Oh No! They will put my name in the paper!

The Cons "tough on crime" smokescreen is sure taking a beating. Vern White, the Ottawa Police Chief, stated yesterday that a 14 year old does not think about getting their name in the paper before they commit murder.

Even the judge that "inspired" the Harper law has come out publicly to say that what is proposed will not work. Putting 14 year old into jail for life sentences will turn them into more hardened criminal with NO chance of rehabilitation.

Statistics point out that the crime rate has been dropping over the past 5-10 years so why are more draconian laws required now?

The public is beginning to ask Harper and his Cons how much this fly swatter will cost us. The estimate for new prisons alone is over $2 billion.

Harper's claim that anyone who does not agree with him is "soft on crime" is starting to ring hollow. PP may find that out in the upcoming debates.

Now that Harper has decided that Canadians in foreign jails should be subject to execution, I wonder how long it will take for Harper to put the death penalty forward in Canada, if he gets a majority government?

Layton has a brain fart

“I've worked with any other party. I think people have seen that. Maybe it goes back to my days on municipal council - you roll up your sleeves and you try to solve a problem,” Mr. Layton said when asked whether he would consider entering a coalition with other parties in Parliament.

He answered this way when asked if he would enter into a coalition with the Liberals.  Fat chance, Jacko.


In the last minority government, Jacko entered into a coalition with the Cons and the Bloc to try their best to defeat the government.  Make sure that you get the whole statement here.  He worked with the Bloc AND the Cons to defeat the government.  He failed of course and that left Harper no choice but to defeat himself.


Throughout this election, Jacko has tried to marginalize Dion.  That hasn't worked.


What arogant idea does Late-on have in his pea-sized brain to think that any one trusts him?

Harper - the Economist

The old line is that if you ask 20 economists for an opinion on a set of data, you will get 25 different opinions. Economics is a black art and economists who claim to know everything are either delusional or liars. 

Former PM Harper is an economist and he is telling everyone who will listen that all those people who are advising Dion on his platform are wrong.  Harper, the economist, tells us that he, and he only, is right.

Which are you, Stevie, delusional or a liar?

You have some 'splaining to do, Pierre.

"A secret Treasury Board of Canada decision record, dated May 6, 2008, documenting the acceptance of a proposal concerning "Provincial Meat Slaughter Establishments (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia)" which calls for the "elimination of federal delivery of provincial meat inspection programs.","annnounces publicvalues.ca.

"Meat produced in provincially registered facilities in Manitoba would not be inspected by anyone under this plan," says Bob Kingston, President of the Agriculture Union — Public Service Alliance of Canada."

If this is true, and given the history of the secrecy around this government and its lack of caring for Canadians, I figure it probably is, why would the Cons want to kill Canadians?

Are they seeking retribution from those "faux-westerners" who have fought the Cons plan to kill the Canadian Wheat Board?  Are they trying to increase the costs of provincial health care plans by aiding in the increase in the number of patients?  Are they trying to reward their buddies in the food industry for something?  Do they think that federal food inspectors are incompetent or corrupt?

Why, oh, why?

But the real questions are for the Perfect PP, who has been, for two years, the Parliamentary Secretary to the President of the Treasury Board.  Where were you when this decision was being made last May?  Were you out getting coffee for the real bosses or attending the official opening of an envelope?  Or are you just incompetent?

Tears appearing in Harper's cuddly sweater

All snug looking in his blue and cuddly little sweater, former PM Harper must be be wondering why it is coming unraveled. Not that he cares one way or another.

I am not talking about the need for two apologies for stupid comments in a span of two days. I am talking about Tory candidates facing of against their own party.

The latest convert to sanity is Sudbury Con candidate Gerry Labelle. In an interview with Radio Canada, Labelle blasted the Harper economic record. He went on to say that Fin Min Jim Flaherty’s attitude toward Ontario has been “horrible.”

“It’s the federal government, so you’re not supposed to have favourite provinces, you treat everyone equally,” continued Mr. Labelle, reminding people that Flabberty stated earlier this year that Ontario is the “last place” in Canada businesses should invest.

