Talk About Calling the Pot Black!

This from today's Globe: "Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Mr. Dion had to force his caucus into line, thus putting internal party politics ahead of national security." This from the man that won't even allow discussion in caucus and doesn't let his ministers handle their own files!!

I've Been Searching for the Right Word for Harper

I've had this feeling for a while now that there was some term to describe Harper's ideology and approach. I rejected a number of words as too extreme - you can imagine some of them I'm sure. Then I was channel flicking and that Edward R. Morrow film was on and I watched a McCarthy clip and I realized that that's what's been hovering in the back of my mind. McCarthy was focussed only on what and who he was against, he was delusional in his self-righteousness, he was a kind of uni-dimensional person with no compassion for individual human beings and the effects of his actions on their lives. He took disparate bits and pieces of information, or made them up, then twisted them, exagerated them to the point of absurdity and attacked individuals with them. Maybe 'McCarthyism' isn't the perfect word but it's an interesting one.

Bob Rae and Robin Sears

I watched Robin Sears on Politics today and thought "who is this guy?" So I looked him up and was shocked to see he is a leftie and worked with Rae. So now I'm wondering about Bob Rae and the Liberals. First Rae comes out in the media against Dion on the anti-terrorism issue - I think he should have waited to get elected before speaking out and why would he backstab the leader of the party he just joined - then Sears trashes Dion on the issue. So if Sears and Rae were NDP, how come they are so out of sync with the NDP position on one of the fundamental leftist principles, respect for human rights? What am I missing here?

Media Alert - Manley et al Were Not Elected This Time

Just so the media know, the following are not in the opposition or the government: Bob Rae, Ann Mclelland, John Manley, Irwin Cotler, did I miss any? They are private citizens; for reasons, like they lost their ridings or they decided to go make money or they didn't want to spend a few years in opposition, or they haven't chosen a riding yet, they are not elected officials; so why is everyone quoting them? Did the media and the cons not notice that the Liberals voted for Dion, for Renewal - the key word being 'new'.

Update: oops, Cotler is still in the Liberal caucus.

The So-Called Secret List #2

So this is what the Vancouver Sun article said:

"The Vancouver Sun has learned that Bains's father-in-law, Darshan Singh Saini, is on the RCMP's potential list of witnesses at investigative hearings designed to advance the Air India criminal probe. But the ability to hold those hearings will be lost march 1 if parts of the Ant-Terrorism Act expire as expected . . ."

One might at first doubt that the so-called secret list is referred to here, but then one reads the sentence making it clear that they are hearings under the Anti-terrorism legislation, therefore the list is supposed not only to be secret, but presumably very secret.

So who leaked the list? Or alternatively, what will the Sun be charged with?

The So-Called Secret List

As usual, in his quiet way Dion got straight to the point: why is anyone who is allegedly on a secret list named in the Vancouver Sun as being on the "secret list"? According to the Globe and Mail today: "A spokesman for the RCMP, Staff Sergeant John Ward, said the force would never reveal who they plan to question in such a hearing." So who said what to the Sun and what was their agenda and the Sun's? And was it legal?

Anyway it all makes the point, that the more safe-guards individuals have in the law the better, and the more they are suspended by anti-terrorism laws the worse it gets for everyone else.

A second point, which has been well-covered by many others: 25 years, a reputedly botched investigation, a study and now a commission and somehow the whole case is going to be miraculously solved if two laws that have already been on the books for 5 years are retained - what are the laws of probability?

HIV Announcement "Short on Specifics" & Clement Even More So

Globe and Mail's comment that the gov't's HIV announcement was "short on specifics" is the understatement of the week. But in that regard the announcement paled in comparison to Mr. Clement answering Don Newman's questions on Politics, much as Don tried. Our current representatives of the people have become masters not of double-speak, but of no-speak.

