CastorRouge

Vandals Attack Barrie Liberals

2011-10-01T12:23:00.004-05:00

Slashed tires, keyed cars, spray painted houses and cars. When we shake our heads at stories of political intimidation and repression in the news, we normally are looking at a different country, but we shouldn't forget that it happens here in a variety of ways.

Barrie Liberals Being Targeted
Vandals Attack Barrie Liberal Campaign

Once Again, Greens Are The Tell

2011-09-17T19:40:00.001-05:00

The Ontario provincial election has created a mess of polls that all conflict with one another. In virtually the same polling period we have supposedly valid firms putting the PC’s at anywhere between 41% and 34.7%, the Liberals with 38.1% - 32% (or 40%, if you go a few days earlier), the NDP between 20% and 24.3% (and then a jump to 26%) and the Greens with anywhere between 1% and 6%.

Following the federal election though, I think I’ve found a way to cut through the poll soup a bit.

Folks, put your money on Nanos and Ipsos.

Even with people changing their minds, or sitting on the fence, this much variation suggests someone’s methods are off. Green Party support provides a tell however of who is bluffing. During the federal campaign varied polls showed the most drastic swings in support when it came to the Greens, who have the lowest numbers. As it turned out on election night, those predicting a lower ebb for the Greens, like Nanos, had the best projections. With no reason to suspect this provincial election will see a sudden “Green surge” (anyone in the province right now can pretty much confirm how moot the Greens are, in many ridings putting up less of an effort than they did federally, where they did not do well), the polls showing the lower Green figures seem the most genuine. Green voters, barring the brief fascination with Elizabeth May in 2008, seem to stick with their brand in instances where other voters might change election to election. Unless the Greens have doubled their ranks in the last few months, Nanos and Ipsos seem to better reflect political reality than others, like Abacus and Angus Reid, that poll the Ontario Greens at 6%.

Why Quebec Should Get 25%

2011-09-17T19:06:00.002-05:00

There have been several commentators of late criticizing the NDP’s Brian Topp and now Interim-Liberal Leader Bob Rae’s support for the notion that Quebec should be guaranteed 25% of the seats in the House of Commons upon redistribution. These arguments largely boil down to the idea of fairness under rep. by pop., the provinces diminished population size compared to growth elsewhere in the country, etc., etc.

While I can appreciate their criticisms, I feel they are overlooking a simple fact. A guarantee for Quebec would be the basis for establishing proportionality across the nation.

As it stands the distribution of seats across Canada is a mess. In 2006 the riding of Malpeque, PEI had only 33,796 residents, as opposed to the riding of Brampton West, which had a population of 170,422 at the same time. Each one elected one MP. Now, in fairness to PEI it has the minimum number of seats afforded to a province under the constitution (4), but the disparity is there all the same. Those claiming that a guarantee for Quebec’s seats would result in an unfair rep. by pop. situation would have to ignore all the disparity outside Quebec to give their argument any weight.

Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Saskatchewan sends an MP to Ottawa with a population of just 69,547. Hop one province over to Alberta and it takes 124,197 to do the same in Calgary Centre. Back in Ontario Brampton West doesn’t even need to look out of province to feel cheated. Guelph sends an MP to Ottawa with only 114,943 residents. Somehow in a little over an hour,s drive away you can send an MP to Ottawa with 55,479 fewer people. A redistribution of ridings, by a rep. by pop. argument, would entail the redrawing of the entire electoral map, not just keeping Quebec’s count in check while a handful of seats are added in a few provinces, ignoring all the other boundary inequities out there.

So then, how does guaranteeing Quebec a 25% stake in the House of Commons change anything? It creates a basis to gage how many people should make up a seat. With Canada’s population ever changing, and ever shifting from one region to another, if we establish that the number of residents required to elect an MP in one province should be average for us all we can, in theory, put every riding in comparison and judge if it is fairly apportioned. Sure, PEI and the territories will still have some under populated ridings, but beyond that you could create an even redistribution.

This brings us to the next, and most important question, why Quebec? Because they speak French? Because they are “unique”? Well, yes and no. Quebec’s history and the efforts to assure its place in Canada alone would make a fair case for it being the candidate for such treatment, but assuming one were to reject that, the fact is they have been cheated like everyone else, and we’ve just failed to see it.

Canadian Election Watch put it well after the election, pointing out that per redistribution plans in the works Quebec is getting screwed.

Number of electors per riding:
QC: 81,479
BC: 74,739
ON: 74,729
AB: 72,865
National: 72,204

Number of valid 2011 votes per riding:

QC: 50,646
ON: 46,481
BC: 45,650
National: 44,339
AB: 41,098

The idea that Ontario, BC or Alberta are growing somehow has eclipsed the fact that Quebec is underrepresented in the possible redistribution (based on the argument of actual electors per riding versus general pop.). This also says nothing of the other inequities between provinces, and ridings within provinces already discussed.

Establish that Quebec, as a measure to guarantee its place in Canada, gets 25% of the seats, then redistribute the rest accordingly. We have to use something as a measuring stick, why not la belle province?

Online Polls, Why Bother?

2011-09-05T19:34:00.003-05:00

Why do news sites bother with online polls? At least as they pertain to elections.

Simcoe.com, which is the website for several small newspapers operating out of Simcoe County and the surrounding area, ran an online poll this weekend asking visitors their voting intentions in the upcoming Ontario provincial election. What was astounding about the poll, or at very least rare, was that I couldn't see any serious manipulation of the online data. A few votes would trickle in every couple of hours, and it was almost curious to see what the result would be. In an odd way it kind of reminded me of a pristine woodland or pond that tourists hadn't discovered.

Then I went to dinner.

Apparently over the course of dinner on the Labour Day Monday, roughly 800 people apparently visited the site and all voted PC in the poll.

But that legitimately happens, right?

In fairness I didn't expect the poll to go untainted past Tuesday morning, but someone's long weekend ended early I guess which brought us to said result above. Which brings me to my point, why do news sites, of any kind, run these polls? Everyone of every party affiliation has at one time or another received that "please vote in this poll" email and done their duty and tilted the scales a little towards one candidate/party or another, but these days it seems like even that is quaint. One imagines some partisan hack, hunched over the keyboard of their cookies disabled computer, hitting "vote" again and again, and feeling the same sort of self-accomplishment that you'd imagine a twelve year old giving themself a hickey with a vacuum cleaner must feel upon inspecting their handywork in the mirror.

The result is just as convincing.

Just like the kid's friends, that suddenly notice the poor kid's hickey is suspiciously round and tube like, when Simcoe.com publishes the poll result in their papers will they or their readers credibly believe 79%* of people out there have decided to vote PC, bucking every legitimate poll out there? If the perpetrator were smart they'd add some votes for the other parties to make the numbers at least believable, but they won't, which brings us to the ridiculous and juvenile nature of the whole enterprise.

Here's hoping everyone grows up a little by election day.

* The percentage they were at when posted, prior to which they had much, much less, but not being a scientific poll anyways, who's counting.

You might be a Conservative if...

2011-09-02T19:03:00.002-05:00

... You're in jail.

As inmates have to vote in special, controlled cirsumstances (prison), we know how many of them voted for who. 46% voted Conservative last June, while 29% went Liberal and 15% NDP.

Either Harper's "Tough on Crime" agenda isn't that scary after all, or prison paranoia about dropped soap has them agreeing with him on gay marriage.

We'll have to wait and see if Ontario's Tim Hudak gets the same support or better for proposing prisoners go free range.

h/t: Academia Nuts

Harper Tories most popular choice of incarcerated individuals
By Andy Radia

As strange as it sounds, those who have been convicted of a criminal activity voted in large numbers for the "tough-on-crime" Harper Conservatives in the last election.

A story in the Ottawa Citizen reported more than 17,000 incarcerated citizens cast ballots for the May 2 election, and of those 46 per cent voted for the Conservatives, 29 per cent for the Liberals and just 15 per cent for the New Democrats.

In Canada, prisoners were granted the right to vote in 2002 when the Supreme Court ruled disenfranchising incarcerated electors violated Section 3 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

In this election, voter turnout in the prison population increased by 27 per cent compared to only a 2.5 per cent increase in the general population.

Ironically, throughout the campaign one of the Conservative party's key planks was its tough-on-crime legislation.

The Tories' omnibus crime bill, expected to be introduced this fall, is expected to include legislation to build more prisons and to mandate minimum sentences for drug and sex crimes.

It will also toughen bail requirements for serious crimes, end early parole for murderers, stop two-for-one credit for time served in pre-trial, end house arrest for serious crimes and facilitate the hiring of 1,000 new RCMP personnel.

On the surface, these don't appear to be policies amenable to a prison population.

Nevertheless, this data bodes well for Harper - tough-on-crime equals more prisoners which apparently for the Conservatives means more votes

Ontario Minority Doesn't Equal PC Minority

2011-09-02T18:09:00.009-05:00

With respect to Blunt Objects and the upcoming Ontario provincial election, he is propagating a Conservative myth. He is not the only one, I've heard this from several Liberals, NDP's and even a Green, and it's something the rest of us have to be carefull of, as it holds the key to blocking the Ontario PC's from power. He writes:

"At the current moment, I'm projecting a PC minority - 48-39-20, to be exact."

A "PC minority" implies the NDP will back them. Keep in mind that, contrary to what Harper has tried to convince us of these past few years at the federal level about having the most seats = directly elected, the sitting Premier regardless of their seat count technically has first stab at forming a government. If the NDP were to back the Liberals (like in 1985) the PC's would be kept out.

So here's the opportunity. At debates across the province the candidates could be asked who they would opt to support in the event of a minority Ontario parliament. With the race very tight right now its a legitimate question, and voters should know what their candidate would do. NDP candidates, right now projected to be the kingmakers in such an event, will have little wriggle room and will have to address this (or duck the question, opening the door to speculation they'll pull a Nick Clegg and back the Conservatives to spite their faces).

* Didn't mean to single out Blunt Objects, but with the race so tight and so many people with the wrong impression that most seats but not a majority still = automatic win we shouldn't give Hudak the easy pass Harper got.

Green support a way of judging polls?

2011-04-17T19:32:00.005-05:00

Looking on the spread of polls at CBC.ca does little but confirm my suspicions that undecideds make up their minds in the last two weeks, and all that poll soup does is simmer up to that point. The only thing noteworthy is the Greens. EKOS has them consistently in the 9/10% range, Harris-Decima and Leger have them at 7/8%, and Nanos has them consistently bouncing around the 3/4% marker. Such a drastic difference in numbers makes you wonder, is this a tell whose polls are good and whose are garbage? April 15th's polls from Nanos and EKOS have the Greens respectively at 3.4% and 9.6%. That's a hell of a margin of error between them. The sample populations are only off each other by 39 people in this instance, and they both claim similarly low margins of error. Either Nanos is right and everyone else is wrong, or Nanos is selecting a lot of skewed households in their sample. Depending how you judge the Greens' fortunes you can assume who has the right methodology, but unfortunately we won't know for sure until after E-Day.

Simcoe-Grey: Guergis crushing Tories

2011-04-02T09:41:00.006-05:00

If you drive through Simcoe Grey you'll see a lot of Conservative signs on lawns... all with the name of Helena Guergis. Guergis has recycled her old stock, carefully painting over in dark blue the Conservative Party emblem, but keeping the name "Conservative" on all of them. The official Conservatives? Invisible.

Most of the Conservative riding association defected to Guergis some months ago in Simcoe Grey, and it appears the volunteers and supporters are as well, if the sign war is any indication. Moreover, her anti-Harper rhetoric of late has caught the gleem of some anti-Harperites that want to stick it to Stephen. On the street everyone talks about how poorly she was treated by the PMO, and on the whole the Tory firmament there is trending Guergis.

The CPC it seems is attempting to work from the outside in, and it's not going well. I was hoping for a solid split in the vote to allow the Liberals to walk up the centre, but if the Tories don't get their act together shortly they may enable Helena to another term.

Seriously guys, shape up!

By The Numbers: Canada's Debt

2011-03-19T21:09:00.003-05:00

With all the ads running on tv and the media circus that is unfolding a bar graph really shouldn't be that striking, but this took my breath away.

Now picture it on campaign literature, and being used as a talking point door to door. In one swoop the Conservatives could find themselves not only deprived of the "accountability" card they tried to rebrand themselves with during the sponsorship scandal, but also that "fiscally responsible" label they get as a default of their party name (you can't blame the voters, how're they know their ideology doesn't match up with the dictionary definition of being finacially prudent?).

Short, simple and irrefutable messaging, finally. Something for campaigners of all opposition stripes to consider as we approach the eve of a possible federal election.

Clever Campaign Bus

2011-03-17T23:09:00.004-05:00

With a lot of campaigns preparing to roll out all sorts of gimmicks, tactics and tricks the Liberals in Simcoe North have a fairly innovative tool in their arsenal. It’s a customized campaign mini-bus. The bus is wheelchair accessible (great for helping seniors get to the polls) and runs on canola oil from the fry cooker at Liberal candidate Steve Clarke’s restaurant (environmentally friendly and highlighting the recent spike in gas prices). It’s not the first local campaign I’ve seen with a campaign bus or vehicle at their disposal, but the little touches go a long way to highlighting campaign planks and it’s a lot more creative than the traditional panel vans that haul lawn signs to and fro. Cudos to Team Clarke, let’s hope the bus carries them far!

Guergis Aims To Oust Harper

2011-03-17T22:38:00.002-05:00

Helena Guergis isn’t gunning for the job herself, but she’s making it clear a change in leadership is needed at the top of the Conservative Party.

I’ll admit, Guergis’ lack of touch with reality mirrors a Muammar Gaddafi style rant, however like Gaddafi she has proven she has resources at her disposal and will use them ruthlessly to stay in power. Much of the Tory firmament in Simcoe-Grey has been out stumping and standing up for Guergis, indignant at the popular incumbent’s ouster and the PMO’s attempt to parachute a city slicker into the rural riding. As crazy as she might seem to think she’ll ever be let into the party, people on the street in her riding do talk about how poorly Harper has treated her, and if she can convince them she’ll be let back in she might take a good chunk of the Conservative faithful into her camp during an election campaign. With the Tories split, and Liberals trying to ride up the middle, Simcoe-Grey may be the riding to watch this coming campaign.

The Collingwood Connection - John Edwards - March 17, 2011

Simcoe-Grey MP Helena Guergis feels like she's been betrayed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper and believes under different leadership will be allowed to re-join the Conservative Party.
"There are few select (people) - including the Prime Minister that I do feel betrayed by," she said in an interview with The Connection.
Guergis told The Connection that under new leadership "I will find my way back in."
She says Harper owes her constituents some answers.
"They deserve an answer from him," she said. "This is not respectful for them."
Guergis said she is still loyal to the Conservative Party and has a number of friends who are still associated with the party.
"I've been so loyal," she said. "I've given 20 years of my life for being a Conservative. I was holding out (hope) to be able to mend fences."
Guergis made the comments in an interview with the Connection in response to a CBC report that said she had an after-hours meeting in October with Conservative lawyers Laurie Livingstone and Arthur Hamilton and Senator Marjory LeBreton.
According to CBC, she received a letter from Hamilton requesting the meeting.
Guergis said she attended the meeting on Parliament Hill with MP Lee Richardson and former riding association president Andy Beaudoin.
Guergis believed the meeting was to discuss her return to the Conservative caucus, saying she attended the meeting "in good faith."
"I really wanted to believe that," she said.
She said the questions revolved around her husband, former MP Rahim Jaffer.
"It was really more of an interrogation," she said. "Ninety eight per cent of the questions were about Rahim (Jaffer)."
The RCMP investigated Guergis and her husband over alleged improprieties and both were cleared.
Guergis said the questions were about issues raised in the meeting involving Jaffer and suspected business partners and allegedly using his connections on Parliament Hill to further his business ventures.
"I don't know (the party's issue with Rahim), especially because he's been cleared," she said.
Guergis believes there is a double standard in the way she has been treated compared to other Conservative MP's who have been under fire.
Guergis said she would never wish that her colleagues are treated the way she has been.
She wrote a letter to Conservative caucus colleagues and supporters of her intention to run as an independent Conservative in the coming election.
Guergis said the treatment she has received from the party motivates her.
"I am really determined," she said. "I know my team is ready. We will run a clean and positive campaign. I will run on my record."

Republicans Shoot Down F-35 Fighter

2011-02-16T21:41:00.007-05:00

It would appear the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter isn’t turning out to be the joint venture that the Harper Conservatives had hoped it would be. After Prime Minister Harper dismissed opposition criticisms and concerns over the deal, Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives broke ranks with their speaker to vote down a significant chunk of U.S. funding for the program. The open affront to their congressional leader also serves at a somewhat indirect knifing of their Conservative cousins here in Canada who have been tirelessly defending their decision to participate in the program despite concerns about run away costs and doubts about economic spin-offs for the Canadian aerospace industry. The screw over is further compounded by the recent urging of the U.S. Defense Secretary to stick with the program, leading the government to dig in its heels against mounting criticism as ally after ally has bailed on the program.

With the U.S. potentially withdrawing, and at the very least scaling back, their thousands of prospective orders having offset most of the estimated production costs (versus Canada’s 65 fighters) the Conservatives will likely come to the realization that there is no point in participating in a joint military program; a) that their allies are no longer a part of or starting to walk away from, b) that they will no longer likely be able to afford once adjustments are made to account for production costs associated with American and other allied withdrawals from the program. It’ll be interesting to watch the Prime Minister backtrack after having so boisterously drawing a line in the snow over this one.

Attn: David McGuinty – Cut it out

2010-11-16T18:22:00.002-05:00

Like most good Liberals I’ve sold memberships to most of my immediate and extended family, consigning them to be forever the recipients of fundraising letters and cash grabbing phone calls. Believe it or not they don’t mind (or are at least polite about it) and sometimes offer good feedback. This evening’s revelation comes courtesy of Mom (because mothers know best). Here’s how it went down.

Mom: “The Liberals sent me a letter asking for money.”
Me: “Yeah, what else is new?”
Mom: “Why is McGuinty asking for money for the federal Liberal Party?”
Me: “What? I think you’re mistaken, you mean provincial.”
Mom: “No, federal. Why are you guys using him, no one will send you money, he’s hated!”

At this juncture we found the letter and it was indeed a federal fundraising letter, although my mother was mistaken about the McGuinty signing it. The letter was signed David, not Dalton, McGuinty in his capacity as House Leader. Pointing out the error my mother still wasn’t impressed. “D. McGuinty, you sure you want to make that connection with people right now when asking for money?”

And there you have it.

The oft whispered but not vocalized truth amongst Ontario Liberals, federal and provincial, is that the Premier, Dalton McGuinty, has unfortunately become somewhat of a toxic asset. Beyond friends employed directly by Queen’s Park, reliant on the good graces of the Premier’s cadres, the name McGuinty has become a curse amongst Liberals and the bulk of our supporters amongst the public at large. Be it the poorly waged HST campaign or a litany of other issues maligned against our provincial leader, fairly or unfairly, the name is not exactly a draw politically at the moment, and despite David’s status he unfortunately lives in his brother’s shadow, the name part and parcel carrying a load of provincial baggage. Anyone in Ottawa that thinks affixing David’s name to a document, any document, let alone a fundraising letter in the province will lead to an outpouring of support or cash is sadly mistaken and confused. Much like Bob Rae, whose greatest challenge has been to mend old sores in the province he once governed, the McGuinty name is going to take some time to heal and will not be valuable for political purposes for some time to come. Moreover with a provincial election in the offing next fall in Ontario and anti-McGuinty ads filling the airwaves even the core Liberal base has soured on using the brand, much in the same way Stéphane Dion was hurt by a negative image war in 2008 (if not moreso). Memo to the federal Liberal Party, don’t trade on David to try and get cash right now, it’s a poor strategy. As for the House Leader himself, ambition aside he should know the unfortunate detriment he carries with him at the moment. House Leader’s lead best in the House, leave the publicity work to others.

PS – As penance for lashing out at a fellow Liberal I promise to make a donation, per aforementioned fundraising letter.

Parliamentary Review in Haiku

2010-09-18T12:56:00.007-05:00

No election yet,
Despite what pundits might say.
Polls are too even.

For Simcoe-Grey seat
Helena Guergis running,
Tory loss assured.

In House of Commons
Gun registry debate lives.
NDP will cave.

Hockey in Québec -
Cons spend dough, PQ blast Habs.
What a massive farce.

Flaherty says no
To stimulus extension.
We will see come March.

Ignatieff up,
Summer bus tour a success.
What will he do next?

T.V. pundits lame.
Don Martin on the panel,
What a comb over!

"Toronto elite" -
John Baird blows his top again.
Déjà vu or what?

David McGuinty
A no show on CBC.
What a stupid move.

Parliament a mess,
But it could be much, much worse.
It could be Queen's Park.

By The Numbers: G8-G20

2010-06-08T22:17:00.003-05:00

You don’t have to be good at math or know anything about the summits to spot the discrepancy here. Most notable is the 2002 G8 Canada hosted the year after the September 11th attacks. Somehow the security situation in Huntsville is much worse today. Go figure.

Security Costs: G8 Summits
2010 – Canada – $442 million
2009 – Italy – $124 million
2008 – Japan – $280 million
2007 – Germany – $124 million
2006 – Russia – N/A
2005 – United Kingdom – $140 million
2004 – United States – $25 million
2003 – France – N/A
2002 – Canada – $93 million
2001 – Italy – $40 million

Security Costs: G20 Summits
2010 – Canada – $442 million
2009 – United States – $12.2 million
2009 – United Kingdom – $28.6 million

(All costs in US dollars at the time of the summit)

Greens With Envy

2010-05-07T18:04:00.004-05:00

What’s the difference between Greens in the U.K. versus Canada? Their leader can actually win a seat.

One can almost feel the envy radiating from the Canadian Greens, as well as their tiring patience with Elizabeth May. No pressure Elizabeth, I’m sure ~~London North Centre~~ ~~Central Nova~~ Saanich-Gulf Islands will be the one!

Guergis Still Has Her Team

2010-04-25T21:14:00.005-05:00

Across Canada Stephen Harper may be his party’s boss, but in Simcoe he may discover no one can pull strings like a Guergis.

