”
Rope, the only platform I would need would be Garth’s “Fairness in taxes, honest[y] in government …” (in reverse order), but I am only me.
The LPC will pay its money and take its chances with whatever platform it presents.
Hi Ron p on 08.14.08 11:57 am,
The Corporate run media are not payed to tell us what we really sured know.
There payed only to tell us what they want us to know. It’s a way of manufacturing concent, in our managed/controlled world.
Unfortunately some of the people behind the curtains think at war and killing is perfactly fine to do to get what they want, total control of every thing and every one.
Harper believes the Earth is only 6,000 years old anyway.
By Robert Gibbs on 08.14.08 12:23 pm
To be accurate the belief is 6000 years ago God created man in His own image and not man in general. A new man if you will.
The date also coincides with a 6000 year old wall painting depicting an event said to be God descending from above and scrambling our languages.
I wrote a piece on it a few years ago putting purpose behind action of the depiction.
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 12:29 pm
Old news Harry, do try to keep up!!!
BY GORD 08.13.08 11:28PM
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”
What matters, is what something is, not what it is called.
Juliet, from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, 1594:
‘Tis but thy name that is my enemy
Thou art thyself, though not a Montague.
What’s Montague? it is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O, be some other name!
What’s in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet;
So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d,
Retain that dear perfection which he owes
Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,
And for that name which is no part of thee
Take all myself.
There is a ‘story’ of an underlying joke, that Shakespeare was also poking fun at the expense of the Rose Theatre – a rival to his Globe Theatre. The Rose was reputed to have bad sanitary arrangements. The story goes that this was a coy joke about the smell.
http://tinyurl.com/5hqtoh
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gord, good analogy – Tokyo Rose.. and a very nice, thorough post, almost poetic.
Hi wjp on 08.14.08 12:04 pm,
I don’t know how accurate the polls are.
I for one, don’t take part in them, just the one that counts when I vote in an election!
By Greg W., Oakville on 08.14.08 12:25 pm
Spot on Greg. More than ever, we have lost our Gov’t to the corp elite and it is high time we make a huge effort to get it back in the next election.
For a few years in the 80′s I was a card carrying PC. But, Mulroney change that for me.
Regardless, there are a lot of good PC’s from the old guard that I would welcome in joining the Liberal Party to form a true PROGRESSIVE LIBERAL front.
A party that combines the best of two ligitimate organizations with one purpose in mind. To eradicate the Reform/Alliance fascists.
FASCISTS:
a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition
I say NOT in my back yard.
By Dee on 08.14.08 12:25 pm
Dee, I know I’ve voted NDP provincially, perhaps federally. I could not support Layton’s NDP’s now. I sent him an email about a year ago stating why.
I would love to have Harper go to the GG and dissolve Parliament before it even reconvenes on September 15th and before the 3 by-elections too .. LOL
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 12:29 pm
I AM SURE Harper should be prepared to accept advice from you, take direction from you and do your absolute bidding.
I don’t know why … But I keep seeing a DWARF HURLING contest in progress when it comes to your superior intellect.
If it happens … WE ARE READY … In fact, we are GALVANIZED FOR ACTION.
Know Of No Reason
Why The Income Trust Treason
Should Ever Be Forgot
Because it was a long time ago, and the right thing to do. Even Garth supported it. Stop living in the past and get over it.
I voted against the income trust budget. You are confused about that as you are your name – this is the seventh handle you’ve used recently. I guess you’re proud of your identities, and convictions. — Garth
HARRY S on 08.14.08 12:29 pm,
I have heard other blogers piont out that the GG could just let the main opposition party run things if Harper can NOT. It was Harper that thought a fixed election date was a good idea.
I guess he was not thinking again!
BY TREVOR 08.13.08 11:35 PM
Trevor, you are doing fantastic work for the Liberals, you set a great “example”, so many thanks are due to you. (And I did have a kitten disappear just shortly after he moved here. I loved that kitten.)
Hi AGAIN Ron p on 08.14.08 11:57 am,
Sorry about the spelling mistakes in the last post to you. Some days I just can’t find then, even on the 3rd read throw check. It’s just the way I came.
(I was trying to be quick and didn’t even us spell ckeck.)
I’ve been watching the committee hearings here for most of the afternoon. The antics of the conservatives is disgraceful, especially del Maelstro and Goodyear. They are doing nothing but delaying, whining over nothing, and attempting to reduce the committee to shambles.