Labelle characterized his party’s environmental plan as “insufficient” and said that the recent cuts to cultural programs were badly implemented. “If there is a fault that I think the Conservatives have, it’s that they explain things poorly.”

Why are these problems happening to Harper's Cons? Simple answer. Tories versus Reformers. If you think that buying off Peter McKay was going to merge two different views under one flag, you need to think again.

Real Tories are not the flesh eating vultures that characterize Reformers. Tories believe in democracy whereas Reformers extol autocracy.

In 2006, after 10 months of campaigning in Toronto Centre for the Conservatives, Mark Warner was dumped by the Con head hatchet man, Doug Finlay. Why? Because he was massaging the Con message to make it relevant to Torontonians. Here is what Warner said after being dumped:

"I joined the Party when Brian Mulroney was the strongest voice for Nelson Mandela's freedom. Unfortunately, I have found that the Conservative Party today, by its actions, is not the inclusive Party that I once believed in. The Conservative Party today cynically pays "lip service" to diversity and outreach to minority communities in Canada."

Out of the mouths of babes.  If Labelle does make it to Parliament, expect him to be allocated the seat next to Bill Casey.

Gerry Ritz

What a bozo.  'Nough said.

Harper promises to raise taxes

Remember the last provincial election in Ontario when McGuinty implemented the health care premium that had been earlier eliminated?  The opposite-position claimed he was raising taxes.

Yesterday, former PM Harper said that he will allow self-employed persons to opt in to Employment Insurance so that they can qualify for some maternity benefits.  The scheme will cost about $150 million.  How will Harper pay for it?

The first claim he makes is that the scheme will be "revenue neutral".  Isn't that the same term for which he is mocking Dion and the Green Shift?  He also says that those enrolled in EI will be the ones to fund the scheme.  Since we know that no one individual funds the entire cost of their EI collections (it is a group-type policy), it is safe to assume that a woman buying into the scheme only (as early as 3 months into as pregnancy) six months before she begins to collect, will not pay enough in premiums to cover her collections.  So how do you make up the difference?

Harper and his Cons will increase the premiums being paid in be all participants which, by the Cons own definition, means... RAISING TAXES.

And as a word of warning, do not be surprised that, if the Cons get back into power, they will make in mandatory for everyone to pay into EI, even if you are self-employed and unable to use the insurance.  Think it can't happen?  Check out what they do in Quebec, who opted out of Canada EI program.  Everyone pays.

Layton plan to fix Healthcare once and for all? Bull!

Jack "Moustache" Layton has determined that spending $1 billion over five years will fix health care "once and for all".  That money will increase the number of medical school places in Canada and provide up to 1,200 new doctors per year.  The reality is that you could put 5,000,000 new doctors on the streets in Canada and that would still not solve the problems - not if you are also dedicated to preserving our current system of health care funding!

Every doctor in the system bills an average of $500,000.  If you put 5,000 new doctors into the system, billing will go up by $2.5 billion.  Who pays those fees?  Assuming that each of those 5,000 new doctors orders 100 MRIs each year, that's an additional 500,000 tests.  Who pays for the new machines, the radiologists and technicians who support the machines?  Then we count lab tests, hospital admissions, nurses and on and on - ad infinitum, ad nauseum.  Who pays, Jack?

Throwing money at a identified problem (and health care accessibility is a problem, no doubt) is the easy way to side step and issue and get some press during an election but it does not solve all problems.  In fact, it could raise new problems, like who pays for the extra costs that the provinces will incur?  Will that be user pay?

Why doesn't some reporter get off the Dion-basing wagon for two minutes and Layton if he is advocating the destruction of our current health care system?

Time to learn a lesson?

The oil industry mouthpieces are telling us that there are two prices that can fluctuate when hurricanes hit.  The tell us that there is a price for oil, based on supply and demand of oil.  They also tell us that gasoline has a separate demand and supply.  This, somehow, explains why why oil prices go up, gasoline rises with it but somehow the reverse is not the case.