The clandestine annual general meeting of the Conservative riding association in Simcoe-Grey bore mention today as Helena Guergis surfaced to attend the meeting and ensure her grip on the political apparatus of her riding. Details coming out of the meeting are scarce, and the over the top response to reporters’ querries leaves little but rumours and conjecture. The general sense this evening however is that Guergis still has the local party apparatus firmly in her grasp. How she chooses to wield it is an altogether different question.

In the riding and surrounding area you don’t have to go far to find the Guergis machine at work. With family, friends, patrons and protégés seated in all sorts of public offices, community positions and generally comprising the Conservative organization in Simcoe, the talk is defiant when it comes to Harper having kicked her out of the caucus. As was noted of one of the Conservative association’s board members today;

Don Blenkarn, a former Mississauga-area MP who is now a member of the local Conservative electoral district association board, was one of the very few who offered the media more than a couple of words — including an enthusiastic testimonial of Guergis.

In politics there is always dissent, and in politics people are always looking for a job," he said, responding to reports that people had started to line up for the job of Conservative candidate. "(Guergis' political career) ain't dead yet, and I'd be very surprised if she were not been called back into caucus."

Harper may find that in Simcoe-Grey his parties riding association still answers to Helena more so than it does to him. That said he holds a trump card, in that he has to sign her nomination papers and may choose not to do so, and that’s presuming Helena even decides to stay on. If Guergis does go, one way or the other, one of two things is almost certain.

1) She will run as an independent, take most of the local Conservative organization with her and make Simcoe-Grey one of the more interesting seats to watch this coming campaign.

2) She and the closed circle of her political machine in Simcoe-Grey will put one of their own up as the candidate. In this instance it will be interesting to see how Harper and the party apparatus will deal with that.

In a minority parliament every seat counts, and the Team Guergis view seems to be that given enough time they can leverage that to get their way. It sounds crazy, but it’s also shrewd. Whether the Prime Minister’s game is equally sharp, we’ll just have to wait and see.

The Earthquake The World Ignored

2010-04-18T10:46:00.006-05:00

On April 13th a 6.9-7.1 magnitude earthquake hit the Qinghai province of Tibet. The People’s Republic of China, often restrictive in their access to the Tibet region since their invasion and conquest of the region in 1950/51, have been quick to play up their own domestic relief effort for the cameras. Treated thus far as an internal affair of the PRC, the “relief” effort by all accounts reads like something that could be narrated by George Stroumboulopoulos in Love, Hate and Propaganda. From the New York Times;

"The Buddhist monks stood atop the jagged remains of a vocational school, struggling to move concrete slabs with pickax shovels and bare hands. Suddenly a cry went out: An arm, clearly lifeless, was poking through the debris.

But before the monks could finish their task, a group of Chinese soldiers who had been relaxing on the school grounds sprang to action. They put on their army caps, waved the monks away, and with a video camera for their unit rolling, quickly extricated the body of a young girl.

The monks stifled their rage and stood below, mumbling a Tibetan prayer for the dead.

“You won’t see the cameras while we are working,” said one of the monks, Ga Tsai…"

The death toll and accurate figures following the earthquake have been hard to come by as the PRC’s internal relief effort becomes ever the more a stage-managed affair, maximizing the appearance of government aid and minimizing the actual magnitude of destruction. In a way it mirrors the Soviet Union’s response to Chernobyl. Although different in nature, the same polished attempt to distort both the scale of the disaster and orientation of the relief effort are eerily similar. Call it an overgeneralization, but whenever I watch or read the sanitized news accounts from Chinese state media, in contrast to independent observers, the pricking of my thumbs leads me to think something wicked, and tragic, this way comes.

Will Guergis get one final pay off?

2010-04-18T00:12:00.003-05:00

Out of the mouths of bloggers.

It’s worth reading this former Simcoe-Grey resident’s thoughts on the Guergis scandal. Given all the punditry and hyperbole from talking heads and partisan basement bloggers it’s interesting to see how the affair is coalescing in people’s minds that’ve had personal experience with Helena, and which elements they consider most relevant. Of particular note are her closing observations, most especially the last line;

"Since I no longer live or vote in this riding, my interactions with Ms. Guergis have been fairly limited; she has shown up occasionally at local events like the Fall Fair and the Maple Syrup Festival, particularly in campaign years. The impression I have of her, from these public viewings, is one of arrogance and entitlement. Her whole family is actively involved in local politics (her cousin is the mayor, for example), and it will be interesting to see how their political fortunes fare in the next few years in relation to this. (It'll also be interesting to see if the pundits are right in predicting that Helena will hang on to her seat until she becomes eligible for her pension in June, and then resign as soon as she's guaranteed that sweet government money.) "

Not knowing what pundit aforementioned blogger gleaned this tidbit of insight from, her tone and phrasing ring true in some intangiable sense and sparks just the right note of outrage. Given all that has transpired one can’t help but wonder how the general public will react when they learn Ms. Guergis will be qualifying for some “sweet government money” in the not so distant future.

City Slicker to lecture Rurals about being “Green”

2010-04-17T22:22:00.005-05:00

The Greens just don’t get it.

Just when it appeared Elizabeth May’s inept mistake in running in a riding where she has little chance of winning appeared a unique miscalculation one of her provincial counterparts has shown that this is perhaps a symptom of a broader flaw in Green Party thinking.

Green Party of Ontario leader Mike Schreiner has announced he will be running as the party’s candidate in the riding of Simcoe-Grey for the upcoming 2011 provincial election. For the few residents of the riding not entirely caught up in the scandal this week involving their federal MP, Helena Guergis, this might of come as a surprise, seeing as Schreiner isn’t from the riding. He’s not evenly remotely from the area. Schreiner, a resident of Parkdale High Park in Toronto, apparently selected this riding to run in as he wanted somewhere where his background would resonate and he could buy property.

Great, another Torontonian moving up to cottage country to lecture the locals on how they should run their lives.

One would have thought former PC leader John Tory’s rebuke in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock would have taught the GTA polito-rati a thing or two about carpetbagging. Being the Green’s candidate in that byelection however, alongside Tory, there’s little saying Schreiner’s judgement is any better.

Greens, for all of their earnestness, don’t seem to grasp that they do best when they run with strong local candidates. Their obsession with proportional representation and voting for the party of your choice has clouded them to the fact that candidates matter. Tory failed in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock not because the riding wasn’t sufficiently Conservative in its electorate, but rather that given the choice of a city slicker or a local Liberal (who ran on all his materials that he was the local choice) people chose proximity over ideology. 2008 saw Elizabeth May dash onto the national scene as a breath of refreshing air as she crisscrossed the country, but not spending time in her riding and underestimating Peter MacKay’s ties to the community cost her the campaign for her seat. In Simcoe-Grey, where Schreiner is running, federal Conservative fortunes have risen and are now falling with the sway in popularity of Helena Guergis moreso than that of the Conservative Party or any intrinsic ideology or values. Yet Greens, like Schreiner and May, fail to grasp this. Being a big fish in a small pond may be advantageous, but when a whale swims up into a stream it’s only a matter of time before it flounders and dries up on the shore.

To his one credit Schreiner has selected a riding that did provide a higher yield for the Greens in the last provincial election than their overall average. The Greens did net 11.4% of the vote in Simcoe-Grey in 2007, versus 8.03% province wide. By that logic however one has to wonder why Schreiner didn’t select the neighbouring riding of Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound to run, where the Greens there captured 33.14% of the vote, their best showing to date. It is also worth noting that the provincial Green candidate for Simcoe-Grey in 2007 was also the federal candidate in 2008 and he saw his percentage of the vote shrink to 10.1% in that campaign. A respectable showing for a Green, but hopeless all the same.

Bread vs. Circuses

2010-03-25T06:41:00.007-05:00

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and some Liberal commentators I’ve read or spoken to have been glibly chuckling at Ontario PC leader Tim Hudak’s championing of the issue of sanctioning Ultimate Fighting Championship tournaments and events in the province. Said the Premier on the issue "If I was to knock on 1,000 Ontario families' doors and ask them for their top three concerns, I'd be surprised if anybody said, `Well ... one of those is we've got to start this new kind of mixed martial arts in Ontario. That's going to mean a lot to me and my family'".

With due respect to the Premier, he may understand the value of bread, but his rival, Tim Hudak, better understands the value of circuses.

The Ontarians whose doors he knocked on probably wouldn’t put a lot of things related to their television and entertainment needs to the fore, but ban their favourite show or threaten to unsanction their favourite sports match, say hockey, and you’d find you’d lose more votes that way than if you closed a hospital.

Then there is the issue of Liberals cleverly belittling UFC fans. As one commentator put it (although I’ve heard similar from many) “…part of the UFC's charm has always been that you were watching it off a wonky satellite signal beamed from a dark shit-hole located somewhere in the old confederacy. Why mess with the mystyque?” Why indeed.

To refuse to sanction any sport, just because you find it distasteful, is akin to when federal Conservatives put forward defacto censorship legislation towards Canadian films they found offensive. Liberals were quick to raise a cry of protest at a government dictating what was tasteful and in the interest of public morals then, but when the shoe is on the other foot and the dictates apply to low culture, not high, many are contrite and smug, appearing to have no qualms suppressing something they feel culturally aloof to.

If Ontario Liberals intend to dictate a dogma that only appeals to the cultural sensibilities of the high brow then we’d better hope a lot more ballet dancers and opera singers come out to vote next time than UFC, NASCAR or plain ol’ hockey fans.

The Roman Empire, with all its marbled culture and arts, still made allowances for the Coliseum and Circus Maximus. If Premier McGuinty and the cohort of Ontario Liberal pundits don’t change their tune on issues of taste such as this they may experience their own electoral Ides of March in the not too distant future.

Dipper returns to the Liberal fold

2010-03-11T22:46:00.004-05:00

Sometimes small changes are the best signs of growing momentum.

Peter Bursztyn, the previous NDP candidate in the riding of Barrie in 2006 and 2004, came out to the nomination meeting of Colin Wilson, the local Liberal candidate, this evening and formally announced to the crowd present his return to the Liberal fold. Praising an emphasis on green jobs and sustainable local development by the Liberals and the local candidate, Bursztyn exhorted “… we need to focus on creating the jobs of the future, not of yesterday!”

MP Rob Oliphant, on hand for the nomination meeting, noted in his own remarks that “… when we win in Barrie, we win nationally.” A cynic might say this is the sort of stock thing MP’s say in every unheld riding they visit, but given the tone of the night I think Oliphant meant it and was right on. The Bursztyns of the nation may be small figures on the national stage, but add enough of them up in small communities across the country, in ridings that held Liberal members not so long ago, and the trend may outpace and outmatch anything said or done by the national party figures and pundits whose names we are so used to.

Teaching school to name library after Mike Harris… No Joke

2010-02-13T10:32:00.001-05:00

Nipissing University, best known for its Faculty of Education and teaching programs, has purportedly decided to dedicate its new education library to Mike Harris.

For those of you outside Ontario that may not be familiar with the record of the former premier, this would be akin to renaming a sobriety centre after Ralph Klein.

To understand the rationale of this decision it should be pointed out that Harris was MPP of the region in which the university falls during his tenure as premier of the province, however his legacy on education and hardships faced by aspiring teachers coming out of that school during his time in office makes this move a little more than absurd, his former incumbency notwithstanding. Short of a gay or lesbian bar in the Okanagan renaming itself after Stockwell Day after he leaves office, this is the most paradoxical dedication I can imagine.

Conservative Fundraising Ethics Questioned

2010-01-09T11:40:00.002-05:00

Looks like CIMS strikes again. It’s also interesting that Mike Duffy’s office is being used to solicit donations. When an unelected, insider Senator is the most charismatic draw for a party that ran against all those things, you know they’re really not confident with their bench strength.

Simcoe County resident wonders how Tory senator got his name
The Free Press – Jan. 6th, 2010.

Recently I opened my email to find a note from Mike Duffy, representing the Conservative Party of Canada, appealing for financial support.

While many won't find this of any interest, I am deeply concerned because he used my legal name and not the name I use in everyday activities.

Somehow the Conservative Party of Canada was able to link my legal name to my email address, even though I have never used my legal name with this email address.

This leads me to believe they are using social insurance records and other questionable methods to contact Canadians.

I wonder about the ethics of doing this.

I have asked for clarification of the source of the information they used or accessed, but have not received a reply yet.

Ernie Richards

Maybe Margaret Atwood has it right after all

2009-12-21T13:25:00.002-05:00

In Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth Atwood depicts a Scrooge-like character being led about by an Earth Day spirit.

They cruise over the Antarctic, where huge shelves of ice are breaking off and melting, and the Arctic, where the thawing tundra is releasing immense clouds of methane gas. They monitor rising sea levels, and watch while people drown or flee, and check out a couple of superforce cyclones as they zero in on populous low-lying shorelines.
“Can’t you stop all this?” Scrooge cries.
“International laws in this area are hard to achieve,” says the Spirit, “because no one can agree on what’s fair. It’s like monkeys: if one has a grape, the others all want grapes. ‘You’ve ruined your own ecology for profit,’ say the poorer countries, ‘so don’t tell us not to do the same.’

Shades of Copenhagen methinks?

It’s eerily prophetic to read this together along with the comments last week of an African delegate, who said, “The industrialised countries want to hammer out a large part of the deal on the last day, when the heads of state arrive,”... “It's a ploy to slip through provisions that are not amenable to developing country efforts. It's playing dirty.”

Atwood goes on in her passage to note that we should “Keep in mind also that many of the countries where the most destruction is going on are heavily in debt to the rich ones.”

Putting all the bluster surrounding the Copenhagen conference in a symbiotic context, it becomes apparent that the whacko leftist or right-wing rhetoric of Hugo Chavez and Lord Monckton types are equally culpable, and mutually dependent.

I think I’ll pick up Atwood’s latest novel and give it a read over the holidays. Suddenly her dystopias seem entirely plausible.

MP's Former Chief of Staff Lashes Out

2009-11-19T22:10:00.006-05:00

Apparently age doesn't come before beauty, at least not at MP Bruce Stanton's constituency office. I think if anything this demonstrates why some MP's are left behind to manage the backbenches. If true it's creepy to see how agism influences this particular politician's decisions and the face he chooses to present to his riding.

Stanton should have taken tips from Lisa Raitt on how to can a staffer and keep them onside.

Re: “Stanton appoints new chief of staff,”
The Mirror, Nov. 12.

Usually, when a person retires, they plan the date and finalize their work and have the opportunity to say goodbye to co-workers and contacts.

But to read that I retired in local newspapers was certainly a surprise to me.

On Oct. 14, I was “released” from the Stanton team and told by Mr. Stanton that he was reorganizing the Orillia office and that my services were no longer required. It had nothing to do with retirement.

Even though I assisted in orchestrating the constituency offices and taught the new members in the Orillia office, who obviously have less seniority and, of course, are much younger, he released me. I guess he was indicating that, since I am of the retirement age, that is what I should do (and I am only in my late 50s).

I shall not forget Oct. 14, as it was the day that the most hurtful event of my life took place. I wanted to set the record straight with relatives, friends and constituents, and to say goodbye. It was an honour to be able to assist the constituents that I did.

Susan Rands - Orillia

Stanton's former aide refutes reason for ouster
Posted By NATHAN TAYLOR, THE PACKET AND TIMES

Susan Rands wants to set the record straight.

The former constituent assistant for Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton was shocked to read a notice in the paper from Stanton's office that wished her well in her retirement.

"I did retire once upon a time (at the end of 1999) from the provincial government," Rands said.
However, she said she was not retiring; she was released from Stanton's Orillia office in October after being told the office was being reorganized.

The notice in the paper "blindsided" the 58-year-old woman.

"Had he come to me instead of blindsiding me in such a hurtful way, I might have been more understanding," she said.

Stanton had little to say about the situation, as it is a "personnel matter."

"The circumstances around a person's status with my office is not something I speak publicly about," he said.

However, he did say, "Based on her comments, I guess I misunderstood."

"The sentiments in my release remain valid," he said. "She did excellent work for the better part of four years."

In a news release last week, Stanton announced the appointment of Marnie MacDougall as chief of staff for the riding.

Rands, one of the first employees in Stanton's office, charged that Stanton "wanted all young people in his office" -- a claim Stanton denied.

"The demands on my office require a full range of efforts from my whole team. It had nothing to do with (age)," he said.

Rands said it was "an honour to be able to assist the constituents" and she wanted to publicly say goodbye to them.

Press Slap MP's Wrists For Baiting Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

2009-10-28T16:55:00.006-05:00

As Conservative MP’s, candidates and plants inundate papers in rural ridings with partisan letters to the editor, trying to use MP Ruby Dhalla’s private member’s bill to score points, it’s nice to see at least one MP get his wrists slapped by the press for stooping to such shenanigans. While I personally don’t support the bill as it’s not a practical pension reform, to see Canadian politicians baiting the electorate with veiled anti-immigrant sentiment for votes is disturbing.

MP not above political games
Midland Mirror – Editorial – Oct. 26, 2009.

Bill C-428, the brainchild of Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla, is far down the list of private member’s bills on Parliament’s agenda.
Indeed, according to Simcoe North MP Bruce Stanton, Dhalla’s proposal likely won’t be up for official consideration until 2011.
All of which makes us curious why Dhalla’s scheme merits the smackdown Stanton delivered in a press release last week.
The local MP huffed that Dhalla’s plan to allow new Canadians to qualify for their seniors pension after three years instead of the current 10 would cost Canada $700 million per year.
Stanton surely knows private member’s bills from opposition parties are rarely adopted as law. In the case of Dhalla’s proposal, even Judy Sgro, the Liberal critic on the file, has indicated she won’t support it.
So what’s our MP all hot and bothered about? Why did he take the rare step of publicly responding to a private member’s bill that has zero chance of becoming law? Is there something beyond money involved?
Dhalla’s history provides a few clues. Once seen as a rising star in the Liberal party, her fortunes tumbled after a scandal involving two immigrant nannies in her family’s employ.
Gleefully taking a shot at the opposition by intimating that Dhalla is blatantly trying to court the same constituency that felt burned by the scandal is how modern politicians operate.
And then there’s the fact that, in a less multicultural riding like Simcoe North, there’s no risk of backlash for slamming a markedly pro-immigrant proposal from Canada’s first female Sikh MP.Also consider a line from Stanton’s release about “seniors who have so ably contributed to Canada’s success.” Think that’ll play well in the riding’s legions and retirement homes? This is not to suggest Dhalla’s ill-considered proposal should ever see the light of day. But it may help explain why our MP couldn’t resist blasting away with both barrels.

Who Killed The Invisible Car?

2009-10-19T20:34:00.001-05:00

Presenting The Invisible Car, Winner – Best in Simcoe County & Bandito Video Audience Choice at the Barrie Film Festival 2009 Short Film Showcase. It’s nice to see Canadians will still find a way to laugh long after Rick Mercer’s budget has been cut.

Those in and around the Simcoe area this week should happen by the Barrie Film Festival if they have the chance. While not the TIFF, it’s nice to see Canadian film can make it to smaller communities across the country and encourage local innovation on the part of aspiring filmmakers.

Enjoy it while you can, at this rate all we’ll be left with is animatronics on the big stage.

Blogging Tories Run Ads Against the Harper Sales Tax

2009-10-16T13:31:00.004-05:00

I hate when mommy and daddy fight… yet it’s so entertaining.

Many will recall the odd spectacle of MPP Christine Elliott, wife of Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, running for the PC leadership in Ontario a few months back. Elliot throughout her campaign pledged to do everything in her power to oppose the Harmonized Sales Tax, which had been proposed and pushed by her husband in Ottawa.

Now it appears the Blogging Tories are playing the same game.

With a National Citizen’s Coalition banner at the top of their aggregator, the Conservative punditry circle is posting under a banner denouncing the HST, all the while blogging in praise and defence of the Harper-Flaherty government that initiated it.

Chicanery seems to be all too commonplace these days, but even games like this have their limits. Ontario PC’s, once thought to favour Elliott, backed away from her in large numbers as it became apparent she’d almost certainly be a figure of fun for opposing her husband’s policies so vehemently in public yet doing nothing to dissuade him from his course. Should a federal election be called before a provincial campaign it’d be interesting to catch some of those campaign workers and pundits on the hustings sputtering to justify why the HST isn’t a big enough deal to dissuade people from voting Conservative federally, and then catch them the next time around provincially in Ontario explaining why it’s such a big deal that voters should abandon the McGuinty Liberals for their provincial Conservative counterparts.

It’ll be interesting to see how long pundits will be able to keep up the double talk before a contradiction in words turns into a genuine rift.

Simcoe North Liberals Win Advance Poll!... Kinda Sorta

2009-10-15T22:04:00.003-05:00

I’ve been waiting on better pictures to post but its hard to take a shot on the water so you get what you get. The Simcoe North Liberals challenged both the federal and provincial Conservative members in a dragon boat race at the opening of the Orillia Dragon Boat Festival. Sandwiched between the two other boats, the Liberals managed to take first place, with the PC’s boat coming second and the federal Conservatives trailing a distant, distant third.

If you have some volunteers with good paddling arms, some canoes or a similar festival, and of course some waterfront in your riding it might be worth throwing down a challenge with your competitors before a prospective writ. It makes for a great news gimmick and photo-op (provided you can get the picture).

Best Cheque Pic Yet

2009-10-15T21:37:00.004-05:00

For real hubris you have to look to the backbenches. Note the bottom left hand corner. Who puts a picture of themselves on a giant novelty cheque that they are going to be holding for a photo-op? Conservative MP Bruce Stanton, that’s who. It’s like picture in picture campaigning on the taxpayer’s dime (the inset photo on the cheque is the one Stanton used on his campaign lit. last time too, just in case anyone out there tries to make a distinction between this and electoral campaigning).

FYI – Stanton had this photo on his website originally but it appears to have disappeared. Guess the cleanup operation has begun. One has to wonder if by taking the photos down Conservatives like Stanton are tacitly acknowledging they stepped over the line this time, even if they publicly continue to deny any impropriety.

***

Update - Apparently Bruce is not alone. If you cycle through flickr you can see Colin Mayes does the same.

Point of Order, Yar

2009-10-10T21:44:00.003-05:00

I caught this backtracking through the week’s news.