I don’t know how Szabo restrains himself from throwing that jug of water next to him at their heads.
Damn the broadcast is boring…. every question, point, response,…etc is a drawn out monologue of blah blah blah….
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 12:29 pm
Wouldn’t he or the GG be breaking the law under this scenario?
By Mel on 08.14.08 11:53 am
I’ve had two ASSAY reports dealing with campaign literature offered by C.R.A.P/S.H.I.T. candidates in the lead-up to the last election.
The ASSAY REPORTS are claiming that liteature is PURE GOLD when offered as proof the C.R.A.P./S.H.I.T.’s had embarked on a mission to DELIBERATELY MISLEAD the electorate in an attempt to secure sufficient votes for a majority government.
You look for humility and reconciliation. My GOAL is entirely different from yours … and I have VERY HIGH EXPECTATIONS OF SUCCESS.
Your term ‘rancour’ is incorrect. In the circumstances, as smells go, this government is ranker than anything I’ve seen over my lifetime.
They’ve shown an ABSOLUTE CONTEMPT for the democratic process and the Canadian people.
I ask you again … Are you a McVety adherent?
Im finding the Ethics Committee hearing very interesting.
The CONservatives are getting licked!
A blow by blow account available at ITQ
Dee, I know I’ve voted NDP provincially, perhaps federally. I could not support Layton’s NDP’s now. I sent him an email about a year ago stating why.
By kpn on 08.14.08 12:42 pm
kpn: Where do you think the unhappy NDP votes may go in the by-elections?
Regarding: Another Canadian Income Fund To Be Taken Over By Wealthy US Private Equity Firms
-A Direct Result Of Harper’s Income Trust Policy
-Further Actual ‘Tax Leakage’ To Be Caused
-Average Canadian Retail Investors & Taxpayers Loose; Wealthy US Investors Win
TORONTO, Aug. 14, 2008 /CNW/ – Sleep Country Canada Income Fund to be purchased by US private equity firms Birch Hill Equity Partners Management Inc. and Westerkirk Capital Inc. …
These are Canadian private equity funds, Birch Hill used to be part of TD Capital. I don’t know whose money is behind them, but probably some Canadian pension funds are managed by them. Both groups have offices in Canada and have investments in other Canadian companies, so it’s not just the Americans who are taking advantage.
I don’t give a chubby rats ass what the neo-Con-Bots do .
They are deader than yesterdays news .
I am on a personal mission to get Rahim Jaffer and moaning Rona Ambrose kicked out of government (?)
I see a huge Liberal majority Government on the horizon .
Only seats that are half safe are those in Alberta and I feel the two I named are vulnerable .
Jaffer has no profile and the Green Party got the most votes in the last election in Alberta some twelve per cent I believe .Telling us they are environmentally aware .
Suggest everyone pick an MP they really hate and do all you can to disrupt their efforts at re-election .
Use the FAN strategy (Friends and neighbors) talk it up, have coffee parties and talk about the lack of ability of the sitting MP .
Need any ideas talk to Garth or Esther .
Personally O am going to James Carvilles (the raggin’ cajun) site to see what he has to say .
He is responsible for Stockboys decimation his election .
CB Innes, I’ve noticed through my life that common sense and intelligence are not necessarily related. Common sense, unfortunately, is uncommon. I still don’t doubt the guy’s brain power but I do question how he uses it. Some of the most intelligent people I’ve known have been among the dumbest people I’ve known.
Pyotr, no worries. I never thought you were being insensitive. I found your post to be hilarious and a great pick me up.
How are your Helens doing these days?
Harper says he may call an election. Go ahead, here’s one for you!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWqnibJckyg
Robert Gibbs wrote:
Only the Liberal Party has a much more compassionate and fair income trust policy, with a reasonable chance of turfing this CON cadre of crooks.
You are dreaming and deceiving yourself if you believe the Liberals will make any changes to income trusts. In fact for all you income trust feeling betrayed types – there isn’t anyone who will satisfy you on this issue. It seems the reason many of you blog here and support the Liberals is because it wasn’t them who pulled the plug on income trusts.
Your disappointment on this issue may very well go with you to your grave. I am not saying just ignore it – but be realistic and recognize politicians will play you for their benefit. You thought the Conservatives would protect the income trusts when there was rumblings the Liberals were going to change it before. Surprise!