So we have no idea where the money will go and for what: there was a brief reference to 'private partners' and a disjointed sentence including the words 'international partners'; there were several hanging in the air references to 'production and distribution'. My guess is that our universities will not be seeing much, if any, of this money. The gov't is being circumspect on this either because they are just making a pre-election announcement and have no idea what they are doing on this file - like just a few others - or the money is going to the private sector.

Flanagan Comes Out of the Closet

You know there's an election coming when the puppeteer comes out from behind the curtain. Check out this from hard core right winger from the US, Mr. Harper's campaign manager from the last election - MR. Tom Flanagan writing to the Globe http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070220.COFLAN20/TPStory/TPComment/Politics/?cid=al_gam_nletter_thehill

What's Going On at CTV with Mr. Fife?

Right leaning, yes, but usually attempting calm rational discussion, the CTV news gang are like spinning tops lately. Tonight, Robert Fife on the new CTV polls putting Harper ahead was positively giddy with ... with what? Is it perceived power? Is he happy because he thinks that his banging away at Dion and his endless support of Harper were instrumental in the poll results? Is he happy because he knows his bosses will be happy that the dreaded left (translated everyone else's centre left) may not return to power. Is he just personally happy because he's a right wing nutter? Or is it just the smell of blood that gets him going? What a performance!! And all those Liberals he continually quotes, if they exist, would they please have the courage of their convictions and come out of the shadows. Personally, I think he's probably making something out of nothing.

I Bet Mr. Nadeau is Cleared

Have you noticed how the PM and Ms. Judy have spoken as if Mr. Nadeau is quilty before he's even gone to court. I have a strong hunch he will be cleared. Then we'll really have an apology flurry. This is a story that should be watched closely.

$76,000 to help Mr. H. Brainwash Canadians

This article is very interesting and quite shocking: ttp://www.thestar.com/News/article/182857 . Harper's sell job on the war hasn't been working so he spends $76,000 of our money to get propoganda tips to brainwash us. We can expect less Bush style rhetoric and more words like "rebuilding," "restoring," "reconstruction," "hope," "opportunity" and "enhancing the lives of women and children."

I'll give Mr. H. some free advice: just tell the truth, whether it's that you just love those uniforms and all that macho stuff, or that the radical Muslims scare the s... out of you, or that Bush made you do it. But don't give us that s... about women and children, don't you dare, after all your efforts to undermine the well-being of Canadian women and children.

BC's Health Minister is Scared

Why is Mr. Abbott, BC's Health Minister, spending his time giving talks on how scared he is. We're the ones that are scared by what the BC Liberals (aka Socreds) have done to our health care system. The Health Authority system, putting local appointees in charge of regional health, is a disaster. How about riding 80 miles in an ambulance on wild winter roads while in labour, just for a normal delivery!! A moment to be remembered your whole life!

Mr. Abbott isn't scared; he's laying a foundation for privatization.

Dismantling Canada's Institutions #6

Harper has been like a child who covers his eyes and says "You can't see me." For a while, surprisingly, people seemed to believe him too, but now he's getting cocky. It's been tough for the Firewall letter, anti-Kingsley, anti-Kyoto, Flanaghan's boy Harper to cover his real nature, but you could always see it lurking behind his smirk. But today, wow: "Yep I've created a judge selection committee I can control because I want the judges to do what I say!" and "I don't care if the Parliament of Canada passes a bill and it becomes law, if I don't like it I won't obey it."

Are we going to sit back and do nothing while this man dismantles everything that is precious about this country?

Harper's Childcare Fiasco

As everyone starts to do their taxes and child care spaces begin to close, the reality of the Harper child care joke is hitting home - no child care spaces, and a tax bill on the token $100 a month per child. This http://www.buildchildcare.ca is an interesting read - hundreds of ordinary people commenting on their experience of the conservative non-plan. Unfortunately if you want to read the comments I think you have to sign the petition, then they send you an e-mail with the address with all the comments. But who in their right mind wouldn't want to sign the petition.

