Politics - for the people

Ignatieff Coming To Stratford Tomorrow

2010-07-24T13:31:00.003-04:00

The Liberal Express with Michael Ignatieff & 10 other Liberal MP's will be in Stratford tomorrow. Sunday July 25th at 12 Noon.

His bus will stop in front of Stratford's City Hall (1 Wellington Street).

Hope to meet up with any of you supporters who live in the area at the event tomorrow!

New Head of Stats Canada

2010-07-23T10:24:00.002-04:00

One Is Ok, The Other Is Not?

2010-07-16T07:31:00.004-04:00

Here, again, another revealing view of Harper/Conservative priorities:

From the CP in CanadaEast:

The Harper government was expected to announce today one of the biggest military equipment purchases in history _ a controversial, non-competitive $16-billion contract to build a new generation of fighter jets.

And from Christine Dobby in The Telegraph-Journal:

The provinces need to rein in "rampant" growth in health-care spending says the federal minister of finance.

Jim Flaherty told the Telegraph-Journal's editorial board on Thursday that provincial spending on health care is growing at a rate that outstrips economic growth, a situation that is unsustainable over time.

"The provinces are going to have to look at their budgets and figure out ways of providing health-care services without rampant growth," Flaherty said.

The finance minister in Stephen Harper's Conservative government said he hopes provinces will adopt "best practices" to control the rate of growth of health-care costs.

So, $16 BILLION for 65 fighter jets we don't need versus our Health Care. I know which one is more important to me & most other Canadians.

For more on those fighter jets & the cost go to Impolitic who's done a great post on this issue.

EU Trade Pact & Our Municipal Water Services

2010-05-29T07:09:00.004-04:00

This is something we need to keep an eye on as Harper negotiates trading deal with the EU. Water, & the lack thereof, will be the cause of future wars. And not too far off in the distance either as climate change rapidly increases.

By Bruce Campion-Smith in The Star:

OTTAWA – Foreign companies would gain unprecedented access to municipal water services and perhaps even a claim to the water itself under the free trade deal now being negotiated between Canada and the European Union, a new report says.

While the federal government has touted the economic upsides of the trade pact, a legal analysis claims it will likely have big implications for municipalities by forcing them to open their contracts to European firms.

Harper Trying To Make Exemptions In Detainee Deal

2010-05-29T07:00:00.003-04:00

Here we go again. Did anyone REALLY think Harper was going to let the opposition see crucial, & critical, documents on the Afghan detainee issue?

From Steven Chase in the Globe & Mail:

The Harper government has been trying to insert a loophole in a deal that’s supposed to grant opposition MPs full access to secret records on Afghan detainees – a proposal that could derail negotiations if not resolved.

Opposition parties are fighting the attempted exemption that would let Ottawa withhold some documents on the grounds they are “not necessary or appropriate for the purpose of holding Parliament to account.”

BP Live Cam of Oil Gush

2010-05-26T07:27:00.003-04:00

Here is a very clear view of the gush. It's no leak, wrong word, it's truly a gusher. Today is the supposed "Top Kill" plan. Let's hope it works!

I Didn't Know This - Did You?

2010-05-23T08:44:00.002-04:00

I find this appalling. And is it really necessary to have ALL these perks for the Speaker of the House? Disgusting.

By Greg Weston in The Sun.

Live Webcam Of Oil Spill In Gulf of Mexico

2010-05-21T06:21:00.002-04:00

Scroll down the page to watch the live cam.
Mind boggling!

A Question

2010-04-09T09:25:00.002-04:00

If Jaffer has one of his wife's GOVT. ISSUED Blackberries that he's using for his personal & business use does that mean the Govt. (taxpayer) is paying the bill on it every month?

Interesting News On Jaffer

2010-04-08T07:12:00.003-04:00

This is a very interesting article written by Kevin Donovan of The Star. It's long but well worth the read. Also, it makes one wonder if Jaffer does have some major pull in the govt, (wouldn't surprise me given his history with the Con Party & of course who his wife is) when he keeps saying the following to the scam artists he was associated with:

" Jaffer, as he often does, told businessmen that he and his company, Green Power Solutions, were experts in obtaining government money. “I can get it, no problem,” he said. His company’s promotional material boasts a “thorough knowledge of government policies and incentive programs.”

For the OPP in Caledon, the Jaffer arrest was a routine case. That’s why officers were surprised to be told in early January by Crown Attorney Marie Balogh that she did not want a trial. Instead, she was seeking a guilty plea on reduced charges. A pre-trial conference – the matters discussed are secret – was held on Feb. 18, 2010 before a judge. Caledon OPP were notified that the deal with Jaffer was made at “the most senior levels” of provincial law enforcement. OPP Caledon pushed back but to no avail.

