Related:
Halton Tory candidate caught in ‘fraud’
– Globe columnist William Johnson
Has Tory candidate been assimilated?
– Blogger Runesmith
Day Six
Being a loving husband, I talked Dorothy into door-knocking with me all day. Up and down we went for six hours from stoop to stoop through a section of Milton known as Hawthorne Village.
These homes went up shortly before the last election and boast a population mix which reflects the increasingly cosmopolitan face of this riding. We covered about two hundred houses, and I’ll give you a scorecard on the results at the end of this post. As the doors opened, we faced a lot of young mothers, and a mess of grandparents, in homes that my walk sheets told me housed two or more generations.
One thing they almost all had in common: kids. And lots of them. In fact, Halton has one of the largest populations of under-8 wigglers in the entire country. That means we also have one of the biggest child care problems in Canada.
Just a few months ago I threw some extra light on this by hosting a series of Town Hall meetings across the riding which focused on the hideous cost of caring for children. They attracted for-profit private day care operators, public sector child care workers and scads of parents.
The problem is simple. Child care costs about $13,000 a year, per child in this neck of the woods. Worse, there is a waiting list of four to six months to even get a space. And if you are a lower-income family, the odds of placing your offspring in a subsidized space are about nil.
No wonder among the homes I visited today, there are parents splitting work hours and grandparents moving in – just to try and cope with the oft-unaffordable cost of caring for those kids.
Against this backdrop of massive numbers of families moving in, and a growing child care crisis, we have the unhelpful and hugely disappointing rhetoric of an election campaign. Parents looking for some more help from government are instead getting fearmongering and falsehoods.
The Conservatives, spearheaded by my opponent here in Halton (obviously because this is where the kids live) are now launching a national campaign aimed at spooking mothers. It claims a Liberal government will eliminate the $1,200-per year child benefit which has been in place since mid-2006. In fact, the bald-faced fib was repeated once again on the front page of the local Milton paper, The Canadian Champion, as I trudged among the doors of my constituents.
The PMO-appointed Con candidate in Halton said in it: “This reflects the true Liberal position on the $1,200 universal childcare benefit and it clearly demonstrates what’s at stake in this election campaign.”
But, alas, that is crap. It demonstrates only that the Harper forces love negativity, and have succeeded in suckering my worthy opponent. It’s also, I’d guess, an attempt to take attention off the fact the Conservatives promised to deliver 25,000 new child care spaces per year, and after three years have delivered zero. In Halton, $6 million earmarked for child care was in fact cancelled by Mr. Harper when he gained office.
So, what are the facts? Here ya go:
• Liberals will not end the $100 monthly cheque, per child.
• Liberals will actually add $350 in a new refundable child credit, per child.
• Liberals will give lower-income families another $1,225 in a National Child Care Benefit Supplement.
• Liberals will restore funding for new child care spaces
This is an improvement over the current situation, not a reversal of it. These measures will help more families find child care spaces, and afford them. Families will be better off, not worse. There is no reason to be worried, apprehensive or feel you must vote out of fear, rather than hope.
The people I visited today make up the middle class. They pay big taxes, invest in their homes and families, power the economy with their labour and their spending, and hope the future is bright for their kids. Politicians should never lie or mislead them. We should not seek to their support through exaggeration or false advertising. We should spend our days asking them how to build a better neighbourhood and a stronger country, not filling them with anxiety.
My local opponent is telling cash-strapped moms they will lose $100 a month if they do not vote for her. This is unseamly, from a woman with a $231,000 government salary. Worse, it’s a lie. Worse still, I think she knows it.
By the way, 113 citizens were home today. Seventy-eight recognized me. Just one person stated she was voting Conservative. She said it through a locked screen door, then turned her back.
179 comments ↓
You may think it’s a lie but when your brethren get up in the HOC and claim it’s a bad policy then suddenly turn around and say you’re going to double the payouts it kinda makes people go ..Hmmmm.
This policy was announced in June. The Lib criticism was not of giving parents money, but of gutting funds for new spaces, then promising thousands of them, then delivering none. Hmmm. — Garth
Worse, it’s a lie. Worse still, I think she knows it. – Garth
Even worse voters are probably buying it hook, line and sinker. I trust you are in the Canadian Champion, putting the record straight, and in doing so, exposing the Con candidate.
If not, I assume you’ll be having an all candidates meeting….go get her!
KPK: Were you as critical of Harper when he championed income trust investors and then abandoned them and reversed his promise?
Liberals have always said that the $100. a month taxable benefit was inadequate and was no plan at all.
I was quite surprised this morning to read the newspaper headline; “PM Declares Puffin Poop Tasteless.” Do Canadians realize what was required for Harper to make such a pronouncement? What is he … a galloping gourmet now? I’m going to visit a rabbit warren when I go into the bush later this morning. I’m sure, with the help of my marketing crew, we can offer; “Smartening Up Pills; 3/$1.”
It really is unbelievable, the extents to which the members of the [Polymorph] Conservative Reform Alliance Party will go; to confirm the fact they haven’t changed a bit.
Q—When do you know Harper is lying?
A—Whenever he opens his mouth.
Extremely well said, Garth — and you’re totally bang-on about the high cost of childcare in Canada.
I’m also delighted to see that childcare spaces are back on the Liberal agenda — as they need to be.
When families have to wait months or years for suitable childcare spaces to become available in their communities, the Canadian government is showing that it’s completely out of touch with the real needs of Canadian parents. In the majority of Canadian families with young children (nearly 3 out of 4) both parents are working. This means that childcare is a necessity, not a luxury.
This CBC story reported that none of the 11 Canadian cities that they studied had adequate spaces. In some cities, there were only enough spaces for 1 in 20 kids who needed them.
http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2006/07/05/daycare-study.html
In 2006, Dion was asked point blank by the National Post: “Would you cancel the Tory day care plan?” and he replied with a clear answer: “Yes.” Dion said he favoured the so-called “Dryden Plan” which offered no direct payment to parents. The Universal Child Care Benefit is part of the Tory plan isn’t it?
That was taken out of context. But did you hear the big news? It’s 2008. — Garth
Today I covered about 200km around Montreal, from Vaudreuil-Soulange to Westmount on business.
This is the first day I have seen signs up.
In Vaud-Soul, there are obvious Liberal and Bloc signs – and not one Conservative one. I guess M. Fortier can afford to get nice graphics on his van, but no one to put up signs. Interesting if he will win or not in this typically Bloc riding.
On the West Island, it is pretty obvious the NDP are putting in extra effort to try and make gains at Liberal expense, as these are “safe” Lib ridings. They seem to have about 2 to 1 sign ratio. The last to go up seem to be the Cons. However, the Cons seem better at finding prime locations on main arteries….
Downtown, Westmount has very obvious Liberal, and M. Garneau looks well organised. Again, NDP are most prominent, and Green/Bloc are possible 3rd in number. Then comes the Cons…
All this to say, for a Party with an envied electoral machine, they seem slow out of the blocks in Western Montreal area. The ones who seem best prepared for signage are the NDP, with Libs close behind. There is more indication of Greens compared to past elections.
However, no indications of anyone vandalizing anyone else. Some interesting games about sign placement as usual!
No doubt, even in my “Safe Liberal Riding”, this time around, my conscience says “vote LIBERAL”! If I did not, and the Cons got in, I could never forgive myself…
Ritalin, so much easier than parenting
KPK: Were you as critical of Harper when he championed income trust investors and then abandoned them and reversed his promise?
Liberals have always said that the $100. a month taxable benefit was inadequate and was no plan at all.
By Judy on 09.12.08 8:22 pm
yes I was critical even though it felt was the right thing to do in the long term. Yes the $100 is inadequate but so is $200 after taxes.
Every election we voters are promised tax cuts. Every election we are told we are being taxed too much. How can it be both, should the taxes not have come down from all the previous promises? We have been in the same wash cycle for too long. When will we rinse ourselves of the B.S. stink? I for one would like to see 307 new faces in House of Commons seats when Parliament sits again. Garths is the only familier face I wish to see in the 40th parliament. Hopefully we voters can learn from past mistakes and know that the House of Commons is for commoners, not career politicians.
Elect, don’t re-elect (except Halton).
I wonder when everyone will figure out you can`t change children to suit the adult. Child still need their parents, that won`t change. This conversation should be about how to put more parental time, not less because less will just be a bigger mess. Mischief in Vancouver up 39%, that`s the generation I`ve been writing about this ;last 5 years. The decades of studies, expert opinions and professionals were all right, children need parents.
How many of the 113 are voting Liberal? Is it a close race?
Check back on Oct. 15. — Garth
“The people I visited today make up the middle class. They pay big taxes, invest in their homes and families, power the economy with their labour and their spending, and hope the future is bright for their kids.”
True enough. And they are sick to death of the idea that some politician, (read Dion and the Liberal) want to bring in a short-sighted carbon tax that will cost the middle class a lot of money. Yes I know about the proposed tax cut. But given the Liberal propensity to forget their election promises, I’d say the chances of a tax cut coming from a Liberal government are next to nil. In addition, any tax cut will not make up for the additional costs of goods, including home heating/cooling energy. Couple that with the fact that we will make Canadian-produced goods uncompetitive in the global marketplace, not to mention the “tariffs” on non-green countries being against the trade deals we have signed. I can only mimic Charlie Brown and say aaaaaarrrrrrrhhhhhhhh…..Garth you and the Liberals are so out of touch it is unbelievable. Make no wonder the polls are telling the story. The questions is: Are you and your Party smart enough to listen? I’m betting on “NO”.
Your shorts may be in a twist over this, but not a single person on my doorknocking trek today mentioned it. Who’s out of touch? — Garth
Totally off topic but I feel it has to be said. When is Jack layton going to come out of the nineteenth century. The sob stories he tells are right out of Charles Dickens what’s next little match girls standing on the corner in bare feet blue with cold. I’m a little old widow on indexed NOT fixed pensions
I don’t just take out 40.00 for groceries (btw is that for a day or a week?) If said widow wanted to avoid bank charges why didn’t she use her bank card as a debit card, this story smells.
In the interest of the good fight for our Canadian democracy that you, Garth, along with other brave Canadian patriots give, perhaps those that want to know about the ‘tangled’ web of corporate government control (GLOBALIZATION) will look at this.
http://www.save-a-patriot.org/files/view/whofed.html
In my opinion, this is what the NEW Conservative Government of Canada protects.
I was going to issue you a “Heads up” on this Garth, but seems you already got to it. Note that the quote attributed to Lisa Raitt in this piece, a variant to what you’ve posted above, is simultaneously attributed to someone else in its French variant — Is Raitt a “Two Faces of Eve” persona?, who knew?. Looks like an attempt to give her some gravitas in the battle to depose you, but the author has shown her to belong to the party of dissemblers:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080911.WJohnson0912/BNStory/politics/home
Copyright Lip-service
As a minor digression, what is about conservative politicians and their seeming unwillingness to first ask for permission to use copyrighted materials before including them in their campaign materials? Is it some kind of “right of kings” or “do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do” thing? Several years ago, Stockwell Day twice received cease-and-desist orders for using songs in his campaign without permission. And just this past week, there have been problems on both sides of the border. Good thing with the closing of Parliament that the copyright bill died before implementation:
Garth,
I know it’s early days in the campaign, but don’t wait too long to hammer on how the Conservatives allocated only 5 Priorities and could not manage those few. I speak of course of their dismal failure on the Health Care front. Using their own technique, say it soon and say it often. A simple “Health Care – you didn’t get it done” will do.
I sent you a $100 Garth, hope it helps the campaign and spend it wisely. I can hardly pay attention these days, so hopefully no more signs get trashed with my hard earned bucks.
Thank you! — Garth
Gas hit $1.47.9 / ltr. this afternoon. Reason — Ike (supposedly). Reality check — BigOilUSA is gouging everyone.
This is an excellent time for the Libs. to promote their Green Shift, and to point out to all who have ears that it is a tax shift, not a tax hike.
Tory times are very, very difficult and hard times.
BTW, a new malware / virus is on its way.
http://tinyurl.com/3z8tpe
By the way, 113 citizens were home today. Seventy-eight recognized me. Just one person stated she was voting Conservative. She said it through a locked screen door, then turned her back.
posted by Garth Turner on 09.12.08 @ 8:05 pm
You left out how many are supporting you? Enquiring minds want to know.
Gord.
I’m sure they do. And they all read this blog. — Garth
GGG…..GGG….GGG, GO FOR THE GRAND SLAM, TAKE YOUR BEST SHOT AND TAKE NO BS. Garth you and Dion and your team must call Harper and his clones out just as Danny Williams has, over and over again until they debate you and call the MSM out also and they must demand the truth to maintain their professional integrity. By the way our Debate is the same day as Sexy Sarah debates cool hand Joe so who will be watching our debate….only political pun dents who will spin the hell out of it and I am will to bet the Conservatives already have their words (lies) written so y’all must call the Cons out as lairs directed to past and present facts! It really is cruel to kind….the states are too high our children and grandchildren do not need Bush’s plan to live on through Harper and Co here in Canada. I know you and others can walk and chew gum at the same time, get smart call them out and tell both side when the lights are on!
Garth on another note, when Jack Layton sided with Steve Harper their was a National Child Care programme in the works and the NDP basically killed it by doing so! I am sure that scratching sound you hear is Tommy Douglas trying to get out of his grave to get his hands on Jack Layton’s neck!
Canada has had 20 years to figure out child-care, no one has. No one party. Remember that. Altho it sure was figured out real fast during WW2, hhmm……
A carbon tax should be rejected as it penalizes the poor, rural Canadians and others while doing little in terms of actual real measurable reduction in CO2 and other pollutants.
I’ve changed my mind.
Time to roll out Ken Dryden’s plan for comparisons sake .
Every time I see a Con-bot I want to paste a hazardous waste sticker to their back .
A carbon tax should be rejected as it penalizes the poor, rural Canadians and others while doing little in terms of actual real measurable reduction in CO2 and other pollutants.
I’ve changed my mind.
By Molly on 09.12.08 10:15 pm
Prove it .
Time to roll out Ken Dryden’s plan for comparisons sake .
By Men With Hats on 09.12.08 10:18 pm
Please do, I`d like to know what it does for the children.
Not to rain on the Garth parade (and I do think that he will manage to win his seat again, which is a good thing), but the Libs are in serious trouble.
This is an electorate that is not engaged in the issues and are willing to vote for someone like Harper because they don’t think he’s done that bad a job.
I, for one, cannot figure out how the average Canadian has come to such a conclusion but apparently they have. I mean we have mocked the Americans for the past 8 years for voting in Bush and then we go and do something just as stupid (if not moreso since we should know better)?
So unless the Liberals and Dion get their message out and the MSM finally starts to cover this race properly, we will be looking at 4 long years with a Harper Majority. And given the stupidity seen in Ontario during the Harris years, I suspect that it will actually be 8 long years.
I am thankful to be living in a safe Liberal riding so that when things go kaboom I can at least say it wasn’t us.
