IAM(also)CANADIAN

What is a Canadian Jedi?

2008-12-05T14:25:00.005-05:00

For the people just tuning in and asking what a Canadian Jedi is :

YOU might be a Canadian Jedi If...

Toronto Maple Leafs Win Stanley Cup!!!

2008-12-03T08:55:00.000-05:00

Canada was stunned Monday when it was announced that The Stanley Cup will be awarded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, possibly as early as December 6th.
The cup will be stripped from from 2008 playoff champions the Detroit Red Wings and be awarded to the Leafs, who didn't even make the playoffs.
How is this possible, Canadians ask?
Well, the Leafs have formed a coalition with eastern conference semifinalists the Montreal Canadians, and conference quarter finalists the Ottawa Senators, now outnumbering the Red Wings.
According to current Leaf coach Ron Wilson "the Red Wings have lost the confidence of the league and should hand the cup over immediately to our coalition".
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman is cutting short a European trip to try to resolve the unprecedented hockey crisis that could force a second playoff series, or see an opposing team coalition take the cup.

How the Grinches Stole Canada...

2008-12-01T19:18:00.001-05:00

Three Tips to Save the Conservative Campaign

2008-10-06T15:27:00.002-04:00

The Conservatives need to bypass the media and explain the following three things to Canadians in simple and honest terms.

1) Explain how the opposition parties' plans would lose jobs and further devalue Canadian companies. Jack Layton wants to increase corporate tax by the tune of 50 Billion dollars. This would lead to companies relocating or finding those savings elsewhere, such as payroll. Dion's 'plan', if you could call it that, is to consult with 'experts', the same experts that Harper has been working with throughout the last year and during this crisis. My guess is they would explain to Dion that what Harper is doing is what needs to be done. Along with consultation, Dion would start taxing CO2, which we all know is something we need to power industry and these increases in costs would be passed to the consumer. If the consumer is outside of Canada, this will make it even harder to sell when people around the world are going to slow down their buying. In short, both of the other major parties plans are far worse that simply riding it out.

2) Explain in some details what the Conservative plan is and why it’s the best course of action. Explain to Canadians that The Prime Minister has already consulted with all of the 'experts' that Dion will consult with in his first month and inform people that they have already recommended the current course of action as the most prudent. On top of this, role out some details on what the continency plans are if things start to get a lot worse. People want to be reassured that the government is listening to their concerns and have backup plans to protect them if and when times get tougher.

3) Announce a buy in Canada plank to the platform. This may sound like a page from the NDP or the Green party, but if the government lays out a plan to source as many contracts within Canada and ask Canadians to do the same in their personal spending, it would go a long way in showing the Conservatives care about Canadian jobs and it would talk to the patriotic side in all of us. I would argue that they should even go as far as targeting investments in industries to make them capable of supplying the government where these industries are now deficient, such as the Montreal textile industry to create our military uniforms or Canada's ship building industry in manufacturing our military ships. This would have to be done with some prudence, but Australia did it with its submarine fleet and the government could leverage these investments to collect more tax revenue as these economic sectors succeed and start producing products for the larger world market. Like I said, this would have to be done with prudence to find which sectors could provide the largest return on investment as it shouldn't be corporate welfare.

What do you think? I'm no strategemist or political scientician, but it’s the best I could come up with on short notice.

Conservatives Could Be in Trouble

2008-10-05T23:05:00.002-04:00

The opposition, whether by design or by dumb luck, have landed a big shot on the Conservatives and Stephen Harper in the English debate last week. At the time I didn't even notice. Overall, people in the know believed that the Prime Minister held his own, but to the average Canadian, a huge weakness was perceived about Stephen Harper. I say perceived because this weakness is not based on reality, but on a false perception. This perception must be corrected this week or we could all be in for a surprise on the 14th.

