Layton should back Harper!.... Maybe

That's right, prop him up. That may seem like crazy talk especially from someone like me who has been calling for the end of the Harper government since its inception and who has to spit on the ground , excuse me, everytime he even says the word Harper. It's just that the only thing I can imagine being worse and more embarrassing on the world stage would be an Ignatieff government.

Do Ignatieff's supporters really expect the support of the NDP at anytime? Oh yeah we don't mind that you totally fucked us on the coalition. Now that the Liberals feel better about their position and their finances we should stand up with them and bring down Harper at the time of their choosing? Fuck that. Suddenly Liberals are anti-Harper? Nice of you centrist, poll watching assholes to get on board. Unfortunately you're like 70 votes too late.

Harper, whom under normal circumstances should be punted from office as fast as possible, really is fairly toothless right now. His attempts to woo Quebec voters were a terrific failure and all it did was to alienate his base who are pretty pissed at him. In fact it is his drop in Quebec along with a rise in the fortunes of Liberals in Quebec that has their party all horny for an election. Harper can still do some damage by appointing senators and judges but with the right-wing of the Liberal party firmly in control of their party I can't imagine their judges being much better. Paul Martin's Supreme Court choices have already pulled the court to the right. You can bet Ignatieff sure wouldn't appoint any Liberals (His political enemies) to the court.

Anyone with any political smarts whatsoever knows that Obama is on the verge of asking Canada to stay in Afghanistan for another decade or so. He may have secretly done so already. Harper would have one hell of a time saying no. I'll give you that. But you know who would definitely say yes to keeping troops in Afghanistan? Michael Ignatieff. He adores the war in Afghanistan and always has.

By the way there is not an ounce of the hypocritical in the NDP position should they decide to prop up Harper. The NDP was prepared to bring down Harper in order to be in a coalition where we would have some say in what the government were to do. In other words Jack could veto Ignatieff's silliest right-wing ideas and effectively protect the country from both Harper and Ignatieff. Iggy has already shown that he would rather vote with Harper than be Prime Minister of a country where Jack Layton would have some influence on him. Why should the NDP side with him? Especially when the Liberals put up as their man someone who just may be to the right of Harper.

Now having said what I said previously there is still some argument to be made for bringing down the government. No it's not the argument Liberals are making. Hey NDP how could you support Harper? Now that they have their finances in place and the party "braintrust" has rammed their man into the leadership we should support them. Like there is any difference between them and the Cons. The most compelling reason would be the possible end of one of the two right-wing leaders that bring our once great nation down. It is rumored that another minority for Harper and he would be on the outs with the party. It is also rumored that an election loss for Ignatieff would send him back to Harvard and out of our lives for good. Both of these developements could only be good for Canada. However there are some very bad things that could happen. Canadians could turn on the Liberals because of Ignatieff's obviously self serving election call and give Harper his majority. Harper with a majority is very dangerous. Or Canadians could finally decide they have had enough of Harper and give Ignatieff a majority. An equally scary proposition.

I think the best course of action would to be exactly what Layton seems to be doing, let Harper decide. He can come around and give the NDP some of what they are asking for, ( ATM fees seems to be one Harper wouldn't anger his base with too much) stay in power and be a hero to Canadians who want an election like they want a root canal. Or Harper could continue to refuse to budge, be held somewhat responsible for an unwanted election and risk losing his job. The NDP would come out looking pretty good either way and as usual with our principles intact.

Disband the RCMP today!

In 1932 Canada was mired in our last great depression. Just like now Canada was hobbled by having a conservative government. R.B Bennett was Prime Minister. Groups of young men all over the country were out of work and looking for work. Bennett realized that these young men might be easy pickings for communist rabble rousers. He decided he would put them to work in work camps. These camps were set up all over the country. Men received three square meals and 2o cents a day. The men who worked there called them slave camps and needless to say weren't very happy about living conditions and their 20 cents a day. Ironically communist organisers now found they had a captive audience of men who were quite open to their message. By 1935 some camp workers in BC had had enough. A large group of more than a thousand men climbed aboard a freight train and told whoever would listen that they were going to Ottawa to present their problems to R.B. Bennett himself. Bennett thought the group would run out of steam before they got out of the mountains but instead they only picked up more and more unemployed men. By the time they reached Calgary Bennett knew he had a problem. Bennett was from Calgary and decided he didn't want a confrontation in his home town so Regina was chosen as the place he would deal with these men.