It ain’t voting day yet, dude. — Garth
Here are some 2007 childcare stats. They aren’t quite as user-friendly as the CBC story, but they’re important nonetheless. They come from the Childcare Research and Resource Unit at U of T. They don’t have any 2008 stats as of yet.
Here’s the most noteworthy stat in terms of making the case for increased childcare funding in Canada:
# There were 837,923 regulated child care spaces in Canada in 2007.
# This represents an increase of 26,661 spaces since 2006, the smallest increase in regulated child care in some years. In comparison, between 2004 and 2006, supply grew by 65,337 (an average of 32,668 in each year) and by 152,493 between 2001 and 2004 (an average of 50,831 a year for each of those three years).
I was sorry to read about what you’ve been going through on the campaign trail, Garth. In Peterborough, so far we’re just dealing with a lot of smoke and mirrors from the incumbent, Dean Del Mastro. Betsy McGregor (Liberal) has had an amazing first week on the campaign trail.
A carbon tax should be rejected as it penalizes the poor, rural Canadians and others while doing little in terms of actual real measurable reduction in CO2 and other pollutants.
I’ve changed my mind.
By Molly on 09.12.08 10:15 pm
It depends how the tax is setup. Unfortunately the Green Shift will fail as it has in Europe. Denmark’s carbon tax was successful because it solely invested in ways to reduce emission reductions and not other things like income tax reductions.An interesting article in the New York Times confirms this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/25/opinion/25prasad.html?th&emc=th
Hi Garth:
This book on climate change might be of interest to you and your readers:
UVic prof tackles Tories with new book
http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/capital_van_isl/story.html?id=66cd19ed-85dd-4dbd-a14d-1bd29606eca7
Off topic, but just ran across this:
“…I must respectfully object to one comment he [Rex Murphy] made Thursday night in his commentary on The National. He said Stéphane Dion is not a woodsman. … I spent a good deal of time in the northern Laurentians with Dion and family over the 2006/07 holiday season in order to write his biography. I stayed near the Dion cottage and heard what the locals had to say about his hiking, snowshoeing, wildlife, cross-country skiing and dogsledding enthusiams. He’s a fanatic and that’s an understatement.
…”
The issue of whether or not Dion is a ‘woodsman’ is not the issue – the damage that these comments by a journalist with the vast audience of Rex Murphy can do to Dion’s credibility is. Murphy’s comments clearly implied that the This Is Dion video was a fabrication contrived for the campaign in the same manner that Harper-in-a-sweater-talking-about-his-kids was. Nothing could be farther from the truth, but Murphy’s words are now out there for unsuspecting voters to ponder. It’s not worth making a fuss about, but it is worth pointing out.
http://thestar.blogs.com/decoder/2008/09/for-the-toronto.html
thanks for the link goes to:
http://a-view-from-the-left.blogspot.com/2008/09/quick-hits-friday-editon.html
BTW it was the Tories who didn’t buy carbon offsets for their plane. It says volumes about how much they care about climate change.
Gord G.,
I see you’re back out there somewhere. I posted a variation of this last weekend, only to lose it in the filter’s black hole (maybe something to do with that CERN accelerator that just started up this week). So I am trying again, seeing that global warming is a major topic in this election campaign. First, your original post:
Now my reply:
I believe you are amongst those who make much about a decline in temperatures in recent years, as suggested by you post (my apologies if you are not). Such local effects are certainly not uncommon in data analysis; what is more important is to consider the overall long term trend. Context is everything, the snapshot in isolation.
The link below from the US Environmental Protection Agency plots global temperatures over a period of 120 years. The Second Industrial Revolution began around 1850 with the development of steam-powered ships and railways, and later in the century with the development of the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation, all of those technological developments gaining momentum in the twentieth century, and all consumers of fossil fuels either entirely, or at lease to a not insignificant degree in the case of electrical generation. In parallel with that began the upward trend in temperature. Even so, one does find a period of about 25 years of reprieve, a plateau from 1945 to 1970, followed again by a continued upward climb. If there has been again a reprieve in recent years, it is premature to make much ado about it; only examining the tail end in this history while completely discounting the overall trend is folly.
Global Temperature Graph From 1880 to 2000
Now, that said, further data to counter the original arguments against the famous climate change “hockey stick” was just released a week ago. The analysis, in fact suggests that the temperatures overall for the northern hemisphere continue to climb (yes we’ve had lousy summer, at least in Eastern Canada, but at the same time across the Atlantic, Spain suffered such a severe drought that near-daily tankers of water were required to address the emergency). On Friday night, As It Happens featured a rebuttal to the “hockey stick” critics:
Unfortunately the audio links are all screwed up at the moment so until they’re fixed, you can’t listen to the piece. Nevertheless, there have been a whole series of related print articles that you can read, including this one that describes the peer-reviewed paper published by Mann:
I’ll list more articles in a second post to avoid the filter demon.
More “Hockey Stick” Articles
Climate ‘hockey stick’ is revived
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
A new study by climate scientists behind the controversial 1998 “hockey stick” graph suggests their earlier analysis was broadly correct.
Ice cores indicated that temperatures now are unusually high
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7592575.stm
_________________________________
A gnarlier ‘hockey stick,’ the same message
By Peter N. Spotts | 09.01.08
…
For all the thunder and fury the original hockey stick generated (and I trust Mann and his team have their hard hats at the ready again), it’s not the hinge-pin argument for global warming. For that, researchers say, one turns to physics and the radiative properties of carbon dioxide, which Swedish chemist Svante Arrhenius painstakingly calculated — longhand — just before the turn of the 19th century. He estimated that if CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere double, global average temperatures would rise by 5 to 6 degrees Celsius. The latest estimates suggest a 2- to 4.5-degree average increase globally.
…
http://features.csmonitor.com/environment/2008/09/01/a-gnarlier-hockey-stick-the-same-message/
_________________________________
Earth Hotter Now Than in Past 2,000 Years, Study Says
Mason Inman for National Geographic News
September 2, 2008
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/09/080902-hottest-earth.html
_________________________________
Past decade warmest in 1,300 years
Tom Spears , Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, September 02, 2008
http://www.canada.com/topics/technology/story.html?id=f8d46935-258d-4234-bc7d-945940d92503
_________________________________
North hottest for 1500 years
Leigh Dayton, Science writer | September 02, 2008
THE northern hemisphere is hotter now than at any time in the past 1500 years, according to the most comprehensive reconstruction of the earth’s temperature over the last two millenniums.
It’s likely the southern hemisphere is also warmer than ever although data is sketchier, claim US and British scientists.
While the new research also concluded that the so-called Medieval warmth from 950-1100 was hotter than previously thought, the last decade was hotter still.
“The findings deeply reinforce the incontrovertible conclusion that we are warming rapidly outside natural variability,” said climiate scientist Andy Pitman, co-director of the Climate Change Research Centre at the University of NSW.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24279210-11949,00.html
And a few reasons as to why the Sierra Club gave the Conservatives an F+ on their climate policy, here is a reminder of some of the government’s past shenanigans to avoid public exposure to the light of day:
Green policy group axed
OTTAWA (March 15, 2007) — The Conservative government has eliminated a section of Environment Canada that played a key role in shaping climate-change policies now being announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, The Canadian Press has learned.
Frustrated bureaucrats said the move is an example of the government’s zeal to wrest control from public servants over an increasingly politicized issue.
…
Another government spokesman said there are scores of bureaucrats at Environment Canada, Natural Resources Canada and other departments still working on climate-change projects.
But departmental sources suggested the structural shift is motivated by a political desire: stripping power from a group of civil servants and consolidating it in the Prime Minister’s Office.
“People who used to work on climate-change policy are all being regrouped — some into stakeholder engagement, some went into economic analysis. They’re all being farmed off,” said the bureaucrat. “The (policy) work now is being done by a very small handful of people under the direct supervision of (the Privy Council Office) and PMO.”
http://www.meia.mb.ca/WeeklyFYIforMarch192007.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/Page/document/v5/content/subscribe?user_URL=http://www.theglobeandmail.com%2Fservlet%2Fstory%2FLAC.20070315.CLIMATE15%2FTPStory%2FEnvironment&ord=91884870&brand=theglobeandmail&force_login=true
_________________________________
Federal report scorns Harper’s climate-change plan
The federal government’s own environmental advisory body has lobbed sharp criticism at the Conservatives for their climate-change plan, accusing them of overestimating what the plan will accomplish.
In a report released Friday, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy said the government’s plan is vague, uses questionable accounting methods and exaggerated greenhouse-gas cuts it would result in.
The roundtable comprises leaders from business, labour, universities and environmental organizations.
The report examined 22 programs in the government’s climate change plan and found that each either overestimated the amount of greenhouse gas emission reductions it would achieve or had insufficient information to reach any conclusion.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/09/21/climate-panel.html
One environmental group says the document shows that all nine components of the Tory plan are inadequate.
“This government can no longer blame the Liberals for non-performance,” said Beatrice Olivastri, chief executive at Friends of the Earth Canada.
“This report shows that the Harper government has not prepared anything adequate . . . . This government’s plan is inadequate, ill-considered, and chaotic.”
http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6jOqUcg-cXx_K2xUO8q-AL_31Pw
And finally, a related article that illustrates the Harper government in all its past pettiness where climate change is concerned, the “family man” does not set a good example when he and his party cannot congratulate Canada’s latest Nobel laureate:
Okay, so all things considered, Liberal Garth Turner would probably make the best MP for Halton. No surprise there. I have to say that if I lived in Halton I would probably vote for Garth Turner, not because he’s a Liberal but just because he’s Garth. I don’t live in Halton and therefore I’ll be voting Conservative. Good luck to you, Garth.
An explanation and apologies: The previous 2 posts were addenda to a first post that yet again seems to have been lost in the filters (I've tried 3 times with 3 variations to get it to appear; don't know why it doesn't). Without it, the context of the latter 2 is lost.
I am SO disappointed that the English debate is on Oct.2, the same as the Palin-Biden debate. I desperately want to watch both.
I suppose this is already set in stone, eh? I think all parties should, however, try to get the date changed so that they achieve more viewership. How about the Engish debate on Oct. 1 and the French debate on Oct. 2?
If Harper goes tumbling down, it will be because of his attitude on climate change. We are at a pivotal point in our history. If Harper wins we will be isolated in the world and risk being sanctioned.
[
Gord, I'm posting this in chunks because the filter dislaikes something in it and I don't know where it will fail. Please bear with me.]Gord G.,
I see you’re back out there somewhere. I posted a variation of this last weekend, only to lose it in the filter’s black hole (maybe something to do with that CERN accelerator that just started up this week). So I am trying again, seeing that global warming is a major topic in this election campaign. First, your original post:
Now my reply:
I believe you are amongst those who make much about a decline in temperatures in recent years, as suggested by you post (my apologies if you are not). Such local effects are certainly not uncommon in data analysis; what is more important is to consider the overall long term trend. Context is everything, the snapshot in isolation.
The link below from the US Environmental Protection Agency plots global temperatures over a period of 120 years. The Second Industrial Revolution began around 1850 with the development of steam-powered ships and railways, and later in the century with the development of the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation, all of those technological developments gaining momentum in the twentieth century, and all consumers of fossil fuels either entirely, or at lease to a not insignificant degree in the case of electrical generation. In parallel with that began the upward trend in temperature. Even so, one does find a period of about 25 years of reprieve, a plateau from 1945 to 1970, followed again by a continued upward climb. If there has been again a reprieve in recent years, it is premature to make much ado about it; only examining the tail end in this history while completely discounting the overall trend is folly.
Global Temperature Graph From 1880 to 2000
Gord G.,
I see you’re back out there somewhere. I posted a variation of this last weekend, only to lose it in the filter’s black hole (maybe something to do with that CERN accelerator that just started up this week). So I am trying again, seeing that global warming is a major topic in this election campaign. First, your original post:
Now my reply:
I believe you are amongst those who make much about a decline in temperatures in recent years, as suggested by you post (my apologies if you are not). Such local effects are certainly not uncommon in data analysis; what is more important is to consider the overall long term trend. Context is everything, the snapshot in isolation.
The link below from the US Environmental Protection Agency plots global temperatures over a period of 120 years. The Second Industrial Revolution began around 1850 with the development of steam-powered ships and railways, and later in the century with the development of the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation, all of those technological developments gaining momentum in the twentieth century, and all consumers of fossil fuels either entirely, or at lease to a not insignificant degree in the case of electrical generation. In parallel with that began the upward trend in temperature. Even so, one does find a period of about 25 years of reprieve, a plateau from 1945 to 1970, followed again by a continued upward climb. If there has been again a reprieve in recent years, it is premature to make much ado about it; only examining the tail end in this history while completely discounting the overall trend is folly.
Global Temperature Graph From 1880 to 2000
Now, that said, further data to counter the original arguments against the famous climate change “hockey stick” was just released a week ago. The analysis, in fact suggests that the temperatures overall for the northern hemisphere continue to climb (yes we’ve had lousy summer, at least in Eastern Canada, but at the same time across the Atlantic, Spain suffered such a severe drought that near-daily tankers of water were required to address the emergency). On Friday night, As It Happens featured a rebuttal to the “hockey stick” critics:
Unfortunately the audio links are all screwed up at the moment so until they’re fixed, you can’t listen to the piece. Nevertheless, there have been a whole series of related print articles that you can read, including this one that describes the peer-reviewed paper published by Mann:
I’ve listed related articles in two previous posts that seem to have avoided the filter demon.
Prove it .
By Men With Hats on 09.12.08 10:22 pm
Hi men with hats, well I can’t. I’ve been doing a lot of reading. And the Liberals are EXEMPTING the biggest polluters, the oil fields etc., and we, meaning only 15% of the contributors are responsible, yet WE will be paying the most, while the big polluters are getting off scott free. So I’m not up for that. And like it or not the diseases that are rampaging thru the world is from the emissions. I feel sick about it, but no, I’m not going with this plan. Of course the Cons is Much Much Worse, I realize that. But I’m going back to my dipper roots for this one.
You are wrong. The Green Shift will include 75% of all the large emitters, of which the oil sands complex is the largest. — Garth
Dube:
The CP/Google site is no longer up but the National Post article was. I’m taking some printouts to the riding office to put up – maybe on the window to the street. Maybe they’ll let me make a banner, “Get to know your P.M.”
Seems so many people still don’t and it worries me.
Thanks for your posts.
it is premature to make much ado about it; only examining the tail end in this history while completely discounting the overall trend is folly.
Global Temperature Graph From 1880 to 2000
By Dube on 09.12.08 11:59 pm
Dube, I only disagree with the AGW crap, I know that climate changes.
Gord.
I am SO disappointed that the English debate is on Oct.2, the same as the Palin-Biden debate. I desperately want to watch both.
By Marg on 09.12.08 11:34 pm
This is why God invented video tape. And on the third day, She invented TIVO.
