Here's to a better 2008!

Happy New Year everybody. Here's hoping 2008 ends with a different Prime Minister in Ottawa than it is beginning with. It could be Stephane Dion. But I'd settle for Jack Layton, Elizabeth May, Satan. Anyone but the current man in the job. Here's hoping in the mean time that Harper and his minions stop embarrassing Canada on the world stage. 2007 was the year the rest of the world said, "What's up with Canada? They're acting like dicks." Whether it was John Baird making us look bad at environmental conferences, Stephen Harper flying around South America signing trade deals with countries like Columbia, (which just happens to be a Narco-State with a president who has reputed ties to right-wing para-military groups who just happen to kill trade unionists), or our RCMP acting like Nazis and killing an innocent tourist in Vancouver. Or our soldiers running around someone else's country kicking down doors and calling in air strikes, it's been a shameful year for Canada's reputation. Here's hoping that Progressive's stop fighting with each other in 2008. Liberals and Dippers and Greenies spent 2007 at each other's throat, completely ignoring the 250 pound fascist in the room, Stephen Harper! Here's hoping The Blogging Tories read a book in 2008. No, the Bible doesn't count. Here's hoping the Cons never get anywhere near 40 percent in 2008. Every time they do I start looking at houses in Sweden. Here's hoping Mr. Dion gets his swerve on 2008. I really feel this man could be very good for Canada and the Liberal party but the people haven't warmed to him enough yet. Here's hoping the Red Tory comes back to stay in 2008. And finally, here's hoping your family has a safe and prosperous new year. Even the Tories.

Ya baby! The Bombers are going to the Grey Cup!!

Congratulations to my hometown Winnipeg Blue Bombers on a hard fought Eastern Final victory 19-9 over The Toronto Argonauts.

It was ugly but it was a victory. Now on to the Grey Cup against either BC or Saskatchewan. I'm sure the people in Toronto will put on a big party next week. Go Bombers!!!

The war on the war on Christmas is here!

Congratulations to my favorite Canadian right-wing blowhard Micheal Coren for being the first pundit from the right to declare this years first war on Christmas. Mr Coren's column has long been a personal favorite of mine.He is so convinced that evil Liberal social engineers run the world that he actually makes me feel better about the real world. If Mr Coren is so angry things cant be that bad. The man who thinks Jesus would want us to use tactical nukes on Iran has an article in today's Winnipeg Sun decrying a British think tank tied to the British labour party for coming out with a report which states that in general Britain is no longer a Christian nation and public institutions should be more inclusive of other faiths.The report states "If we are going to continue as a nation to mark Christmas, then public organizations should mark other religious festivals as well." Sounds reasonable. But to Mr Coren this is just another example of the Godless liberal horde out to ruin Christmas. The war on Christmas is here! According to Mr Coren it is only a matter of time before this British heresy comes to Canada because "We adopted an official policy of multiculturalism long ago and decided Canada was simply not worth preserving." Right..... So anyway get with the program you blogging Tory trolls, Its time to fight the war on the war on Christmas.

What's up Quebec? You used to be cool.

One of my few regrets is that I never really took advantage of Trudeau's vision and learned to speak French. I say this because I have often, in my uninformed past, mused about moving my family to La Belle province. Quebec seemed like such a hip and progressive place, a socially liberal mecca. Almost like a little piece of Europe in the middle of Canada. $7 a day daycare, strong union and labour movements, multi-cultural ism that was not only happening but also working. A province that was not afraid to trade and engage with America, but was unwilling to bow to her. Sophisticated, worldly, cigarette-smoking intellectuals who hate war and love sex. A group that skewed Canadian public opinion further to the left than it otherwise would be. Stephen Harper himself said it when he talked about how if you took Quebec out of the polls, 50% of Canadians were all for sending Canadian troops to Iraq. 50%!! These morons never got their way for one reason, Quebec.
It seemed that Canada needed Quebec. A province always on the right (left) side of every issue. A place with no time for the backward ideas espoused by so many Western Canadian and American right-wing troglodytes. Sure they wanted to separate from Canada, but I figured this was only because they felt Canada was holding them back from becoming the socialist utopia they would become if it wasn't for Conservative English Canada. Hell, even their own Conservative party was made up of Red Tories, much closer in ideology to Joe Clark than Stephen Harper. The leader of the Separatists was a coke-snorting homosexual so they couldn't be all bad. Boy was I wrong!
It turns out the Bloc is made up of two wings. The social liberals I mentioned are there, but they all live in Montreal. The rest of the Bloc seems to be made up of rural, French-Catholic nationalists who not only hate the rest of Canada, but are intolerant of Muslims and Jews too. Many of these people decided they were going to support Mario Dumont and his merry band of racist assholes in the provincial election. And even worse, support Stephen Harper federally. They know Harper won't let them separate but they know he will give them more and more provincial power or "autonomy" as they see it.
The people of Herouxvilles are the perfect example of what is wrong with Quebec. The town council's "code of conduct" for minorities introduced last winter was ridiculously racist and embarrassing to any Canadian who values tolerance. It didn't however lead to much outrage. Instead people seemed to nod their heads and start talking about "reasonable accommodations" and how they have gone too far. (The Globe and Mail have an excellent comment editorial in the Saturday, October 27th edition regarding this issue.)
There seems to be a big backlash against Muslims and multi-cultural ism. The French just elected immigrant-bashing, George Bush-loving, right-wing dickhead Nicolas Sarkozy. The Dutch, too, have hardened their attitudes on immigration. Hell, I even raise one eyebrow in a condescending manner towards our Liberal friends in Ontario who just elected a government almost exclusively based on one issue, funding for faith-based schools. Were you against funding for faith-based schools because it's wrong for all faiths? Which it is. Or did you not want Muslim schools getting money? I hope it is the former. Heir Harper has not failed to notice and exploit this issue inserting into the throne speech his plan to pass a law making sure Muslim women could not vote while wearing a veil. Muslim women, by the way, were not looking for this privilege.
Are we living in crazy world? Federalists in Quebec voting for Stephen Harper. Separatists who don't want to create a European-style welfare state, but instead want to go back to 1940 where everyone was white and the priest was the highest authority. The last thing provinces need is more autonomy or more rights. I live in Manitoba. Without the intervention of a powerful central government in Ottawa and the Charter, the half-wit rednecks who make up this province would soon turn it into Alabama without the southern charm. In spite of this silliness going on out East, a big majority of Quebecers are against the war in Afghanistan and for Kyoto. But by supporting Harper as the federalist option, and weakening the Liberals, they are sure to give Harper the chance to continue his never ending war and his dance on the grave of Kyoto.
The biggest irony of all this is that while Quebecers seem to be taking stupid pills, Albertans who have been dumb enough to vote Conservative since 1971 on the other hand seem to be getting smarter. The provincial government's decision to raise royalties was way overdue. It's not nearly enough, but at least Albertans are making the oil companies take them out to dinner before they fuck them up the ass now. So wake up Quebec, there is a culture war and"tabernac" the good guys need you.