When the trekkers, as they were called got off the train in Regina to stretch their legs Bennett's men took over the train and refused to allow the men back on. The men were also unable to leave Regina. They would be going to a special work camp built for them in Saskatchewan. The men wanted no part of this plan. After a contingent of trekkers met in Ottawa with Bennett and were unable to come to an agreement the trekkers decided to stage a protest. Many locals also attended. At this point in our little tail Bennett decided to bring in the RCMP. Can anyone guess what happened next? If you said,"RCMP thugs go on a beating spree" you go to the head of the class. You bet they moved in and you bet they beat down as many homeless poor trekkers as they could. To their credit these men fought back and injured over 40 of these storm trooping pigs.

Now I don't know if this is the first time the RCMP beat down a bunch of innocent people but it sure wasn't the last. Fast forward to 2009 and things sure haven't changed much. I'm not going to bother documenting any of the thousands of examples of RCMP officers acting like fascist cunts because who has the time. Just google "RCMP brutality" and you will be surprised at the never ending list of examples. A couple of my favorites include the pepper spraying of protesters on Jean Chretien's orders at the WTO meetings in Vancouver and that clown who shot a teenager last year in custody because he allegedly struggled with him. The boy by the way was arrested for drinking a beer outside a hockey rink. I can't think of a more Canadian activity.

The RCMP have always been the bad guy's and have always done way more harm than good but things have really moved into the surreal since the advent of Tasers. The people who make tasers can sue me all they want but I will say it straight up. TASERS KILL PEOPLE!!!! Any one who doesn't get that or thinks the police use them instead of guns to save lives is a fuckin retard. Police use tasers for exactly one reason. Immediate compliance. This is the exact reason they are not supposed to use them for but I assure you it is the only reason police use them.

The fact that we live in a world wear cops are even allowed to use tasers is beyond comprehension. It must have something to do with all the right wing, cop loving, protester hating American wanna be, backward pig, dickheads who live in this country. People who think the police are nothing but hero's who never lie. People who have yet to operate their fucking brains.

This brings me to the final and most horrible part of this legacy of fascism. The Vancouver taser death of polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski. Anyone who has seen the video know that every word of testimony uttered by those RCMP cocks was an outright lie. It's to bad we don't have video of everybody who's ever been murdered by tasers because than some of you might understand that the police lie every fuckin time. These are not outta control violent people, the cops still shoot those people every fucking chance they get. The cops use tasers on everybody who doesn't move fast enough for them and they use them on a fuckin whim. It got even worse this week. As a result of the inquiry into Mr. Dziekanski's murder the RCMP are supposed to change their policy on tasers. And what was their absolute, biggest balls I've ever scene in my life response? They changed their policy all right, actually dropping some of the restrictions instead of adding more. What unmitigated fucking balls. These clowns are laughing at us. They are not gonna give up their compliance weapon with out a fight no matter how many people have to die.

I would like to take this opportunity to apologise to the family of Mr. Dziekanski and the people of Poland. I'm sorry this happened. I'm sorry about the way the cops made things worse by lying and trying to blame the victim and I'm sorry we have so many conservative pigs in this country that we can't do something as simple has keeping killing machines out of the hands of Nazi cops.

There was a time when I would have only said ban the taser, but this whole sad affair has made me come to only one conclusion, end the RCMP. When the law thinks it's above the law it's time for them to fucking go. They shoulda been gone since 1935. Ask a trekker.

Sure are a lot of sheriffs in town.