Dube -
Man, you beat me to the Globe & Mail article about the Raitt/Verner “quote”. Amazing, isn’t it? I still haven’t decided if Raitt was reading directly off her crib sheet during a phone interview, or if the reporter simply copied and pasted from a press release. In either case, it’s rather pathetic that the Cons don’t trust their own candidates enough to actually allow them to speak for themselves.
All of which inspired me to create the Conservative Candidate Cut-Out Doll. Enjoy.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/12/dion-retrofit-proposal.html
God, I hope Dion forms the next government. I want this!!!!
The earth mother wants this… environmentalists, theists, scientists, teachers, those in the know want this…
Realtors, recent homebuyers fearing/nearing negative equity, home sellers, homeowners getting gouged from inefficient furnaces and high heating bills, everyone fearing a major bottom in housing from Flarehty’s disasterous 40/0 hangover wants this too!!!!!
Yes Dion! (leadership in the right direction. Nice work on your end, Garth)
re: Conservative Government of Canada
BY MARY 1 09.12.08 9:21 PM
Mary, great link.
Bloggers post Health Canada climate change report online
Tories refuse to…but one blogger isn’t buying their explanation..
http://tinyurl.com/434ctd
The Health Canada report is the latest in a series of Canadian studies that have stressed the importance of developing a climate change strategy, but were released quietly. Opposition parties and climate experts have accused the government of downplaying the warnings to avoid criticism about its climate change policies.
Earlier this month, authors of the Health Canada report criticized the government for delaying its publication by at least a year. They also lamented the cancellation of a pan-Canadian tour to promote the document.
Colin Soskolne of the University of Alberta, who is one of the 20 contributors to the Health Canada report, said their findings deserve far more attention than they are getting right now.
“It is a matter of dire urgency that the public be apprised of climate change concerns and that governments act on it,”
Read this thread, So Much Deception in a Single 30-Second McCain Ad, and the comments following it.
Does the team of McCain and Sasquatch Sarah, remind you of Prime Minister Harper and the way his Conservative Party runs a campaign?
Lies, distortions and attack ads are now typical of Harper; he has no integrity! Stephane only now publically started to call him the liar that he is. He needs to do that a lot more often.
Read this thread too, What the Tories Know About You, and the comments following. Many readers are asking, “Do Canadians have no rights regarding their privacy?”
The Chronicle Herald
Atlantic Mutiny Against Harper Is Ultimately About Integrity
RALPH SURETTE
Sat. Sep 13 – 4:46 AM
AS PRIME MINISTER Harper appears to drift towards some sort of victory among the scattered fleets of the opposition parties, he’ll at least be perked up by (among other things) a salutary volley of cannonball from Atlantic Canada, mostly from his own ships.
There’s a message here that will be useful as the campaign, reflecting American politics, opens on a note of image-puffing and evasion of issues. The message is that here in Atlantic Canada, we don’t like characters who pretend to be pure, then come out lying and double-dealing.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1078651.html
No surprise here, as Harper’s CONS basically deny the existence of anthropogenic climate change, despite overwhelming scientific evidence.
Hell, they wouldn’t even attend a Nobel Prize ceremony for a Canadian earlier this year.
—————————————-
Harper would skip televised debate in French on environmental issues
September 11, 2008
HALIFAX – Prime Minister Stephen Harper could be the only one of five party leaders to balk at participating in a French-language televised debate that would focus solely on the environment.
The Canadian Press has learned the Conservative leader would decline an invitation from a coalition of environmental groups organizing the event.
A source who asked for anonymity said the French-language all-news network LCN has agreed to televise the debate.
The coalition organizing the event, which includes Greenpeace and Quebec-based groups like Equiterre and the Quebeckyoto Coalition, confirmed it has sent invitations by email to the five party leaders and followed up with letters in the mail.
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe and Green Leader Elizabeth May responded with an affirmative to the invitation.
NDP Leader Jack Layton said he would accept on condition that Stephen Harper be there in person. If that isn’t the case, then Outremont MP Thomas Mulcair would attend instead, said Karl Belanger, the NDP’s campaign spokesman.
But a Conservative source said Thursday that Harper was only planning to take part in the traditional French and English televised debates already scheduled for Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, organized by a national broadcast consortium.
The source said it would be unlikely that Harper would take part in a debate organized by the environmental groups.
The situation could spark yet another controversy in the current campaign. The Conservatives and the NDP were at first firmly opposed to May’s participation in the traditional debates, before finally backing down on their opposition Wednesday.
A refusal by Harper to attend the additional French debate would do little to help frosty relations between environmental groups and the Tories.
Since the prime minister turned his back on the Kyoto Protocol and Environment Minister John Baird was heavily criticized for his performance at UN climate talks in Bali in December 2007, activists have been on the offensive against the government.
Environmental debates in past campaigns have generally been limited to the MPs who handled the file for their respective parties. But with environmental questions playing a key role in the current campaign, the groups were betting that party leaders would welcome the chance for a verbal joust.
WHY DO HARPER AND HIS TEAM OF CLONES CONTINUE TO MISLEAD CANADIANS?
The study commissioned by the ministry of natural resources proves Dion’s Green Shift Plan would be beneficial to Canada.
“Prime Minister Stephen Harper is snubbing the advice of a “secret” report his own government commissioned that supports the economic benefits of a carbon tax, the Green Party said today.
In a report prepared for Natural Resources Canada last January, numbers provided by economists at M.K. Jaccard and Associates Inc. show that pricing carbon at $50 per tonne would have an insignificant impact on the Canadian economy, Green Leader Elizabeth May said at a campaign stop in Toronto today.
“(Harper) hasn’t read the research his own government has commissioned … and he certainly hasn’t wanted to share it widely,” she said. “This report makes it very clear that tax shifting does not hurt the economy.”
In the report, obtained by the Green Party through an Access to Information Request, environmental economists projected a cost analysis for reducing greenhouse gas emissions with the implementation of a carbon tax.
At $50 a tonne, the report “Cost Curves for Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction in Canada: The Kyoto Period and Beyond” concludes the GDP impact is less than 0.1% a year until 2010, until eventually becoming a positive number after 2015. Pricing carbon at $50 a tonne — as proposed by the Greens — would reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 36 megatonnes by 2010. Under the Liberal plan, which would tax carbon at $10 a tonne initially, emissions would reduce 7.5 MT by 2010.”
http://www.theobserver.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1197775
VIVIAN SONG–Sun Media
Harper CORE themes;
DENY
CONCEAL
MISLEAD
LIE
BLAME OTHERS
By Doug M on 09.12.08 11:29 pm
And why is Garth Garth?
Because he says what he thinks regardless of what his political masters would have him say, whether that be Harper or Dion.
SO in your riding, you’re going to vote COnservative. Ask yourself, who is the best candidate. In fact, when the all candidates meeting comes, go and ask them if they’ll say what they think and represent their constituants or blindly follow the leader and party dogma.
If the CPC candidate is the sitting member, we all know what the answer should be. (Follow blindly) I wonder if that will be the same as the answer they give!
By Marg on 09.12.08 11:34 pm
Ever heard of a VCR? Tape one (The US one), watch the Canadian live. Then watch the other the next day!
By genxmike on 09.12.08 10:29 pm,
Be careful not to read too much in the polls. There is a great deal most pollsters don’t want to tell you. A poll done in Nova Scotia had the Conservatives five points ahead of the Liberals with the NDP close behind the Liberals. The problem: 41 per cent of respondents either said they do not plan to vote, were undecided, or refused to answer. In the latest Nanos poll the undecided alone was at 19 per cent.
The crutial swing voters that determine elections appear to be undecided at this point. Traditional polls (the ones that do not use a self-selected sample which have lower undecided and non-answers) show the conditions for a great deal of potential volatility.
ESSAY ON POLLING AND POLLSTERS
….Exemplified by ACTUAL VOTING RESULTS…
https://zone.artizans.com/images/previews/DEA1566.pvw.jpg
“Within the margin of error—nineteen times out of 20
Pollster Nanos says the survey offers a fascinating glimpse into the kind of polling numbers the party strategists have probably been seeing in their studies of what drives core voters.
He also warns that the reasons someone gives for voting today could change dramatically at the end of an actual 36-day election campaign.”***
*** i. e. after discovering the Harper LIES and HALF-TRUTHS.
Cartoon in Halifax Herald.
http://www.thechronicleherald.ca/toon.php
Well worth the visit
I happened to glance at the above article this morning, began reading some of the comments, and there is something afoot with a poster by the name of “IanBroomfield“. Very cryptic but it seems like this guy knows something, or at least thinks he does, and is giving it the air of consequence. The use of “James”, “bright young star”, suggest James Moore. I’d be curious to know if this is bluster or has weight. His last entries [
the postings do not clearly delimit the echo of another poster's entries to which he is replying, which can at first be confusing, so I've removed those bits]:When is Jack layton going to come out of the nineteenth century. The sob stories he tells are right out of Charles Dickens what’s next little match girls standing on the corner in bare feet blue with cold. I’m a little old widow on indexed NOT fixed pensions
I don’t just take out 40.00 for groceries (btw is that for a day or a week?) If said widow wanted to avoid bank charges why didn’t she use her bank card as a debit card, this story smells.
By Judy Roberts on 09.12.08 9:18 pm
____________________________________
Yes, Jack Layton, quite the joke. This would be hilarious if it wasn’t so serious. He’s apparently in lockstep with Harper following him around on the campaign trail, I suppose to deliver the one-two punch. Then there’s his disgraceful behavior over the Elizabeth May affair. He only caved from his prior agreement with Harper when Dion challenged the media consortium to play fair and they were forced to reveal what was behind their decision to exlude her.
Did you notice Layton dosen’t speak very coherently when he has to digress from his printed talking points. Whatever he says seems to be out of context when he’s forced to ad-lib, like in a press scrum. I suspect he’s been coached by the Harper team. The only candidate that holds up is Dion, the way he listens to the questions and draws on his vast store of knowledge to respond honestly. In the meantine, Layton is still “sitting around the kitchen table”
The decades of studies, expert opinions and professionals were all right, children need parents.
By unintended consequences on 09.12.08 8:55 pm
….I have a news flash for you. Taxpayers willing to help mothers, but it is not our responsibility to pay for mommy careers. If you can’t afford them as a stay at home mommy, don’t have em. I don’t mind helping out, but I’ll be damned if I should pay for a woman to have babies and stay home.
The study commissioned by the ministry of natural resources proves Dion’s Green Shift Plan would be beneficial to Canada.
By PYOTR PETROBITCH on 09.13.08 7:12 am
Ah no it doesn’t. This report does not say what happens when you invest the money in other things not related to climate change. Do you honestly think the refunding tobacco tax to smokers will reduce smoking at a greater pace than NOT refunding the tax? The Danes got it right, Norway didn’t and neither did any of the parties here.
This morning G&M is reporting the amount of information the Conservatives have gathered on specific groups of Canadians included the Jewish community’s…..What? think about it and think again and please get this information out where is CTV when it comes to the truth?
Believe all this and more, and y’all think this is Democracy……….if it were in any other country we would call it many other things and it were years ago what would it have been called?
Garth you better stick with Dion. Iggy showed up in Brantford with Lloyd ST Amand and drew a whopping crowd of 10. 4 were reporters and of the 6 others 1 old guy was sound asleep. Check the front page of the Brantford expositer for details.
Harper would skip televised debate in French on environmental issues
September 11, 2008
By Robert Gibbs on 09.13.08 5:30 am
Of course he’ll skip it. These are the people who basically called Rona Ambrose a bimbo. This opens the door to accusations of political bias.
But back to policy issues:
re: Gas Prices and the Leaders responses.
Jack Layton: Kitchen table vs. corporate board room table. Going after price gougers. He’s just teling us what he thinks we want to hear.
Stephen Harper: It looks like gouging, but we’ll be adressing this later in the campaign. Either he’s putting off the announcement because he knows, given the timing, we won’t like it, or he hasn’t got a policy and needs to make one up. Either way, I hope the MSM have the attention span to ensure they get an answer. And don’t forget, this is the man that promised to reduce taxes when oil hit $80/barrel. (Promise made, promise broken)
Mr. Dion. Maybe he’s being too truthful. Traditional energy prices will continue to rise, regardless of what governments do, as demand increases and supplies deminish.
So we need assistance to ween ourselves off oil/gas. Maybe instead of a refundable tax credit, just give people $2,000 to upgrade furnaces,replace leaky windows, add insulation.
In the UK, 40 years ago, the program was called “a grant.” You tell them what you’re going to do, they give you the money, then inspect that you’ve done it.
To use the CPC slogan “who’s on the right track?” I’ll tick Dion on this one.
Sorry folks to cut and paste, but I wanted it out in full here – it is an important article….please read all of it from the Manitoba Sun.
Joseph Quesnel
Sat, September 13, 2008
Dion the leader, stand up
By Joseph Quesnel
Liberal Leader Stephane Dion deserves more credit.
The first time I met Dion was during my undergraduate days at McGill University in Montreal. Dion was invited to debate Daniel Turp, a politician with the Parti Quebecois, on the issue of Quebec sovereignty.
Dion systematically tore apart the sovereigntist case for separation logically, but with passion. Turp was an intelligent opponent, but he was no match for Dion’s rigorous mind.
“Why is it that you sovereigntists believe a vote for yes means forever, but a no vote means until next time?” he asked of Turp, referring to the 1995 Quebec Referendum. Turp did not respond to the question.
That is the Dion I remember and wish would show himself in this election.
On the future of Canada question, he disarmed his opponents and brilliantly defended unity. During that time, politics were more defined by sophistry than clear, honest thinking. Undefined terms like “sovereignty-association” and vague promises to respect minority rights in a post-sovereign Quebec were thrown around. Someone like Dion helped define the terms and saw beyond the smoke and mirrors.
Dion has not risen to the challenge of leadership. Part of that is his own doing as he has not presented a central message to the public about what he is all about. The Green Shift campaign is a good start.
Some of the problem is not Dion’s fault. The ability to speak either of Canada’s official languages is rightfully a central requirement for the position of prime minister, but speaking it well is another issue.
John Diefenbaker was laughed at for his attempts at French and former Reform Party Leader Preston Manning was mocked for his accented French, but to their credit they tried. Stephane Dion is being given a very rough ride because of his difficulties in speaking English. While this is fair game, it shouldn’t be a disqualifier from being elected. Many people have confused accented English with an ability to articulate policy ideas, which Dion is clearly able to do.
It is unfair to judge Dion by his grasp of English. Jean Chretien developed competency in English on the job and he was a very shrewd politician. For all of the scandals, the Liberals achieved a balanced budget and made deficit a dirty word in Canadian politics. He rose above those who unfairly caricatured him as the ‘dumb Frenchman.’
The role of Canadians, particularly English Canadians, is to get over Dion’s problems with English. It is not his first language, so get used to it. French is not Stephen Harper’s, but this does not prevent him from presenting a clear vision to Quebecers.