“More than 30 Somali pirates are missing at sea and colleagues said Thursday they feared they had drowned or been attacked by foreign warships…. A Pirate who gave his name as Hassan said his colleagues had disappeared over the last two weeks…”

Colleagues? Pirates do not have colleagues. Pirates have mateys, much in the same way Communists have comrades.

Well, perhaps mateys is a bit of a stretch.

Granted, Somali pirates aren’t the romanticized seadogs of old, but the term colleague just irks me in the context of this story. It’d be like referring to the co-conspirators of gang members worried for their missing buddies after a drug deal gone bad as “colleagues”. It’s nitpicking, but labels have a purpose sometimes and frame the context of public debate. While few will shed tears for the lost colleagues of said Somali pirates, I’d be interested to gauge to response of those not well versed in the facts behind this story to the possibility of them having been “attacked by foreign warships”.

Menacing sounding, yar?

Clue: The Canadian Parliamentary Edition – Fall 2009

2009-09-28T22:22:00.003-05:00

Some friends of mine and I are planning to go to a Hallowe’en party this year as the characters from the board game Clue. This has coloured my view of all the election speculation of late, literally (plum, mustard, scarlet), so I thought it might be fun to frame all the punditry like the popular sleuth board game. Give it some thought Hasbro, it might be a new market for you.

Who killed the 40th Parliament?

Was it…

- Prime Minister Harper in the PMO with the Dodgy Stimulus/Budgetary Updates?

- Prof. Ignatieff in the Opposition Benches with the Non-confidence Motion

- Monsieur Duceppe in the Library with Some Opportunistic New Polls

- Comrade Layton in the Scrum Area with his Tepid Support For The Government

- Ms. May in the Public Gallery with her Uncanny Insight

- Senator Duffy in the Parliamentary Cafeteria with a Ham Sandwich*

*The last example presumes the actual Parliament is brought down structurally, not just figuratively.

Rahim Jaffer facing drunk driving, cocaine possession charges

2009-09-16T17:34:00.004-05:00

And Helena Guergis thought she was going to get a ribbing at home this fall over the antics of her cousins.

This could also play out as a boon to the NDP in Edmonton-Strathcona, where they're doing their best to remind voters why they got in last time.

Maybe we'll finally get a rest from all the Michael Bryant coverage in the Ontario news cycle... at least a brief one.

MP Helena Guergis' hubby facing drug and drunk driving charges
Going to court in Orangeville on Oct. 19

Posted By Canadian Press, The Barrie Examiner

OTTAWA - Former Conservative MP Rahim Jaffer is facing charges of drunk driving and cocaine possession.

Jaffer, husband of Simcoe-Grey MP Helena Guergis, was arrested just after midnight last Thursday night by Ontario Provincial Police in Palgrave, north of Toronto.

He has been charged with driving while over the legal blood-alcohol limit, and with possession of cocaine.

His licence has been suspended for 90 days and he is to appear in court in Orangeville on Oct. 19.

Jaffer, 37, was MP for the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona before a surprise defeat in last year's election.

Apocalypse '09

2009-09-07T21:24:00.004-05:00

This weekend I went through my pre-election ritual of buying loads of new socks, underwear and undershirts, enough so I can have clean clothes for an entire campaign without wasting time on laundry. I’ve also begun to stock up on dry goods and non-perishables to eat on the campaign trail. This week’s plans include inventorying mounds of wooden stakes and hardware needed for the campaign and scouting out office locations to hold up in.

Is it just me, or does this sound a lot like the same kind of stuff you’d do to prep for the zombie apocalypse?

Having gone through so many campaigns in such a relatively short span of time I’d like to entertain that I’m now the Bruce Campbell of Canadian electioneering, but the only similarity there is that I’m a B-actor level equivalent at best. Canadians certainly have started viewing these ever more rapid elections with the trepidation that only a plague of the undead out to gnaw on your brain can elicit. For those really feeling some unease at yet another campaign I suggest reading The Zombie Survival Guide. It might not help you with an election, but the parallels are humorous enough to maybe help you keep your sanity through one.

Janke: Foreigners Taking Over... Literally!

2009-09-07T19:42:00.005-05:00

Is it just me, or does Steve Janke’s latest article questioning Michael Ignatieff’s status as a Canadian sound a little like Republican questions and hyperbole regarding Barack Obama’s citizenship south of the border? It rings nonsensical and over the top sensational (ie: mock suggestions that forgetting what year an actor played at Stratford is par with not knowing what city the Maple Leafs play for). If this is the tenor of things to come we can only hope that another wave of Michael Ignatieff: Not Canadian/Just Visiting ads is on the way, as in the midst of current troubles the Conservative war room may do the opposition’s job of showing Canadians that the Harper government has lost touch with what’s relevant.

Mulroney mulls over place in history

2009-09-04T20:17:00.005-05:00

In an article today former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney mulled over his place in history. One imagines Mulroney believes that the Schrieber affair won't tarnish his legacy the same way John A. Macdonald believed another gin wouldn't diminish his liver. In both cases it's not the glass, but the bottles that take their due.

Mulroney did share one interesting insight on politics of the day at the conlusion of the article/interview.

The former PM also said he was surprised by the earlier insistence from Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty that the country wasn't headed for a recession.

"Yeah, I was surprised by that … but it was in an election campaign. And, you know, sometimes people take a little licence during campaigns," Mulroney said.

Makes one wonder what we might hear from the same duo this time 'round, and whether anyone will buy it if even Mulroney is calling shenanigans on the government's rosy economic spin.

Humiliating Defeat At Home For The Guergis Clan

2009-08-30T22:48:00.002-05:00

Those familiar with the antics of federal MP Helena Guergis might find it interesting to know it runs in the family. The Guergis political juggernaut, which until now has largely controlled and commanded county and municipal politics over a vast swath of Helena’s riding, as noted by the Globe and Mail, may now be irreparably damaged as a brand name in Helena’s home region of Simcoe.

In a long standing dispute over a dump site being orchestrated by Helena’s cousins, Tony and Dave Guergis, the family has garnered national media attention as local resistance to the cronyism of the Guergis machine in Simcoe has developed into a sort of David vs. Guerg-liath type story. Tony, the county warden, and co. in the course of the year provoked an aboriginal land claim in the region, popularly supported by the community, to block the proposed dump. He has also been at the centre of controversy surrounding the arrests of elderly protesters in the community, and somehow managed to provoke David Suzuki and Maude Barlow into making a beef over the issue and intervening in the area’s politics.

Not bad for a back woods municipal shenanigan, eh?

Even former U.S. presidential contender Ralph Nader ended up turning out in the area to encourage protesters following a series of arrests, leaving the Guergis’ to try and spin against far more convincing and trusted public advocates. On the larger political scene all parties took their cue against the proposed site as well, high profile visitors ranging from Liberal critic Martha Hall-Findlay to Green leader Elizabeth May and provincial NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

With the dump issue now coming to a resolution against the Guergis' efforts and interests in the community how this will all play on Helena’s iron grip over her riding remains to be seen, but with outsiders seeming to be doing more for her constituents than she and the family name in tatters it might be interesting to see if at very least she has a rougher ride than usual next time on the campaign hustings.

Accountability Needs A Facelift

2009-08-26T21:29:00.004-05:00

So this is the latest face of long promised Senate reform… slightly furrier than Mike Duffy, and far less jolly given the perma-grimace.

With rumour mills circulating that a new cadre of Conservative HQ stalwarts and PMO operatives are heading to the Senate one has to wonder what the Prime Minister’s motivations could be. The last time Harper initiated such an unseemly and unpopular move that roiled even his own ranks was when the opposition made overtures to topple him from government. One has to wonder if this is signalling a crisis in confidence prior to (or paying of debts in advance in case a departure is in order following) a fall election.

In any case I can be thankful that I won’t hear the Conservative candidate harping on at all candidates’ meetings this time round about accountability in the Senate, unless they’re really looking for a beating from their competitors on the stage.

Left and Right meet, but not in the Centre

2009-08-25T16:39:00.004-05:00

Anyone else notice that the second an election is in the offing the right and far left in Canada seem to get snug and cozy with each other? With NDP pundits out of their Halifax convention encouraging Layton to take a slightly not so leftish persona a la Darrell Dexter at the same time he and Harper buddy up for negotiations one has to wonder if a repeat of 2008 isn't in the offing. Last time Layton got this friendly with the Conservatives we saw the NDP make a big step away from the environment, in order to play backup hatchetmen to Harper's negative media machine when it went after the Liberals (and in the NDP's case the Greens as well).

Whatever concession Jack offers up this time, its starting to look like he's leveling his guns at his colleagues on the opposition benches as opposed to his ideological foes on the government side.

Local Is The New National

2009-08-25T06:31:00.003-05:00

With the summer dragging on and Ottawa pundits speculating on which party leader has made the biggest splash at the national level it's important to be reminded that sometimes local issues are the wedges that win seats.

For example, in the County of Simcoe, where a major battle pertaining to a landfill being built on a major natural aquifer is raising serious environmental concerns, Liberal opposition ciritic Martha Hall Findlay swung by last week to check out this developing story north of the GTA to assess what was going on, listen to people, and share her concerns about water safety and preservation (a key plank of a number of resolutions at the Vancouver convention, as some Liberals will remember). The result has been incredible, as Martha's concern, along with other recent visitors like Ralph Nader, Maude Barlow, David Suzuki, etc., have given local Liberals a plank to work from in a region where the incumbancy falls to another party. Small as this may seem, as local candidates look for ways to make themselves resonate in their own communities its helpful to have something in their community they can champion.

With the leader's and auxiliary tours often written off as the barbeque circuit in the media, something of little importance, it might be interesting to see in the next campain how local issues touched on in the summer impact a handful of ridings that could tilt national campaigns one way or the next.

Mike Duffy: “People in Toronto, you know, the thought control centre…”

2009-08-05T13:05:00.003-05:00

In what can only be called a bizarre and disjointed defence/retraction of some remarks he had made previously, Senator Mike Duffy, one time news pundit, lashed out in part at “People in Toronto, you know, the thought control centre…” in what he framed as an infection or tendency towards skewing remarks on the media’s part. It’s interesting that Duffy, former bulwark of CTV news and major player and media spinner of the Ottawa establishment now feels that his gaffes and misquotes have led to some kind of slanted bias. This is the man that, during the last federal election, was a party to airing interview prep clips and mis-starts with the then opposition leader that were later deemed to be a breach of ethics on CTV’s part, Duffy himself chastised where he himself “went too far.” In hindsight Duffy, ever in search of a Senate appointment, was already playing the partisan and skewing the view from his media outlet at that time to help ingratiate himself to the current PMO for the reward he did eventually receive from them. As such it’s comical now to see him cry foul and act the maligned party when the media speculates that some of his comments may have been pre-writ election bravado, and subsequently drew conclusions from it.

Some might call that just desserts for a one time media shill.

Ultimately Duffy’s comments that caused him to make the above quoted statement are immaterial. Every MP, candidate or riding association president knows that right now reporters are looking for fall election speculation, and will take any cavalier boast or shot at one’s opponents as an ill omen in that respect. That Mike Duffy however has bought into the Conservative mantra of blaming media elites, presumably residing in Toronto (as opposed to Nixon’s invisible boogie men that occupied ivory towers in New York and parts), is newsworthy, and disturbing. Only the most recent Tory tirade against the invisible enemy in Toronto, it speaks to a pitting of Canadians against Ontarians, the sort of regionalism that has plagued the Canadian right since Preston Manning reinvented conservatism as a regional movement.

If Senator Duffy were smart he’d busy himself with retracting those comments instead of making a fuss over some fairly generic election speculation.

h/t: Pierre Bourque

The Satanic Scribblings

2009-07-31T01:02:00.003-05:00

Having previously managed a small library I can share His Holiness’ aversion to seeing books marred and defaced. Even in school I fell into that category of uptight book prudes that marked important parts with bits of paper or post-its, and would strongly consider terminating a friendship or acquaintance if a lent book was returned to me marked with pencil, highlighter or, heaven help them, pen.

In his most recent rally to the faithful however, Pope Benedict XVI hit every wrong cord in his remarks condemning a minor scandal, in which a Bible in a British gallery was opened up to written patron comments in the margins and, lo and behold, some of them were a little raunchy and bitter. For the museum’s part it was a foolish venture. An artist who was a part of the project, Jane Clarke, herself a minister, thought it would be a wonderful way for people to annotate different verses and passages and share stories and thoughts, presumably with a positive Christian ethos. The artist and the museum were shocked and saddened by the various offensive messages being written in the Bible in question and had it pulled and under glass well in advance of the throngs of protesters and outraged pundits that are now rising up against the graffitoing of the holy book. Pope Benedict chose this moment to add his voice to the chorus, hurling the accusation that the Qu’ran would not be treated this way.

Tactically this was foolish.

Fanning the flames of us versus them style conflict, His Holiness has set the yardstick of Catholic and Christian acceptance in society by how they are treated comparatively with Muslims (presumably this does not extend to airport screening). The Pope is quite right that a gallery might have more reservations opening a Qu’ran for written comments, but this would be largely due to the general perception of fanaticism that now follows Islam in Western culture. After the kafuffle following the publication of a cartoon featuring a poorly drawn caricature of the Prophet Mohammed, any religious discourse or potential controversy involving Islam brings to bear fear of angry crowds, fanatics killing people and public figures in reprisal and Salmon Rushdie type vendettas that make people fearful to acknowledge the religion even exists, lest they cause some affront to it. Christianity and Catholicism in contrast, and by default, still hold the premise of the establishment in Western society. Where many religious activists condemn what they see as the secularization of modern society they should be jubilant that a public institution even made efforts to include commentary on their religion (even the negative comments) a part of public discourse. It's free advertising, flaunting a hegemony other faiths are jealous of, and it says of the gallery that they at least thought, albeit wrongly, that the public would be interested in a Christian themed exhibit. Instead we see the usual throng of daft protesters, like the one that had to chip in their two cents to the whole theatre when I went to see The DaVinci Code a few years back (fyi protesters, it was cheap night at the movies and Tom Hanks was the lesser evil on the marquee, don’t treat every ticket purchase as a lost soul). With rash, outlandish protests at every affront and now a venerated leader proclaiming that he wants to see his church and faith treated with the same regard as those who are perceived by most of the public to be at the fringes of Western society, religious radicalism is driving the public towards a sphere in which you don’t invite “those people” into any civil discussion or public sphere for the flurry that will result.

When Bibles were first produced they were a painstaking work of hand. Perhaps a touch of the hand, and the comments many are so quick to bury, will help address for the clerics why their pews continue to diminish in an otherwise burgeoning society.

Canada Pushes Middle East Nuclear Proliferation

2009-06-28T22:51:00.005-05:00

As the world continues to fret about nuclear proliferation and the atomic ambitions of suspect regimes, such as North Korea and Iran, the western powers seem to be jockeying like starved car salesmen, seeing who can sell the most nuclear technology abroad and make the biggest sales commission. Checker coated Canada it seems has wrapped up another sale, and in so doing raises a number of questions.

As part of a free trade agreement announced with Jordan, International Trade Minister Stockwell Day played up selling Canada’s nuclear wares. CANDU, the Canadian deuterium-uranium reactor, was played up as a possible feature for future sales and trade between the two nations as Canada seeks to get its share while other world powers line up to offer their own nuclear genies to the Jordanian government. Jordan for some time now has been pushing to obtain nuclear technology for its energy program at home.

This sale is an interesting move on Canada’s part, largely because it flies in the face of the current government’s official posturing effort, intended to portray support for Israel. With Israel reputedly going to a number of lengths to try and sway western nations from selling nuclear technology to former foe and neighbour Jordan, it’s interesting that Day is trumpeting a deal that goes counter to the “Stand with Israel” mantra that he and other Conservatives have come to flaunt as part of their core credentials. Yet not unlike the gun registry, railed against by Tory pundits yet still in place three years after they took power, pro Israel mantras are echoing across the looming chasm created by the prospect of sales and nuclear trades to a former Israeli foe. Foreign affairs watchers might find the “foe” reference a little dated and use that in their rebuttal to Israeli concerns. It is true that, amongst many sour Middle Eastern nations, the government of Jordan has a fairly good rapport with the west, and that its government is, in as much as it can be, supportive of the much feted peace process (insofar as they don’t expressly call for Israel’s destruction in their communiqués). But with an autocratic form of government propped up by the west, almost reminiscent of a one time Shah that backed his western allies in what was once considered the western friendly nation of Iran, Jordan’s population is heavily made up of displaced Palestinians that view Israel’s existence with scorn and whom would pry not take such a non-partisan tone on the world stage as their leaders if given a more direct say in their government. Following the blowback of arming the Taliban to fight the Soviets, now having to face them in turn in Afghanistan, should we not perhaps concede some merit to the Israeli concern that the stability of this regime is all but certain? In Iran we’ve witnessed in recent weeks an outpouring against the government there once thought impossible. Likewise a few decades earlier the idea that similar crowds could come out and overthrow the then western friendly government was equally outrageous and seemingly absurd, yet there it happened. As many watchers view the future of the Saudi regime with trepidation, given the possible whims of its population should they ever win popular power, is it not appropriate to look with a similar eye on neighbouring Jordan? Our sale of CANDU nuclear reactors to Jordan is premised on the idea that a) the regime will remain stable and pro-western, and b) that the technology will not be used in any way to develop a nuclear weapons program. However if Canada’s history of CANDU sales on the world stage has taught us anything, it would be that once the technology is in hand there’s little you can do to prevent it from being used for weaponization. India, a far more democratic and viable ally for the long term, used Canadian provided nuclear technology (CIRUS) for it’s own part in its development of nuclear weapons to intimidate rivals Pakistan and China. Jordan, sandwiched between Israel, Syria, a potentially volatile Saudi Arabia and Iraq, which has flooded the country with refugees in recent years, may find any number of pressing reasons on their borders to investigate dabbling in nuclear weapons. Canada’s long standing history of hocking nuclear wares has been precarious at times as is, but Stockwell Day’s announcement amounts to a blind faith bid in a region where stability is ever in short supply and faith blinds and frequently leads to conflict. As Middle Eastern nations clamour to imitate nuclear aspiring Iran should our policy be to enable some and not others, in the hope that we’re making the right choice in each case? We can only hope that the next time Day or one of his colleagues fronts their “Stand with Israel” by-line to try and posture for votes that it leads to some serious questions from the crowds about our nuclear proliferation policy.

Ominous Signs for Elizabeth May

2009-06-09T22:12:00.005-05:00

It seems the tea leaves continue to signal ominous portents with regards to Elizabeth May’s chances of ever winning a seat.

In the Nova Scotia provincial election on Tuesday, amidst the shifting fortunes of the NDP, Liberals and PC’s, the Green Party went largely unnoticed, and who could be blamed? In the home province of the federal Green Party leader, Elizabeth May’s provincial counterparts only managed to secure 2.33% of the vote, according to results posted Tuesday night. The results were much worse in the ridings that fall within the boundaries of the federal seat of Central Nova, where May ran and placed a disappointing second in the 2008 Federal Election. With only a few months having passed since the Green leader ran there and brought with her massive national attention to the Greens, the party took in less than the provincial Green average, netting 686 votes over 5 ridings with thresholds in all but one under two percent.* This lends credit to the idea that Elizabeth May’s second place showing was the result of her celebrity and Liberal volunteers that had been instructed to stand down and back the Green leader in an effort to unseat Peter MacKay, amidst rumours that the Greens themselves in the province were marginal and disorganized when in came to helping boost her campaign. Now with Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff saying he will not extend the same courtesy as his predecessor did to May, and will instead run a candidate against her, Green fortunes in Central Nova, a long shot before, are now all but impossibly bleak.

However what if May didn’t run in Central Nova next time?

What if instead she hopped the fence and ran next door in Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley? With maverick Harper dissident Bill Casey having vacated the seat and May having made the token gesture of not running a candidate against Casey in the last election Greens are genuinely excited about May possibly running here. It would solve the problem of having to respond to critics after she pledged to only ever run in her home of Central Nova, the riding being so close, and surely Bill Casey voters will flock to her in droves given her celebrity and her show of support for the outgoing MP, right?

Perhaps, but again May faces the challenge of finding a team.

In the ridings that compose Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley the provincial Greens faired little better than those from the Central Nova region, again drawing less than the Green average across the whole of Nova Scotia. Federally the same dismal trend is evident in the riding’s electoral history, any Green organization or base being marginal and small. While May’s presence would certainly lend some gravitas and much needed resources to the Greens there, the evidence suggests they’d lend little to her chances of picking up a seat for the party.

It’s hard to draw comparisons between federal and provincial scenarios and electoral results, as much as the party names oft remain the same they reflect what are sometimes two completely different worlds. The reality is however that many volunteers and organizers overlap, and while results may differ you can usually find evidence of a team out there if an organization is strong or there is a core following of the party on the ground. With the Greens all signs in Nova Scotia suggest this is absent. With Elizabeth May’s chances of ever winning a seat continuing to diminish and Greens themselves disillusioned about their fortunes and prospects without the media savvy of their leader, the Greens may find that they’ve hit their peak, and while likely to linger the only seats they’ll ever hold in parliament will be in the visitor’s gallery.

- *The provincial riding of Guysborough-Sheet Harbour includes a small portion that did not fall in the boundaries of Central Nova in 2008, however Green votes won there were added to the overall tally for simplicity's sake. Only 80 votes went Green in the whole riding so the possible difference is marginal in the context of this post.

"New Rules" - May 2009

2009-05-31T09:54:00.004-05:00

With Red Tory still out there somewhere unpacking I find I've had to surf the web myself to get my fix of Bill Maher, Keith Olbermann and other punditry, gaffes and clips he would normally catch and post. In that spirit I've posted Bill Maher's "New Rules" for May as a send off for the month, enjoy.

May 1st, 2009

May 8th, 2009

May 15th, 2009

May 22nd, 2009

May 29th, 2009

Elizabeth May: Endangered Species?

2009-05-30T15:15:00.008-05:00

With recent buzz and rumours that Elizabeth May is considering a run in the Ontario riding of Bruce-Grey Owen Sound the talk internally amongst Greens is not only whether this is a smart move, but whether this is May’s last move.