The 1993 documentary, "The war room" as you probably know was a documentary that went behind the scenes of Bill Clinton's successful 1992 presidential campaign. Remember, "It's the economy stupid"? Another part of the documentary shows two Democratic strategists talking about crime policy. I'm paraphrasing but it went something like this, "If the other side says to fry em than we say we're gonna hang em." In other words the harder you appeared to be on crime the better. There was no downside politically. Americans left and right were in agreement, they wanted a sheriff . Careful what you wish for. America today is far beyond police state. Almost 2.5 million people are in prison in the land of the free. Mandatory minimums and three strikes your out laws are the norm in every state. The State of New Hampshire, where by the way the motto is "Live free or die" the number two growth industry in the 90's was prison building. New private prisons have been built all over the country to accommodate all these new prisoners. If being tough on crime makes you safer, the US must be the safest place in the world to live by now. A modern crime free utopia! The Americans in their defence (I can't believe I'm saying that) were at least reacting to a 1980's crime wave. I have been laboring under the false impression that Canadians were smarter than that and if not you could at least count on the Charter or the NDP and Liberals to stand against fascism. Boy was I wrong. The Conservatives latest hard on crime plans include a bunch of anti-gang initiatives that include a bunch of mandatory minimums and a plan to do away with double time credit given to people who have been awaiting trial. Sounds great, political winners every one of them. Who cares what happens to gang members who shoot at each other in the street and why should criminals be given double time for time served? Never mind that police will use these tools against more than gang members. If you don't believe there is a slippery slope when it comes to mandatory minimums you just again need to look south. And never mind that people are given double time credit in prison before trial for two reasons. Firstly they have zero access to rehab programs or in many cases even exercise. People who have actually been convicted of crimes have more rights than them. Secondly it is meant to encourage the crown to proceed with trial on a timely basis. I expect Conservatives to be idiots when it comes to crime, they always have been, but what is up with the other two parties? This week anyone who watched question period was treated to the spectacle of Liberal members standing up and asking Harper why he wasn't harder on crime and why we couldn't get these bills passed faster? Whaaaa. The NDP haven't been much better. Why would they? Being hard on crime is apparently politically popular in Canada now. I thought Canadians were thinking people who didn't normally go for knee-jerk redneck solutions. Guess I was wrong. Enjoy your police state morons.

How about a Canadian car company ?

Ontario lost 70 thousand jobs in January and many of those loses came in the auto industry. The economic engine of Canada is sputtering and were all worse off for it.

I propose a brand new Canadian car company. Of course being a massive old school lefty I would want this project to be a Crown corporation. If the Government is going to spend billions of dollars on stimulus what better way to get results than directly putting people back to work?

Now I haven't been living in a cave, I know that no new Crown corporations are allowed under NAFTA. I know that the world has been going in exactly the opposite direction. Car companies are no longer of a certain country but are instead international corporate entities that make pieces of their product all over the world. That's globalism and the church of globalism still has many parishioners. I'm not one of them but that is an argument for another post. The Americans ignore the rules of NAFTA constantly, (Softwood lumber, The buy American first act) so I certainly wouldn't lose any sleep over breaking the rules. It could be done privately though, some sort of public private partnership, say with Ballard. Again not my first choice, I know that most public, private partnerships just mean public finance, private profit but I'm not cynical enough to think it couldn't be done properly.

The car pictured above is called the Nano and is produced in India. It has a retail price of about $2500 US. I would like to see Canada's car company produce something similar. Now obviously we could not produce these cars for the same price as India and still maintain the high wages and working conditions enjoyed by Canadian Auto workers but we could maybe offer something better. A hydrogen fuel cell version perhaps. Burnaby BC's Ballard company is a world leader in this technology.

Ontario already has the infrastructure and thousands of highly trained auto sector workers ready to work or go back to work. If were gonna play globalism lets do it right. Let's put a Canadian made, non polluting small car in every driveway in China, in India, hell in America. Save the world economy and the environment all at once. Maybe it's a pipe dream, maybe it would never work, maybe it's a crazy idea but it's something. And it's got be a better idea than giving Billions of dollars to bankers who still refuse to loosen up credit.

Falling for Jack.

After taking the last few weeks to take many walks in the snow I came to the conclusion that there really is no place in today's Liberal party for anyone who leans left. The Bay street wing is firmly in control and really always has been. Michael Ignatieff and his supporters really must be congratulated on reversing the Chretien, Dion coup attempt. They run that pathetic husk of a party now and I say let them have it. The NDP may have actually caught a break with the death of the coalition. Now a proud party that has actually shown some principle won't have their hands bloodied by being associated with that bunch of Neo-Liberal poll watchers and centre-right assholes who still inhabit the great sinking ship Liberal Party.

Any one who stands opposed to Stephen Harper has only one choice. Smilin Jack Layton period. The Liberal, Conservative coalition government can only be opposed by New Democrats. Left leaning Liberals I implore you, stop taking abuse from your own party, stop apologizing for Gaza and for Afghanistan and join me at my new party. It's great to have a leader who you can agree with once in awhile. The blood is already coming off my hands too.

Chomsky on Ignatieff

I've watched this week in horrified disbelieve as many Libloggers, including some very high profile ones, have talked themselves into supporting Michael Ignatieff for the leadership of the party. I imagine this may have something to do with Mr. Ignatieff's electability. After losing so hard in the last election with a less than charismatic leader, many Liberals are looking for an eloquent and engaging leader to take us into the next election. Mr. Ignatieff has these qualities in spades. He is one of the best speakers in the House of Commons in both French and English and has a very commanding presence. If he managed to run a gaffe free campaign, and that is a very big if, I believe he would have the best chance of winning the election.