Dion’s role is to present his vision to Canadians well. Already, the Conservatives have managed to make the ballot question about Dion’s perceived lack of leadership. Voters do not bother to investigate these issues thoroughly, so they listen to common ‘wisdom’, which is that Dion is a bad leader and he does not know what he stands for. Dion is largely responsible for this because he has not stepped up to the microphone.
As he did on the issue of Quebec sovereignty, Dion needs to rise to the challenge of presenting a clear positive vision that differentiates himself from Harper and Layton.
The message is that here in Atlantic Canada, we don’t like characters who pretend to be pure, then come out lying and double-dealing.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/Columnists/1078651.html
By Robert Gibbs on 09.13.08 5:28 am
Maybe it’s my Atlantic roots (me Ma was from the Rock), but I don’t like liars either. This election is as much about ethics as it is about the environment and the economy, because if you don’t have a Leader you can trust, then anything he says about what he will do about the environment, the economy, health care, child care, can not be taken at face value.
Harper’s latest announcement about foreign investment gave me the shivers. Foreign-owned companies (especially U.S.) are often the first to lay off Canadians and “consolidate” their operations in the U.S. I suspect it is all part of a grand plan to unite with the U.S. This is one promise he probably WOULD deliver on!
By Molly on 09.13.08 12:25 am
Question for you Molly. We all know that the costs of the Green Shift to corporation that don’t clean up their act will be passed onto consumers.
But tell me, what will the corporate world do with the added costs generated by Jack Layton’s plans to take them to court? That’s right, pass them onto consumers. And there’ll be no offsetting tax cuts.
Its the difference between the carrot and the stick. Dion wants to use the carrot, less carbon taxes if they clean up; Layton the stick, clean up or else!
By Jennifer Smith on 09.13.08 12:41 am Your Conservative Candidate Cut-Out Doll is brilliant! Sadly, though, it is too true.
I would like to see a male version of this…Pyotr are you up for it?
Pat,
If you’d like another example of the Conservatives taking the “high road”, juxtapose the recent interview with Harper in the Globe and Mail regarding the arts:
with the fact that the party could not see fit to send any MPs or most importantly of all, Minister of Heritage Josee Verner, to the Governor General’s Awards for the Performing Arts:
So where does the truth lie in this retail version of Harper and his party that has suddenly been manufactured in time for the election? I expect the “Best-Before Date” is marked October 15.
[
A before-and-after parallel comparison to the sudden "conversion" that took place in the Mike Harris campaign, complete with sweaters, would be very useful. Anybody have some old video clips of those commercials?]Dube, I only disagree with the AGW crap, I know that climate changes.
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 12:34 am,
Gord
I imagine you have never witnessed how we affect our environment personally. Maybe you are just not very observant but it happens all the time. You build large buildings that create wind tunnels in cities that affect the micro-climate of cities. You send acidic substances into the air and suddenly you have a major impact on lakes and vegetation over a huge segment of the continent. That you can deny that sending billions of tons of substances into the air across the globe will not affect our environment is simply sticking your head in the sand so you can’t witness the impact. It defies commonsense.
Stephen Harper: It looks like gouging, but we’ll be adressing this later in the campaign. Either he’s putting off the announcement because he knows, given the timing, we won’t like it, or he hasn’t got a policy and needs to make one up.
By James- Chatham on 09.13.08 8:28 am
Oh yes! I know what he will do, just as he has with his soon-to-be announced ‘Environmantel Plan’ ala Johnny (The Mouth) Baird…two years and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Note to James-Chatham: Well, James, it’s nice that you are concerned about my vote but, as I said, Garth deserves to be re-elected. And that’s because he is a darn good MP. My reasons for voting conservative in my own riding are my own and I don’t feel the need to explain or defend my reasons here. Cheers…
All this brouhaha would be unneeded if we simply elected the best person to represent OUR riding, and then let the MP’s select the Prime Minister from the Best of The Best. Just like the NWT does.
The selection of MP’s based on FUD of their party leader is NOT democratic, it is autocratic, or should I say autocrapic?
By Dube on 09.13.08 8:00 am
Thanks for the link and the quotes, Dube. There were other posts that I felt worthy of sharing here too…
“This week Mrs Cadman verified that the tape was authentic and was not altered.
Harper’s team has refused to give over pertinent information to the Liberal defence team.
Today Mr Harper wants to have the lawsuit delayed until after the election?
Suddenly this distracts from the election. How about the Mulronney/Schrieber affair – does that distract from the election also?
The in and out scheme – does that distract from the election also?
I could go on but that might be too distracting for all of you conservative supporters out there.”
“So let me get this straight Mr.Harper…
It’s ok for the RCMP commissioner (who you soon after tried to protect in vain) to open up an investigation against the Liberals during an election campaign on a charge that turned out to be nothing.
But it’s NOT ok to have a hearing into a Conservative corruption/bribery charge–part of a lawsuit that YOU launched–because there’s an election going on.
Ok, got it. I am so glad that you made it clear that your government would be about restoring openness and accountability to the people of Canada, otherwise I might suspect that you’re just a lying hypocrite. Wait…is that sarcasm I detect?”
“Let’s see now, Steven Harper has so far tried to push around and manipulate the following:
- The TV consortium regarding the debates
- Elections Canada regarding the rules
- Our nuclear watchdog
- And now our Court docket?
And the biggest manipulation of them all – The Canadian Electorate.”
Instant Karma about to happen?
Garth,
Some jerks are making your life uncomfortable. I suppose you could find a corner for obsecurity or hide behind a leader or party or become a conservative again and move to Alberta to be an MP. Or, you could be yourself. Which you are.
I am still amazed that you are the only MP who speaks through a website. I never thought there would be a stampede, but one or two others? Surely, there should be one or two but sadly there are not.
Which makes you remarkable and a target.
Keep up the great work !!! You are appreciated. I dare say, you are a champion of a new age.
And if I can ever get my act together, a cheque will be in the mail.
Gary
Red Deer, AB
Hello Mr. Turner:
I just want to let you know that I have watched and listened to you over the years with growing respect. You are an example of what all politicians should strive to be; Well thought, well spoken.
Thank you. You are one of the main reasons I am supporting the Liberals in BC.
My husband has sent you a contribution on both of our behalves, as we both feel so strongly about your contribution to the Canadian political scene.
All the best in your riding.
Ann
Burnaby, BC
Bonjour Garth Bravo et Bonne Chance
Votre porte d’entrée au Garth Turner
Francophone ( S ) du Halton
….I have a news flash for you.
I’ll be damned if I should pay for a woman to have babies and stay home.
By RSandi on 09.13.08 8:12 am
News flash right back at you.
We`re already are paying. We`ve just gone through a period of the highest number of single parents on welfare while 80% of repeat young offenders and 80% of prison inmates are single parent children. With the highest number of parent denied children ever just starting to reach street age expect those costs to go up significantly.
Some look at the situation from the single parent perspective while you are viewing this from the perspective of a tax payer. I am looking at this from the perspective of the child.
The Dreyden plan calls for 2M early learning/day care spaces at a cost of roughly $25B/year, I would like to know what the children get out of it.
Hey Garth, does Stephanie Dion plan on visiting St.John’s to have a Town Hall meeting? I’ve already got the venue in mind: The Landing within MUN (Memorial University of Newfoundland) on Prince Phillip Drive in St.John’s!
I can say this because yesterday, Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton and the two NDP candidates for St.John’s East and St.John’s South-Mount Pearl. This room on campus (UC-3018) is designed to seat about 70-100+ people, the kind of intimate environment which can combine an opening speech on key issues of the election with Town Hall-style questions.
I must say, it really brought out some interesting questions and responses, with the media swarming at the opportunity to see the human face behind a political leader and their candidates.
Although I know the man is busy campaigning in the rest of the country, does he play on spending a day in Newfoundland? I just say this, because many people in the province have huge misconceptions about this plan, and may only trust this leader if they can see him in person.
The good thing is that this venue is publicly provided by the MUNSU (Memorial University of Newfoundland Student Union), so he could get the MUN Liberals to work on organizing it for him!
Just a thought!
“In a democracy, the first responsibility of a party is not to win at all costs, but to respond honestly to the issues of the day and the needs and wants of self-governing citizens. The first responsibility of parties is to make the system itself work.
Parties are conveyor belts that transmit the varying values of millions of citizens and peacefully organize this process to achieve an outcome and create a government. But today’s political players are so consumed with the game that they have forgotten what the game is all about.
Democracy began in Athens 2,500 years ago, and in Canada this year we are celebrating our first legislative elections, which were held in Nova Scotia 250 years ago.
That first contest in Nova Scotia, like elections ever since, required citizens to engage, to think about the commonweal, and to ask honest, open questions of those who would lead them. It required political leaders, in turn, to listen carefully to those questions, and to do their best to persuade citizens to make those leaders’ values their own”
Thomas S. Axworthy is chair of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at Queen’s University.
http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/498571
By Doug M on 09.13.08 9:04 am
True enough. Garth is a good MP, so vote for Garth, the person. When I hear someone follow that with but Garth isn’t my MP so I’ll vote Conservative, I have to wonder, then that person is voting for the party… its a contradiction, but as you say, that’s yours to figure out!
It seems to me that there is more evidence of some kind of conspiracy between Stephen Harper and Jack Layton. The first was to try to prevent Elizabeth May from taking part in the televised debates.
Thomas Axworthy is now reporting: “Our Centre for the Study of Democracy booked space at Queen’s University, invited all the leaders to an inclusive town hall debate for Sept. 29, and had supporters of all parties backing the initiative, when the news came that Layton and Harper had backed down.”
There has been another occasion in which Layton and Harper have worked together in rejecting invitations to public forums: one on the environment in French.
By KPK on 09.13.08 8:15 am
The [Polymorph] Conservative Reform Alliance Party … had the study, and kept it virtually locked away. What apparently frightens you is the fact that the COMPREHENSIVE LIBERAL GREEN PLAN will have the results posited.
I’ve noticed none of your ilk ever posts supporting counter arguments or sources. You just continually flail away in support of Harper’s deliberately misleading mantra.
In any other forum, they would be called LIES … But The Hon. Garth has counselled me to be less confrontational, in order that “the people” decide for themselves.
That’s good advice by the way.
I’m currently HEAVILY INVOLVED in a study promoting the advantages of SOLAR ENERGY, which has been promoted by MONEY AND MARKETS as one potentially significant solution, to household energy self-sufficiency.
I am sure that The Hon. Stephane Dion and The Hon. Garth Turner would be willing to review the study in its entirety … with a view to implementation and supportive financing.
In this case the supporting financing would enable the project to be carried forward to full implementation, at a lower interest rate, with the government covering the “rate spread” between the “market rate” and the “special energy self-sufficiency” finance rate.
Ontario Hydro bills each customer a $17 “fixed charge” on a monthly basis, whether you use their service or NOT.
Dion announces massive program to retrofit homes
Julie O’Neill and Norma Greenaway—Canwest News—Fri Sep 12 2008-09-13
http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=cec0a5eb-a7f8-4a1e-adf1-41f3a0b7542c
By Marg on 09.12.08 11:34 pm
I have Oct 02 reserved for my birthday. Probably go for dinner with my Grampa as it is his birthday as well. I really thank my Mother for putting her foot down and not naming me after him as I would be named Harry, and we all know how populer that would be on this forumn. Is it live, or taped. If live I could probably watch at 5 PDT and then be gone for cleebrations. No DVR or tivo and the Smithsonian asked me for my VCR 2 years ago, so no chance to record.
I would like to see a male version of this … Pyotr are you up for it?
By Lana on 09.13.08 8:48 am
I asked Martha and she thinks it’s a great idea that the general public would support her efforts to turn me into a STEPFORD HUSBAND.
She immediately acknowledged it would be a ‘low-order possibility’ at this late date. She informs me the casket will be closed to circumvent viewing, after which time, she will immediately release me to a TOTAL FREE BURN.
But Martha and I thank you for your kind thoughts.
I imagine you have never witnessed how we affect our environment personally. Maybe you are just not very observant but it happens all the time. You build large buildings that create wind tunnels in cities that affect the micro-climate of cities. You send acidic substances into the air and suddenly you have a major impact on lakes and vegetation over a huge segment of the continent. That you can deny that sending billions of tons of substances into the air across the globe will not affect our environment is simply sticking your head in the sand so you can’t witness the impact. It defies commonsense.
By C. B. Innes on 09.13.08 9:00 am
C.B.,
Your talking about pollution, I agree we must cleanup and reduce pollution, (there’s a difference between pollution and GHG’s).
Gord.
Still in pursuit of Jack Layton. Have you noticed that Jack Layton says I WANT TO BE PRIME MINISTER not I will work with the governing party to get some of my party’s platforms implimented
it is no longer a NDP campagne IT”S ALL ABOUT JACK.
Garth …. Wanna bet that immediately after the October 2nd leader debates that Dion and May will announce a Liberal-Green coalition to Stop Harper?
The study commissioned by the ministry of natural resources proves Dion’s Green Shift Plan would be beneficial to Canada.
By PYOTR PETROBITCH on 09.13.08 7:12 am
By KPK on 09.13.08 8:15 am
As I said in my last, The Hon. Garth has counselled me to refrain from any aggessive ideological submissions and to respect the fact that people must decide for themselve.
But, if I do appear at your doorway, you’ll know who I am, ‘cos I’ll be wearing a flysticker on my arm … with full epaulets at the shoulders.
Investing in Solar Innovation …
Sean Brodrick MONEY MARKETS 08-06-08
What happens if I fund a lifetime roof,
With total solar panel coverage,
And a bypass at the electrical panel?
And, BTW KPK, I’ll be having a cigarette while I’m working on it. I’d like to thank you, in advance, for holding your breath while I’m smoking.
I’ll be thinking of you when I flip the bypass switch.
Environmental debates in past campaigns have generally been limited to the MPs who handled the file for their respective parties. But with environmental questions playing a key role in the current campaign, the groups were betting that party leaders would welcome the chance for a verbal joust.
By Robert Gibbs on 09.13.08 5:30 am
Hi Robert – Do you by chance have a link to this story. TIA
To Dube – Thanks for your great links. Can I make a suggestion. Can you change your font/size as my eyesight is not the best and I find the below difficult to read. TIA BTW, it doesn’t show up in the same font as posted here.
[ A before-and-after parallel comparison to the sudden "conversion" that took place in the Mike Harris campaign, complete with sweaters, would be very useful. Anybody have some old video clips of those commercials? ]
Being in my mid-30′s myself, many of my friends are indeed in a situation were they’re trying to balance parenting and the chequebook at the same time. It ain’t easy.
The reality is that even with post-seconary education or having learned a skilled trade, living on a single income and raising kids is not an option for most families. Many have to rely on their parents (the children’s gandparents) to provide daycare just so they can get out to work in order to survive.
Yes, I’m sure that the gandparents love the kids but they’ve not worked so hard their entire lives to retire to a life of providing daycare. They’ve earned the right to enjoy their grandchildren and to be able to hand a screaming child back to it’s parents.
Single parents have it much worse. They often have to live with their parents, visit foodbanks etc. in order to make ends meet.
