Conservative Insider Charged With Breach of Bail

The Conservative law and order agenda must include keeping the criminals close by. Another one is facing charges of fraud and now breach of bail.

Boy they can pick 'em.

Could Dean Del Mastro be Taken Down by Two Women?

The horrible Dean Del Mastro and his brother have launched a smear campaign against a Peterborough resident, simply because she has a Liberal lawn sign.

It was uncalled for and pretty low class.

Why does Peterborough keep sending this man back to embarrass them?

Betsy McGregor would be a much better MP.

Is Peter MacKay on His Way Out?

Peter Mackay may be going for the Libyan dictator look here, but next week he may be looking for a new job.

According to ThreeHundredandEight:

In Nova Scotia, the New Democrats have taken two seats from the Conservatives: Central Nova and South Shore - St. Margaret's. David Parker is the new favourite in Peter MacKay's seat, while former NDP MP Gordon Earle is the favourite in South Shore - St. Margaret's.

The Liberals have also regained a seat themselves, taking Random - Burin - St. George's back from the Tories in Newfoundland & Labrador.

I don't agree with all of their seat predictions, because I think the Green will get at least one, and possibly two or three.

But the Mackay story is interesting. It shows that people are paying attention to things like the Afghan detainee story, contempt of Parliament and self-serving prorogations.

I think the pollsters have read this election all wrong. Democracy is important.

I've Done the Math. Why Jack Layton Will Never be Prime Minister

The late senator Eugene Forsey, was considered to be one of Canada's foremost constitutional experts. A few days ago someone shared an opinion of Forseys':

“Suppose the government gets a dissolution, and no one gets a clear majority. The government retains office and meets the new Parliament - as it has a perfect right to do - hoping to pick up enough votes to keep it in power. But the new Parliament defeats it. It declines to resign; governments don’t automatically resign on defeat..."

They interpreted this to mean that even if Harper were to be defeated, and either the Liberals or the NDP won a minority, that Harper would still have the option of trying to secure enough votes in Parliament to stay on as prime minister.

Remember we don't elect prime ministers in this country, only Members of Parliament, and in a minority, the legitimacy of the prime minister is contingent upon gaining the confidence of the House.

It seems unlikely that he would, but then what if he said I'm going to the GG, a Conservative cohort of Brian Mulroney's, by the way, and I'm going to ask him to dissolve Parliament?

According to Forsey: "Rather than simply being a rubber-stamp for the Cabinet in office, the Crown, with its “reserve” power to refuse its ministers’ advice, may be all that prevents an autocratic government from “spanking the electorate into submission”" According to Lawrence Martin in Harperland, the Conservatives were going to go right to the Queen if the Governor General wouldn't allow them to prorogue to save their jobs.

Expect the unexpected from Stephen Harper if it means power.

So what would he do if the GG refused? We already know what he would do. He will create such a public outcry that Canadians wouldn't know what hit them, especially if any combination of opposition members made Jack Layton prime minister.

It explains why a Conservative operative, emailed this to me. The NDP's socialist agenda includes closing down the tar sands (good news for environmentalists), and nationalizing the auto industry, banks, insurance companies and big oil.

Now we know that's pretty out there, and not likely to happen, but it won't matter. The Conservatives have it in their arsenal, ready to fire off, when and if needed.

Why else has the MSM started to ask about the NDP Constitution? They didn't really care about it before.

They are creating a new fear factor. Socialism. Lock up your children, bar the doors and nail the windows shut. They're coming for you.

It's not fair, but since when has Harper or the media in this country been fair?

Since this so-called NDP "surge" the headlines are changing. NDP can't handle economy. NDP wrong in times of trouble. Reality check on the NDP.

And Michael Ignatieff is right when he told them all to go to hell. They headlined him out of the race, while Jack Layton has been given a free ride. He hasn't had to endure 2 1/2 years of attacks ads. He's had a week, and what a week it's been.

And sadly the strategic voting has now hit a snag. Layton was on board , but is no longer. And the NDPers are asking us to hold our nose and vote NDP, because of some "wave" that's going to knock Harper out. That must be a tsunami.

