My prediction for a difficult fall for Michael Ignatieff

Michael Ignatieff's retreat from his election threat has put him on a path that is likely to mean a very difficult autumn.

Or that's what I think.

Michael Ignatieff continues to be vague, undercutting his own EI panel appointees, and threatening nothing in particular

Michael Ignatieff doesn't have what it takes to deliver a credible and meaningful threat.  Instead, he just yaks on and on, expressing doubt that his people can achieve results, and then threatening to do...well...nothing in particular.

The Liberal riding service package: A bag of pure magic

It looks like Elections Canada is checking into the mandatory riding services package bought by every candidate during the last election.  Elections Canada is concerned that this package of buttons and posters isn't worth the $2,500 charged by the party, and that this is a scam designed to hide the transfer of money from the ridings to the party.

I don't know about that, but I want to point out that whatever was in that bag, it was pure magic.  It seems like the candidate could use to contents to do anything -- from decorate the office to running surveys.

That is one magical bag of electoral tricks.

The choice that dooms Michael Ignatieff

There is a choice people are making that will doom Michael Ignatieff's leadership of the Liberal Party.  It is a choice of what story to believe.

Liberal Senators and the suspicious Voter Activation Network software

The Liberal Party announced that they had purchased the software package from Voter Activation Network to run their next campaign.

A judicious use of party funds, or so the Liberals are hoping.

But then, as it turns out, only six weeks earlier, the Liberal Senate Caucus had applied for parliamentary funds to buy the same software package, under a licensing agreement that does not seem to preclude the use of the software by MPs for electioneering.

So I have to ask myself the obvious question.  Did the Liberals buy their nice new shiny database package using taxpayer funds?

Michael Ignatieff: A man of answers?

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but Michael Ignatieff will trigger an election unless he gets answers on four questions.

Not action on those issues.  Just answers.

Does Michael Ignatieff really think the real world is just a classroom and he's the professor?

Was CityTV tricked by Liberals over Ruby Dhalla exclusive?

Every once in a while, a media outlet has to pull a story when they realize they got ahead of the facts.

In this case, though, CityTV out of Toronto seems to have been fooled by someone into thinking that Ruby Dhalla, who is in trouble over allegations of mistreating illegally hired live-in caregivers, was exonerated by a parliamentary committee examining those allegations.

The truth is that the Liberal minority on the committee issued a report dismissing this as a witch hunt, while the majority has recommended multiple formal investigations.

How did CityTV get this so wrong?  I am speculating that Liberals tricked CityTV ahead of the report being issued by the committee.

After trumpeting an exclusive, CityTV had to pull the story once they realized the story was wrong.  I wonder if the people in the CityTV newsroom feel that they've been burned by Ruby Dhalla and the Liberals.

Liberals continue to execute their retreat plan

I have no particular insight into the what is happening in the Liberal Party leadership, but the signs continue to point to the Liberals backing down and holding off attempting to force an election until at least the fall, and possibly beyond.

Ralph Goodale's interview today continues in that trend.

eHealth consultancy fees out of whack

At eHealth, the scandal continues to grow over the consultancy fees and bonus payments being lavished while regular folks worry about their jobs.

Though much of the criticism seems well-founded, I did take issue with the complaint that the $2,700 per day charged by a consultant was excessive.

My defense was conditional, and it looks like those conditions weren't met, so I have to agree with the critics on this one.

Michael Dion and Stephane Ignatieff

Is it just me, or are the signs pointing to Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff painting himself into a corner in the same way his predecessor Stephane Dion did, over and over again?

Jasmine MacDonnell is the daughter of Liberal Party fundraiser Ralston MacDonnell

Jasmine MacDonnell, the former communications director for Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt, is responsible for the grief Raitt has been suffering this week.

Jasmine MacDonnell is the daughter of Liberal fundraiser Ralston MacDonnell, with close ties to party leader Michael Ignatieff.

For some people, the connection is extremely interesting.

Let me be clear.  It is not interesting, except inasmuch as it shows Ralston to be a dad who has been successful in raising a daughter who decided to have a career in public service.

Good for him.  I know he's having a tough week watching as his daughter finds herself is in the eye of a storm.  He's struggling to be strong for his daughter.

I get it.  It's a dad thing.  Politics has nothing to do with it, and it never did.

Lisa Raitt's most excellent tape

At first I winced.  Then I paused.  Then I thought about it some more, and I realized that the Lisa Raitt tape was just so much nonsense.

Except for the bit about Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff being shoved around by bankers.  That was interesting.

That was worth listening to the rest of this inconsequential stuff.

Gender test leads to tough abortion questions

People are concerned that the right to abortion might be misused.  Frankly, these people are morons.  Either abortion is a grave evil (that's a Roman Catholic term) and is, by definition, a misuse of medical knowledge every time it is done, or it is an absolute right of all women, and so no one has any business passing judgment on the reason an abortion is performed.

So what exactly are these people worried about?  They are worried that new in-home off-the-shelf gender testing means an increase in girls to be aborted.  Apparently when it was a crapshoot whether a boy or girl would die, it didn't matter.

What is a reasonable consultancy fee?

I haven't written much about the eHealth scandal in Ontario, but in reading some of the news on the weekend, I need to point out that some of the numbers don't seem so out of whack.  It really depends on the nature of the consultancy firm.

Liberals line up to convince me that they are mad at Michael Ignatieff

Liberals don't like what Michael Ignatieff is doing, or so say some Liberal bloggers.  A revolt?  Hardly, I say.

Now I'm saying that Michael Ignatieff is in control of the party and that the grumbling amounts to nothing.

So what do these Liberals do?  The try to convince me that Liberals really are mad at Michael Ignatieff, and reveal confidential information to make their point.

This is nuts.

Liberal revolt? It’s just a bunch of bloggers

An exciting headline rolled by: "Liberal Revolt"!

The lead goes on to say that Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is facing "serious trouble" from the grassroots for his support of bill C-15 which introduces mandatory prison sentences for drug crimes.

I rub my hands in glee, then I suffer a deep disappointment when I see that the "grassroots" in revolt is just a bunch of bloggers.

Jack Layton shuts window on Michael Ignatieff and the Liberals

Hey, it could all change tomorrow, but what is being reported today is that Jack Layton and the NDP has agreed to support Stephen Harper and the Conservatives through to the June break of parliament.

That noise you hear is Michael Ignatieff grinding his teeth.  Or is that the sound of members of the Liberal caucus sharpening their knives?

Michael Ignatieff's questionable fury about the deficit

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is mad about the $50 billion deficit.  Finance Minister Jim Flaherty must resign, or so says Ignatieff. 

Like his patriotism, Michael Ignatieff's anger seems fake.  Former Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge said that the level of the deficit is appropriate under the circumstances.  And David Dodge had a secret meeting with Michael Ignatieff just last week, lending his wisdom to Michael Ignatieff on questions about the economy.

The Liberals (presumably) leaked the details of this meeting, but it wasn't reported that Michael Ignatieff gave David Dodge a hard time about what Dodge would have told Ignatieff was an appropriate level of deficit. 

My most (tar baby) terrible post (niggardly) ever!

Liberal and NDP MPs are demanding an apology from Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre because Poilievre used the term "tar baby" twice in the House of Commons.

Michael Ignatieff messes Stephen Harper up...by snitching on him...with lawyers

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff.  Tough guy.

Don't mess with him or he'll mess with you.

And how does the Hound of Harvard mess with you?  He'll send his lawyers out to snitch on you, hoping that someone will do his messing for him.

Yeah.  So there.  Consider yourself messed.

Ruby Dhalla evicted from her constituency office [Resolved]

Ruby Dhalla, embattled Liberal MP, had an eviction notice posted at her office.

Ruby Dhalla responded to my story reporting on it, demanding a retraction, but did not deny that the letter had been posted.

I got in touch with the Bailiff.  The letter was legitimate but the matter has been resolved.

Why is the CRTC abandoning the fee-for-carriage problem to market forces? (Maybe I should just shut up and be happy)

A while back, there was a remarkable story about how the chairman of the CRTC, Konrad von Finckenstein, told broadcasters CTV and Canwest that if they want fee-for-carriage, they ought to just negotiate with the cable and satellite companies.  If the broadcasters got what they wanted, great.  If not, the broadcasters could just withdraw their content from transmission.

What the...?

Pay me, or I keep my stuff.  Isn't that the free market?  What is von Finckenstein playing at?

Does the poll hint at an opportunity about to be squandered by the Liberals?

I don't usually remark about polls.  Why?  Because I hate looking like a fool.  One day I curse polling as voodoo, then the next day I love polls for their remarkable insight into the mind of the voter, all based on whether I like the poll results, personally.

Still, the latest Ipson-Reid poll is interesting because even though it is the first poll that puts the Conservatives ahead, one some broader points, it agrees with all the rest of the polls that have been taken recently, and they all point to a difficult decision for the Liberals.

Dishonest Signalling: Is Michael Ignatieff the fiddler crab of Canadian politics?

It's always dangerous to draw too many parallels between humans and animal behaviour.  Humans make decisions based on complex tactical and strategic considerations with an eye to the costs and benefits over time.  Animals do to, to a point, but it is essentially instinctual and so is nearly as flexible.

But heck, I'm going to do it anyway.  Michael Ignatieff has been acting tough, threatening to "mess" with Stephen Harper if the Conservatives don't back off. 

When Michael Ignatieff threatens, I can't help but think of a fiddler crab.

Ruby Dhalla signs up sufficient donors; tough break for the Liberals

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla has succeeded in signing up sufficient Liberal Party donors to secure her candidacy for the riding of Brampton-Springdale.

I bet the Liberal Party leadership is looking at all that money the will be coming in, and cursing their bad luck.

Ruby Dhalla: Who exactly went to get the Aurora Villanueva signature?

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla seems to have dug her hole even deeper.  Facing allegations of mistreating illegally hired in-home caregivers, Ruby Dhalla is now alleged to have tricked an elderly woman seen as a leader of the Filipino community into signing a letter of support.

That woman is now forcefully withdrawing that support.

There is an important question that I haven't heard asked yet.  Who knew what Ruby Dhalla was doing?

Ruby Dhalla: Magdalene Gordo and Richelyn Tongson focus on the paperwork

In the case of allegations of mistreatment by Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla of two live-in caregivers and one housekeeper, the two sides have been taking turns going after the credibility of the other.

The latest salvo comes from the lawyer for the two caregivers, Magdalene Gordo and Richelyn Tongson.  The focus seems to be on the paperwork that allowed them to be hired. 

The attack ads are brilliant

There, I said it.  I'm swimming against the tide here, I know, but after the steady drumbeat of criticism aimed at the attack ads rolled out by the Conservatives targeting Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff, I figured someone had to point out that the ads are not insulting or demeaning or bad.

They're brilliant, and they perfectly frame everything that is wrong about Michael Ignatieff, everything that the media seems all too happy to ignore.

Stephen Harper: A decent, sincere and caring man, or so says another decent, sincere, and caring man

Rabbi Mendel Kaplan takes issue with Garth Turner in particular, and the media in general, in depicting Prime Minister Stephen Harper as cold and arrogant.

For the sake of balance, I think it would be useful to consider Rabbi Kaplan's view, if just for a moment.

Hypocritical Liberal criticizes parachuted politicians except his own

Can a politician just waltz into a community and expect people to ignore that this person is essentially a stranger when casting votes?

It's a complex question.  The key factor seem to be whether the person attempting to answer the question is a Liberal, and who the politician is. 

Hypocrisy abounds.

Why not ask the current live-in caregiver at the Dhalla household how conditions are?

It seems so obvious.  With the allegations and counter-allegations swirling around Ruby Dhalla and the question of how three live-in caregivers were treated, the simplest way to cut through the confusion is to ask the current live-in caregiver how she is being treated.

Michael Ignatieff flip-flops on June election threat

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff has flip-flopped...again...

I know, it's gone past predictable.  It's reached the point of inevitability.

What is this this time?  Well, apparently we misinterpreted his threat to have a June election as a threat to have a June election.

Monthly payments to Mary Richelyn Tongson seemed spot on

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is fighting allegations of mistreatment of three former live-in caregivers.  One of the questions is whether they were underpaid.

Both the testimony of the caregivers and the paperwork published in the media indicate that the correct wages were paid for a 40-hour work week.

The real issue is not the money, but the hours worked.

Michael Ignatieff undermines Ruby Dhalla defense

It was either a slip of a tongue or an inadvertently revealing statement based on knowledge that he has but we don't, but either way, Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff needs to answer a very simple question.

Why did he say Ruby Dhalla employed the live-in caregivers that have alleged mistreatment, and that Ruby Dhalla denies ever hiring?

STV dies in BC: Good news for Canada

The bizarre Single Transferable Vote system has been rejected decisively by voters in British Columbia.  That's great news.

Coalition Games: Michael Ignatieff, the liar?

To accuse someone of being a liar is not a step lightly taken.  But Michael Ignatieff's irreconcilable statements concerning what he said of the coalition and what he thought of the coalition leave little wriggle room.

Who concocted the Ruby Dhalla conspiracy?

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is the victim of a shadowy conspiracy to sully her good name and ultimately destroy her political career.

The obvious question: Who is behind the conspiracy?