We are living in a time were we are relying on immigration to maintain our population because people of child bareing age are opting out of the whole procreation thing for economic reasons.
Income splitting may help some young parents but not the ones who need it the most. The cut to the GST sure isn’t helping them as they simply can’t afford to much that it applies to.
What the average Canadian family/individual needs is a significant income tax cut but it never seems to come. At least the green shift will be a step in the right direction even if IMHO it’s still not enough.
I’d also like to wish the best to Brent Fullard (I know he reads the blog) in his efforts in ridding us of the man who is perhaps the worst minister of finance in Canadian history.
Brent, I do hope that you manage to impress upon the good, hard working people of Oshawa-Whitby the fact that they’ve been betrayed by there own MP. They desrve much better.
Last Friday night “As It Happens” carried an interview with a fellow from the States regarding the strategy employed by Republicans to get enough voters on board to their campaign; what he said sounds remarkably like what we are seeing here now. Whether it was frequent comments from the now tellingly-muted mouthpiece Pierre Poileivre, who commonly railed against and disparaged “elitists” (I note that both Baird and Poilievre have been laying low, it seems, having become too much of a volatile embarrassment to have them firing off in their over-the-top way during a campaign, at risk of tarnishing Harper’s carefully-crafted campaign persona), or Harper’s ‘everyman’ routine (so succinctly deconstructed by Aaron Wherry in his piece: http://blog.macleans.ca/2008/09/08/btc-everyman/#more-7159 ). Harpers announcement yesterday of opening up the country to increasing foreign ownership fits right into the mould described, so must be balanced off by appealing to the “Dougie”, “Steve” and “Heather” short-hand avatars that symbolically represent the ideal target, described in the link you referenced:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080912.welxnpolling13/BNStory/politics/home
Consider the following and see if it doesn’t have a ring of familiarity:
____________________
“Sure, well Sara Palin was the big superstar of the convention and her speech was all about the sort of inate nobility of small town America, how they fight the wars, they do all the work, all this sort of thing, and then opposing them is this kind of elite, this sort of layabout elite who think big thoughts, who live on the East Coast, and you know it’s a stereotype. Another sort of fascinating thing was Mitt Romney’s speech, he claimed that Washington, he claimed that they were running against liberal Washington, that Washington was still way too liberal, that it was run by liberals, and that we had to move it to the right. And this is fascinating because conservatives have been in charge in America off and on basically since about 1981.”
“[ Who are they appealing to ]. Well it’s the blue collar voters in the swing states, is the particular target here. I mean this has been, American elections have basically been decided by this ever since Nixon. Look, if conservatism just had to run its economic appeal, it would lose every election. Conservative economic policies are not popular, cutting taxes for the rich, cutting services, deregulating, this is not something that people really instinctively like. They don’t like to see government hack down. Or what was Romney was saying, ‘Take a weed-whacker to regulations’. Doing that is what’s got us into the current crisis we’re in, you know the banking regulators asleep at the switch. So the conservative economic message is not popular. You know if you ran on that alone you’de never win, you have to make an appeal to other voters, you have to bring other people into your coalition obviously, and working-class people are who they’ve been working on for a very long time now and they’ve been doing it with this anti-intellectualism message.”
“Those things [SSM, abortion] are proxies for class. They sound like they’re just moral value issues, but you’ve got to remember those things are framed, whether you’re talking about gun control, or whether you’re talking about abortion, or whether you’re talking about The Ten Commandments monument down in the park in your small town, thatthese things are all framed as class issues. It’s you, the good honest hardworking people of the interior versus the intellectuals with they’re certitude, they think they know what’s best for you, they said this repeatedly at the convention. It’s a way of talking about class without mentioning economics. It’s very powerful.”
____________________
The Green Shift will include 75% of all the large emitters, of which the oil sands complex is the largest. — Garth
Why not 100%?
THE TORY WAR ROOM: LET’S WATCH ‘ANIMAL HOUSE’ AGAIN!
I won’t provide a link, sorry. Most of my recent posts containing links either get caught in the filter for a half a day or don’t appear at all. I sent a post yesterday morning containing links on Venezuela, Bolivia and gas prices. Guess it was too lefty to fit the profiling some are trying to achieve. Some of the time????? Being that they can’t seem to quite make up their minds. That is always a problem when trying to button hole objectivity.
Anyway, that’s not my main point this a.m. It is perspective, partisanship and being aware and in touch with the public.
A long time and highly successful Liberal political strategist has been writing about Ezra Levant being involved in the current campaign as a member of the CPC war room. Thus the title above. Given the controversies surrounding Mr. Levant it would seem an odd thing to include him among staff involved in this area. I think I understand why they have. The CPC understand that many people are not informed on a wide variety of issues and that Levant has appeal to and understanding of this large group of voters. As such, I expect his ability to appeal to one or two issue voters are being utilized.
I have read analyzes of Mr. Dion on the campaign trail, which allude to him as aloof, disconnected, better suited to and displaying the role of professor. In other words, they do not connect or associate with him.
Next I will mention watching a clip of Mr. Dion giving a speech recently to a room full of Liberal supporters. The partisans cheered wildly, clapped and waved signs as has become the norm during such events. Unfortunately, it kept breaking Mr. Dion’s rhythm and detracted from what he was saying.
On the site from whence the title of this post comes, the author discusses the value of partisan commentators and how modern voters pick up on it and dismiss it for what it is. I would expand that thought further and suggest it in fact does more harm than good. It is so easily recognized for what it is, that persons seeking information and perspective tend to reject the messages as a whole and move on with a lingering sense of being cheated out of their time.
I think it might be very wise to contact this gentleman and ask for his assistance. He seems to understand that the days of Teddy Roosevelt back of the train rah rah sis boom bah campaigning is moldy and not cutting it with the undecided/objective voter.
Lastly, if a party can’t connect with one or two issue voters, talks above their interest level and alienates many of those who question and view political process objectively, then it has lost a lot of potential votes. In the case of the Liberal Party, I don’t think they even understand people who intend to vote for the Greens. Part of that problem might be that they think of a Green supporter in terms of a temporarily lost Liberal supporter.
Mr Barf Turd!
How that election going there knuckle head?
I heard you are going to not only lose the election, but also official opposition status
What do you say to that smarty pants?
Steve
I’d say you just helped. Thanks. — Garth
On Today’s Quirks and Quarks, a timely discussion on addressing global warming by a Canadian Nobel Laureate. Among other things, he praises B.C.’s carbon tax as the best approach to take to get back on track. A must to listen to:
Financial losses Lisa Raitt Didn’t get the Job done at the Port Authority
Not worth the RISK for Halton
Conservative Party of Canada — Federal Party position Conservative Party of Canada fully supports the role of the Toronto Port Authority and the Toronto City Centre Airport.
Like other port authorities in Canada, the TPA is expected to be self-sufficient. Since its inception, the Toronto Port Authority has failed to turn a profit. Self-sufficiency tests conducted on behalf of Transport Canada in both 2003 and 2004 looked at the TPA’s business plan for the future, allowing them to maintain their port authority status as long as they could project a profit.
For 2007, the TPA reported a loss on operations of $1.877 million. After payments in lieu of taxes, other income and non-operating revenue, the TPA had a ‘comprehensive loss’ of $1.096 million on operations. This compared to an operating loss of $6.098 million, and a comprehensive loss of $4.610 million in 2006. The largest change was an increase in revenues from $1.182 million to $5.119 million from the Airport’s operations. The TPA introduced a $15 Airport Improvement Fee in October 2006 on passengers on scheduled flight from the Airport, which generated $1.983 million in 2007. The lower ‘comprehensive’ losses include monies being withheld by the City of Toronto, which the TPA considers as ‘account receivables’, but also an estimate for payment in lieu of tax of $666 thousand. The TPA 2007 Financial Statements list $7 million dollars as being owed to the TPA at the end of December 2007 by the City.
Vote Garth Merci
The U.S. Trade Deficit is NOT a Vice
Jack Crooks MONEY MARKETS 09-13-08
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/issues.aspx?The-US-Trade-Deficit-is-NOT-a-Vice-2231
The costs and unintended consequences of all these bailouts
Mike Larson MONEY MARKETS 09-12-08
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/issues.aspx?The-costs-and-unintended-consequences-of-all-these-bailouts-2223
People like to feel good and fuzzy, even if what they are hearing are lies. Nice guys finish last and this is where Dion is heading – lose a minority and lose his leadership position.
Somebody get a hot spoke and shove it up his bum to get him moving. Get nasty, people will take notice.
Dube:
I get the impression that Gord G just doesn’t like accepting responsibility for his own actions; though possibly he feels that he is in and of himself perfection and therefore absolved from any portion of any collective blame for any effects of the actions of the species as a whole over time past and yet to come.
The Conservatives Idea Of Democracy
We all know that the Conservatives love to say one thing but do another, they’ve become quite famous for it over the years. Their leader Stephen Harper liked to drone on about free speech, not quieting voice and alike, or at least he used to loved to do that when he was in opposition. These days he doesn’t seem to have a problem with hurling insults, running from accountability and using the police to keep the media from asking questions. The way that Mr. Harper operates, I was thinking it was only a matter of time before this style of doing business trickled down to his local operations.
So this morning while recooping from my return trip from Regina and reading through my usual reads, I came across this disturbing article in the Peterborough Examiner about how the Conservatives treated a self-described “interested voter” who dared to commit the Conservative’s cardinal sin: Ask questions (h/t to One Woman, One Blog):
“A protester called city police at the official opening of Dean Del Mastro’s campaign office yesterday, after he says he was threatened by Conservative supporters. Matthew Martin, who later described himself as an “interested voter,” began yelling “What about child poverty? What about health care?” during a speech by Del Mastro and later when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty was speaking.
Conservative supporters were quick to jump in. Several of the 80 supporters called Matthew an “idiot” and told him to “go home,” and laughed while some supporters tried to block Martin’s view. Martin said supporters “threatened to physically hurt me,” which is why he called police.
“I wanted to ask some questions about the Conservative policies,” he later told The Examiner.
“They tried to shut down free speech and stifle dissent.”
Murray Barton, who used his campaign sign to block Martin’s face, later told The Examiner, there was no threat against Martin.”
Yeah, I can’t say that I’m shocked by this. My own personal experiences from the last Federal election have taught me that the Conservatives don’t take too kindly to having their lines questioned or daring to ask for elaboration. I did that at one all candidates meeting in Peterborough back in 2006, and I was heckled and yelled at rather harshly by Conservative supporters, all because I dared to ask Mr. Del Mastro to clarify something that he had said in regards to Aboriginal Issues just minutes before that came off as rather insulting to me. So for giving someone the chance to correct the record, I got the same kind of treatment that Mr. Martin got.
When I read this kind of stuff, I don’t buy the “oh, we didn’t do anything wrong” lines from those Conservative supporters. The Conservatives believe in winning dirty and this is a prime example of that. The Conservatives don’t like answering questions that they are comfortable with and after this ugly incident, we are still left wondering “What about child poverty?” and “What about health care?”. Something tells me that the Conservatives won’t be giving us an answer on that any time soon. They’ve had two and a half years to answer those questions and done nothing, so I don’t expect them to change that anytime soon.
The above from an NDP Blogger
http://cameronholmstrom.blogspot.com/2008/09/conservatives-idea-of-democracy.html
Hi Garth
Of course I am trapped in the NEO-CON fortress here in Alberta where the media take everything out of context to manipulate the public and since NO ONE DARES question the media or big oil deceivin’ Stephan continues to fool most of the people all of the time.
The other issues here in Alberta is that the Federal Liberals have been in opposition for so long that they act like an exclusive club that does not take kindly to newcomers especially if you make suggestions?
The Liberals in the east are VERY different than here in Alberta – much more open and willing to include you. Here in Alberta the Liberals are like your rural cousins -a little suspicious and they don’t “cotton” to strangers.
As long as this mindset persists Liberals in Alberta will be a diminishing minority!
By HARRY S on 09.13.08 11:06 am
CPC talking point/distract #… oh heck I’ve lost count.
But poor old Stephen was complaining that with both Green and Liberal leaders in the debate, there would be two leftist parties present running on the same platform.
Wake up Stephen! From your position ALL parties are leftist! Guess that makes it easy for you!
Hello Go Green,
That font is the only fixed-width font available; I typically use it for tabular data so numbers line up, or in the situation cited, to distinguish from the main thrust of the post as an aside or afterthought. I wish I had more control over size characteristics, but I don’t have that degree of control; only select HTML tags are recognized.
(I for one would like to know how to get images to appear; I’ve tried in the past, but no luck. Must be a secret handshake that Garth exchanges with select individuals).
Does this scare anyone?
What the Tories know about you
MICHAEL VALPY
From Saturday’s Globe and Mail
September 12, 2008 at 11:25 PM EDT
“… The Conservatives have enlisted neighbourhood leaders – sports team coaches, community activists – to report information on voters to the party’s data collectors and introduce potential supporters to party campaigners, a technique known by its acronym of FRAN: Friends, Relatives, Acquaintances and Neighbours.
… ‘
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080912.welxnpolling13/BNStory/politics/home
It should.
Scandalpedia Conservative Scandals
For anyone who wishes to print out broken promises, scandals, etc. of the cons & deliver them to your neighbourhood, I suggest visiting the above site at
http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Scandals.html
I’ll verify my links with the above site, (tho I have most links) but as I said before, I’ll use key ones geared to my riding, and preface them with Tom Flanagan’s revelations.
By KPK on 09.13.08 8:15 am
The [Polymorph] Conservative Reform Alliance Party … had the study, and kept it virtually locked away. What apparently frightens you is the fact that the COMPREHENSIVE LIBERAL GREEN PLAN will have the results posited.
I’ve noticed none of your ilk ever posts supporting counter arguments or sources. You just continually flail away in support of Harper’s deliberately misleading mantra.
By PYOTR PETROBITCH on 09.13.08 11:20 am
Go back and read my other posts. You will notice they are critical of Harper as well. One post has a link to a New York Times Article which outlines the successes and failures of the carbon tax in Europe.
FYI – Con Clangers:
http://www.liberal.ca/story_14488_e.aspx
Instant Karma about to happen?
By Lana on 09.13.08 9:19 am
I think it will. Didn’t know where to begin this morning. Mabye its Harper’s agenda? Its blatantly pandered at the NCC where Harper prez’d for 5 years just before becoming Con leader in 02′.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Citizens_Coalition
Note the above campaigns that the NCC took on for decades before, during and after Stephen Harper.
- Canada Health Act
(a law passed through the commons that guarantee’s nurses and hospitals as publicly financed and run. Why oppose? To privatize and with it, consumer pricing will skyrocket as it is in the U.S. Essentially, the NCC is U.S. corporate multinationals that want the feds to loosen all regs, destroy all boards and remove all trade barriers (especially in M & A’s) that ensures U.S. corporate access and takeover of Canada’s economic sectors to increase and/or outright own market share)
- Canada Wheat Board (with the destruction of the Wheatboard, U.S. grainhandlers/sellers will own the Canadian market overnight)
- closed shop unions (they are union busters all the way)
- Campaigned against Vietnamese boat refugee’s (racist, bigotted, hardly the kind of organization that should be trusted with immigration laws)
Read the wiki link above… quite telling in itself.