So as of September 15, today, oil prices are below $95/bll gas prices while the average gas price in Ontario is $1.36 (gasbuddy.com).  In mid July the oil prices were $146 and gas was $1.36.  What???

Those industry guys tell us that gas prices rise when demand exceed supply and as demand falls with price rises, the supply drops because the refineries for gas are in Texas and Louisiana.   For God's sake, why not build the refineries in area not affected by daily hurricanes.  You can stockpile oil at the refineries away from Texas and when hurricanes strike, the refineries are not shut down and the gas prices won't skyrocket.

But, hey, let's talk Canadian gas prices.  How much gasoline do we get from the US?  NONE.  So why when US gasoline supplies are reduced, Canadian prices rise.

Can you say gouging.  I know that the government can't.

Top Ten Reasons to re-elect Harper?

From the home office in Come-by-Chance, Newfoundland, here are the top ten reasons to re-elect Harper and his band of Cons:

Number 10: they called an election in contravention to their own fixed-date election law;

Number 9: they called the election to draw the heat off their legal problems over In and Out and Cadman;

Number 8: a number of their incumbent Con candidates, including John "Screamer" Baird are being challenged over so-called ten percenter advertisements that were sent out after the election was called (a direct contravention of the law);

Number 7: former PM Harper loves the arts so much that he cut funding by $45 million;

Number 6: Harper likes cats and plays the piano;

Number 5: Cons love to apologize for everything and throw tax money around like it is their own;

Number 4: Harper admits that he has set the tone for the campaign that includes insults to a killed soldier's father and foul (or is that fowl) insults on the web;

Number 4: Harper has finally determined that their are some special challenges in Ontario's manufacturing sector;

Number 3: Finance Min Flaherty has declared to anyone who will listen that Ontarions are whiners and Ontario is the last place in Canada he would invest (Flabs is an Ontario MP, so he should know);

Number 2:  Harper has determined that Ontario's problems would be all better if the Ontario government listened to him and played by his rules (Does that include Flabs?); and the

Number One reason to re-elect Harper: (drum roll please);

He has the suppport of every Premier across Canada except for: Danny Williams, Rodney McDonald, Gordon Campbell, Gary Doer, Shawn Graham, Robert Ghiz and Dalton McGuinty.  That just leaves Stelmach, Cherest and Wall - but then three out of ten is enough for a minority government.

Harper's latest bloopers

Former PM Harper went to Newfoundland on Saturday and told an assemblage of the converted that Danny Williams, the Premier of NL with an 80% approval rating, that Danny was a liar.


He said Williams is lying about a closed-door conversation the two men had in 2007 – one where the Premier says Harper told him “he didn't need Newfoundland and Labrador to win an election.”

Harper's revision was, “I never said that at all. What I said was the contrary: I told Premier Williams some time ago I believe we're going to win the next election … and I want Newfoundland and Labrador to have a place in our government."

This is the PM that will do and say anything to win an election, even calling an illegal election.  I think that I know whom I believe.

Also this is the former PM who said in 2002, talking about maritimers, "There is a dependence in the region that breeds a culture of defeatism."

He then moved the campaign on to tell more Con devotees in Frederictonthat the country is more conservative but not quite as conservative as his Conservatives.  Therefore to win power he finds it necessary to "water down" some of his plans.  Want to bet that if he even won a majority government the water in his platform would be exported to the US?

A scandal in the making?

"The NDP environmental plan sets absolute caps on major industrial emitters, which account for 50% of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions. These emitters would be required to purchase emissions credits at market-based prices. In year one alone, with carbon prices projected to exceed $35 per ton, auctioning credits would generate at least $2.5-billion. All of these funds would be invested in developing green technologies and making them affordable for the average consumer.“The cap and trade system ensures that big polluters pay their fair share, and it makes it possible for more people to afford green solutions.” This is the bible as expressed by Jack Layton.

