If a PM falls in the woods and no one is there...?

Does anyone care to even notice?

Dateline - Ottawa, December 22, 2008

Today marked the commencement of the final days of PM Harpo.  The once mighty, and even feared, Mandarin of Sussex Avenue has not only proven that he is composed of flawed morals and is indeed, and most surprisingly, mortal.

Oh sure he has made some miscalculations - not his fault of course.  He passed a law for fixed election dates and then broke the law.  He enticed MP (negotiations took place during the election period) across the floor and put them into his cabinet, after saying he would never do that.  He leads a party of the In and Out Scandal and Cadmangate.  He declared that he would never lead the country into a deficit - then did.  He declared that Canada was strong - and then mused that we might be as far down as a depression... certainly in a recession.  He lambasted the Liberals for their spending promises (to counter the recession) and the implemented their ideas as his own.  He shuts down Parliament in the middle of a crisis to save his own job.

But now comes the piece de resistance.  The man who wants the Senate reformed and destroyed and the man who slams former PMs who appoint Senators, has gone and appointed a record number of party hacks and skiiers to suck from the taxpayers teat in the Red Chamber, thus costing Canadians over $20 million per year plus future pensions.  Among his bright light nominees is the man who can single handedly bankrupt Canada by be placed so close to the open buffet in Parliamentary dining room... CTVs one and only Mike Puffy Duffy.

Sucks to be you, don't it Steven?

What? No hockey players?

Stevey, Stevey. Stevey. 

If you are going to flip flop on your Senate appointment promise, at least appoint some hockey players.  They can stickhandle around legislative blocks and get into a fight if needed.  We did not need more bag men and lawyers. 

Sad.

The sage advice from a consumate non-partisan?

Preston Manning. I can feel the chill throughout the Internet just with the mention of his name.

So what does Presto say that gets me to talking about him? In an article in today's Grope and Flail, the sage of Alberta says, in part:

The situation is now well known. Partisan overkill by the government (trying to kill the public subsidy to political parties) leads to partisan overreaction by the opposition (the creation of a coalition to bring down the government). The coalition must justify its partisan reaction on other grounds, so it claims to have formed because the government has "no plan" to address the deteriorating economy. This claim simply ignores the government's tax-relief measures, increases in health-care transfers, increased infrastructure investments, and credit and monetary initiatives.

He then goes on with his six ways to remedy the situation. I won't bore you with details. Suffice to say that the remedy includes: believing everything that Reform President Harper says; disbelieving everything that the opposition says; distrusting your brother and hugging your mother.

Manning is the President and CEO of the Manning Centre for Building Democracy. I wonder who elected him? Was his election democratic? Does he think that minority governments have more rights that the majority in Parliament? Does that sound like building democracy?

Cons conning the connees

I wonder how long it will be before the Cons quit trying to slogan Canadians to death?

For almost two years the Cons called themselves Canada's New Government.  Even as they screwed up over In and Out and Cadman, they billed themselves as fresh as spring day.

Now we are at the point where Harper and the Harpettes have whitewashed themselves into a corner with their economic update, flipflops on flipflopping and shutting government down so that they can fiddle while Canada burns.  Now that they have outgrown the New Government slogan, their new gambit is Canada's Only Legitimate Government.

How long will we have to endure their bastardization of our system of government and the rewriting of our history?

Who says our schools are inclusive?

Cons go to the attack... again

It took the Cons about 30 seconds to whip out the attack ads against Ignatieff.  This comes about 20 seconds after Harper declared that he wanted cooperation between the "major parties".

Great!  And the talk shows are pushing it along.  Mouthpieces like CFRA's Michael Harris are convinced that they know more about being a Liberal that do real Liberals.  The grassroots of the party are beginning the long road of expanding support for the party.  The fact that the leadership at the federal level is settled (and it is settled, Michael) means that the local executives can get to work with no distractions.

Unless and until the talk show mandarins acknowledge that they are simply being mouthpieces for Adolph Harper, the real democratic process in Canada being eroded.

How much is that liar in the Parliament? The one with the forked tongue.

With an apology to Bob Merrill and Doris Day, you are supposed to sing the title of this entry.

In one of our local rags, the dynamic duo of Parliament Hill, the effervescent Screamer Baird and the ever-huggable Perfect PP. teamed up to call the opposition coalition, a group that had the temerity - the utter gall - to challenge the Cons right to screw up our democracy, as undemocratic.

The coalition, according to PP, will bring in the Green Shift carbon tax and take away the Cons cherished $100 per kid subsidy.  Never mind that the coalition is on record saying that they won't do those things, PP, none-the-less, spews the garbage.   Baird calls the coalition "irresponsible" and "an attack on our democracy".  Time to go back to school Screamer so that you might learn a bit about our form of government in Canada.

If anything was undemocratic, it was that the GG granted the Cons a peroguement of parliament for no other reason that they begged for it, lest they lose their cushy limousines and jets.

The Cons are concerned that the coalition might run a deficit to bail out problem industries in Canada.  Can't do it, says PP.  However in the Citizen, the senior local rag, PPs financial boss, Hon. J Flaherty, says that a $6 billion bailout of the Big 3 automakers can be done.  It will put the government into deficit but it can be done.

What the hell is the difference between the coalition putting us into deficit and the coalition doing it?  Answer please PP and Screamer.

History teaches us lessons

I was reading a book last evening that all Canadians should read. As I read it, I was struck by the parallel of this book to the current Crisis on the Hill.

Harper rules his caucus with an iron fist and threatens to punish anyone who disobeys him. He marginalizes the press to control the message and has worked hard to suppress or destroy his opposition.

The protagonist in the book did exactly the same things.

The book? Mein Kampf, by Adolf Hitler.

Did you feel a bit of a chill down your spine?

Is Benoit - Be-nuts?

The Con MP for Vegreville-Wainright, Leon Benoit appears to have had the giant Easter Egg that spins around in his riding drop on his head one time too many.

Bill Casey, the Con MP who was ousted by Harper for being too honest recently gave an example of how Harper was a control freak who consulted his caucus after decisions were made in the PMO and also warned them not to kick up any fusses if they did not like Harper's decision.

What does Benuts say about this? "Bull feathers. The sun rises and sets up Harper's ass - he told me so!" He then goes on to say that it is nonsense that the Prime Minister doesn't like opposing views. "He respects democracy. He understands very clearly, he made this point very well on election night if you look back at his speech. He made the point very clearly that we have been elected to a minority government, a stronger minority than last time, and that means we certainly, it will be important that we work with opposition parties and that's the approach that he takes."

Does Benuts kiss his kids with that mouth? Does he even listen to what he says?