Now you are trusting the Liberals again! Big mistake.
It was never Keen’s decision to make. That task belongs to the tribunal which she chairs. Even if it did get to that stage, she didn’t even have a vote.
By Geiseric the Lame on 08.14.08 11:30 am
OK.
I could rant on about there being something really wrong with the nuclear regulation practices and policies. I could rant on about how the government continues to fails to make any real progress – much to their own fault. I could rant that if progress was to be made, the regulatory body (among other things) would need to be retooled – which partly is my reasons for continuing to believe that Keen (or at least her role) would have eventually needed to be replaced.
For now, I would rather be educated. What then was her role – is the role of the president at present?
By Ed Brooks on 08.14.08 12:56 pm
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 12:29 pm
Wouldn’t he or the GG be breaking the law under this scenario?
………………………………………..
Apparently not, Ed … and this is according to the CBC commentators who were presenting the story.
A minority government cannot just let the opposition hijack Parliament and ride roughshod over it and passing legislation that defeats the agenda of the minority government.
That would make the opposition the de facto government without the accountability.
If Harper goes to the GG, I doubt the GG could install the Liberals as the next government. Under the circumstances, all she could do is declare the Parliament dissolved and declare a general election.
Of course, a general election would put Dion and the Liberal party up against the wall, and they may not want that to happen. The message to the Liberals is to stop the Szabo hearings or else …..!!!!!
Where am I going with this? Keen came into the spotlight with her decision to maintain a prolonged shutdown of AECL that some claim lead to a shortage of isotopes. Read between the headlines though. There wasn’t any “new” event that lead to this shutdown, just something the regulators “happened” to notice and suddenly determined was dangerous. I could stop right here – if this was a dangerous situation why was it not noticed and acted upon earlier? What kind of regulation practice is that?
By Randy too on 08.14.08 10:36 am
First, you need to know that when a reactor is critical and on-line there are areas which are “out of bounds” for personal safety reasons of course and thus can not be inspected.
Second, during the shut down for maintainance, it was discovered that the upgrades involving back up cooling water pumps reported as having been installed WAS NOT THE CASE AND IN FACT WAS A LIE THAT INCLUDED A COVER UP!
HENCE: It follows that this was a disciplinary case and that the deemed needed back up pumps required in the licensing parameters were both over due and a PRIMA FACIA CASE: NON-CONFORMANCE!
FURTHERMORE: If you read the wording of the Nuclear Regulatory Act, it does state that the Regulator MUST ensure that the proper corrective actions be implemented. Linda Keene and the Commission had no legal wiggle room, which she did testify to that effect in the HoC Committee of the Whole. She further pointed out that it was Parliament’s role and responsibility to pass temporary over riding legislation to get this reactor back on-line in its out of conformance status! She also provided legal advise given to her to this effect! REMEMBER that Harper et al also removed her access to the Nuclear Regulatory legal advisors to try to prevent this aspect from being presented as well. That was a Charter of Rights issue as well as a criminal act.
Finally, I hope her case and all of the details of this total incident gets to the Supreme Court of Canada for adjudication. I am very certain that august body will issue a judgment that will wake up all Canadians. What Harper, et al did on this file is not only dangerous but beyond criminal, it is treasonous in the true sense of the word!
We need to elect MPs of better critical thinking standards and track records. Things Nuclear require that they are designed and completed correctly the first time not decades later when we might feel like it! It was apparent on CPAC live that some of the MPs did not grasp the concepts of the testimony, in particular the NDP member for Vancouver Island North, who was not even coherently able to ask a question at her turn! And she is their Environment Critic at that time!
I wrote a piece on it a few years ago putting purpose behind action of the depiction.
By got rope? on 08.14.08 12:38 pm
“Flintstones” is not a documentary .
Yep for sure, only in Alberta, cause the conservatives are going to be hit by a freight train in the rest of Canada!
Big In Quebec too
By Bob on 08.13.08 11:20 pm
Guess your ignoring the latest poll,hunh?
Con-bots are third .
We must reach out in reconciliation and in humility.
By Mel on 08.14.08 11:53 am
Mel – Don’t count on Harper’s neocons to reach out. Not when they produced that 200 page document as to how to ‘kill’ parliamentary comittees.
