Raitt drops an unintentional bomb

In a news conference on May 29, 2008, before the so-called sexy talk, Lisa Raitt, Minister of Things-that-glow, was asked about the privatization of AECL.  While confirming that the sale is progressing, she had no real comment on whether any buyer would share the AECL debt or liability  should something happen after the sale -- like, say, a melt-down.  Her answer was, essentially, "I think that our negotiators will look at that."

But the real bomb dropped a bit later.When asked what type of oversight will exist when a sale is made, Raitt replied that the major oversight will come from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission.  She stated that the CNSC is the oversight regulator that is independent of government.

What?

Can she be referring to the same CNSC that had its head fired by Harper because she wouldn't do his bidding?

How can the CNSC be called independent and charged with the responsibility to protect Canadians, when the government can fire its ass?

What if the CNSC says to Harper and Raitt, that they cannot sell AECL unless the buyer accepted all risks and had to post a $2 billion bond to cover the eventualities of that risk.  How long would the independent CNSC be around?

Think the bond is unreasonable.  The US government demands that the nuclear industry invest $10 billion into a fund to cover risk.  We do here in Canada also, but the limit is only $650 million.

How to make government work

Michael Ignatieff has it right.  The Dippers and the Bloc have it wrong.  Harper just doesn't get it.

The IT is how to make government work given that we will probably never again see a majority government.in this country.

Cooperation and transparency.  That's IT.

Read the budget before you decide to vote against it, Jack and Gilles.

Talk with the opposition before you try to bully legislation through the House, Stephen.

Keep an open mind and your eye on what is good for Canadians, Michael.

That is the way to get government to work in Canada.

Why the NDP?

Seems to me that you go into politics to win.  When you are a party, you fight to win.  There is a second place in politics -- it is called Official Opposition.  There is no third place, especially if you are a perennial third placer and have less likelihood of every gaining power than Ozzie Osbourne (he of bat-eating fame) of getting an award from the SPCA.

So why do it?  Do you represent such a special view of confederation that, without you, Canada would die in great agony?  Nope, that can't be it.

Do you represent deep incite filled arguments when you announce that you will vote against anything and everything that the Cons put up for vote?  Nope that can't be it.

Do you have such panache and flair that Canadians can't do without you?  That's it.  Of course, it should have been obvious.  It's Jack's moustache.

Wsetern Premiers to the rescue - PART 2

Here is a news flash for you.  Harper and the gang that can't legislate straight have decided that the nuclear industry is toxic to them.  Oh sure, they promote nukes as an alternative energy source and think that isotopes are sexy, but they are planning to sell off AECL's non-toxic divisions to the French or the Americans and then bury the isotope project deep underground.  "We are getting out of the isotope business," declared Harper.

Now Brad Wall, Premier of Saskatchewan, is jumping to the rescue.  He wants to take over the isotope businesss from AECL and move it all to U of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon.  Great idea.  Go for it Brad.  But -- wait for it -- Brad wants the feds to pay the majority of the costs.

This is a deal that Harper cannot resist.  It has all the earmarks of political success except for two things; 1) there are very few more seats in Saskatchewan for the Cons to buy and 2) once you are sucked in to funding nukes in Saskatchewan, you are on the hook forever -- and that does not square with the "getting out the isotope business" statement.

It also, you can bet your navel fuzz, is going to cheese off the governments of Ontario and Quebec if you move everything to Saskatchewan.  Ontario because they lose another industry and Quebec because they did not get it.

Welcome to Canada.

 

Western Premiers to the rescue - PART 1

The western Canadian premiers, in their conference north of 60, have declared that it is crucial that the federal government make EI fair for all Canadians.  That means they must back Iggy's demand that we get rid of the 58 regions of EI and have only one.  Right?

Wrong.  Their idea of fairness is to discriminate between big cities, smaller centres and rural areas.  That's fairness for all Canadians?