What is the NCC doing now? The same thing. Lobbying for U.S. corporate expansion into Canadian markets.
http://nationalcitizens.ca/cgi-bin/oms.cgi?rm=show_category&cid=1
All of them. Including government now with Harper at the helm.
http://nationalcitizens.ca/cgi-bin/oms.cgi?rm=show_product&pid=2
A quick look at what the NCC wants for Canada, and its what Harper wants. A privatized CBC, healthcare, Canada’s nuclear energy crown corp, a destroyed CWB, and deregulated M & A laws that currently keep our Canadian banks “Canadian” and our insurance sector from being controlled by price fixing oligarchies.
Dear Canadians, there are reasons why we have government spending in areas of government run healthcare with nurses salaries and the running of hospitals. Its called inclusion. Access. And a big part of that access is affordability. What does “for profit” do to affordability?
Ask yourselves whether we should go the Harper way and privatize education while were at it and see what’s wrong with it. Or penal systems. Or our judicial systems of governance… Or our police… or our military (as the U.S. is doing now, using corporations for hire to fight their wars)…
Is that sane? Is this the way Canadians should go? Should we go the Harper way and give our ownership/control of our economic sectors to the U.S. corps that lobby/own Harper?
And ask yourselves whether we deserve the Republican smear that were socialist or “liberal” or “so very French” when we have wide open stock markets and participate globally with capitalism and ask yourselves whether or not this is a socialist state. Does the government own your car or house or job or family? Really?
Personally, I’ve had lifetimes worth of Harpers lies. The latest? His government is “centrist”. There is no government that has a goal to leave all of Canada’s economic sectors unprotected and ripe for U.S. takeover with every respect from the film industry and arts, to agriculture, to our service sectors in health, banking and insurance, to commodities, to, well, everything!!!! (except for MDA which, under Harpers new proposed relaxing of M & A laws wouldn’t even make the radar in terms of M & A reviews)
Centrist? This U.S. multinational NCC puppet plant is calling his government centrist now? Just another lie piled on lies, folks. Just connect the dots. Harper, who was first elected with a $50,000 donation from the NCC in 93′ (no longer legal now due to Chretien changes to the Canada elections act) is a U.S. sellout no matter how one looks at it (as long as one looks at it)
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/12/harper-ownership.html
And is he bought by big oil? “He’s done nothing for the fight against climate change”, is an inaccurate statement. He’s done everything he could to make sure that big polluters pollute without penalty, standing in the way of everything that could be done against climate change through encouraging more oil/gas consumption in the face of peak oil for greed regardless of environmental destruction and public will. Remember Bali? Danny Williams is right. Harper’s a fraud and a sham and if Canadians don’t wake up to it, the old cliche’ doesn’t change… we’ll reap what we sow.
unintened consequences:
We`re already are paying. We`ve just gone through a period of the highest number of single parents on welfare while 80% of repeat young offenders and 80% of prison inmates are single parent children.
Duh, you don’t get it…..they can’t afford to go to school go upgrade and get decent jobs and get themselves out of that system – you know the CPC, you’re on your own type politics.
I realize there are those who make a career out of welfare – they should be given a chance to upgrade and get decent jobs and if they make excuses and don’t do it…cut them off.
Dube:
I get the impression that Gord G just doesn’t like accepting responsibility for his own actions; though possibly he feels that he is in and of himself perfection and therefore absolved from any portion of any collective blame for any effects of the actions of the species as a whole over time past and yet to come.
By William Laidlaw on 09.13.08 1:03 pm
William,
Should I feel guilty about heating my home this winter?
Gord.
People like to feel good and fuzzy, even if what they are hearing are lies. Nice guys finish last and this is where Dion is heading – lose a minority and lose his leadership position.
Somebody get a hot spoke and shove it up his bum to get him moving. Get nasty, people will take notice.
By BillR on 09.13.08 1:02 pm
BillR – as I said yesterday, listening to CBC radio, people say they are turned off by nasty attacks. They’d rather our Leaders/parties discuss policy issues. Unfortunately, Dion has had to respond to the con attacks on him. I don’t know why people put so much emphasis on Leadership. I’d far prefer a Leader who listens to his MP’s and develops the best policies based on their input. As it is now, we have literally 99.9% – perhaps 100% of MP’s within the CRAP party who cannot speak without approval of their party & must follow a party script. This CRAP party utterly disgusts me. I wonder how the CRAP MP’s can look at themselves in the mirror each morning without feeling they have betrayed their integrity – if, indeed, they ever had any?
Your talking about pollution, I agree we must cleanup and reduce pollution, (there’s a difference between pollution and GHG’s).
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 10:56 am
I am not talking about pollution but all substances, even steam. Natural occurances such as volcanic eruptions in one part of the world have been known to result in environmental damage in others. The constant emissions of substances affect the cloud cover and block sunlight. The cloud cover traps heat but blocks the sun’s rays. In these circumstances temperatures over a period of time become warmer. As the earth warms the feedback loop increases and the process beings to speed up. Scientists appear now to have been too conservative in their estimates as to when the effects would begin to affect our ability to adjust.
Governments committed to ideological concepts have no ability or wish to change no matter what the consequences. They believe that God gave them the earth to exploit for their individual wants.
Hello Go Green,
That font is the only fixed-width font available; I typically use it for tabular data so numbers line up, or in the situation cited, to distinguish from the main thrust of the post as an aside or afterthought. I wish I had more control over size characteristics, but I don’t have that degree of control; only select HTML tags are recognized.
(I for one would like to know how to get images to appear; I’ve tried in the past, but no luck. Must be a secret handshake that Garth exchanges with select individuals).
By Dube on 09.13.08 1:42 pm
Hi Dube – Is it possible to put it in Bold or Italics? Just wondering as I don’t know HTML, though I should try & learn.
Mr Barf Turd!
How that election going there knuckle head?
I heard you are going to not only lose the election, but also official opposition status
What do you say to that smarty pants?
Steve
I’d say you just helped. Thanks. — Garth
By Steve on 09.13.08 12:22 pm
Am wondering if he’s one of those deliquent,Crap supporters who vandalized your signs and houses as well as cutting vehicle brake lines in Halton recently?
Go back and read my other posts. You will notice they are critical of Harper as well. One post has a link to a New York Times Article which outlines the successes and failures of the carbon tax in Europe.
By KPK on 09.13.08 1:54 pm
Well KPK, I understand your opinion and accept the fact that you appear to be a Doubting Thomas …
However, I cannot accept anything you say beyond that, because you appear to be an UNADAPTABLE Harper Conscript.
I have, locked in memory, the birthday party of a beautiful girl named Sami.
For the life of me, I cannot accept circular arguments about the policy direction Canada should take. I’ve decided and I’m actively on board.
I feel badly that you want to continue in the debate circle, with no apparent willingness to actively engage environmental issues.
I’m sure, when I’m gone, Sami will say, “Granpa was not just an UGLY face.”
If you wish to support Harper, Baird and all the PRETENDERS, that’s your prerogative.
RSandi on 09.13.08 2:09 pm
“Duh, you don’t get it”
Youth problems are directly connected to the lack of parental time, this conversation should be about how to put more parental time in childrens lives, not take more away. Do you get it?
I guess all I can do is keep asking the same question. What do the children get out of the Dreyden plan?
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 2:10 pm
Depends. If your home can signifigantly reduce its carbon footprint with a couple thousand bucks spent on a furnace upgrade that will save chop your heating bill by half or more (because a heat to water to air exchanger upgrade will do this over a regular heat to air exchange furnace no matter how new or so called efficient), and you vote for a pro oil burning government over an environmentally conscious government that is willing to offer loans and grant incentives that will more than pay for themselves within 5 years and substantially lower your personal carbon footprint in light of the glooming reality that climate change is for real, then I’d say you should be feeling more than guilt.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/12/dion-retrofit-proposal.html
Isolating this election issue alone, I’d say you should feel quite stupid as well… but thats assuming you aren’t naive and naturally, thats my own opinion (heavily based on facts, I might add).
A ‘must read’ analysis of politics in Canada:
Andrew Potter, “Gangster politics”, at http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/observer/story.html?id=e89f81c9-68b3-4bbb-b716-888c811f0de2
Sample:
“Running a country is nothing like going to graduate school, it’s more like a form of organised crime. In many ways, the state is just one big protection racket, offering security and policing and a few social benefits in exchange for a form of tribute, which we call ‘taxes.’
“Seen from this perspective, political parties resemble not debating societies but gangs, and the struggle between the Grits and the Tories is not much different from the ongoing turf war between the Bloods and the Crips.”
Potter’s conclusion: “Machine politics is not a perversion of the game, it is its essence.”
Should I feel guilty about heating my home this winter?
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 2:10 pm
If you heat your home above 21C/70F during the day, and 18C/65F at night, yes!
Question:
Where in the hell are the Liberal TV ads ?
I’ve seen the NDP’s and of course the Cons .
But no Liberal ads .
What gives ?
Of course out here in Hillbilly Heaven (Alberta) it is a forgone conclusion that all 26,ridings will be Reform/Alliance blue .
Any campaign is about public relations and dependent uppm getting the message out .
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canadavotes/story/2008/09/13/votes-ads-poll.html
Something needs to be said about the way the Conservative ads have been going. Currently, all data indicates that if the Cons continue to spend the way they have, they will go past elections campaign spending laws by more than the alloted 18.3 million once again. It is beyond doubt that the Cons will spend more than any other party on advertizing. The big question this time, is how much.
Canada Elections said the Cons overspent by 1.3 million on the last election. One can only speculate as to how many votes overspending influenced. If it bought the Cons 5 seats, its 5 seats taken from their opposition. This would have affected the NDP’s ability to become the balance of power, or the Conservatives ability to remain a minority power for 2.5 years.
Did the Conservatives cheat in the last election? They did and all indications are that they are doing it again.
Scandalpedia Conservative Scandals
For anyone who wishes to print out broken promises, scandals, etc. of the cons & deliver them to your neighbourhood, I suggest visiting the above site at http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Scandals.html
I’ll verify my links with the above site, (tho I have most links) but as I said before, I’ll use key ones geared to my riding, and preface them with Tom Flanagan’s revelations.
By Go Green on 09.13.08 1:50 pm
I guess some of us are getting on the same wave length. Here is a copy of a letter I prepared to email out today and will print out and deliver to houses in my neighbourhood.
………………………………………………
September 13, 2008
Hello Fellow Canadian.
Unfortunately in our busy lives, for most of us, politics is low on our priority list. At least it was during my years as a single mother of four working full-time as a registered nurse. Reflecting on this now, in my retirement years with time to research, follow and learn more about the political scene, I have chosen to write this letter because of my deep concern for Canada if Stephen Harper is re-elected.
It is my firm belief that Stephen Harper is slowly destroying the Canada I have known with its compassion for the weakest among us, its contribution to peace in the world and its sense of co-operation and caring. Stephen Harper was CEO of the National Citizens Coalition for many years. NCC was started by a London, Ontario millionaire, Colin Brown with the intent to stop the formation of our national health care plan. In my opinion, our national health care plan is an expression of the Canadian spirit and is a valued treasure. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Citizens_Coalition
I urge you to take the time before voting day to visit a few websites and research the available information with the trust it will help you in making an informed decision in the next election.
In order to evict Stephen Harper as prime minister of Canada, we need to vote strategically this election and generally, that requires that we vote for our local Liberal candidate. Do your best to go to local all-candidates meetings to learn more and get clarification.
http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Bios/Stephen%20Harper_en.html
http://www.scandalpedia.ca/Scandals.html
http://www.liberal.ca/default_e.aspx
http://www.thegreenshift.ca/default_e.aspx
I urge you to visit the Liberal’s “Green Shift” web site to learn the truth and check it out for yourself. One of the reasons I trust that it is revenue neutral and not an added tax to us is that Stephane Dion will have the Auditor General oversee the program to prove Stephane keeps his word. I guess Stephane has an idea of what many of us think of politicians. Stephen Harper appears to care little about the environment or Canadians. He breaks his own law with calling this election.
I believe with Stephane Dion as our next Prime Minister, we will experience a new type of governance as he leads us through some possible tough times to a fairer, greener, richer Canada.
Best regards,
A retired Canadian grandmother who cares about saving the environment for my children and grandchildren and regaining the Canada I was proud of.
Just got this from Michael Ignatieff
The difficulty with ideology is that it boxes in your thinking. Taken to its extreme, it replaces reason and understanding.
The challenges we face as a country are too complex to be answered with simple rhetoric.
Instead of “tough on crime” policies, we need action that combines tougher sentencing and more police on the streets with jobs and recreation programs that offer hope and opportunity to youth.
Instead of telling people not to invest in Ontario, we need a government that works in partnership with Ontario workers and businesses to develop the green vehicles consumers want.
Instead of cutting funding to arts and culture, we need a government that promotes Canadian artists and cultural institutions at home and abroad.
Instead of ignoring or denying clear scientific evidence, we need a government that acts now on climate change.
Instead of cutting back on food inspectors, we need a government that keeps our food safe.
It’s time to free ourselves from the ideological trap that Stephen Harper has forced onto our politics. Please help Stéphane Dion put reason back into our government’s agenda.
Sincerely,
Michael Ignatieff
Liberal Party of Canada
Two Words.
http://green.sympatico.msn.ca/canadianpressarticle.aspx?cp-documentid=623438
Harper skips out on environmental debate! Dion, Liz and Duceppe will be there. Layton doesn’t think its worth his time and will send a party Operative in his stead.
And Harper? The environment isn’t worthy enough to discuss policy and past record.
Your talking about pollution, I agree we must cleanup and reduce pollution, (there’s a difference between pollution and GHG’s).
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 10:56 am
____________________________
Is there really? I live in one of Canada’s major cities. When I’m walking down a busy street, the stench is unbearable. Cars idling, trucks spewing diesel fumes. We have to get off this oil addiction for the health of the people who are forced to live with it day after day. The only plan that addresses this is Dion’s. Layton’s playing a game and we all know where Harper is coming from, helping big oil to pollute more. I shudder to think what a Harper majority would mean. It would mean no limits on the Tar Sands, no limits on the raping of the Arctic. Anybody who thinks this is okay will likely vote for Harper. Voters who would throw their votes away on the Greens or the NDP had better think again. The only one who can and is willing to curb pollution is Dion. I certainly don’t trust Harper to do this.
Having just watch CBC’s program Politics
online because I was out last night I have come to the conclusion that all of the MSM is in the pay of the conservatives. Just think about it most large newspaper owners are conservatives
CBC it’s self is beholden to the government which at the moment is conservative. None of the main stream wants to loose their jobs consequently no good news about Dion.