So now that leaves the rest of us to do all the heavy lifting. Because we are not just looking for warm bodies to occupy seats, and if the NDP did sweep Quebec, the only way this fairy tale works, their MPs would be a ragtag bunch of the mostly disinterested.

How is that going to help our country move forward?

The only way Jack Layton will be prime minister, is if he gets a majority, and even then don't expect Harper to go down without a fight. But the chance of an NDP majority are pretty slim.

So I'm sticking with strategic voting to the end, and fortunately so are most others determined to get rid of Harper.

The NDPers can sit on shore, waiting for the "wave" if they want to, but I'm going to storm the barricades.

Thinking Twice: Why a Conservative-NDP Alliance Would be Bad for Canada

With all the fabricated hype of a Jackomania and NDP surge, the reality is that the NDP will gain few seats. As 308 reminds us: "more than half of the NDP's boost in support is located in Quebec. But according to their own people in the province, they don't have a local organization worth its salt in more than six or eight ridings."

I've already posted on the people running for the NDP in that province and I don't see any gains. In fact, if some of them did get in, they might be worse than the Conservatives.

And in Ontario:

Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research, also said polling has been mostly stagnant. With the exception of Mr. Layton in Quebec [margin of error 6.4], polling shows the Conservatives still dominate in the Prairies, and the Liberals have been holding steady in Ontario after initial Tory gains.

The only thing this faux news story might do is pull support from the other left parties, giving Harper his majority.

And Jack Layton is clearly running to be the leader of the Opposition in a Conservative government. But is that what's best for our country?

I posted last week of how Harper's National Citizens Coalition had helped to engineer a stunning victory for Ed Broadbent back in the day, but it was at the expense of the Liberals. And with a Conservative Majority under Brian Mulroney, the NDP accomplished little. We got the GST and the job killing Free Trade. But in 1988 it could have been avoided:

In the early days of the contest, the Conservatives topped the polls. In a televised leaders’ debate, however, Turner scored a powerful hit by warning Canadians of the consequences of Mulroney’s trade deal. “With one signature of a pen,” Turner thundered at Mulroney, “you’ve thrown us into the north-south influence of the United States and will reduce us, I am sure, to a colony of the United States.” The impact was immediate. The Liberals, having seized an issue that was at least as dear to the hearts of left-wing progressives, took the lead in the polls.

It was a moment of truth for business, labour, social movements, and for the ndp. Rather than joining the Liberals and other nationalists in a full frontal assault against free trade, the ndp reprised its 1984 election strategy, turned its guns on Turner (who was not even in office), and declared that there was no real difference between Grits and Tories. Those running the ndp campaign decided that what mattered most was the party’s seat total and its vote share relative to the Liberals’, not the fight for economic sovereignty.

When I first learned that Layton was going to change strategy and start attacking Michael Ignatieff, I started to really worry. It was 1988 all over again.

Broadbent got his 43 seats and Canadians got the shaft. According to James Laxer, in "Fake Left, Go Right": "Mulroney salvaged his free trade agreement, which took effect on January 1, 1989. To this day, we are witnessing the legacy of this deal in the softwood lumber dispute and other disagreements that bring into question Canada’s right to subsidize Crown and private corporations, and to use other instruments of state economic intervention."

In 2004 Layton tried a repeat performance. Instead of warning Canadians about the dangers of a Harper victory, he went after the Liberals. Many progressives were concerned because they knew how devastating a Stephen Harper victory could be.

So they started a "Think Twice" campaign, to do what Layton and the NDP refused to.

Maude Barlow, chairperson of the Council of Canadians, for one, told me that she felt pressure “not to critique Harper,” and that the top priority was “to win more seats for the ndp.” During the election, the Council was involved in the Think Twice coalition, made up of groups that came together to warn Canadians about Stephen Harper’s record. “If the ndp was not going to talk about Harper’s record,” Barlow said, “we felt we had to.”

The ndp and the wider progressive community are divided over whether it really matters if a Stephen Harper or a Paul Martin is in power. The standard party answer during the election campaign was a flat no, a position Maude Barlow couldn’t agree with.

Some things are more important than party politics, or at least they should be.