Harper says one thing and does another. He declares that he will work with the opposition and then screws them for his own partisan gain. He says that he feels the pain of unemployed Canadians and then ignores them.

Harper is, by far, the worst Prime Minister this country has ever seen and, I hope, that we will ever see.

It's official. Democracy is dead in Canada

Harper, bruised and bleeding from his losing battle with the opposition, has slinked off to his neighbourhood GG to plead for his form of peace.

This schoolyard bully has been tormenting duly elected MP for four years and now the MPs struck back.

So where does this leave us?  Absolutely nowhere.  The Cons have conned the GG and will spend the next 6 weeks trying to con the people of Canada.  They will be supported by the right wing press like our local CFRA freethinkers.

Democracy has died today in Canada.  The will of the majority of Canadians has been trampled on by the Cons.

Vitriol on the airwaves

I am the last person to suggest that the airwaves need to be censored but something needs to be done about the way talking heads on CFRA are allowing their callers to make slanderous and libelous comments and statements under the anonymity of the phone booth.

Shame on the heads for not stopping the rants before they slipped into the high end of the lunacy scale. Have you no professional integrity? Do you not recognize hate speech when you are slapped in the face by it? Are you so dense that you have not realized the power that you are wielding with no regard for truth, fairness, the rule of law or even common decency.

On Lowell Green's show today he lamented that no Libs or NDPers were calling him. When one did, he began to crap all over the guy; cutting off his every thought and asking the misleading questions that characterize his partisan style.

I feel sorry for Capt Sandy who advertises a ship cruise to France and Belgium on Green's show. The cruise sound fabulous but 62% of the potential customers for cruise will refuse to take part in anything that Green promotes.

I know I shouldn't do this... but...

Hey Cons... sshh... keep your voice down so that no one thinks that I like Cons.

If you want to keep your jobs and the perks of government, just do what I suggest. Cry Mea Culpa, dump Harper and select Jim Prentice as the new Con leader.

You will be suggesting that a mistake was made and dumping the bozo that made the mistake. You will also be seen as selecting a more democratic leader.

It is a win scenario for you... but you didn't hear it from me. OK?

Are Harper's days numbered?

Numbered not only as PM but also as Con leader.  Rumour has it that a group supporting Jim Prentice, who better respected in the west than is Harper, are gearing up to dump Harper because he is a dope.

Even a bigger insult is that there is a group promoting Screamer Baird for Big Boss!

And the dumb get dumber.

No time to gloat?

The awakening of Harper is a time to rejoice in Canada. There might yet be a chance for democracy.

It would be easy to say that Harper and his Gang that Couldn't Govern were brought down by their own hubris. But I choose the high road and refrain.

It would be easy to characterize the Cons as the only people in the world that could find the I in Team. But I refrain.

It would be easy pickings to suggest that an MP like Perfect PP in Nepean Carleton is right to hide under his duvet cover until this Con stupidity blows over, lest his reputation as "all things to few people" be tarnished. But I will refrain.

I could gloat over the fact that the Cons were hoisted on their own petard, but I will refrain.

What I will not refrain to do is point out to all those self-righteous Con and Libertarian supporters who mock Liberal supporters that "what goes around - comes around." Who has the laugh now?

Canada is F****d

When a government is elected to office they are there to govern.    They are servants of the people.  Not the other way around.

Every since Harper became PM, he has tried his level best to trade his title from PM to Dictator.  He does not care about Canada or Canadians.  He cares ONLY for himself.

I am livid over this so-called government.  So livid that I better not complete all my thoughts at this time.  The words Nazi, Hitler, PolPot and other names are rolling around in my head and I need to get outside in the cold to settle down.

Is Maria burned out?

Maria McRae, a strong proponent of Light Rail and chairperson of the Transportation committee, derailed the entire LRT program last night.  She was concerned that the federal and provincial government money would not be forthcoming so she voted against a recommendation of the current plan and then sneaked out the back door to her hearse car.

What's next, Maria?  You still have a chance to kill the emergency plan for the swans.

Let me set the stage for this issue.  Prior to the last municipal election, John "Screamer" Baird killed the N/S LRT plan to help elect a right-wing city council.  "Go back and figure it out then come back to me with something that I like," spouted Johnny.  Nobody blamed the Cons for the delay in the project or for the $57 million law suit the city faces by cancelling the contract with Siemens. 

The provincial government, when the plan was killed by Johnny, told the city that they will not get any funding, although the money has been set aside by the government, until they decide what their new plan will be.  For that, McGuinty was crapped all over, especially by our favourite local MPP, Lisa Head-in-the-Clouds.

Now the city has a new plan to put forward to the feds and provincial governments to have them decide on funding and what does the Transportation committee do?  They voted to send it to council without a recommendation. And Maria casts the deciding no vote.

Give it up, Ottawa City Council.  At this point in time I am ready to ask the Government of Ontario to dissolve council and install a trustee to run this city.

Sometimes I wish that Clive Doucet would take a walk in a snowstorm.

Clive Doucet, city councillor for the rich and the poor in centretown, champion of ultra-left and self-promoter extraordinaire, has been in municipal government since Col By founded this place and if were up to him nothing would have progressed since that time.  We would still have mud roads, horse and buggy and a Kresge store on every corner.  He takes a hold of every issue put before city council, washes through the morass of his own hundred years of experience and then announces that he has a better idea.

He is against roads in the suburbs.  He is against developing Landsdowne Park using plans put forward by local developers.   I am sure that he is also against people who have the audacity to not listen to him.  And that latter group, especially on council, is growing.

Come on Clive, get off your soap box and let's get this city moving.  Sometimes other people, including those stupid city staff, get things right.  Rather than just opposing everything... give an inch once in a while.

And finally, Clive, please announce that you will not run in the next election... for the sake of the citizens of all of Ottawa.

Tell me it isn't so?

Nanos Research polled 1100 Canadians between November 11 and November 15, 2008. (Random Telephone Survey of 1,000 Canadians, 18 years of age and older). A survey of 1,000 Canadians is accurate to within 3.1 percentage points, plus or minus, 19 times out of 20.

Ballot Question: For those parties you would consider voting for federally, could you please rank your top two current local preferences? (Committed Voters Only - First Choice)

The numbers in parenthesis denote the change from the Federal Election.

Committed Voters - Canada (N=865, MoE ± 3.4%, 19 times out of 20)
Conservative Party 32% (-6)
Liberal Party 30% (+4)
NDP 20% (+2)
Green Party 10% (+3)
BQ 9% (-1)
(*Note: Undecided 14%)

Committed Voters - Western Canada (N=299, MoE ± 5.7%, 19 times out of 20)
Conservative Party 38% (-14)
Liberal Party 27% (+11)
NDP 23% (+1)
Green Party 13% (+5)
(*Note: Undecided 14%)

Even in the west the Cons are losing support, probably because they are seen to be incompetent and hesitant.