Unfortunately, he is wrong about almost everything and is the last man, including Stephen Harper, who should be running the country. Mr Ignatieff, in my opinion, is the worst sort of Neo-Liberal. The type that has an almost evangelical view of the market and its ability to grow wealth and help poor people. This of course never happens. For any of you economist types who want to argue that point with me just look at your latest failure. For the last few years the free market parishioners have been telling us about the "Celtic tiger," look at Ireland they would say. They stopped their social programs, sold off their crown assets, deregulated their economy, cut taxes and increased corporate subsidies. Now foreign investment is up and the economy is growing. Same old song they sung while they ruined South America . Well, the Celtic tiger has just become the first European Union country to dive into recession. The Irish will get through it, they have seen tough times before. Of course this time they won't have any social programs to lean on.

Believing in the neo-Liberal fantasy is just one part of Ignatieff's problem. Much more worrisome is his belief in Empire and Imperialism. It is my opinion that Mr. Ignatieff feels we not only have a right to impose our way of life on other countries but a responsibility to do so. If you want Canadian troops to fight and die in Afghanistan for the rest of time never mind Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff is your boy.

These are just a few of the reasons I think Mr. Ignatieff should not lead the party or the country, but why take my word for it? I'm just a simple carpenter. What does eminent intellectual and possibly the world's smartest man, Noam Chomsky, think of Michael Ignatieff? Just check out this 2003 interview with David Barsamian. About three quarters of the way through you will find this,

"TRADITIONALLY IF you used the word "imperialism" and attached the word "American" in front of it, you were immediately dismissed as a member of some far left fringe. That has undergone a bit of a transformation in the last few years. Let’s just take Michael Ignatieff, for one. Son of a Canadian diplomat, he’s at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard where he is Carr Professor of Human Rights Policy. He writes in a New York Times Magazine cover story on July 28, 2002, "America’s entire war on terrorism is an exercise in imperialism." Then he adds, "Imperialism used to be the white man’s burden," echoing Kipling. "This gave it a bad reputation. But imperialism doesn’t stop being necessary just because it becomes politically incorrect." On January 5, 2003, in yet another cover story in the New York Times Magazine, he writes, "America’s empire is not like the empires of times past, built on colonies, conquests and the white man’s burden.... The 21st century imperium is a new invention in the annals of political science, an empire lite, a global hegemony whose grace notes are free markets, human rights, and democracy, enforced by the most awesome military power the world has ever known." And he has a new book out, called Empire Lite."

Chomsky continues,

"OF COURSE, the apologists for every other imperial power have said the same thing. So you can go back to John Stuart Mill, one of the most outstanding Western intellectuals, now we’re talking about the real peak of moral integrity and intelligence. He defended the British Empire in very much those words. John Stuart Mill wrote the classic essay on humanitarian intervention. Everyone studies it in law schools. What he says is, Britain is unique in the world. It’s unlike any country before it. Other countries have crass motives and seek gain and so on, but the British act only for the benefit of others. In fact, he said, Our motives are so pure that Europeans can’t understand us. They heap "obloquy" upon us and they seek to discover crass motives behind our benevolent actions. But everything we do is for the benefit of the natives, the barbarians. We want to bring them free markets and honest rule and freedom and all kinds of wonderful things. Today’s version is just illustrating Marx’s comment about tragedy being repeated as farce. "

Mr. Chomsky goes on to talk some more about England and John Mill, then comes back to Mr.Ignatieff,

"I’m surprised that Ignatieff is not aware that he’s just repeating a very familiar rhetoric. And it’s true, even in internal records, when people are talking to themselves. A lot of Soviet archives are coming out, basically being sold to the highest bidder like everything else in Russia. It’s kind of interesting to see that they talk to each other the same way they talk in public. So, for example, you go back to 1947 or so, and Gromyko and those guys are talking to each other and saying things like, We have to protect democracy. We have to intervene to protect democracy from the forces of fascism, which are everywhere, and democracy is surely the highest value, so we’ve got to intervene to protect it. And he’s talking about the "people’s democracies." Well, he believed it probably as much as Ignatieff believes what he is saying."