Sounds good doesn't it?  The fact that this really is a tax doesn't seem to occur to Jack.  Where does the $2.5 billion come from?  If it comes from polluting industry, will Jack pass a law to say that the companies cannot pass those costs on to consumers?  Fat chance that he will or if would even be enforceable.  Jack has his head in the money clouds.

The key term in Jacko's explanation is "market-based".  We already know that brokers line C-Green are buying farm credits for $1 which will be sold to polluters for $XXX.   Who knows.

Some of you may remember back in the mid 1980s, a federal program called Scientific Research Tax Credit - SRTC for short.  There are many parallels between Cap and Trade and SRTC.  To get an SRTC you needed to commit to doing research.  Thousands of Canadian companies made that commitement.  In fact thousands of companies were created to qualify for SRTCs.  Then those qualified companies turned around and sold their credits to other companies at a discount.  Cash flowed into the hands of companies who shuffled paper at the expense of the government.  This is what happens when the market is allowed to play with government money - as is the case with Cap and Trade.

And what about Harper's hard cap proposal.  Firstly, it will take 15 years to implement, will be hard to enforce, will not reduce pollution (just the growth of pollution)  and there is no real plan to fund alternative forms of energy or prossesses that output less carbon.  That will be up to the marketplace to figure out and fund.  It, also, will be a tax on Canadians because the polluters will need to find ways to reduce their emissions and it will take money, charged to their customers, to do so.

Here is the bottom line.  There is no one way to fix the climate.  It will take caps and reduction targets, it will take a concerted effort by companies and citizens; and will cost us money, whether it be taxes or costs at the register.  It is time to take the politics out of the issue and find solutions.

Sparrow is the tip of the Con iceburg

Senior Conservative Party spokesman Ryan Sparrow has been suspended from the campaign after stating in an email message to CTV producer Jenna Fyfe that the father of a slain soldier who criticized Stephen Harper today was a Liberal and that his criticism of Harper's plan pull out from Afghanistan was politically motivated.

Jim Davis' son, Corporal Paul Davis, died in Kandahar in March of 2006.  Mr. Davis told CTV's Canada AM he was shocked by Mr. Harper's pull out comments. He said his son will have died in vain if Canada withdraws before its mission is complete.

So Sparrow was "suspended" from the campaign.  Not fired, mind you.  He was suspended - 2 minutes in the penalty box.

But this is not an isolated incident for the Cons.  Puffin-gate occurred last week when a Con web programmer decided that it would be funny to have a bird shit on Stephane Dion.

These actions; plus the fact that the Harper took the campaign negative before the writ was even dropped; plus the antics of various Con MPs such as my favourite, Perfect PP, all lead me to believe that the Cons think that they are entitled to govern.  Screw the voters - Cons are entitled to their entitlements.

You go, Danny

Da ting I like about Newfoundlanders is dat dey call a spade a frickin' shovel, dey does.  OK Danny Williams doesn't speak that way but he does not mince his words if you cross him up.

I know a lot of Newfoundlanders and one thing they share in abundance is honesty - and courage of their convictions,  Danny demonstrates that in spades.  I may be one of those Ontario guys but I know that to become a friend of a Newfoundlander is as easy as keeping your word.

The Atlantic Accord, lower Churchill and the agreement on equalization payments were high on the list of topics that Harper has screwed Newfoundlanders and Labradorans on in the past couple of years.  And as Danny puts it:  "This all happened under a minority government. What in heaven's name will happen if he gets a majority?"

In a speech today he went on to say: "Even without a majority, he has cut funding for minorities, cut funding for literacy, cut funding to students, volunteers, museums and arts and culture groups right across the country [and] his government cut funding to women's groups and … actually went so far as to remove the federal mandate to advance equality for women."

He also termed Harper's campaign as the "Blue Shaft".

Harper flip flops

I would hate to be Harper's cat tonight.  Pip must be hiding in a closet after hearing about the Master's back track on the election trail.

First it was Layton and now it's Harper that has thrown up his arms and surrendered to the pesky idea of democracy and has agreed to Liz May's inclusion in the leaders debate.