If you bail out the Big Three with no gain for Canada, kiss it goodbye, Stephen.

We are still getting hosed on Gas Prices

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.

According to gasbuddy.com on November 18, the oil price was $55/bbl, a drop of 63%. On this same date, the average Ontario gas price was $.72/litre, a drop of 41%.

Where's the rest of the money going?

And they can find no evidence of price gouging? It is right in front of your face! In case you think I am making these number up, check out the chart from www.ontariogasprices.com.

Living in Interesting Times

Are the insane running the asylum?  Certainly the managers are not.

Consider the blustery demand from OC Transpo's union boss that City Council shut up about labour issues and focus on governing the city.  Well, guess what?  Labour issues are city business and the fact that councillors are discussing it is only right.  Geez Louise, how flipping arrogant can you get.  Wages make up 50% of this city's budget.  Council should tell the union that talks are finished, tell the arbitrator that the cupboards are bare and then announce a wage freeze for one or two years.  If the arbitrator wants to ignore the city's financial problem, then lay-off every Transpo worker by announcing the sale of Transpo to the private sector.  You want to fight the people who actually own city hall, Mr. Union Boss?  We will give you a fight you could never dream of in your worst nightmare.

Don't forget this is the same union that blamed a mother because a bus drove off with her two year old after shutting the door in her face while she struggled to get on the bus with a stroller an another child.

Now I am on a roll.

It is time that city staff were told by council that arts and cultural funding is such a small part of the budget (It represents $7 million in a $2 billion budget.) that it is time that they quit trying to destroy the arts in Ottawa by their constant sniping at it.  Does cutting the $935 allotment to the Torbolton Historical Society sound like it is going to solve the problems of this city?  How about the the $24,000 cut to the Dragon Boat Festival?  The Dragon Boat Festival brings in thousands of competitors and tourists to Ottawa.  They spend money at stores, hotels and restaurants.  Those stores, hotels and restaurants pay taxes to the city.  For every $1 that the city gives the arts, heritage and festivals, they get back $1.50 in direct revenue - they recover their investment, with interest - and another $20 is earned in this community.  Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.

When all is said and done, it is beyond the time when the ENTIRE city council must be replaced by new people with new ideas.  New councillors will not be carrying the baggage of past decisions.  It is time to start over.  And it is time that we tell the city unions to smarten up or we will privatize everything in the city including janitors and police service.

Council MUST run this city.  Staff MUST to be told that they work for US not for THEMSELVES!

Perfect timing for Harper and Flaherty

It seems that earlier this year, while the Con government was telling us that the economy was rosy and there was no chance for a deficit... ever, they were selling $14 billion in T-bills to offset the loss in revenue from their GST cuts.  Well, it also seems that if the government does not pay off those bills before the end of 2008, they will be classified as debt and add to the deficit that they are planning to run up.

This is the result of a blatant lie and deliberate deceit by a government that touts responsibility and transparency.

What a joke.  And the joke is on all Canadians... not just the ones who voted to put them back in.

So the responsible and transparent Con government is about to use the excuse of the world-wide financial crisis to cover up their incompetence by adding that $14 billion to their planned deficit.

Buried in reports from the Finance Department are these statements:

"With a budgetary surplus of $2.9 billion and a requirement of $23.2 billion from non-budgetary transactions, there was a financial requirement of $20.3 billion in the April to July 2008 period, compared to a financial source of $6.8 billion in the same period last year. This difference reflects the financial requirement associated with loans to major Crown corporations which were announced in Budget 2007, as well as higher refunds related to the 2007 tax year."

and

"The Government financed this financial requirement of $20.3 billion by increasing market debt by $14.2 billion and reducing cash balances by $6.1 billion. The increase in market debt was achieved largely through the issuance of treasury bills."

See: http://www.fin.gc.ca/FISCMON/2008-07e.html

We are truly saps and they are truly criminals.

What's up with a deficit, Steve. There is a way to avoid it.

So the PM and his mighty midget, the FinMin, are musing that "Canada's Formerly-greatest GovernmentTM (CFG) may have to drop us into deficit to "help out the world".  Flaherty suggests that we might be able to sell off the CN Tower in Toronto to help ourselves out.  Sell at at time when prices are low?  Sounds a bit like a Lehman executive doesn't it?

I have a suggestion for you Steve.  How about admitting that you made an error when you lowered the GST by 2%.  It had almost no impact of Canadians but it cost you $12 billion in revenues.  Reverse your blunder and raise the GST up by at least one or even the two percentage points and keep up solvent.

It not like you have never broken a promise before.  Remember the taxing of Income Trusts?

The problem with deficits is that they are charged interest and that interest multiplies with time.  So keep from going into more debt by simply saying that you made an error.  You might even find that Canadians will commiserate with you.

Being a fly on the PMs wall

Hi, my name is BottleFly.  I live in the office of the Prime Minister of Canada.  Today I witnessed an historic occasion.  The PM met with his advisers to strategize how to get away with a series of lies.  Here is how it went.

The PM came in about 6:30 AM and immediately activated his intergalactic communication system to make his daily report to the central command on his home planet of Bagdolia.  His report was short and included something about a G20 conference where he berated humans for being not as smart as he.  Then he reported that planning for the take-over of earth by Bagdolians was commencing.  The world's militaries were engaged in wars, the financial people where hiding under Campbell Soup cans and the average citizen was preoccupied with trying to figure out if the mattress of their bed was a better place to put money rather than RRSPs.

At 7AM he was joined by a tiny little man named Flabby or Flairty or something like that.  The PM told the little guy that the government was going to go into a negative cash position (not a deficit, you understand) and that he had arranged to blame it on the international community.  When asked what he had to agree to to get other countries to take the blame, he stated that he had promised them that Canada would accept any and all of their criminals and terrorists as refugees.  The little man was pleased.

He then met with the a young looking guy whose head was the same size as his ass - and that was plenty big.  He apparently was in charge of letting people into the country.  The PM repeated his message to the bloated guy who jumped up and down squealing with glee.  "More refugees means more votes," squeaked the rotund one.  "I will arrange to pass legislation to make citizen available to refugees in 15 minutes from the time they arrive, so that can vote for us," he continued.   The PM concluded the meeting with a curt reminder that the legislation need to submitted as a confidence motion.   "Of course, Mr Presi... err, I mean Mr. Prime Minster."  The rolly-poly guy then floated out of the office singing "We're in the money!"