I was talking with co-workers on Friday and almost without an exception, they all said that they are worried that Stephen Harper doesn't have a plan to deal with the current economic crisis in the US. They are worried about their jobs and mortgages. I repeatedly informed them that the job market in Canada was solid and that our banks and other financial institutions were in good shape, but they wouldn't believe me. The opposition and the media have totally whipped Canadians into a panic, a panic that could very well lead to the doom and gloom that they are worried about. The most threatening thing to the Canadian economy is loss of equity of Canadian firms through the stock market and a slowdown in Canadian buying. We all know that trade with the US will go down, but if we lose these other components of the Canadian economy, we will be in serious trouble.

I find it sad and terrifying that otherwise smart, university educated people would have no idea how our economy works, but there you have it. Dion, May, Layton, and Duceppe, along with their friends in the media, have found the sweet spot among the Canadian electorate and they will exploit it. What's really sad is that by doing this, they may cause the very crisis that they are telling us Stephen Harper isn't dealing with, and none of their plans would do anything but make the situation even worse.

If anyone from the Conservative campaign is reading this, you have a week to change this perception. You can't claim it’s not real and try and explain why. You have to convince Canadians that you have a solution even if the problem doesn't exist... you may want to contact Al Gore and David Suzuki for tips.

The Debate: Dion's Plan on the Economy

2008-10-03T10:32:00.003-04:00

Stephan Dion, with his last minute 'plan to save the economy' shows just how unprepared he is to deal with the economic slowdown. Removing all the rhetoric and politcal speak here are the positions of the two leaders:

Dion: If elected, I will spend the first 30 days to try and figure out this economy thing, what the hell is going wrong with it, and try and come up with a plan that will fix it.

Harper: I have been on top of managing this crisis a full year before it had even happened. I don't need to come up with a 30 day plan, I've been implementing my plan since last-frickin-year.

Who do you think Canadians are going to pick?

Its 2005 All over again!

2008-10-01T16:30:00.003-04:00

December 14 : Liberal officials released a 1997 speech by Harper that referred to Canada as "a Northern European welfare state in the worst sense of the term." Conservative officials said that most of the comments were in jest.
December 15- The leaders of the four major political parties gathered inVancouver for the first of four televised debates. The leaders debated in French.
December 16 - The four party leaders participated in the English televised debate in Vancouver.

Bonus: Liberal Plagiarist not expelled: Pablo Rodriguez who interrogated former PM Brian Mulroney using a series of questions provided to him by CBC parliamentary journalist Krista Erickson (unattributed of course)!

Greg (Political) Staples is back

2008-09-13T21:32:00.002-04:00

Giving you your daily or maybe hourly poll updates and analysis.

Welcome back Greg!

Even Dion does not support RESP bill As Is

2008-03-10T19:43:00.003-04:00

Good thing Flaherty is killing the RESP private members bill through the budget bill ... even Liberal Leader Stephane Dion is not convinced that the bill is any good.

While Dion said it is "a good idea'' and indicated that something like McTeague's plan will be part of his party's next election platform. He said "Maybe not exactly as it is ..."

Well at least we know why he'll likely abstain from the next budget vote!

What's That Rumble...

2008-02-07T11:00:00.000-05:00

My stomach? Or is it the drums of war...

Merry Christmas!!!

2007-12-24T16:43:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us at IAM(also)CANADIAN.

So you want to negotiate with the Taliban?

2007-09-27T11:35:00.000-04:00

It looks like negotiating for hostages only begets more hostage taking. Who knew? Well actually a lot of people but no one would listen to them. Now lets hope that Taliban Jack and the rest of the appeasers will follow the Red Cross' lead and try and set up their own meeting to negotiate...