Run, Pip. Run.

Continuing gas price screwing

On July 10, 2008 the price of oil peaked at $146/barrel. On that date the average price of gasoline in Ontario was $1.36/litre.

On August 12, 2008, the price of crude was $115/bl (a drop of $31/bl or 21% from July 10). The average price of Ontario gasoline on August 12 was $1.25 (a drop of $0.11 or 8.5% from July 10).
 
So here we are on September 10 and crude is $104/bll and gas is $1.31


What is going on?  Is it possible that there is gouging going on?  Maybe someone should ask Harper.


(all figures from gasbuddy.com)

Layton flip flops

The gutless wonder from the ultra-left has just made his biggest flip flop of this election season.  Jack Layton, the "leader" of the NDP declared that he would not take part in any debate that included Liz May of the Green Party.

Now he has changed his mind.  Why?  Is it because the term democratic is in his party's name?   Is it because it dawned on that the Greens represent 700,000 votes across Canada and that it is non-democratic to exclude them?  Is it because he misunderstood the situation or was misquoted (the two traditional ways out)?

NO, NO and NO.

He is flipping because the issue is dogging him on the election trail.  And how does he spin it?  "I don't care who is in the debate as long as the Conservatives are there."

You are quite the piece of work, Jack.

I promise...

In a speech yesterday in Toronto, Harper has promised to cut the excise tax on diesel fuel by 2 cents.  Yippee. 

But hey, in 2006, in a speech in Winnipeg, he promised to eliminate GST on gasoline when it passed 85 cents per litre.  Did he do that?  Nope.

Do you expect Harper to keep any of his promises?

Halifax Tory Quits (or is it run out of town?)

Poor old Rosamond Luke.  Who'd of thought that uttering death threats in 2006 would come back to bite her in 2008.  She forgot to mention her conviction to the Con Party folks when she was hand picked by Harper's boys last Sunday to carry the torch for the Cons.

Rosie, executive director of the All Women's Empowerment and Development Association, was expected to carry the Un-Natural Governing Party(TM) from a third place finish in 2006 to the brass ring in 2008.  OOPS!

The dollars and nonsense of carbon trading

A company in Regina has started paying farmers and ranchers $1.00 per acre to do nothing.  If you own 5000 acres of ranch land in Saskatchewan, land that neither grows stuff or is used for more than just the occasional cattle grazing, then you can get paid $5000 by a company called C-Green Aggregators.  C-Green sees green in the fact that your previously-ignored land does not generate carbon or green house gases (GHG) and what used to be called the Back-Forty is now called a Carbon Credit.  Why do they pay you for Carbon Credits?

Those $5000 in credits will in turn be sold to companies, such as the Oil Sands folks who produce millions of tonnes of GHG and carbon each day.  Rather than cleaning up their act, the producers will be offered to purchase the credits accumulated by C-Green to offset the amount they pollute - on paper.

So look at it this way; through this simplified example, On Day Zero, your 5000 acres of land produced no units of carbon but Oil Sands produce 10000 units of carbon.  On Day One C-Green pays you $5000 for the 5000 credits associated with your land.  On Day Two they sell those 5000 credits to Oil Sands who in turn apply those credits thereby reducing the amount of their carbon outputs on paper.

So the net total reduction ON PAPER is 5000 units of carbon but the net total reduction of carbon in real life is ZERO.  How does that clean up the environment?

You can see why the farmers and ranchers buy into this money-shifting scheme but what is in it for C-Green?  The make the GREEN, the moolah, the dinaro.  The credits for which they paid the farmer $5000 will be sold to Oil Sands for $50,000.  These credits are currently sold on the Chicago Exchange  and will eventually be traded on the Montreal stock market.

It is expected that the largest purchasers of these credits will not be the polluters however.  According to the C-Green web site, purchasers will include hedge funds, investment companies and speculators.  Carbon and green house gases to those folks are the same as toothpaste - a commodity to make money off.