At 10 AM the PM had a roomful of his cabinet worker bees included a number of women, one of which, she appeared to be Indian or Eskimo or something, was sent to get double-doubles for everyone.  "Don't forget the honey glazed," called out a nearly bald guy wearing a wet suit.  Everyone laughed.

The PM turned serious and stated, that the reasons for sending the woman minister out for coffee was that he wanted to announce that he was selling Canada's north on E-bay.  So far Russia, the US and Denmark Edit HTMLwere bidding the price up.  It currently sat at $17.46 (US) and he felt confident that the price would go above $20 before the end of the week.  The ministers were squirming in their seat at the news.  "Such fun," they chortled.  "These humans are so stupid," they gloated.  "All hail Bagdolia."

"Now it is important that you carry out your roles as bungling politicians," stated the PM.  "The more incompetent you appear, the less the people will focus on what you are doing.  Get out their and screw up and don't worry about the press.  I have something in store for them.  I will tell you about that later."

The office emptied out quickly, including the PM who said something about having to attend an MP sacrifice at Conservative HQs.  Some guy named PP?

At 10:30 the woman returned with the coffee and donuts only to find the office empty.  She spotted an envelope on the conference table upon which her name was written.  She put the coffee and donuts down, spilling an old fashion from the bag onto the floor.   She opened the envelope and read the following, "Give my best Comrade Putin, ha ha."  Confused she slowly exited the office leaving behind the commistables.

I waited a few minutes in case anyone should come in and when the coast was clear, I swooped down on the old fashion donut and eat my fill.

I can hardly wait until the next cabinet meeting.  The talk is almost as yummy as the donuts.

Thank God for Westerners to set we stupid Ottawans straight

In today's Ottawa Citizen, letter writer, Charles Dunlap, currently of Carp, but a proudly "transplanted westerner", says this: "Ottawans, you are a pompous cluster of self-indulgent stuffed shirts".

What, you may ask did we Ottawans do to Mr. Dunlap to deserve this attack?  Did we kill his dog?  Did we put sardines on his manifold?  Did we bar him from entering the Arts Centre or take away his right to use city roads?

Nope,  Our crime is that we believe in Ottawa as the capital of the nation of Canada and like other national capitals around the world, we believe that national institutions should be located in the national capital.  What a crime we Ottawans have inflicted on Mr. Dunlap.

But you know, just thinking about it a bit, Mr. Dunlap may have a point.  It may be only correct that national institutions be spread across the country, but not just to Calgary or Edmonton, as Mr. Dunlap suggests.

I propose that: the National Portrait Gallery be located in Walsh, Alberta; the National Aviation Museum go to Stewart, BC; the Supreme Court move to Churchill, Manitoba; and the National Art Gallery be relocated to Bateman, Saskatchewan.  The latter is actually a ghost town, but the Art Gallery may be able to revive it.  But let's not forget that the Museum of Science and Technology is looking for a new home.  Let's send it to the Gaspe Pennisula to satisfy non-westerners.

You see, Mr. Dunlap, we Ottawans can be accomodating when we are shown the error of our ways.

Power to the taxpayers. Remember us?

The PM, Premiers and Territorial leaders got together in Ottawa to discuss the looming economic crisis as it applies to Canada.  Everybody had their hand out and the only person to be potentially screwed by this will be the taxpayers.

These guys just don't get it.

If you want to support the North American automotive industry then give Canadians a tax break when they buy or lease a North American car or truck.  Don't just give it to the industry.  Give the money to the people who do the buying and they can give it to the industry in a fair trade for something they need!

Rather than the typical way that governments fund infrastructure projects, wherein the feds give one third, the provinces one third and one third to the municipality, the feds should pay the full costs.  That way the taxes paid by homeowners do not rise.   The homeowners can then spend their money on other stuff, like a new North American car.  Similarly the provinces can do a better job with hospital wait times with the money they save.


Let's think about NAFTA and jobs.  NAFTA makes it easy to move an entire industry to low wage Mexico.  If you have an industry that spews toxins, move it to Mexico where environmental standards are lower.

Let's think about controlling imports from places like China until they begin to raise their standards of living, employments and environmental protection.  It may put Wal-Mart out of business but that is their problem - not ours.

How inclusive are we in Canada?

If I was a cab driver and told a prospective rider that I would not drive them in my cab because the lady was wearing a fur coat, what would happen to me?  If I even had the attitude that I it was my right to discriminate, how long would I be driving that cab - and more important, should I find a new line of work?  How about refusing a ride to an Aboriginal, a Jew, an African or an Muslim.

In Vancouver, a cab driver refused a ride to a blind man with a guide dog by saying, first, that his was a pet-free cab, and later, that his religion did not allow him to be in a cab with an unclean dog.

The cab company paid off the blind man with $2,500 for his inconvenience and released a policy on cabs and guide dogs.  It includes:

"North Shore Taxi was ordered to immediately establish a policy forbidding any driver to refuse a fare from a blind person accompanied by a certified guide dog. The only exceptions are for drivers allergic to dogs and those who satisfy the company that they have an honest religious belief that precludes them from transporting certified guide dogs.  However, such drivers must call dispatch for the next available cab, give their name to the blind person and remain with them until the next cab arrives. Anyone who breaches the policy will be suspended for two shifts for a first offence and be subject to termination for a second offence."

The interesting thing is that no where in the policy is there a statement to the effect of, if you can't do your job of taxiing people from point A to B because of some religious belief, then maybe you should seek a new line of work.

But let's give Mr. Gilmour the final word.  He stated that he and his guide dog rarely encounter problems with other types of public transportation. He's hoping the requirement that cabbies have to wait until another taxi is dispatched will make life easier for people with disabilities.

"My dog is well behaved and clean so what is the barrier here?" he said. "I just hope this arbitrary action will no longer prevail."

Blue or Brown? One hell of a question!

Today's sermon is not meant to be preachy.  I, at my peril, will touch on the abortion issue in Canada.  I do not want to take a side on the issue but rather to talk about the process and the possible relevance of the Rule of Unintended Consequences to the issue.

Allow me to start with a story.  Two men had erectile dysfunction.  One overcame the problem with Viagra and the other thought that he was being punished by God so he chose not to take the little blue pill.  The first man was happy and the second suffered through his pain.  This is a story of choice.  The first man had a choice and chose the pill.  The second had a choice and chose no pill.  With me so far?

An overzealous politician did not like the idea of the little blue pill so he passed a law banning it.  Now let's look at the forgoing scenario with this new law.

Two men had erectile dysfunction.  One was frustrated when he found out that he could not get a medication to cure the problem,  He was not happy. The other didn't want the pill so he was no worse off.  The result?  Both men suffered through their pain and neither was happy.