KABUL - Two foreigners from the International Red Cross who helped free South Korean captives last month have been kidnapped in Afghanistan after talking with militants about the release of a German hostage, officials said Thursday.
An official with reliable information said the two foreigners from the International Committee of the Red Cross had gone with their two Afghan drivers to Wardak province in central Afghanistan to discuss the release of a German man kidnapped in July.
All four ICRC staff were taken captive Wednesday afternoon, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The two foreigners had helped co-ordinate negotiations and the release of 19 South Korean captives late last month, the official said.
Ewaz Muslimyar, the police chief of Wardak province, confirmed the two foreigners were abducted in Salar district.
The number of kidnappings has spiked this year after the Taliban secured the release of five insurgent prisoners in exchange for a captive Italian journalist in March - a heavily criticized swap many feared would encourage abductions.
The South Korean hostage crisis was another windfall for the Taliban, winning them face-to-face talks with South Korean government delegates.
Militants kidnapped 23 South Koreans July 19 in Ghazni province as they travelled by bus on a dangerous road from Kabul to volatile Kandahar in the south. Two hostages were killed; the rest were released after weeks of negotiations between the Taliban and the Korean delegation.
The talks were held at the ICRC office in Ghazni and ICRC officials drove to pick up the South Koreans after they were released.
The German engineer, Rudolf Blechschmidt, was abducted one day before the Koreans. It is believed he was initially taken by criminals in Wardak, then later handed over to the Taliban.
Blechschmidt is one of two German engineers and five Afghans who were snatched together. The other German was found dead of gunshot wounds July 21, while one of the Afghans managed to escape.

Happy Canada Day II ...

2007-07-02T12:24:00.001-04:00

or...
Happy Day off in lieu of Canada Day because the REAL Canada Day fell on a Sunday and we all know that government employees are so overworked they need as much rest as they can possibly get.

Unlike retail employees who are specifically hired because they have no family and no friends and would never want to celebrate their country on any day let alone Canada Day, and can just darn well have any old day off that the government deems fit to assign to them.

Thank you for shopping here - have a nice day :)

(I'm not even going to comment on those consumers who felt it neccessary to consume on a National Holiday (for everyone except for retail employees - see above)).

Happy Canada Day 2007!!!

2007-07-01T00:01:00.000-04:00

Well, our third IAM(also)CANADIAN Canada day...who wooda thunk it!

Here's an old post to get you in the mood...

“I was a lumberjack, and am a fur trader.
I have slept in an igloo, eaten blubber, and although I don’t own a dog sled, I do have a ski-doo.
I do know Jimmy and Sally, Suzie is my ex, and they’re all assholes.
I have a crooked Prime Minister, not a President; I speak neither English or French properly; and
I don’t pronounce it “about” or “a boot”; I just say “bout”.
I can proudly sew my country’s flag on my backpack, because with the taxes I pay I live out of my backpack.
I believe in peace keeping, not policing, even though we got rid of our peacekeepers to buy more police,
Diversity, not assimilation (unless I go to Quebec); and that the beaver tastes like chicken and makes a nice fur coat.
A toque is a hat, a chesterfield is a couch (where I sleep), and it is pronounced ”Z”, not “zed” or “zee”.
Canada is the second highest taxed landmass, the first nation of bleeding hearts, and coldest part of North America. My name is Joe, and I am also Canadian.”

And howzabout another top Canadian post...CANADIAN JEDI!!!

You Might Be A Jedi CANADIAN If...