Layton, again teamed up with Harper in 2006 and where did it get him? What has he accomplished that he set out to accomplish in his political life? Nothing.

As Laxer says of the Harper-Layton team:

Child-care advocates are, in turn, furious at the ndp for its electoral tactics. Immediately after Harper was sworn into office, and after Layton announced that he could work with the Conservative government, the new prime minister made good on his promise to scrap the Liberals’ national child-care program. Harper will cancel the agreements with the provinces after the minimum one-year notice period, meaning they will lapse on March 31, 2007. The deals the Liberals had negotiated would have provided an average of $1 billion annually for five years to create spaces, hire staff, and make existing provincial child-care programs more affordable and accessible to all families.

Martha Friendly, the coordinator of the Childcare Resource and Research Unit at the University of Toronto, told me, the implementation of the child-care agenda was “considerably less advanced than it could have been several months further down the road.” Friendly has worked for three decades in pursuit of a universal, not-for-profit, early child-care program of the kind that exists in western Europe. ...While child-care advocates have fight left in them, Friendly says the Conservative victory has put the quest for a universal not-for-profit system on hold.

30 years to get a childcare plan, and Layton squashed it. Five years to hammer out the Kelowna Accord, and Layton-Harper squashed it.

The big issue this election is our democracy. With so many people working so hard, a progressive revolution was within our grasp. But now, any NDP gains, if indeed there are any, will not be at the expense of the Conservatives, nor will they move us an inch closer to restoring democracy.

Like Harper, Layton has put party and power above everything else.

At this stage of the game, I thought I could just continue reminding Canadians why Harper had to go. I never thought in a million years that I would have to start going after the NDP. I thought they were on our side.

NDP tweets now are almost all about Ignatieff and they are even going after Avaaz, questioning it's legitimacy, after they sued to have G-8 documents released. The same G-8 documents that the NDP helped the Conservatives suppress.

How incredibly sad.

Harper's Gun Nuts. Is it Only a Story When the MSM Pick it Up?

In May of 2007, Susan Delacourt sounded the alarm on the Gun advisory panel, hand picked by Stockwell Day and Garry Breitkreuz. All were pro-gun lobbyists, including the man in the above photo.

The Conservative government's firearms advisory committee, appointed and operating in virtual secrecy, is made up almost entirely of pro-gun advocates opposed to the firearms registry. Its dozen members include a man who argued that more guns in the hands of students would have helped in the recent Virginia Tech massacre, in which 32 people were killed, and another shooting aficionado who described a weapon used in last September's Dawson College killings in Montreal as "fun."

The committee's pro-gun tilt lends to the perception that Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government is out of step with urban concerns on firearms violence – especially in Toronto. Jordan Manners, 15, was killed last week in a school shooting, days after philanthropist Glen Davis was gunned down. Over the Easter weekend, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day quietly extended a long-gun amnesty program to allow those firearms owners yet more time to register their weapons – pleasing registry opponents but angering those fighting for tougher laws. In background research obtained and confirmed by the Star, members of the Conservatives' committee have shown themselves to be vocal proponents of gun use.

But the story gained little traction and all but went away. This allowed the Conservatives to continue their pro-gun agenda.

Harper's Reform movement has had long and deep ties with the American NRA and follows their belief that citizens should be armed for their own protection. In 2001, Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, posted on the NRA website.

A Canadian Alliance MP has defended his appearance on the U.S.-based National Rifle Association Web site and his assertion that Canada has harboured terrorists while persecuting gun owners. But in an interview Thursday, Saskatchewan MP Garry Breitkreuz said he has no evidence to support his claims that Canada is a terrorist haven and its negligence contributed to attacks in the United States. "We should not be targeting duck hunters and trying to put them in jail. (Alliance MP Defends Remarks, Leader-Post (Regina) / CP, October 5, 2001)

Also revealed:

In 2009, former Chief of Staff to Maxime Bernier, Bob Valcov was named as executive director of the Canadian branch of the international gun lobby group, Safari Club International, a group with strong ties to the NRA. Another former Conservative staffer, Brant Scott, who was Executive Assistant to Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, became Director of Communications to the Canadian Sports Shooting Association which also has strong links to the NRA. Media reports earlier this year reported that the NRA is helping Canadian groups like the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, Canadian Firearms Institute and the Canadian Unlicensed Firearms Owners Association to fight the registry by raising money and coaching them on how to lobby politicians.