This scheme is called CAP and Trade.  It is what the Conservatives and the NDP want to install.  Carbon is currently priced at $4 per tonne.  The NDP web site expects it to be worth $35 per tonne.  Now that is growth.  C-Green is currently fighting with the government over whether the credits will be exposed to GST.  So if the Cons and NDP get their Cap and Trade scheme, there will be very little effect on GHG or carbon but the GST coffers will swell as well as the coffers of their buddies on Bay Street.

Isn't democracy wonderful?

Dion not experienced as the others?

There is a lot of mouth drooling from the Cons and the NDP slamming Dion for not being as experienced a leader as Harper and Layton.

I think that Senator Obama said it best when he was criticized as not being as experienced as McCain.  He stated:  "People are criticizing my lack of experience.  I guess because the folks with experience are such an example to live up to."

Experience is not measured in terms of time, except by unqualified people! Measure a politician by his commitment to fairness and compassion, not his ability to spew invictive.

Harper and Layton are out to win at all cost.  Screw anyone, including the voters, who get in their way.  The result of this election may be a Con majority but it will leave the country terminally split.  Too bad for Canadians.

Screamer buys more votes

For years now, the city of Ottawa has been pleading with the Con government to pay for the costs incurred by the city to provide security services for federally-rlated activities.  These include riding shotgun on motorcades, services to protect embassies, etc.  According to Chief White of the Otttawa Police, the amount can run as high as $10 million per year.  For three years the feds have ignored the issue.

But lo and behold, 2 days into the election, John "Screamer" Baird vows a 5 year contribution of $2 million per year IF he is re-elected.

She's Out!

Democracy runs wild in Canada.  Harper, Duceppe and Layton have joined hands to sing Kumbaya and tell broadcasters that if Lizzie May, chief poobette of the Greens, is allowed to take part in the "leaders" debate, then they will all pull out.

I guess that settles it.  There are two types of politicians in our country.  There are the Three Sleazes on one side and the democratic Liberals and Greens on the other side.

So the "Conspiracy on the Hill (hereinafter referred to as the Grassy Knoll)", has finally been exposed.  The NDP and the Bloc constantly voted against the Cons in order to force the Libs into supporting the Cons' Minority Parliament.  Then when the time was right the conspirators, including the Cons who probably hatched the idea (cause the other two are not that smart) figured that they could destroy the Libs and share up the electoral spoils.

While we are on conspiracies:  is it just a coincidence that the Cons and the NDP are both flying French-built airplanes?  Are some of the weaker Lib candidates actual Cons-in-disguise who found their way around liberal Liberal nomination guidelines?  Is Harper in reality "Gort" (Klatu-barada-nikto)?  Is Peter McKay going to become First Dude when Condi runs for governor of Alaska?

Campaign planes

Dion's choice of an older Air Inuit 737 is a bit puzzling considering his stance on the environment but let's not burst a blood vessel until we see how it is used compared to Harper and Layton.

On day one of the election, Harper flew his Air Canada Airbus 320 from Ottawa to Quebec City to Vancouver.  How green is that?

Not to be outdone, Layton flew his Air Canada Airbus 310 from Ottawa to Calgary, leaving a carbon footprint over the 2500 kilometers of space between the two cities.  Where does he jet next?

True Dion's plane is not as fuel friendly as the others, but I did not see anyone else going out their way to rent from the First Nations peoples.

By the way, Elizabeth May is traveling by train.

Harper rewrites history

According to PM (Do you call him PM if Parliament is dissolved?  Isn't he a Former PM?) Harper, has he stated in an election event in Quebec, "French is the founding language of this country."  Well that is surely news to the Fathers of Confederation, some of whom spoke English!

It is also news to the myriad of First Nations peoples who were here before the French or the English, including, the Potawatomi who lived along the Gulf of St Lawrence as early as 1500 and who might have been the tribe that met the French when they landed .

It might also be news to the Vikings who settled in Newfoundland in 1000 AD, 500 years before the French.

Election pandering?