When you have no law, no one can be accused of being wrong.  Having no law that blue is brown means that you have a choice as to whether, in your mind, blue is blue or blue is brown.  But when you have a law that states that blue is brown - you have no choice other than to break the law if you wish to say that blue is blue.

So what does this mean with respect to abortion?  With no law in place, women have a choice to have an abortion or not.  With a law against abortion, no one has a choice.

Sermon finished.

In a sea of change, some things stay the same

I watched and listened to the US election last night.  I couldn't be more enthusiastic for the decisions taken by a majority of Americans.  They listened to their hearts rather than to the pundits and press and they voted for change.

But in the midst of all this change the rabid right wing in the media just continues along spewing their invective as if nothing is happening around them.  On CFRA last night, Rob Snow and John Counsell, those bastions of enlightenment that they think they are, pontificated that the talk show hosts like Limbaugh were going to have a field day with the Obama win.  The truth is that Limbaugh doesn't care if Republicans win or lose, he is a simple showman not a studied analyst.  The same goes for Snow and, to a lesser extent, Counsell.

The rabid right doesn't care about facts - if they need facts - and none exist - they just invent them.

Take for example a headline on Fox News today.  "Obama Victory Resounding, But a Landslide?"  Obama's electoral college totals were 349 versus 144 for McCain.  This result, they assert, does not qualify as a landslide compared to some past election.  One election they cite as comparison was the landslide win of Roosevelt over Parker in 1904.  The electoral count then?  336 - 140.  That was a landslide but the 2008 results were not?  Give it up, Fox News.

I was at the hockey game last night when results were pouring.  Twice during the evening a message went up to let the crowd know what was happening in the election.  The cheers for the lead of Obama drowned out the cheers when they flashed that Toronto was losing to Carolina.  The people of Ottawa spoke.  One exception was that guy standing behind when I went for water.  I overheard his buddy ask him who he liked in the US election.  His answer, I fear, almost made me swallow my dentures.  "The choice is clear," he stated.  "You can vote for a true war hero or for a guy who hates Canada."  Seems this guy listens too much to CFRA and Fox News.

Change is good.  Embrace change.  Change brings new idea.  New ideas bring change.  (That's enough of the Chi.)

That's a good message to remember during the next municipal election, when change is needed.

When the time is right?

The nice part about making predictions without specifying a time frame is that you will always be right - it is just a matter of time?  Even if it never happens - it's just a matter of time.

So it is with the eventual merger of the NDP and Liberals.  Political pundits and columnists have been predicting for 10 years that the Liberals and the NDP will eventually merge.  Now they include the Green Party into that merger.  Will it ever happen?  I am not sure.  But I do know that talks must be held - if not nationally, then at the local level.

Local level talks are the best place for discussions because that is where the rubber hits the road and egos are tempered more than at the national levels.

The federal riding of Nepean Carleton is a good place to start.  In the 2008 elections the best candidate, by far, was Lori Gadzala of the Green Party.  She came third.  Phil Brown of the NDP was fourth but still put on a great show.  Ed Mahfouz was the Liberal candidate,- and his campaign was almost painful. The winner on the night was Perfect PP, a sad excuse for an MP.  Even with a meltdown in the Liberal vote, though, PP's vote share only rose 1% versus 2006.  Voters stayed away from PP in droves and I wager that with a better Liberal candidate, the fight would have been closer.  I wonder what would have been the result if Lori Gadzala had run as a Liberal?  Or maybe as a Green-Liberal-Democratic candidate?  Would she have won?  Would she be in the House right now talking about the environment?

The platform of the Green Party was a very good one.  However, the Greens have been painted, mostly by the Cons and the NDP as a one-issue party - the environment.  It is unfair but true.  On the other hand the NDP is also painted as a one-issue party - their issue is social programs.

The Liberals are painted as soft on crime - tell that to the critics of Trudeau's implementation of the War Measures Act - "Just watch me!"  They opposed the War in Iraq.  They returned the country's budget from deficit to surplus.  They proposed ways to turn around the sickening environment.  They found ways to help the poor, the Aboriginals, the immigrants, the unionists, the hourly workers, the sick, the arts and other ignored segments of our population.

The Liberal party is a natural home for Greens and NDPers.  You can change the name of the party but the core values remain.  And those values are shared by the centre and the left.

While you are mulling over the idea of a merger, think about this also - you could send PP back to school in Alberta, to boot.

The Dicotomy of Canadian Politics

One often-mentioned virtue of democracy is that the people have the final say on politicians at voting time.  Political pundits will tell you that if you are dissatisfied with your MP, MPP or city Councilor, vote against them.  Sounds fine and sounds right, right?

But in federal politics, voting to punish the Cons for breaking a promise to Newfoundland and Labrador, only serves to bring out the vindictive nature of President Harper.

Newfoundlanders, who voted in large numbers to send a message to Harper, are now concerned that NL's issues are going to be ignored by the government because there are no NL Cons in the caucus.  So much for democracy?

If Harper ignores NL, he does it at his peril.  He and his cabal of lobbyists figure that using strong arm tactics on NL for insulting He-That-Rules-from-on-High, will result in other Canadians being fearful of future insults to his Highness.

Fear tactics.  Strong arm punishment for not towing the line.  Sound a bit like Germany and AH?

Winning hearts

There is an old axiom of war that states, "If you win their hearts, you can win their minds."

Canada went in to Afghanistan in 2002. But it took until 2008 and the departing speech of the Canadian commander-in-country Major General Marc Lessard before someone suggested that maybe the eons old tribal factions in Afghanistan might have something to do with the on-going struggle and maybe, just maybe, it was time to engage the tribes as part of the strategy.

There is another old axiom of war. "Power the the people, baby."

It must be a typo!

It was with nervous excitement that I read the Ottawa Citizen and the Globe and Mail this morning. I was looking to see what plum of a cabinet job was given to Nepean-Carleton's own Perfect PP, MP. After all, PP won his riding with the second highest vote tally in the entire country. He was a stalwart Defender of the Faith in the first Con MinGov and a defacto-leader of political jihad against all things not blue. He would at least be Minister of Propaganda.

But no, sorry to say, PP did not make the cut. He was edged out by women and minorities, especially one that was FN from the frozen north. How's that for just deserts? Rejected after giving the best 3 minutes of his young life - how can he hold his head up after being turfed into the Hill's refuse bin by Uncle Stephen?

It not often I feel sympathy for Con politicos but I will make an exception this time for PP. He is a sad little person but at least he has the bar at the Legion to fall forward on.

On the bright side, PP - you are in good company with the likes of Gary "Keene-killer" Lunn, who was demoted to the Minister of State for Running and Jumping.