The real question: Who is behind the conspiracy theory?

Walking through the Dhalla handwriting

The Toronto Star published several original documents related to the Ruby Dhalla nanny affair.  I decided to walk thorugh the handwritten samples.  Nothing too surprising, but I figured I would published what I found out in case someone else sees something I don't.

Ruby Dhalla news conference? [Confirmed]

CityTV News is reporting that Ruby Dhalla is going to give a news conference today.

Ruby Dhalla is named as the employer from Hell by third foreign worker

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is having a lousy day.  Two former live-in caregivers have accused Ruby Dhalla of mistreatment.  They both maintain that Ruby Dhalla was involved in how they were treated, while part of Ruby Dhalla's defence has been that she spent much of her time in Ottawa, and that her bother Neil Dhalla managed the help.

A third foreign worker has come forward, and again, the finger is pointed directly at Ruby Dhalla, alleging that Ruby personally was involved in this sordid affair.

Clever Ruby Dhalla and her fake investigation

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is in big trouble.  Allegations of mistreatment of illegally hired live-in caregivers in her home have forced her to resign her post as Youth and Multiculturalism Critic, and has two Ontario cabinet ministers under fire.

In an attempt to get ahead of this, Ruby Dhalla wants the ethics commissioner to investigate the matter.  She hopes the ethics commissioner, Mary Dawson, will clear her name.

There's a fair chance that would happen, because the ethics commissioner's job is to deal with conflicts of interest.  There was no conflict of interest here.  So don't be fooled.

Ruby Dhalla creating even more headaches for Michael Ignatieff

If the nanny scandal that has engulfed Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla continues to grow, it could have serious implications at the federal level, providing a new means by which the timing of the next election could be manipulated by the different parties.

Michael Ignatieff is not standing by Ruby Dhalla

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla has resigned from her post Youth and Multiculturalism Critic.

That's just about sums up everything Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff has to say on the matter.

The inside story on Garth Turner's non-appearance on The Michael Coren Show

Garth Turner, former Liberal MP for Halton, was supposed to appear on The Michael Coren Show.  He did not show up for the taping, and gave no advance notice, leaving CTS scrambling.  The appearance would have focused on Sheeple, Garth Turner's new book.  People at Key Porter Books, the publisher, were unable to explain what was happening.

So I asked around, and the details of the day's events are revealing.

Ruby Dhalla and strange letters

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is in the middle of a potentially career-ending crisis.  Allegations have been raised by two ex-nannies about abuse and mistreatment by members of the Dhalla household, including Ruby Dhalla.  Some elements of the allegations have been support by others, though nothing definitive has been established.  Ruby Dhalla is vigorously denying the allegations, speaking through a lawyer.

That lawyer has provided letters written by one of the nannies to refute part of the allegation concerning Ruby Dhalla withholding a passport and other documents.  I'm not sure these letters really help.

Ruby Dhalla: Nanny horror stories

Allegations of illegal hiring, of mistreatment, and of what essentially sounds like extortion?

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla is facing some of the most serious allegations I've ever heard aimed at a sitting MP, of any party.

And like all allegations aimed at politicians, the truth of them (which have not been established in this case) matters less than the political impact.  In this case, unless Ruby Dhalla can deal with allegations quickly, this will become a test for new Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff.

Michael Ignatieff and his (mythical) learning society

Michael Ignatieff has finally won the Liberal Party leadership campaign!

Ok, that's not saying much, but technically, it's true.

With his win, Michael Ignatieff is starting to chart his vision for Canada.  He wants to transform Canada into something called a "learning society".

What the heck is that?

Read on and...well...learn.

Revisionism, courtesy of Michael Ignatieff

Michael Ignatieff provides us with an alternate account of how he came to be Liberal Party leader without having to actual campaign for it.  See, it was all just an accident.

Coalition Fallout: Michael Ignatieff reaps what he sowed

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff killed the formal Liberal-NDP coalition upon replacing Stephane Dion.  NDP leader Jack Layton was furious, and still is.  And now Jack Layton is having his revenge.

Tell the Liberals what you think about how to buy stocks

Scott Brison is mailing people in Newmarket, asking them, and possibly others, about their opinions about the current economic crisis.

This cuts across party lines.  I say we all offer our opinions.

Two very different meetings between Liberal MPs and Tamils

The recent demonstrations of Tamils in Toronto and Ottawa and elsewhere have resulted in some high-level but behind-the-scenes meetings between MPs of various parties and Tamil leaders.

The details of Michael Ignatieff's recent meeting gave cause to the National Post to praise the Liberal Party leader.  I wonder if Jonathan Kay knew the about a very different meeting involving Liberal MPs and Tamils that happened only a few weeks earlier.

I wonder if Michael Ignatieff knew about that meeting.

CUPE student paper links Jews to criticism of Sid Ryan and his academic boycott

Remember when Sid Ryan, the head of Ontario branch of CUPE suggested that Israeli academics be compelled to denounce Israel or be banned from Ontario universities?  It caused quite an uproar. 

Well, apparently, the uproar was stage-managed by the Jews.  Shocking, isn't it?

An attack on Stephen Harper, or just clever continuous journalism?

Yeah, I'll catch flak from conservatives on this one, but I just don't see what's wrong with the Harperdex.

David Suzuki wants to have a serious chat with Michael Ignatieff

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is having trouble making friends.  Hi problem, of course, is the way in which he will tell you one thing, then another in the space of days or even hours, depending on who he is trying to please.  Asbestos is good.  Asbestos is bad.  Israel was justified in the attack on Qana.  Israel committed war crimes in Qana.  Ignatieff will raise taxes.  Ignatieff won't raise taxes.  Ignatieff is for a carbon tax.  Ignatieff is against a carbon tax.

Michael Ignatieff has got David Suzuki pretty upset about that last one, that carbon tax thing.

Not everyone is buying into the Michael Ignatieff narrative

Michael Ignatieff, the soon-to-be-official leader of the Liberal Party, is a great speaker who charms his audiences on his way to becoming the next prime minister of Canada.

Or so the media narrative goes.

But not everyone is buying into it.  In this review of Michael Ignatieff's appearance in Niagara Falls, the Liberal leader is described as boring and patronizing.

Maybe this reporter didn't get the memo.

I call it the Smitherman Hum

A study suggests the obvious.  Being subjected to constant low frequency vibrations, like those that are caused by wind turbines, causes health problems.  Ontario's Minister of Energy, George Smitherman, has already said that the government of Ontario will simply ignore the complaints of residents and put windmills where ever he sees fit to put them.

I'm calling this Smitherman Hum.  Not the low frequency vibrations and constant background noise that might be at the root of the health problems being reported by people forced to live near wind farms, though that would be apt.  To be precise, the Smitherman Hum refers to the loud humming noise George Smitherman makes as he plugs his ears with his fingers so that he can pretend not to have heard Ontario residents who are demanding that their property rights be respected.

National Review is wrong: America can't do better than Janet Napolitano

The National Post has hit one out of the park.  The brutal lashing delivered to US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been showcased on the Drudge Report, and praised by the National Review.  But I think the National Review makes a mistake when it states that President Barack Obama could have done better than appoint someone as monumentally ignorant as Janet Napolitano to this most important post.

Something the CBC could learn from Canwest: Close the door to save costs

In a study in contrasts, the CBC, publicly funded broadcaster, is in trouble for what seems to be frivolous and insensitive spending, justified by an inexplicable inability to close the doors at meeting rooms at the CBC.  Canwest, on the other hand, has successfully negotiated past another deadline and continue to operate without government handouts.

Tamil protests in England getting hotter

As I've feared, as the Tamil Tigers face elimination in Sri Lanka, their supporters who are protesting in foreign capitals are being more frantic.

In England, several have attempted to immolate themselves.

Jack Layton and the NDP see polls and money, and so change tune

Jack Layton surprised no one when he suddenly spoke of working with the Conservative government to make EI work better.  Why isn't this a surprise?  Because of rumours that the Liberals, who are enjoying a jump in polling numbers, want to force an election in the fall.

But if the Liberals are going to attempt to force an election in the fall, they'll need the support of both the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.  Thanks to Jean Chretien, though, the NDP might seriously look for reasons not to go to the polls.  It comes down to money, and the fact that when it comes to election timing, it is hard to imagine an election that is good both for the Liberals and the NDP.

That's why jack Layton's sudden turn around doesn't come as a surprise.

What will happen when the Tamil Tigers lose?

That the Tamil Tigers are about to be crushed by Sri Lankan forces is no longer in doubt.  An ultimatum has been issued, and refugees are streaming out of the 20 square kilometers that represent the last holdout of the rebel group.

But the Tamil Tigers have one weapon left in their arsenal, and that is the ability to rally thousands of supporters in demonstrations in places like Canada.  Such a rally is going to happen today.

What is going to happen tomorrow?

Steve Savage confirms infighting among Halton Liberals over the return of Garth Turner

Information continues to flow unabated to me from within the Halton Federal Liberal Association.

The latest is a letter from HFLA President Steve Savage asking that Liberals stop sending me information.

I guess that's sort of ironic.

But this letter is a good one.  Steve Savage discusses the internal dispute concerning strategy to fight an upcoming election, and appeals to a sense of Liberal unity to keep the dispute un wraps.

Yeah, too late for that.

Doug Allen and the Screen Actors Guild: Is there a warning for Ken Lewenza?

Chrysler Canada is in crisis.  A proposed move by Fiat to save Chrysler could fall apart because of what many see as intransigence by Ken Lewenza, the head of the Canadian Autoworkers Union.

There was another union head who came in to leader his membership to demand the best contract and only the best.  It was Doug Allen of the Screen Actors Guild.  Doug Allen was fired from his position as national executive director and chief negotiator, because his intransigence was seen as an impediment to progress to an acceptable contract by moderate members of the SAG.

So I wonder if Ken Lewenza's furious reaction to management contacting workers directly is rooted in fear.  Fear that he might end up like Doug Allen.

John McCallum: There are lies, and then there are pathetic lies

Federal Liberal finance critic John McCallum has been caught in a lie.  No he didn't steal money or fake his resume.  He drives an imported car (a Jetta, to be exact), but when asked, he bumbled and mumbled and said he drove a Chevy.

Pathetic.

Halton Liberals really need to let go of Garth Turner

Maybe it's a small thing.  Hey, as a website administrator myself, I rarely update this aspect of my website.  But the meta data for the keywords and description of a website ought to be updated when a major change happens.

It's not like it happens all that often.

Losing a re-election bid is the sort of thing that happens only once in a while.  You'd think that would be momentous enough to prompt a refresh of the Halton Liberal riding association website.  But no.  According to the meta data, the website is about Garth Turner, and providing support for him.

True to form, Michael Ignatieff attempts to clarify his off-the-cuff promise to raise taxes

Within hours, Michael Ignatieff is attempting to clarify his promise to raise taxes.  No surprise there, except perhaps with the speed at which we've arrived at the "clarification" stage.  Usually it takes a few days.

I guess Michael Ignatieff's handlers are getting better with all practise they've been getting.

Michael Ignatieff: Asbestos? Qana? Senate appointments? And now higher taxes?

When Michael Ignatieff wandered off his prepared text to answer a question on asbestos, he messed up the answer, and had to flip-flop within days.

When Michael Ignatieff wandered off his prepared text to answer a question on Israeli actions in Lebanon, he messed up the answer, and had to flip-flop within days.

When Michael Ignatieff wandered off his prepared text to answer a question on Senate appointments, he messed up the answer, and had to flip-flop within days.

Now Michael Ignatieff is threatening to raise taxes, and did so when he wandered off his prepared text.  Are we going to be treated to another flip-flop in the coming days?

A message to Michael Ignatieff: Stop with the crap about children and taxes

I should be fair to Michael Ignatieff and point out he's certainly not the only politician who does this.  But I'm calling him out on it, because he's supposed to be such a smart guy.  What irks me is this business of not loading deficits onto our children by raising taxes today.

What garbage!

Garth Turner and Michael Ignatieff crossing paths this week in Halton

Garth Turner, former Liberal MP for Halton and Stephane Dion booster, is launching his newest book in Halton next month.  The launch party is actually a fundraiser for the Halton Liberal riding association. 

Garth Turner's appearances are being arranged by Liberal riding association president Steve Savage, who seems to be focused on the Turner-dominated past, and not on a Turner-free future.

But then, maybe not.  What if Garth Turner is hoping to be part of the Liberal story in Halton again?

I wonder if Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is finally going to say anything about this.  Ignatieff has a perfect chance to put an end to some of this speculation and uncertainty.  That opportunity presents itself this Wednesday when Ignatieff addresses the Oakville Chamber of Commerce.  Oakville is, of course, in the riding of Halton.

Remarkably, this is the same day (I am told) Garth Turner is holding court (again) in nearby Milton.

Coincidence?  A setup for a big announcement?  Or a clash?

Bob Rae embraces American election software to manage donations

Liberal MP Bob Rae has shifted his fundraising efforts an American electioneering software giant, abandoning the Liberal Party donation page for his leadership campaign debts.

I know the Liberals have purchased the same software the Democrats use in the United States for tracking voter intention and integrating polling data and such, but it surprises me that the Bob Rae is funnelling donation money through the US.