Another speech for Karzai

Now that the NDP has uncovered the fact that Canada's Department of National Defense provided most of the talking points for President Hamid Karzai's speech to Parliament on his last visit to Canada, I thought Mr. Karzai might accept my draft for his next speech to the Canadian people. This speech will presumably take place after an expected fall election.
Thank you Prime Minister Dion for that kind introduction. I am honoured to have been invited by your new coalition government to address the Canadian Parliament and the Canadian people once again. Firstly I would like to thank the families of the Canadian soldiers who have given their lives in Afghanistan for their sacrifice. Next I would like to thank the Canadian people for putting their hard won international reputation on the line and supporting NATO's mission in my country. I feel I must comment on recent developments in Canadian politics. Canada's new Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Jack Layton joined with Mr. Dion in a coalition government to defeat Mr. Harper but only under the stipulation that Mr. Dion would hold a vote on pulling Canada's troops out of the south of Afghanistan in February 2008 and pulling out of Afghanistan all together at the end of the current mission in 2009. It may surprise you but I think this is a good idea. Recent negotiations with several Taliban officials have made me optimistic that stability can be achieved. I am not concerned for my own safety. My security is taken care of by American soldiers and private security contractors (mercenaries). Also my own militia protects me. This army is made up of ex-Northern Alliance fighters who used to be aligned with the Russians. You know, back when the US was aligned with the Taliban. There is also an uneasy alliance of other warlords who I am able to bribe with western money, who support my regime, and protect me and the poppy fields of my allies. A peace deal with the Taliban in the south will make your brave Canadian soldiers unnecessary in the region. Of course, we will have to give up on reconstruction in the south but most of what is in need of reconstruction was caused by American bombers. The same bombers that dropped bombs on innocent villagers causing them to chant, "Death to Canada! Death to America!". They will have to live under Taliban oppression but at least they will have some security. This new stability will enable the Americans to build their oil pipeline from the Caspian region to Pakistan. This will allow me and the other warlords to continue our narco state until the next fake election that takes two weeks to complete. The Afghan people will, of course, still be dirt poor and living with a corrupt police force, judiciary and army. The female children of ex-patriots who live under my rule in Kabul will continue to make up the majority of girls going to school. In conclusion, Canada certainly wasn't going to change a single thing that was going on in Afghanistan and leaving now won't change a thing either. However, taking my side in the battle of warlords for control of the "smack" money has really put me in an excellent position. Thanks chum....ps.

P.S. A Liberal-NDP coalition government is not a prediction. Unfortunately, both sides are too partisan to work together. One can dream however.

I was a guy in PEI

That's right, I took some time off from working and griping about the general state of things to hop a train with my wife and little guy all the way east to PEI for a wedding (yes, the train only went to Moncton). I haven't been east of Kenora since I was 12 years old and went with my hockey team to Montreal on an east meets west cultural exchange. The idea was to meet and stay with kids from another city with a different culture to promote tolerance. It worked, we all discovered that 12 year old boys from Montreal and Winnipeg pretty much love hockey and fart jokes equally. We decided to take the train for 3 reasons, my 3 year old son is crazy about Thomas the Tank Engine, I love to support Crown corporations, and I hate being subjected to the kind of security environments that exist only in airports and Turkish prisons.
The first stretch from Winnipeg to Toronto was a 30+ hour affair made longer by the fact that we were repeatedly delayed waiting for CN freight trains, with whom we shared the tracks with, to pass by. This may have just been a matter of logistics or it may have been a case of freight over people, either way it was annoying. It probably would have bothered me less if it was still the Canadian National Railway and not the Illinois Globalism Oligarchy Express that it is today. The staff was mostly friendly and professional and even the food was decent. I would recommend going Sleeper Class, we were in Coach or "Comfort" Class, a name that Orwell would have appreciated. The seats were great for sitting but terrible for sleeping. It was also too cold most of the time, but having said that, overall the trip was pleasant. When we arrived in Toronto I was surprised to see the CPC's Jason Kenney. He was stalking around the baggage conveyor belt looking annoyed, impatient and self-important. I was just beginning to think how typical that was when I realized I had the same look on my own face. We all did, it was hot in there! We were a little late and tired and we had to fight our way through the traffic leaving the Blue Jays game, so we went to bed without seeing much of Toronto. In the morning we went to Tim Horton's like good, little, consumer Canadians. While sipping my coffee I noticed a homeless guy burning his fingers trying to light a tiny cigarette butt he had found. The homeless had recently been in the news in Toronto after some guy was allegedly stabbed by a couple of homeless kids. I decided to make my contribution to the debate. There was a little corner store beside the downtown Tim Horton's, I walked in and asked for a pack of Du Maurier King. I took the cigs outside and gave the whole pack to the homeless guy. Needless to say he was quite happy to have run into me. "I'm saving your life" he said, referring to the smokes and the cancer I wouldn't be getting. We both laughed, it felt good. I like to give money to homeless people, they do a tough job walking around being great, big, living, flashing neon signs that scream, "YOUR SYSTEM ISN'T WORKING, I'M PROOF. CAPITALISM SUCKS. THE RISING TIDE DIDN'T LIFT MY BOAT. I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING BOAT." Now I realize that mental illness and substance abuse are the culprits when it comes to many of these folks, but that doesn't change the fact that a civilized society would do something for them. As seems to be my habit, I digress. Before I could say, "Which way to the Hockey Hall of Fame?", we were back on the train and headed east.
Didn't get to see Montreal, nice train station, cool bridge. What's that, the St. Laurence? We got to Moncton, got our rental car and drove to the Confederation Bridge. The bridge is impressive to say the least and you should see it if you can. It's free to cross, but $40 to get back.
PEI is a jewel! We stayed near Cap Egmont in a cottage by the ocean. We ate fresh lobster for the first time, mussels and clam chowder, it was awesome! I drank like a teenager at my wife's cousin's wedding and I don't know if it was the detoxifying effect of the seafood or the sea air, but I didn't feel like going to sleep after 3 beers and I didn't get a hang-over. My wife went to Anne of Green Gables and I went golfing. We all did the North Cape Coastal Drive to see the wind farm and the wild seals. We also saw the school house where Stompin' Tom Connors went to school, it was cool. I love PEI. The people were easy-going and friendly, if a bit stand-offish at first. Cola still comes in a 750 mL glass bottle, it felt like the 70's. I guess when you live on an island you don't want to fill up your landfill with plastic bottles. They also have an excellent recycling program that includes composting. But they drive too slow! People run little enterprises right out of their yards everywhere. Car sales, car repairs, lobster traps for sale, homemade sheds, greenhouse veggies, and of course, fresh fish, lobster and potatoes. I hope that never changes in Prince Edward Island, but I have my doubts now that the bridge has allowed for Wal-Mart to come to town. My son had been very well behaved so we decided to purchase a small, portable DVD player for him to watch on the train. Of course I bought it at Wal-Mart (what a fuckin' hypocrite) and we were on our way home.
This time we had a little more time in Toronto so of course we went up the CN Tower. Holy fuck, that is trippy! What a view! People from the GTA are smirking if they are reading this, but I don't care, the CN Tower rocked. Go again if you haven't been in awhile. Back on the train and back home. The trip was well worth it and helps put some perspective on just how big and wild this country is. I couldn't find anyone who liked Stephen Harper, while the only Americans I met hated George Bush too. Eastern Canadians are more like Western Canadians than I expected.