In 2006, Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz co-hosted with the Canadian Shooting Sports Association, a forum featuring then-NRA president Sandra Froman, as keynote speaker at the CSSA annual meeting in Toronto.

In 2006, then-Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day appointed the Minister's Firearms Advisory Committee which was composed exclusively of opponents of the gun registry, including many with direct ties to the National Rifle Association, including Professor Gary Mauser [in above photo] whose research had been directly funded by the NRA. Former Canadian Alliance MP Jim Pankiw appeared in an NRA video in 2001 claiming that the gun registry turned law-abiding Canadian citizens into “instant criminals.”

Former Conservative MP Art Hanger appeared in an NRA infomercial in 2000 claiming that the Canadian government “wants every firearm seized in this country.” Ontario Progressive Conservative MPP Jerry Ouellette also appeared in the video claiming that the government was intent on confiscating guns saying, “It's coming. We've got the test waters here in Canada to prove it and you're next on the list.” He claimed his comments had been pre-vetted by then-Premier Mike Harris’ office.

In 1995, then-NRA executive director, Tanya Metaksa, wrote to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien threatening a tourism boycott of Canada if the long gun registry Bill passed: “An overwhelming negative reaction can be anticipated and it could seriously erode revenue into Canada generated by visiting U.S. sportsmen and women.”

Two weeks ago I posted on an alarming story where another member of Harper's gun advisory board, compared our police officers to the Nazi SS. These guys don't fool around.

Yesterday the Canadian Press picked up the column written in the Gun Digest:

A man who advised the Conservative government on firearms policies has compared the Ontario Provincial Police to a fascist paramilitary group and the Nazi SS. Dr. Mike Ackermann, a physician in Nova Scotia, was appointed in 2006 to a firearms advisory committee, reporting to then-public safety minister Stockwell Day.

Ackermann wrote a note in a Canadian Firearms Digest mailing list earlier this month discussing a police raid on the home of a gun owner in central Ontario. In the note, he compares the police to the Black Shirts, a fascist paramilitary group in Italy under Benito Mussolini and the infamous Nazi SS police.

Yes we should definitely give Harper another mandate. I've got my eye on a nice little .38 special snub nosed revolver, that will fit nicely in my purse.

The next time someone butts in line in front of me, I'll pop 'em.

Is this really your vision for Canada? On May 2, ignore the polls, and vote wisely.

Surprise, Surprise. Democracy Matters

The two key issues this election are democracy and getting rid of our autocratic prime minister.

And Gloria Galloway in the Globe confirms this. On the Internet, it’s anybody but Harper

Polls continue to suggest a climb for the NDP, but there appears to be few, if any, seats they can take in Ontario or Quebec. This means possible gains in the West, their home base, but I'm afraid that in the two key provinces, they will only further split the vote and possibly give Harper his majority.

In fact, I'll bet the Conservatives are counting on this.

Damn pollsters and their games.

However, locally, most people know who is the strongest contender to the Conservatives, so hopefully that will impact the vote.

The latest Nanos results still have an unusually high margin of error, suggesting that like us, they really have no idea what's going on.

This election will be decided by us, not them. And us wants Harper gone.

Conservative Law and Order Agenda Tough on Victims

By now most of us know that Harper's law and order agenda is misguided at best, dangerous at worst.

But his constant use of the term 'victims' has many 'victims' angry over being used as props.

When the Conservative government created the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime four years ago, it said the watchdog would promote access to programs, explore systemic issues and make sure Ottawa met its commitments to victims. None of that can happen if the justice minister keeps the office’s annual reports under wraps. Sullivan says he filed his 2008 and 2009 reports before his three-year term ended last April but they have yet to be made public by the government.