With May now twice defeated in two separate ridings the buzz and nattering from malcontents in the Green Party is that May has to win a seat to prove she’s worthy of being it’s leader, hence speculation from Nova Scotia to British Columbia and now in Ontario as to where she may run, and what it means for May if she doesn’t win. The Green Party constitution states:

2.1.4.2 All Council members shall be elected to serve a two year term or until their successors are elected, except the Leader who shall serve a four year term or until a successor is elected.

2.1.3.1 One hundred (100) members of The Party in good standing shall be required to nominate for the position of Leader.

This means that May’s leadership is not only open to review, but that she actually has to run for her job again in 2010. The threshold to enter the race is also so remarkably small (apt for a small party just emerging on the national scene) that it is very easy to line up a bid against the Green leader. While very popular with her base and Canadians as a whole, the Greens as a small organization have the same sort of inner factions all parties do, and in small gatherings and pulling a convention vote those anti-May Greens just may be able to stack enough votes to unseat their leader, or barring that make the atmosphere so poisonous and the appearance of opposition so unpleasant that she’ll fall on her own sword rather than let them take a stab at her.

Incomprehensible as it may be to non-Greens, who’ve seen that party rise to national prominence through the wholesome, charismatic appeal of May, there is a steadily growing element within the Greens that oppose May, not just as a person but as an ideology. The genesis of the anti-May opposition begins with David Chernushenko, the former deputy Green leader who ultimately quit the party and made a scathing critique of May’s leadership following the last election. Chernushenko, whom came in second to May in the Green Party leadership race embodies the faction opposing May. I met him when he first ran, a fourth tier candidate in Ottawa, prominent only in that way that Ottawa area candidates of small parties tend to become by virtue of having the soap box of Parliament in the background. Part of the Green old guard, a mishmashed ideological clique that finds integrity in irrelevancy and advocates platform purity over possible power, Chernushenko is the first of several prominent candidates (in an internal insider Green Party kind of way) to openly present a challenge to May’s leadership.

This arm of the Green Party, not unlike elements within the NDP, is totally uncompromising on ideology and is disdainful of any tactic that has a whiff of pragmatism or mass appeal. Following the departure of former leader Jim Harris, whom they vilified as anti-Green in their oft ignored and marginal party squabbles, this group harboured a quiet disdain for May’s pragmatic candidacy that hinged in part on the perception of her own potential electibility. Even while riding high on the attention she brought them, May has been chastised on occasion when she has attempted to curry favour with the mainstream and make strategic deals in order to win a seat.

After coming a respectable second in the London-North Centre byelection May mystified some Greens by jumping ship to run in her home riding of Central Nova. Deemed a suicide run by some, May at very least managed to make an alliance with Stéphane Dion, a mutual pledge not to run candidates against each other. Now for mainstream political watchers this was a major coup for May. Whereas the Liberals gained nothing by not having a token Green run against Dion in a riding where they have no presence, May garnered huge national attention and, even at a long shot, had many tongues wagging eagerly that just maybe she could surmount the impossible challenge faced in unseating Peter MacKay. The spin-off of this deal, even if her bid for the seat ultimately failed, was that May and the Greens became a national media focus. With tacit Liberal endorsement many soft Liberals, unenchanted with Dion and the negative barrage facing us, cast their lot with the appealing and thus far unsullied Greens. The cult of May in the press cumulated in her being let into the national leader’s debates, a previously unobtainable holy grail for Greens. However as many Greens lauded these accomplishments their resentment for May’s pragmatic concessions began to boil to the surface. When May suggested a possible wider alliance to keep the Conservatives out of some ridings, whereby some Greens would have to concede and go NDP or Liberal in some ridings and, in a few this could be turned to favour and elect a few Greens, the mediocre fourth tier candidates came out in full force, flushed with anger and venom. After comments of the kind from May in Washago, Green candidates from Central Ontario, Niagara, and Hamilton were reputed to have rebuked May and forced her to tone down her strategic voting talk. Toned down or not though the genie was now out of the bottle, and Greens began openly slamming May. By campaign’s end Green candidates and pundits were openly chirping their leader’s decisions to the national media (fortunately for May she garners more national media attention than her party itself) and her deputy leader was storming out the door, all but making her out to be an autocratic Stalin to his stunted Trotsky. With blood in the water other Green luminaries, like GPO leader Frank De Jong, are sticking their toes in, testing the temperature and perhaps trying to rattle their boss out of making her own second bid.

May continues to be a media darling, but her pragmatic advantages are wearing thin. With the Liberal Party in a resurgent mode and leader Michael Ignatieff not conceding the same strategic gifts to her that allowed Greens to slam the Liberals as unpalatable while receiving a free ride and support to get their leader elected, finding a winnable seat is even harder than before. Similarly the Dippers are unlikely to let the Greens gain any traction and risk losing more of the ultra-left protest vote. Picking up on previous flubs by May on abortion that irked and dismayed many, the centre-left is likely to mutually pick up on Green policy points that run contrary to economic concerns or support for key manufacturing sectors. In the end however May’s inability to play on her biggest asset, that perception that she has a chance of winning a seat, should she lose in a third riding, may be the wedge that allows her internal opponents to oust her. The rub of the Greens themselves may ultimately do the job of the other opposition parties for them, consolidating a fractured field of centre-left parties.

Without May the Greens will likely fade fast from media darling to obscurity. Any prospective Green leader in waiting that thinks their inclusion in debates is requisite since May has now been included is deluded, even more so if they think they’ll command the same media coverage. Like Joe Clark playing on his daughter’s looks to get attention during the last hurrah of the PC’s, they’ll feel the death knell closing over them. To this end it is incumbent that all other parties give them a hand. Elizabeth May, likeable in her own way as she may be, is ultimately a divisive figure that brings little to the national scene but a fractured vote that allows hard-core elements of the Conservative Party to ride up to victory in ridings where the Liberal, NDP and Green vote splinters the majority. On abortion, gas taxes, her inability to credibly commit to constituents and a myriad of other issues May touts policies that are not only out of touch with most people’s needs and realities but would never stand the duress of public scrutiny if given proper attention. As seen in the failure of the Green Shift to win over environmentalists and the NDP’s slant towards a more industrial cap and trade friendly system May has sucked the marrow of the environment from the mainstream parties and made it a niche issue of a party holding no seats, unable to affect change. Opposition campaigners, oft targeted squarely on the imperative of removing the Harper government, had ought to consider turning their gun sights on the laxidaisy Greens, especially in whichever riding May ends up running in. Ultimately keeping May out and the Greens mired in the rudiments of fringe party thinking may be the key to undoing the counter polarization in ideology that has allowed Harper to run up the middle without a platform of substance himself and cling to power.

Just Visiting - Mongolian Edition

2009-05-26T21:38:00.006-05:00

Yet another Harvard intellectual that’s spent time abroad has been elected to lead his country. Expect Canada to break diplomatic relations with Mongolia any day now, or unleash attack ads.

*Cue ominous music*

“Elbegdorj Tsahia says he’s a Mongolian, but in all his years away he didn’t even spend any time in a yurt. Elbegdorj Tsahia, just visiting… Mongolia.”

Good thing for Elbegdorj that the CPC war room can’t even translate their message into French, let alone Mongolian.

From Obama to Mongolia, the world is turning to big thinkers, and a Harvard background doesn’t seem to hurt when winning the confidence of economy-shocked masses looking for someone with a little vision and confidence in what they’re doing. Rhetoric aside it puts some perspective on the recent slew of attack ads to take the waves in Canada, deriding Harvard intellectual Michael Ignatieff for being away so many years, basically because Harvard isn’t in Canada (that’d be like ripping on John Glen for bailing on America during the cold war cause he was busy in outer space, and not on US terra firma). The idea is that voters don’t like people smarter than them, that they’re perceived as condescending or as not sharing similar average Joe values. There may be some truth in this outside of a recession, but when people are in a jam involving money the first thing they tend to do is run to whomever they perceive to be the smart one in the room and ask them for help juggling the math.

Just ask the Americans and Mongolians.

A New Leader, A New Logo?

2009-05-02T19:55:00.004-05:00

With Michael Ignatieff officially installed as leader of the Liberal Party his team is wasting no time putting his unique stamp on things, namely by changing the party logo. As placards with a stylized "Michael" and the similarly styled and fonted word "Liberal" moved into the crowd for the speeches preceding the leader's acceptance speech I didn't think much of it at first, dismissing it as a clever little design thing someone must have come up with for the leader's convention signs and swag. Then I happened to be directed to the party website to check out some content forwarded to me by a friend and behold, the old logo was gone and the new one, from the convention placards, was everywhere!

With convention backdrops, volunteer t-shirts and official materials decked out with the old logo at the start of the convention it comes as a surprise that the party would shift logos midway through televised proceedings. Some of the convention backdrops still bear the logo we've been using the past few years so maybe this is just a trial balloon, or people on the ground are uncoordinated. If I've learned anything from new leader's teams though it's that they usually put their first stamp online, as webpages are easy to change and all about message, so I'm taking this new graphic seriously. Symbolically there's a school of thought that this is smart to do, as it distinctly separates the new from the old. Literally you can take all documents and policies with the old stamp (*cough, cough, Green Shift, cough*) and from that point on visibly identify them as relics of a bygone era, with no relation to the present. Martin did a similar thing after he became leader, changing the logo to update the party and signal a new era, and leaders before him have done likewise. Hopefully though the party will be smart about this rebranding and won't push MP's and past candidates taking another stab at it for the team to dump stockpiled signs and other salvaged materials like happened in some regions the last time we did this. While a fresh look is never a bad idea in politics, wasting money is not.

Geese Stew Today, Cat Food Entrees Tomorrow?

2009-03-25T21:40:00.005-05:00

Watching GritGirl's latest video one can't help but think back to the provincial Conservative days in Ontario when the Harris government touted feeding cat food to the poor and welfare recipients. With half the old Harris team in the Harper cabinet it's a wonder that this idea wasn't brought forward sooner.

Newsflash - Canadian Military Vehicles Inadequate

2009-03-10T21:05:00.004-05:00

With a Canadian Army official reporting to the Senate Defence Committee that most vehicles used by the Canadian Forces are unusable and out of service a renewed focus on the ailing and aging state of Canadian military equipment has captivated the media and gripped Ottawa. Reporting on the operational capacity of the Forces, Lt.-Gen. Andrew Leslie reported that up to three quarters of Canadian military training vehicles, used to train forces heading to Afghanistan and elsewhere abroad, are down for maintenance. The figures for operational missions were even more startling.

Wear-and-tear and insurgent attacks have created a demand for replacement vehicles in Afghanistan, depleting the stocks of serviceable vehicles in Canada to the point where 70 per cent of some fleets are unusable.

Last month, 33 per cent of the army's light-armoured vehicles (LAVs) were out of service, along with 76 per cent of its reconnaissance Coyotes, 100 per cent of its tracked light-armoured vehicles (TLAVs), 73 per cent of its multi-purpose Bisons and 71 per cent of its Leopard 1 tanks, Leslie said.

Lt.-Gen. Leslie went on to suggest the Canadian Forces may need to take an “operational break” to rebuild the forces and get its fleet of busted and broken vehicles into a halfway serviceable state. Meanwhile newer vehicles, such as 40 Leopard 2A6M tanks meant for the Forces in Afghanistan and elsewhere, sit in Montreal, unavailable for use as Ottawa hasn’t issued the contract for the vehicles to be refurbished to Canadian Forces’ specifications. Conservative Senator Claude Nolin said he was “stunned” when he heard these figures. And therein that simple statement rests the marrow of what has become the most recent phase in Canada’s tragic military comedy.

The fact that Canada has arcane and run down equipment, without the proper servicing capacity, should not be surprising. For years military watchers have bemoaned the sorry state of the Canadian Forces (Sea Kings ring a bell?) and have lobbied heavily to shift focus and attention to the pending plight of the military. Yet as governments changed in Ottawa many mistook a branding scheme as a sure-fire solution. Even I have to confess that when the Harper government took power in 2006 I thought at very least the military would get a windfall. As has become apparent over the last couple years however, bluster does not equate action. To the chagrin of many Conservatives, like Senator Nolin, they find themselves presiding over the ongoing backslide of a Canadian military they thought they had fixed by getting elected and sticking Support the Troops magnets on the bumpers of their cars. Following the abandonment of Senate reform, fiscal accountability and a swath of other key Conservative planks the news of the Forces’ ongoing ails should only stoke backroom reflection by party ideologues and supporters whose disenchantment with the Harper government continues to grow. With the Prime Minister affectively declaring defeat in Afghanistan and solutions to the military problem shifting from refurbishment to withdrawal, it’s uncertain when the Forces will really begin to recover. In future if Conservatives are serious about their mantras regarding the military they’ll demand accountability from their MP’s, but barring that they can always express themselves later when they shuck off the nostalgia of the current, lacklustre minority government. Hopefully there’ll still be an army somewhat recognizable to advocate for on that day.

John Who? - A Guide For Non-Ontarians

2009-03-07T22:32:00.002-05:00

As the ceaseless stream of blogs commenting on John Tory’s by-election defeat and resignation as Ontario PC leader finally seem to be subsiding I imagine a number of non-Ontarians are probably asking “John who?” and “Who cares?”. Good questions both.

Before John was the darling screw-up of the Ontario right he was responsible for one other little electoral catastrophe, the 1993 federal Conservative campaign. Those of you old enough may remember the ad he ran, and subsequently defended, mocking Chrétien’s facial paralysis (I doubt that one will make the montage video at his farewell dinner). Thanks to this swift move by John he took a majority gov. teetering towards the opposition benches and brought it to the worst electoral defeat in Canadian history. History has since forgotten John’s little lesson about running dirty ads and the horrible backlash they can bring. As word disseminates that the federal Tories are once again crafting attack ads to mock and bring down their foes it’ll be interesting to see if they heed the warning John Tory (and to a lesser extent Allen Gregg) did not, that while attack ads can be effective from time to time ultimately those who throw mud only lose ground.

Canada's Original Stimulus Package: Bellamy on C.D. Howe

2009-03-01T12:30:00.003-05:00

TVO kicked off its 2009 Best Lecturer Competition yesterday with Matthew Bellamy’s lecture “A Watershed Moment: Canada and the Second World War”. Bellamy, a professor of history at Carleton U., specializes in Canadian business history and government-business relations. Bellamy is particularly fixated on C.D. Howe, Canada’s one time minister of everything that dragged Canada’s economy out of the gutter of the depression. I had the privilege to hearing Bellamy speak on Howe frequently when he was still working on his doctorate and it strikes me as appropriate that we’re seeing a lot more of him on Canada’s intellectual circuit right now. As Canada prepares a giant stimulus package, one in which the government hasn’t quite figured out exactly what projects they’re going to spend on, it might be worth while to reflect a moment on C.D. Howe and Canada’s industrial-economic emergence coming out of the depression and the Second World War. Throwing money around for a few highway repair projects, etc., isn’t a bad idea, but a little vision and an eye towards innovation, like Howe’s, may just be what the nation needs to turn a short term spending spree into a long term development plan.

John Carling: Quintessential Canadian Electioneering

2009-02-22T13:00:00.002-05:00

So goes the adage, “Canada, like many a child, was conceived under the influence of alcohol.” For more Matthew Bellamy and other interesting Canadian lecturers watch TVO’s 2009 Best Lecturer Competition series, starting February 28th (podcasts available for those outside Ontario).

Atwood Lives!

2009-02-12T23:53:00.004-05:00

It is seldom said, but hooray for the Toronto District School Board! Well, at least the book review panel. Following the outcry of an enraged parent who felt Margaret Atwood’s novel, The Handmaid’s Tale, was offensive and disrespectful of his moral and religious values the board was forced to review whether it should be pulled from Grade 11 and 12 English classrooms. The panel has now recommended against banning the book. The decision of the panel still has to be approved and it may be appealed thereafter, but it is heartening to occasionally see schools stand up for books and ideas, particularly when it can be so tempting to ban them and appease a disgruntled parent.

One of the things I found disturbing about all of this, besides the premise of banning books altogether, is that the disgruntled parent perceived an anti-Christian overtone in the novel. While the book does take place in a futuristic dystopia where a theocracy has come to reign in America, the theocracy from the outset is portrayed as persecuting Baptists, Quakers, Catholics and other Christian denominations, almost as equally as women are persecuted. This is not the first time self described Christians have attacked the book, as Atwood recounts in an interview some time ago (which is well worth watching, Part1, Part2, and Part3). Speaking about the tenor and tone of religious subject material in her book, Atwood comes to one conclusion, most of her opponents probably haven’t read it. I’m not sure that holds true in this particular case, but it is interesting to note what can be deemed religiously insulting when there is such a widespread interpretation of beliefs and values amongst a single denomination. On my own I’ve encountered parents and community advocates that’ve pushed to ban children’s books like the Harry Potter and His Dark Materials series, anything to do with the DaVinci Code and, of all things, the Simpsons. The scary thing is most of these intercessions to censor were somewhat successful (mind you the Simpsons one was some years ago, when it was still kind of scandalous and cutting edge). If this complaint had not landed before the school board but rather the principal had been approached and, quietly and discreetly, the offending material was substituted out to never be seen again there probably would have been little attention paid to this case. The few public examples of overzealous censorship we see should always be a reminder to watch out for the subtler campaigns waged in our own communities that we sometimes miss altogether.

Blog For Darwin

2009-02-12T07:39:00.006-05:00

On this, Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday, a group of bloggers have decided to kick off a blog swarm. A series of posts will be aggregated between February 12th – 15th and will be subsequently kept as a resource for educators, students, interested readers and even Stockwell Day, should he ever change his mind and decide to dip his toes in and wet his mind with some heretical, scientific-type concepts. If you want a break from the usual partisan sniping, then check it out!

Snide Rhymes For Bitter Tories

2009-02-10T20:46:00.002-05:00

There was once a Prime Minister named Stephen
Who had Conservative ideologues hoping and believing.
2006 was the year,
“Hip hip for Harper!” rang out the cheer.
Gone would be gay marrying!
Gone would be gun registering!
Government spending would be dropped low, low, low
While Supreme Court judges were to be heeled and kept firmly in tow.
That most unaccountable abomination, the Senate
Would be reformed and made democratic, we would elect it!
Finally the military would get tough leaders and tools galore,
Finally, finally with the American administration we’d quibble no more.
Prosperity and tranquility was to reign across the land.
Yes, Reform-a-tory dreamers finally thought their shinning moment was at hand.
But lo, flash forward a few scant years
And those same dreamers’ eyes fill up with tears,
For gays still plan weddings, and carrying a gun still requires a card.
Judges still make judgements, and economic times have gotten hard.
The Senate is filled with backroom hacks, bagmen and shills unelected,
And in the case of Mike Duffy and Patrick Brazeau, shills poorly vetted.
Soldiers die in vast numbers, waiting on equipment promised
While a leader that campaigned on accountability had to be forced by other parties to present a budget that was more honest.
Dirty tricks in U.S. primaries have made relations with Obamerica start to sour
And Tory ideologues promised fiscal responsibility can now only sit on the sidelines and glower.
Stephen Harper still reigns, gripping his caucus with all his might
Even though it appears he is no longer the right wing’s darling knight.
It even seems as his poll numbers slide and slip
That a few Tories might try Ignatieff, thereby jumping ship.
Oh truly, what a tragedy for Conservative ideologues all this must be,
Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m laughing so hard I have to go pee.

Iggymania On The Road

2009-02-08T15:34:00.002-05:00

As Michael Ignatieff’s road tour pulled into Orillia last night for a town hall Q&A session it immediately became apparent interest in the new Liberal leader was not limited to card carrying Liberals and non-partisans.

Sticking their toes in the water, a number of those who came forward to ask questions prefaced themselves by admitting they had voted for or supported another party previously. With the exception of one Green in the crowd, preaching some sort of electoral cooperation/reform to make it possible to elect some of his compatriots, whom he promises would be Liberal friendly (you’ll find one of these guys at any public meeting these days), the vast sum of those other party affiliates in the crowd were Tories, distinctively reddening Tories. From those at the microphones to those I chatted with amongst the crowd the tone of these individuals was distinctly tepid, but tepid in Mr. Ignatieff’s favour. If this was surprising the reason for it was not, every question directed by these self identified small-c conservatives being on the economy, specifically the Harper budget, its lacklustre tax policies and reckless spending. With prominent Conservatives breaking ranks with their government and heralds at every corner announcing the death of conservative idealism at Harper’s hand, those left wanting for smart tax policy, fiscal prudence as well as accountability in government are looking around and assessing their options. From this town hall meeting two things were evident about the mood of the conservative disenchanted that’s worth noting.

First, as one observer quipped within earshot, “Well, he’s not Dion.” Apt to dismiss this as a trivial, honeymoon style boost that won’t last, a number of conservative pundits seem to fail to recognize the gravity of the hole they’ve dug. By demonizing Dion so strongly and thoroughly through ceaseless ads and mocking that even followed the leader’s electoral defeat they’ve created an impossible task for themselves, how to demonize Michael Ignatieff as something worse. The Not-A-Leader campaign has gone cold and while no doubt a new slur and slander campaign is being conceived it would be hard to somehow frame Ignatieff as something less desirable than what Dion became in the public’s perception, a big driving factor for these voters (although I don’t doubt that CPC war room will try best).

The second thing that makes these disenchanted Tories so problematic and promising is the degree of their disenchantment. While prognosticating over Iggy’s honeymoon and looking for ways to write off Iggy’s budding popularity the dwindling cadre of dogged Harper pundits seem to be lamenting in the subtext the end of their fairytale courtship of the country. For the first time in memory Harper faces widespread, vocal dissent from within his own ranks, and in some measure it’s more affective and damaging than all the efforts of the opposition combined. As Ignatieff admitted at the town hall in Orillia, the greatest failing of the Liberals during the last election was not the voters they failed to win over, but rather the soft Liberals that were so unenthused that they couldn’t even be convinced to turn out and vote at all. As ground continues to shift and the Harper government finds itself more and more at odds with its base the real threat they face comes not just from the former supporters like those that came out in Orillia and were considering giving Ignatieff a try, it comes from those many disengaged ones that will remain Conservative all the same, but may not be jazzed enough to get off the couch next time on election day.