You know the difference between an unemployed stiff in Rouleau, Sask. (I pick them because when Dog River -- aka Corner Gas -- closed shop it put at least Wanda out of work and onto EI) and Toronto (I pick them cause it is a big city)?  The only difference is that the cost of living is higher in Toronto and when you have no income, it can be a bitch.

Come on, boys.  Make it fair.  One rule for all Canadians.  Losing a job is tough enough without the government making it tougher.

And by the way, two of the regions that have different rules for EI benefits are Ottawa and Gatineau.  The folks in Gatineau, just across the river from Ottawa, get more and faster EI benefits than the unemployed folks in Ottawa.

Still think it's fair, lads?

It is time for the Cons to come clean

At what point in time with the mighty-mouth MP for Nepean Carleton quit lying to Canadians. In his most recent hyper-partisan mailer, paid for by taxpayers, he lies and distorts over and over again statements by Iggy.

Let's put the shoe on the other foot for just a minute. Will the Cons tell us how they will get back to a balanced budget after running massive and record-braking deficits? Will they raise taxes? Apparently not. Will they just wait for the economy to turn around and depend on future surpluses? Never happen. That leaves only one alternative for the Cons.

A CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT WILL CUT CIVIL SERVICE JOBS, HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SERVICE TRANSFERS TO PROVINCES AND GUT THE MILITARY!

If they do not raise revenues THEY WILL NEVER PAY OFF THE DEBT!

For once in their lives, will the Cons come clean with Canadians and start treating us as intelligent beings instead of lemmings!

Two messages in one action

It is very interesting to see how the press sees the politics that unfolded this week on the federal scene.

On Monday, Iggy told Harper that he had four issues of national importance that he wanted to negotiate with Harper (after all he is the only one that has any clout in his dictatorship). On Tuesday Iggy finally got a meeting with Harper. The meeting when into the evening and continued on Wednesday. In the end Iggy got what he needed to support Harper and Harper got to gloat that he saved Canadians from another election.

But how did the press see the events?

The Toronto Star says this: "In staving off an election neither of them wanted, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have shown that it is possible for a minority Parliament to work constructively."

The National Post says this: "On Monday, Ignatieff defined himself as the weakest Liberal leader since, well, since Stephane Dion. His laying out of four conditions for supporting tomorrow's supply motion was a disaster in every respect. It was easily the worst moment of his leadership, demonstrating that neither he nor the Liberals are ready to govern."

Welcome to Canada where freedom of speech was guaranteed by a law passed by a Liberal government.

The loonies are coming back to bite FOX News

Check out the video at (http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo.com/?id=2706277).  It shows FOX News' Shepard Smith discussing the issue of crazies doing crazy things.  "They are scary," he declares.

Well... what goes around, comes around.  FOX has fed these loonies for years.  And they are coming to Canada.

Common decency, please.

I was at a presentation last evening concerning the province's Green Energy Act. So many common decencies were being ignored at the meeting that I hardly know where to start.

So let's begin with the man who should know better. The meeting was held in Ottawa much to the chagrin of Ottawa Councilor Glenn Brooks. Brooks, who is generally opposed to being nice to anyone who can't or won't vote for him, decided that Green Energy is only a rural issue and so criticized the location of the meeting. "There will not be a single windmill built in the city," cries Brooks. "If you held your meeting in Richmond or North Gower, I can guarantee a larger crowd," he drones on. What Brooks has not figured out is that Green Energy affects all Ontarions, not just those with a hard-on against wind mills. The meeting was held in Ottawa because that is the population centre. I imagine that if the meeting was held in, say, Smiths Falls, Brooks would be against that too, since there is no wind farm going in there.

Let's move on to the wind farm opponents. The people representing the government do not have the power of life and death over you. They were asking for your input so that they might be able to create the regulations for the bill passed in May. Did you show any appreciation to them? Not one bit! When the main speaker finished, was there even polite applause? Not on bit! But every anti-wind farm advocate who opened his or her mouth was feted to wild applause just for asking the question. (In reality, very few questions or suggestions were made other than to ask the government not to repeat his quiet as a library mantra.)

I decided to leave after an hour out of pure boredom.