There is more and I encourage you to read it all. I wouldn't want to be accused of taking something out of context. Now for those of you who say, "this is old news from five years ago," I guess we won't be hearing any talk about "Rae days" then. And for those of you that think I'm wrong and Chomsky is wrong because you believe in "the economic miracle" that is the free market, you just keep on believing it. As for the rest of you, take another look at Michael Ignatieff.

Can Obama save the world?

If all goes according to the polls Tuesday, Barrack Obama should have enough of a margin of victory in electoral votes to overcome any GOP legal challenges, or the Bradley effect. I'm sure there will be attempts to line up "urban voters" in lines so long that some will just go home. I'm sure some voting machines will malfunction and some votes will get "lost", but none of it should be enough to change the results. Also Obama and the Dems will have lawyers and people on the ground fighting for every voter they try to disallow and sounding the alarm on unscrupulous behavior.

So barring a miracle Obama will be the next President of the USA. I am of two minds on this. Firstly I'm not made of stone. I watched that half hour commercial the other day and I have watched Obama speak on many other occasions as I'm sure all of us have now. The guy gives one hell of a speech and by the end I always find myself wanting to believe, wanting to hope that maybe this guy will do things differently . Maybe there can be meaningful change. Maybe America can go back to being a force of good in the world instead of a constant source for Noam Chomsky to write books about. A new diplomacy that takes into account (sometimes) what other countries think. A turn away from the Neo-Liberal school of trickle down economics. A better trade deal for workers in all NAFTA countries.

Alas my cynical side fears things will probably not change much. Obama will be working from a very weak economic position and may have trouble implementing much of his agenda. This has been mentioned by others. It has also been pointed out that Obama may just be trying to win blue collar Ohio and Pennsylvania votes when he talks about changing NAFTA. He may just be another Liberal like Clinton from the, "you only help poor people by growing the economy" school of economics.

He also, despite all his good intentions, may have no ability to effect change. There are many who believe, and I am sometimes one of them, that the USA is run by a small group of industrialists and the people in the Pentagon. Whomever the people choose to be President really doesn't matter and whatever party he is from doesn't really matter. He is just a figurehead. The late, great comedian Bill Hicks used to do a great bit about politics in America that explains what I'm talking about. It is a little dated now but still holds up remarkably well. I hope Bill Hicks and I are wrong and I hope Obama really can save the world. I also hope they don't shoot him down like everyone else who ever tried to make a difference.

Election 2008 The good, the bad and the ugly.

The good,
1. Mr. Burns was denied his majority. We can all breathe a giant sigh of relief. The CBC lives, the Canadian Wheat Board lives, gay people can still walk the streets and artists wont be sent to the guillotine.
2. Harper is dead in Quebec. Good old Quebec, they saw through Harper's sweater an stopped the majority. I love the irony of people voting for a separatist party in order to save Canada. Good old Quebec, the only people in Canada properly horrified by the prospect of putting 14 year olds in prison for life. Out here in the west the only thing people see wrong with that is that we're not giving them the death penalty. Does it bother anyone else that Harper thinks it is okay to make an exception in Quebec (where it is politically unpopular) and raise the age to 16 before you can be thrown into jail for life? If Harper really thinks his law will make Canadians safer why does he not want Quebec to benefit? On the other side why should my kid be subject to this punishment but not some kid in Quebec? No Canadian kid should be subjected to this fascist nonsense.
3. Rahim Jaffer loses his seat. A different colour finally then Blue in Alberta! A speck of orange in the middle of Berlin. I wonder if Helena Guergis will drop him now. I have this dream where her and I and Ruby Dhalla are drinking margaritas and ........ but I digress.
4. The Liberals are back in the game in Quebec. If not at least they have stopped the bleeding. The much maligned Stephane Dion can take some credit for that.
5. Harper still has zero seats in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. He also has zero seats in NFLD. I wish every province had a Danny Williams working for us.
6. Best of all I am hearing a lot of talk about a coalition. This is of course the only answer. Throw out Harper tomorrow. Alas were probably all gonna fight amongst ourselves instead but hope springs eternal.