The fun begins

The PM has continued his campaign of lies by calling an election one year before the date established by his own law.  He uses as an excuse his assertion  that Parliament is not working and he needs a new mandate.  What does that mean?

In the past two Parliamentary sessions there have been 69 bills passed through the Commons AND the Senate AND proclaimed into law.  Parliament is not working?  When Dion met Harper prior to the election call, he (Dion) showed Harper the list of the 36 bills currently in committee or in readings and the three in Senate.  He asked which ones of these would not be proclaimed after being passed during this Parliamentary session?  He (Harper) gave no answer, but the truth is, because he dissolved parliament, NONE of the those 39 bills will go through because a dissolution means the death of all bills in process.  Parliament is not working because Harper killed it.

A bit less that three years ago, Harper took over as PM in a country that had a $12.5 billion surplus.  He has successfully driven it to the verge of deficit.  In fact the first couple of months of this year we were in deficit.  How can the Cons be trusted to see Canadians through the hard times when then cannot even see us through the good times.  Think I am kidding?  We are on the edge of fiscal problems and the eve of an illegal election, and what does Harper do?  He doles out $96 million per day to buy votes, especially those in Quebec.

Can we believe the Cons?  Finance Min Flaherty refuses to support Ford or GM until the election looms then all of a sudden $80 million appears.  Election ploy?  You bet.

Why an election now?  There are four answers that come to mind.  1) Cons were about to get thumped in three by-elections.  By calling the election the by-elections were called off.  2)  Elections Canada was about to enter evidence into the In and Out lawsuit that the Cons launched at them.  The evidence, which cannot be released during the election campaign, was about to put a death nail into the Cons case.  3)  Evidence contradicting Harper's assertion that he has nothing to do with the Cadman affair was about to be made public.  4) Finally, Max Bernier's paramour, Julie Couillard, has a book being launched on October 14, the same day as the election (go figure),

 If ever a government deserved the boot.  This is the one.

Now its Comuzzi

A fourth Con has decided to bail before the election.  This time its Joe Comuzzi from Thunder Bay.  Joe is a former Liberal who defected to the Cons in 2006, just like Emerson.

I fully expect the infection to spread.  Maybe Harper should set up an Insite-type place for Cons to go to contemplate their future.

Harper slimes his way to Oct 14

Assuming that all the people who can know are right, then Stephen Harper will command the Governor General on Sunday to fire him, in the expectation that he will be rehired on October 14.  In case you are not following my wit - he is having an election called!

Why now?  Good question.  Here are a number of things that he achieves by calling the election:

1.  All bills before the house including: rights for fetuses, etc., die and he does not have to deal with them.

2.  Committees, especially those that Harper does not like (and that is almost all of them), are shut down.

3.  Any bad news that could come out the investigation/law suits he is directly involved with (including In and Out and Cadman) will not proceed during the election so any new evidence against him will not be revealed.

4.  The book by Julie Couillard, the former biker-chick and horizontal confident of Maxime Bernier, is being released on October 14.  (If she wants to make a bundle, release it on October 12!)

I, too, could have won in Vancouver-Kingsway

I could also have won in Nepean Carleton, Ottawa-West Nepean, Cornwall, fourteen ridings in Quebec and Calgary South - but I choose not to run. So blaaattt to you!

According to the Vancouver Sun, "David Emerson said Thursday evening that he could have won Vancouver-Kingsway but ultimately decided not to seek re-election in order to spend more time with his Vancouver family."

Yea right.

The Con candidate in the 2006 election garnered about -23% of the vote, while Emerson got 50% as a Liberal. Then he crossed the floor to the Cons and was black balled by his constituents.

He could have won. Yea right.

Do I smell the odour of rot?

First Emerson... then Hearn and now... Solberg?

Is there dissension in Harper's world? Who's next?

It's time to tell the truth, PP!

Are Canadians so stupid that we can't tell a lie when we hear one.  Obviously in Nepean-Carleton, we are.