CTV is stating in the lists of promises: Liberal- Add $350 to the $1,200-a-year child-care allowance. Low-income families would also receive another payment of up to $1,225 a year. Costs paid for with carbon tax.
Is the Green Shift a carbon tax, or a social program tax? Is CTV incorrect in stating that these childcare benefits are being paid for with the green shift carbon tax? If so, why not simply up our income tax to pay for this? Are carbon taxes, tax increases using the environment as the excuse for the tax increase?
Old news. The tax will raise about $15 billion from polluters, of which almost $10 billion will be used to cut taxes, and the rest paid to disadvantaged Canadians. Got a problem with that? — Garth
Garth. Why do make it sound like a bad thing to have grand parents helping with the care of their grand children. I think it is a wonderful solution. I have fond memories of my grand mother living with us when I lived in Etobicoke(Kipling-dixon).
Stop trying to influence the grandmother vote. — Garth
Why are the Liberals going to cancel the Universal Child Care Benefit? Why? Why do you hate kids?
Do you believe everything strange men in blue sweaters tell you? — Garth
It appears the Liberals are planning to commit several billion dollars, per year, in new childcare funding. What’s the sum total for the various promises made?
Should I feel guilty about heating my home this winter?
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 2:10 pm
Absolutely not Gord…UNLESS you asre setting your heat to a level that is absurd, running around without proper winter clothes on (I am not saying you are a nudist), nad using more than your fair share of energy whether you can afford it or not.
We are in this together as human beings. If a sweater gives you warmth instead of non-renewable natural resources then, by all means, please wear a sweater, use another blanket, heavier PJ’s, and use the common sense we all are supposed to possess.
Should I feel guilty about heating my home this winter?
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 2:10 pm
Oh, and please properly upgrade your windows, insulation, and door seals to use the heat efficiently. Also install CFL’s instead of incandescent light bulbs, and turn off lights when they are not absolutely needed. Also take shorter showers to save on heating water.
If each of us do these things it will collectively make a significant difference. Many industries are investing millions to accomplish the same. We, as individuals, are part of this society and have the same duties and responsibilities.
By Judy Roberts on 09.13.08 4:09 pm
It seems to have gone full circle. When the elections in 04 and 06, listening to the radio, callers would routinely accuse the radio hosts, and station management of being in bed with the Liberal party. Now it has gone full circle with callers accusing these same hosts and management of being in bed with the Conservatives. It would be funny if it wasn’t true.
Need to exercise your gag reflex?
The story of Mashline.com
They’ve got a new song release called “I’ve got a crush on Harper” available for download. Have the gag bucket close by before you click!
Mashline.com is registered to Trottier, Jean-Claude which I think is the same PC operative dude as this Trottier, Jean-Claude.
At least they live in the same neck of the woods.
Go ahead, I dare you to listen to the song. It’s pretty lame. Maybe the young’uns will warm up to sweater guy and the CLOWNservatives will win their hearts and minds and ohhh won’t the world be wonderful then.
Tories’ big plan is just old money
ROYSON JAMES
One of the most successfully maddening tactics of political parties is to confuse the people with facts.
So it is with current claims by the Conservative Party of Canada that it is a friend of cities and, stupendously, a party that’s “getting things done for Toronto.”
The imagery and words fired up in this climate of an election is enough to make believers out of skeptics. So beguiling is the spin and obfuscation that the unsuspecting voter has little chance of separating truth from fiction.
The media news cycle often doesn’t help.
Take the eruption from Peel politicians, aimed at rousing its citizens this week to demand greater federal spending on cities. Journalists unwittingly fed this spin to citizens: The Stephen Harper Tories have a $33 billion Building Canada Plan to provide long-term predictable funding for infrastructure across Canada.
By some calculation you can identify $33 billion in a theoretical fund set up by the feds. But, upon examination, the picture becomes murky. It’s almost all old money announced and promised………
Read more here http://www.thestar.com/FederalElection/article/498671
This article reminded me of a blogger named Lorraine who I questioned concerning election promised money & was the monies ever paid out. First of all. Let me stress that I am not quoting her exact words as memory has a way of fading but essentially, her response was that people assume that the monies have been delivered on the promises made so more than likely it never was. I am vague on exactly what the circumstances were but she was definitely a Con supporter. She actually thought it was funny that Canadians were unaware of this policy. To be perfectly clear; I am not excusing the Liberals of being lily white on this issue either but I think Mr. Dion has a lot more integrity than that.
Maybe some of the past bloggers can remember Lorraine & this particular subject at the time.
Regards
A retired Canadian grandmother who cares about saving the environment for my children and grandchildren and regaining the Canada I was proud of.
By Bonnie L on 09.13.08 3:51 pm
Come on, admit it, grandmothers never retire from being a nana, or baba!
I suggest the Liberal Party talk to the other opposition parties to agree to better inform Canadians that the PM was a professional corporate lobbyist for the five years just prior to his ‘election’ and that he was the president of that lobby group. I’m surprised at how few know. It’s important to get that information into this election campaign, so that people can make a judgement for themselves, and look at how corporate lobbyists work, their widespread influence and connections. The PM’s lobby group had previously financed his leadership campaign and it has been very active for 40 years, heavily and unfairly influencing public issues through the use of front groups and deceptive titles, maneuvering public opinion from a plethora of angles. It’s very concerning that the lobby group’s first priority for 40 years has been to get rid of public health care so that their big pharma/big medicine clients/members can squeeze our public system money, fully into their privatized hands. Just like Harper, the goal is not to have a “fair share of the public market” ..it is to privatize ALL of the market. It’s working. You can fully blame big medicine’s powerful, in fact overpowering, hamstringing lobbyists, if you just happen wonder what the problem is with healthcare. Hard-working and honest groups are trying, for more public knowledge in order for everyone to fully grasp this problem and it’s solutions.
“Unsolvable Conflict of Interests Between Private Enterprise and Public Health”
http://tinyurl.com/5hcmre
“Recent discussions at scientific meetings indicate conflicts between industry and public health run far deeper than previously imagined. Leading scholars argue that corporations have gained too much influence on society, in a way that threatens democracy, common good and public health.”
If you don’t want to link to the paper I’ll post some of it in a moment..
“Unsolvable Conflict of Interests Between Private Enterprise and Public Health”
Big Pharma and Health Care:
A landmark paper … showed that individual maximization of profit necessarily endangers the public good, and since the problem has no technical solution, “it requires a fundamental extension in morality”. ….. public health, as a public good, now emerges as a grave example of this problem. Recent events and reports increasingly suggest misalignment between the interests of the pharmaceutical industry and those of public health.
Social Justice in Health Care
…Given the profit motive … a question that emerges is:
“How solvable is the conflict of interests between private enterprise and public health?”
Safety Concerns Dwarfed by Industry
Recent events and reports increasingly suggest misalignment between the interests of the pharmaceutical industry and those of public health..
“Evidence Biased Medicine” …..
Advertising Drugs and Selling Sickness
… advertising gets increasingly powerful using aggressive direct-to-consumer marketing … and sophisticated targeting of consumer groups… A most remarkable tactic for expanding drug markets is “disease mongering”.
Similar Problems in Psychiatry …
…remarkable examples of economic pressures hampering the process of discovering true evidence on drugs and cautious use… Manipulation of data by the industry has biased the estimates for suicide risk … these medications may in fact have no clinically meaningful advantage over placebos and that antidepressants have not been convincingly shown to affect the long-term outcome.
Pervasive Lobbying and Political Ties
Conflicts of interest among senior scientists are pervasive in prominent agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, and many top paid scientists fail to report their financial deals with pharmaceutical companies…
There is constant pressure from the industry on regulatory agencies.
President Bush’s federal action agenda for mental health has met criticism because it promotes unproven screening examinations and a controversial treatment … an Office of the Inspector General, revealed that key officials with influence over the medication plan in his state received money from companies with a stake …..
As it turns out, one of them, Eli Lilly, has multiple ties to the Bush administration: George Bush Sr. was a member of Lilly’s board of directors and Bush Jr. appointed Lillys CEO to a seat on the Homeland security Council. Lilly made $1.6m in political contributions in 2000 — 82% of which went to Bush and the Republican Party.
Significantly:
…more and more corporations are closely involved in the enacting of new laws, in a clever strategy of “if you can’t beat them, join them.”
…lobby from the industry … is deeply involved in the formulation of new regulations. At this point, it appears as if political ties with the industry … limit the independence of regulatory bodies … and jeopardize critical democratic functions designed to protect public health.
[It’s] by no means unique to the pharmaceutical industry and has been used by others.. such as the food industry, chemical and tobacco: proclaiming doubts about safety issues.. ***buying researchers, infiltrating universities, boards, media and legislative agencies.***
An executive of a tobacco company described the slogan for the industry’s disinformation campaign: “doubt is our product” i.e., to promote the impression of considerable uncertainty and scientific controversy about the damage..
A remarkable review in The Scientific American describes how many other industries have adopted a similar strategy..
Corporations have mounted campaigns to question adverse health effects…
In fact, Congress and President Bush’s administration have encouraged such tactics by making it easier for private groups to challenge government-funded research….. to mislead Americans about the dangers that their products present to workers, to consumers and to the public at large ….. public relations campaigns and the manipulations of regulatory bodies by industries to market their products even after they had realized their potential risks.. even after a wealth of information was available [re: serious risk and deadly injury].
Similarly, the food and drink industries … lobby officials, co-opt experts and expanded sales by marketing to children, members of minority groups, and people in developing countries. In all these instances, the obligations to shareholders appear to override considerations about public health. But corporate CEOs are not the ones likely to pay the price of environmental pollution or poor health care.
By contrast.. the cheapest, most powerful, major health promoting options are poorly supported.. because they are too cheap.. and so are markedly underutilized..
Potential Solutions
Voluntary ethical guidelines have been shown to fail..
The independence of regulatory bodies should be strengthened and patent protection reduced. The industry should be excluded from medical education and direct-to-consumer advertising totally banned. Evaluation of new treatments needs a radical, in-depth revolution. The industry will oppose these changes, and with its current power and ties to political forces, a significant move towards correct directions is unlikely. Awareness, research and public education about the problem are necessary to build sufficient political will for change.”
http://tinyurl.com/5hcmre
Public health activists should learn from lobbyist marketing techniques to better achieve an effective and just utilization of health care resources, palliative care and use of older tried and true, effective and safe drugs — imitate the Corporate lobbyist’s tools of marketing, in order to place justice and fairness into the hands of the people.
How can citizens start their own Advertising Revolution?
Warning: National Citizens Coalition is the cleverly misnomered lobby for corporations, not citizens. It seems Harper never really left them.
The “free market” is neither free nor competitive.
“Seen from this perspective, political parties resemble not debating societies but gangs, and the struggle between the Grits and the Tories is not much different from the ongoing turf war between the Bloods and the Crips.”
Potter’s conclusion: “Machine politics is not a perversion of the game, it is its essence.”
By Herb on 09.13.08 3:17 p
Yes, but the tools used are supposed to be legal, more gentlemanly, and sophisticated! Comparing it to team sports, it is supposed to involve speed, technique, talent, planning, and timing, not brute force alone. Where baseball is a game of inches or fractions there of, politics should be a game of salesmanship of ideals and principles, not blatant bold lies to be reneged on at the earliest opportunity.
Old news. The tax will raise about $15 billion from polluters, of which almost $10 billion will be used to cut taxes, and the rest paid to disadvantaged Canadians. Got a problem with that? — Garth
While those things are great, I thought the green shift was about reducing pollution. I have a problem with taxing pollution and paying to childcare. Why not just increase income tax to pay for those things? Does income tax not currently pay for chidcare benefit? If so, if a Liberal government will double the benefit, why use a carbon tax to pay for it, simply cut spending, or increase income tax to pay for it. The green shift is looking less and less as a pollution reduction plan, but is looking more like a tax increase.
Taxes will fall $10 billion because of the shift from individuals to polluting corporations. That is the essence – penalize pollution and reward income. Do you disagree with that premise? — Garth
If you heat your home above 21C/70F during the day, and 18C/65F at night, yes!
By James- Chatham on 09.13.08 3:23 pm
Do you have an air conditioner?
Gord.
Oh, and please properly upgrade your windows, insulation, and door seals to use the heat efficiently. Also install CFL’s instead of incandescent light bulbs, and turn off lights when they are not absolutely needed. Also take shorter showers to save on heating water.
If each of us do these things it will collectively make a significant difference. Many industries are investing millions to accomplish the same. We, as individuals, are part of this society and have the same duties and responsibilities.
By Bill-Muskoka (not anymore) on 09.13.08 5:27 pm
Bill,
Thanks for the advice.
Gord.
Bruce Campion-Smith
in Halifax
Richard Brennan
in St. John’s, Nfld.
Motorists are getting gouged by rocketing gas prices, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says, hinting that his government will soon introduce new measures to protect consumers.
(Stolen from the Toronto Star)
Hummmmmmmmm!
I seem to recall that he “PROMISED” action in the last election?????? Sooooooo I guess this time when he does nothing it was not a promise anyway.
By A.R.Wainwright on 09.13.08 6:56 pm
When Stevie boy was sitting on the other side of the house did he no say: If I were PM I would pass all tax revenue above 79 cents/litre back to the customers? now this during an election campaign….I have not one but two bridges for sale here and they are really big!
When Stevie boy was sitting on the other side of the house did he no say: If I were PM I would pass all tax revenue above 79 cents/litre back to the customers? now this during an election campaign….I have not one but two bridges for sale here and they are really big!
By David Bakody on 09.13.08 7:04 pm
Now be sure to get a good price from those “Blue” cool/aid drinkers.
They have LOTS of money.
Bonnie L,
I got the same message from Michael. In fact, in the last week I have had about five of these electronic 10-percenters from Liberal MPs, some of whom were completely unknown to me.
Now Garth, YOU passed on my addy to the Party, because their e-mails use the Christian name I’ve never gone by, and that only would have appeared on a paypal contribution to my virtual MP. There is nothing else that would connect me to the LPC by official name and e-mail address. Anyway, in the interest of erasing the disgrace, I forgive you.
What is of greater concern is that I hope these internet equivalents of sound-bytes are only a daily reminder that there is an election campaign on, and not a major part of the Liberal campaign effort. As a swing voter, I have seen nothing in them so far that would sway me. In fact, when I opened Ignatieff’s “On Ideology”, my immediate inclination was to engage him about his views on Iraq II, but I know he’s busy right now.
After Week 1, I still think it’s time to get some of the heavy hitters out of the LPC dugout and into the public discussion of issues and the CPC record. Dion may be the leader, but he will not be able to defeat Harper by himself. I am not sure that the LPC can win this thing one doorstep, town hall and riding at a time. Only the blasted mass media will get your word to all the swing voters you need.
I have passed on nobody’s data to anyone. Period. — Garth
Taxes will fall $10 billion because of the shift from individuals to polluting corporations. That is the essence – penalize pollution and reward income. Do you disagree with that premise? — Garth
Yeah but, the lowest income people do not pay taxes, so when their heating bill goes up how is that fair? Also, the Green Shift has no tax deductions until year 4, so it’s not revenue neutral.