Fact is that as many or more people think that the Cons are a better choice than the Liberals. Fact is that campaigns and leaders matter in an election and Harper has Dion crushed in both departments. The Libs have realeased the biggest chunk of their election platform and it fell with a dull thud.
Fact is you’re full of shit .
I think you are only half right Liblooking. I spend a fair amount of time in Ottawa and have a number of friends “in the know”….and not affiliated with any party, by the way. Their connections are telling them that Liberal internal polling has them in the high teens and low twenties nationally on 3000+ person polls,
By johnb on 08.14.08 9:20 am
Translation,
I have a friends. STOP
They are not insider Liberals. STOP
They have friends, who may or not be insider Liberals. STOP
I am saying that they are saying that their friends saying,….
Oh ya, this sounds really credible as realable news source.
Purple Monkey doodley doo.
HOW DARE YOU!
Harper refuses to submit his government’s actions to examination and scrutiny. He will rule with an iron fist, beholden to no one.
A passage perhaps not previously reported…
From Thursday’s Globe and Mail
August 14, 2008 at 10:30 AM EDT
Yesterday, Mr. Finley did not appear. Mr. Szabo said bailiffs had reported they were unable to serve summonses to him and three other campaign officials because the party would not provide addresses, saying the individuals did not have party offices.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080813.winandout0813/BNStory/National
Sorry for rambling, but I just wanted to give an update from the ground. Sun is shining today, and I’ve got a couple of hundred flyers to deliver. Have a good one, all.
By sine ingenio on 08.14.08 9:01 am
Atta boy,sine . Way to go . Democracy in action .
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 11:51 am
Who do they trust more … tax-cutting Harper or carbon taxing Dion?
You forgot to mention Stephen Harpers Carbon Tax plan Harry, you always forget to mention that. You also forget to mention that the Green Shift is the Economic Package, a tax shift and the Carbon Budget is the Carbon Reduction plan for the Liberals. You also forget to mention that has no tax shift policy.
Who do they feel represents Canada best … Canadian Stephen or frenchman Stephane?
NEWS FLASH, Mr. Dion is a Canadian.
Who do they most associate with … family man Harper or professor Dion?
What Dion doesn’t have a family, he doesn’t have a wife and kids? When did this happen? When did they die?
But most of all … will Canadians want another Liberal prime minister from Quebec?
Blah, blah, blah,…. That’s right Harry, keep kicking the Quebec Nation in the balls, that will win you votes for sure.
These are psychologically emotional factors and influences how people vote.
Psychologically Factors, like your chronic Cognitive Distortions that you suffer from Harry? We will not even waste time discussing your poor emotional state
Looking at popularity polling we have 15% Dion leading a 30% Liberal brand … while the popularity of Harper and the Conservative party are about equal. We must conclude that half of those voting Liberal do not want Dion as their prime minister .. so obvious..!!!
Like I said, chronic Cognitive Distortions
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 11:51 am
BY TREVOR 08.13.08 11:35 PM
Trevor, you are doing fantastic work for the Liberals, you set a great “example”, so many thanks are due to you. (But did you have to remind me that my little kitten disappeared just shortly after Harper moved here.. I loved that kitten.)
Oh wait, I forgot, Trevor works for the Conservative Party and he was just being sarcastic. I guess that is a fine example of what the election will be like.
Pyotr, you sir are correct, Harper will unleash a blitzkrieg.
Canadians, roll up your sleeves and get ready to rumble if you want to save the women and children.
kpn: Where do you think the unhappy NDP votes may go in the by-elections?
By AToryNoMore on 08.14.08 1:00 pm
Either greens or Libs.
Harper threatens to topple own govt.
The GG should tell him to take a hike and consult with the opposition if they would like to try and make parliament work till 2009 election date.
By Randy on 08.14.08 11:18 am
The Gov. Gen. has another option, which is to request that another party form a minority government, if they provide evidence of third party support. Would either of Duceppe and or Layton offer such support temporarily to get the current Committee work in progress completed?
Politics makes strange bed fellows, they say, but in this case don’t bet on it! They don’t want to be seen sharing any of their power to either major party when they think they can make gains in the poles. Layton may be in for a shock though when all the ballots are counted! And the Bloc Quebecois are missing a chance of changing the balance of power by not running candidates in Francophone ridings in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and Manitoba.
Interesting country we live in! And Harper is about to find out that all the polling in the World can not predict the future. Just ask Paul Martin how much that RCMP announcement mid campaign hurt his career. Funny how Zachardelli got his due in return, also!