Cheering for Tamil political suicides

The Tamil protests in Ottawa are a nuisance, and in all likelihood, won't escalate past the level of a nuisance.

But in looking into some of the links that lead from this story, I find myself concerned that there are those who might not mind seeing these protests become something more.

GTAA board takes action to save jobs -- their own

People are losing jobs in this recession, and it is good to hear of a company trying hard not to lay off employees.  In this case, though, the Greater Toronto Airports Authority board of directors is taking action to save their own jobs.

Oh well.  Still counts, I guess.

In any case, the GTAA is admitting that the correct response to the discovery of a security breach is to close the security breach, and not to attack the people who found the breach.

Another Mathias Rust or another Charles Bishop?

A developing story has a Cessna 172 out of Thunder Bay, Ontario, refusing to respond to ground control, now flying over American airspace.

It recalls the Mathias Rust story in many ways.  Or perhaps it will end tragically like the story of Charles Bishop.

Greenpeace admits it was behind the iodine pill scare

Toronto Police Services are investigating an incident in which what looks like an iodine pill was left at a residence, along with some sort of message about the dangers of nuclear power.

The pill and the message were left, allegedly, by Greenpeace.  [Update: Greenpeace admits they were behind the scheme.]

The Torono police are not amused.  They don't like it when medication is left out where anyone, including children, can find it.

Watching David Suzuki get blasted by self-righteous statistic-quoting environmentalists

Imagine David Suzuki being raked over the coals by a bunch of holier-than-thou environmentalists.

Well, it's happening for real, but no, it's not as much fun to watch as I imagined it would be.

It's more fun!

Michael Ignatieff is a liar? Thems fightin' words!

Calling Michael Ignatieff an out-and-out liar has got to hurt.  I doubt it'll precipitate a rebellion in the Liberal ranks, but Michael Ignatieff has been wounded by this.  He's made a mess of a question on asbestos, and in doing so, he's managed to look like a rank amateur.  That will take time and effort to repair.

An interesting response from the GTAA regarding the security breach

The GTAA has responded to the ballsy move by Transport Minister John Baird and Senator Colin Kenny to breach security at Pearson International Airport in Toronto.

They just walked onto the tarmac, where planes loaded with men, women, and children were idling, loaded with thousands of gallons of highly flammable jet fuel.

The response from the GTAA?  Withdraw the privileges from the four RCMP officers who quietly accompanied the pair, for not having stopped the two from making fools of the GTAA board.

I have a response of my own, directed to the board.

We should fire...you...all.

John Baird and Colin Kenny: Men of action

John Baird and Colin Kenny, Conservative Transport Minister and Liberal Senator, respectively, broached security at Pearson International Airport in Toronto. 

Good for them!

Volksfront fundraiser: Thanks from British Columbia

I've just received a letter from British Columbia, with regards to that white supremacist fundraiser that I wrote about back in February.  It seems like I did indeed play some role in messing up their plans to raise money for Richard Kemp.

Sometimes, you have good days, and then you have really good days.  This is a really good day.

Battling Jason Kenney: George Galloway overcompensates

British MP George Galloway has been barred from entering Canada.  This decision has been upheld by the courts.

Predictably, George Galloway has turned this into a testosterone-soaked battle of wills with Jason Kenney.

Liberal Party: The Alfred Apps email is a dead letter

In an attempt to get ahead of the story, Rocco Rossi and Steve MacKinnon have announced that the Liberal Party will not be accepting donations to the Michael Ignatieff leadership campaign fund as a way of purchasing tickets to a fundraising dinner.  Only donations to the party count.

People who have already donated to the party at their limit are out of luck.

Before giving, ask Bob Rae how much he needs for his leadership fund

Politicians raise money.  That's fine.  Leadership candidates need money to run for party leaderships.  That's also fine.

But with the recent controversy over incoming Liberal Party president Alfred Apps email to wealthy Liberal donors encouraging them to donate to Michael Ignatieff's campaign fund, a campaign in which he is the only contender, I think it's fair to ask whether Bob Rae really needs to money.

Because Bob Rae is still asking for donations for his leadership campaign that ended back in December.

Will Garth Turner turn on the Liberals in his latest book?

Former Liberal MP Garth Turner is back in Halton, helping out the local Liberals raise money through the launch of his latest book, a tell-all expose of his time in Ottawa.

Is everyone certain that Michael Ignatieff is on board with this?

Some people miss Garth Turner

Halton Lib­er­als are up in arms. Steve Sav­age, the rid­ing as­so­ci­ation pres­id­ent, wrote warmly of former MP Garth Turn­er, and sug­ges­ted that un­der Mi­chael Ig­natieff, it wasn't likely Garth Turn­er's re­place­ment would be as ef­fect­ive as Turn­er was. That promp­ted an­oth­er group of Halton Lib­er­als to make it crys­tal clear that they nev­er want to see Garth Turn­er again.

Meanwhile, squirrels are nervous.

Michael Ignatieff and the ongoing expenses

As the sole contender in the Liberal Party leadership non-race, it stands to reason that Michael Ignatieff is not going to accrue any expenses.  It matters, because it would then suggest that pleas to donate to his leadership fund constitute a cynical attempt to get around donation limits, since any surplus in the fund will flip to the Liberal Party.

So I looked over the costs of running a leadership race to try and guess what more needs to be spent.

One Liberal tried to suggest the sorts of expenses that would need to be covered, but he just confirmed what Alfred Apps and others are denying, and that is that any donations to the Michael Ignatieff leadership fund are really destined for the Liberal Party.

Really, they need to get their stories straight.

Pierre Poilievre asks Commissioner of Elections Canada to look into Michael Ignatieff leadership fund donation scheme

The story of Alfred Apps, the incoming president of the Liberal Party, asking dozens of high-powered and wealthy Liberal supporters to donate twice to the Liberal Party, continues to build up steam.

The media is all over it already.  And now the Commissioner of Elections Canada has been asked to look into the issue.

Donation tactic generating some heat for the Liberals

Recently I wrote about a donation tactic that the Liberals are using to maximize their fundraising.  The tactic appears legal, but the optics are lousy.  Now it seems like the Liberals are scurrying to spin the message.  This is never a good sign.

Michael Ignatieff uses leadership fund surplus to do end-run around donation limits

In an email that was mistakenly distributed far too widely, we learn of a plan to have Liberal donors donated double the amount legally allowed.  They'll do this by donating to Michael Ignatieff's leadership fund, which is in surplus, and then transferring the surplus to the party.

This is legal, apparently.  I suppose every leadership candidate's leadership campaign funds could be used this way.

But somehow I don't think the legislation was intended to make leadership funds conduits for extra cash, not when everyone involved is told outright that the fund is no longer paying off campaign debts.

TV advertising primer

I'm no expert on the subject of the economics of TV advertising, but I've written quite a few pieces recently on CanWest and the need to redesign the fee model for television.  Based on comments and emails, I think quite a few people are still not clear just how cable and satellite distribution hurts broadcasters, and why broadcasters are owed some sort of compensation.

So I'm going to try and explain how it all works.

More trouble for Ruby Dhalla?

Some obscure (and rather trashy) Indian website might cause Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla even more heartburn.  Besides disparaging her political aspirations, it alleges that there is another movie in which Ruby Dhalla appears. 

A Note to George Galloway: We owe you nothing

George Galloway, the radical British MP who praises terrorists, is being denied entry into Canada. 

Predictably, George Galloway is whining about his rights.

George Galloway has rights, of course.  They're just entirely irrelevant in this situation.

The foreign buy-out bogeyman is more dramatic than the truth

Charlie Smith of straight.com online is issuing a dire warning to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Help CanWest at your peril!

Cue the ominous thunderclap.  Crash!  Boom!

It's all nonsense of course.  The truth is far more pedestrian, but also incredibly important to understand if we are to save Canadian television for the future.  Don't be distracted by the tortured imaginings of Charlie Smith and people like him.

Will Phil Lind of Rogers Communications back fee-for-carriage now?

I doubt it.  But in 2008, when Leonard Asper of CanWest and Ivan Fecan of CTVglobemedia put aside their differences to jointly address the CRTC on the question of carriage fees, Phil Lind of Rogers Communications dismissed their concerns on the basis that there was no need for carriage fees, since the broadcasters were profitable at the time.

Does that mean that Phil Lind will support carriage fees today?  Someone should ask him.

No bailout for the CRTC!

With news that the government is looking at helping out Canada's private broadcasters, it is imperative that whatever else happens, this does not a result into a bailout for the CRTC.  The regulator needs to be held to account for its considerable level of responsibility for the situation that we find ourselves in.

Will a permanent change for Canadian television come in on time?

It would be churlish of me to point out that setting up the rules for Canadian television broadcasters such that they actually have a chance to succeed is something that ought to have been done years ago.  But better late than never, as long as it doesn't turn out to be too late.

Unfortunately, it seems like it going to be a photo finish.

Launching the mobile edition of Angry in the Great White North

On the heals of the recent design upgrade, I'm also launching the mobile edition of Angry in the Great White North.  I have no idea how many mobile phone users read blogs with their phones, but providing them with a subdomain and a XHTML-MP compliant version of the website is not all that much trouble.

Tamil Tiger Rally: Did Derek Lee or Gurbax Singh Malhi see the INHCU petition?

The recent controversy that erupted when Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi appeared at a Tamil rally continues to raise questions for me.  Digging deeper into the background of the rally, I find it difficult to understand how Liberal MP Derek Lee, who encouraged Liberals to attend the rally, could have believed that this rally was not going to feature a strong Tamil Tiger presence.

The Tamil Tigers have been designated a terrorist organization by the Canadian government.

I'm looking at the petition around which this rally was organized.  It demands that the Canadian government legitimize the Tamil Tigers by appointing an official contact.

Gary Goodyear and the Anti-Faith Brigade

My local MP, Gary Goodyear, is under fire, for refusing to submit to a self-appointed scientific inquisition.  Why?  Because scientists disappointed that funding is being curtailed in this recession have decided to tie that to the oh-so-important question about his belief in evolution.  Somehow they think that it is faith that is driving funding questions -- or that's what they want to think.  As if the recession isn't real.

CanWest needs a future in order to survive the present

CanWest Global has dodged the bankruptcy bullet for the moment.  First, the Aspers got an extension from creditors to mid-April.  Now they are using this time (and an injection of funds from an old debt) to work with bondholders to come up with a solution that both sides can live with.

This is great news...but that success is based on convincing banks and bondholders that there is a profitable future for CanWest.  The CRTC can do a lot to make that happen.

Liberal Helpings: Not much in the way of momentum yet

Liberal Helpings is the name for a Liberal Party fundraising effort in which people will host private parties to sign up members and raise funds.  All the parties will be on March 27, so that Michael Ignatieff can do some sort of conference call or taped greeting.

Here's an update.  It doesn't look good for the Liberals.

May be doctored? Ruby Dhalla is sounding less certain today [Update]

Yesterday news broke of an effort by Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla to prevent the DVD distribution of Kyon?  Kis Liye?, a Bollywood-style movie she starred in, filmed in Hamilton in 2003.

The film has already seen theatrical release.

She alleges, among other things, that the promotional still photos were doctored, with her head being superimposed on another woman's body.

Today, though, she seems less certain.

But the Liberals told us Ruby Dhalla's movie was a hidden jewel

It's funny how things can change on a dime.  A few years ago, Liberal Heritage Minister Sheila Copps is raising a glass to toast Chico Sihra for bringing Bollywood movies to Hamilton.  She even called Kyon?  Kis Liye? a hidden jewel.

Today, though, Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla, who starred in the film, wants distribution stopped.  And Chico Sihra?  Not so much a hero bringing money and jobs to Hamilton, but a crass opportunist.

It fits into a pattern in which Ruby Dhalla seems to be trying to erase all references to this part of her past.

Ruby Dhalla has mysterious run-in with Tamils [Updates]

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla has had some sort of trouble regarding Tamils.  The details are sketchy, and no one seems to be talking.

If it weren't for the fact that the police had become involved, we might not have even heard about it.

Tamil Tigers! Freedom Fighters! LTTE! Freedom Fighters! Our leader! Prabhakaran!

This was the roar from the crowd on March 5, gathered in front of Parliament Hill.

Not just one or two, but all of them.

Loudly.

Repeatedly.

Led by the rally organizers.

So just who exactly told Liberal MP Derek Lee that this was not going to be a Tamil Tiger rally?

Concerns about Khaled Mouammar first raised in 2005

Canadian Arab Federation President Khaled Mouammar is under some suspicion, now that the National Post has revealed that when he was on the Immigration and Refugee Board, all Arabs that came in front of him were allowed into the country.

Khaled Mouammar is the patriarch of a family of radicalized Palestinians.  His daughter supports the "No One Is Illegal" movement that aims to remove all immigration restrictions, and was named a leader of the infamous Concordia riots of 2002 that forced the cancellation of a speech by Benjamin Netanyahu.  Khaled Mouammar himself wrote approvingly of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon, and in support of Hezbollah.

Concerns about his suitability for the IRB were first raised on this blog in 2005. 

Jim Prentice and Jason Kenney: Strange resemblance?

Have you noticed that Jim Prentice and Jason Kenney are almost twins?  No?  Truth is, neither have I.  They don't look anything alike.  But some people seem to be confused.