Stockwell Day and Manley Help Plot Canada's Demise

I really must learn to link. Every Canadian needs to know this:

"NEW WORLD DISORDERNorth America activists plotted 'stealth' strategyDetails of secret Banff meeting released as part of FOIA request
Posted: January 30, 20071:00 a.m. Eastern
By Joseph Farah© 2007 WorldNetDaily.com
WASHINGTON – Participants in a high-level, closed door, three-day conference on the integration of the three North American nations debated whether openness about goals was preferred to a stealthy policy of building infrastructure before a vision of the end result was even laid out to the people of the U.S., Mexico and Canada, according to notes obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
Official notes taken on a session on "Border Infrastructure and Continental Prosperity" at the North American Forum in Banff, Canada, last September, reveal the internal debate over continued secrecy.
"While a vision is appealing, working on the infrastructure might yield more benefit and bring more people on board ('evolution by stealth')," record the notes discovered amid documents obtained by Judicial Watch.
(Story continues below)
Several speakers at the event emphasized the importance of "deepening economic integration," "integrating the energy infrastructure" and "the development of new institutions" between the three North American nations.
Participants promoted the idea of using popular issues, such as concern over climate change, to push integration of energy and environmental governance and the possibility of imposing a carbon tax.
Judicial Watch released yesterday the documents it received in a FOIA request from the U.S. Northern Command, whose commander, Admiral Timothy Keating, participated in the conference along with Northcom political adviser Deborah Bolton and Plans, Policy and Strategy Director Maj. General Mark Volcheff. A similar request concerning participation in the North American Forum meeting by former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is still pending.
At least one attendee of the conference said the meeting was intended to subvert the democratic process. Mel Hurtig, a Canadian author and publisher elected as the leader of the National Party of Canada, told WND last fall the idea of the North American Forum is to move the countries toward integration without public consent or even knowledge.
"What is sinister about this meeting is that it involved high level government officials and some of the top and most powerful business leaders of the three countries and the North American Forum in organizing the meeting intentionally did not inform the press in any of the three countries," he said. "It was clear that the intention was to keep this important meeting about integrating the three countries out of the public eye."
The conference raised more suspicions about plans for the future merger of the U.S., Canada and Mexico – with topics ranging from "A Vision for North America," "Opportunities for Security Cooperation" and "Demographic and Social Dimensions of North American Integration."
Confirmed participants included Rumsfeld, former Secretary of State George Shultz, who serves as co-chairman of the North American Forum, former Central Intelligence Agency Director R. James Woolsey, former Immigration and Naturalization Services Director Doris Meissner, North American Union guru Robert Pastor, former Defense Secretary William Perry, former Energy Secretary and Defense Secretary James Schlesinger and top officials of both Mexico and Canada. But the only media member scheduled to appear at the event, according to documents obtained by WND, was the Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady.
The event was organized by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives and the Canada West Foundation, an Alberta think-tank that promotes closer economic integration with the United States.
The next meeting of the North American Forum is set for Oct. 12-14 in Puerto Vallarta.
The Canadian event is another in a series of meetings, policy papers and directives that have citizens, officials and members of the media wondering whether these efforts represent some sort of coordinated effort to implement a "merger" some have characterized as "NAFTA on steroids."
Prominent at the Banff conference was Robert Pastor, an American University professor who wrote "Toward a North American Community," a book promoting the development of a North American union as a regional government and the adoption of the amero as a common monetary currency to replace the dollar and the peso.
American University Professor Robert Pastor
Pastor also was vice chairman of the May 2005 Council on Foreign Relations task force entitled "Building a North American Community" that presents itself as a blueprint for using bureaucratic action within the executive branches of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada to transform the current trilateral Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America into a North American union regional government.
He calls for the establishment of a North American Community, which some view as a significant step toward a European Union-style system of regional or continental governance.
"Increasing interdependence offers additional costs and opportunities," he told the Banff audience. "To mitigate the dangers and expand the benefits of a more integrated and less regulated market requires continental plans and institutions. It requires a new consciousness among both leaders and people – a new way of thinking about our neighbors. This will take time, but we want to begin the journey."
Pastor continued: "Our purpose is to build a greater sense of being a part of North America. We do not want to displace the pride each of us feel in our countries, but rather to supplement that with a feeling of being North American. We do so not to build a fortress or to separate ourselves from the world. On the contrary, we want to connect better with our closest neighbors in order to strengthen our ability to compete in the world and to serve as a models for other regional groups."
Pastor said narrowing the gap in income "may be the single most important issue on the North American agenda." He pointed hopefully to a bill introduced June 29, 2006, by Sen. John Cornyn calling for a North American Investment Fund to channel grants to Mexico for this purpose. He failed to note, however, that Cornyn had already withdrawn his bill two months prior to the Banff conference after the senator was alerted by WND to the role it played in fostering regional government in North America. "