With poll numbers slowly shifting it’ll be interesting to see how the government tries to restore its lustre, if not just tarnish its opponents. Likewise as the Ignatieff road tour winds its way across the country it’ll be interesting to see how many more disillusioned Tories come out to hear him and whether this trend will continue to grow.

Worst Strike Video Ever, Tragic

2008-11-17T21:55:00.004-05:00

This pained me to watch.

First, before he even begins speaking, you’ve lost me CUPE 3903. What’s with the kerchief and the dark glasses? When I clicked start and saw this guy I half expected to hear the Unabomber start reading from his manifesto. Activistas take note, the apparel may be customary when you’re charging the barricades at some globalization conference or whatever it is you’re into protesting, but seeing this running up to me from a mob with placards while driving by would make me want to hit the locks and push the gas pedal hard. You can walk the line and fight the man without dressing like you’re fighting a guerrilla war in Nicaragua. Unions, take note, your spokespeople should not look like the Cobra Commander. Boo, hisssssssssssssss.

Then he begins to speak.

“You don’t have to be a student to believe in education equity. I’ll discuss this, I’ll address the capitalists.”

Socialist re-education from some after-frosh with a Che Guevara complex and a matching poster I'd wager in his dorm room. Wow, you've got my open and sincere attention now guy, along with all the other capitalist pigs you're trying to stick it too. Shoot comrade. I'm all ears.

“If you get A’s because your parents are probably paying for you and you can study 24/7, you’re getting 14 grand, or 22 grand as a doctoral student. Can you live on 22 grand a year? I can guarantee you that you can’t. What, you want to get married and have a kid? Sorry, can’t do it, you’re going for your PhD. C’mon, let’s be realistic, we’re living on this Earth, it’s a capitalist world that we live in. Global economy, right? It’s what my TA’s keep teaching me.”

Okay, even I’m questioning the value of the TA’s that taught this lunk-head by this point in the video. As for the paltry $14,000 and $22,000 bursary examples, if my university was giving out that kind of cash for grades I could’ve afforded to eat way more than Mr. Noodles (and it’s cheaper substitutes, bleh) for several years everyday at lunch. Grades based scholarships and awards are meant to help you focus on your studies in recognition of your achievement. They are not a guaranteed income you can plan on in order to have kids, buy a house, or do any of those other things for which many of my friends have had to work, teach and or take TAing positions for to scrape by.

CUPE, please please please, pull this video. Entertaining as it is, it's a disservice to my friends on your picket line and does nothing to address your legitimate grievances. Other unions take note what to avoid during your own labour actions.

Cudos to Facebook

2008-11-04T07:21:00.003-05:00

With pundits and prognosticators always speculating how many 'young people', if any, will turn out and vote it'll be interesting to see if Facebook has a hand in getting that number up. Facebook has replaced its logo (or whatever that picture is on the front of their web page) with a big booming link that reads "Today is Election Day. Go Vote." and takes Facebookers to an interactive page where they can find their poll location (as well as the proximity of the nearest Ben & Jerry's). This is truly clever, cudos to them.

Monsters In Our Midst

2008-11-04T06:54:00.002-05:00

Reading Paul Wells’ cutting critique of Hell or High Water I couldn’t help but think that the criteria he applies to label Martin a Werewolf (and other political leaders accordingly) could be applied in other ways in the post Halloween political season. Using the template for monsters outlined in Danse Macabre by Stephen King, Wells neatly outlines the three archetypes, Vampires (“ancient, implacable, smarter and stronger than you”), The Creature Without a Name (“lost or misunderstood or simply put together wrong, doomed from the outset”), and the Werewolf (“a good man who loses control… he can’t recall or believe the things he did when he wasn’t himself”). It occurs to me these templates can equally be applied to current and prospective Liberal leadership contestants, although with the addition of one extra monster-genre archetype.

For your consideration and deliberation. Enjoy.

The Vampires

Michael Ignatieff – The Dark Prince Himself, Ignatieff has shown to have an eerie, nosferatu like longevity. While perhaps not overt his leadership campaign since 2006 has been at very least undead, constantly grouping and reforming, bringing in new elements to augment those he had previously. Unlike Martin whose efforts to bump Chrétien were a bit like a bull in a china shop Iggy has continually taken pains to position himself, subtly playing on unease on the Green Shift in the party and simply making it clear he, the Deputy Leader, was next in line. Like Sarah Palin breaking away to set up her own bid for next time Iggy read the cards before they were dealt and certainly has a long term game plan beyond what has already been put in play, should he win, not to mention a healthy and ambitious bloodlust to get there.

Ruby Dhalla – Well schooled under her sire Count Iggy last time around, Dhalla is cold and calculating. Provided she can find a million dollars to wade in she’ll establish herself as the principle female contender in the party (move over Martha). With little chance of winning this time around Dhalla is setting herself up as a future contender and will no doubt throw her delegates at the feet of Ignatieff, giving him a boost and ensuring the patronage of him and his organization in future. Welcome to the Hillary Clinton school of politics.

Martin Cauchon – Lurking in Quebec, biding his time. May have taken a little too long to rise from his coffin as Quebec is already a contentious battleground and if he doesn’t build outside here he’ll find a stake in his campaign early on.

The Creature Without A Name

Bob Rae – Bob is brilliant in every way possible. He’s witty, inspiring, one of the greatest minds in the party at present and instils in people a practical, applicable approach to the lofty ideas we hold as Liberals…. if only he hadn’t been Premier of Ontario. Listen to a Rae booster plug their guy and they’ll invariably omit any reference to his premiership. On the off chance they bring it up they almost immediately trip into a series of buts as if gasping to regain their breath. My father, a one time Dipper, switched to the Liberals as a result of Rae’s premiership, and has let it be known in no uncertain terms he may switch again if Rae wins (and disown me if he sees a Rae button anywhere near me). The spectre of this kind of rebuke by a mob with torches may yet foil Bob as his campaign retreats from angry villagers all across that vote rich province.

Werewolves

John Manley – I was in the room the last time John launched his ultimately abortive leadership bid against Paul Martin. He is a good man… who’s been all over the place since that day. He abandoned his leadership battle early on against Martin which, while smart in many respects, makes it hard for prospective supporters to know if he’ll stick around any length of time in a battle if he does sign on. Then there’s the little matter of Manley signing on to be Harper’s man on Afghanistan. He ultimately put in place a report that did not support Harper’s position, which was little read, but all the party will remember is how he allowed himself to be paraded in photo ops which helped Harper. Spin your sins all you can, history and the party may still take a dim view of you in the short term.

Dennis Coderre – Coderre was a crafty Quebec organizer the last time around and this could serve him well... if his antics with lawsuits and NHL hockey players are overlooked.

The Invisible Men

Gerard Kennedy – When Gerard unseated NDP incumbent Peggy Nash there was a lot of surprise, not least of all because most people had forgotten he’d existed, let alone was running for anything. As kingmaker at the last convention some pundits would put Kennedy down as a werewolf, trying to recant his past, but I would differ. With a number of Dionista organizers and supporters out there he may well benefit from his gambit last time round by picking up a few of those who are sick of everyone turning on the old boss. That said it’s not clear what he’s doing. Unlike Rae and Ignatieff… and frankly everyone else, Kennedy has been invisible since the election and rumours that he exists and is mulling things over in a dark room somewhere is all party watchers have to go on. If he is still entertaining a bid Gerard needs to stand in front of a camera somewhere and at least mull it over in public so we’ll notice.

Dominic LeBlanc – Okay, outside hill staff and people from his riding how many people could pick this guy out of a line-up? I’m not even talking about people that look similar. Put him in with The Village People and I don’t think most Liberals could pick him out. He’s a good guy, he’s getting a lot of name spin and could field some decent organizers but if he doesn’t build some recognition he’ll risk being an afterthought.

Sending The Right Message

2008-10-18T12:07:00.007-05:00

I like this girl.

In her own words: "Someone stole our Obama for President sign from our yard last night. They stole nearly all the Obama signs in our neighborhood. The ones they didn't take they spray-painted black. So I made this sign today and staked it in the yard...."

As a Liberal whose job was to coordinate putting up signs in a riding about the size of a small European country during the campaign I can honestly say I had anxiety as stories of Liberal supporters' break lines being cut in Toronto, amongst other vandalism, hit the airwaves. Where I was we faired better, although not unscathed. First a large number of our signs kept being cut in two, again and again, all across this giant riding. When we proved we could handle that they started snapping the stakes to our larger signs and stealing the wires for the smaller ones. We got more. Then when it was clear anything they touched would be back in business in a matter of hours signs just began disappearing wholesale, from the little lawn ones to a few giant billboards that stood eight feet tall. We still kept up, right to Election Day, however if we’d been clever enough to think of something like this maybe we could have saved ourselves some work.

I don’t know how well it would have worked seeing as people weren’t clambering to buy our signs so much as we were politely asking them to let us put them up (especially after the T.O. sabotage spooked people) but still, it would have been very gratifying.

Next time.

Green Party Candidate Comes Out Against Elizabeth May

2008-10-11T14:52:00.004-05:00

Green Party Candidate Valerie Powell tore a strip off Green Party Leader Elizabeth May today as Powell and a couple supporters pushed and shoved people out of the way, waving signs, to try and upstage a campaign stop by Stéphane Dion in Orillia. Powell attacked May's comments on the campaign trail where she has at times urged for a strategic alliance of parties against Harper. Powell criticized her leader to national press, accusing May of "making it definitely confusing, and a lot of a Green candidates are really upset".

Dion, for his part, was most civil, commenting that he hopes Green Leader Elizabeth May wins against Peter MacKay in Central Nova where the Liberals have backed her bid in their own concession to strategic voting.

Powell however was unrepentant in her criticism of May. "But you have to look at it in the bigger picture. [May] believes Harper should be out, she wanted to develop some sort of strategic plan." said Powell, who inferred May and Dion's deal not to run candidates against each other was too limited. "It always becomes negative strategic voting."

No word yet who all these Greens are that Powell claims are upset with May, but it will be interesting to see how the Green Leader deals with a candidate challenging her position in what has been otherwise a very positive campaign for the Greens.

Weakest MP Service Record Ever

2008-10-04T08:48:00.006-05:00

Political candidates have a tendency to play up minor accomplishments. If you’ve ever read a pamphlet or ad for a rookie wannabe politician out of the gate it seems like they list everything from the cookies they made for their kid’s bake sale to the two seasons they were assistant coach of a team in a t-ball league. And who can blame them, running against entrenched incumbents that have a staff and time to do nothing but help people in the community can result in a daunting comparison of accomplishments on the campaign trail. Even the most mediocre member can latch onto their government’s kudos or some local spending and claim they’ve done something substantial for their riding.

Unless you’re MP Bruce Stanton.

I like to collect propaganda and campaign literature from campaigns and when I got a hold of Stanton’s primary pamphlet that he’s been sending to homes across his riding I couldn’t help but guffaw. When listing the services he’s provided to the residents of his riding, Simcoe North, Stanton offers the following list of accomplishments, verbatim:

- Opened and worked on over 6,000 case files for constituents
- Reviewed and processed over 10,000 passport applications
- Operated 14 Passport Clinics in eight communities
- Hosted Annual Family BBQ in August & Family Free Skates at Christmas for the people of Simcoe North

That’s all...

Okay, Bruce, here are some helpful tips for future. 1) You opened 6,000 case files for constituents, which is good, except you claimed to have processed 10,000 passport applications, meaning you have no record of 4,000 of the people you processed stuff for? Someone might want to call the RCMP/CSIS and see who Bruce’s been doling out passports to. 2) Holding a passport clinic and then actually following through and processing the passports kind of go hand in hand and looks weak being listed as two separate accomplishments. It’s like saying you raked the leaves and then bagged them and expect two separate medals for it. 3) You’ve been a sitting MP since 2006 and the most substantial thing you can think of that you did for your riding was host a BBQ and “Free Skate” (which equates to buying some hotdogs and renting ice time at the cheapest area for an hour or more)? Considering you’ve had several factories close and or layoff large numbers of employees in your riding, some in the course of the election, I’m sure your constituents will all be reassured that you’ll have a hotdog in hand to console them next summer when they’re jobless and hungry.

In fairness he does cite funding for several ridings, obtained through the work of his MP neighbours, that trickles into the fringes of his riding. Under the Conservative government’s accomplishments he claims to have “Helped to forge a global consensus addressing Climate Change” (must have helped done that between the BBQ and Free Skate he offered last year), but overall this is without question the weakest list of accomplishments I’ve seen from an incumbent of any party put forward in an election.

In an election where ambition and cutthroat aspirations are rife in the air it’s almost refreshing to see an MP that is desperate to blend in with the curtains in the back row of the back benches.

Conservatives give Fed money to Adscam figure, then feign outrage at Liberals

2008-08-31T10:46:00.003-05:00

With a federal election all but certain it has come to light that the Conservative government, swept to power by promising to clean up government after the adscam scandal, has doled out a large loan to a central figure in the scandal. Alfonso Gagliano, former cabinet minister, received $550,000 to help purchase a vineyard from Farm Credit Canada, a Federal Crown corporation.

Before you could say flashback 2005 the Harper PMO fell back to its default stance of voicing outrage that the government was giving money to shifty adscam figures. Said PMO spokesman Dimitri Soudas "The Conservative Government believes that money should go to help farmers, not former Liberal cabinet ministers".

Note how that statement starts, “The Conservative Government…”, anyone else see an impediment to the Conservative Party’s rage here? Without flinching to imply sleaze on the part of the former Liberal cabinet minister they neglect to own up that THEY WERE THE ONES THAT GAVE HIM THE MONEY. It’s kind of like when the power goes out and your clock radio defaults to flashing 12:00, 12:00, 12:00… pull the rug from under any Conservative spokesperson or pundit and invariably they’ll sputter “but, but, but… adscam!” over and over.

After two and a half years the Harper government has yet to adjust to the reigns of power, still awkwardly parroting lines that were successful for them in opposition, hoping no one notices they’ve been in charge the whole time. If this is the kind of A-game that they’re bringing to the federal campaign they might find themselves, like old generals on a battlefield fighting with the tactics of the last war, outflanked when confronted with modern realities.

By The Numbers: Afghanistan

2008-08-23T13:17:00.004-05:00

Number of Canadians killed in Afghanistan by an IED this week: 3
Number of Canadians killed so far during the Afghan mission total: 94 (93 soldiers, 1 diplomat)
Of those number killed by IEDs: 44
Number of years in Afghan mission (ISAF) thus far: 7

Period under which Canadian ISAF forces administered by Chrétien/Martin governments: 4 years, 1 month*
Number of Canadians killed during that time total: 9 (8 soldiers, 1 diplomat)
Of those number killed by friendly fire: 4
Of those number killed in vehicular accidents: 1
Of those number killed in a combat type situation: 4

Period under which Canadian ISAF forces administered by the Harper government: 2 years, 7 months**
Number of Canadian soldiers killed during that time total: 84
Of those number killed by friendly fire: 4
Of those number killed in vehicular accidents: 5
Of those number killed in accidents/non-combat situations: 4
Of those number deaths attributed to suicide: 1
Of those number killed in a combat type situation: 70

Sacrifice of Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan: Priceless

Politicians that claim to support our troops but oppose lowering the flag upon their deaths lest it lead to bad PR: Worthless

Politicians that claim to support our troops while sending them into harms way without expectation of the promised, proper equipment until 2013 (two years after the mission is supposed to end): Sadly and characteristically, very typical

* ISAF mission began Dec. 20, 2001 but I rounded it out to Jan. 2002 onward
** Harper takes office Feb. 6, 2006, counted whole month under him (no deaths that month)

Top Obama Adviser: Canada-US Relations Remain Damaged by PMO

2008-08-19T16:18:00.006-05:00

Austan Goolsbee, chief economic advisor to presidential frontrunner Barack Obama, has come up with a Top 10 list of “Things never to say to the Canadians”, #1 on the list being “hello”.

Following NAFTA-gate, in which PMO staff leaked innuendo from a communication between the Obama team and the Canadian government in an effort to try and derail his campaign, the PMO and Canadian government have been less than apologetic, formally denying fault and having done little to repair this serious slight to the U.S. Presidential frontrunner. Goolsbee plays down any negative consequences for trade between Canada and the U.S. but one imagines relations between a Harper PMO and Obama Whitehouse won’t be warm. On the original conversation that tipped off the whole affair Goolsbee recalls, in response to Canadian officials' concerns about trade, that he said Obama was “… not in favour of abolishing NAFTA, but he believes that enforceable labour and environmental standards be in place in the core of the agreement.”

Emphasis on “environmental standards”.

With Obama talking up putting a price on pollution of late it’s likely he doesn’t want to see U.S. firms exploiting lax Canadian regulations to avoid investing in green technology and innovation. If Harper’s people hope to have any relation with the U.S. administration in future they may find they’ll have to concede ground to an Obama style green shift, even while they continue to deride Stéphane Dion’s.

But that’s only if they’re lucky and survive long enough to make concessions.

With the Conservatives already having interfered with Obama’s campaign there will no doubt be some Democrats out there eager to return the favour. There is a precedent for American political ‘assistance’ in Canadian elections. Kennedy’s people were more than eager to help a fledgling Lester B. Pearson derail John Diefenbaker’s government after Dief publicly embarrassed the President following a generally cold start to their relationship. Hmmmm, Democratic operatives monkey-wrenching a Western-Conservative PM, you’d think someone out there would be heeding history.

The Conservative war room might be wise to urge the PM to pull the plug and call an election while the U.S. race is still raging and Obama’s assets are needed at home, else they might be apt to look around the political landscape and assess their options north of the border.

Obama’s ready for a green shift, are you Steve? (And can he call you Steve too, or is that just reserved for Dubya?)

2008-08-17T11:47:00.008-05:00

Appearing at the Saddleback Civil Forum last night in one of the more interesting discussions with the two U.S. Presidential hopefuls, frontrunner Barack Obama, after a string of challenging questions on faith and policy, was asked what he would tell the American public if there weren’t any repercussions. This is what he said.*

“You know what I would tell them, is that solving big problems, like for example energy, is not going to be easy and everybody’s going to have to get involved and we are going to have to all think about how are we using energy more efficiently and there is going to be a price to pay in transitioning to a more energy efficient economy and dealing with issues like climate change. And if we pretend like everything is free and there is no sacrifice involved then we are betraying the tradition of America. I think about my grandparents’ generation coming out of a depression, fighting world war two, you know they’ve confronted some challenges we can’t even imagine. If they were willing to make sacrifices on our behalf, we should be able to make some sacrifices on behalf of the next generation.”

Sounds awfully similar to something Stéphane would say, don’t you think? This comment is but yet another sign from the U.S. Presidential campaign that putting a price on carbon is going to be a theme in forthcoming U.S. policy. With conservative and liberal minded politicians alike around the globe moving towards this market sensible approach to tackling pollution and implementing meaningful tax cuts the Harper government, ever in lockstep with the lame duck policies of the Bush Whitehouse, is imitating the failed economic and environmental policy that even U.S. Republicans are trying to carefully distance themselves from and find new solutions to. One has to wonder how the Harper Conservatives are going to respond to the overwhelming difference in message and facts being espoused in the U.S. Presidential campaign as it looms ever closer to a concurrent fall election campaign of their own (especially with Canadian TV viewers more interested in Obama and McCain’s coverage than Harper’s). Then again, with the Harper PMO having already made bad waves with Obama when some of its overzealous staff tried to derail his campaign during the primaries (not the mention the PMO’s slow, non-apologetic response in dealing with it) maybe they’re thinking it would be better to get the election out of the way before the failings of the Harper government become all too apparent and American-Canadian relations deteriorate, percipitating another broken promise from a PM that once upon a time said he would improve relations with our neighbours to the south. In any event Harper had better be ready to take it from more than just the Green and Liberal barrels when the blasting starts over enviro-economic policy in the fall.

* UPDATE - Ammended from the computerized real time notes on Rick Warren’s news site using footage from YouTube (links included above) as there were some minor errors in the computerized transcript. An official transcript is coming but was not available (or I just couldn’t find it) at the time this was posted.

Obama To Text Message Supporters His VP Choice – Find Out How To Sign Up

2008-08-10T21:41:00.004-05:00

Barack Obama is the King of Hype.

The dichotomy between the U.S. Presidential campaigns could not be more distinct. Where John McCain fights daily to get the media to notice him and Americans and world spectators alike have to strain at times to pay attention without yawning, Obama commands anticipation with his silence as he gazes across a crowd with a cool glance, everyone already in awe of what he might say next.

The Obama campaign has sent messages to its supporters offering to text message them Obama’s choice of VP simultaneously before anyone else. Imagine, hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of people, jumping at each text message they receive over the coming days eagerly wondering if this is going to be the big announcement from Barack. “I’m Barack Obama, and I approve this text message.” In the canon of political stunts this is impressive. Even Republicans and Obama’s opponents will have a hard time not getting sucked into the hype of this and are sure to sign up, just to be first in the know. As for poor McCain, well, short of raising Lincoln from the dead and getting him to stand in the number two spot, his moment is going to come as lacklustre as the rest of his campaign.

So, here’s how to sign up. There are are two options. You can text VP to 62262 to receive the text message on your cell or you can visit this page and sign up for email and text notification.

There you have it. Time to let the last wisps of speculation on running mates fill the blogsphere and hold on close to your cell.

Tips on Bio-Warfare - from David Suzuki

2008-08-09T12:29:00.008-05:00

With the outset of August and a new bloom in the mosquito population a common sight in the woodlands and tourist getaways everywhere it seems is that of city dwellers flailing about trying to avoid bug bites. Brandishing aerosol containers they wave and spray in the air, trying to shoot down the mosquitoes and black flies mid-air like a frantic gun crew trying to ward off kamikaze pilots, they never seem to realize how futile and comical their struggle looks (not least of all because deet doesn’t actually kill the ’squiters but, as a nerve agent, usually just stings them and disipates quickly). With this in mind the David Suzuki Foundation in its most recent newsletter has some good tips and info on how to fight bugs without deet and how to use deet effectively if you so choose.

Enjoy, and happy swatting!