Paul Martin strikes again.

In 1994, having just turned 21, I decided to quit my bullshit job selling cars for 60 hours a week in the worst economy in history. "No problem, this is Canada," thought I. "I'll just sit back and collect my birthright, Unemployment Insurance." Boy was I in for a surprise. Our newly minted finance minister Paul Martin had decided he was gonna cut the deficit and he was gonna do it on the backs of the unemployed and those unfortunate enough to get sick. Medical transfers to the province were completely gutted. And "UI" became impossible to get. It has run something like 60 billion in surplus since then in spite of some changes made later to try and win back the lost Maritime vote. This was the first time Paul Martin had an effect on my life. Right around the same time Martin and the rest of the right wing of the Liberal party were embracing globalization and talked Chretien into not cancelling free trade. He had been elected on a promise to do just that. Anyone who is not an economist or a "Blue Liberal" (growth is all that matters, the market will save all) can easily see what a nightmare free trade has been for us ( 100 Gazillion lost manufacturing jobs, massive exploitation of the poor in all three countries, the loss of labour power world wide and a widening of the gap between rich and poor to the size of the Grand Canyon.) By 1997, the year my Grandmother died, Martin's medical transfer cuts and a provincial Conservative gov't had degraded medicare to the point where I honestly believe that financial considerations may have been considered by hospital staff when deciding whether or not it was worth trying to save her. I don't know this for a fact but I have my suspicions. This was damage done when he was not even leader, the worst was yet to come. When Chretien and other actual Liberals finally were unable to hold back Martin and his cronies any longer he finally got his wish and became Prime Minister. During his short reign at the top Martin did more damage to Canada than Brian Mulroney did in eight years. The worst of his moves was committing Canadian troops to Afghanistan. This one comes back to haunt us every time a Conservative is able to comment, "It was the Liberals who got us into this war." This bullshit war should be hanging around the Conservatives' neck like a great big badge of massive failure. Instead, we, the good guys, get to wear it with them. Mr. Martin was also responsible for signing us up to Security and Prosperity Partnership with the evil Americans. To anyone who pays attention and doesn't make their living selling things to Americans this is the biggest threat to Canadian Sovereignty ever. He also passed the first Canadian law ever to include mandatory minimums. If Harper had tried it it wouldn't have made it past the Supreme Court. But because it was a liberal law the court looked at it in a different light and allowed it. This precedent allows Harper to go crazy with the mandatory minimums and the court won't be able to stop him. What a slippery slope. Speaking of the Supreme Court, Martin's appointments seem to have pulled the court to the right. (Allowing fascist security certificates to stand is just one example.) What a fox in the hen house. Mr. Martin also planned to go along with the United States in their missile defence fantasy but huge public opposition changed his mind. Dodged a bullet on that one. Sheila Copps revealed recently that Mr. Martin tried to get her to spearhead the privatization of the CBC. To her credit she refused. Wow an even bigger bullet. This brings me finally to Martin's last gift that keeps on giving. Some actual Liberals tried to push through a bill decriminalizing marijuana. Mr Martin dithered and watered down the bill for his American buddies. Then he never passed it at all. The Conservatives let the bill die after taking office, (of course they did) and as a result the police have started ruining lives again by arresting users. Possession charges are up 50% in some provinces. What a waste of time and money and people's futures. Just today a bullshit study tying marijuana to psychosis was released giving Conservatives more ammo to use the next time the debate comes up. This is defeat snatched from the jaw's of victory. Thanks Paul Martin, thanks for nothing. It is my hope that Chretien's move to stop corporate donations will mean the right-wing will have less of an influence on the direction of the party. If not I guess there is always the NDP.

Woo-hoo! The Tories Suck!