Media IQ and Baird & McQuinty

I know the media has the brains to grasp what they see, but they're either not paying attention or they're getting their marching orders from above. Since when is McQuinty asking Baird a question, and Baird freaking out, bickering? McQuinty asked factual questions at the Environnment Committee and not only did Baird have no factual answers, he got quite emotional and then turned around and attacked McQuinty personally. That's not bickering, that's what M. Dion succinctly commented: " Baird clearly does not know the file."

In a Cynical Moment

Maybe, like all countries with oil we're doomed. Oil spawned Alberta, Alberta spawned Harper . . . maybe we're just doomed.

Horse Race Poll

I don't know what a horse race poll is, but if indeed the conservatives are up, and if indeed it's because of the attack ads, then I will have to stand corrected on my deeply felt conviction that Canadians aren't stupid.

Yes, But Can Harper Engineer His Own Victory?

So rumour has it Harper will try to engineer his own defeat in May. All the media (disappointing as they are these days) keep talking about Dion defining himself, when the real question is who is Mr. Harper. Well, something someone quoted yesterday gives the clue, "he's not a policy wonk, he's a strategist". I'd go one further and say he fancies himself a social engineer. So, maybe he will be able to engineer his own defeat (it will be hard without further revealing his true colours), but I'll bet he can't engineer a conservative victory. Why? - because Canadians aren't stupid! You can't win a Canadian election with pure propoganda and that's all we'll ever get out of this guy.

The "New" Government & Prentice, Baird et al.

I went to the federal government web site to find out about the new health guide and was bemused to see this "new" government thing in the headline. Watching question period, I saw Belinda Stronach refer to it as well. While I have noticed it before, I thought well, the conservatives are not so stupid as to keep saying that after a year, but clearly I was wrong. If they win again they can call themselves the "new and improved" government.

The problem is it's not just humorous, it's pathetic. What does Baird keep saying, "I'm learning...", "I'm studying..." We keep getting told that there's a huge revolution of marvelous stuff in the works, then there's a squeeky little mouse-sized announcement, and then more vast general promises.

Now today Prentice says, "the natives already get lots of money, money's not the solution." Does he say what the solution is - nope, I guess he's still learning too.

So I guess the question is when does the learning stop, and the endless blather about "13 years" stop, and when do the answers start? when does the concept of reponsible government kick in? when will we get "tried and true" and not "new"? My guess is never.

This Just the Leading Edge of a Groundswell

Today: "The Assembly of First Nations is preparing a human-rights complaint against the federal government alleging that the systematic underfunding of child-welfare services on reserves has fuelled a crisis that sees 27,000 aboriginal children in foster homes." (Globe and Mail)

Soon: The effects of Harper's do-nothing First Nations policies - while he moves full speed on resource extraction and the attendant destruction of First Nations lands - are going to become a groundswell. This government is acting as if there is no federal responsibility to First Nations. Prentice is busy with pipelines and spinning media fantasies about Dion; University of Calgary's intellectual imperialist Flanaghan, and Harper key advisor, thinks First Nations should all be acculturated ASAP. When Mr. H. cancelled the Kelowna Accord, he promised something else. Now the something else has proven to be nothing, the "let's give him a chance" period is over.