Make yourself and your home unattractive… to mosquitoes!
From The David Suzuki Foundation

Create a Mosquito-Unfriendly Home.

- Install yellow ‘bug’ lights outdoors. Bugs’ vision is shifted toward the shorter, ultraviolet end of the light spectrum.
- Put up feeders to attract wild birds. Chickadees, house wrens, gray catbirds, bluebirds, swallows, martins, warblers, orioles, tanagers, and some sparrows all feast on mosquitoes during the day.
- Install a bat house (www.nwf.org/backyard/bathouse.cfm). They dine on mosquitoes in the evening.
- Mosquitoes breed in standing water, so:
* Refresh birdbaths and pet dishes.
* Fill, cover or remove any items that can trap water.
* Make sure your rain gutters aren’t blocked so water flows freely.
* Fill areas likely to puddle with soil, gravel or rocks.
- Make sure windows and doors are screened and well-repaired.
- Keep grass to about 3 inches and trim shrubs.
- Light a citronella candle.
- Avoid bug traps fuelled by electricity or propane. Besides being mostly ineffective, they use energy unnecessarily and contribute to climate change.

Make Yourself Un-Attractive (To Mosquitoes!)

- Avoid their hang-outs. Mosquitoes like shade and are generally around from dusk till dawn.
- If you are in mosquito country, wear thin, light-coloured, loose-fitting, long sleeved shirts, long pants and socks. Tuck pants into socks for extra protection. Drape netting over strollers to protect infants. Wear a bug net or bug shirt if you are in the bush.
- Spray an herbal repellent on top of your clothing. Most herbal repellents contain oils such as citronella, cedar, eucalyptus, lemongrass, peppermint, basil, geranium and feverfew, and are safe for use on children (but not on babes under two).
- In summer, go unscented. Mosquitoes love fragrances from soaps, sunscreens, lotions, deodorants, hair care products and perfumes.

If Deet Is Your Only Option…

- DEET is a nerve toxin that stings mosquitoes’ feet when they land, preventing them from biting. It does not kill them. You best defence is to spray it sparingly on your clothes, rather than on your body. Do not use it under clothing. (Choose natural fabrics; DEET can damage synthetics: plastics, acetate, rayon, Spandex – as well as furniture finishes, leather, watch crystals, paint and varnish.)
- Read the label carefully. DEET concentration should be no greater than 30 % for adults, 10 % for children. Never put DEET on children under six months old.
- If you must put it on your skin, remember that it’s poison, so don’t let it stay on your body longer than necessary.
- Do not apply it to cuts or other open wounds, irritated or sunburned skin. Rinse immediately if it gets in your eyes.
- Always apply in a well-ventilated area (never inside a tent) and avoid inhaling the spray.
- Do not use it near food.
- Wipe it off before you go to bed with a cloth. Keep that cloth separate from your other clothes. Rinse it, as soon as you are able, in a contained, gray water system (ie a washing machine).

- Never rinse DEET off in oceans, lakes or rivers.

Emerson sings support for Beijing while Chinese skewer Harper: What went wrong with the PM's PR strategy?

2008-08-08T11:52:00.004-05:00

As Canadian Foreign Minister David Emerson stepped off the plane after arriving in Beijing to represent the Canadian government at the opening ceremonies the baffle-gaffe over the meaning of Prime Minister Harper’s non-attendance reached its crescendo. Emerson, parroting earlier comments by the PM, was clear to state that Harper’s absence from the opening ceremonies was not a protest and that his ministerial presence represented a significant representation on behalf of the Canadian government in support of and demonstrating friendship between the Chinese and Canadian governments.

Not a bad press line, except of course this does not explain why exactly Harper is not there.

Without actually criticizing Beijing over its recent wave of repression and human rights abuses against its own people, nor addressing the ongoing subjugated population of Tibet, Harper has chosen what surely was intended to be a clever course. By not attending the games he has distanced himself from the unpopular and repressive regime in Beijing, literally, creating the impression he opposes China’s abuses. The problem is he won’t actually say that’s why he’s not attending. Instead he has at every occasion expressed support for the Beijing regime without addressing the brutality of their human rights abuses and, in so doing, has allowed the Chinese to promote whatever impression of support from Canada it wants at home. Doubly this move and Emerson’s high level visibility at the games can be used to suck up to the ethnic Chinese communities across Canada that, understandably, have been irked by overtly negative commentators that have given rise to what is being commonly perceived, rightly or wrongly in some instances, as “China bashing”. In waffling between vague actions Harper is hoping to be perceived in the best light by both sides on the issue of human rights in China vs. supporting the Olympic Games.

Regrettably for Harper and Canada however he is not succeeding.

Chinese media have under government direction made capital of Harper’s statements in opposition to a boycott of the opening ceremonies to chide internal opposition and protests against the Chinese regime, yet at the same time Harper has been portrayed clownishly for being absent from the ceremonies. At home there is a mixed impression, those supporting a more open dialogue with China, criticizing his absence from the games, while those hoping for a stronger protest are left feeling betrayed by Emerson’s soft peddling of the rosy support for Beijing by Ottawa. In trying to go half in half Harper got the equation wrong. In glaring contrast to how this political tightrope could have been successfully traversed President George W. Bush is enjoying the best of both worlds. Bush, choosing to attend the opening ceremonies, has at the same time chided the authoritarian regime over its human rights abuses, thus appearing both strong and conciliatory in his appearance at the games. While his attendance does give the People’s Republic some manoeuvrability to portray U.S. support at home to dishearten dissidents, which is regrettable, it is still a far better play than the half muddled signals Ottawa has been sending.

Bush has played better than Harper in this engagement on the world stage because his people understood the reality of the media perception at home and in China. By supporting the Chinese people and speaking out against their suffering while embracing an occasion to celebrate their accomplishments (even if the opening ceremonies are a public relations fest for the PRC to whitewash abuses at home and intimidate dissenters) the U.S. has bashed the Chinese regime without denigrating or allowing itself to be perceived to be bashing the Chinese people. Harper by contrast, in his perceived weak waffling, is receiving a bashing by the Chinese state controlled media and likewise will have little to show for it at all at home. While I loathe to suggest it, maybe Steve should take some PR lessons from Dubya. After years of being a pariah on the world stage the Americans at least know how to send a clear message.

Partition of the Arctic

2008-08-06T18:43:00.010-05:00

British researchers from Durham University have developed a map outlining potential territorial claims and zones of conflict between the arctic nations. The map was prompted following Russia’s brash grab for land in which it claimed half the arctic as Russian territory on the spurious notion that the extent of its continental shelf should count as terra firma. Citing the poor quality of maps in news circulation following the grab and Russia’s subsequent stunts to try and shore up its claim Martin Pratt, director of the research unit, summed up the aims of the group, stating;

"We have attempted to show all known claims; agreed boundaries and one thing that has not appeared on any other maps, which is the number of areas that could be claimed by Canada, Denmark and the US."

Move over gold rush.

This innocuous sounding comment is a reflection of a collective impression gripping the northernmost hemisphere, that the arctic is up for grabs. With arctic thawing opening up access to untold mineral deposits, not to mention an estimated 90 million barrels of oil, groups like the Durham researchers are resigned (if not eager) to set in motion the partitioning of the arctic into designated parcels and set the various powers to work harvesting their share. This is a radical shift in global mentality from June 2007, when Russia began this whole grab. Prior to that date it was accepted and understood that the arctic proper could not be considered a territorial asset. As an ice shelf in parts with a sensitive and harsh environment the thought of oil drilling and the potential for spills, pollution and destruction would have been unconscionable (let alone the messy little issue of great and middling powers moving in on each other over a slab of ice and rock). As the days grow more oil hungry however attitudes are changing quickly, and that is going to mean some serious decisions for Canada.

With the merriment of a sort of jingoistic enterprise the call for arctic sovereignty has jumped from procuring patrol vessels to monitor places like little Hans Island and keep it from the clutches of the Danes to building a northern military infrastructure that can ensure territorial security over an area double now that which we are inadequately maintaining involving two powers far more able to project their weight and ambitions. The U.S., already eyeing the opportunities of the arctic, continues to challenge our sovereignty over the Northwest Passage which has only recently become commercially passable. With arctic drilling between the Yukon and Alaska already an old contention do we imagine this issue won’t expand with more disputed arctic territory between us and an impetus to utilize our newfound resources? The Russians may have started all of this, but they may not be our biggest bogeymen should their territory grab turn into a free-for-all.

Canada, for simple realistic and pragmatic reasons, has to press the other arctic nations (U.S., Denmark, Norway and Iceland) to stand against the Russian claim lest we be brought into a competition for territory which, good intentions or not, we are ill equipped and will not be better suited for some time. If not, Canada is going to have raise its shallow actions to the standard of its tough talk.

Ready or not, here Khadr comes

2008-07-16T19:25:00.005-05:00

Amidst the debate as to whether or not Omar Khadr should be brought back to Canada there is an ominous void, two questions no one is asking. What would happen if we took him back, and what would happen if we had to take him back?

We have no idea what we’d do if we had him. The Harper government as it is stands united only in their desire to keep him in the U.S. No one wants to contemplate what kind of circus would ensue if he were brought back. He is a high level terror suspect, yet at the same time was captured as a child soldier. The most mediocre lawyer could have a field day with this, either way. The legal vagaries are daunting. Even small, practical matters in the case are tricky. Where would we house him? The G.P. of a prison? A super security cell next to Paul Bernardo where he could be kept safely, indefinitely? House arrest? As for outright release, forget it. Khadr’s lawyers haven’t even called for his release, instead opting for an extensive reintegration program featuring psychological counselling and “religious rehabilitation”.

Religious rehab, is that something the government wants to get into?

To do so would establish a precedent fraught with sentencing challenges in future. Talk to any prison chaplain and they’ll tell you they offer comfort, religious materials and facilitate religious services. They do not tell people how to think, or even what they ought to believe. Mandatory religious instruction/re-education is a slippery slope that the government should not engage in.

As a highly politicized case with no precedent in a circus like minority parliament it’s doubtful that a satisfactory solution pleasing all or even any large segment of parliamentarians can be found, let alone the public. With no firm plan in place detailing what repatriation would entail the debate on Khadr feels a little moot and disingenuous.

But we should start making a plan.

Whether you are opposed to bringing him back to Canada or not, under any set of circumstances, chances are he’s going to show up here eventually. With both U.S. presidential candidates calling for the closure of Guantanamo Bay the slim technicality on which the U.S. has been able to circumvent many of the issues surrounding the detaining of a foreigner accused of crimes committed as a minor outside the U.S., while skirting certain aspects of the U.S. justice system are coming to a close. John McCain has already said he’d send Khadr to Canada, if asked. He’s hoping to be asked. Fact is Khadr is as much a potential political firestorm in the U.S., if not more so, as he is in Canada. With all the other troublesome foreign detainees gone except ours the pressure is going to start coming to take our pariah off their hands, and it’s almost certain they’ll have no qualms shoving him into ours.

Ready or not, here Khadr comes.

China caught supplying military equipment in Darfur genocide

2008-07-14T06:41:00.002-05:00

China has been caught violating the arms embargo imposed to help prevent further genocide in Darfur. Military vehicles with plates and markers clearly indicating their importation to Sudan after the embargo was imposed and their manufacture by the Dong Feng Motor Co. of China were found and reportedly footage of similar trucks with Chinese made anti-aircraft guns mounted to them has also been discovered. The Chinese government has declined to comment thus far, but one can’t imagine this will not help their efforts to sweep under the rug human rights violations in their own country prior to the Beijing Olympics. With this outrageous find it will be a wonder how Western governments like France, the U.S. and Canada will justify sending high level representation to the opening ceremonies of the games.

Soft peddling war’s moral quandaries

2008-07-13T22:34:00.004-05:00

The Telegraph is featuring an article on a collection of WWII photos showing the aftermath of the Allied bombing campaign on Germany. As someone that watches a lot of History Television (which I think has an unwritten policy that they have to show at least 12 hours of WWII footage a day) my interest was immediately perked.

Then I read the opening of the article.

A "spectacular" collection of 3,000 Nazi photos reveal the extent to which the Allied bombing campaign devastated Germany's cultural heritage. The aerial photos, which show Germany before and during the bombing campaign, have been described as the most comprehensive record yet of the damage caused to the country's pre-war cultural splendour.

“… the allied bombing campaign devastated Germany’s cultural heritage.” Do you know what really devastated Germany’s cultural heritage, its vaunted “pre-war splendour”? Nazis. Nazis burning books, destroying ancient synagogues and slaughtering scores of artists, musicians and other cultural sorts that didn’t fit with the new Germany’s vision. Oh, and let’s not forget the swath of destruction they cut across Europe to incur, in turn, the horrible wrath of bombing.

Perhaps I’m making a bit much of all this but increasingly the history of the Second World War is being carefully crafted to include sympathy for the innocent, average German, which would be fine if it didn’t always seem to counter-point the Allied war effort as somehow unduly cruel to said poor Germans. Increasingly wartime destruction is subtly inferred to be the fault of an overzealous Allied bombing campaign. This was an issue at the Canadian War Museum a little over a year ago, which since that time was quietly dealt with. No one disputes that the Allied bombing campaign devastated Germany. Fact is that was the whole point of the bombing campaign. In an era where, rightly, we see war as an evil to be avoided we have come to be morally ambiguous in all other respects, crafting our words to make all actions in war sound wrong and misguided. While this is too often true this trend of moral relativism in history is unnerving. In a few simple words the Telegraph, itself trying to be objective with the wording reading like a preface, implies the destruction of Germany’s beautiful buildings was somehow wrong. As a lover of architecture I can appreciate the sorrow, not to mention the human cost at the thought of the destruction, but what is tragic is sometimes necessary (and the rest of the time anything but). If we can not reconcile that with the pictures of carnage we gain nothing from them.

This issue bothers me not just as a historian but as with the present mission in Afghanistan all parties have retreated to the soft euphemisms and “empty clichés” that have come to encompass our present dialogue. Sophomoric language in the news and politics doesn’t serve the public interest, nor public memory. If we can’t find unprefaced wording to frame the events of the Second World War in the present then how do we frame the debate about any current military mission in the face of casualties and conflict? It’s haunting to think that sixty plus years on some paper could be releasing pictures from the Afghan campaign in an almost apologetic tone with no hint of how we framed the issue in our own day.

Internet enables abortion

2008-07-13T19:28:00.004-05:00

As abortion opponents continue to fume over the appointment of Dr. Morgentaler to the Order of Canada the ground war over abortion seems to be shifting against them. BBC News ran an interesting spot on the rise of online abortion clinics. Through the web various women’s health advocates and professionals provide abortion information and counselling to those in regions where abortion services may be restricted or not readily available. While the quality of information varies site to site, the rise in the practice and ability to order abortifacients online is being seen as a significant step to undermining abortion laws in many countries and providing access in those where access to services is limited.

While Canada theoretically offers abortion services via the Canada Health Act to all of its citizens, at no cost, it has been long been contested that the practice isn’t in step with the policy. PEI for example has no abortion services of its own. New Brunswick has a number of hurdles women have to pass through to have an abortion and strictly limits which physicians it will fund to perform the procedure. Saskatchewan residents often have to travel to Alberta. The examples are exhaustive. Across Canada many remote communities are far removed from abortion services. Just last summer in Central Ontario there was a controversy when a proposed hospital merger under a religious board threatened to eliminate the only abortion services in a wide region just north of Toronto. Contrary to perceptions, it’s not just the fringes of the country that have slim access to services.

Strides have been made to address access issues, but still with limited results. Health Canada approved Plan B or the morning after pill for over the counter purchase several years ago in an endeavour or make emergency contraception more readily available across Canada, however even this measure has had its limitations. Some pharmacies have been hesitant to carry the drug. Some pharmacists have been outright defiant about not providing the drug. Wal-Mart, which in many areas is a major pharmaceutical distributor (especially where small local pharmacies can’t compete), used to not keep morning after drugs on stock, and as there is a 72 hour window for their use it effectively made ordering them a token gesture. While Health Canada’s ruling on Plan B has made that drug more readily available overall, there is no telling how concrete access to reproductive health services are on the whole where few physicians may perform the procedures, and on a limited availability.

This brings us to the net. In those regions of Canada where people have limited or no real access to abortion or other reproductive health services are online clinics a way to make access universal? The intimidation of protesters at clinics and the sketchy process of finding out who provides what services in your community (especially with those that may be hesitant to approach people in small communities to find out) is daunting, but what if Health Canada, or even the provincial health ministries offered a similar service? Some individual health units have websites but from my own research they tend to be vague or difficult to navigate, and that’s only if you can find them. A national Health Canada website enabling online counselling and services similar to the online pharmaceutical proprietors already in existence would provide rural regions and those with poor services with at least some measure of access and would take control away from those on the ground most able to obstruct reproductive health services (and provide medical guidance for those requiring further medical assistance afterward). It’s not a likely policy endeavour for the current government, given the PM’s posturing on the Morgentaler award, but it is something the opposition and Health Canada should perhaps consider for when their moment comes.

Cadscam Cover-up Shaken By Inconsistencies In Conservative Experts’ Affidavits

2008-07-11T18:52:00.015-05:00

Now I’m not an expert on audio tape, but neither would it appear are the analysts who Stephen Harper hired to bail him out of Cadscam. As reporter Tom Zytaruk points out, the analysts who the Conservatives have been hailing for claiming possible inconsistencies in the now infamous audio tape, in which Harper concedes knowledge of a plot to bribe dying MP Chuck Cadman in exchange for his vote, can’t get their stories straight between them. Forget minor technical details, the “experts” in question in their written transcripts can’t even agree on what is being said on the tape, or even who’s speaking at the outset. Zytaruk provides the following excerpts to highlight the inconsistencies:

The first word both experts hear on the tape is "um." Gough says it's my voice [Zytaruk’s]; Owen says it's Harper's voice. The first sentence heard on the tape, according to Gough's transcript, is "Um...an in - an insurance policy for a million dollars for...Dona (unintelligible word)..." But according to Owen, the first sentence is "I mean, there was an insurance policy for a million dollars for Donna."

STUFF THEY SAY HARPER SAID:
1. Gough's transcript: "This is not for publication?" Owen's transcript: "But this is not for publication?"

2. Gough: "I said Chuck is, had made up his mind." Owen: "I said Chuck has, has made up his mind."

3. Gough: "I...it's not going to change." Owen: "I, I mean, I, that's not going to change."

4. Gough: "And uh, I...I said don't press him." Owen: "and I said don't press him."

5. Gough: "I mean, you know, you have this theory..." Owen: "...I mean, you have this theory..."

6. Gough: "I just,...we had all kinds of our guys were calling him." Owen: "I, you know, I just, and we had all kinds of our guys were calling him."

7. Gough: "Well I just think he should do what he wanted." Owen does not have this sentence in his transcript.

8. Gough: "That's my understanding of...of uh, just what they were talking about." Owen: "That's my understanding of what they were talking about."
Gough: "Yeah, I talked to him, oh, two or..." Owen: "You know, I talked to him, oh, two or..."

WHAT THEY SAY ZYTARUK SAID ON THE TAPE:
1. Gough: "if it was a party guy, or maybe somewhat...some fringe." Owen: "...if it's a party guy or maybe some other fringe..."

2. Gough: "And uh...Thank you for that." Owen: "Good, Thankyou for that."

3. Gough: "Well, seeing as how, uh, you, you made it clear you weren't big on the idea in the first place, so..." Owen: "Well, the thing is, though, you made it clear you weren't big on the idea in the first place so...?"

4. Gough: "So, it's not a case of, like, you sendin' them to... "Hey go do this' or..."(laughs). Owen: "Oh, okay. So, it's not a case like you sending them to hey go do this or that. Right"

As I said before, I’m not an audio tape expert. I’m not even a lawyer. But I have studied enough law to see a potentially fatal gap in Harper’s lawsuit. Given the attacks that have been heaped on Tom Zytaruk, that likely cast doubt on his book for some and may have resulted in lost earnings, I wouldn’t be surprised if some enterprising sort didn’t build a case for a counter suit. At any rate it appears Harper will have a harder time using his legal muscle to silence opposition cries to his possible links to corruption in future as a pall is cast on his team’s efforts to make revisions to physical evidence.

France Goes Vichy For Beijing, Canada Sucks Up More Cautiously

2008-07-10T22:05:00.005-05:00

It seems after initially making some principled bluster about boycotting the opening of the Beijing Olympics Nicolas Sarkozy remembered he was the President of France, and promptly surrendered ground at the first hint of confrontation. Following President Bush’s about face, Sarkozy, who had set himself up as the voice of European conscience a few months prior over human rights abuses in Tibet, knuckled under amid smiling photographs and subtle pressure from Chinese President Hu Jintao at the G8 summit, announcing he will now attend the opening of the Beijing games. With the French position softening steadily there is some speculation as to what will happen when the Dalai Lama comes for a scheduled visit to France later in August. Sarkozy has used guarded language about the forthcoming visit, saying that it is “possible” he could meet with the exiled spiritual leader, but has refused to comment further. With the Chinese ambassador to Paris threatening “serious consequences” should Sarkozy meet with the Tibetan figurehead it is seeming more an more likely that France will go the way of the Belgians who earlier last year shunned the revered monk after similar threats, favouring instead to pander to Beijing.

As France and the U.S. fall into stride and answer the beck and call of the Chinese government, one can’t help but wonder if Canada’s subtle placating manoeuvres will pass muster with Beijing and at home. Prime Minister Harper has indicated he doesn’t intend to attend the games at this time, however he’s taken pains to insist this isn’t a protest, all the while making a few sound bites on human rights at other moments in hopes it will be seen as much at home without ever making it official. Harper has indicated that he still intends to send high level government representation, a move that in this delicate balancing act is intended to show Canada’s support to Beijing, but still give Harper distance so he doesn’t look so bad the next time Chinese soldiers waylay a crowd of peaceful protesters.

Canada, while not as discredited as Sarkozy for his about face, cannot settle for such a weak foreign policy. Confused gestures like the routine that is being put in place only signal that we are willing to collaborate with the People’s Republic and put on a display of support for consumption by the stifled masses there, just so long as they promise not to make us cheerlead for them too loudly at home. It’s a position that ultimately will not incur respect from either the PRC or Canadians. If Harper wants to come off as half the dragon slayer he set himself up to be when he first took power he’d best start with the simple gestures, like boycotting the opening ceremonies at Beijing, because it doesn’t get any more straightforward or easy to act on human rights abuses from thereon.