-You are still in the queue for your cyborg hand.
-You keep voting for the evil emperor because "it's better the devil you know".
-Due to budget cuts, your army now consists of Jar Jar Binks and 3 thermal detonators.
-Chewbacca and Han Solo are legally married.
-You got arrested because you forgot to register your light saber.
-You don't have to worry about Jabba the Hut because he died of mad cow disease.
-You ever heard the phrase, "May the force be with you, eh."
-You have ever used the force to influence hockey games.
-The majority of your fellow Jedi vote "dark side" (especially the Ontario and Toronto ones).
-You think the ice world of Hoth "ain't so cold".
-You can't actually use you light saber because it has to have a saber lock on it at all times and be locked inside a saber safe with the light in a separate locked receptacle.
-All your spacecraft have all been grounded due to the KYOTO agreement.
-You were refused a position on the Jedi council because weren't fluently bilingual.
-Your Ewoks build dams.
-You believe the Death Star is only destroying planets because of its history of poverty, and if you are nice to it, it will go away.
-All pod racing advertising contracts went to friends of the Emperor.
-You have used your lightsaber as a source of heat.
-You have used your lightsaber to cut the blocks of ice for your igloo.
-You have sliced open a moose to escape the harsh cold of the averageCanadian winter.
-Your lightsaber has a bottle opener on it.
-The storm troopers raiding your home and place of business wear a red serge.
- Princess Leah crossed the floor and joined the dark side.
- You decide to never use the Force in public because some people don't believe in the Force and you don't want to risk offending their unbelief.
- You cheer for the dark side in order to 'bring balance' to the Force.
- You see your role primarily as a peacekeeper between warring, morally equivalent, factions.
- You've ever picked up an OEM equivalent light saber from Canadian Tire.
- You 'pimp' your light saber with Canadian Tire chrome replacement parts.
- You find yourself succumbing to Darth Martin's jedi mind tricks ("You don't want to look into the sponsorship scandal", "I don't want to look into the sponsorship scandal"; "You don't want an election right now", "I don't want an election right now"; "Harper is scary ...").
- Your Death Star garbage ends up in Michigan.
- The Wookiees insist they are a "distinct society" and insist on forcing their impossible language on everyone else.

Hope yer feelin more Canadian now! If not, go outside and blockade your laneway...that should do the trick!

Senators of Ottawa

2007-06-05T20:45:00.000-04:00

Hold your ground, hold your ground. Senators of Canada, of Sweden, my brothers. I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of Sen Fan fails, when we forsake our team and break all bonds of fanship, but it is not this day. An hour of Ducks and shattered shields, when the age of Sens comes crashing down, but it is not this day. This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you "stand, Men of the Sens!"

By Request : Alfie Duck Hunting Pic!!

2007-05-26T13:26:00.000-04:00

I saw Alfie hanging out with AlsoCanadian

2007-05-22T19:53:00.001-04:00

- learning a new "shot"!

Remember, the curse is over!!

Garth's House

2007-05-11T18:51:00.000-04:00

From an unreliable source --- here is Garth's MLS listing for his house.

Disturbingly ordinary --- then again I was expecting wall to wall to ceiling to floor mirrors so that Garth could take in his Garthness from every angle!
Check out the desk Garth uses for his computer --- using such an antique is so bourgeois.

I would recommend each Blogging Tory support Garth by donating $1 to raise a couple hundred bucks for a computer desk.

Oh yeah and Garth : "Those who suffered paper losses from the Halloween decision to tax income trusts have almost fully recovered them in the past six weeks, says the Guardian Group of Funds."

Canadians Just Not Buying It

2007-04-23T10:01:00.001-04:00

There are two interesting stories at CTV.ca. The first story- Canadians ready for a carbon tax: David Suzuki - is one about the 'Environment crusader' telling us 'ordinary' Canadians that we are smarter than the politicians and even us 'ordinary' Canadians are ready for the progressive and ingenious idea of a Carbon tax. I find it a little patronizing, but I guess its a typical 'used car' sales pitch, tell the people they are smart and only a smart, incredibly attractive, and dynamic person such as ourselves would buy that Pinto... er, I mean protocol. Well good doctor, according to CTV's own poll, placed within site of the story to illicit the most honest of responses, you are completely wrong.

The second interesting story was Thousands march to pressure Tories on Kyoto. I'm sure if this was a year and a half ago the story would be Thousands march to pressure governments on Kyoto, but I digress. I don't usually agree with the Kyoto crowd, but this 'crusader' nailed it on the head:

Under a blazing sun, Shannahn McInnis pushed a stroller with her two-year old daughter who sported a green T-shirt that said, "I run on natural gas.''
McInnis saw the massive Montreal event as a chance to put some pressure on the Harper government. "I'm extremely pessimistic on it doing anything, but I thought I'd come anyway,'' McInnis said.
"I don't think it's at all a priority to any of the parties except the Green Party and the NDP, and they're so far away from being elected. If that's the case, it wouldn't seem to be a priority for the public, either because they're not electing the parties that consider this the priority.''
Sparse crowds in other parts of the country seemed to emphasize the point.