Flaherty's slip sliding away. But not fast enough!

Jim Flaherty is the poster boy for the consistently bozo-types. Here is a FinMin telling us that he will not force a surplus on the backs of Canadians. What to hell does that mean? Is he so inept that he does not understand that there is only one taxpayer in Canada. The corporation pass their taxes on to the public through their prices. We, the citizens, pay their taxes! It is only us, the people of Canada, who pay taxes. Get it Jimmy? YOU GET IT?

Flaherty fled Queens Park to Parliament Hill in 2004 leaving behind a $5.8 billion deficit, all the while claiming that Ontario was in surplus. That cost the taxpayer of Ontario billions to fix and forced the Libs to re-introduce the health levy.

Flaherty was no sooner on Parliament Hill as FinMin in 2006 when broke a solemn Con promise and taxed Income Trusts, costing pension plans of retirees tens of billions of dollars.

In 2008 he began a one man crusade to destroy the economy of Ontario by telling anyone who would listen that Ontario was the last place he would invest.

He continued sniping at Ontario by claiming they were the only jurisdiction that did not reduce corporate taxes when he wanted them to. That would have been a tax reduction for profitable companies at the expense of Ontario's real taxpayers, Jimmy.

Now. Jim-Bob wants us to believe him when he says that deficits are not bad things - even if two weeks ago he and his boss, PM Harper, were telling us that the economy is strong and that there would be NO deficit in the future.

He won't even consider canceling or reducing the $5 billion in subsidies that go to the (mostly foreign) oil companies. That would keep us in surplus but, of course, that would anger his constituents in the oil patch and on Bay Street (and I don't mean the voting constituents).

Remind me, will you? Why was this government returned?

Harper shares our pain

In peril of being called a cynic, I wonder what the real reason is behind the meeting that PM Harper has set up with Provincial and Territorial Leaders on November 10. He says that he wants to discuss the economy.

In the two and half years of his first mandate, Harper ignored the other leaders. He never even invited them to lunch.

Now, the economy, which Harper and his parrot, J. Flaherty maintain have strong fundamentals, is falling apart faster than a $2 haircut.

The cynical-MysteryMan wonders if Harper is using the occasion to try to share the blame for his bonehead moves of reducing the GST, and therefore his revenues, and increasing program spending at a rate three times the rate of inflation and twice that of the Liberals' more spend-wielding years, resulting in impending deficits.

Oh, to be a fly in the room on Nov 10. Harper will have to contend with the Premiers of NL. Ontario, Quebec and BC - gentlemen that he treated like cow manure during the recent election. I wonder if he will declare the agenda for the meeting as a confidence motion?

There are only a few recourses for Harper in the meeting.

1) He can treat everyone as his opposition and declare no consensus, and force an election to try to get a majority government;
2) He can suck up to the Premiers and offer them support in these hard-pressed times, then declare the meeting as an attack on federal coffers, resulting in loss of confidence and call an election to get another crack at a majority; or
3) He can cancel the meeting, declare no confidence in his own government and call an election to try again to get a majority.

See the trend here?

Hill Times Reporter Proclaims His Superiority

Hill Times Report Tom Korski, a man who never tires at leading with his chin on any issue, did it again in the current Hill Times (October 27, 2008).  In his writing he asks why Dion could not understand a simple question put to his by Steven Moore of CTV Atlantic.  Korski states that the question was very simple - "What would you have done that Mr Harper has not done?"

I would not want to contradict the genius that is Korski, but if your are going to argue a point, at least get the point straight.  The question asked by Moore was " "If you were prime minister now, what would you have done about the economy and this crisis that Mr. Harper has not done?"  The question is a bit cumbersome for the average Canadian, especially one who's native language is not English, but then again Korski is not your average Canadian.   He is SuperCanadian!  Able to leap to any conclusion, even without a basis in fact!
 
But Korski is just filled with gems dying to get out,.  On June 9 he lamented that the media was not picking up the signals that the economy was about to be flushed down the toilet.  This was at a time when the PM and his FinMin were telling us that the economy was strong.  Korski didn't bother to mention that the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail  were running stories on the failing Ontario economy and that it was the right-wing press at the National Post, the Sun and Ottawa Citizen that were sucking up the Con message.

Is the Cornwall sex inquiry a sham?

In 1995, John MacDonald approached Charles Hardwick, the newly minted Attorney General of Ontario with an allegation of sexual molestation against a local Catholic Priest.  His was not the first, nor the last, allegation against the priest and in fact it was a drop in the bucket in what has slowly turned into a bucket of crap that has engrossed the Church, the judicial system, governments of three political stripes and ruined the reputation and health of countless victims, policemen and politicians.  And for what?  Jollies and expediency?

It wouldn't even be funny if it was a joke.  And it is no joke -  and it isn't remotely funny.

John MacDonald was abused.  He wanted justice to be applied to the abuser by the system.  What John got instead was a brick wall to smash his head against.  Lies, politics, whitewash and abuse of power - that's also what John got.

The so-called inquiries into what happened in Cornwall have been going on for years.  They are currently in the fourth in a string of inquiries into the abuse of John and countless other young boys in Cornwall.  The current government has told the Justice in charge that the inquiry must wrap up.  Report to us in February or March, says the Premier.

Is the Premier pushing to end the inquiry because it is taking too long and has cost $50 million?  Or is it because the inquiry is getting a bit too close to revealing the involvement of police, CAS workers, politicians and former Ontario governments in the cover-up that has characterized this sewer of a situation for over 40 years?

Greenspan for town clown

Alan Greenspan, former Chairman if the US Federal Reserve, an economist who espoused the open and free financial market in the face of any opposition from US lawmakers, has announced the no-one could have foreseen the "once in a century credit tsunami". 

No early warning systems in the market, Al?  No little hint that there could be a small, even tiny, problem in the offing?

How about the push to advance credit to pet Chihuahuas or dead people or credit card issuers sending one hundred credit cards to a single address with one hundred different names.  How about giving mortgages on empty lots or $500,000 parking spaces.  How about bankers bundling mortgages into little brown envelopes and selling them at a discount to other bankers.  How about executives and brokers taking home seven-digit pay packages.

I am sure that you won't mention any of this when you give the lunch speech in Toronto in November.  I wonder how much you are charging for couple of hours of your time?  Maybe you give that payment to some of the victims of the "credit tsunami"!

A test for the new Blue-Sweater Harper

After spending the election trying to convince fellow-Newfoundland and Labradorean's to vote Anything But Conservative, Premier Danny Williams has decided to kiss and make up with PM Stephen Harper.  In a press release, Williams declared that the feud over Harper's broken promises was over and he wants to work in a cooperative way to improve the fare of NL and all of Canada.