We have elected and re-elected one of the great nose-stretchers in all of the stiffs on Parliament Hill... Pinocchio Poilievre.  What did he do this time?

This week I got a mailer from PP with respect to child care.  In it he states that "Dion voted against the $1200 child care benefit and will take it away."  What a bonehead frickin' statement and A LIE to boot!

The truth is that Dion voted against the Conservative plan to replace a $4.8 billion deal on child care, of all ages, that had been negotiated with all the Provinces, with a federal stipend of $1200 that would be paid to parents of kids under six.  The truth is that the Provinces would have used that money to expand the number of junior kindergarten (JK) spaces.  Instead a family in Alberta, of which I am aware, has to spend a fortune (more than the $1200 provided by Cons) on morning day care and afternoon JK for their son because there were not enough available morning JK spaces in their area.  The Provinces could have used the $4.8 billion to create those spaces.

PP claims to have negotiated with the NCC for a $1 per year rent for the Queensway Carleton Hospital.  A LIE!  The truth is that the NCC will be collecting the money from Treasury Board instead - and that largess could be cancelled at anytime by a future (or present) government.

PP claims to have found $35 million for the Strandherd Bridge.  A LIE!  The truth is that money was already earmarked for the bridge as part of a federal contribution to the NS LRT project that was killed by his fellow Con, Screamer Baird.

Cons = Bullies?

According to experts: "Emotional bullying is when someone tries to gain control by making others feel angry or afraid. It is characterized by verbal abuse such as name-calling, sarcasm, incessant teasing, threatening, mocking, putting down, belittling, ignoring, and lying."

Sound a bit like the Cons?  The solution?

The same experts suggest: "It becomes easier to ignore a bully once you understand that they are acting out of their own pain and insecurities."

Poor Stephen... we understand and feel your pain.

Harper and humour

In March 2006, Harper says,"Fixed election dates prevent governments from calling snap elections for short-term political advantage."


In September 2008, Harper says, "I was just kidding! I am a funny guy!"

Oh yea. I almost forgot...

The Cons made a big deal of announcing an apology and a grant of $2.5 million to Sikhs in BC over the Komagata Maru incident,  That incident affected about 200 Indian citizens (not Canadians) who tried to break a known Canadian law to get into this country.  (http://www.mysteriesofcanada.com/BC/komagata_maru_incident.htm).


Roll forward to 2008.   Defense Minister McKay is on his way to a meeting in Banff with many of his foreign counterparts when he stops long enough to tell reporters that 700 Canadian veterans of US Atomic Blast testing will be getting a one time payment of $24,000; this after 50 years of waiting.  Also included in the settlement were 200 Canadians who worked on decontamination cleanup at AECL in Chalk River following incidents in 1952 and 1958.

Why does McKay make his announcement now?  He wanted to make sure that the 50 year overdue settlement is not delayed by the upcoming election.  That is so kind to the vets.

And here I was thinking that the timing was used to grab a headline in preparation for the election.  Bad me!

Cons are trying again to con Canadians

In the 2006 election that brought Harper to power, the Conservatives vowed to run an open and transparent government, unlike those pesky Libs, and to stop the habit of buying our votes with our own money, which is what he accused the pesky Libs of doing.

Fast forward to 2008 and the pending election that will be called in a few days.

Environment Minister "Screamer" Baird has just announced $13 million of our own money to help solve a sewage issue in Ottawa; a problem that will cost over $50 million just to get under control, let alone fix.  Also, Harper is about to announce an investment of up to $200 million of our own money in subsidies to Ford and GM.  This is on the heals of Finance Minister Flaherty saying that Ontario is the last place in the world anyone would want to invest.

And in the spirit of open government, Harper will call the election just as Election Canada will enter very damaging evidence in the In and Out Lawsuit that the Cons launched against Election Canada.  The election call will force Elections Canada to delay the new evidence until after the election.  We might just re-elect criminals?

And there is a chance that they might get re-elected?  Only if the Liberals are too stunned to fight a real election and not just a referendum on their Green Shift.