And what does it say that the highlight of office’s work is getting the Conservative government to invest $5 million to fund centres for children who have been victims of abuse at a time when it was happily committing taxpayers to spending billions of dollars to house more inmates in ever more prison cells? It suggests the Conservatives are more interested in using victims as props in their ongoing drive to impose expensive and unnecessary anti-crime bills on Canadians than helping those victims through better services and programs.

One more reason to throw the bums out.

Harper Trading Cancer for Votes

In a shameful bid for votes Harper is endorsing Canada's asbestos industry. My brother-in-law died from Asbestosis, one of the worst forms of lung cancer, because of exposure. We should be banning it, not promoting it, and certainly not exporting death.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has just set a new low in trolling for votes, with a shamelessly self-serving campaign stop in Asbestos, Que., home to one of the country’s most notorious exports.

In Ottawa the Conservatives may be stripping asbestos from Parliament, Harper’s official residence and other public buildings as a health hazard. But Harper is only too eager to court rural Quebec voters by extolling Canada’s role in a dirty industry that ships the mineral to developing countries, where it can cause deadly lung diseases including cancer if not properly handled.

Just how low can this man go?

So Who Didn't Want an Election?

Stephen Harper and the Conservative talking points, sure have this one wrong, when they claim that Canadians didn't want this election. Over 2 million votes were cast in the advance polls, which could be bad news for Harper, whose success depends on our tuning out and turning off.

I think this election will be one of the most exciting on record. I don't see a real sweep for anyone. Some of the pollsters and pundits in their hype are predicting a replay of the major success stories of John Diefenbaker and Brian Mulroney.

But we didn't have as many major parties then to split the vote.

And if the Bloc is on the ropes, it's difficult to predict who would gain. According to Andrew Steele in the Globe, the NDP don't have many quality candidates in the province.

The challenge for the Liberals this election is getting the 800,000 faithfuls who stayed home in 2008, to get out to vote, and I think they will do that. Because despite the questionable national polls, Michael Ignatieff is packing them in.

This election will be determined riding by riding, with the only national commitment to get rid of Stephen Harper, or at least hold him to a minority, though I don't think that will help. He needs a clear loss.

The Hill Times is reporting that there are as many as 95 close calls across the country. And regional polling is not showing the same as the national polls.

Lorne Bozinoff, president of Forum Research, also said polling has been mostly stagnant. With the exception of Mr. Layton in Quebec [margin of error 6.4], polling shows the Conservatives still dominate in the Prairies, and the Liberals have been holding steady in Ontario after initial Tory gains.

However, while they are suggesting little will change, a high voter turnout could very well change everything.

And we have to look at some of the pollsters weighing in. Summa Strategies vice-president Tim Powers is a Conservative insider, and David Coletto, CEO of Abacus Data, is a colleague of Tom Flanagan's.

I wouldn't put too much weight on anything they say.

The anticipated high voter turn out and youth participation, will be the game changer. And if this doesn't split the vote, the Conservatives could be in trouble.

Cheryl Gallant is struggling in her riding of Renfrew-Nipissing-Pembroke. Dean Del Mastro and his brother have waged a war against constituents in Peterborough, coming across as bullies.

In the Ontario riding of Brampton-Springdale, where Conservative Party candidate Parm Gill is running against Ruby Dhallah, there are charges of inappropriate access to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, and even the possibility that Gill, a private investigator, is selling visas for votes.

Former prime minister Joe Clark is backing Liberal Scott Brison, not that Brison's seat is really vulnerable, but it is a reminder that Harper's party is not the same as the historic Conservative Party that folded in 2003.

And while it would appear that the hype over the NDP surge has drowned out the debate on healthcare, that is still prominent on people's minds.

Few pollsters are paying attention to the Green Party, and I think they are about to make a breakthrough. Elizabeth May is in front in Saanich-Gulf Islands, and the Green platform will appeal to young voters. It may not be a splash, but I think we'll see a few Green MPs this time. Hopefully.

But there is one very important factor that is being missed. The determination of the Canadian people to get rid of Stephen Harper. The fact that his candidates are not showing up at debates and avoiding the media, only shows further contempt for Canadians.