Yet Another Revelation From Dona Cadman

2008-07-09T06:19:00.003-05:00

Donna Cadman has put yet another twist on the bribery scandal involving allegations of a Conservative bribery scandal.

A sworn affidavit submitted by Donna Cadman to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice repudiates author Tom Zytaruk’s account of his interview with Stephen Harper, then opposition leader. Donna now claims the meeting between Zytaruk and Harper never took place in the Cadman home, nor does she acknowledge Tom being introduced to Harper by either herself or Chuck Cadman.

This latest revelations comes months after the release of Zytaruk’s recording of an interview with Harper (presently being disputed in a desperate legal action by the CPC) that ignited the Cadscam scandal. When the issue first came to light Donna Cadman at first corroborated the story. Her daughter, Jodi, also confirmed that her father had been offended at being offered a bribe by Conservative representatives in the form of a life insurance policy. Everything seemed straight forward.

Then the details started being clarified.

Donna, the Conservative candidate for Surrey North, faced a difficult conflict over the issue. As her daughter urged her to run as an independent given the obvious conflict with the CPC over her earlier acknowledgement of the participation of CPC reps in the affair, pundits speculated what she would do given the untenable position. Then, following consultation with the Prime Minister’s office, Donna issued a statement in which she tried to distance the officiality of the two representatives that offered Chuck Cadman the policy from the Conservative Party. This statement gave the PMO a little manoeuvrability following the PM’s taped acknowledgement of the offer to Chuck Cadman and, in some measure sorted out the perceived issue between Donna and the party.

A well orchestrated solution.

Now, as Harper moves forward with his over the top lawsuit against the Liberals, Dona Cadman has issued an affidavit that revises previously acknowledged facts that help the Conservatives cast doubt on the recording of Harper with Zytaruk. Well, at least that appears to be the intent of the statement, but really it only acknowledges what she claims did not happen. Nothing of what actually went on between Zytaruk and Harper has been really clarified, Dona is only saying what didn’t happen, which again is a weak sort of distancing manoeuvre that the PM’s staff no doubt hope will benefit his case.

As Dona Cadman carefully doles out bits of revelation and truth at key moments that benefit the PM one can’t help but wonder if she’s holding onto these truths in a deliberate effort to dole them out strategically or, like a member of Harper’s cabinet already, she has handlers to craft the timing of these convenient revelations for her.

Time to Investigate Illegal Billing by Phone Companies?

2008-07-08T18:08:00.004-05:00

With the Financial Post reporting that Bell and Telus intend to start charging cell phone users for receiving text messages, customers are voicing outrage at the new charge. Citing the expanding volume of text messages in Canada, a Telus spokesperson cited the increased demand on their network for the new fees. The general consensus at the moment seems to be that the only option open to disgruntled customers is to switch to Rogers which, for the time being, says it will not bill customers for receiving text messages.

While this might be the most immediate solution for consumers, who still face stiff penalties for switching out of their plans if they try to change, this is only a free market solution. The fact is double billing is, obstinately, illegal. Phone providers have gotten away with this for some time now with cell phone calls due to associated charges with building and maintaining their networks.

But what are the real costs associated with text messaging? Unlike a cell phone call that may last any length of time (and arguably could congest a network by an unknown “x” factor) text messages are near instantaneous in their transmission. The actual amount of time they are occupying the network is comparatively insignificant. With an average of 45.4 million text messages a day in Canada alone the proposed charge of 15 cents a text (I know, Rogers isn’t charging, but I’m trying to keep this simple so let’s be theoretical right now, okay) could raise as much as $2,485,650,000 annually. Given that most text messages are charged for upon being sent you could add several billion more dollars onto the revenue of cell service providers. This begs the question, just what exactly is the cost of text messaging on service providers that require these unsolicited fees, and is it justifiable to charge for it?

Additionally it should be noted that it is considered false billing to charge for a product or service that was never ordered. While it could obstinately be argued that a consumer accepts the charges for a call upon answering it, the text message fee would be instant, without any means to decline the charge. The possible abuses of this are staggering, and I would be surprised if even the fine legal council of either Bell or Telus could make an argument how this does not constitute false billing (you bought the phone… so you consented to all and any charges thereafter?).

While the NDP circulates a limp wristed online petition to the cell phone companies (because a political party in a minority government couldn’t possibly hold enough sway to get the government to do anything substantive) the more significant parties should launch an investigation into this action by Bell and Telus to see if illegal billing is taking place and, if so, make sure it is dealt with accordingly.

Nelson Mandela - Not A Terrorist

2008-07-01T22:09:00.007-05:00

Wow, and here I thought Rob Anders was slow to get with the times.

Nelson Mandela and other prominent members of the ANC have been officially taken off the U.S. terrorist watch list after a bill was signed by President Bush Tuesday. Mandela, despite years of growing support by western governments for the anti-apartheid movement, his subsequent release from prison, election to the presidency of South Africa and the ceaseless hail of praise for his reign by U.S. government figures for decades now, was put on the list due to the ANC’s militant tactics and association with communists during the apartheid struggle. South Africa, however deplorable at the time, was obstinately a cold war ally and it seemed prudent to have him on the list at the time to the U.S. State Department as he was kind of trying to overthrow the regime. Okay, fair enough.

But are you telling me it took the U.S. … what, 18 years if you count the date of his release from prison, 14 if you count from his assuming the presidency of South Africa, to decide he wasn’t a terrorist threat? Since September 11th U.S. security and counter-terrorism measures have been stringent, if not entirely efficient or practical, and yet no one looked over the list at any point before or after and said “huh?”

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice referred to Mandela’s ongoing inclusion on the list as embarrassing. Considering the State Department sent Mandela official birthday greetings while he was still a target on their watch list, embarrasment doesn't quite begin to cover the bases (Osama, your card is in the mail).

Yes, it is an embarrasment, but more than that it is deeply troubling. With many individuals added to the list for a variety of reasons, not always credible ones, it seems unlikely that the U.S. has any mechanism in place to review their watch list let alone address any errors. With a number of Canadian terror suspects on the U.S.’s list we’ve always accepted with a certain bit of credibility the allegations of the American authorities. However, if it takes our neighbours this long to rectify an error with a person as prominent as Nelson Mandela, how are we to trust the veracity of such lists when it comes to less extraordinary people?

"The new symbol of Conservatism..." - The Economist

2008-06-29T22:28:00.005-05:00

While the government benches may be finally cooling after the spanking it received daily in question period over the Bernier/Couillard affair, the international press is still showing signs of interest. Last week The Economist published a blurb on the scandal for the titillation of its readers, a belated hit on a story that plagued Harper earlier on as he traveled abroad during the apex of the scandal. Making headlines from Italy to India, the concern raised then was how compromising it might be to share any sort of intel with the Canadian government given its leaks and lax security. Fortunately for the government this embarrassing security breach was eventually overshadowed in the world press by a Brit. bureaucrat that left confidential documents on a train (there is an American axiom pertaining to trusting Brits and Canucks with intel that’s popular these days; “UK-Can, but we won’t”). Belated as it is however, The Economist’s recount of events is still noteworthy as they take a slightly different bent in their analysis. Instead of calling into question Canadian security they cast doubt on Stephen Harper’s handling of the affair. Declaring that “the new symbol of Conservatism in Quebec is Ms Couillard” the article subtly chides Harper for his early dismissal of the affair and notes, with all the prescience The Economist prognosticators could muster, that “the remarkable career of a ‘one-woman wrecking crew’… may prove damaging to a government that took power pledged to clean up sleaze.”

Gee, they’re really going out on a limb with their political forecasts these days, aren’t they?

Once the love child of every vaguely right-ish publication and American pundit sick of Canuckistan’s pinko values, Harper has fallen from favour, the messiah that has yet to deliver. Increasingly seen as a pragmatist more than an ideologue out to accomplish anything, optimism for Harper around the world has turned into astonishment that he’s managed to stick around so long while doing so little of substance. As The Economist observed in an earlier, pre-Couillard article, as the gleam for their new neo-con buddy first dwindled from their eyes;

Mr Harper has been unable to do much more than survive. Respected for his competence, he has all the charisma of an automaton. "I thought that people needed time to get used to Mr Harper,” says Roger Gibbins of the Canada West Foundation, an Alberta-based think-tank. "But it's turned out that to know Harper is not to love him."

With some of that air of “competence” lost, and no new love in sight, we’ll just have to see what daring prognosis the world’s watchers will have for Harper in the months to come.

You can't elect a good Conservative

2008-06-27T06:13:00.004-05:00

You can’t elect a good Conservative. At least that would seem to be the only logical reason why Harper, scraping the bottom of the caucus barrel, elevated Liberal turncoat David Emerson and unelected campaign guru Michael Fortier to the cabinet in a bid to bolster his weak front bench. James Travers, while perhaps a little prematurely optimistic about the new ministers' chances, makes this poignant observation;

…the two key appointments are revealing, even embarrassing. A turncoat Liberal and an unelected senator are now managing this trading nation's vital offshore relations. Emerson, who promised as a Paul Martin Grit to be Stephen Harper's worst nightmare, is now central to the Conservative dream. Fortier, who personifies Harper's broken promise not to appoint unelected senators, is being given a department demanding public accountability.

With yet another cabinet shuffle and rumours Harper might perogue Parliament again come fall in light of a lack of policies on which to govern one has to wonder how far in the backbench he’s going to have to dig the next time one of his ministers drops the ball.

Hampton leaves, everyone shocked to learn he was still around

2008-06-14T11:15:00.007-05:00

While I predicted this was coming I really must say I’m surprised it took this long.

Howard Hampton is stepping down from the helm of the Ontario provincial NDP, and he hasn’t had this much media coverage since assuming the party’s leadership. That’s about as much as anyone can say about Howie. To his credit the NDP was a scorned and hated brand to a large swath of the province when he took the reins following their disastrous 1995 election showing and he promptly proceeded to make them a non-entity in Ontario, waiting out people's anger until it shifted to Mike Harris and Ernie Eves, and then to a lesser extent to Dalton McGuinty. Out of power for some time now any stigma, or even hint of recognition, has evaporated from the Ontario NDP and that was an accomplishment few thought Howie could pull off when he took over. The price for this though was going from a seat count of 17 at the start of his reign and tanking from that point forward into single digit, sub-party status numbers for about a decade (he’s clawed his way back to 10 seats in the last election, although many would contend that feat can be attributed to factors other than him).

So, I guess a Dipper leadership contest is in the offing. Perhaps the papers will finally have something interesting to write about Jack’s provincial cousins, although he’s never been one to share the spotlight with them. Not that any of this really matters, the Greens are going to start overtaking them by 2011 anyhow, but at least some new blood at the helm might make the party’s death rattle livelier.

UN calls for the Queen’s head… of state status

2008-06-13T21:24:00.007-05:00

A report issued by the United Nations is calling on Britain to abolish the monarchy and hold a referendum to ratify a “preferably republican” style constitution. The report was issued by the UN Human Rights Council, which consists of 29 members including Cuba and Saudi Arabia (two countries that shouldn’t be so quick to invite discussions of regime change on the world stage).

Now, let’s forget the litany of human rights abuses by just the two named members of the UN Human Rights Council alone. Let us even put aside the seemingly never ending string of tragedies and human rights abuses taking place worldwide, in places like Darfur, Burma, Tibet, not to mention Saudi Arabia and Cuba. Is this a pressing human rights issue? What business is it of the United Nations to suggest the form of government for any nation, let alone a sovereign, free and eminently democratic state like Britain? What next? Will they suggest Canada dump the Queen too and elect a U.S. style president? Would that make the committee members from Saudi Arabia or Cuba happy? Even those Canadians that may want the Queen off the quarter would bristle if an insinuation of that kind came from a foreign power (and for anyone that doesn’t think we’d take it that hard I have three words: “Vive Quebec libre”).

At the end of the day I have to concur with the UN that outdated institutions should be dumped, I just don’t think we have the same one in mind.

As a Canadian it isn’t my place to suggest a radical policy shift to a foreign power, but then neither is it the UN’s so here it goes.

Brits, keep the Queen, but dump the UN. At very least hold a referendum on giving them the toss and let them decide, it’s how the Human Rights Council would want you to conduct it.

Why Jack Layton Collaborates with the Conservatives

2008-06-12T21:13:00.006-05:00

Politics makes strange bedfellows, but most of those arrangements are temporary or by necessity. In Jack Layton’s case however playing fluffer to Stephen Harper is a long term strategic plan.

With the Conservatives cooing how they have Layton in their pocket, it might be a good time to review Jack’s relationship with the Harper government. First however, before any Dippers fly off the handle and rush to their leader’s defence I want to make it clear, I am not attacking the NDP. Disagree with it as I might on many different issues, Dippers have also accomplished a lot in their history, something remarkable considering their often marginal status at the periphery of power. There are many great Dippers out there that I admire, most of whom I’m pretty sure would make a better leader than Jack.

Jack as Harper’s fluffer may sound offensive but it’s the most apt (and provocative) metaphor I can think of. My point is this, Jack is impotent, politically speaking. Once the new it boy of Can-politics he’s gone a little stale, profile wise. On the left he’s been outfreshed by the Greens who continue to eat up the well-spring of third party, third way support in Canada. He’s also lost his sting against the Liberals, no longer the Paul Martin-ish banker style brokers of power against which to rail. In ridings all over the country in the last two elections Jack ran on a cult of personality, carpeting a number of ridings with signs that bore his image and name to boost the prospects and vote of NDP candidates that otherwise might have garnered little recognition. In 2008 Jack has lost that prop. No longer the fresh outsider, Layton has propped up two minority governments and has been in the beltway long enough to make his political demands known, and has come short of impressing left leaning voters or maintaining his media savvy.

So, how does Layton get out of this funk you ask?

Fluffer Jack needs (again, please forgive me for the imagery) a firm, virile Harper to do the wrecking job on the Liberals for him. If the environment becomes any kind of election issue he can’t compete in credibility on the issue with either Dion or Elizabeth May. His only hope is to tap into some of that blue collar old school labour vote, enraged over gas prices and economic upheaval, and hope Harper’s smear does its job of scaring voters away from the Liberals and Greens while his own hollow carbon tax scare spoof brings a few his way. This however is only a short term manoeuvre in a long term grand strategy that Layton seems to have laid out.

Every serious Dipper I know repeats the same mantra when the topic of the NDP’s future comes up nowadays, and I’m persuaded that this message has to be disseminating from the man at the core. Each one rehashs what I like to call the Ed Broadbent strategy. I’ve heard Ed espouse this vision in person, right before his return and subsequent second departure from the Commons. For those unversed in this stratagem here it is in short. Basically Dippers are encouraged to hope for a nasty, Mulroney-esque, neo-con, polarizing type Conservative government to take the reigns and then watch them enrage Canadians, radicalizing them to the point that the NDP seems like a solid option. This plan is contingent on the NDP and Conservatives in concert whittling down the Liberal opposition and making sure it is portrayed to Canadians as ineffective and unpalatable. The stratagem also requires a strong leadership type figure who can trump the Liberal leader as the likeable alternative of the “not-Tories” side. Layton no doubt thinks he can ride the Conservative attack ads on Dion just like Broadbent was able to outshine Turner on many occasions. It’s not a bad strategy really, except for one thing.

Jack Layton isn’t nearly as loveable as Ed Broadbent.

To be fair Ed Broadbent wasn’t as loveable as his former self when he stepped down as NDP leader after the ’88 election. Broadbent, unlike Layton, knew when he was starting to loose a little of his zeal as a media darling and did what he thought was best, hoping the Dippers would put in place a fresh dynamic figure and take it all the way the next time… but they hit some bumps shortly thereafter and, well, yeah. They don’t like to talk about it.

Dipper’s often make the flaw of romanticizing the ’88 free trade election as their pinnacle, but they never draw the correlation to ’93, where voters got tired at their divisiveness and spanked them nearly as hard as the Conservatives on election day for their all too transparent collusion with the governing bench against a united opposition. With the NDP running fourth now in parts of the Canadian heartland and Layton taking sides against the opposition rather than the government on carbon, Dippers might want to rethink the direction they’re going, lest they end up reliving the wrong election.

David Suzuki's Caption Contest

2008-06-10T22:10:00.007-05:00

Travelocity gnome, eat your heart out.

As part of a campaign by his foundation to promote pesticide free lawns and gardens David Suzuki is promoting a caption contest involving a photo of a lawn gnome bearing his likeness. Those wishing to partake in the caption contest can submit their entries to the David Suzuki Foundation. Entries will be voted for online during July and the winning submission will be featured in the foundation’s August newsletter.

Given the recent antagonism towards Suzuki from some Conservatives since he called out Harper and Layton for their weak stances on carbon emissions (and even veiled attacks on his charitable foundation) I imagine some creative Libloggers and other fans of David Suzuki might have some fun with this.

Enjoy!

The engine behind Canada's newest "It" province

2008-06-10T20:51:00.006-05:00

Don’t be fooled, it’s the gas pump, not the guy behind it driving this boom.

Road tripping across Southern Ontario over the weekend I was shocked to see ads for out of province work in what seemed like every major town. With the manufacturing economy in the East faltering under the indifferent administration in Ottawa many downtrodden Ontarians have begun looking Westerly for jobs and opportunity. Billboards hung over train stations and bus terminals exclaiming boldly and with pride the opportunity to be had for those looking to get away to Canada’s hub of prosperity, Saskatchewan!

That’s right Alberta, your time on top is already waning.

With Alberta long poised to eat up oil revenue in this, the high price barrel era, it comes as a bit of a surprise to some that Alberta’s quirky and oft neglected neighbour, Saskatchewan, should find itself riding the same boom to prosperity. With oil prices up the province's own fuel revenues are on the climb. The rising cost of fuel has also led to higher food prices and a need for bio-fuel that is being fulfilled in part by a renaissance of the potash mining industry under the province’s flat plateau. While the province may still be just budding after decades as a withered weakling in the Canadian economy, The Economist and other watchers are quick to proclaim it the next Alberta. “Boom!” is the word in Regina these days.

But will “bust” follow?

Few remember that Saskatchwan has had a kick at being the strongman of the Canadian economy before. At the outset of the Great Depression Saskatchewan had the third largest population in Canada and a booming economy, fuelled by farming, immigration and the railroad. When the commodities market crashed though and ecological disaster turned the prairie to a dirt bowl the province fell apart, spiralling into a mire that it has taken the better of the last century to recover from. The food and fuel crisis is benefiting Saskatchewan in many ways, but its farmers are facing crippling price hikes in their businesses just like farmers elsewhere across the country. Boom or not, Saskatchewan would be wise to invest its newfound commodity based wealth in itself, because where boom leads bust follows, and history has already shown the province how it ends up when the chips are down.

Saskatchewan - 1937

Stephen Harper and Robert Mugabe - Kindred Spirits

2008-06-05T20:18:00.005-05:00

Riddle me this: What do Stephen Harper and Robert Mugabe have in common? Answer: They both bully their opponents while using the law to cover up their fraud and corruption in a vain effort to cling to power.

As despot Robert Mugabe was busy jailing his political rival and making spurious allegations against foreign aid agencies, in hopes of removing foreigners that might observe and report on electoral corruption in the upcoming Zimbabwean vote, team Harper took a page from the same playbook to try and sink incriminating evidence against the PM ahead of a possible federal election. Following up on his lawsuit against Stéphane Dion for commenting on factual allegations facing the PM, Harper has decreed the tapes of him admitting to being in on a plot to bribe Chuck Cadman with a life insurance policy to be fraudulent. Moreover he is seeking a court order to prevent them from being aired any further, effectively censoring his political opponents after failing to intimidate them into silence. Some of the PM’s defenders will jump to the fore and say that he is only defending himself against a malicious slur, but none yet have offered an answer as to why Harper didn’t speak out against the tapes earlier if he knew, as he now claims, that they were fraudulent. Just like Mugabe, Harper is trying to silence the opposition after the damage has already been done, and he’s just as much a fool if he thinks he can make it all go away that easily.

To compare Stephen Harper and Robert Mugabe sounds a bit over the top, but they have a lot in common when you think about it. Both are ruining their countries' economies, both are trying to rid themselves of those pesky ethnics (for Mugabe it’s white farmers, for Harper… well, it’s everyone but white farmers) and both won’t shrink from intimidating the opposition to silence criticism, no matter how much it undermines their nation’s democracy. Harper and Mugabe, what a pair of kindred spirits! It’ll be interesting to see what judgement their respective elections will hold in store for them.

Any reason to curb a tax break

2008-06-01T13:25:00.007-05:00

Not quite two weeks after trying to stir a groundswell to revoke the charitable status of the David Suzuki Foundation, Conservative blogger Stephen Taylor found another charity to try and destroy.

Gerard Kennedy held a fundraiser using a premises owned by a charity. As Taylor later concedes begrudgingly and with a hint of suspicion, Kennedy actually paid fair value for use of the space. Now let’s forget that just about every elected and aspiring politician has rented a Legion hall or a space from some charitable organization before to hold a function (it’s actually how a lot of charities make their money), Taylor still suggests the charity is at fault. He cites a form for the event in which the organization’s logo appears above the address where it is taking place. Clearly, is this not grounds for unilaterally revoking the charity’s tax status? Forget that the form was likely put together by a rep for Kennedy and, whether the logo should have been there rightly or wrongly, that the charity in question probably had no idea it was being used, the fact is they rented space to a Liberal. Shouldn’t that be enough to make them an enemy of the state under the Harper regime?

I only point out this stale story as I’ve started to notice a pattern developing, not just with Taylor, but with the Conservative government on the whole. After years of dangling marginal tax cuts as the most magical reward a government can offer, the Conservatives have come up with the most diabolical punishment they could fathom, selectively revoking tax breaks! Now, Taylor’s attacks on charities notwithstanding, it would explain bill C-10. By threatening to revoke the tax rebates of Canadian films after the fact, thereby potentially bankrupting Canadian studios, the SoCons of the Conservative party are ensuring that Canadian film and entertainment reflects and courts the narrowest minded of parliamentarians, lest punitive tax measures be brought against them. With the upcoming release of the provocatively titled Canadian film Young People Fucking, the pretence for a culture war is being laid in which the mere desire to view the film is construed as degenerate and, somehow, innately Liberal (the film might have even been more provocative to Conservatives had it been named Young People Fuddle-Duddling, as the Trudeau reference would no doubt be construed as partisan propaganda). The question is, will the Conservatives actually use the punitive tax weapons they’ve devised?