Is Crystal Balls a political disease?
(I was trying to be quick and didn’t even us spell ckeck.)
By Greg W., Oakville on 08.14.08 12:53 pm
No need to apologize, I hear you loud, clear and true.
But thanks anyways, you make good points.
I’ve been watching the committee hearings here for most of the afternoon. The antics of the conservatives is disgraceful, especially del Maelstro and Goodyear. They are doing nothing but delaying, whining over nothing, and attempting to reduce the committee to shambles.
I don’t know how Szabo restrains himself from throwing that jug of water next to him at their heads.
Damn the broadcast is boring…. every question, point, response,…etc is a drawn out monologue of blah blah blah….
By Joe T on 08.14.08 12:56 pm
Joe T. Don’t watch. You don’t want to be ill. I’ll check out Kady’s blog tomorrow. I know they say you should know your enemy, but I’d rather read about them than actually see them. As soon as Bush/Harper appear on TV, I’m a quick draw with my remote. Same goes with baby faced PP poly never, dildo mastro, bird boo, and most of the rest of their goon squad.
kpn (on 08.14.08 12:13 pm)
So far I have no major damage to vegetables because we have good drainage. If we continue to have wet weather then it will be a different story. The blossoms on my squash are rotting but there are still a lot of good ones as long as the bees find them. So far we have had beets, chard and other greens, onions, carrots and cucumbers from our garden and I picked beans (they have been too wet to pick until the past couple of days) and dug a few potatoes today and they are looking good.
The lack of sun is really hurting the cucumbers and tomatoes and other vine crops. We lost most of our raspberries because of the rain.
Now you are trusting the Liberals again! Big mistake.
By Ken on 08.14.08 1:20 pm
No Ken, big mistake would be to vote in the party that lied to you…and that is the CPC…even if the Libs didn’t give you back the 10% I believe they proposed, you are no worse off, and if they did deliver you are better off…so for an Income Trust investor there is only one choice!!!
Harpo runs yap in NFL,LB
Dear leader was running his yap in Newfoundland today saying he would pull the plug on his government (?)
Bring it on losers .
The sooner we rid ourselves of these cretins the sooner we can have our Canada back .
Con-bot handbook named “Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap “
Interested to know whether the majority responding to the invite were informed by the blog or ?
Some by blog, for sure. Others by email, mailers, newspaper ads, personal community contact, door-to-door literature drops and local media releases. — Garth
Looks like Harper will take the leadership necessary to stop the opposition parties from making Parliament a mockery of justice and only use it for political disruption.
So will Dion happily sit back and let Harper dissolve Parliament and precipitate a general election, once again exposing Dion’s cowardice and total lack of responsible political leadership?
‘Fish or cut bait’ will become ’sh!t or get off the pot’… and we know how badly Dion is stinking up Parliament with his anti-democratic kangaroo court committee debacles.
I would love to have Harper go to the GG and dissolve Parliament before it even reconvenes on September 15th and before the 3 by-elections too .. LOL
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 12:29 pm
NEWS FLASH TO HARRY!!!!
Harper can not do this, he changed the laws to fixed election dates to stop this from happening. Oh Harry, Harry, Harry, you don’t even know what Harper has done to Canada.
Sorry Harry, the only way the Government can fall is if the Opposition Parties vote No-CON in the CPC, until then, Harper is stuck in the PMO and has to deal with running the country. Sucks to you and Harper, eh?
Pyotr, you sir are correct, Harper will unleash a blitzkrieg.
Canadians, roll up your sleeves and get ready to rumble if you want to save the women and children.
By barb the proofreader on 08.14.08 2:12 pm
I, Zorpheous stand spelling corrected
260 comments from partisan Liberal wackos does not a “big blog” make. But thank you for the opportunity to write.
By The Trusty Toryon 08.14.08 7:15 am
You might want to shave the 260 down a bit. Emilie only shows up when Bill is gone and Sue never misses a chance to praise Bill. My guess is there`s about 6 full time Liberal Hacks with 3 Cons, the rest troll as a personal hobby.
The trolling is out of control, even bringing up old meaningless personal attacks from one thread to the next.
This is a Liberal blog working to inspire door knockers following the traditional bash the opponents into losing political plan.
I have yet to see one thread that had continuity of any value, except of course the usual bash fest, top marks there.