Any one want to place a bet on Harper's answer to Williams being different in public than in private?  Methinks the blue sweater will show a bit of tatter.

To sweeten the offer, Williams invited Harper to come pay a visit to him on the rock - in winter.  I will lay odds that Harper will reject the idea because it would be bad for the environment - both physical and political.

And so it begins

Local Con MPP Lisa McLeod has begun here re-election campaign in the same style as that used by her federal counterparts.  Attacks and character assassination.  In email messages to selected constituents - it seems that not all of them are Lisa-fans - the intrepid Lisa started her invective.  Without acknowledging that she does not understand finance, management, economics or anything connected to common sense, Lisa blames the job losses in Ontario, the high Canadian dollar, Free Trade, federal mismanagement of the banking industry, US and work economic turmoil, tight credit and genital herpes on Dalton McGuinty, Premier of Ontario.

Your shrill message will wear thin soon, Lisa.  Don't waste your ammo this early on.  Otherwise people might start asking you questions, such as:

• When Dell started to lay off 1,100 call centre workers in Ottawa, you demanded an economic stimulus package, while at the same time calling the Liberal tax and spend.  Isn't that a bit contradictory?

• You slammed the government of Ontario for their funding of a crack pipe program in Ottawa when the city had decided not to fund it because it was a health issue not a municipal one.   You called the government's intrusion a "slippery slope to Big Brother".  But when the real Big Brother, Con Screamer Baird, interfered with the Ottawa N/S LRT project and leaked confidential contract information to the press, what did you have to say about it?  Nada, Nyet, Nothing.  And it was not as if it was a non-issue for constituents.  Your act of ignorance -  and that of your boss at the time, the fabulous Pefect PP - will leave the south Ottawa community of Barrhaven without LRT for at least the next 20 years.  Thanks Lisa.

• In 2006, you demanded the Ontario government eliminate the health care premium calling it a tax grab.  That $2.1 billion program helped to erase the $5.8 billion deficit left by your party as they fled Queen's Park.  It also helped keep the province out of deficit until now.

The teeth are bared and the finger nails are sharpened.  The rhetoric is being ratched up and the attack is about to begin in earnest.  Lisa is on the move.

God help us all.

Time for the Cons to 'fess up

Guess what? The Cons do not have any idea about what to do about the state of the current economy than does my cat, Peckerhead.

In Renfrew County, the elusive Con MP, Cheryl Gallant, stated in a press release on August 15, 2008, that she was "looking forward to working with all Municipalities who have identified infrastructure improvements as a priority in their communities." Those infrastructure issues will take lots of money to address, won't they Cheryl?

In the same region, on October 21, Ish Theilhiemer wrote in StraightGoods.ca: "Last week, all the local pulp mills and fibre board processors — the end users of sawdust and chips from local sawmills — shut down indefinitely due to market uncertainty." He went on the point out the obvious, "Hundreds of people will be thrown out of work. They won't pay taxes or buy very much locally, which will put a pinch on government revenues, the local market economy and the bigger economy, which depends so badly on consumers who feel free to flex their plastic."

The disconnect between Cheryl and her plan is the fact that the feds only kick in 33% of infrastructure funding. Does anyone think that thew province of Ontario, which also needs to pony up 33%, can contribute at the same time as they are going into deficit? Can Renfrew county kick in their one-third when their tax base in shrinking badly?

Time for a wake-up call for Cheryl and the rest of the Cons - and, for that matter, this whole bloody country.

The cupboards are bare. Time to tighten your belt and suffer a little pain.

And Cons, it is time you came to grips with the obvious. You forced a $300+ million election so that you would not be tagged with a recession, but you failed.

Financial geniuses are the root cause of our problems

On January 2, Joe the Speculator, purchased a short-positioned stock contract. He figured that Acme Plumbing Corp.'s stock was worth only $50 per share. Short selling consists of borrowing someone else's Acme stock and selling them. You would do this since you believe that the stock will drop in price, which will allow you to buy it back at a cheaper price. It is the same concept as "buy low, sell high" but in reverse order. Joe did not really understand what this transaction was all about but since his broker at the firm of Tipit, Ripit and Dumpit recommended it to all their clients, he went along with it.

At the same time as Joe bought his short position, his neighbour, Pastor Billy-Bob Schwartz, leader of the Church of Perpetual Agony, contributor to countless charities and parent to twelve foster children, decided to get into the stock market in a small way, investing a portion of his meager savings. The Pastor bought 100 Acme Plumbing shares at $50 each.

In the meantime, the Bank of Somewhat Dodgy Returns, commonly called BSDR, had purchased 1,000,000 shares of each of Acme Plumbing and Greasy Donuts about a week before a fateful lunch of TR&D's principals.

On January 10, Acme announced a major contract with a large building contractor and the news appreciated their stock value from $50 to $55 per share. The Pastor was happy but Joe was not. You see, if the price continued to rise and Joe's short-position was not sold at a price below $50 per share, then Joe would be a loser - and so would all the suckers.. er, I mean... clients of TR&D.

What to do, what to do?

"I know", says Tipit, seated between Ripit and Dumpit at the Cigar Bar on Bay Street "We know that the firm of Jumpup and Dy holds 1,000,000 shares of Acme as a hedge against potential losses on a short position in Greasy Donuts, which has been appreciating ever since Greasy decided to eliminate trans-fats, what ever to hell they are. And since we hold 1,000,000 shares of Greasy and have already made our profit, we sell Greasy at the same time as J&D sell Acme. Both stocks will go down and we can all cash in out short positions." "Brilliant", says R &D of TR&D. "We all win on both stocks. There is no downside that I can see. Let's do it."

So, TR&D sold their positions in Greasy, while J&D sold all their Acme shares. The result? Both stocks took a nose-dive because no-one really understood why holders of large block of each company are were dumping. "Do they know something that we don't?" ask the panicking investor?

In short order Greasy shares had dropped to penny stock and Acme did no better. To make things even worse, the Acme big building client canceled their deal with Acme fearing that the company was not viable, due to the share price plummet, putting 50 people out of work.

The bottom line? TR&D and J&D, and their clients, had successfully manipulated two stocks on the Exchange and made a wonderful profit. Joe was elated. He had made over $5,000 in less than two weeks.

But what of Pastor Schwartz, Joe's neighbour? With the meltdown of Acme, the Pastor had to file for bankruptcy, which, in turn, resulted in his Parish demanding his removal as their Pastor. His wife of 10 years walked out on him and finally Social Services came in to remove all the foster children from his care - because he could no longer feed them. Pastor B-B Schwartz was a broken man who took to a life on the streets. Neighbour Joe bought his house for the taxes-owing.