For all their bluster on bill C-10 it has the feel of a snake rattling its tail but not having the guts to bite. As a matter of confidence in the government, it’s unlikely the PM or his party really want to fight an election on socially Conservative values. C-10 is a measure meant to appease elements within his own government, not the public. As an election issue it’s not intimidating from the opposition benches, and with dodgy poll numbers in hand the government would be smart to concede to an amendment on this issue rather than fall on their own sword.

Bird Named After Ken Dryden

2008-05-22T23:30:00.006-05:00

A group of Liberals paid homage to Ken Dryden last night by adopting a bird in his honour. The bird, a Hairy Woodpecker, is best known for pecking away at deadwood all day, dislodging rot and devouring insignificant insects in the process, essentially mirroring what the official opposition does to the Harper government.

Can a ferret to honour Jack Layton's seeming spinelessness on the environment and his trendy moustache be far behind?

Keep Dion, Dump the Whiners

2008-05-22T15:40:00.007-05:00

Wow, turns out if you scratch some Liberal pundits and bloggers you’ll find a bunch of weenies. Following an Angus Reid poll that puts leader Stéphane Dion’s personal popularity and recognition at about 10% the knives have come out again for the boss. In the midst of ongoing scandals and fumbling by the Conservative government it appears that all it takes to put some people off message is a poll… ONE poll, that’s credibility or staying power are indeterminate. But hey, leadership approval is the one tried and tested indicator if a guy is going to win an election, right?

Children, I think it’s time for a brief history lesson.

1: The other guy from Quebec
Stéphane Dion is not the first Liberal leader from Quebec whose native tongue and media struggles have cast doubt on his leadership prior to an election. It seems comical to think now, but when Jean Chrétien first became leader pundits in English Canada treated it like a joke. Clearly, this guy was no suave Pierre Trudeau, I mean he was barely comprehensible. He was unpopular in his home province and treated as a novelty/non-entity in the rest of Canada. What’s more, even after the Mulroney government had started to sour on people, he was running against what people were forecasting to be a much more popular and likeable figure, Kim Campbell. If we followed the logic of some bloggers today, we should have just thrown in the towel then.

2: Ontario
Those not from Ontario, which will be a major battleground this coming federal election, may be unaware of what happened during our most recent provincial election. The provincial Tories, led by one John Tory, found in polling that the Liberal Premier, Dalton McGuinty, was unpopular personally with voters and that in polls Tory had an edge on “leadership”. Thus the Ontario PC’s went into a campaign that many expected would result in a minority government, and instead ended up firming up an even stronger Liberal majority. Why? Well, by focusing everything on their leader, the Conservatives failed to anticipate how a gaffe by him would shatter their entire campaign. The Liberals on the other hand ran on their brand and Liberal values and swept the contest because, in the end, while Dalton wasn’t exactly the most popular guy in the world, no one really cared which leader had the better smile or haircut when serious issues hit the stage.

3: Stephen Who?
This may be way too long ago for some people to remember, but heading into the 2004 and 2006 elections, a Conservative leader by the name of Stephen Harper was trailing, drastically at times, in recognition to his much more well known and liked rival, Paul Martin. In fact there was clandestine talk behind the scenes how Conservatives were going to knife Harper and get him out of the way if 2006 hadn’t turned out right so they could find someone with… well, a personality. Two years on they’re leading with the guy and Libloggers, of all people, are now comparing themselves to Harper’s shinning recognition numbers.

Perhaps it hasn’t occurred to anyone Harper has better numbers because, well, he is Prime Minister, and the sitting PM tends to be a little more well known and up front in the press than say a leader of the opposition. In either case those numbers won’t reverse themselves by turning our gun sights away from the Conservatives and onto our own benches.

***
Addendum: I'm normally a big fan of the blogs in question, and think they're incredibly insighful, just not today.

Stephen Taylor's Wishful Thinking

2008-05-19T20:46:00.010-05:00

Conservative blogger Stephen Taylor is still stinging it seems after David Suzuki’s ringing endorsement of Stéphane Dion’s carbon tax plan and his skewering of the Harper government’s record on the environment. With blogging Tories hard pressed to put their usual spin on the hard hitting, accurate criticism of their government’s shortcomings Taylor attempts to come to their rescue. In a very guarded tone Taylor suggests Suzuki, as head of the David Suzuki Foundation, an environmental advocacy group, may be crossing a line in supporting Dion (and bashing Harper) that could cost his foundation its tax exempt charitable status. Taylor cites Revenue Canada’s restrictions on registered charities, whereby;

“A registered charity cannot be created for a political purpose and cannot be involved in partisan political activities. A political activity is considered partisan if it involves direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, a political party or candidate for public office.”

Taylor goes on to wishfully suggest that,

“…Suzuki’s condemnation of the NDP and Conservatives and support for Dion’s position could be interpreted as partisan political activity. The technical loophole here that keeps this legal is that David Suzuki and the David Suzuki Foundation are two entities whose activities are separate. However, as the David Suzuki Foundation advocates for a carbon tax while David Suzuki supports one party’s position on carbon tax while condemning the policies of the other two parties, how nuanced is the difference?”

While it would bring me no small amount of pleasure to see the PMO punitively revoke the charitable status of the David Suzuki Foundation because it couldn’t take some criticism from Suzuki himself and then subsequently watch them try to spin that they aren’t anti-environment or trying to bully opposition and critics it’s just not going to happen Stephen, sorry.

For one, this isn’t Suzuki’s first flirtation with partisanship. Fronting for the Greens in the late 90’s and then later for some NDP proposals (before Layton sold the party out that is) Suzuki has a consistent record of backing any proposal consistent with his personal beliefs while promoting the aims of his foundation seperately. Secondly, how many registered charity reps are there out there that gladly opt for photos with politicians that help them out or speak to their goals? I know I can’t open a small town newspaper without seeing two or three examples. Is that not a tacit endorsement by the charity? If we censure Suzuki, how far do we take that with them? The fact that Suzuki is exclusive in his support at this time (or voices any opinion at all) is due to the Liberals being the only party moving this issue forward, one that Suzuki and his foundation have been calling on for some time. Taylor acknowledges Suzuki had been critical of the Martin government’s environmental record, why didn’t he call out for Suzuki’s foundation to be stripped of its charitable status then? Or why didn’t the government go after Elizabeth May when she was mulling over Green speaking points while still tied to the Sierra Club, another charitable organization? The fact is Taylor’s loose, wishful interpretation of the rules is not even a convincing threat to lob at Suzuki or his foundation in hopes of silencing him. The acceptance by Revenue Canada of Suzuki’s past admonishments and endorsements establishes precedent. For the agency to decide otherwise now would raise questions they'd have to answer to and which the PMO I doubt would want raised.

Taylor adds at the end of his wishful comments an addendum, timidly adding (lest he be accused of trashing the much beloved Suzuki) how he thinks Suzuki should have the right to say what he will without endangering his foundation but, for the time being, Suzuki needs to tread carefully. Coyness isn’t your strong suit Stephen. Keep your opinions out front and barbed, it’s not like you’ve got charitable status to lose.

Canada's Other Top Intellectuals

2008-05-19T13:51:00.006-05:00

A lot of praise and attention has been focused on Michael Ignatieff’s inclusion on a list of the world’s top 100 intellectuals, and rightfully so. While Canada oft celebrates its arts and sports icons, its great minds often pass on unnoticed within their homeland. But while a lot of focus has been placed on Iggy in the media, the other three Canadians on the list have only received incidental mention. Malcolm Gladwell, Charles Taylor and, my personal favourite, Steven Pinker are all giants in their fields. Moreover, these giants each express ideas on human relations and world affairs that influence global actors and foreign policy… outside of Canada. In a country where we lament brain drain via the loss of skilled and educated workers we should perhaps be more concerned about idea drain, a void in which vapid think tanks working at the behest of interest groups frame our public policy. In a political culture where Conservatives submit intellectually to their handlers at the PMO and Dippers lose their compass as they shift alliances, taking up mediocre positions in hopes of making marginal gains, it falls to Liberals to revitalize our political culture and offer a real vision for Canada to debate. Non-Liberals will be quick to disagree with this, but if you must please do some thinking before you do any talking, talking points and games are going to start falling short with hard choices being faced by Canadians ahead. With that in mind, consider the following:

Malcolm Gladwell - Canada's innate advantages in the world and Canada's workplace

Steven Pinker - Perceptions of morality, what issues stand out and just about everything else

Charles Taylor - The collapse of tolerance

Odd Man In The Middle? Can McCain Usurp The Presidential Race (and if not, what could it mean for Canadian Conservatives)?

2008-05-12T20:55:00.013-05:00

Tim Harper had a good article today in the Star titled “10 reasons why McCain could win the White House.” Emphasis should have been place on “could”, as in bold, underlined lettering. With it long supposed the victor of the Democratic nomination race would face a Presidential coronation the prolonged infighting in that race has done most of the legwork for the anaemic McCain campaign. Short on money and facing dissent in the radical wings of his own party, McCain has been able to leech of Hillary’s campaign of late as the race has polarized more towards Obama’s favour. Tim Harper’s article accurately points out a number of factors that could play in McCain’s favour against Obama, most of them largely thanks to the Clinton’s wrecking machine. What Harper doesn’t speculate on however is how McCain can actually own any of these power points and take command of his campaign. After Hillary finally drops or goes down in a convention he won’t have her money or media savvy to grab the headlines against Obama, but what could he possibly do to win over Clinton-Democrats and upend Obama-mania?

Easy, pick a running mate.

Actually it’s a bit trickier than that. While the blogsphere and mainstream media is abuzz with lacklustre speculation who McCain’s running mate might ultimately be (if anyone wants the job) I think the Republicans could do one clever thing to slightly enhance their sad fortunes, draft Kay Bailey Hutchison to run with McCain. Although she’s been alternately very shy about running and adamant there are potentially better choices out there for McCain she’s perhaps his best bet given the political landscape at the moment. A Texas Republican Senator, Hutchison has ties and pull with all the southern Bush money that McCain has been hard pressed to draw upon. What’s more, she’s fairly conservative in the Republican sense, meaning party hardliners might just fall in line or at least be less rebellious and disgruntled, a la Ann Coulter, if she were on the ticket. More importantly, she’s a woman. While that shouldn’t matter, let’s face it, Hillary got a lot of women hoping for their first female President, and with divisiveness at its height in the Dem ranks right now angry Hillary boosters might support a female VP in Republican guise versus an Obama Presidency they’ve spent months railing against the prospect of. Her Southern charm/grit could also be used to shore up states like Virginia, Nevada and New Mexico where Dems are hoping for a breakthrough and Republicans need to project confidence. Also she's already been taking the hard press interviews for him. Most importantly, it would give McCain a “groundbreaking first” in the persona of the first woman VP candidate of a major party to counter the hype of Obama’s candidacy breaking racial barriers. If the U.S. Presidential race is to remain speculative at all beyond the Democratic convention this is the surest way to get media pundits onside.

And what does this all mean from a Canadian perspective? Well, besides being a great sideshow and entertainment to Bush-haters who are just salivating for him to leave office, the reality is that Canadian Conservatives can’t be too happy with the spectre of a fall election running concurrently as a U.S. Presidential election gets into its final paces, one in which a Democrat is being touted, scandal or not, as a media darling. It will no doubt raise questions how well Stephen Harper will do in Washington with an Obama admin. that will not doubt recall how Canadian Conservatives actively screwed with their campaign and caused them hardship during the primaries (and it wouldn’t be the first time a Conservative PM paid the price for messing with the Dems). Whether we like to admit it or not our political races are impacted somewhat by our neighbours. With a failing economy, a summer of high gas prices and scandal after scandal the last thing the Tories will want is to go to the polls with every pundit prognosticating the death of neo-con rule just south of the border.

Personally I don’t think the McCain campaign will pull it together that well, and Kay Bailey Hutchison is one of many maybes out there right now, but on the whole I’m certain that if they can find a way to galvanize their race to the south, it will have the shadow effect of making ours more interesting as well.

Another Conservative fudges the numbers

2008-05-11T16:12:00.005-05:00

There’s a certain truth to the adage that politicians bribe the electorate with their own money, but at least most of them can keep the books straight so we know exactly what they are doling out. Conservative MP Bruce Stanton is not one of those politicians.

Stanton recently announced an “investment” of $63 million dollars over 5 years for the Trent-Severn Waterway, a conservation area and tourist destination for boaters that Stanton also happens to co-own a resort and marine supplies store on (gee, I wonder what determined this spending priority). In fairness this would be a good announcement that would benefit a number of people (besides Stanton), that is if his numbers added up.

Playing a game that’s not new for politicians yet no less dishonest and fraudulent, Stanton claimed all of the pre-existing funding for the waterway in his “investment”, including basic operating expenses and wages. Revealed by Simcoe North Liberal candidate Steve Clarke, Stanton’s $63 million dollar “investment” actually shrinks to $12 million in new money that can be accurately verified. Stanton claims the amount of new money is actually higher, citing errors in figures used in the Environment Canada report which accompanied his announcement (which raises the question why Stanton is presenting figures he knows are wrong from a government ministry, but then if you’re already trying to mislead people into thinking you’re making a bigger investment than you are I guess that’s kind of trivial).

While the exact dollar amount of actual new investment money is still in the air and being sorted out, Stanton has conceded that in fact at least half the money has nothing to do with new government investment or any effort on his part. I’m not sure where the line between a lie and an innocent exaggeration rests, but I think over $28.5 million dollars (minimum) is probably way past the goal markers of a self-serving lie.

Given how little Stanton has actually done in his riding compared to, well, just about every MP and MPP bordering his riding, it’s understandable that he’d want to inflate his record a little, but in the end stunts like this only underscore how marginal and mediocre a Member he is. What's more, he brings down all those around him a little as they propogate the same faulty numbers.

Access to Information catches another Tory at the public trough

2008-05-08T21:19:00.011-05:00

Bev Oda is the latest Conservative to be outed for inappropriate spending… again. Following up on Liberal research last year where it was revealed that Oda had spent nearly $5,500 on limousines to the 2006 Juno awards without properly disclosing the expense (part of which she later had to reimburse taxpayers for) it has been further revealed by the NDP that Oda racked up a number of questionable transportation expenses ($16,777 while Heritage Minister), including a $1,300 limo using taxpayer money to attend a Conservative planning meeting, none of which were properly disclosed in her quarterly proactive disclosure reports. The reports, established by the last Liberal government as it endeavoured to create transparency and remove the possibility of corruption from the highest rungs of government, have been flouted by Oda and her fraud dismissed by her Conservative handlers. The NDP was able to follow up on Liberal revelations from last year through use of the Access to Information Act, a service which the Conservatives in the wake of other funny bookkeeping accusations have decided to restrict and limit access to by the public. With another Conservative figure found funnelling money for personal benefit from the public purse it raises questions about what other Conservative ministers and appointees the Harper government may be hoping to shield with its tactic of limiting information to the public and press to avoid being held accountable for their faults.

Access To Information Act Proves Too Taxing For Conservatives

2008-05-05T20:38:00.004-05:00

The Toronto Star ran an interesting story today outlining how the commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, William Baker, used upwards of $40,000 in taxpayer funds on a private washroom in his office suite. The article goes on to outline questionably excessive spending by Canada Revenue brass on travel, lavish dinners, hotels, etc; the sorts of things high ranking mucky mucks tend to overindulge in on the government’s dime. With this spending brought to light there will no doubt be a thorough investigation into the matter. Whether we ever get to learn the outcome… that’s another matter.

The whole affair surrounding Baker and the Canada Revenue Agency was raised by a vigilant citizen who noticed the shady spending after obtaining documents under the access to information act. However Canadians in future will find access to information a lot less accessible. I could hardly believe when I heard that the Conservatives quietly and abruptly killed the access to information registry. Used by journalists, government watchers and the public at large, the database exists primarily (or rather did) as an open and truly accessible way in the information age for citizens from across the country to seek information, monitor their government and help lift the veils of sleaze and corruption that can pass by unnoticed so easily in an environment of secrecy and bureaucracy.

Which is no doubt why the Conservatives killed it.

For a party that ran on a platform of accountability and transparency in government, some Conservatives have been enjoying the perks and privileges of power a little too much. Baker, a Conservative appointee from April 2007, is a stinging reminder to the government that their people are just as susceptible to corruption as those adscamers they railed so hard against some years back in opposition. With yet more revelations coming on the heels of Conservatives from the In and Out Scam team Harper has decided the best way to come clean in future is to filter government information through the PMO until it looks shinny, no matter how scummy its origins. From suing opposition critics over Cadscam allegations to taking on their own Elections Canada appointees when confronted with funny bookkeeping, this is just another baffling turn for the so-called party of accountability.

A Treasury Board official while confirming the story was reported to indicate that the access to information system was “being killed because ‘extensive’ consultations showed it wasn’t valued by government departments.” By this rationale we should scrap the National Sex Offender Registry because it’s not valued by pedophiles and rapists. Watchdogs exist to police government ministries, not consult and defer to their wishes. The sooner the Conservatives learn this and start actually acting with accountability the fewer mouths they may find they have to muzzle.

Boycott Beijing, Visit Pyongyang!

2008-05-04T19:58:00.009-05:00

With the Tibet crackdown and a Beijing Olympic boycott brewing tourists having planned an Asiatic trip this year for the games are examining their consciences and rethinking their options. Many may want to consider going somewhere slightly less repressive, dangerous and tyrannical than China… or they could ratchet it up and go to North Korea!

A globe trotting adventurer friend of mine recently took a trip to the least likely tourist destination in the world. Why you ask? Good question. Why would the frenetically isolationist and xenophobic North Korean regime let him in? An even better question.

North Korea offers tourist visas to thousands of tourists each year, mostly to South Koreans but to also a handful to daring and voyeuristic Westerners. For Westerners the trip offers a sort of notoriety. Entirely stage-managed, the tours are tightly run bus trips to select tourist spots. Cameras are inspected and pictures deemed inappropriate by North Korean censors are deleted. What’s considered inappropriate you ask? Taking any photos of actual North Koreans for one. Most of the people encountered on a trip through North Korea are either part of the military or ethnic Korean workers from China brought in and routinely circulated out to serve and assist tourists. Pyongyang doesn’t want any of their actual citizens fraternizing with Western devils, or worse, serving them food and drink while receiving American dollars in payment, something that I’m sure flies in the face of the Communist propaganda that is so prevalent at every turn. Tourist aides apparently have to take your photo if you are standing by any monuments to the late “Great Leader”, Kim Il-Sung, or NK’s “Dear Leader” and current despot, Kim Jong-Il, for fear you might make a funny face or some other sacrilegious gesture. These monuments dot the countryside everywhere, some subtle, others garish with glowing light emanating from the leaders’ heads, almost suggesting divinity. It must be hard not to snicker in the photos standing next to memorials portraying the feudal succession from father to son in a country were religion is banned and classlessness is supposed to prevail.

North Korea might cite any number of reasons to justify opening itself to tourism, from showing off their socialist paradise to better diplomatic relations with the world, but the more plausible and transparent answer is that they desperately need cash. In a country where the average monthly wage is pegged somewhere around $47 dollars, a couple hundred dollars dropped by tourists goes a long way. And it really is all about dollars. North Korea requires payment in U.S. currency for the most part, transferable foreign cash with which to make purchase of goods from the outside world. What kind of goods you may ask? While I’m sure “Dear Leader” must squander some funds on foreign goods and luxuries unfathomable to his countrymen, basic humanitarian supplies and food likely fall into the list somewhere. What has been characterized as an abnormally dry and mild winter has led to crop failures and drought in this already starved nation. With the price of rice up 50% to a 19 year high and diplomatic relations soured with many of the nations the North had formerly relied upon for assistance (whom even if willing to help are trying to deal with skyrocketing food prices themselves) they’ll be scrambling to find ways to feed themselves. For the North this often means a round of nuclear blackmail, some sabre-rattling in exchange for an offer of food aid and other developmental support to suspend their nuclear arms program yet again, yadda yadda yadda. The details are seldom important as the North plays this game so often. What is clear though is the North will allow millions of their people to die from famine, such as in the 90’s, rather than lose face and concede anything on the world stage or admit their shortcomings to their own people. Thus, in a very surreal yet Stalinistic sort of way North Korea continues to invite thousand of visitors to their country to seize on tourist dollars and promote the fiction that things are still okay and stable in the so called Democratic People’s Republic (although I’m reliably told they do serve reasonably good beer to visitors, so perhaps rumours of their civilization's complete collapse are overstated).

Given less ethical tourist destinations in the area a trip to North Korea might just give your next Asian excursion the notoriety that’ll earn your neighbour's envy. After all, while it may not be unique to visit bland monuments and random countryside vistas it would be unique for plump Westerners to visit a place with no fat people in sight whatsoever, save for the plump pictures of Kim Jong-Il.

A good picture is worth reposting

2008-04-27T19:47:00.004-05:00

Thanks to those bloggers that’ve already posted this great photo from Dion’s visit to Orillia last Thursday. While the picture pretty much speaks for itself I, as someone that was standing only a few feet away when this picture was taken, can add the following.

1) Stéphane downed that pint with gusto.
2) A short while after this photo was taken Stéphane made his way around the bar to cheer with patrons as the Canadiens scored their first goal of the night against Philadelphia (and later won… could Dion be a good luck charm? Hmmm… Just to be safe I’m wearing my Stéphane Dion button on my hockey jersey until playoffs are over).
3) The venue was attended by a large number of “rural folk” (i.e.: farmers, hunters, people that have bears for neighbours, etc.) that the Conservatives just sort of take for granted will fall in line and vote for them come election day.

Anyone who doubted Dion’s ability to connect with rural Canadians would have been greatly impressed. I can’t wait to see him in action on the campaign trail.