The bad
1. My home province of Manitoba has fallen under the shadow of the empire. Anita Neville, my MP, is the last Liberal left standing in Manitoba. ST Boniface, my parents riding, went to the dark side last night. More on this in " The Ugly"
2. The greens failed to win a seat. Their voice deserves to be in the house. It is very unlikely that anything will get done about climate change of any value in the next parliament.
3. The Libs are back in disarray. Down 19 seats more and right back in the middle of a leadership contest. The right wing is mad about Dion and the green shift. The left wing is mad about Afghanistan. Both wings are smaller and feeling pissy. How do you avoid a costly election and leadership battle and still maintain your principles? COALITION people.
4. Vic Toews was re-elected. I guess the people of Provencer (Steinbach) can forgive adultery, babies out of wedlock and divorce from a Conservative cabinet minister. How many single moms and families have they run out of town for similar behavior? Fucking hypocrites. After all we all know Jesus is a Conservative.
The Ugly

1. Stephen LeDrew. With friends like him who needs enemies. Honorable mention to that dumb-ass Ontario finance minister who thought the election was a good time to trash the green shift.
2. CTV. Duff's conservative cheer leading reached all time highs and the back stab on Dion was beyond contempt.
3. As mentioned before my parents riding of ST Boniface, my childhood home has gone back to the Tories. They are now represented by a get tough on crime, ex police spokesmen named Shelly Glover. Where has my country gone? In Quebec Shelly Glover would be laughed at. In my pathetic town they put her in Govt.
4.Vote-splitting. This was the ugliest of all. Red Tory mentioned this example. Three
thousand idiots in Saarich-Gulf Islands voted for an Ndp candidate, Julian West, who was no longer eligible. This handed back the seat to that little weasel Gary Lunn. Also why would anyone vote for the NDP in Central Nova when they could have voted for Lizzie May, made history and best of all, kicked Peter McKay out of office? You know how good Rahim Jaffer losing feels? Peter McKay would have been twice as sweet. Ditto John Baird. A ridicules vote-split in his riding gets this screaming fool back in the house. All over Ontario Liberals lost close races where only a small amount of the NDP votes would have pushed them past the Cons. The reverse is true in Saskatchewan and BC. In many riding's the Liberals should have voted NDP if only to stop a Tory. We have got to start working together people!
Having said that I am also guilty of voting stupid. I really had trouble supporting the Liberals because of their position on the war in Afghanistan. In the end I couldn't and voted for the NDP. I did this out of principle and because I was pretty sure Neville was gonna win anyways. So I understand not being able to vote for a party out of principle. I get it , I did it but I could have regretted it. A little co-operation can go a long way. Next election more of us need to look into vote swapping and riding co-operation. In the meantime, COALITION PEOPLE.

Pimp my vote

I have never been a very prolific blogger, averaging only 1 post every 2 weeks in my first year of blogging. However lately I haven't been writing at all. I just haven't had the zest for it. I attribute this mostly to Dion's capitulation on Afghanistan and the crime bill. This same malaise has come over me regarding the election.
I live in Winnipeg South Centre represented by Anita Neville and I voted for her last election. This has traditionally been a safe Liberal seat. This year however it is being targeted hard by the Conservatives. Neville is leading by about 5 percent according to a poll done by the Winnipeg Free Press. The Tories are running an ex-Blue Bomber place kicker named Trevor Kennard and feel they have a real shot. The NDP have a lot of supporters in this riding and usually do very well also. If there was ever a time to support Ms Neville this is it . I don't think I can do it however and look myself in the mirror. That's right, "themilitantliberal" won't be voting Liberal.
I watched live as Ms Neville cast her vote to extend the Afghanistan Nightmare and it was my personal worst moment in politics. I cannot in good conscience risk putting blood on my hands again by voting for a Liberal Party that still contains way too many Ignatieffs. I don't however want to put another Con in the House of Commons by splitting the progressive vote in my riding.
Until recently this was my dilemma and the source of my depression. I think I may have discovered an answer though. There has been a lot of talk in the blogosphere and in the media over the last few days about a Facebook group called "Anti-Harper vote swap Canada." For those of you who don't know what it is about, it is basically a site where those of us on the broad left can swap votes from different ridings to try to assure that the party with the best chance of beating the Conservative candidate gets enough support to do it. For example, an NDP supporter in a riding that has no chance of an NDP victory could swap his vote with a Liberal in another riding where the Liberal has no chance of winning. This way your vote can count somewhere where it makes a difference. I think this is the greatest idea ever. I haven't joined the group because I'm not on Facebook and really don't want to be on Facebook but I thought I could express a similar notion here.
I have decided in this election I would like to support the Green party. A Green party vote in my riding won't do anybody any good. However, I am still willing to cast my vote for Anita Neville in my riding if there is a liberal in Central Nova who will vote for Lizzie May in my name. There must be many Liberals in the riding who would like to vote Liberal but are unable to because of the arrangement between Ms May and Mr Dion. I can give you that Liberal vote in a riding that could really use one. It is win,win. We get to vote our conscience and hopefully keep the Tories out of two seats. Now truthfully there is a pretty good chance Ms Neville will win with or without my support and there is a pretty good chance Ms May will lose with or without your vote. Obviously it would be much better if the idea caught on with other individuals in the same boat as me. It also may be very close in my riding and as for Central Nova, I can think of no better way of making my vote count than unseating the evil and treacherous Peter McKay.
So if you live in Central Nova and are willing to vote Green and want me to vote Liberal let me know. I will also consider trades with Liberals in a dipper riding. Like I said it's win,win. Vote strategically and follow your heart.