Pity, it could be so much more
By got rope? on 08.14.08 11:20 am
From Garth’s previous`post
Got Rope/Buddy Can U Spare A`Dime
Look who’se talking. You’re constantly bashing everyone Why do you come to Garth’s blog. Is it because no one visits yours?
Dean Del Mastro thinks he’s Perry Mason now!
By Bonnie N BC on 08.14.08 11:54 am
—————————————-
Hilarious!
And Further In Entertainment News:
After having seen Dean Del Maestro’s performance as Perry Mason at recent HOC committee hearings, movie executives have taken note.
As the Conservative MP for Peterborough is not expected to be re-elected in the forthcoming federal election, he will be looking for “alternative” employment.
So, Montreal movie-heads are proposing that he take over the roll of well-known, but retiring, movie star Ron Jeremy.
But, as the usual form of financing for these “straight-to-video” films is expected to be tight in the future, “non-traditional” funding is also being sought out.
As a result, friend and fellow Conservative-supporter Charles McVety of the Canada Family Action Coalition has decided to “take action” and personally help with the financing.
The entertainment world is abuzz!
Garth, could you let us know if, indeed, this was Harpers plan all along to cause all this BS in committees just so he could try and use it as an excuse to go to the GG and ask for Parliament to be dissolved. If the opposition has the right to ask the GG to deny Harpers request and ask if opposition parties would be willing to form a coalition Government until the next election date in 2009. I realize that it would be difficult to have any agreement made with the Bloq & NDP but it certainly would be worth it just to see Harper freek out over it.
By HARRY S on 08.14.08 1:24 pm
Be that as it may, but didn’t Harper pass a law that states the election date will be October 2009, unless the government is defeated by the Opposition?
Is there anything in that law that says the government can be dissolved if the Opposition is obstreperous?
If the bill passed is clear, I don’t see how the GG or the PM could dissolve Parliament?
The blossoms on my squash are rotting but there are still a lot of good ones as long as the bees find them..
By C. B. Innes on 08.14.08 2:31 pm
You can pollinate garden squash with a Q-Tip no b`s required.
Look who’se talking. You’re constantly bashing everyone
By kpn on 08.14.08 3:16 pm
Holding the truth up is hardly bashing and only the abusers of our children that attempt to distract, dismiss, deny, ring any bells?
How about tingles when you hear children cry?
By Randy on 08.14.08 3:23 pm
I would think with the resurgence of the Liberals in Quebec actually 1 point ahead of the Bloc and 7 ahead of the CPC, the Bloc might want to support the Liberals until they can regain their lead. To go now would not be to their advantage…so your idea isn’t that far fetched…
“Flintstones” is not a documentary .
By Men With Hats on 08.14.08 1:41 pm
—————————————=
That one absolutely cannot be topped.
Brilliant!
“Flintstones” is not a documentary .
By Men With Hats on 08.14.08 1:41 pm
Now that`s down right spooky. Just last night I heard someone say they would believe the Flintstones to be a true story before they would believe the green tax shift would save the environment and the economy.
ur a spooky girl
Interested to know whether the majority responding to the invite were informed by the blog or ?
Some by blog, for sure. Others by email, mailers, newspaper ads, personal community contact, door-to-door literature drops and local media releases. — Garth
By Men With Hats on 08.14.08 3:01 pm
Thanks G .
BY KPN ON 08.14.08 12:13 PM
Great minds think alike. In the past years I bought light pots for the deck. I put styrofoam peanuts in the bottoms. Then I duct-taped circles of landscape fabric on top of the foam, taped all around the interior edges for durability. On top I put just enough soil for the annuals. I can move the pots around easily because they’re light. It makes spring planting much easier at my age any shortcuts are good.
“Just last night I heard someone say they would believe the Flintstones to be a true story…”
By got rope? on 08.14.08 3:41 pm
—————————————
That someone was Stockwell-Doris-Day.
BY ZORPHEOUS ON 08.14.08 3:07 PM
Aren’t I polite I didn’t point that out? My Mom was very sweet and polite and I try to emulate her.
By got rope? on 08.14.08 12:38 pm
Hey Got Rope, are you one of those Intelligent Design believers? Yes or No?
Cause that post of your sounds like Bible spin 101 of the ID crowd of crazies.