Global warming believers build in the escape hatch

As many people have heard, a new study admits that the Earth has not been warming as predicted, but actually cooling off.

But leave it to the global warming crowd to turn this into a win-win for them.

Does Gurbax Singh Malhi take Michael Ignatieff for a fool?

When an MP who spent the almost the first thirty years of his life in India earning a degree in Politics and History suddenly claims to have no understanding of the significance of the flag of the Tamil Tigers, something just doesn't add up.

But that is what Liberal MP Gurbax Singh Malhi is claiming, having been caught on video supporting the "fight" at a Tamil demonstration, one that featured a heavy presence of Tamil Tiger sympathizers.  The Tamil Tigers have been classified as a terrorist organization in Canada.

I have no doubt that Michael Ignatieff has asked for an explanation.  If Gurbax Singh Malhi is spinning the same story behind closed doors as he is stating publicly, then he is treating his party's leader with as much disrespect as he has treated us.

It'll be interesting to see if Michael Ignatieff will tolerate it.  Of course, Michael Ignatieff's track record is poor when it comes to demanding that MPs behave.

Michael Ignatieff opens the door to future scandals

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is a man of ideas.  I'm just not certain they're all good ideas.

The latest one is obligating Liberal MPs to maintain a certain level of dues-paying membership in his riding or be forced to fight a fresh nomination battle before the next election.

And with that, Michael Ignatieff has rendered donation limits meaningless.

My TV is broken -- and together we have an opportunity to fix it

My TV is broken.  Oh, I still get a picture and sound from it, but the Canadian TV model is breaking down.  I would like to fix it, but like all good medicine, a lot of people are not going to like the taste of it.

Unfortunately, the right solution will most adversely affect people who seem to think that they are the only ones with good taste, period.

Michael Ignatieff acknowledges Elizabeth May's uselessness

In a move that will continue the process in which the Green Party of Canada becomes marginalized and irrelevant, Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff has announced that the Liberal Party will run candidates in every riding in Canada in the next election.  That includes whatever riding Elizabeth May, the Green Party leader, decides to run in.  In other words, the deal between Igantieff's predecessor, Stephane Dion, and May, in which the Liberals withdrew their candidate from Central Nova where May was running.

Consider what Stephane Dion got for his accommodation of May, and where that got him, and you get a sense of what Michael Ignagtieff thinks of Elizabeth May.

Liberal Helpings: Serving up a plate of unreported contributions?

The Liberals are going to try another fund-raising idea.  In this case, private get-togethers on March 27. 

Michael Ignatieff will even attend.  By video conference.

Sounds like a great idea, except for one thing.  These get-togethers are hardly private, what with Liberal Party resources being applied to make them happen.  So as party functions, the money the host puts into the party for food or space (the Liberal Party suggests renting space might be a good idea for larger parties) ought to be counted as contributions to the party, subject to all the normal restrictions (can only come individuals, can't exceed $1100 in a year, must be reported in full, receipts must be issued, etc, etc).

Funny, but the Liberal Helpings website neglects to mention any of that.

Canwest and the CBC: Problems and solutions

It would be funny if it weren't so sad.  Canwest, a private broadcaster owned and operated by the Asper family, is suffering in these economic times.  So is the CBC, our taxpayer-funded public broadcaster.

Ironically, one of the potential solutions for Canwest is not available because of rules designed to keep Americans off Canada's airwaves.  It's ironic because the CBC is looking to more American content to save its financial bacon.

Dalton McGuinty deals a blow to home sales (and targets the elderly homeowner in particular)

Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty has dealt a body-blow to home sales in Ontario.  By promising to impose energy audits on home sales, Dalton McGuinty has made selling a home a far less attractive proposition. 

And if you are a retiree living in the home you bought forty years ago, you are in for a world of pain if circumstances force you to sell.

Douglas Ferguson hopes the Liberal Party will become open, accountable, creative, well-funded, and progressive

One of the problems inherent is trying to improve an organization is that in setting goals and expectations, you are implicitly stating that these are where you are currently failing.

For the Liberal Party, everyone knows that the party needs to work on fundraising.  There's no point in trying to deny that, what with the data available at the Elections Canada site for all to see. 

But it's just the money, right?  I mean, the Liberal Party is still a great force for progressive ideals, right?

Douglas Ferguson, writing at the En Famille website, lists all the failings of the Liberal Party.

It covers essentially everything.

Bob Rae embarrasses Canadians with his man crush on Barack Obama

Sorry for the delay in getting to this, but real life just gets in the way.  These last few days have like that, and shockingly, it has had nothing to do with Barack Obama's visit.

I know, it seemed like nothing was happening but The Visitation.

Like most Canadians, though, Barack Obama's visit had absolutely no impact on me whatsoever.

But it has provided me with some grist for the blogging mill, and in particular, the comments made by Bob Rae.

Volksfront International Mid-Winter Gathering: Putting the brakes on fundraising for Richard Kemp

I've been delving deeper into the fundraiser that was to be held in British Columbia, hosted by the white supremacist group Volksfront International.  As you might recall, I posted about this fundraiser, noting that it looked like it had not been properly licenced by provincial authorities.

In just under 24 hours, Volksfront International announced via a forum posting that the fundraising element of the Mid-Winter Gathering had been canceled.

So what was the fundraising for?  Apparently it was for Richard Kemp, and that makes for an interesting story.

Did this blog kill the Volksfront fundraiser?

In my last post, I looked into a fundraiser planned in British Columbia by the white supremacist group, Volksfront International.

Now a new posting has appeared in a white supremacist forum that had been promoting the gathering.  Suddenly, without explanation, the fundraiser is off.

Volksfront Canada gambling fundraiser in British Columbia: Properly licenced? Maybe not. [Updated]

The Volk are coming to British Columbia!

That's right.  In just five days, on February 21, the Volksfront International will be having their first ever annual Mid-Winter Gathering.

There will be a raffle.  There will be poker.  There will be all sorts of fundraising.

Which makes me wonder if these white supremacists remembered to apply for their Class B gaming event licence. I'm not certain Volksfront would be eligible given the nature of their organization.

Gee, could this post put their plans in jeopardy?  Wouldn't that be a shame.

Update: Shockingly, it seems that this is exactly what has happened.  Within 24 hours of this post going up, Volksfront International announces there will be no fundraising at the Mid-Winter Gathering.

The strange math of Navdeep Bains

After a general election, candidates are required to submit a complete accounting of donations and expenditures to Elections Canada.  They have four months to do it (as per 451(4)).  The last election was held on October 14, so we're at that time.

For candidates who submitted early, the material is now online.  I grabbed Navdeep Bains' filing, essentially at random, and found the Liberal MP's filing to be very curious.

Call it New Math, but the numbers don't add up.

Queen's University blames students for diversity police fiasco; plans to rein in student organizations

You might recall the controversy surrounding the projected being implemented at Queen's University in Kingston, in which trained facilitators would listen in on the conversations of students, ready to jump in and correct politically incorrect speech.

At least that's how the program was described in the media, and despite protestations to the contrary, this element was a major part of the program.

A report has been delivered to the university, recommending that the program be eliminated immediately.  The right decision, to be sure, but it is amusing how, buried in the report, is a clear assignment of fault.  This idea that has caused so much heartburn came from the students, and not the faculty or the school administration.

Going forward, the report recommends, the university ought to exercise a great deal more oversight over student organizations who aren't directly supporting the university mission of teaching.

Michael Ignatieff, Borys Wrzesnewskyj, Russian neo-imperialism, and Ukrainian nationalism

Sometimes people try to derive some humour from Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff's Russian heritage.  It is rather special -- most Canadians of Russian descent can't count Russian nobility in their family tree, while Michael Ignatieff can boast a grandfather, Count Pavel Ignatieff.

But besides an accident of birth, Michael Ignatieff has another, more interesting link, with Mother Russia.  That would be a shared attitude with Russia's modern czar, Vladimir Putin, concerning the true nationhood of the Ukraine.

This is important on a number of fronts.  Ukrainians, both at home and around the world, are worried about sharing a border with Putin's Russia, and there may come a time when they'll be looking for the support of the world community.

It is an open question as to whether Michael Ignatieff would side with Vladimir Putin if Russia was to lay claim on the Ukraine.

Also interesting is that this is another example of Michael Ignatieff running counter to Liberal policy.  But then that policy was described by Liberal MP Borys Wrzesnewskyj, a Ukrainian-Canadian, who has been dumped from any role in Michael Ignatieff's caucus. 

Borys Wrzesnewskyj's demotion to the backbenches is a big deal in the Ukrainian-Canadian community.

A lot of Ukrainian-Canadians are wondering just what Michael Ignatieff really thinks of Ukrainians.

Liberal Party seems fine with a token turnout to see Michael Ignatieff crowned as leader

The upcoming Liberal Party convention in Vancouver is turning out to be a bust.  Simply put, no one is coming. Not quite no one, but as conventions go, this one will seem empty.

No one in the Liberal Party seems too concerned.  Indeed, I get a sense that top Liberals are secretly relieved.

Mike Duffy and the Senate Problem

Mike Duffy highlights, by contrast, what is wrong with the Senate.  It seems to me that people think that making the Senate work means making it elected.  Well, if we elect a bunch of do-nothings, the Senate won't be any better.

The Senate is seen to be a failure because of who is in it, not because of how they got there.

Conservatives planning for the next battle, not the last one

Thanks to Jane Taber, we have some insight into Conservative planning for the next election.  For a Conservative, it is good to read that the party is not planning to fight the last battle again.

Mike Duffy earns his keep in his first week

In his first week, Mike Duffy has done more to make the Senate relevant to Canadians, and in particular, to the people of PEI, than anyone in living memory ever has.

Not bad for a rookie.

The Liberal Party needs rules about ignoring Michael Ignatieff

Now that Michael Ignatieff has formerly recognized the principle of a one-use only coupon to be cashed in by MPs to vote contrary to the Liberal Party line, I have some questions regarding how this coupon works.

Budget Vote Fallout: Piteous cheering from a rotten borough

Watch Michael Ignatieff and Danny Williams congratulate themselves for accomplishing nothing positive with the budget vote drama.  It's pathetic.

Michael Ignatieff caves to Danny Williams

Michael Ignatieff has decided that the intransigence of MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador is going to be rewarded.  While MPs from other provinces are going to have to toe the party line, the rebels who have been promising to vote against the budget in order to please their constituents and appease Premier Danny Williams will be allowed the latitude to do so.

MPs from other provinces, however, will be forced to explain why they supported the Conservative budget.

They'll also be forced to explain why they didn't take a hard line against Michael Ignatieff.  Apparently if an MP just digs in his heels, he'll get a pass from the Liberal Party leader.

Michael Ignatieff is already wounded, even if he reins in his MPs

No matter what happens with the budget vote, Michael Ignatieff has already been wounded by a revolt in his caucus.  Why?  Because the revolt has been slow moving, incremental, and public.

More interesting is the money the Liberals didn't keep

With the release of the quarterly returns for the end of 2008, you can find all sorts of interesting nuggets.

Seriously, these don't add up to much, but they do pique my interest.

In this case, it's a matter of looking over the money returned by the Liberal Party.

Insider Leak: Purge of Stephane Dion appointees by Michael Ignatieff means Liberal Party can't afford to staff key positions

It seems like it was just last week when Michael Ignatieff warned against any more insider leaks.  Liberal Party communications would be carefully managed and controlled.

Hey, it was just last week!

I guess it'll take a while for the message to sink in, because today we are being told by an inside source that the costs associated with Michael Ignatieff's preemptive take-over the Liberal Party leadership six months ahead of the leadership convention are such that Michael Ignatieff can't afford to fully staff his office in key roles.  What are these costs?  The cost of purging all the Stephane Dion appointments.

Of course, the official Liberal Party word is very different.  The talent search is taking longer, that's all. 

I might have believed that, except for the insider leak.  That one that should not have happened.

Federal Party Financial Returns: Liberals still struggling, coalition helped Conservatives

Elections Canada has released the financial returns for the last quarter of 2008.  Overall, not much has changed.  The Liberals can't hold a candle to the Conservative fund-raising machine.  But looking closely, we see the Liberals gaining a modicum of traction, and it'll be interesting to see if they can capitalize on that.  One thing that didn't help was the idea of a coalition.  The spike in donations is quite remarkable -- for the Conservatives!

Danny Williams puts Michael Ignatieff's leadership to the test

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff has rejected a coalition with the NDP, and will instead lead his caucus to vote in support of the Conservative budget.

Now that's leadership!

But disconcertingly, Judy Foote and Scott Andrews, Liberal MPs from Newfoundland and Labrador, will vote against the budget, taking their cue from Premier Danny Williams.

So who leads the federal Liberal caucus?  I guess the jury is still out on that question.

Jack Layton starts attacking Michael Ignatieff

Jack Layton and the NDP are not just criticizing Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff's decision to support the Conservative budget.  They are spending money on radio ads that put Michael Ignatieff squarely in the crosshairs.

But I don't see these ads amounting to much.  If I think they're a waste of resources, then you have to think there are some in the NDP thinking the same thing.  Is that ultimately going to cause Jack Layton problems down the road?