In Toronto, former associates of Gillani speculate that Jaffer has “rolled over” on Gillani, provided evidence, and in return was given a good deal on his drug, speeding and drunk driving charges.

Harper appoints VP of Pfizer to CHIR

2010-02-04T09:48:00.003-05:00

Astounding! Harper appoints Bernard Prigent to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research while Prigent is VP to Pfizer & a lobbyist, still, for Pfizer. What is going on here? It appears Harper & his Cons have even less ethics than I realized.

By Tim Bousquet in The Coast:

Last October, the Harper government appointed Bernard Prigent to the governing council of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the federal agency that distributes about a billion dollars annually for health research. That appointment was met with near-universal condemnation from medical ethicists, because Prigent is a vice-president of Pfizer Canada, a firm that stands to profit from the decisions made at CIHR.

"There's a structural conflict of interest," explains Jocelyn Downie, the Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy at Dalhousie University. "On the one hand, it's [Prigent's] statutory duty to represent the best health interests of Canadians, and on the other hand, as an executive with Pfizer, he's legally bound to promote the profit interests of his company. Those competing interests will not always align, and will sometimes be in conflict."

Read the entire article here.

JIM CURRAN - For VP Organization LPC(O) / Pour VP Organisation PLC(O)

2010-02-04T08:04:00.004-05:00

I endorse Jim for VP Organization. He's a hard-working, industrious person who is deeply in touch with the Party grassroots. He knows & understands many of the problems & will put all his experience, & his heart, into fixing them.

To read Jim's platform go here.

And for his Facebook page please go here.

Vic Toews, Hard At Work

2010-01-29T07:48:00.003-05:00

What a busy guy - denying Mikhail Lennikov's appeal to stay in Canada. Lennikov, an ex-KBG agent, & his family have lived here for more than a dozen years, never been in trouble & have lived an exemplary life. Hard-working, industrious. Another example of how shameful & unjust this Con Govt. is with human rights.

By Norma Greenaway with CanWest News Service:

The Harper government's new public safety minister has rejected a fresh appeal to stay in Canada from a former KGB agent who has been holed up in a Vancouver church for the last seven months.

Vic Toews, who took over the portfolio last week from Peter Van Loan, said Thursday the government is not prepared to budge in the case of Mikhail Lennikov, who was ordered deported because he once worked for the Russian secret service.

"The Immigration and Refugee Board and the courts have determined that Mr. Lennikov is not admissible to Canada under our laws." Toews said in a statement.

Read the entire article here.

Canada's Worst Politicians of 2009

2010-01-26T19:22:00.003-05:00

From the Wasaga Sun:

What do Prime Minister Steven Harper, Springwater mayor Tony Guergis and Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai have in common?

They all made the Creemore-based Mad River Institute for Political Studies’ list of Worst Politicians of 2009.

Springwater mayor Tony Guergis, the Warden of Simcoe County until he stepped down at the end of his term in December 2009, was named the Worst Municipal Councillor.

Guergis is the brother of Con MP Helena Guergis.

Ignatieff made the list “for failing to make his party the real Official Opposition,” the institute said, adding that early “in the year he had his Liberals simply back Conservative actions while criticizing but not offering alternatives.”

Today Is My Birthday

2010-01-20T18:16:00.004-05:00

And in honour of all those other boomers who are, or will be, the same age as me this year here's a little tune for us. ;)

Kate McGarrigle Feb 16, 1946 - Jan. 18, 2010

2010-01-19T08:22:00.004-05:00

Sadly, Kate passed away yesterday from cancer. She & her sister, Anna, were a big part of the folk music scene in the 1960's, before they became known, playing in small coffee houses in Montreal as well as other Canadian cities & in New York State.

She will be missed by many, many people. My condolences to her family & friends.

Go here to see a montage of photos & listen to one of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FQCmQz474

RIP Kate...

For more info on Kate please go here.

Cons Win In & Out Court Case

2010-01-18T12:31:00.001-05:00

How depressing. Now they can do the same thing again in the next election - cheat the taxpayer & use more money to run their campaign.

Read it here from Kady O'Malley at CBC.

More Double-Talk from a Con Minister

2010-01-18T09:00:00.002-05:00

This time from Vic Toews who was in the Middle East for 5 days. He says one thing when out of the country & something else here at home. Hmmm...just like Jason Kenney. What is it with these Kons? Do they think no one in Canada is paying attention when they are on foreign trips? Why are these fools still in Govt.?

From Mia Rabson at Winnipeg Free Press:

Manitoba's senior cabinet minister Vic Toews was able to escape the winter and the flurry of post-prorogation reaction last week for a trip to the Middle East.

However, stickhandling accusations his party is undemocratic has probably been easier than the delicate task of wading into Middle Eastern politics.