If I had to make a prediction I would say that we could be looking at a Liberal minority, with a stronger NDP presence. The Bloc about the same, perhaps a bit diminished, and 3 or 4 Green MPs.

Hey, I can't be any further off than Nik Nanos. I just have to say with "a margin of error" requiring all fingers and a few toes, and I'm covered.

But in another prediction, where I'll be spot on, is that this election is going to be very exciting and yes, unpredictable.

The NDP and the Quebec Question

The latest trendline from Nanos shows the following in Quebec:

Conservatives - 14.1
Liberals - 22.0
NDP - 30.2
Bloc - 27.4

But there is a margin of error plus or minus 6.4 meaning the above could be off by as much as 12.8

So Conservatives range from 1.3 to 26.5
Liberals 9.2 to 34.6
NDP from 17.4 to 43
Bloc 14.6 to 40.2

And despite this, the talk is that the NDP could make enormous strides in the province. Good for them if they do. But it has also made the race between Layton and Harper. A race that Harper could win given some of the candidates running for the NDP.

... the kind of people about to head to Ottawa may surprise potential NDP voters in Quebec and the rest of the country.
For instance, Lawrence Cannon’s seat in Pontiac is the kind the NDP can win if these numbers hold. The candidate there is Mathieu Ravignat, who ran for the Communist Party in 1997. A moving story in the Montreal Mirror describes the young Mr. Ravignat and his commitment to Communism, weeping over the seizure of the party’s book collection along with its other assets after failing to field enough candidates to retain official status in 1993.

Alexandre Boulerice, the NDP candidate in Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie remains an “independentiste,” and continues to be a member of Quebec Solidaire, a provincial sovereigntist party.

The Conservatives will be all over this.

In a few ridings, the candidates are simple placeholders. Reporters have been unable to contact the NDP candidates in Bas-Richelieu–Nicolet–Bécancour and in St-Maurice-Champlain. Of one NDP candidate, local media wrote: “Other than knowing she is 71 years old, we don’t know even where she resides.” ...Others work and live at the other end of the province from the riding they may represent.

What in the hell has the media done? By trumping up the national polls they failed to look into who the NDP had running in Quebec. Few with a hope in hell of winning, and if they did, may not even realize they were running.

In Ontario the NDP is at about 17. Or not. Margin of error 5.4.

Unbelievable.

Could Project Democracy Change the Political Landscape in Alberta?

The above image is one of the ads placed by Unseat Harper/Canadians Rallying to Unseat Harper/Voices for Democracy.

There are so many citizens groups working behind the scenes to oust Harper. We have to fight the media and the pollsters, but we're not giving up.

The latest Nanos poll, when you factor in their margin of error have the Liberals ahead in Ontario, or the Conservatives ahead in Ontario. The Libs could lead the Cons by 3.5 points or the NDP by 34.6.

Or the NDP and Conservatives could be in a statistical tie. Any thing's possible, and indeed it will be this election.

But how easy will it be in Alberta? Reform Party territory.

I think Linda Duncan has a good chance of holding onto her seat. At least I hope so. But ousting Peter Goldring or Laurie Hawn, may be tough.

But Project Democracy will go the distance in the Edmonton area.

Ordinary Canadians fighting to save our country. It doesn't get any better than that.

The "Coalition" Did Not Halt the G-8 Report. The NDP Did

News today is that Avaaz is going to the federal courts to have the G-8 Spending report released before the election.

Harper is saying that the "coalition" caused the delay but the fact is, we could have seen that report if it hadn't been for the NDP.

They were the ones who delayed the report until after the election. Why? What's in it for them?

Maybe that's who they should be suing.

James Laxer's Satirical Piece is Not Off the Mark

James Laxer has an excellent satirical piece on his blog, about the Globe and Mail's endorsement of Stephen Harper.

Not off the mark.

I have had a bit of an ongoing conversation with Norman Spector of the Globe. A well known Conservative he at first was singing Harper's praises and attacking Michael Ignatieff as an elitist.

But when he started singing the praises of Jack Layton I knew something was up.

Then the bogus NDP surge headlines started to appear.