Betrayal and Consequences: Jack Layton versus Michael Ignatieff

The Liberal-NDP-Bloc Quebecois coalition is dead!

The noise you hear is the chortling from the right, and though I'm pleased with this particular result, I want to focus on potential consequences that are both more interesting and more serious.

Who is in Jack Layton's sights now?  Stephen Harper?  Or Michael Ignatieff, the guy who just made sure Jack Layton is not going to have any significant face time with Barack Obama next month?

Michael Ignatieff delivers an budget amendment that measures his progress (or lack thereof)

Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff has brought down his momentous decision on the Conservative budget.

It will pass!

Well, not so fast.  Stephen Harper has to deliver a report every three months.

Ironically, these reports are not going to measure Stephen Harper's success as prime minister, but will instead focus on Michael Ignatieff's progress as Liberal leader.

For his sake, Michael Ignatieff is going to have to turn things around quickly, because he's already off to a bad start.

Fixing the economic engine

Maybe it's because I'm an engineer, and not an ideologue, but I'm not frantic over the budget.  Some bloggers from the right are going on about abandoned principles and promising to leave the party or never vote again or whatever.

Relax guys.  Just remember two points.  First, every engine runs down on occasion, victim of the inevitable accumulation of friction, or sometimes of a dramatic failure of an important part.

And second, when that happens (and it will happen), get a mechanic who understands what needs to be done, but who is not in love with the idea of tinkering with your engine.

Dwight Duncan gives no credit to Michael Ignatieff

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty and his finance minister, Dwight Duncan, are getting ready to cough up cash, a lot of cash, to meet Prime Minister Stephen Harper on infrastructure spending goals in the upcoming budget. 

That's because the expectation is that federal cash will be made available on a matching basis, and the Ontario government thinks that's fair.

That's very generous of the governing Ontario Liberals.  It is also very generous of the Ontario Liberals to give credit to the federal Conservatives for what will be in the upcoming budget.

On the other hand, the Ontario Liberals seem miserly when it comes to giving credit to Michael Ignatieff and the federal Liberals. 

Michael Ignatieff continues to construct excuses to vote for the Conservative budget

It's been interesting to watch Michael Ignatieff building up a collection of excuses with which to use to justify voting for the Conservative budget today.  It's important, because Michael Ignatieff wants neither to fight an election, nor be associated with the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois in a coalition.  The only other option is to allow the Conservative budget to pass, and Michael Ignatieff needs a credible way to let that happen.

I just received Michael Ignatieff's latest excuse by email.  It is very interesting on several points.

Michael Ignatieff's tough talk tells me he will support the budget

The headline sounds so ominous: "Opposition threatens Tories over tax cuts"

But really, the threat is so meaningless that anyone who bothers the read the article would wonder who would be impressed by Michael Ignatieff.

My guess is that Liberal partisans are the only ones who would be thrilled by this chest-thumping display.  But the fact that Michael Ignatieff is playing to them tells me he is still engaged in repairing the Liberal Party, and that means he will support the budget after all.

Masoda Younasy and Jason Kenney: Two heroes

This is one of those stories for which the Conservative government will be guaranteed not to get enough credit for the actions taken.

Still, in the hope that maybe things can change, let's highlight this story of how Jason Kenney and his people acted decisively to save the life of Masoda Younasy, a brave woman in Afghanistan.

Stephane Dion is out, and so is Elizabeth May

Michael Ignatieff has revealed his list of critics, and nowhere does former leader Stephane Dion appear.

Chuckle if you will about how far Stephane Dion has fallen, but I'm thinking about what this means to Elizabeth May and the Green Party.

Thanks to an insider leak, we learn about Michael Ignatieff's warning against insider leaks

Michael Ignatieff hosted a two-day retreat with the Liberal caucus this past week.  Thanks to a media leak from a Liberal insider, we have learned that Michael Ignatieff sternly warned Liberals against leaks to the media.

If irony caused global warming, polar bears would be applying suntan lotion right now.

The coalition? What coalition? Michael Ignatieff is not talking about the coalition

Hey, what happened to the Liberal-NDP coalition?  The National Post and other papers are carrying a Reuters report on Michael Ignatieff's latest statements concerning the upcoming budget, and nowhere in the report, or in Michael Ignatieff's quotes, does the word "coalition" appear.

Based on this story, Michael Ignatieff is of the mind that there will be a budget or an election -- nothing else.

So what exactly did Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff chat about on Monday?

Michael Ignatieff talks tough, but at En Famille, the Liberal Party is not talking election or coalition

In the few weeks since Michael Ignatieff was appointed leader of the Liberal Party without the bother of a leadership convention or a vote, you'd expect he'd be busy re-building the party.

And he has been working at it, but there is a long way to go.

So why is it that he keeps threatening, in very specific terms, to trigger an election that the Liberal Party is in no shape to fight?  And this is a relatively new thing -- over the weeks his rhetoric has shifted from working with the Conservatives to rolling the dice on tossing them from power.

The reason it seems so strange is that, under the covers at En Famille, where only Liberals are allowed to look, I don't see evidence of a party gearing for an election or for governance, but instead a party that has barely started on the process of rebuilding.

Obamaspam: Computers of Barack Obama fans are being targeted

I got some spam email today that didn't appear too spammy.  I followed the link to site that seemed sort of legit, but turned out to be a site dedicated to distributing a backdoor Trojan that makes your system vulnerable to being taken over using IRC.

What makes this site interesting is that it is a polished looking site dedicated to Barack Obama and Joe Biden.  Instead of aiming at desperately lonely men who are hoping to improve their performance with questionable drugs bought online, these criminals are trying get control of computers of Americans searching for information on Barack Obama. 

Reporters, politicians, financiers -- it's a bit scary.

Library and Archives Canada -- Blogs and History

I got an email late this afternoon from Library and Archives Canada that left me at a loss for words.  Apparently, blogs in general, and my blog in particular, have a historical value worth preserving.

Honestly, it's humbling.

Michael Ignatieff and the role of a coalition

Listen to Michael Ignatieff speak about a potential coalition government.  It always seems like he's talking about the coalition as a tool to bring out the best in the Conservatives, not a means of replacing them with Liberals and NDP MPs.

Makes you wonder how Jack Layton puts up with it.

Canadian Blog Awards -- Second Place

The 2008 Canadian Blog Awards have been coming to a close, and to be honest, I've been deliberately ignoring them.  But it wasn't because I didn't appreciate the nomination.  I just decided this year to not push for votes, and just let the contest run its course.

Truth be told, I was surprised by the result.

Questions about Peter Stoffer

NDP MP Peter Stoffer is in the news for having the temerity to suggest that Jack Layton dump the knee-jerk behaviour of a ideologue and replace it with considered thought and deliberation.

And immediately all sorts of questions come to mind.

Sid Ryan gets sidelined

Sid Ryan, the president of CUPE Ontario, has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism regarding his announcement to pursue of ban of Israeli academics at Ontario universities unless they make a public denouncement of Israel's actions against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But now on the CUPE Ontario website, history is being rewritten.  A call to boycott Israeli academics?  Never happened.  It was misunderstood.  Sid Ryan never meant it.

Polygamy: Outlawed for a reason (which few people will want to hear)

Polygamy is about to become the next great moral battleground in the legal war on marriage.  And as with gay marriage, the correct and logical conclusion on the issue of polygamy is that it is not a desirable form of marriage, and indeed, threatens society as a whole.

And as with gay marriage, I have no doubt that the people who will judge this issue will utterly ignore all of this, and decide the issue on an effort to maximize moral relativism.  In other words, the judgment will be designed to be as far from judgmental as possible. 

Indeed, it's only a religious person who cares about judgment, and a religious person is fit only to be ignored by the educated and the sophisticated, even when the religious person is making no mention of religion at all.

Canada's Next Great Prime Minister -- Not a great game

The definition of a great game is one that easy to play, but difficult to play well.  Underlying that truism is the notion that the rules of the game are consistent and predictable.

With that in mind, I wonder about Canada's Next Great Prime Minister, a CBC game show that pits concerned young Canadians in a competition in which they present their ideas for how the country should face the future.

I've been in touch with someone who is telling me that the rules are not being applied consistently or predictably.  Not only is she hurt by this, the game is undermined, which hurts the other contestants as well as CBC viewers following the competition.

Can the Liberal Party stand the strain?

Under Stephane Dion, the Liberal Party made a move to the left.  During the election, Dion and the Liberals promised billions in spending on social programs, funded by a carbon tax designed to appeal to environmentalists, while making a de facto alliance with Elizabeth May and the Green Party. 

Now Michael Ignatieff is in charge, and the few statements that he has made sound decidedly conservative.  I wonder how the Liberal Party can stand the strain from this dramatic change in direction.

Sid Ryan, Janice Folk-Dawson, and the Thought Police

Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario, and Janice Folk-Dawson, chair of the university workers committee, are demanding that Israeli professors be expelled from Ontario university campuses in light of the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

I'd like to say that this echoes a similar proposal to ban Palestinian scholars until Hamas stopped firing rockets and mortars into Israel, but try as I might, I've not been able to find such a resolution reported.

But then the two things aren't the same.  See, the difference is that Hamas is right and Jews are wrong and bad and need to have their heads examined.

Hey, that's not my opinion.  That's what Sid Ryan and Janice Folk-Dawson are saying.

The ghost of Stephane Dion still lingers in the machine

On December 10, Stephane Dion was shown the door as Liberal Party leader.  Indeed, such was the rush to be rid of the man, the Liberals simply installed Michael Ignatieff as the new leader, forgoing a leadership campaign, and planning to simply confirm his appointment next May (when a leadership convention was supposed to have occurred). 

I'm surprised, therefore, that the Liberal Party still authorizing a website in which Stephane Dion speaks as the leader of the party on a wide range of issues, including promoting the Green Shift carbon tax that has been soundly rejected by Michael Ignatieff.

NDP makes no mention of coalition in its New Year's Greeting

I know the Jack Layton and the NDP are supposed to be committed to the idea of a coalition with the Liberals.  After failing to dislodge the Liberals in the last election, despite the advantage of going up against Stephane Dion for the hearts and minds of Canada's left-of-centre vote, Jack Layton threw everything into the coalition plan.

But it's curious that last week's New Year's Greeting from Jack Layton made no mention of the coalition.  I wonder if that's significant.  It might be.

The Stephen Harper Fire Engine Conspiracy Theory

Critics of Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper are often marked by their penchant for hyperbole.  Harper is often compared to a dictator (either generically or to specific historic figures - I don't think I need to name them).   Harper is excoriated for his support of Israel, for his environmental policies, or for the economic direction he is following.

The criticisms are defensible (there are always two sides), and if these people could learn to stop throwing in references to Attila the Hun (or much worse) in their comments, more people might listen.

But my friendly advice would be useless for one person.  The commentary on this blog, if not some sort of strange and humourless joke, is disturbing, and if you removed the weird stuff, there'd be nothing left.

Seriously, this one rings an alarm bell for me.  That's actually a bit of a joke on my part, since as you will see, alarms figure prominently in this story.

Mike Duffy is a special guy

When Mike Duffy was appointed to the Senate, it became quickly clear that he was a special guy.  On two counts.

First, a lifetime of broadcasting excellence shaping Canadian news was being recognized.

Second, the effort to spoil his appointment goes above and beyond the sort of thing we've seen in the past.

Elizabeth May: Friends and Enemies

On March 17, 2007, Green Party leader Elizabeth May announced her intention to run in the riding of Central Nova in Nova Scotia.  Of course, there was no election then, and Liberal leader Stephane Dion would lead the Liberals in abstention after abstention in order to avoid an election, until Stephen Harper finally got fed up and forced an election this past fall.

But while we waited for Stephane Dion to find some backbone, the question of Elizabeth May going up against Defence Minister Peter MacKay gave political observers something to chew on throughout 2007. 

I just went through some old data, and it's interesting how Elizabeth May turned Central Nova into a proxy fight between groups of people who couldn't find Central Nova on a map.

Michael Ignatieff's time problem

Michael Ignatieff, the new leader of the Liberal Party, has a problem facing him.  He can't move too quickly.  He can't move too slowly. 

Who is Bob Rae going to complain to?

Bob Rae is upset.  The Liberal Party is ready to install Michael Ignatieff as the permanent leader, reserving the May 2 convention as a "ratification" vote.

So who can Bob Rae complain to?

Online/Phone Voting: Cheap, but Bob Rae's plan won't work

Bob Rae is pushing hard for an online/phone voting scheme to select the next Liberal Party leader before the end of January.  Such a scheme would not cost the Liberal Party all that much.  On the other hand, it is not likely that the Liberals could successfully pull it off.

Dominic LeBlanc should ask for his money back

Liberal leadership contender Dominic LeBlanc is dropping out of the race. 

No, that's not right.  What is happening is that the race has been cancelled.  It seems reasonable, therefore, for Dominic LeBlanc to ask for his $90,000 deposit back.  Certainly the people who backed that deposit might be feeling that they've been had.

Will Stephane Dion get the bum's rush out the door?

Is Stephane Dion on his way out as Liberal Party leader?  Of course, and he's been on his way out for some time, but thanks to his hapless performance during the separatist coalition debacle, he's shortened his lifespan as leader from 6 months to a handful of days.