BY ZORPHEOUS ON 08.14.08 3:07 PM
Aren’t I polite I didn’t point that out? My Mom was very sweet and polite and I try to emulate her.
By barb the proofreader on 08.14.08 3:53 pm
Correcting my spelling is always welcome, if that is only thing you are doing. I just love the rants of some people who ignore content of messages and claim I’m wrong because I can’t spell.
PS. I was to lazy to look up blitzkrieg this morning, and I was also rushing to get out the door.
“during the shut down for maintainance, it was discovered that the upgrades involving back up cooling water pumps reported as having been installed WAS NOT THE CASE AND IN FACT WAS A LIE THAT INCLUDED A COVER UP!”
“If you read the wording of the Nuclear Regulatory Act, it does state that the Regulator MUST ensure that the proper corrective actions be implemented.”
By Truth B Told on 08.14.08 1:35 pm
It was actually the back up power generators for the back up cooling pumps that was not in place – easily verified without concern for personal safety, but lets not quibble.
It is precisely these contradictions that led me to my current view. If the regulatory body is responsible for ensuring that corrective action is actually done, then whereas AECL screwed up in the first place, so did the regulatory body as well. This is something that should have been determined long ago.
Let me make myself clear. This screw up showed the public that there is something seriously wrong and it tainted AECL, CNSC, and the Government. They were ALL wrong.
Go ahead and beat Harper over the head with the firing of Linda Keene. I will not obstruct you. But, at the end of the day it is but a side-show.
The future of nuclear regulation in this country still needs to be properly addressed. When are we going to get to that question? (And I still think that Linda Keene would not necessarily be suited for that future).
So far I have no major damage to vegetables because we have good drainage. If we continue to have wet weather then it will be a different story. The blossoms on my squash are rotting but there are still a lot of good ones as long as the bees find them. So far we have had beets, chard and other greens, onions, carrots and cucumbers from our garden and I picked beans (they have been too wet to pick until the past couple of days) and dug a few potatoes today and they are looking good.
The lack of sun is really hurting the cucumbers and tomatoes and other vine crops. We lost most of our raspberries because of the rain.
By C. B. Innes on 08.14.08 2:31 pm
We have good drainage as well CBI. I didn’t get my beets in this year. DH doesn’t like beets but I do & we both love the beet greens. Don’t do carrots as our soil isn’t sandy enough and we had carrot maggot (?). DH also doesn’t like squash
tho I did put in zukes a couple of times, but neighbours got tired finding them on their door steps 
My cukes are doing great, as well as the beans, but the toms are not. Not enough sunshine. Used to grow all kinds of heritage ones and used to give bags away. We had late blight, IIRC, several years ago, as did most around here, and the toms have never done as well. One of my Brandywines was 3+ lbs. God was it good. Beens are on the menu again tonight – having neighbours in. Sorry about those raspberries. My highbush blueberries haven’t done well since I bought them. I’ve removed one. Bought them in the Valley. Wonder whether we’ll manage to taste the Mirabelle plums this year. Good luck with your garden CBI. At least we know what we’re eating.
Tried to send an e-mail to Paul Szabo at Szabo.P@parl.gc.ca with a copy to PMSH at Harper.S@parl.gc.ca, and was notified of delivery failure for both.
Since I got the address for both from the Parliament website just before sending the mails, what’s going on?
It’s szabop@parl.gc.ca, and pm@pm.gc.ca. — Garth
Look who’se talking. You’re constantly bashing everyone
By kpn on 08.14.08 3:16 pm
Holding the truth up is hardly bashing and only the abusers of our children that attempt to distract, dismiss, deny, ring any bells?
How about tingles when you hear children cry?
By got rope? on 08.14.08 3:29 pm
Rope/CUSAD, I doubt there’s anyone on Garth’s blog that are not disgusted/outraged by those who abuse children mentally & physically. Sure most of us would throw the book at any child abuser. These perverts sicken me. I have second hand experience of them. But, my life is not ruled by them. To allow the past to totally control the present and future, is trully to become the victim. The abusers then become the controllers. Not sure if I’m expressing myself well, but just want to say that at a certain point one has to get over the past & not let it ruin your life.
Just watching CTV with stevie and that mackay guy who screwed David Orchard & called his ex-girlfriend a Dog, IIRC. Stevie says let the govt get on with its agenda or call an election. Guess he forgot the purpose of Opposition parties. Yep, his vision is a fascist dictatorship. What an absolute hyprocit he is. Stevie, your memory is short.