And what of the Bank of Somewhat Dodgy Returns? When the market fell and they lost their liquidity the government stepped in to keep them viable with loans of taxpayer money at a very low interest rate. William C. Lomax Jr., the Chairman of BSDR, was so elated that he gave himself a $1,000,000 bonus and went out and bought a new Porsche. One night after drinking a bit to much, Chairman William C was driving home when an object appeared in his headlights. He swerved but could not miss hitting the object. The object turned out to be a street bum, later identified as former-Pastor B-B Schwartz, who died at the scene.

The moral of this story? I have no idea what the moral is here! In fact I find the whole thing immoral.

But it is what is going on all around us right now!

Pass the.. er.. we used to call it cheese

Canada is in discussions with the European Union to set up a free trade deal.  But what the parties are discussing is more than free trade.  Under the agreement, Canada and the EU will be harmonizing standards.  What that really means is that Canada is going to have to agree to whatever standards the EU can think of.  Take for example what can be classified as cheese under EU rules.  Canadian Cheddar with most likely become One-world-economic-order-dairy-based-product in English and more than likely Fromage-faux in French.

The EU has skirmished over currency, sausage and anything that they can possible dream up to fight about.  If the EU decides to ban US beef, will Canada have to follow suit?

Consequences.  Think about it Steve.

Frankly, I'm for Frank

With the election out of the way and M. Dion about to jump overboard, it is time to think about the future of the Liberal Party and the Liberal brand.

I talked with a colleague in Alberta yesterday and one on Manitoba on Thursday.  Both agree that Frank McKenna has great appeal in their regions - and not just with Liberals.

McKenna was the Premier of the only bilingual province in Canada.  He promised that he would retire after 10 years - AND KEPT HIS WORD.  He balanced budgets, listened to the people and ran a clean caucus.  He became The Canadian Ambassador to Washington and now sits on the Board of a major Canadian bank. 

Sounds like a winner to me.

Former Tory Premier Bernard Lord, in a interview, stated that McKenna would make a good Lib Cheif, but not right now.  Is that because Lord covets the Tory leadership position and doesn't want to fight against McKenna?  I am just asking.

The Liberal party needs a house cleaning, starting at the highest level and going right to the local level. 

McKenna... McKenna... McKenna!

Reality Bites for Harper

The election was on Tuesday and by Friday the veneer of the Harper government has already begun to be stripped away.

Harper mocked Dion during the campaign that his (Dion's) five point plan to address the issue of the economic problems Canada is facing was the result of a Dion panic attack.  Within 40 minutes of the end of the election, Harper announced a six point plan, essentially parroting what Dion had proposed.  One pivotal point in Harper's plan was to meet and consult with the provincial premiers, something that he did not in the previous 2 years.  Seems that the premiers are meeting next week, in part to discuss the economy, and guess who is a no-show?  Harper's  has to take the kids out Trick or Treating to get back into the wife's books of his wife.  Laureen really likes arts and theatre galas.  I guess a hearty handshake is not enough for a woman scorned.

But not satisfied with only being a bozo, Harper decided that he would would make himself into a liar by musing that the government might have to go into a deficit in 2009-10; and maybe even for the following three years - a situation that he claimed would never happen with his fiscally prudent government.  After all, he is a economist, so he knows.  Time to turn in your Canadian Tire diploma, Steve?

Stay tuned.  I bet this gets better.

Wal-mart for PM?

From CBC.ca: "Wal-mart is closing a tire-and-lube garage in Gatineau where workers won a major victory last August when a Quebec arbitrator imposed a collective agreement on the company. The precedent-setting contract was the first ever forced on the Arkansas-based retailer by an outside agency. The agreement affected eight workers at the garage on Maloney Boulevard in Gatineau, across the river from Ottawa."

This is the second outlet that has won bargaining status for their members (the firs one in Jonquiere, Qc, was not forced by a labour board) and the second outlet that has been closed by Wal-mart. See a trend here?

Since Wal-mart came into Canada a bunch of years back, they have driven thousands of small businesses in the toilet and put thousands of people out of jobs. What did they replace them with? Mega-stores with the personality of a dead fish and low paying jobs with few benefits.

And let's not forget that the "Wal-mart effect" has forced the closure and merger of hundreds of small community hardware stores into like Canadian Tire and Rona.

Now, Wal-mart wants the government of Canada to give them a Class A banking permit. The people of Canada want the govt of Canada to tell Walmart to piss off.

Who speaks for Canada?

We'll see.

Continuing story on Gas Prices

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.

According to gasbuddy.com on October 16, the oil price was $75/bbl, a drop of 49%. On this same date, the average Ontario gas price was $1.04/litre, a drop of only 24%.

Where's the rest of the money going?

And they can find no evidence of price gouging? It is right in front of your face! In case you think I am making these number up, check out the chart from www.ontariogasprices.com.

The election is over?

When our election started 36 days ago, the Americans were approaching the end of theirs.   Our is over - and the Americans?  They are still approaching the end of theirs. I have no idea why I bring that up - it just seems a bit odd.

But what is the downside and the upside of our election.

The downside is that we have another minority government at the cost of $340 million tacpayer dollars.  The upside is that, being a minority government, the Cons cannot run crazy across Canada doing what they really want to do.

The downside is that almost all of the incumbents in the election were re-elected drowning out new ideas and voices.  The upside is that the new ideas were put into the public domain during the campaign.  Sure many of them were distorted and ignored for political gain - but at least they are out there.

The downside is that Steve, Stephane and probably Liz and Jack will lose their jobs.  The upside is that Steve, Stephane and probably Liz and Jack will lose their jobs.

It may be time to talk about a Unite the Centre Left movement.  This election like many before it shows that Libs, Dippers and Greenies are not so different that could not work together under a single flag.  The Right did this with the CPC and Reformers.  The time may be right.

Is it time to seriously discuss an Ontario party - the Blonct, shall we say?  Ten percent of the population of Canada control twenty percent of the seats in Parliament because they concetrate their work in one province.  Is it time for us to do the same?

Take me out to the Greeenspan

Here is a good one for you.

Former PM Harper decried that well healed Canadians were going off to arts "galas" to complain at the lack of arts funding from his government. Let's assume for a second that Harper is correct and galas which raise money to support the arts and buy musical instruments for kids are immoral.

I wonder then what the PM thinks about the TD bank sponsoring a $450.00 per person, tax deductible as an expense, lunch, with wine, in November so that the well-heeled financial guys, who just received a massive $25 billion bail-out (with more on the way) from Canadian taxpayers, can rub noses with Edward Greenspan, former US Fed boss?