Please not Judge Toews!!

Recent speculation has ex Justice Minister and current Treasury Board President Vic Toews accepting a patronage appointment as a federal Judge in Manitoba. It seems he may have a tough time getting re-elected in his ultra Conservative riding. Apparently these folks may have a problem with his recent divorce and an even bigger problem with the fact that he knocked up another lady out of wedlock. Vic and his boss, of course, rallied against patronage appointments while in opposition. To most Canadians, this may seem like good riddance but what about us Manitobans who may have to be subjected to the tender mercies of Vic Toews and his Spanish Inquisition outlook on justice. This is the man who campaigned for re-election to the Manitoba Legislature with a great plan to snuff out drugs in schools by randomly deploying sniffer dogs to terrorise children. A practice the Supreme court recently outlawed. This Steinbacho-fascist has no business judging a pig calling contest never mind deciding the punishments of unsuspecting Manitobans who run afoul of the law. Mr. Toews, when he was Justice Minister, appointed some of the very people who would be approving his application to become a Judge. That is a move worthy of Stalin.

This is exactly the reason the Libs and everyone else need to force an election sooner rather than later. While everyone has sat around acting like Harper hasn't done anything too ideological and waited for the polls to get better, Harper has appointed 165 judges. At least that is what some Conservative Asshole on "Duffy Live" was saying the other day. 165! We better start building some more prisons. Harper has even announced some crazy plan to elect the next Supreme Court Justice. He, of course, would still have the final say. Losing the Supreme Court would be worse than a Harper Majority. Wake up and smell the police-state, these incremental changes and appointments don't seem like much until you add them all up and you turn around and you're living in America.

Three Amigos? ...How about Three Cheaters !

Frances Russell is one of my favorite writers and represents the entire left wing of the Winnipeg Free Press. Her column today "Were the 2006 election results tainted? " talks about the Conservatives and the " In and out scandal ". Russell seems to think that the extra million the Cons allegedly had to spend on advertising may have changed a few minds.

This along with the RCMP announcing during the election that they were investigating the Liberals may have made the difference in who would form a minority. The RCMP, as Russell points out, seemed to have deliberately changed their policy on announcing criminal investigations during elections.

Could it be true? Could the state police have colluded with the party they favored and attempted to subvert democracy? Did the Tories deliberately overspend beyond the advertising limits also subverting democracy? I hope not because just as Lizzie May says, "Canada is not a banana republic".

All of this talk about subverting democracy got me thinking about George Bush, elected in two questionable elections himself. As a matter of fact Mexican President Calderon was elected under massive protest and allegations of vote rigging. It's nice to know that these three can get together in our name and discuss NAFTA and SPP and sell out all our interests to a small corporate elite and turn all three countries into Oligarchys.

I feel like Lady Macbeth

During the last election I cast my vote for Anita Neville the liberal MP from my riding. She won. To my absolute dismay I just watched her stand up in the house of commons with the rest of the Liberals and vote to extend the nightmare in Afghanistan until 2011. Why can't I get this blood off my hands. I suspect that most of the Liberals who just betrayed Canada know in their hearts that I am right. They may comfort themselves with whatever Ignatieff told them or tell themselves that they achieved a compromise but they achieved nothing(accept drive the entire left-wing of the party to the NDP). Let's look at this so called compromise. The combat mission will absolutely end in 2011. Ya until you all vote to extend it again in 2010). NATO must supply 1000 more troops. Unless there is a miracle those troops will be American putting even bigger fucking targets on our soldiers back. It may be nice to have a 1000 Americans on your side in a fire fight if you can withstand all the friendly fire but our troops for the most part aren't dieing in firefights, they are dying from roadside bombs which by the way there will be many more of now that there are a 1000 more American targets standing beside us. Probably more villagers will get killed in the air strikes called in constantly by said Americans. What a recipe for success. Were gonna get some helicopters woo-hoo! now instead of running over roadside bombs our soldiers can be killed by the bushel from RPG fire. That's of course if we ever get these helicopters. They will probably be ready to go right around the time Parliament is voting to extend the mission to 2015. I give up, I guess the powers that be have decided this war is a go no matter what a majority of Canadians think. Now I know how people in England felt when the Labour party abandoned them over Iraq. This country is broken, this democracy is broken. How many of those dickheads that voted to extend this war live in ridings that are hugely against this war? All say it again, Democracy is fucking broken. Dion you were originally against this why did you cave? You know this is fucking wrong, out damn spot indeed. Fuck why cant I get this blood of my hands?

