Monthly Archive: January 2007

Stephane Dion's razor wit has earned him a story on the wire services. And it makes me think about humour, and Stephane Dion's history with spontaneity.

Here is the video of the news report in which Stephane Dion mocks Stephen Harper for being overweight.

Stephane Dion seems to have a real problem when it comes to exhibiting leadership qualities. The Conservatives have released ads that highlight Dion's problems in setting priorities.

Though I think that was effective, I'd like to point out that calling the other guy fat is not the sort of behaviour you want from your leader either.

An interesting comment left on a union blog prompts a guffaw.

Ezra Levant, working with the research of Stephen Taylor, has written a brilliant piece that makes me wonder if those devastating Conservative Party ads targeting Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion will ever make it to television.

If not, what can we do to help?

Get 'em right here. Fresh to your browser. Three devastating ads unveiled by the Conservative Party targeting Stephane Dion, the new leader of the Liberal Party of Canada.

I just spotted a curious reference in my search links. So time for some wild speculation about the Russian mob and drug trafficking in Canada.

An arsenal of weapons have been found in connection to the arrest of Perley Edmund Holmes, the BC union leader picked up in Washington state with over $4 million in cocaine in his possession. Now is the time for a cheap political shot.

NDP leader Jack Layton is demanding legislation to stop banks from charging fees for using bank machines. He claims he is helping working families. The problem is that the math suggests that his "help" amounts to just about nothing. This is the same party that says giving families $100 per child each month is "bogus".

It seems to me that working families would do well to choose the bogus allowance over the kind of help Jack Layton is offering.

The story of Ward Churchill, the University of Colorado professor facing dismissal for academic fraud, is quickly coming to a conclusion. In 30 days, a decision will be taken.

The CBC is reporting more detail about the arrest of Perley Edmund Holmes, the BC union official arrested in the US on charges of possession of cocaine. In particular, there will be an audit to see if money was used illegally. That could be very interesting for this supporter of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion.

A union leader, Perley Edmund Holmes, has been arrested in connection to the trafficking of over $4 million in cocaine. Perley Edmund Holmes came out strongly for Stephane Dion during the Liberal Party leadership campaign. Of course, Stephane Dion can't control what his supporters do. But the Dion people were quick off the mark to expunge the website of Holmes' endorsement. What's wrong with these people? Have they never heard of the Google cache? By doing that, all they've done is pique my interest.

A dad taking his boy to an exciting Leafs game.

It doesn't get more Canadian than that.

Bet Stephen Harper doesn't feel short-changed in not having French citizenship.

Postscript: For those who are wondering, it's not my video. Some people think it is. Someone sent it to me and I put it up. And Simon captures it well -- how a man spends his time speak volumes about his character. Stephen Harper is well educated, but has not had the love of the Game learned out of him, so to speak. And he's trying to do things with his son that will do more to build his son's character than all the political debates that Pierre Trudeau apparently had with his kids (according to Justin). Things like loyalty to the team, the importance of shared experience, how people from many walks of life still have so much that can bind them together. Things all sons can learn from their fathers, not just fathers who are prime ministers.

I'm somewhat disappointed that I had to write all this -- I would have thought it was obvious what I was getting at. But some people think this has to do with being a Leafs fan. Oh well. Too subtle, I suppose.

Stephane Dion is quoted as saying he thought key figures in the Sponsorship Scandal were unfairly punished when they were banned forever from the Liberal Party. It is not the only example of Stephen Dion rebuilding the Liberal Party to look like the old Liberal Party. What has not been reported is that a scandal-tainted figure from the Paul Martin government and an early supporter of Dion's leadership bid, David Smith of Pontiac, has a position in Dion's office.

Help Shane get his birthday wish.

A carnival of thoughtful Catholic bloggers.

The NDP has started to solicit opinions on how Canada's left-of-centre party should use blogging more effectively as a means of delivering its message.

Funny they should ask, since there is a clear example right now of just how the NDP message is being sabotaged by the current crop of NDP bloggers. It's too bad, because I really want blogging to succeed, regardless of the political views espoused by any particular blogger. I think bloggers for the Conservatives and the Liberals are by and large a decent bunch of bloggers. But the NDP has some serious problems. This is just one of them.

The incoming primate of the Church of Ireland, Bishop Alan Harper, had delivered some very controversial comments. Unlike his fellow Anglicans in America, though, he is not suggesting that Jesus is an optional concept or agitating for openly homosexual clergy.