Given that polls today are mostly fraudulent and the margin of error in the polls showing an NDP surge, cartoonish, I think the entire thing is a set up. The threat of an NDP government will rally Harper's troops and the promise of an NDP surge, send strategic voters into a tail spin.

Think twice, vote once, and ignore the polls. Focus on your riding.

Canadian Soldiers Fear Another Harper Mandate

Canadian soldiers fear that they could be the target of Harper's slash and burn agenda, giving money to the rich but ignoring everyone else.

National Defence has changed a cost-of-living allowance for tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors and aircrew, prompting fears the deficit-slashing Harper government intends to eliminate it altogether.

...The benefit used to be included with military paycheques in high-cost cities, but it has been deposited separately since April 1.

Senior non-commissioned officers at several bases have warned the rank and file that is the first step toward possible elimination of the assistance altogether, defence sources told The Canadian Press. “Learn to live without it because it'll be gone within a year,” some sailors were told last week at Canadian Forces Base Halifax.

Don't worry guys. We've got your back. Harper is not getting in.

Facebook Friend of Ignatieff Out. Paul Bernardo Stalker In

Maybe instead of the RCMP screening those who had a photo of Michael Ignatieff on their Facebook page, they should start weeding out some of the people working for the Conservatives.

And I'm not talking about Bruce Carson or Dimitri Soudas. And I'm not even talking about those with links to terrorist organizations.

Seems they failed to weed out a fan of Paul Bernardo's who is listed as a dangerous offender.

And no I'm not talking about Jason Kenney.

In one of the more bizarre twists during the run-up to the federal election, a former Paul Bernardo admirer and dangerous offender has been booted from the campaign team of a Toronto Conservative candidate.Michelle Erstikaitis, 31, told QMI Agency Monday night she dyed her hair and used a fake name to join the campaign team of Kevin Moore (Toronto-Centre) as an envelope-stuffer last week.

Just weeks earlier, Erstikaitis had been released from Vanier prison for women in Milton, Ont., where she was awaiting sentencing for a plethora of charges, including stabbing her boyfriend in 2009.

Geesh!

Stephen Harper Will Stick With F-35s

Despite daily warnings about F-35s being over priced and inadequate, Stephen Harper, who is also over priced and inadequate, is sticking with them.
Good.

We'll tear up the contract on May 3, the same day we say goodbye to Steve and his damn planes.

Western Masochism and Redneckerology

In her 1999 book, Hard Right Turn, Brooke Jeffrey describes a 1993 election debate in the B.C. riding of North Okanagan—Shuswap.

At a town-hall meeting in the riding of Okanagan—Shuswap, a large crowd listens patiently to the speeches of the candidates during the federal election in the fall of 1993. Several of the candidates made lengthy presentations about the platforms of their parties and their positions on the major issues of the day. The Reform candidate, Darrel Stinson, stands up for only a few minutes of his allotted time, looking nervous and out of place.

He tells the crowd everything they need to know is in the Reform "Blue Sheet." "Read it. If you have any questions, we'll be happy to answer them." Then he gives them the telephone number of his campaign office. Twice. During the question-and-answer period that follows, several people ask Stinson about his party's position on specific issues. "I haven't looked into that one myself but I know we have a position somewhere here in this," he says, holding up the "Blue Sheet." It falls to me, the Liberal candidate, to inform the audience of Reform's position, quoting from the sheet as a furious Stinson looks on. (1)

Telling this story, you might think that this would mean the end of Stinson's political career.

But on the contrary, not only did he win a seat for the Reform Party that year, but would hold that seat for more than a decade. In 2004, he won with 46.39% of the vote.

Some of his more memorable performances in the House, included the suggestion that "the best way to prevent spousal abuse was to give women handguns", he challenged a Liberal opponent to a fistfight, asking "Do you have the fortitude or the gonads to stand up and come across here and say that to me, you son of a bitch?" and he called then PC leader Jean Charest, a "fat little, chubby, little sucker."

An absolutely charming man.

But he was not, and is not alone, in the redneckery Conservative stable. And even in 1993, the combative style, that now defines Conservative politics, was emerging.