For me, the real question is whether Stephane Dion has fallen so low that the Liberal Party will allow him to give a goodbye speech.

Somehow, I doubt it.

Liberal Leadership: Focused on the short term

One of the fallouts from this separatist coalition debacle is that the Liberal Party leadership campaign is in danger of becoming target-locked on a short term issue instead the long term direction for the party.

I mean, I think that's a great thing because it's a terrible thing for the Liberals, but then they don't listen to my advice, so I can write this without worry that I might convince Liberals to avoid this pitfall.

Bob Rae casts off his Liberal disguise, embraces his NDP past, and plots for the future

Bob Rae, former NDP premier of Ontario, and now a Liberal running to replace Stephane Dion, has struggled to reconcile those two elements of his political life.

Most recently, it appeared that Rae was rejecting his NDP past, in a roundabout way, in order to establish his Liberal bona fides.

But with the advent of the Liberal-NDP-Bloc Quebecois separatist coalition, Bob Rae has emerged as the new booster of the NDP within the Liberal Party.

Parliament suspended -- Stephane Dion will start to feel the pressure

Reports are coming in that the Governor General has approved the Prime Minister's request that parliament be suspended until the end of January.

Puppet Stephane Dion: Blows his big chance; annoys his boss

Stephane Dion, the puppet that is the face of the separatist coalition, had his big chance last night to explain to Canadians why the separatists ought to be allowed to take over the country.

You'd think that would be hard enough.  So why make the job impossible by showing up a half-hour late with a crappy recording?

Needless to say, Stephane Dion's boss was not at all impressed.

The French Question: Guess what's missing from the separatist coalition accord

I just breezed through the pamphlet that is supposed to justify handing power to people who were not elected to govern.

One omission jumps out at me.  I'm surprised no one has spotted it.

Separatist Coalition lies: No advisory panel

Stephane Dion, imbued with the manic energy of someone who has one last chance to avoid becoming a historical trivia question ("Name the two leaders of the Liberal Party never to become prime minister"), has to deal with the lies being spoken by his Separatist Coalition.

One of the most serious ones is the lie of the "Four Wise Men".

Mass resignations? What an interesting idea...

So there's this idea floating around of having all the Conservative MPs resign in case this coup takes place.

I admit to scratching my head about this one.  Then slowly it started to make sense.

Prorogue the House

Stephen Harper has to prorogue the House.  Not for his own survival, but as a final test of this coalition's viability by exposing the true reason for this coup.

He owes it to Canadians who are facing having an unelected government take power.

Liberal-NDP coalition: Theoretically legal but practically crappy

This coalition that might take power in Ottawa is probably legal, but it is also a crappy piece of work.

The Governor General is not obligated to hand power to a crappy would-be government.

Stephane Dion: Can't have a coalition with the NDP...period!

That was Stephane Dion's position just three weeks before the election.  I guess he was lying.

Party Subsidy Cut: Choices facing the Liberals

If the reports are true and the Conservatives are planning to eliminate the public subsidy to political parties, requiring parties to raise money solely through individual donations, the Liberals in particular are in a bind.

If they support the motion, or abstain from voting against it, the party's budget will be devastated, since the Liberals have failed year after year to expand their donation base.

But if they vote the motion down, and the other parties do as well, then we trigger an election.  I think a coalition is very unlikely.  But who will lead the Liberals in that election?

Party Subsidies: The first big confidence fight

No more subsidies for political parties!

Yeah, it's coming tomorrow.  And more than that, it's going to be a confidence measure.  The Conservatives are going to dare the Liberals, the Bloc, and the NDP to demand millions in handouts while Canadians are worried about their jobs, or to fight an election over free money for politicians.

That's a winner.

Dead white guys: Carleton University Student Association backs down, but doesn't apologize

A disease that targets white men, killing them off early?  Apparently that's a disease that doesn't need a cure.

Or so the Carleton University Student Association seemed to say.  Now facing protest, the CUSA has backed down.  No apology, of course.

Section 13: Implications of the Moon Report

The Canadian Human Rights Commission has been slapped hard by a report that it commissioned itself.  Richard Moon has come back with a surprise recommendation -- remove Section 13.

That's great going forward.  What about looking back, though?

Why is Bob Rae being quiet about switching parties?

It's no secret, of course, that Bob Rae was not always a Liberal.  The contender for the Liberal Party leadership was a member of the NDP, and indeed Ontario's only NDP premier.

In a column today, I read about how Bob Rae has not been vocal enough about his change in parties, given that this change would be some evidence that Rae would not trash the Canadian economy the way he did Ontario's from 1990 to 1993.

And then I realized that Bob Rae's long-term plans preclude him from doing so.

How the Liberals chose to define themselves

Many of the Liberal Party seem to have abdicated control of their own party to the Conservatives.

Bob Rae Hissy Fit -- Now a website!

The Liberal Party leadership campaign had barely started, when Bob Rae blew a gasket over a Q&A session that would not be open to the media.

Many say Bob Rae overplayed it. 

And now someone is in the process of making a website out it.  Of course, the story is a bit old now.  Perhaps then Bob Rae ought to take this as a warning that if he is seen as going over the top again, there is an online presence ready to milk it for all it's worth.

Lowered expectations: Shawn Murphy's curious choice of words about Bob Rae

Liberal Party leadership candidate Bob Rae got a boost yesterday when Charlottetown MP Shawn Murphy declared his support for Rae to be the Liberal Party leader.

But Murphy's choice of words makes me wonder just what Murphy thinks Rae is good for, exactly.

Queen's University roles out the conversation police slash party planners

This story would be disturbing just on the count of the monitoring of people's conversations.  At Queen's University in Kingston, trained busybodies will be tasked to listen carefully to conversations, and then jump when something politically incorrect is said to gently engage in some sort of corrective dialogue.

What can I say?  It's Orwellian. 

But never stop reading an article until you hit the last line.  Besides cracking down on what people say, these facilitators are going to make sure that you go to parties.  Your religious beliefs are bothering you?  Perhaps you don't drink, and being at a kegster makes you feel miserable since your faith precludes you from participating?

Too bad! 

What the...?!

Bob Rae: Open to just some of the media [updated]

The Liberal Party leadership campaign opened with a spat between Bob Rae on one side, and Michael Ignatieff and the Ontario wing of the Liberal Party on the other, with Rae refusing to participate in a private Q&A session because the media was not invited to participate or even observe.

The Liberal Party must be open to the people, declared Bob Rae.

So when Bob Rae kicks of his high-tech Internet-savvy campaign today, he is making certain to be open to the online media.

Curiously though, only certain online media have been invited.

Elizabeth May: Back to the fringe

Remember the good ol' days, when an utterance of Elizabeth May, the leader of the Green Party, would be reported in the major papers from coast to coast to coast?

OK, it was only a month ago.

But since the election, in which Elizabeth May led her party to win exactly zero seats, in which she blew party resources on her ridiculous run against Conservative defence minister Peter MacKay, in which she made repeated calls for people to vote strategically (that is, not to "waste" votes for her own party), I've noted that Elizabeth May has been getting far less press attention.

It's gotten pretty low.  Today, her pronouncements on the Conservative Party plans to work with the new US administration showed up in The Canadian, a socialist paper of no particular importance.  And that's it.

Liberal Confusion: Was the media allowed to see Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae debate?

The Liberal Party leadership campaign is off to a rocky start.  Candidates Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae are sniping at each other over whether or not this weekend's planned leadership forum in Mississauga was supposed to be covered by the media, or if it was a Liberals-only affair.

So I checked into it a bit, and though it's hardly conclusive, I wonder if Bob Rae was right when he says he was led to believe that this meeting was meant to be open to the media.

The shifts in Elizabeth May's story

Green Party leader Elizabeth May has been in he news.  Not because of any remarkable insight into global warming or what not.  But because of an election report in which she seemed to blame anything that didn't go well on the people surrounding her in the Green Party, and seemed to credit any successes to herself personally.

There are two versions of that report, and the differences are interesting.

Jason Kenney on the secret of success

Jason Kenney gave a great speech on the way the Conservative Party has been winning votes.  The secret? 

Respect.

Go figure.

The National Post alone in reporting on Michael Ignatieff's ignoble comments

I've done a pretty exhaustive search, and Michael Ignatieff's nasty comments are simply not being published anywhere else but on the pages of the National Post.

Frankly, I find that to be a terrible abrogation of the responsibility of the media to keep Canadians informed.

Rerunning the final minutes of the last Liberal Party leadership campaign

I can't help but think that this is deliberate, but the Liberal Party leadership is shaping up to be a replay of the final few minutes of the 2006 Liberal Party leadership campaign.

As if the goal is to replay the tape, but this time get the right result.

Elizabeth May: Dishonest? Power hungry? Of dubious rationality?

Is Elizabeth May fundamentally dishonest?  Maybe, but then it's not my opinion that I'm writing about.

Well, the suggestion that she is power hungry is mine.

Green Party infighting: Fallout from the Elizabeth May analysis

We're a bit behind the curve here on Elizabeth May's post-election analysis.  Though most of us were reading it for the first time yesterday, it had in fact been circulating among the Green Party for short time now, and in that time, the response has been, well, not environmentally friendly is one way to put it.

Elizabeth May: The Green Party wasn't ready -- and it's not her fault

Elizabeth May has prepared an analysis of what went well and what went badly in the recent election campaign for the Green Party.  I'll summarize it for you.

What went well: Elizbaeth May

What did not go well: Anything that wasn't Elizabeth May

Win $50,000 on Canada's Next Great Prime Minister

Sorry, but I don't have $50,000 to give away, but I do know someone who does.  The people at Canada's Next Great Prime Minister are looking for applicants.  You have until November 19 to apply.

Lack of funds means the Liberals can't afford to think about the future

As the Liberal Party gets ready to kick off yet another leadership campaign, the lack of funds has made many MPs call for a shortened, cheap campaign.  Those calls are expected and reasonable, but are also going to cost the Liberal Party down the road.

Michael Coren Show

I'll be on The Michael Coren Show tonight at 8pm.  This marks my third appearance, and my second on a Monday roundtable discussion.  Tonight I was fortunate to be on with John Turley-Ewart of the National Post, and Peggy Nash of the NDP.

The show airs at 8pm on CTS.  Check your local listings.

Elizabeth May miffed at NDP for not giving her a seat in parliament

To the casual observer, Elizabeth May seems to be speaking inconsistently.  On the one hand, she says the Green Party increase in votes was a good thing for Canada and for environmental issues.  On the other hand, she says that the NDP is responsible for letting the Conservatives win another minority because they split the vote.

But when you look carefully, Elizabeth May makes sense, but she isn't being entirely up front about whose vote was split.

Professional protestor makes a (small) splash at Margaret Wente speech

Columnist Margaret Wente has come into some controversy in refusing to savage Dick Pound over his comments about savages.

Of course, that makes her a target for the professional protester.  He thinks he is clever by proving his point by using Google to quote himself.

Massive transfer from the BQ riding of Chambly-Borduas to the Liberal Party

The latest returns for the Liberal Party are in, and between July and September of this year, the Liberals pulled in less than the NDP.  Again.

In some ways, there is no news here, which has to be very depressing for Liberals everywhere.  But when you look into the returns in detail, things pop out at you.  In this case, there is a remarkably large transfer from the riding of Chambly-Borduas, a solid Bloc Quebecois seat if there every was one.

Pointlessly pushing for forced sustainability

Severn Cullis-Suzuki wants governments to force citizens to be good environmentalists.  I don't think she means green stormtroopers, but punitive taxation that forces rationing.  The problem for Cullis-Suzuki is two-fold:

1. A plan like that won't work unless the major consuming countries all agree to it.
2. Canadians know that a plan like that won't work unless the major consuming countries all agree to it.

StopIggy.ca has been registered

The "Anyone But Ignatieff" forces are lining up as the Liberal Party leadership race starts to take shape.  In 2006, StopIggy.com was well known, pleading for Liberal delegates to vote for Joe Volpe even.

Well, as the media is reporting that Michael Ignatieff is lining up key supporters, someone has registered StopIggy.ca.

The Green Shift is thrown down the memory hole

Well, this came as a surprise.  The Liberal Party website thegreenshift.ca is now redirecting to Jennifer Wright's greenshift.ca.

Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan is well and truly dead.

The Liberal Party shift

In the declaration by Dominic LeBlanc of his intention to run for the Liberal Party leadership, we see the end of a shift that Stephane Dion inadvertently started.  The shift is, of course, the green shift.

Not the Green Shift, Stephane Dion's ill-fated carbon tax plan. But the green shift, a movement in the Liberal Party away from environmental issues, leaving the Elizabeth May and the Green Party high and dry.

Maybe we should call it the anti-green shift.

From Lloyd Axworthy's union of the left to riots in the streets

Frankly, people opposed to the Conservatives just can't seem to accept that they lost an election.  The reactions range from wishful thinking to the deranged.  The thing that links them together is the notion that the Conservatives have to be removed from power, now, immediately, before they destroy everything.

Is someone preparing a new "Stop Iggy" site?

Michael Ignatieff was easily one of the most polarizing candidates in the last Liberal leadership race.  A website StopIggy.com was dedicated to convincing Liberal delegates to vote for someone else.  Anyone else.