I have had an extra spring in my step the last couple of days, in spite of working outside in some ridiculous heat and humidity. I'm pretty sure it's a case of "schadenfreude", a German word that means taking pleasure from someone's misery and misfortune. Who's misery? The CPC and Deceivin' Stephen Harper.
Decima's new poll has the Libs back in the lead at 32%, and the Cons. 29%, NDP 18%, Greens 9% and the Bloq 9%. Yes, polls don't mean much, but it is still good news and the trend is in the right direction.
Tories are tanking in Atlantic Canada! Nova Scotia Premier Roddy McDonald has joined my boy Danny Williams, the Premier of Newfoundland, in bashing Stephen Harper for what they say is a broken promise not to change the Atlantic Accord. (Side note: Why do I see so many posts bashing Danny Williams? Who cares if he wants his cake and eats too. He's a one-man Stephen Harper trashing machine. He's like a constant free negative ad.) Conservative MPs in Nova Scotia certainly have some 'splaining to do. MP Bill Casey did the right thing and voted against it. Harper, who is falling apart like a '78 Pinto, responded to complaints from Premier McDonald, a Conservative, by basically saying sue me. Huh?! Harper has never liked Atlantic Canada, "culture of defeat", but now he is actively picking a fight with Newfoundland and Nova Scotia voters. I suspect they will show Conservative MPs what defeat is all about. Elizabeth May is looking even better in Central Nova. The thought of Peter McKay losing makes me giggle.
On the Afghanistan front, two-thirds of Canadians believe we should get the fuck out in 2009 at the end of our current mission. I personally believe we should have gotten out long ago. I have advocated for the 2009 withdrawal before though because I believe Canadians will get behind this position. I was right about that. I'm no Nostradamus, I predicted Stockwell Day would go down for buying his way into his riding and boy was I wrong. The RCMP couldn't wait to exonerate Mr. Day. I am concerned however with the new anti-war protests in Quebec. Protesters are sending letters to Canadian troops (Van Doo's) explaining their anti-war position and soliciting them to refuse to go. Everything they say in their letters are right, but I am concerned about their timing. Mr. and Mrs. Mushy-Moderate are on our side right now and this is exactly the kind of behaviour that may send them back into the arms of the fascists. It happened in Vietnam, but I digress. Afghanistan has turned into a nightmare for Stephen Harper and Stephane Dion has just the right position politically, and almost, morally.
There are rumblings that the Senate might block the budget from passing, at least until the end of June, which would effectively kill it. This might actually be good for Harper. If his budget were to pass, Harper's only achievement when he runs back to Calgary after his stunning defeat in the upcoming election, will be passing a budget that gives Quebec enough money to pass a billion dollar tax cut and still maintain more social services than any other province. They must love that in Alberta!
Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert announced today that he'll be taking Harper up on his offer to sue him as Mr. Calvert is also apparently unhappy with being lied to concerning Saskatchewan's equalization take.
Lumberjack Chuck Strahl is facing a court challenge from the "friends of the Wheat Board" and others who say the federal government cannot remove barley from the Wheat Board monopoly without an act of Parliament. Duh! The Supreme Court already ruled on this when Mulroney tried to pull barley out of the single-desk in the '80's. He must go the the House and he certainly doesn't have the votes there. The Wheat Board is gonna live, baby! These thugs are done! It's over! Bring on the election! (Anyone else notice how much better Dion's English is getting?) Even Adler is depressed, now that is "schadenfreude"!

O'Connor Still Wears Clownshoes

On March 13th I posted an article entitled "O'Connor Wears Clownshoes". Mr. O'Connor and Canada's not-so-new government continue to prove that they are not fit to run a lemonade stand, never mind our country or a Middle Eastern war. Gordon (I can't believe I'm still Defense Minister) O'Connor continues to embarrass his boss by making statements in the House that are later contradicted. O'Connor said that since becoming Minister he directed his staff to cover the "full cost" of soldiers' funerals. Lincoln Dinning, father of Cpl. Matthew Dinning, found this offensive and was compelled to hold a press conference to announce that he had, in fact, not been reimbursed for his son's funeral. Obviously Mr. O'Connor wants Dinning to get his money, this is probably more bureaucratic bungling than it is bad policy. But it is symptomatic of a government that likes to make announcements but has very little idea how to implement their agenda. O'Connor and his department have dropped the ball again. He and General Rick Hillier said today that the department will do "what has to be done" to ensure families are reimbursed. No kidding! Everybody from every end of the political spectrum who is not an asshole thinks the government should pay for these final expenses. Like Mr. Dinning said, "it's a no-brainer". So make it happen!

Szabo gets it. Why not other social Conservatives?

Liberal MP Paul Szabo is considered by many to be among the more socially conservative members of the Liberal party. He's pro-life, anti-divorce, anti-gay marriage and worst of all, he supported Michael Ignatieff for the leadership of the Liberals. He did however vote against extending the mission in Afghanistan. I thought this was his only saving grace until I watched him on CPAC today. Mr. Szabo is an exceptionally good orator and a very convincing debater. Members were being heard on one of the Conservatives' new law and order bills. Bill C-10 I think but I could be mistaken. The conservatives have so many law and order bills it's hard to keep track. This one involved mandatory minimums for offences involving firearms. I, of course am completely against mandatory minimums of any kind. I think Judges are the ones best left to decide sentences and shouldn't have their hands tied by politicians. Mr. Szabo isn't against minimums altogether. He supports the idea of using them as a deterrent but rightly points out that long minimums have no more deterrent value then short minimums. This sounds odd until you consider that for those who are going to be deterred, a short time, say, 2 years is enough to do the trick. Most people are not thinking about the consequences and act out of passion or rage or desperation, or for many other reasons. Mandatory minimum sentences have zero affect on their thought process. ( My words, not Szabo's) Mr. Szabo thinks they should be used to deter but not be so long as to interfere with the judges' discretion. He also points out that these are only minimums, the judge is free to sentence bad dudes to much longer. Judges should be allowed to make the sentence fit the crime. I would think many of the law and order types out there would agree with me when it comes to the case of that Saskatoon father who shot his daughter's drug dealing boyfriend. Probably think the judge should have given him a medal. Unfortunately he will be spending the next ten years in jail without parole. A mandatory minimum. Minimums have been in place for years in the U.S. and they have much higher crime rates. Many groups have formed in opposition to them and the Supreme Court of the U.S. has ruled them unconstitutional. Those guys aren't exactly bleeding hearts. Szabo also pointed out the importance of rehabilitation and how our system is pretty good at it and how our contrasting system to that of the Americans seems to be working better. Crime is down and and has been for awhile. All this bluster about getting tough on crime is getting tiresome and it's about time those of us who recognise it speak out. The Democrats in the USA decided to give up this issue in the 90's in order to win centrist voters. It worked, they won, then they passed a completely Republican crime bill helping to turn the U.S. into the police state we now know it as. More people went to jail for smoking pot while Clinton was president than under Reagan and Bush the first combined. I, of course am not speaking for Mr. Szabo and I'm sure he and I would agree on very little. Here is something he and I and every reasonable person should agree on. Mandatory minimums should be used very carefully if used at all.