Liberals say the Conservatives blew all the money, yet Dion keeps going around announcing new spending. If The G.S. is rev. neutral…where is Dion getting all this money for Kyoto, the gun registry, child care, a home retro refit benefit….and on and on. Which is it? Canada still has lots of surplus like the finance minister says, or we are broke like Dion says…but still plans to spend like a drunken sailor any way… Boy you guys are confusing.
Wrong. Lower-income people will get new benefits, regardless of whether they pay tax or not. A family making $20,000 with two kids will see their cash flow improve by $2,300 a year. And the tax cuts/benefits start in year one, not year four. Stop making stuff up, and we’ll all be better able to make a choice on the 14th. As for drunken, spending sailor boys, check out Jim Flaherty. He’s the spendiest finance minister in Canadian history. Man, are you guys lame. — Garth
Did the Conservatives cheat in the last election? They did and all indications are that they are doing it again.
By brain on 09.13.08 3:50 pm
So Brain
I sent a letter to the editor and they printed it in my small community paper on Friday about the lack of MSN coverage on this important point.
The truth is he has already skirted election laws with the 10% on a technicality.
Who believes he won’t exceed his national advertising limits this time?
Not me.
Sincerely,
Michael Ignatieff
Liberal Party of Canada
By Bonnie L on 09.13.08 3:55 pm
He’s got that spot on. Now all we need is for the Libs to advertise this nationwide.
Liberals will lose this election because their platform is the earths temp. increased 0.6 degrees faranhiet in 100 years! The kooks have taken over! Hard to belive such stupity.
Woopee – I’ve got my local Lib candidate sign on the lawn. I’ve done some volunteer calls over the last few months. If my health permits will try to do more.
Do you have an air conditioner?
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 6:38 pm
Yes.
Max daytime temp 27C, overnight 24C, max humidity 47%, min 40%.
All high efficiency, with a DC motor fan (which uses next to no energy compared to the old AC ones) and can be run at half speed all day.
When we installed it a couple of years ago our electricity and gas usage went way down!
If you want a high electricity bill, turn the fan on all day if you furnace has the older AC fan!
Do you have an air conditioner?
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 6:38 pm
BTW should add that we use it to condition the air (take out the humidity) and not to cool. Thats a by-product!
Using their own technique, say it soon and say it often. A simple “Health Care – you didn’t get it done” will do.
BY DUBE ON 09.12.08 9:39 PM
I agree. But considering Harper’s predilection to help his former corporate lobby group in their takeover of public healthcare, move quick. Big medicine has spent 40 years eating into and crippling our healthcare. Harper is their “FREE PASS”. With a majority they’ll move quickly, as planned over the years to topple our healthcare. I think the Liberals need to speak loud about this and fast, so we can get the brakes back on. People need to see how Big Med has been working to takeover our public money.
What the Tories know about you
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080912.welxnpolling13/BNStory/politics/home/
Truth B Told,
yes, “politics should be a game of salesmanship of ideals and principles”. So how come we are stuck in the thuggery of “blatant bold lies to be reneged on at the earliest opportunity”?
Andrew Potter actually has described Canadian politics the way it is – and has been practically forever. As a journalist with a PhD in philosophy and not political science, he has followed an empirical approach vice a theoretical/prescriptive one, and has come uncomfortably close to the reality. If digital democracy can’t change it, nothing will. We will get truth into politics only if lies face instant exposure and have stopped working.
Oh, and please properly upgrade your windows, insulation, and door seals to use the heat efficiently. Also install CFL’s instead of incandescent light bulbs, and turn off lights when they are not absolutely needed. Also take shorter showers to save on heating water.
If each of us do these things it will collectively make a significant difference. Many industries are investing millions to accomplish the same. We, as individuals, are part of this society and have the same duties and responsibilities.
By Bill-Muskoka (not anymore) on 09.13.08 5:27 pm
Bill,
Thanks for the advice.
Gord.
By Gord G. on 09.13.08 6:42 pm
Bruce Campion-Smith
in Halifax
Richard Brennan
in St. John’s, Nfld.
Motorists are getting gouged by rocketing gas prices, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says, hinting that his government will soon introduce new measures to protect consumers.
(Stolen from the Toronto Star)
Hummmmmmmmm!
I seem to recall that he “PROMISED” action in the last election?????? Sooooooo I guess this time when he does nothing it was not a promise anyway.
By A.R.Wainwright on 09.13.08 6:56 pm
Bill & ARW – We’ve been enviro friendly for many years! Unfortunately I still have to check what my hubby puts in the various enviro bins ! He’s a late bloomer
Actually, we do have to renew some of our windows with more efficient ones, even tho ours are double pane. Wish we could afford solar panels, etc.
Old news. The tax will raise about $15 billion from polluters, of which almost $10 billion will be used to cut taxes, and the rest paid to disadvantaged Canadians. Got a problem with that? — Garth
I heard a couple of undecided voters on CBC’s the House this AM. One was saying he didn’t understand the Green Shift and it got me thinking. (Yea, I know, I shouldn’t do that, it could be dangerous!)
I think the issue with the understanding of the Green Shift is that its totally different from the small tax tweaks that are the usual promises in elections.
People are used to a 1% cut in income taxes, a raise in personal allowance, or an increase in a benefit here or there.
But with the Green Shift, its not just tweaking, its a whole different approach to dealing with the emitters of GHGs. It does a whole range of things, taxes carbon emissions, gives credits for reducing those emissions, give income and corporate tax reductions, and, as you point out, Garth, even has soom left over to help the disadvantaged.
Its a package. Not what Harper is promising when he says, “Same as usual but I can promise this little tweak because its affordable (read rounding error in the budget)”
http://www.mashline.com/music/Mashline%20Girl%20-%20I‘ve%20got%20a%20crush%20on%20Harper.wma
I thought you were joking, that this was a spoof, but after listening, I can only conclude that the composers are dead serious. It’s highly reminiscent of the cult-like “JFK” swooning and comparisons that went on over on sites like Free Dominion when Harper first took office, and should be a big hit with those who purchase the calendar, and made a pilgrimage to the photo shrine last Christmas. The music itself reminds me of what one might encounter on a Disney cartoon – perhaps that’s next.
I don’t know if this was to counter the song released by the Suicide Pilots titled “Harper Youth” released this past year, or maybe the Conservatives just got tired of continually being charged with copyright violation. All I can say is that it was novel a couple years when the song “I Want A Man Like Putin” hit the European charts, but this one really takes the cake.
Embarrassed or egomaniac, I wonder which it is? Bronze statue to follow?
Of course he’ll skip it. These are the people who basically called Rona Ambrose a bimbo. This opens the door to accusations of political bias.
By KPK on 09.13.08 8:28 am
KPK – She was a Harpo parrot. I don’t give a damn if she’s female or not. Call a spade a spade. Noone in Harpo’s party dare say a word without Harpo or his inner circle approving a word beforehand. Harpo won’t attend because he knows his plan is the sh?ts in comparison to other party plans. He’s offering an intensity based plan that only increases GHG.
By gary v on 09.13.08 7:45 pm
0.6 Fahrenheit doesn’t seem a whole lot, does it. (I’m assuming your number is correct.) But the kooks as you call them haven’t taken over.
They look at things like the Great Barrier Reef and notice that large parts are dying because of the small increases in water temperature. Or the Arctic Ice pack which is melting faster and not coming back. That’s stuff that can be observed and measured. Why do you think Harper is all hot-to-tot about Arctic Sovreignty? Because the Northwest Passage will be ice free!
They also look at weather patterns and how they appear to be changing. Note, the correct name is Climate Change, not Global Warming.
Sure there are some that blow the whole thing out of proportion, but the kooks are the ones who deny the science.
Embarrassed or egomaniac, I wonder which it is? Bronze statue to follow?
By Dube on 09.13.08 8:09 pm
Dube I won’t even visit the site. And neither SDA. There’s enuf in life to make one vomit without visiting sites like those.
If the cheese gets binding regarding Harper getting re-elected, I sure would love it if Elizabeth May would act for the highest good, and ask Green Party supporters to vote Liberal this election and then we could return to regular elections the next time around since I assume Harper would be gone. I think Harper is counting on winning because of the split vote between the Liberals, NDP and Green Party. It
is his negativity and dirty tricks that has set the tone for the past two years and up to and including the present. We are not the US and we do not want the dirty politics of the Republicans. Just look what they have done to our neighbour’s country and if Harper has his way, he will do it here. His past behavior indicates his future behavior. Given his setting of the negative attitude, the destruction and violence in Guelph and in Garth’s riding is understandable.
Yes. Those are fairly straightforward. Here’s a few examples, a couple others you might want to try. Type exactly as shown:
Type: <i>This is in italics.</i>
And get: This is in italics.
Type: <b>This is in italics.</b>
And get: This is in bold.
Type: <b><i>This is in bold italics.</i></b>
And get: This is in bold italics.
Type: <code>This is in fixed-width font.</code>
And get:
This is in fixed-width font.Type: <blockquote>This is indented (and in italics by default).</blockquote>
And get:
With the above, you should be on your way to formatting most posts, with emphasis and distinction where desired.
Oops. Correction:
Type: <b>This is in
italicsbold.</b>And get: This is in bold.
“I have passed on nobody’s data to anyone. Period. — Garth”
I do not doubt your word, Garth. I may have closed the loop myself: paypal contribution to you by e-mail showing donor’s official paypal account name and the originating e-mail address, registered with the Party as a political contribution. And now I’m tagged as a Liberal supporter.
Also had a call from a young man who thought that, since I had made a contribution to the local campaign in Halton, I might want to make one to the federal campaign. Told him that my Halton contribution was for the re-election of one Garth Turner, and had nothing to do with the federal LPC.
I’m not even a little bit pregnant. Until a party comes along that credibly will work for the common good all the time, I will stay a non-partian swing voter. And every time I have voted to change the government in the last forty-odd years, the government has changed. Really. Harper, look out!
KPK – She was a Harpo parrot. I don’t give a damn if she’s female or not. Call a spade a spade. Noone in Harpo’s party dare say a word without Harpo or his inner circle approving a word beforehand. Harpo won’t attend because he knows his plan is the sh?ts in comparison to other party plans. He’s offering an intensity based plan that only increases GHG.
By Go Green on 09.13.08 8:24 pm
That may be his true reason but that is not the excuse he’ll give in public.
Sure there are some that blow the whole thing out of proportion, but the kooks are the ones who deny the science.
By James- Chatham on 09.13.08 8:30 pm
Every green plan by every political party could be combined by adding them all together. Even if the total GHG reduction amount reached 100% of Canadian output it would have no on climate change.
The BC Pine Beetle puts out as much as every car in Canada.
That`s the science, the green plans are just an excuse to tax.
Propaganda is a subtle form of terrorism by which means Governments seek to control the population/proletariat by reinforcing negative images and messages .
I always considered Canada to be a ‘smart’ country that would not fall for Con indoctrination .Perhaps I am wrong .
All I know is the Cons machine is running on the fuel of lies,distortions and deceit .
We have to counter all the ‘white noise’ being generated by the Con-bot machine .
We have to be bigger and better with a strong message .
BTW should add that we use it to condition the air (take out the humidity) and not to cool. Thats a by-product!
By James- Chatham on 09.13.08 7:50 pm
Whatever!
Gord.
“Garth. Why do make it sound like a bad thing to have grand parents helping with the care of their grand children. I think it is a wonderful solution.”
By Bob on 09.13.08 4:38 pm
Well, Bob, as a parent you probably think this is a wonderful solution. But, as a grandmother, I don’t feel the same way. My grandchildren are out of province so it isn’t an issue in my family; however, I see many young parents taking advantage of their own parents to provide childcare for them, often for little or no money. To look after my grandkids while their parents take a holiday would not be a problem, but on a routine, daily basis it would not be possible.
You should realize that your own parents raised you and your siblings, perhaps are now retired and want to enjoy their last few remaining years. In case you didn’t know, older folks tire more easily and young children require constant attention. Bottom line: It is not fair to expect aging grandparents to be the primary caregivers to young children.
Another issue: education. I do believe that young children benefit greatly from receiving the stimulus of early childhood education. Yes, it’s expensive to us as a society, but investment brings returns.
Liberals will lose this election because their platform is the earths temp. increased 0.6 degrees faranhiet in 100 years! The kooks have taken over! Hard to belive such stupity.
By gary v on 09.13.08 7:45 pm
Well Gary, for your insight I tried to google the question about how much does a 0.1% shift in the mean [average] annual temperature come to in terms of total giga-calories. This data is not readily available upon a simple search, but I did find this:
http://www.nist.gov/public_affairs/factsheet/climate_change2009.html
I think that the scientists miss the concept that most average people do not comprehend what is meant by such shift in the mode and mean of the statistical distribution of the data plots. That is why I think it makes far more sense to state/report in terms of total absolute heat content represented by such a figure as the +0.6% mentioned above.
It is also important to take an over view type of look at the world wide results of this shift.
The African Continent had 14 glaciers but now has only 6 with the most famous one Mt. Kilmanjaro’s stratopheric volcano cone with less than half of the snow cover it once had around the turn of the century, Glacier National Park/Waterton Lakes now have 23 less glaciers, the whole of Greenland lost 23″ thickness to its total icecap in 2006 as measured by Radarsat [Cdn] measurements, and now the North West Passage is for the first time open navigable waters.
Deny climate change all you want, but the evidence proves that you are in absolute error!
Now it is more logical and productive to debate what the source contributors are to the changes observed, and the per cent each contributes to the total.
It is an undeniable fact that world wide there has been a 50% reduction in forest cover as now measurable by satellites, and I submit that it is this change that has proceeded very subtly over the past 3 centuries with serious acceleration during the last half century is to be blamed.
Trees are the natural CO2} devices for capture and sequestration of Carbon with Oxygen release as the big bonus. It will take a concerted effort by many nations to restore/reforest the available spaces which are now far less than were originally.
It is not rocket science but it is organic chemistry. We also need more trees for future lumber supplies needed by increasing populations.
So why are you not buying into the solution to the real problem? I suggest it is time to re-examine your position.
By Herb on 09.13.08 9:12 pm
Elections Canada has a list of individual/corporate/organization donors anyone can access online with any province in Canada. I was there this morning and I believe one can go back as far as 93′ to look at individual donors to parties and their candidates running.
Hope that helps!
Bonnie L:
Most local Conservative ads have candidate names sponsoring the ad now and in some cases, has two candidate names for English and French. There is no question that they will spend as much as possible legally, although its safe to say that they will stretch the boundaries of legality far more than it was ever intended.
Personally, I’m predicting the Cons to spend as much as 30 million on this election in advertizing through national party/candidate cost sharing loopholes. It will be legal, and it won’t pass the smell test in much the same way as Con 10 percenter’s.
Dube,
Thanks for the 8:54 pm cheat sheet. This dinosaur found html too intimidating before.