Toews's five-day tour included stops in Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

Following his trip, a number of Middle Eastern news outlets, and even B'Nai Brith Canada, reported Toews used the journey to announce Canada was yanking its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The UNRWA runs 59 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

In 2008, Canada was the eighth-largest donor to the organization, which receives 97 per cent of its funding from foreign governments.

Critics, including B'Nai Brith, accuse UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas and terrorists.

Toews was quoted in several newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post, as saying Canada's aid for Palestine is being "redirected in accordance with Canadian values." Instead of funding the camps, Canada is going to pay for projects to train Palestinian justice officials like judges, police and prosecutors and build courthouses, something Canada began doing in 2007.

Certainly, paying for police and courthouses is in keeping with the government's anti-crime agenda at home.

The news was well-received by B'Nai Brith Canada, but when the stories were checked with Toews's office, it seems there isn't much changing at all. Christine Csversko said the stories were "inaccurate," including the suggestion that Canada's funding to UNRWA goes to the Palestinian Authority's general revenues. She said UNRWA manages its own accounts and Canada continues to give it aid money.

Con Ministers Abusing Challenger Jet

2010-01-08T07:10:00.003-05:00

Translation from Le Devoir:

The Harper government ministers regularly use the luxurious type aircraft Challenger improperly, causing unnecessary costs for taxpayers. Une enquête du réseau TVA montre que ces voyages injustifiés ont coûté 236 000 $ durant les 30 premiers mois du règne conservateur à Ottawa. A survey of the TVA network shows that these trips unnecessary cost $ 236 000 during the first 30 months of Conservative government in Ottawa.

In French here.

Canadian Cover Up?

2010-01-04T09:45:00.004-05:00

This is about our latest losses in Afghanistan. From Michael Yon:

"A reporter at Canwest News Service, emailed Saturday asking for information on the four Canadian soldiers and the journalist who were killed on December 30 in Afghanistan. I supplied a portion of the unpublicized information, and the reporter emailed Sunday that the Canadian military is “trying to suppress our telling of your information.”

Read the entire, interesting, article here.

Afghanistan: 4 Cdn Soldiers Dead, 1 Cdn Journalist

2009-12-31T06:57:00.004-05:00

How sad - & painful.

From the Globe & Mail:

A massive roadside bomb has killed four Canadian soldiers and a Canadian journalist in a dramatic signal of an upsurge of violence in the crucial battleground around Kandahar city.

>snip<

It was a deadly day for foreign forces in Afghanistan, with eight American CIA agents killed by a suicide bombing at a U.S. base in Khost province. The attacks were seen as part of a major salvo against the U.S.-led troop surge in the region and shattering the typically peaceful winter season when Taliban fighters normally lay low, or regroup in neighbouring Pakistan.

Four additional Canadian soldiers and one Canadian civilian official were also injured in Wednesday's IED blast and were airlifted from the wreckage to the military hospital at Kandahar Air Field, where they were in stable condition last night.

But for Stephen Harper, bully, this could have been avoided, would never have happened, if we had left Afghanistan, as originally planned, in 2009. Tomorrow is Jan. 1, 2010 & we would no longer have been there.

Harper To Suspend Parliament - Again

2009-12-30T05:42:00.004-05:00

So here it is, just over a year later, & Great Leader Harper wants to prorouge again. By doing this he draws attention away from the Afghan detainee issue & will finally gain control of the Senate.

From QMI Agency:

The Conservative government will ask the governor general to suspend Parliament today, delaying the return of MPs until the beginning of March.

>snip<

Preventing the return of Parliament until after the Olympics would effectively shut down all government committees, which would stop MPs from pursuing the Afghan detainee controversy until Parliament returned.

>snip<

In early January, there will be five vacancies in the Senate, all of which Harper could fill with Tory loyalists. Even though the new senators would give the Tories majority over the Liberals in the Senate, the Liberals retain their majority on Senate committees until the next general election or until Parliament is prorogued.

Read the entire article here.

Wake up Canada! Wake up Opposition! Do we want to continually be manipulated by Stephen Harper control freak?

Harper Screws Canada - Again

2009-11-29T09:16:00.002-05:00

This time with the Olympics.

From the NP:

"Canada's $9.2-million, Olympic pavilion is being built by a U.S. firm from Chicago.

And Joyce Murray, Liberal MP for Vancouver Quadra, is accusing the federal government of badly botching the contracting process by waiting too long to issue it."

Yep. Staying "tried & true" to his best buddy the - U.S.A.

"The timeline excluded a lot of Canadian firms that would have otherwise been eminently capable of doing this work. This is something that they've known they would be doing for four years."

"The contract was awarded on Nov. 17 and published on Monday, leaving only 81 days to build it before the Olympics open on Feb. 12."

What kind of work will be done in only 81 days? Lots of cutting corners to get done in time? Wouldn't surprise me. And could this cause some kind of danger to those in the stadium enjoying the events? I certainly hope not.