Well, in my normal scan of domain registrations, I spotted what might be a new Stop Iggy site. Or it might be a pro-Ignatieff site.  But whatever it is, it is a hint that the new Liberal leadership race is starting to take shape.

David Suzuki: We don't need the Green Party because we don't need debate on the environment

David Suzuki is spinning around again.  This time he tries to explain himself in a full-length op-ed in the National Post.

He actually starts to come in, loud and clear.

What does David Suzuki really think about the Green Party?

There has been a minor dustup this week when David Suzuki was quoted in a Thunder Bay media report as saying that the Green Party is preventing the adoption of environmental policies by major parties.

Nonsense, says the Green Party.

I've been misquoted, says David Suzuki.

Well, then David Suzuki seems to have been misquote more than once.

David Suzuki claims he was misquoted

It's a shame, because what David Suzuki didn't say made a lot of sense.  But a press release from the Green Party clears up the matter.

Sort of.

Green Party responds to David Suzuki

I asked the Green Party to respond to David Suzuki's comments that the Green Party is in the way of further political progress of environmental issues.

David Suzuki: Right on the money when he says the Green Party must go away

I've given David Suzuki a rough ride on this blog, and I'm sure he hasn't noticed it in the least.  But when he says something that makes perfectly good sense, I have to point that out too.

In this case, he says that the existence of the Green Party prevents any real action on environmental issues by governments.

Therefore, he concludes, the Green Party must disappear.

And he's absolutely right.

The Liberal caucus can't afford to be sentimental

This Thursday, the Liberal Party caucus will meet for the first time after the election disaster.  Down 19 members, the first order of business will be to approve the decision made by Stephane Dion that he stay on as interim leader.

There are so many reasons to consider that decision very carefully.

Did Stephane Dion lead a putsch against himself?

This is a fait accompli, I expect, so just consider this an exercise in bean counting.  But Stephane Dion seems to have unilaterally put himself in the role of interim leader of the Liberal Party.

It's just not that simple.

Is the Liberal Party leadership race playing out right in front of us?

Are we all staring at a major element of the Liberal Party leadership race and not recognizing it for what it is?

The bizarre plottings of Stephane Dion

Something just occurred to me.  Could Stephane Dion be planning to lead the Liberals through a second election?

Stephane Dion: Beyond simply an idealist

As we learn more about Stephane Dion, it has to be said that Canada dodged a bullet when the voters rejected the Liberal Party.

OK, so maybe it wasn't all that close when the results were tallied, but Stephane Dion's behaviour since the election loss begs an important question.  Just who thinks Dion would have made a good prime minister?  I mean, the guy's a nutter!

The first decision for the new Liberal Party leader

It is likely, it seems, that Stephane Dion will step down as Liberal Party leader on Monday, and an interim leader will be appointed in his place.

There are a lot of things the Liberals need to sort out. But there is one thing I think even an interim leader can make a decision on, a decision that I think the Liberals need to address immediately.

The Dion Interview: CTV unfairly attacked by Liberal spin

Perhaps the image that will remain best remembered as this past elections passes into history will be of Stephane Dion being interviewed by ATV's Steve Murphy.  The Liberal leader couldn't not understand the question, despite multiple attempts by Murphy and others to explain it to him.

His look of confusion while people tried to get him to understand a subtle but not too complex a question probably gave many voters pause to wonder just what sort of prime minister Stephane Dion would be in a crisis.

Dion's defenders and apologists claimed that CTV ambushed Dion by releasing the tape of do-overs.  Everyone gets do-overs in an interview, they claimed.

That's just spin.  Here's the truth.

Maclean's pulls back on insults aimed at Mike Duffy [updated]

When CTV aired the botched Stephane Dion interview, many in the media expressed strong opinions about the decision.  Few stronger, though, than Andrew Potter of Maclean's, who called Mike Duffy a "despicable human being".

Well, that blog post is gone.

Update: Kady O'Malley's blog post in support of Andrew Potter is gone from Maclean's blog pages as well.

The Liberals start saving the pennies by dropping the Green Shift

The Liberal Party is broke.  The collapse in the popular vote means far less money coming in from the government.  Donations, which have been an anemic source of funds for the Liberals, will like drop even lower, and much of it will be vacuumed up by the leadership candidates from the last leadership convention, still struggling to pay off their debts.  That includes Stephane Dion, who will be quitting as Liberal Party leader.

With Stephane Dion gone, and money in such short supply, it is no surprise that the Liberal Party has dropped all official references to the Green Shift carbon tax.  It was costing them money in licensing to Jennifer Wright of Green Shift Inc.

Why the Left won't unite

My title is a bit misleading.  The Left could unite, of course.  But it is inherently difficult for the Left to unite, whereas it was comparatively easy for the Right to unite.

It comes down to being much easier to agree to do nothing than to agree on something that must be done.

Defending Canada against Elizabeth May

Green Party leader Elizabeth May has called Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system "perverse".

As we wait for the embargo to lift on reporting results, I'd like to defend what I think is a brilliant system against sore losers.

Stephane Dion, Elizabeth May, and the bribery statute

Elizabeth May has made her call for Green Party voters to cast their votes for the Liberals or the NDP in order to guarantee a win for the Liberal Party and Stephane Dion.

This move has been widely predicted.

But now there is a rumour is that in exchange for influencing the votes of Green Party supporters, Elizabeth May would be appointed a Senator by Stephane Dion, then brought into cabinet as environment minister.

Elizabeth May is denying everything.  Of course she is.  Someone probably introduced her to Section 481 of the Canada Elections Act.

Complaint filed against Garth Turner for sign war tactics

Suddenly, all over Halton, new Garth Turner signs are popping up.  No problem with that, except that the signs are being placed immediately in front of signs for Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt, obscuring or hiding her signs.

It's a last ditch effort, timed to avoid any action from Elections Canada.

Richmond Hill: Conservative signs vandalized with swastikas

The sheer number of signs defaced is one of the striking elements of this disturbing story.  Conservative candidate CS Leung has had numerous signs defaced by vandals.

But these vandals chose to equate the Conservative Party with Nazis.  This is not the first time we've seen this sort of thing happen, and we know that the Liberals tolerate this sort of thinking, if not the vandalism itself.

But then you can't have it both ways.  To denounce the vandalism, you have to denounce the thinking that drives it.  Stephane Dion has refused to do that.

Maybe because he believes it too.

Signs to polling station surrounded by Liberal Party signs

This is just a coincidence.  A campaign office for the Liberal incumbent and a polling station are both in the same mall, so signs to the polling station are surrounded with Liberal campaign signs.  Still, it just looks wrong.

The myth of Stephane Dion -- Team Player or Obstinate Loner

What makes Stephane Dion special?

We are told over and over again it is how he draws people together.  It's his Dream Team.

He plays well with others.

What absolute garbage!

It's not about playing well with others.  It's about downloading those issues he doesn't care about.

The Grim Reaper and Stephane Dion

Death and taxes are the only certainties in life.  The Grim Reaper takes care of death. 

Stephane Dion, on the other hand, has made it clear that he'll make certain that taxes are, well, certain.

Goofiest poll....ever!

I don't write much about polls.  Other bloggers do it better than me, and anyway, polls make me alternately giddy and nervous, depending on the numbers.  So any posts on the subject of a particular poll would reflect that mood, which is an emotional response, not a data-driven one.

But then when my response to a poll is outright laughter, I figure I can break my rule.

This poll is about the true issue of the election that everyone has missed: The Seal Hunt!

In Toronto, no less.

*snort*

Stephane Dion: The armchair quarterback melts under real pressure

The question was not really that hard to understand.  Sure, it was bit more complicated than "What's your favourite colour?" or "What's the average air speed of an African swallow?"

But really, it was an important question.  In fact, it was the most important question you could ask Stephane Dion under the circumstances.

What would you have done differently?

And Stephane Dion couldn't answer it.  He couldn't even understand it.  All he could do was bob his head and grin.

It was painful and embarrassing and thank CTV we could all see it before a terrible mistake was made.

Crazed Liberal volunteers assault people with campaign materials

Yes, these Liberals were rude and violent.

But also so very, very stupid.

Liberal vandalism targeting Conservatives in Cambridge

My house was hit.  My small Gary Goodyear sign was removed, wireframe and all, and taken over to the drainage ditch 100 feet away (I checked the distance with Google Earth).

Actually, there were several Gary Goodyear signs in the ditch.  From various houses up my block and from the signs on the corner.

Canada is home to the soundest banking system in the world

Listening to Stephane Dion and Jack Layton spouting off about how they're going to fix things (well, Stephane Dion is going to have meetings about how to fix things), I have to wonder what it is they think needs fixing?

The fact of the matter is, Canada has the world's soundest banking system.  That according to the World Economic Forum, in statement released today.

Local Halton papers endorse Lisa Raitt over Garth Turner

Garth Turner, running for re-election in Halton, has failed to secure the endorsement from the three local Halton papers.  Indeed, the editorial boards thinks re-electing Garth Turner would be a mistake, as he is seen to be a trouble-maker with only his own interests at heart.

The right candidate for Halton, the papers agree, is Lisa Raitt of the Conservative Party.

Delaying the Green Shift: Stephane Dion versus Bob Rae

Do you really want these guys in charge of the economy?

On the one hand, sociology professor Stephane Dion says that Green Shift will be implemented by a Liberal government without delay.

On the other hand, socialist Bob Rae says implementing the Green Shift might have to wait.

Garth Turner in bankruptcy controversy?

Party A owes you money.  Party A is not disputing your claim that money is owed for services rendered.  Party A being an owner of several businesses and properties, you have no reason to believe that Party A can't make good on the debt.

Then you receive a letter from Party A stating that he has no funds, and implying strongly that he is going bankrupt, so take this smaller offer or get nothing.

Maybe you take the offer.

Weeks later, Party A is wheeling and dealing with another property, and the company seems to be doing just fine today.

The latest weirdness from the world of Liberal MP Garth Turner.

Stephane Dion went to climate conference just to read someone else's report

In 2005, as Minister of the Environment, Stephane Dion opened a climate conference focused on the Arctic. The bulk of his speech consisted of reading the executive summary of a year-old UN report, word for word.

One wonders at how much carbon he emitted into the atmosphere to get to the conference, when he could simply emailed a link to the UN report. 

Just read the report.  There -- speech done!

Liberal MP Marc Godbout reworks signs -- vote locally!

Liberal MP Marc Godbout is reworking his election signs.  Like other Liberal candidates seeking re-election, he is asking voters to not look at the Liberal Party as a whole, but to consider only the role of the MP as the representative of the riding.

Liberal MP Anita Neville concedes a Conservative win (while standing on her record of abstentions)

Why I should buy wholesale -- Linda Schwey is a much better shopper than me.

Back in June I noticed that Liberal candidate Linda Schwey was planning to give away thousands of seed packets during the next election.

I figured it would cost her thousands.  I see that I really can't be trusted with the shopping.

Garth Turner's hole just got a little bit deeper

Garth Turner has posted on my blog.  Well, someone claiming to be Garth Turner.  But if we assume it is him, then he is claiming that Dan Baril is not connected to his campaign, just a constituent interested in politics.  That is important because CTV had asked that candidates attending a Halton riding town hall event hosted on Canada AM to bring people to ask questions of the candidates, but that these persons not be connected to the campaign work.

Supporters of the candidates, yes.  Connected to campaign work, no.

So I'm forced to drill down in more detail.

Hey, there's a lot of research here, but the bottom line is this.  If you are an MP and you label someone a constituent, at least make certain that the person is your constituent.  Otherwise your credibility really starts to suffer.

CTV in danger of being Garthed

I've gotten a response from Lis Travers, Vice-President (Canada AM), at CTV, with regards to the appearance of Garth Turner's pollster at a Q&A session put on by CTV.

It is so very carefully worded that I think a lawyer had some hand in it.  And that speaks volumes about how Garth Turner has hurt the integrity of a second media organization in the same election.

That has to be some sort of record.  It deserves a new word to be coined to describe it.

Did Garth Turner stage another media event?

During an appearance on CTV's Canada AM, the four candidates in the riding of Halton held a joint townhall.  The first question went to Garth Turner, and instead of asking him to define or defend some aspect of the Liberal Party platform, Garth Turner was asked to comment on Stephen Harper's lack of respect for democracy.

Lucky Garth Turner?  Hardly.

The question was posed by Garth Turner's pollster Dan Baril.  He’s Halton Liberal Riding Association board member Dan Baril, formerly of polling company Decima Research. 

Garth Turner has responded in his blog.  This is not a big deal, says Garth Turner.  The candidates were supposed to bring people to pose questions.

Well, yes, I figured that out myself.  But what I also suspected, and have now confirmed, is that there were some simple instructions regarding the selection of this person.  Instructions that Garth Turner seemed to ignore.

Jack Layton sets Stephane Dion straight

 

From tonight's debate.

Did Garth Turner and his friend contrive to ambush Lisa Raitt on CTV's Canada AM?

Even as the CPAC fiasco fades, we might have yet another example of Garth Turner attempting to use a media appearance as a stage for a contrived Q&A session.