Love that Elizabeth May

Boy oh boy did the Conservatives have a bad week. Their massive incompetence in Afghanistan and their lies to cover up their massive incompetence have been getting them in trouble all week. They are down 10 points in the polls with only their base left supporting them. The opposition parties and for once the press have not let this scandal die, so in an effort to change the channel Conservatives across Canada tried to manufacture their own little scandal. Last Sunday Elizabeth May delivered a sermon in a church she was invited to speak at. During that sermon Miss May quoted an environmentalist who compared the Conservative government's lack of real action to address climate change with Neville Chamberlain's infamous appeasement of Adolf Hitler in 1938. Tories across the country seized on this and immediately tried to turn it into a scandal. Miss May was comparing Stephen Harper to Hitler. Miss May was invoking the holocaust and using it in the context of Canadian politics. What an insult to the Jewish people and blah, blah, blah. There are only two problems with these ridicules accusations. Number one, Miss May never said a word about the holocaust. She quoted someone else who quite rightly compared Conservative inaction on climate change with English inaction on Hitler taking over his neighbor. Secondly, if it is so wrong to use the Neville Chamberlain incident to illustrate a modern point why do Conservatives do it constantly? Conservatives in Canada and the US compared people who were against the Iraq War to Neville Chamberlain. Peter McKay and Stockwell Day have both been caught by Hansard using the Chamberlain analogy in the House of Commons. Miss May pointed this one out herself on Mike Duffy yesterday. I guess Mr McKay and Mr Day have no respect for the magnitude of the holocaust either. What hypocrisy. Nice try guys but this scandal is not going away yet.

NDP Wrong By Doing Right Thing

The NDP has been consistent and absolutely right regarding the mission in Afghanistan from the very beginning. We should not have gone in and we should get out as fast as we can. The latest today from the Globe and Mail has dozens of Afghan prisoners claiming they were treated very well by Canadian soldiers, but were tortured as soon as they were turned over to Afghan authorities. This may be a war crime and is just another reason we should end this colonial nightmare. Now I'm not trying to start yet another debate about Afghanistan. I can talk about sovereignty, war lords, and Russians. Or Pushtuns, corruption, opium, and oil pipelines. I can talk about American hegemony, questionable elections, and puppet ex-patriots, but I'm unlikely to change many minds. If you are for this mission, you can talk about nation building, girls in schools, the tyranny of the Taliban, or how the sacrifice of brave Canadian soldiers cannot be for not. You can talk about Canada punching above its weight, the war on "terror", and American leadership until you are blue-liberal in the face and you're not going to change my mind. This is about convincing the NDP that they must support tomorrow's motion to pull the troops out by 2009. The NDP say they will not vote for this motion because they believe and have always believed that our troops should be pulled out yesterday. This is a very principled position, however it may end up keeping troops in Afghanistan for years to come. If this motion fails and the wheels are not set in motion for a 2009 withdrawal, Harper may get his majority and commit our troops for ever and ever, amen. That is certainly not what the NDP wants! Also, if this motion passes, Harper could not allow it, Bush wouldn't let him. He would have to fight an election on the issue. An election fought on the war in Afghanistan could be very good for the NDP.

So Long Peter McKay

Stephane Dion stole my idea. I Swear to God I've been procrastinating since Tuesday on a post that was to be entitled "Liberals, NDP should back May in Central Nova". What do I read in the paper this morning? Dion will not run a Liberal candidate in Central Nova. This is awesome news. Last election the voting went down like so, Con-17134, NDP-13861, Libs-10349, Greens-671. May would still have to pick up much of the NDP support to win but this stealthy move puts her much closer to victory. Jack Layton do the right thing and pull the Dipper in the riding too. I know this arrangement will not sit well with fierce partisans from any of the progressive parties but we all need to keep our eye on the ball here. This is the potential end of Conservative cabinet minister and Condaleeza lover Peter McKay. The man who sold out David Orchard, the PC's and the whole country by going back on his word and merging with the Alliance there bye spawning the evil, twisted and sitting in fucking government CPC. All three progressive parties, hell even the Bloc should look at other riding's where a little co-operation might bring down a fascist. Dont worry Peter you'll still have your dog.

Softwood Lumber already?

Oh, oh get out the K-Y jelly the Americans are unhappy with the softwood lumber agreement again. International Trade Minister, party jumper and chief bender over for the Canadian govt David Emerson announced late Friday that "The United States has requested that we consult on federal and provincial government forestry programs and the interpretation of the surge mechanism." In other words the Americans have a problem with assistance programs offered by the Ontario and Quebec governments to the Canadian lumber industry saying it amounts to subsidies. (That old chestnut.) They also object to federal grants, loans, loan guarantees, and tax credits awarded to Canadian lumber producers. Lastly, (for now) they have a problem with our interpretation of the surge mechanism which is essentially a taxation and duty scheme that ties the tax rates paid on Canadian lumber exports to US lumber consumption. They don't have a leg to stand on on any of the above counts but when has that stopped them before? Why would it? Emerson seems quite ready to bend over already saying, "This is a good opportunity for Canada and the United States to once again work closely and to work through our disagreements in a constructive manner." Translation, thank you sir may I have another? The Softwood Lumber deal, made law less then six months ago was already hugely one-sided and essentially rewarded the Americans for breaking the rules of NAFTA. Emerson pretty much admitted as much at that time saying that the deal wasn't ideal but that is was a better alternative to costly litigation and that it would bring "stability to the industry." What stability? Less then six months and the Americans are complaining. These, "consultations" are the second step in the grievance process and amount to nothing more then a shake down. Canada will either capitulate, (don't put it past Emerson) or the next step will be guess what, litigation. We'll be right back where we started from accept with less of a legal leg to stand on. In the Softwood lumber Agreement we negotiated away our rights to use all legal rulings in our favour in the past in any future legal proceeding. More great negotiating. Conservatives shouldn't be allowed to make deals with Americans. They love them so much and want to be them so bad that they essentially give away the farm every time they meet. Each time David Emerson or Micheal Wilson make a deal with the US my bum feels sore. Jesus I think these guys were the negotiating team for the Manhattan Indians. One billion dollars bought us less then six months of lumber peace . It is exactly what critics of the deal said would happen and it would be funny if it wasn't so sad.