So what is it with Harper awarding so many big contracts to American companies. He does it continually with defense contracts, which are huge, the billboards for the EAC were done by a U.S. Co., & I don't know what else. Does anyone out there know?

Let's hope that Canadian labourer's are the actual ones who are hired to do the building of the Stadium - not imported
U.S. ones. Gee, thought we were in a recession & needed stimulus funds going into OUR economy. We need more job creation - here, not there.

Harper loves the U.S so much why doesn't he just pack up & move there & take his cabal along with him.

Say WHAT Michael Ignatieff???

2009-11-14T07:47:00.004-05:00

From TheDailyGleaner:

"Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff vowed Friday night to attack the policies of Prime Minister Stephen Harper, saying the Conservative leader's four years in power gives him lots of political ammunition."

"You want me to attack Stephen Harper," Ignatieff told a standing-room-only crowd at the biannual convention of the New Brunswick Liberal Association in Fredericton.

"You expect me to attack Stephen Harper ... But I am not going to attack him as a person.

"I am not going to attack his career. I am not going to attack his past."

He said Harper's legacy after four years in power is his attack ads and the politics of spite."

What ARE you thinking Michael? How do you think Harper crushed Dion & is crushing you? By making it PERSONAL! Yes, there is a lot to bring forward about the Conservative led Government. Plenty of fodder - which should have been touted & hit upon, hard, over & over but you didn't do it. And you think now is the time to start, now that there is 4 years of scandals, misinformation, lies & obfuscation? Yes, by all means get started as it's long, long overdue. BUT if you don't start attacking Harper the man, & what drives him & his ideological bents, then you will not make inroads into the public perception of who Harper really is & what he is doing to this country & how he is making it into something Canadians will eventually be shocked to see.

Read this Michael from the latest Nanos Poll:

"Looking at which of the party leaders Canadians believe would make the best Prime Minister, Stephen Harper now leads by a significant, 17 point, margin over over Michael Ignatieff. This represents the widest gap since Ignatieff was elected leader of the Liberal Party."

Best PM Question:
Of the following individuals, who do you think would make the best Prime Minister? [Rotate]
Stephen Harper 34.8%
Michael Ignatieff 17.7%
Jack Layton 14.9%
Gilles Duceppe 6.5%
Elizabeth May 4.5%
None of them 9.0%
Unsure 12.6%

Wake up Liberal Party. The continual embracing of "the high road" will get you, & us, nowhere. People don't remember that, they remember hard-hitting attacks. That's what sticks & stays in their minds. Once you have that THEN they will listen to all of the other issues, the policies, including yours if you would please enlighten us..

ADDENDUM: Read Ottlib's post here. He says a lot more on what the Lib Party should be doing.

Duffy's 3 Months of Spending Taxpayer Money

2009-11-11T09:08:00.003-05:00

From this CBC article:

"P.E.I.'s newest senator is shaping up to also be the Island's most expensive.

During his first three months in the red chamber, Conservative Senator Mike Duffy racked up more than $100,848 in travel and office expenses, more than double the average of what the other three Island senators spend in a typical quarter."

P.E.I. senators' expenses
(figures are for one fiscal quarter)

Catherine Callbeck: $40,667

Percy Downe: $50,248

Mike Duffy: $100,848

Elizabeth Hubley: $53,036

Also from the article is this:

"Duffy's rate of spending puts him in the top rank of senatorial expenses. An NDP-produced report showed the top spender for the 2008-09 year was Mobina Jaffer, a Liberal senator for British Columbia, at $323,173. Sustained over a year, Duffy's expenses would come in at $403,392."

Jaffer's expenses are also deplorable & disgusting. The craven use of the hardworking taxpayer's money to be used, especially for partisan purposes (Duffy), is revolting.

Here is one commenters post at the article that I'm sure many would agree with:

"Margolispei wrote:
Posted 2009/11/11
at 8:38 AM ETMike Duffy is only a small part of a very large problem. The large problem is NO ONE is looking after the common person. My tax dollars and YOUR tax dollars are not being looked after. Having worked in the Federal Government and the PEI government, it is embarrassing to see people get elected and then turn into pigs at a trough. There are no other words for it. Spending at each and every level of government is being monitored by people who are just as complicit as the people spending the money. Then we have the Public Servants who happily or unhappily (does it matter?) say absolutely nothing when they see or know of any spending mismanagement. Maybe they are afraid of their jobs. Government growth has been staggering at the Federal level in recent years. Hard to believe that it is a "fiscally responsible" government. What does this mean? You can bet at crunch time, the Feds will take a long hard look at the amount of people they have in their employ. Then the axe will fall hard. Just like in the 90's with Paul Martin. I am now of the mindset that my vote doesn't matter. They are all crooked in my mind. Lest we forget all right."