Now maybe you should tell the higher-ups that.

Neon Dion Still in the 90's

2007-04-17T11:35:00.000-04:00

In a change of tactics that marks an unthinking change of Liberal political strategy, Neon Dion set up shop on Bay Street.

Umm -- Somebody should tell that Big Corporations don't vote and can not be hit up for big donations like the Liberals did in the past.

Flaherty ---"It shows a fundamental misunderstanding of the whole idea of all of us sharing the tax load equally in Canada ... If [Neon Dion] has his way, it means that all ordinary Canadians will have higher taxes."

Even funnier -- Neon Dion was flanked by high-ranking Liberals who are familiar to the financial crowd -- former investment banker Scott Brison and former Royal Bank chief economist John McCallum.

What - no Garth Turner --- snubbed in Toronto again? Oh, he's too busy whining about MPTV getting the boot from the foyer --- like the Conservative staffers and Stephen Taylor.

I guess as an MP - Garth is entitled to his entitlements.

Dion Selles Out to Greens!!1

2007-04-12T18:28:00.000-04:00

According to the Red Star "Stephane Dion has decided not to run a Liberal candidate against Green Party Leader Elizabeth May in the next federal election."

Ha --- even better -CBC says that - May has agreed to not run a Green candidate against Dion! I guess Dion is running scared of the mighty greens!

Newfie Joke...

2007-04-04T14:14:00.000-04:00

This Newfie goes to Parliament hill after the release of the federal budget.

In the budget, Newfoundland is offered a new formula used to calculate provincial equalization payments, or remain with the current system.

The formula gives it the choice between including 50% of their resource revenues or excluding them entirely, but also introduces a cap to the amount of money they can receive in equalization payments.

After reading the budget, the Newfie says "But bye, I wants ta keeps all my equalization payments...and all my offshore oil revenue too!"

Coincidence...Or Not!

2007-03-23T11:20:00.000-04:00

Wonder if this has anything to do with this?

Obligatory Budget Post

2007-03-20T19:23:00.000-04:00

Individuals are pissed today. People with grown children are mad. Apprently everyone in the media and quite a few Bloggers fit these two demographics. I am not 100% happy with the budget, but I just want to point out that people in this demographic have been targeted for the last 25 years and its time for families to get a piece of the pie. In an ideal world we should be taxed as a household, rather than as an idividual, but until then we need to tackle at least some of the unfairness in the current tax system. If I read one more story about how the average Canadian - "ordinary, hard-working folk" - got nothing in the budget I'm gonna punch something. I guess people with kids aren't average Canadians. We are the extremist fringe or something.

Complain all you want about the increase in spending, I know I have, but don't say that the budget sucks because you didn't personally get any tax breaks this time around. If we did have a fair tax system, then cuts would benefit everyone equally, but until then, just enjoy the fact that you don't have to pay for diapers or school supplies.

Hull-Aylmer AGM Tomorrow

2007-03-19T17:45:00.000-04:00

For those of you who live in the Riding of Hull-Aylmer (with special guest speaker Pierre Poilievre)...

Hull-Aylmer Conservative Party Riding Association
www.hull-aylmer.ca

March 20th, 2007

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The Annual General Meeting of the Hull-Aylmer Conservative Party Association will be held on Tuesday, March 20, 2007 at 7:30 PM in the Champion Room of the Château Cartier, 1171 Chemin Aylmer. Guests are welcome.

The meeting will feature a presentation to the members and friends by Pierre Poilievre, MP for Nepean-Carleton, Ontario.

For more information, please contact Caroline Beattie at (819) 682-6801 or at bob.cab@sympatico.ca

Thank you!