From fat kids to hockey

The CBC and others have reported recently on what they are calling a Canadian child obesity epidemic. The reasons for this according to everyone they asked is what the kids are eating. Fast food, soda, chips and cookies. Surprisingly kids prefer eating junk food to healthy snacks! No way. The solutions according to the pointy heads who did the study are to remove soda machines from schools and to make fast food restaurants put warnings on their packaging and to stop advertising to kids. This is supposed to help parents make healthier choices for their kids. Maybe.... but isn't there an easier solution? Sure, of course parents should try to limit the amount of junk their kids eat but once in awhile they should let them off their leash too. Stop holding their hand, stop driving them 3 blocks to school, (this alone would help solve global warming, childhood obesity and road rage all at once). Stop picking them up everywhere they go. Let them ride their skate board and their bike, and let them leave the driveway. Let them play hockey and football and baseball. Stop closing community centers. When I was a kid I didn't stop running or biking or swimming or break-dancing from 1977 through 1987. I ate all the healthy food my mother gave me along with all the junk-food I could get my hands on, like every kid. Kids today spend too much time playing video games it's true but so did we. I remember 6 hour stretches playing Intellivision and drinking Big Gulps. Afterwards though I was allowed to go play hide and seek for 3 hours. So were all the other kids. Oh but times have changed, it's a different world now than it was then. I guess that's true if you mean the world is alot safer now than it was then. Crime is way down from where it was in the 70's and 80's. Pedophiles drove around in their white vans back then too. The Boomers were young and drunk driving their GTO's through your neighbourhood and mine and doing historic damage. Assault, murder, rape and every other violent crime were way more likely then. Yet it is remembered as some innocent past time when we used to be able to leave our doors open and let our kids run free. It's all about perception. The belief is that things are getting worse and worse, crime is out of control and the streets are dangerous. This myth is what Stephen Harper exploits when he talks about cracking down on imaginary crime. When the Americans decided to go hard on crime in the 80's they at least had a crime wave, we don't. Some things have changed for the worse. Gangs are more prevalent, but that is what happens when you cut every program in your welfare state, like Jim Flaherty did in Ontario, and when you close those aforementioned community clubs and kiddie pools. Of course, more kids slip through the cracks and end up easy recruitment targets for gangs. Society forgets about them until a suburban white girl gets caught in the cross-fire on Boxing Day. But even with these gangs running around shooting at each other, you're still much less likely to be shot than you were in the "good old days". This mind set, it seems, has also crept into the NHL. Now I can't pretend to be an expert on today's NHL (I stopped watching when my beloved Jets left town), but the attitude today seems to be that fighting and stick swinging are up. Each time anybody hits anybody with their stick in an ugly way, they get suspended for a longer and longer time. They sometimes even face criminal charges! I've read many sports writers who have even talked about getting rid of fighting!! What a docile little girl's world this has become. There was more stick swinging, fighting and genuine ugly behaviour in one period in a 1977 Flyers game than there was in the whole season last year. But I digress, if you want your kid to be skinny, kick his ass outside!

Get tough on crime, put Stockwell Day in jail.

It's a good thing Stephen Harper has decided to crack down on criminals because apparently there is one in his own cabinet. It seems that in 2000 Mr. Day had just become leader of the Alliance party but was without a seat. It was decided that Mr. Day should be given a safe seat in the southern BC bible belt. MP Jim Hart was willing to take one for the team and give up his seat in Okanagon-Coquihalla. He was hailed as a hero for sacrificing his seat. But was it a sacrifice? It turns out Mr. Hart may have been paid to step aside. The Tories tried to say this was old news and that the RCMP had concluded in 2001 that no wrongdoing had taken place. The RCMP however almost certainly did not have in its possession then, documents which have surfaced recently showing correspondence between Mr. Day's office and Jim Hart which discuss his compensation for giving up his seat. See today's Toronto Star for details. Scott's Diatribes also has an excellent article on the subject. When Harper was first elected I crossed my fingers and said "please put Stockwell Day in the cabinet". Everything that tool does eventually ends up hurting Conservatives. This scandal is gonna be huge. It should be the only thing any Liberal talks about in Question Period and on the news until it brings down these backward trolls who currently run our gov't. My only concern is that the RCMP will try to bury it or exonerate Mr. Day, (I think we know what side those guys are on). Liberal MP Mark Holland is all over this scandal and I don't thing he's gonna let it go. Stephane Dion should stop talking about supporting Harper's super-fascist crime bills and start talking about this scandal. My favorite part of this whole story is how it was the Conservatives' own documents left behind in the opposition offices that are gonna be their undoing. Right wingers just have to write everything down. Maybe it's all the self help books they read? I don't know but I'm sure glad of it. Harper is going down over this or at the very least Day will be the scapegoat and get turfed. Either way, go get 'em Mr Holland.

O'Connor wears clownshoes.

Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor showed he's right on top of the situation in Afghanistan again yesterday. Mr O'Connor said he would make a point of meeting with one Abdoul Noorzai, an Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission official. Mr Noorzai signed an agreement last month to monitor the condition of detainees who have been turned over to Afghan authorities. "I want to look the man in the eyes and I want to confirm that they are going to do what they say they're going to do, I just want assurance from him that he will monitor and he will inform us of any abuses." said O'Connor on Sunday. Sounds great, only one problem, Mr Noorzai didn't bother to show up. I guess he was afraid to look O'Connor in the eyes. I thought Canada was punching above its weight now and demanding respect. This total dis is only the latest in a string of embarrassing incidents for O'Connor. His meeting with Mr. Noorzai was an attempt at damage control already because it came out this week that the Red Cross was not monitoring Afghan detainees on behalf of Canada like he has been saying in the House Of Commons for months. Oops. It has also been reported this week that the family of a soldier accidentally killed in Afghanistan was kept in the dark about what happened for over 8 months. I'm not ready to put the blame for that on O'Connor yet but it did happen on his watch. Why are we handing over combatants to people we don't trust not to torture them? Oh yeah we couldn't hand them over to the US because we knew they would torture them. Why can't we hold them ourselves? Oh yeah because holding these dudes at all just might be a war crime. What a sad day it was when Paul Martin let himself get talked into this silliness by one Rick , "Decade of Darkness", Hillier. What an even sadder day it was when Micheal Ignatiaff stood up and voted with the government to extend the mission. Twenty-four other weasels did too. The saddest day of all of course would be a Harper majority. Then we could look forward to perpetual war with incompetent men like Hillier and O'Connor who obviously know nothing about the history or politics of the region leading boys off to die so they can sit at Uncle Sam's knee and play war games.

Kennedy Kicks Ass

Watched Duffy Live last night like I way too often do. I'm glad I did however, because I got to watch Gerrard Kennedy deliver an absolute verbal ass-whooping to Bernard Lord on the environment and a few other topics. Kennedy easily countered Mr Lord's attacks on Stephane Dion and himself and left Lord stammering and grinning his stupid grin. If the Liberals want to win the next election Kennedy should be on TV more often. Ralph Goodale has been good lately too, feisty. Even Ignatieff with whom I disagree on almost all topics has been effective. (Yes I watch too much Question Period.) Stephane Dion has yet to score big points with Canadians but has done the right thing when it comes to protecting their rights. He also plans to pull the troops out in 2009 when the current mission is over. This isn't fast enough for me but I predict that come this summer it will be a wildly popular idea among Canadians who will feel we have done our share and that other NATO countries should step up. In short there is lots to be positive about if you're a Liberal. I do think however, that there are many challenges ahead. Steven Harper and Karl Rove's attack and wedge election strategy can be very effective and attack adds can influence the weak-minded. Liberals should respond in kind if they must. This ain't no disco, this is war for the soul of Canada.

Big Daddy Harper will protect us.

Now that Stephane Dion and his band of freedom hating terrorist enablers have voted against extending two provisions of the Anti-terror act which allowed police to arrest and hold people for 72 hours without a warrant or force people to testify at secret hearings I don't know what to do. I'm that scared.What will stop the terrorists now? I'm sure there are many terror cells operating right now about to strike. The RCMP and CSIS know all about them but darn it, they just cant get an arrest warrant. I guess we'll just have to let them strike. Curse those Liberals and all their human rights talk. If only we could have make all the Muslims in every Muslim community testify about their neighbors in secret hearings we could find out all the nefarious plans of those who hate us for our freedoms. Or if we could just get everyone in the Indo-Canadian community to testify we could finally get to the bottom of this 25 year old Air-India investigation. Thank God we have big Daddy Harper and the Conservatives in charge. They understand that in a post 911 world all personal freedoms are trumped by Americans, (and dumb-ass Canadians) need to feel safe. If you want to feel safe demand the government get our troops out of Afghanistan. Poking at a hornets nest is an excellent way to get stung. If you want to feel safe stop hanging out with the worlds biggest state sponsor of terror, the USA. These are the reasons there is any danger at all of an attack on Canada. How come they don't hate Sweden for their freedom? People hate you when you kick in their door, or drop a bomb on their village, or shoot their Father for driving to close to your convoy. Security is an illusion. The idea that you can be safe from a group of people who are determined to harm you if you just take enough precautions and if you just limit your own freedom is a myth.

Mark Holland is a friend of Alberta oil patch.

There is an interesting little article from the Canadian Press that ran in The Winnipeg Free Press today under the headline " Brash MP risks wrath of Albertans " The story concerns Liberal natural resources critic Mark Holland and his upcoming visit to the province of Alberta in early March which will include a tour of the oil sands. The entire premise of the article is that Mark better watch out because he might get tarred and feathered by Albertans upset that he plans on nationalising the oil sands or shutting them down should the Liberals come to power. Premier Ed Stelmach and Ralph Klein have both warned Holland to stay out of Alberta's business. Many fear a " hidden agenda to take control " I wish. The Alberta Oil sands are an environmental nightmare destroying the land, exhausting Alberta's water supply, burning massive amounts of natural gas in order to create a product that when burned does even more damage to the environment. American oil companies run the place and take an ever increasing amount for America's glutinous need. They care not for the future of Alberta or for Canada and take our natural resource for a relative pittance. The oil industry should of course be nationalized immediately. This unfortunately has never been what Mr Holland has said. Holland like his boss Mr Dion pitch a policy of sustainable development. He is going to Alberta in an effort to work with the industry to clean up the carbon emissions. This doesn't have to cost the industry. On the contrary the idea is to get ahead of the curve and profit from new clean technologies that can be marketed to the world. The Liberals seem to think that this is where the future lies. The oil sector would be wise to embrace this future rather then a business as usual approach that denotes a future where more and more people ( Including in Alberta ) are talking about making some changes. In other words Holland seems to be saying work with us to clean up your act and maybe we can even profit from it or Canadians will force you to clean up your act.

Dion shows leadership

Stephane Dion is refusing to back down from his decision to let two provisions of the Anti-terrorism act die next week. He does this despite massive and hysterical opposition from the Conservatives, many in his own party and even the senate. The absolute panic shown by the powers that be is a little bit concerning. Clearly the security establishment was caught off guard when Dion decided to let these draconian powers sunset and have gone on an absolute offensive in the media and in the house to have the Liberals change course. Dion to his complete credit has steadfastly refused to bow to this pressure. The fact that there seems to be so many who think that we need to keep these provisions and that they are so able to dominate and influence the debate is the scary part. Why are they so concerned? Are they afraid of looking soft to America? Do they see this as a setback to achieving their integrated security state? Regardless of these fascists both within and without of the Liberal party, (those within should be purged.) Dion stands tall. That's leadership. Harpers attempts at tying this in with the Air-India Inquiry are laughable and it smells like the RCMP is in bed with the Conservatives again trying to make the Libs look bad. Suddenly they needed to use this provision? The Supreme court didn't rule last week. The've known for awhile they could use these provisions and haven't felt the need. This is BS and it will come back to harm Harper among Indo-Canadians whom he seems to think are completely gullible.