Harpo now has the gall to claim that parliament isn’t working! What a complete ass! It’s his party that is blocking committee work and has turned the House of Commons into a joke.
Harpo must really be getting worried that Elections Canada is getting close with charges, and he is obviously scared sh**less that the Commons committee will uncover all kinds of damaging evidence on his ‘in and out’ scam…. no wonder he is now musing about trying to trigger an election.
I say let him stew in his own juices a while longer.
Indeed. I read about an example of this just a few days ago, another change to politically bias the process and our institutions. Prospective Supreme Court Justices should be vetted by those who know them first-hand and best, their peers who are currently practicing within legal community, not MPs. This would include Crown Prosecutors, law school professors, the executive of the Canadian Bar Association and their various provincial counterparts (particularly from the region where the new judge is to be drawn), and since a predominant number of Supreme Court decisions lie more in the civil rather than criminal realms, leading and respected counsel who are practioners in those areas. I believe that such a procedure for narrowing the field of prospects was already put in place by past govenments to maintain an arms-length relationship between the political and judicial branches, and now it is being incrementally dismantled.
I would also take that separation one step further. Once the field is narrowed down to say 5 candidates that meet the criteria, the selection amongst them should be done by lottery; the Prime Minister of the day can make a symbolic choice by picking a name out of a hat or pressing a button on one of those ping-pong ball cages used to pick lottery numbers. When you’re down to 5 candidates, it really becomes academic about who amongst them is the “best”. The law is too complicated, the role and the need for independence is too important (in practice, judges have to be very careful who they form social bonds with), for an MP — even if he or she is a run-of-the-mill lawyer — to be involved.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080811.wjudge0811/BNStory/National/home
By Ed Brooks on 08.14.08 3:25 pm
If you’re right, Ed … then what Harper has to do is on the next vote of confidence, the Conservative MPs just don’t show up to vote and are defeated .. simple enough … watcha say to that …???!!!
Harper can still go to the GG and advise her that he can no longer sustain his government and recommend an election. If she tries to assemble some kind of Liberal-NDP coalition, that would be quickly defeated by a Conservative-BQ vote of non-confidence.
Such a debacle would force the GG to resign in utter shame and degradation to the office.
The 4 year law obviously is only valid for a majority government, and not a disfunctional minority situation.
Maybe Harper is just trying to bluff Dion into defeataing the government and precipitating a Fall election. Let’s watch things unfold … best show in town now …!!!!
Harpo’s. That is a better class restaurant in Oshawa. They may not like the notoriety this name is getting! Next menu change might also bring a name change so patrons don’t get indigestion!
Not sure if I’m expressing myself well, but just want to say that at a certain point one has to get over the past & not let it ruin your life.
By kpn on 08.14.08 4:48 pm
You have very well.
Now let me express myself.
First the current amount of child abuse is beyond the residential schools. The government is responsible even if they are only allowing special interest groups to abuse children for profit or votes. This is a political blog which is why I`m posting here. My life ruined has nothing to do with the highest number of parent denied children whose lives are being severely limited and in far too many cases ruined.. I`m not here for myself but for the children that are caught up in the corruption.
When it comes to children, country or party, party isn`t even on the list.
no justice, no investment
By Randy Too on 08.14.08 1:20 pm
Maybe you should find that out before you opine that she didn’t do it.
The Act is a good place to start.
Hey Got Rope, are you one of those Intelligent Design believers? Yes or No?
Cause that post of your sounds like Bible spin 101 of the ID crowd of crazies.
By Zorpheous on 08.14.08 4:07 pm
This blog must be proof ID is spotty at best or as the old saying goes, there must be intelligent life somewhere in space because it sure isn`t on this planet.
I`d be afraid of insulting God by calling humans the product of intelligent design.
Evolution with a bit of guidence would be more reasonable than ID
BY ZORPHEOUS 08.14.08 4:10 PM
I figured as much. It’s the thought that counts, and you have great thoughts. Aint’s nothing like the real thing baby, ain’t nothing like the real thing
http://tinyurl.com/5q6xju
Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
Hubby just played a Motown CD.. love it.
Gord, good analogy – Tokyo Rose.. and a very nice, thorough post, almost poetic.
By barb the proofreader on 08.14.08 12:39 pm
Barb,
Thank you for the kind words.
Gord