If I can offer a bit of advice to Brooks and the people of North Gower, you get more done by showing respect rather than disdain. And by the way, in case you missed it, the Green Energy Act includes, solar, biomass, hydro and other forms of Green Energy -- not just wind.

Driving Cons crazy.

It is a short trip driving Cons crazy, but Iggy has gone and done it big time. Take the comments from the Con Propaganda Newsrag, the National Post.

I his incite-full commentary of today, Kelly McParland scoffs at Iggy's decision to leave until Friday's House vote to announce if the government gets Liberal support or not. If this lack of support results in an election, this is what Kelly (strange name for a guy) has to say: "Canadians overwhelmingly say they oppose an election. Triggering one would cost about $300 million, and put the stimulus program on hold indefinitely. Mr. Ignatieff says Mr. Harper isn't doing a good enough job, yet he'd be forcing a lengthy delay smack in the middle of the crisis. Who would Canadians blame for that?"

Strange that coming from the same guy who dismissed Harper calling an election in defiance of his own Fixed Election Day act when nobody wanted one. Can you say two faced?

McParland goes on the say: "Mr. Ignatieff made the odd claim that merely approving specific projects and committing the money doesn't represent actual spending. Real spending apparently consists only of physically transferring the money." This is truly amazing coming out the mouth of an apparently sentient being. Does Kelly not understand that in times of recession promises of aid are about as useful as condoms in a nursery? Getting the financial assistance is more important that just another photo-op to announce it.

It is truly sad to see the mighty fall so low.

A tax on us all to pander to the uninformed?

To say that these so-called attack ads the the Cons are aiming at Iggy are lame, would be charitable.  They are slightly right of stupid.  But, you know, the ads are not aimed at me or possibly at you.  Attack ads are aimed at those folks that do not follow, or care to follow, political debate or happenings and get their news from TV.

Fair enough, I suppose.  Lead them by the nose until you win their minds?  Pretty callus way to treat the serious business of governance, but then all parties have done it once or twice.  The Cons are just the masters of the black-art.

Let's look at the realistic side of attack ads.  The Cons say that they are paying for the ads and maybe they are.  But who funds the Cons and how is that funding received?  The reality is that you and I are funding the Cons attack ads.  The ads, by some estimates, have cost around $3 million so far.  Since contributions to political parties receive tax receipts equal to seventy five percent of the contribution, that means that there will be approximately $2.2 million in subsidy through the tax department to fund the stupidity.

Did anyone ask you if you wanted to contribute to the attack ads?  They certainly did not ask me.

Ralph versus The Family

Raitt-gate continued on the Hill yesterday throughout Question Period, even after Lisa tried to deflect the issue by bawling to the press.  Some questions were never answered and some questioned were completely ignored.  Raitt, the Minister-for-all-things-sexy-and-radioactive, answered a question from Liberal Ralph Goodale about the current state of the isotope shortfall by telling Goodale that the problems in Chalk River were really his.  Ralph answered this with the following comment: "the minister cannot give the numbers, and clearly she cannot tell the truth either.”

Well the government benches exploded in righteous indignation and Con Alpha-male Tom Lukiwski (he is the Alpha-male on the left in the picture) demanded that Ralph withdraw his comment. When the Speaker did not demand an immediate retraction from Goodale, Lukiwski made this ominous threat, "One way or the other, Mr. Speaker, I will guarantee the House the member for Wascana will apologize."

I recommend that Goodale not walk alone to a rooming house on Sparks Street, if you get my drift.

You remember Lukiwski, don't you? He reluctantly apologized in 2008 for this little quip caught on tape in 1991: "Let me put it to you this way -- there's As and Bs. The As are guys like me. The Bs are homosexual faggots with dirt under their fingernails that transmit diseases." At the time, the Liberal MP who called for Lukiwski to do the right thing and resign was none other than-- wait for it-- Ralph Goodale.

Who says that dingos have short memories?