Swing voters let down Canada.

I've long been an admirer of Canada's middle. The long suffering moderates patiently sitting through long winded rants from partisans of all sides and trying in most cases to reach some sort of middle ground. Now I'm not talking about the "what are you gonna do for me voters". Those who care little for politics and simply vote for whomever will give them the biggest tax cut or handout. Every democracy is burdened with such folks. I'm talking about the genuine fence sitter. The voter who says "tell me your platform and if I think it has merit and it's good for Canada and it's better than the other guy's platform, I'll vote for you. I don't care about labels, I don't care about left or right ." These people are sincere and generally very well informed. In most cases they are very adept at sniffing out ideologues. Although I admire these people I cannot be one of them. I am what I am and feel very strongly that without Conservatives in the world we would all be holding hands and singing and basically enjoying our Utopia. I don't even want to hear the other side. I am an Ideologue. Just like Stephen Harper. If I were Prime Minister I would immediately pull all the troops out of Afghanistan because I would need them in Alberta where I would be totally nationalising the oil patch. I would stack the courts and the senate and the committees that select the judges with people who thought exactly like me. And I would end free trade. In other words the stock market would crash and the US would invade almost immediately. That is why swing voters tend to stay away from guys like me and historically from guys like Mr. Harper. And make no mistake Harper is an ideologue. From his reckless trashing of the wheat board because he doesn't like monopolies, never mind if it's what farmers want, to his cancelling of Liberal Environment programs because he didn't believe in the science only to renew many of them later when he saw the light or maybe the polls. Stephen Harper is way out there. Don't forget he doesn't even have a majority. His Idealism is perhaps most obvious when it comes to law and order issues. His disdain for the courts and those he considers activist judges is well documented. And now he is stuffing the courts full of conservative activist judges. Mostly they believe that everyone should go to jail forever. Especially poor people. Also he is stuffing the committees that recommend judges full of, you guessed it, conservative party hacks and cops! Yeah cops picking judges, great idea. Mr Harper isn't stopping there though he's also stuffing the parole board with Tories including the wife of Vic Toews' Buddy. Listen I understand why you guys may have voted for Harper at first. You wanted to punish the Liberals and with the grand old moderate PC party gone you didn't have much choice. Besides Harper was acting all "look at me I've gone to the middle". I think now it's obvious he hasn't. Canada's swing voters have a job to do. Don't let him buy you with a tax cut. You're better than that. Canada is great because you don't let me run it and because you don't usually let guy's like Stephen Harper run it either.

Minority Governments put everybody in bed

Politicians of every stripe these days seem to be bending over backwards to tell us they don't want an election at the same time they are clearly preparing for one. The common wisdom it seems is that Canadians don't want another election and will punish whichever party causes one. I am one Canadian who cant wait to get to another election. Under the current political climate in Canada and with the polling numbers sitting close to where they were at the time of the last election it doesn't seem like much is poised to change.I would suggest that many significant things could happen. The first and worst of all scenarios of course would be for Stephen Harper to cobble together an unholy alliance of western rednecks and Quebec nationalists, convince enough soccer moms that crime is out of control and gain his much coveted majority. Goodbye Canada, Turn off the lights on your way out, pass the poison Kool-aid. Nobody wants to think of that nightmare for long so lets move on. A second possibility of course would be a Liberal Majority. If swing voters were to recognise just how weak Harper is on the environment, if the 401 area held and farmers turned against Harper to save the wheat board then the liberals could squeak out a majority. This would give Stephane Dion a chance to prove he really does have a vision for a progressive new Canada and it's not all sloganeering. A third possibility and my personal favorite is a Liberal minority with the NDP holding the balance of power. Or perhaps even an official coalition majority Government. Dion could make Layton Environment minister.The numbers were very close for this scenario during the Martin minority and I have held out hope ever since. The NDP would pull the liberals in the right direction on Afghanistan, child care and health care but the liberals would protect the charter and make sure the NDP wouldn't take the golden goose to the guillotine. A fourth case of course would be another Tory minority. If that happens we simply try again.

Dion gets it right.Pulls Liberals left

Liberal leader Stephane Dion surprised many in Ottawa Friday when the liberals announced they would not support Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day's motion to extend two controversial provisions of Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act. The provisions allowed police to hold terrorism suspects without warrants and to force people they believe to have knowledge of terrorist plots to spill the beans behind closed doors. Neither provision has ever been used and both were subject to a five year sunset clause. The five years are up and those two provisions are gone unless the house votes to extend them. The NDP, The Bloc and now the Liberals have said they will vote against the motion. This is great news for many reasons. Firstly it was bad policy. Holding people without arrest warrants and forcing them to testify in secret trials is not how you operate in a free country. Secondly it shows that Stephane Dion is moving the liberals in the right direction. They passed the Draconian Anti-Terrorism Act in the first place and as recently as last October were still behind the aforementioned provisions. Now they will let them die. Thirdly this bodes well for opponents of security certificates. These certificates allow immigrants to be held indefinitely without trial and have been used several times. Some of these men have turned to hunger strikes to bring attention to their lot and its brought attention alright. From Amnesty international. This law is shameful and so is the Anti-Terrorism Act. Perhaps Mr Dion if elected will take more steps to correct them.

Conservatives clueless on environment

Watching clips of new environment minister John Baird appearing before a Commons committee studying the clean air act and smugly telling us that the Tories were not even going to try to meet Kyoto targets through emissions-trading or any way else. I was astonished at how much these guys just don't get it. Polls are showing that the environment, it turns out is much more important to Canadians then conservatives thought and as a result they have pretended to have seen the light and gone green.Yet they still come out saying essentially the same thing they said before about Kyoto. It cant be done and the sky is falling. "Canadians do not want empty promises on a plan that we cannot achieve and they do not want our country to face economic collapse," Huffed Baird to the committee. If conservatives believe that the only way to reach Kyoto targets is to send the country into economic collapse then they are clearly not qualified to be running the country. Baird is just Rona Ambrose with a bad attitude and a junior high come-back.