Instead, he said it is well past time for England to move past the ban on Catholics ascending to the British throne. Note that the law, the Act of Settlement from 1701, bans Catholics specifically. It does not require that the monarch be Anglican. He or she could be a Buddhist, a Muslim, an agnostic, or a Scientologist -- just not Catholic. Bishop Harper correctly suggests that the circumstances that gave birth to this law have long since faded into history. The implications of such a change are quite interesting, and I think Bishop Harper knew exactly what those implications were before he made his statements.

Deb Frisch is at it again. This time she is making comments about the lawyer, Jeralyn Merritt, who is blogging about Frisch's scrap with Jeff Goldstein.

Among Frisch's comments:

• Jeralyn Merritt is a shyster, which means someone, in particular a lawyer, who acts in unethical or unscrupulous manner
• Jeralyn Merritt is a hypocrite because she defended Oklahoma city bomber, Timothy McVeigh
• Jeralyn Merritt is inciting violence against Deb Frisch through Merritt's blog
• Jeralyn Merritt is over 60

In Minneapolis, there has been a recent problem with Muslim taxi drivers refusing fares at the airport. People who were carrying alcohol or were accompanied by dogs, including seeing eye dogs, were told that they could not get a ride. Why? Because of Islam's ban on alcohol, and the fact that dogs are considered unclean.

In case you were wondering just how big the problem is, almost 75% of the taxi drivers are Somali Muslims. But they are being influenced by an very fundamentalist Arab Muslim group, the Muslim Brotherhood.

Well, the cabbies, prodded by these imams, pushed too far, and the regulating authority is about to put in tough new rules. New rules for a group of religious believers designed to limit they ways in which they can express their religious beliefs. Sounds familiar.

Dalton McGuinty is taking a lot of criticism for allowing government-run casinos to build smoking shelters for their customers, while bars and restaurants are forbidden from doing the same. George Smitherman, Ontario's health minister and anti-smoking crusader, has said nothing.

Dalton McGuinty seems eager to get his hands on those gambling dollars -- at any price.

A recent poll shows a majoority of Quebeckers admit to harbouring racist attitudes. Given that Quebeckers have so much invested in Quebec nationalism, this darker expression of group-identity politics should come as no surprise to anyone.

That racist attitudes are so prevalent does come as a surprise to Jean Dorion, the president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society, a group that leads Quebec's sovereigntist movement.

What is interesting is that this is the second time in less than a year that Dorion has been shown evidence of racism in Quebec, and professed surprise. Then some name-calling. But mostly surprise.

You know that the Web 2.0 has come into its own when it hosts the the war being waged by the forces of civilization against the terrorists.

In one week, we have learned how both sides are using Google in particular as a means of striking at the other side.

Gateway Pundit excitedly posts that notorious blog stalker Deb Frisch is in Canada.

Though I'm certain he is joking, some readers might be confused. So I should point out that in her post, she mentions that 3 inches of snow fell. On January 11, that much snow was forecast and indeed observed in and around Eugene, Oregon.

I think Canadian bloggers, especially in the Far North, are safe for the time being.

Update: It looks like Gateway was serious. Relax guys, she's still close to home, I'm certain.

Jean Lapierre announced his resignation from politics this week, leaving the federal Liberal caucus another vote short, just days after MP Wajid Khan crossed the floor to join the Conservatives.

But these are different cases. Wajid left the Liberals essentially of his own volition. I'm hearing rumblings of rumblings that Lapierre was given the shove out the door by Stephane "Tous Ensemble" Dion**.

But for Dion, this was not only an act of revenge on Lapierre. It was a move against the biggest threat to his leadership, Justin Trudeau.

** "Tous ensemble" is French for "All together", and was the chant at the Liberal leadership convention to show all Liberals uniting behind their new leader. To date, three have very publicly left the party, including two sitting MPs.

Mark Persaud was the Chair of the Liberal Party Standing Committee on Multiculturalism. Note that Persaud is not a sitting MP, so he's not up for a cabinet post.

On the other hand, he's had some time to be disaffected by the Liberal Party.

So he's switched to the Conservative Party...and the Liberals are saying they never really liked the guy. Not only that, but that Persaud was an idiot. A high-ranking Liberal Party idiot.

The CBC takes Prime Minister Stephen Harper to task because his motorcade was idling for several hours on Parliament Hill.

See, the Conservatives don't care about the environment!