Oh, BooHoo

Did you catch Lisa Raitt making her apology tonight?  "When I was 11, my father died of cancer..." -- and on she sniffed telling us that calling cancer sexy is OK because of deaths in her family due to cancer.

It won't wash, Lisa.  My father died of brain cancer that metastasized from his kidneys.  Does that make it OK for me to boast that cancer is my way to the top in politics?

Why couldn't she just say that it was a mistake?  She made a mistake and was sorry for it.  That would be the honest thing to say.  Why not say it?

The answer to that question is that politicians have turned politics into a war.  It is a take no prisoners battle on the Hill.  We are sounding and acting more like Americans every day.

From Baird's f-off, to Poilievre's tar-baby to Lisa's sexy, politics is a no-holds barred game.  And just in case you think that I am exempting other parties, I am not.  The problem is endemic on the Hill, at Queen's Park and everywhere that two or more politicians and their advisers gather.

Hyper-partisans... be gone!

Cons slowly imploding

For a government that recently dragged a Liberal MP over the coals for her alleged treatment of a couple of nannies, the federal Cons sure are sensitive over the Raitt misunderstanding.

The Cons invited two well rehearsed nannies to give a tearful account of their ordeal at the hands of Ruby Dhalla.  Never mind that the nannies could not keep their story straight or that the Cons refused to hear evidence that countered the claims of the nannies.  They wanted Dhalla's reputation to be destroyed and, as far as they are concerned, all is fair in politics -- as long as the shoe is not on the other foot.

Now comes Raitt-gate.  Just in case you have been on Mars or something, let me fill you in on this issue.  With the economy in a shambles, an AECL nuclear reactor shut down for a long time and maybe forever, with Canadians beginning to miss treatments and diagnostics because of the lack of isotopes from that reactor and with MDS Nordion (the packager of the isotopes and formerly a part of AECL) suing AECL for over $1 billion, Raitt is caught on tape by her own communications denizen saying that the file is sexy and is her ticket to the big desk in the Cabinet Room.  Not only that but she calls her colleague, the Health Minister, everything but a gutless wonder.  Now the rumour is that she also was taped slamming another colleague by the name of Prentice because he is pandering to the major polluters in the oil sands -- which is her job and not that of the Albertan named Prentice.

All this came on the heels of that same Raitt communications person leaving a file of secret documents with respect to AECL in a TV studio for almost a week.

So what do the Dhalla-attacking Cons say about all this when asked a question by Iggy?  Harper accused Iggy and the Liberals of playing cheap politics on the issue.

BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA.  Harper should have been a comedian rather than an economist -- although his handling of the economy is no joke.

All this is a clear signal that the Cons are bereft of ideas and well past their best-before date.

For Sale

The Cons seem to have landed a great idea.  They want to sell off enterprises that cost them money to run.  They subsidize the NAC in Ottawa, the CBC and AECL.  So sell them off, make some quick cash and get out of town.  Sounds like a great plan... EXCEPT... they are missing the crown jewel of all sell offs.

For Sale: Parliament Building in Ottawa

Description:  Located in a central part of the city of Ottawa with lots of parking and great views of the Ottawa River, this property consists of multiple buildings, lots of green space to frolic or demonstrate and is used less than six months each year.  With over 500 offices, 120 bathrooms, a huge number of meeting rooms and its own multi-story library, this heritage property is continually undergoing renovation and expansion.

Make us an offer.

AECL comes up again

On February 1, 2008, this blog wondered when AECL would be privatized. We mused at that time that GE Westinghouse or Areva were being courted to pick off the best parts (read as the profitable parts).

The Cons did not want another AVRO Arrow fiasco to stain its pristine record (chuckle) so rather than shut it down they went looking for a buyer.

When the NRU went down for the gazillionth time, Areva (a French government-subsidized company supposedly connected to delivery of nuclear technology to wonderful democracies such as Iran, and Iraq) steps in to offer to help AECL (a Canadian-government subsidized company) to fix their problem. After all, isn't that what big brothers do?

The fix is in. Bye, bye, AECL and all the cash we have sunk in to it.