Dion lets down Canada

I just finish up carpentry school for the year in time for the latest scandal to come out of Stephen Harper's scandal free gov't. As we all know by now, it looks as if the conservative party may have tried to buy a dying man's vote with a million dollar life insurance policy. Now that's classy. I have no idea if these allegations are true but I actually hope they are not because they're just that slimy. It really doesn't seem to matter much if dirt sticks to Harper or not on account of the absolutely spineless behavior displayed by the Liberal leadership and Stephane Dion. I've been blogging for a year now and have defended Mr Dion many times. I supported his plan to leave Canadian troops in Afghanistan till 2009 even though I wanted the troops out immediately because I thought it was a plan that Canadians would support and anything was preferable to the Conservative plan which calls for Canadian troops to fight and die in the Middle East until the end of time. I believed like many Liberals that he would pull the party to the left. For awhile it seemed that he might, he was prepared to let the most offensive parts of the Anti-terrorism act die by refusing to support their renewal. A position he has since sadly reversed. He was sticking to his guns on that 2009 withdrawal date and he was properly instructing the senate to pass nothing. Unfortunately this is no longer the case. The last few weeks have been nothing short of shameful for anyone who is Liberal. Is Ignatief a Jedi knight? Does he just wave his hand in front of otherwise sensible people and they loose their fucking minds and start getting into bed with conservatives and extending bullshit wars that half the people in this country want over like right now. Who the fuck speaks for us now? Jack Layton? He's the only one talking any sense when it comes to this war. The Dippers also make sense when they accuse Liberal Mp's of caring more about their seats then they do about doing the right thing. "Boo-hoo my riding has a military base I can't run an election campaign on the war." Not only did Dion drop his pants when it came to the war, he and the Liberal leadership have failed miserably by letting Harper's Crime bill pass. The number one job of all Liberal Mp's, Senators and judges is to make sure that no Conservative anywhere at any time passes a crime bill of any variety. These people have an outlook on crime rooted some where in the middle ages and should never be allowed to subject Canadians to any of their backward social engineering. If you don't get that and you think Harper's crime bill was "moderate" you are a Liberal in name only. Then of course there is the budget. It's true that it didn't contain any poison pills but the last two sure did. If Dion doesn't like this budget he should vote against it. Fuck Harper's threats. I hate to agree with Rex Murphy but he was completely right last week when he said "at some point the opposition has got to well, oppose." Harper might as well have his majority because he is getting away with everything he tries. Mr Dion stop listening to the people around you who's greatest fear seems to be an election and stand up for Canada.

What's up with the flag?

So I guess Conservatives want us to know exactly what country they are ruining. They have a flag the size of a barn door dwarfing our beloved Prime Minister, (insert your own joke) at their celebration for being in office for 2 years. (Shudder). The flag looks like something out of an Orwell novel or one of those hysterical rallies the Nazi's used to throw back in the 30's. What jingoistic nonsense. My favorite part is the giant shadow cast by Mr. Harper on the bottom left corner. Besides casting his shadow over Canada, Harper used the occasion to agree in principle with John Manley that Canadian troops should stay in Afghanistan until the end of time provided we get some helicopters and a thousand more NATO troops. I must say I find it hard to believe that Manley and Harper would be in agreement. Sure their both continentalist American lapdog, war mongering, supply side economist, big business friendly dicks, but Manley is far more to the right then Harper. Ok you got me , you can't be more to the right than Harper but Manley is certainly no Liberal. Bi-partisan commission indeed. Bring home the boys, toss out these bums and let's go back to showing our pride in Canada, not by waving really big flags and taking sides in tribal warfare, but by showing leadership on the environment and on achieving peace through negotiation and diplomacy. You know like adults.

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.