Really? What I see is deceptive reporting by journalists who don't care about people.

The CBC is providing a soapbox for a Liberal-funded attack on the Conservative Party's policy on childcare. And a terribly inaccurate attack at that, delivered by someone who is more interested in restoring her government funding than in actually delivering on childcare spaces.

Larry Zolf is about as left as they come:

Veteran journalist and Canadian political expert Larry Zolf is a regular contributor to CBC News Online. Larry has been a critic, reporter, producer and consultant for CBC news and current affairs since he joined the CBC in 1962. Born and raised in North End Winnipeg, the hotbed of general strikes and socialism, Larry has covered stories such as integration in Mississippi and the October Crisis in Quebec. He was one of the hosts of the CBCs flagship current affairs television show "This Hour Has 7 Days." He is now retired.

A natural enemy of Prime Minister Stephen Harper of the Conservative Party, right?

So how can Stephen Harper reach out to people like Larry Zolf? Apparently by being morally upright.

Note that this is not the same as agreeing on policy.

So Zolf disagrees with Harper on policies, but recognizes Harper as a good man and a good leader. Who woulda thunk it?

Recall how I said that NDP bloggers are not enjoying any serious support from the party because their leader, Robert McClelland, is reflexively insulting to just about everyone.

Well, the problem goes beyond McClelland. And that does not bode well for the Blogging Dippers. In this case, it is Eugene Plawiuk glibly accusing Foreign Minister Peter MacKay of being a pedophile.

Jack Layton and the NDP advertise Jack Layton's books on the party website. That's fine, except that the review excerpt is misleadingly quoted out of context. Instead of praise for the entire book by a major newspaper, the reality is that one columnist praised the first chapter only.

It's all very tawdry, really.

I was wondering just how the NDP would react to news of Wajid Khan leaving the Liberals to join the Conservatives. It matters to the NDP because the the new distribution of seats means that an agreement between the NDP and the Conservatives is enough to pass a bill. Before, it took the agreement of three parties. The new reality is that the Conservatives are more likely to consider the NDP as potential allies, which gives the NDP more influence.

So the question is, what is the official position of the NDP? They are sticking to their principles on this one, and for that they ought to be given credit.

Stephane Dion was certain that Wajid Khan would remain a loyal Liberal even as Dion supported Khan's work. After having a sit-down with Khan, Khan promptly joined the Conservatives. Suddenly Dion was never comfortable with Khan's work.

Right. Makes me think about ch-ch-changes.

I had neglected to give credit to the sources when I first posted this silly video. The first two Dion quotes came from this article at the National Post, courtesy of Bourque. The third statement was made by Stephane Dion at the Liberal leader's debate in Montreal. The soundtrack is a sample from David Bowie's hit single Changes from 1971.

Of course emotions run high when someone feels betrayed. But bloggers like Jason Cherniak ought to know better. Cherniak, a supporter of Liberal leader Stephane Dion and generally a thoughtful guy, wants to picket the business of Wajid Khan, the member of parliament who crossed the floor to join the Conservatives, abandoning Dion and the Liberals.

Cherniak crosses the line. He wants people to go after Khan's business. What next? Khan's home? The school where his kids go to school? The restaurant he likes? Anyone with a name Khan?

A Liberal MP, Wajid Khan, has crossed the floor to join the Conservatives.

No bribes were offered, no special consideration given.

On the other hand, Khan was given an ultimatum by Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion. And so Khan bolted. Maybe Stephane Dion should exercise more "leadership" on the rest of his caucus.

The Liberal Party is annoyed that the Conservatives are not willing to spend a billion dollars on a museum. Of course, spending great wads of taxpayer cash has always been a profitable business for the Liberal Party of Canada.

In the discussion about whether Liberal MP Wajid Khan is planning to cross the floor to join the Conservative Party, Liberal insiders are using Belinda Stronach as an example. And not in a very complimentary fashion.

In fact, these insiders are confirming what everyone knows, but what the Liberal elite have been denying since May 2005, that Belinda Stronach accepted a bribe to cross the floor and save Paul Martin's dying Liberal government.

Rumour has it that Wajid Khan, the Liberal member of parliament for Mississauga-Streetsville, might cross the floor to join the Conservative Party. Prime Minister Stephen Harper appointed Khan as his special advisor for the Middle East, a act of bipartisanship that was rewarded with scorn from the Liberals.

Interesting, you would be hardpressed to discover that Khan was indeed a Liberal by looking at his website.