Across British Columbia and Alberta similar scenes of overzealous Reform behaviour unfolded in many ridings. Although Okanagan- Shuswap may have been among the most extreme cases, the dumbing down of politics in the 1993 election was a common phenomenon in Western Canada, as was the emergence of a large group of previous disaffected voters whose only interest was in expressing their negative often prejudiced views. (1)

They knew where to draw support, and most of that support came from what we might now call a "Tea Party" uprising.

Reform was a corporate sponsored movement, in the same way that the American version is. But it knew how to play to a noisy "silent majority".

And it's rather sad, because Western Canada is more progressive than their representatives would suggest. The Famous Five were from Alberta, the women involved in the "Person's case" that finally made women "citizens".

Yet most Conservative MPs from the West, would prefer that the case was repealed.

So why do they keep sending people like Brad Trost, Maurice Vellacott, Garry Breitkreuz, Rob Anders and Jason Kenney to represent them, when they do not reflect Western values?

And two decades later, the candidates are still using talking points to drive their campaigns, no more aware of the world around them than Stinson was.

David Climenhaga discusses going to an all-candidates meeting in Alberta, where Conservative incumbent Brent Rathgeber was asked about the future of the CBC.

"I don't know that we need a national broadcaster in 2011," Rathgeber told about 100 people at a Chamber of Commerce all-candidates' forum in a local hotel. "…We have to wean them off … of the taxpayer's dollar…" It is well known, of course, how since Stephen Harper became prime minister of Canada, the Conservative Party has become a tightly disciplined organization, especially during election campaigns.

No Conservative candidate strays far from the official talking points, and if that means repeating the phrase "constant bickering" seven times in an introductory speech to a local all-candidates' meeting in a Prairie town, as Rathgeber did at another forum last week, you can be confident the same phrase is being repeated a similar number of times at dozens of other meetings across English Canada.

Yet Rathgeber will probably be re-elected, based solely on the fact that he is running under the Conservative banner. In 2009, Lawrence Martin spoke to a party strategist:

Over lunch the other day, a senior Conservative strategist from Calgary mentioned how his party was suffering from Alberta leader fatigue. There's no way, he said, the next Conservative leader can come from that province. For two decades, he added, Alberta has had the run of the party. (2)

I'm not experiencing Alberta leader fatigue, only Reform-Conservative MP fatigue, especially the most regressive ones coming from the West.

Why do they keep sending us these people?

Enough already. You're better than this. Take a stand.

Sources:

1. Hard Right Turn: The New Face of Neo-Conservatism in Canada, Brooke Jeffrey, Harper-Collins, 1999, ISBN: 0-00 255762-2 4, Pg. 304-306.

2. Alberta leader fatigue is the federal Tories' next big test, By Lawrence Martin, Globe and Mail, April 16, 2009

Jack Layton Flip Flops on Strategic Voting

On March 28 Jack Layton made a plea for strategic voting.

NDP Leader Jack Layton is urging voters to think strategically when they cast their ballots, so they can get rid of Stephen Harper as prime minister. It's a risky call.

It makes sense in Saskatchewan for the NDP because the party placed second in almost every riding and didn't win a single seat because it split the anti-Harper vote with the Liberals.

That's because he knew that with all the work done, he would garner a few more seats.

Then the faux news story hit of an NDP surge, and he is now saying the exact opposite, obviously not realizing that he had been set up.

Now he's scoffing at strategic voting.

He had already flip-flopped on corporate tax cuts, and he's flip-flopped on the environment.

Again.

Conservatives Spent $6 Million Dollars to Pretend to Care About Victims of Crime

While talking tough on crime and promising justice for victims, it would appear that the entire thing was nothing more than a publicity stunt.

Four years ago, to great fanfare, the federal Conservatives opened an ombudsman’s office to help victims of crime. Now, the agency’s first boss says it was just a $6 million public relations stunt to score political points.

To date, the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime has released only one annual report. Two others were filed to the federal justice minister but, for more than a year, they have remained secret. Because the ombudsman’s office has no legislative powers, the reports — which include spending summaries and recommendations for improving the rights of crime victims — cannot be made public until Justice Minister Rob Nicholson tables them in Parliament.

One more reason to throw the bums out.