In this case, during an appearance on Canada AM, a member of the Halton Liberal riding association, Dan Baril, is in the audience and lobs a question to Garth Turner.  The question is designed to allow Garth Turner to go on the attack, casting Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt (who is sitting beside Garth Turner) as someone who doesn't care about constituents.

Did CTV know that Lisa Raitt was being set up for an ambush?

French Debate: Deepest insight from the most shallow question

The debate tonight generally went according to script.  Stephen Harper was the target of attacks from Stephane Dion, Jack Layton, Gilles Duceppe, and Elizabeth May.  Stephen Harper generally played defense as made sense for someone in the lead.

But there was one question posed that turned out to be the most revealing.  And yet by and large, everyone seemed to miss the point.

Garth Turner, Green Lights, and Secret Bank Accounts

The Liberal Green Light Committee for Ontario, charged with making certain candidates standing for election meet the high standards demanded of a member of parliament of any party, will let pass.

Not all candidates have to be vetted by the Green Light Committee.  Those who are appointed just have to submit updated disclosures to the Ontario Campaign Chair.

Liberal MP Garth Turner was embroiled in a lawsuit with his former company, Millennium Media.  The suit was still active when during the run-up to this election and still active when the election started.  All we knew was that it involved the misappropriation of funds.  But the details are quite interesting.

I wonder if a Green Light Committee would have found these details interesting as well.  But since Garth Turner was appointed, we'll never know.

Video: Stephane Dion on spending

Conservative voters being intimidated in Winnipeg? New allegations surface

In Bill Blaikie's old riding of Elmwood-Transcona in Winnipeg, things are getting nasty.  Stories of threats and intimidation, aimed at people planning to vote for the Tories.

Update: It's now lunch here, and since I first posted this story this morning, I've gotten more information. 

A heat-seeking missile in the Conservative arsenal

Come on.  I get to brag once in a while.

I was one of three bloggers who were profiled on The National tonight.  I think it was a great introduction to bloggers and blogging.

But did you hear when Susan Ormiston called me a heat-seeking missile?

I'm going to be strutting all week.

Bloggers profiled on The National

How far have blogs come in Canada?  When the CBC devotes time on the flagship newscast to profile bloggers, you know blogging has come a long way.

When it comes to plagiarism, the Liberals are experts [updated]

The Liberals have abandoned trying to win this based on policy, or even on moral superiority.

Now it comes down to attacks.  This time it is allegations of plagiarism.  Did Stephen Harper's speech writers lift portions of a speech by John Howard in a speech Stephen Harper delivered in 2003?

Sure looks like it.  And then what was lifted?  A few sentences in which the same opinion was being expressed.

It's not quite in the same ballpark as passing yourself as an expert in a subject based on content ripped off from a recognized expert in the field, or using someone else's work for your own financial gain.

Update: A speechwriter has admitted to grabbing the text.

Some Liberals are reaching way back for credibility

What do you do when you feel your leader is dragging you down in an election campaign?

You might pine for a leader from the past.

But some MPs are made of sterner stuff than that!  They don't just pine for the good old days.  They do something about it!

Meet Liberal MP Jim Karygiannis, part of Paul Martin's team!

Debate Predictions: People hate to be wrong, like in figure skating

People hate to be wrong.  OK, that's obvious.  But keep that in mind when you hear Liberals say that with such low expectations going into the debates, Stephane Dion is poised to do very well.

The argument is that people will be surprised that Stephane Dion is not a complete disaster, and so their estimation of him and of the Liberal Party will go up.  Heck, even Stephane Dion is saying the same thing.

I suppose that sort of make sense.  But then again, not really.  Why?  Because people hate to be wrong.

Like I said, it's obvious.

Liberals distance themselves from the Green Shift

Launch in external player

The first step for the CBC is to fire Heather Mallick

I've avoided expressing any comment on the notorious Heather Mallick column.  I've been waiting until the CBC had responded to the firestorm.  I was cautiously optimistic that the right conclusion would be reached.

My optimism was rewarded today.  The ombudsman has come down quite decisively against Heather Mallick, and the publisher of CBC News, John Cruikshank, has accepted his conclusions.

Indeed, Cruikshank says the diversity of opinion expressed on the CBC must be expanded.  I agree with him.  I'd even apply for the job.

But I wouldn't work with Heather Mallick.  She's so poisonous that the CBC would be well advised to terminate her employment immediately as a gesture of good faith to those conservative opinion writers who might lend their skills to helping the CBC represent the broad range of Canadian opinion.

Disaster politics

There is a cliche in disaster movies, at least in the most recent ones.  The heroes will avert disaster, but the audience will still be treated to a big smash up, too.  People like to see the big boom.

Does this spell disaster for the Liberals?

Marc Garneau: The arts will not put Canada back on track

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been taking a lot of heat in some quarters for his attitude with regards to art funding.

If it makes him feel any better, Stephen Harper is not alone.  Liberal Party star candidate Marc Garneau was quite clear about his attitude towards art.  It's all very nice, but really, it's not going to put Canada back on track.

Mysterious letters and blogs in Halton

Liberal candidate Garth Turner and Conservative candidate Lisa Raitt are battling it out in Halton.  Now things have gotten even more complicated with a letter from (allegedly) long time conservatives endorsing the NDP.

Tectonic shift in Canada's political landscape

It is hard to imagine a more powerful symbol of the change the is looming on Canada's political horizon.  It's literally jaw-dropping.

The Green Party versus Elizabeth May

Amuse yourself by reading a statement issued by the Green Party on the importance of electing Green MPs.

Not a statement from Elizabeth May, mind you.  According to the Green Party, she can't really be taken too seriously at times.

Farmers not buying into Green Shift

Despite the millions in special breaks and programs promised by Liberal leader Stephane Dion, farmers are not buying into the Green Shift carbon tax.

Liberal candidate in Alberta says Green Shift is the new NEP

The Green Shift is a wealth distribution program.  A new version of the National Energy Program.

Hey, don't believe me.  That's what Liberal Party candidate Mohamed El-Rafih is saying.

Lesley Hughes: A short (video) history of Liberal leadership

Or perhaps this is a history of how the Liberal Party is short on leadership.  In any case, the story of 9/11 conspiracy theorist Lesley Hughes, a Liberal Party candidate in Manitoba, has come to a miserable end.

And as we waited for the inevitable, the Liberal Party officials and apologists for the party dodged and weaved in a very amusing way.  I guess they had no choice, waiting for Stephane Dion to be prodded into some action that mimicked leadership.

Update: Watch Stephane Dion blame the Jews!

The Green Party and third party advertising

Elizabeth May of the Green Party wants people to vote against the Conservative Party, but unlike the leaders of the NDP and the Liberal Party, Elizabeth May is not particularly interested in getting votes for her own party.

That makes me wonder.  Is the Green Party engaged in third party advertising?

Green Party candidate labels Elizabeth May an obstacle

Is Green Party leader Elizabeth May helping or hurting the Green Party?

Poll fever: Hallucinations and mirages

It's all rather sad, really.  A Liberal blogger posts about a Liberal surge.  The big Conservative lead was just an aberration.  The NDP is fading away.  It's a whole new ball game.

Poor sod.  She was looking at a poll from last year.

Conservative's high credibility score thanks in part to the Liberal Party

More people are planning to vote for the Conservative Party than for any other party, according to the polls.  Part of that comes from a deep store of credibility that the Conservatives have built up. 

To give credit where credit is due, the Conservatives have the Liberals to thank for that, in part.

Life of the (Liberal) Party

Putting the "party" back in Liberal!

Woo-hoo!

PCO Hacked? Malicious email sent by Winnipeg-based hacker

As is being reported elsewhere, someone with access to a highly confidential distribution list managed inside the Privy Council Office has sent an email out to reporters.

The email is absurd in its content, but the goal is to embarrass the Prime Minister by suggesting a major breach in security.

Grumbling Liberals -- Looking for a stress point

With the Liberal Party apparently struggling, indeed slipping, as we approach the halfway point in this election, there is irresponsible speculation about whether a move against Stephane Dion ahead of the election is in the works.

Hey, I can be as irresponsible as the next guy.  But I don't like to recycle rumours.  I like to add just that little bit of semi-credible analysis that can make the rumour really take off.

So I started to look for a point where a Liberal revolt could start.  And I found one.

Michael Ignatieff is looking a bit nervous, don't you think?

The Green Shift isn't even remotely simple, but the Liberals aren't worried

It's powerful.  It's simple.  Vote for the Green Shift.

But really, it isn't simple at all.  There's a big problem with regards to how provinces will be treated differently.  Should you be concerned?

I suppose that depends.  If you are a believer in the Liberal Party, then you won't be concerned.  The Liberals don't seem to be worried.  They're not even talking about the issue.

Michael Ignatieff: Green Shift tax cuts bad, but Liberals will have no choice

Just what exactly is Michael Ignatieff talking about?  The deputer leader of the Liberal Party was talking to Newmarket council that governments ought to be spending like drunken sailors. 

And they would be too, if it weren't for cuts to the GST.  And as for the tax cuts in the Green Shift, well, the Liberals have no choice.  And he wishes it was different.

Stephane Dion dumps the Green Shift: Not central, not major, not much of anything

Frankly, I can hardly believe it.  The Liberals are chucking the Green Shift?  I suppose Stephane Dion can't be too far behind.

Garth Turner concedes the election?

I've read it several times.

People commenting on Garth Turner's blog have read it and reread it, and are confused.

Liberal MP Garth Turner seems to have given up on Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party.  He is going to spend his time trying to save his own job.

Helen Kormendy: I'm better than uneducated people

There is something stereotypical about the socialist who doesn't actually respect people.  Socialists motivated to help others not because they've been asked for help, but because they've decided that most people aren't smart enough to realize they need help.  Socialists who assume that by virtue of their education, they are the only people smart enough to provide that unsolicited help to normal dumb people.

It's not at all common, however, to find someone who actually admits to being this sort of person.

The NDP's Helen Kormendy is indeed a rare find.

Revenue Neutral: The carbon tax and the excise tax merge together

Stephane Dion's carbon tax is supposed to be revenue neutral.  I know we all know that doesn't mean all Canadians, or even most Canadians, will come out ahead.

Heck, with the inflationary effect of a global energy tax, it is likely we'll all be hurting.

But when I look at the diesel portion of the tax more closely, I realize that the carbon tax is in two parts.  Does revenue neutrality mean both parts are given back to Canadians?  Or will a Liberal government keep a big chunk of the diesel carbon tax for itself?

If that money doesn't come back to me, then how is this revenue neutral?

Garth Turner: If you're going to pollute, pollute in style

Have you heard about the well-known politician, a Liberal, who is fighting this campaign on an environmental platform, but who has chosen a means of transportation that is easily one of the least environmentally friendly?

No, not that guy.

This is about one of his lackeys, Garth Turner.

Stephane Dion's staggering drop in leadership polling numbers

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion has bad polling numbers when it comes to leadership qualities.  That has been true ever since he became leader, and he has been unable to do anything to fix it.

But in trying to shore up that perceived failure at the top by showing off team leadership, Stephane Dion has made things dramatically worse for himself personally.

Effort, load, and silencing Garth Turner's sign whine

Liberal MP Garth Turner has a problem.  Well, he has lots of problems, but one of the immediate ones is the tendency of his election signs to fall over.

According to Garth Turner, forces are aligned against him and these forces are multiplying.

He's right.  No, really.

Garth Turner versus the CBC: Allegations of illegal recordings

Liberal MP Garth Turner is in a lot of trouble.  It is a mess of his own making, trying to pass off a staged interview as news, then alleging that CPAC knew of the fabrication when the news broke.

By trying to spread the blame around, he only guaranteed that that much more would fall squarely on his shoulders.

That ought to have been the end of it.  Instead, Garth Turner is trying to cast himself as the victim in this.  Now we hear that he was victimized by the CBC.

Of course, it's all nonsense.

Garth Turner turns on Esther Shaye to save himself, but is it too late?

Liberal MP Garth Turner is in a bind.  Yesterday, I revealed that a "random encounter" filmed by CPAC might indeed have been staged, since the person who answered the door was none other than the son of Garth Turner's campaign manager, Esther Shaye.

Today, faced with tough questions, Garth Turner seems to abandon Esther Shaye.  But will it be enough to satisfy the one person who might otherwise benefit from ejecting Garth Turner from the Liberal Party?

I'm speaking, of course, of Stephane Dion.

Garth Turner has the worst luck

Garth Turner can't catch a break.  The Liberal MP in Halton has a problem with signs being destroyed.

It's a familiar story, unfortunately.

Carolyn Bennett to Canadians: Depend less on facts, and more on faith in David Suzuki

If there are any lingering doubts about whether environmentalism is the new religion of the left, Carolyn Bennet dispels them.  Carolyn Bennett, the Liberal Party health critic, tells an audience that they ought to vote for Stephane Dion and the Green Shift.

The reason?  Faith.

Not in God.  What does He know?  No, all we need is faith in David Suzuki.

Stephane Dion, the Liberals, and voices from the future

After doing an early morning read of the Toronto Star, I had to shake my head and wonder if, like some sort Rip Van Winkle, I had slept through the intervening four weeks and had woken up on October 13.

Because in an editorial and in an opinion piece from Liberal-friendly columnist James Travers, it sure sounded like the election was all but won by the Conservatives, with a majority no less, and that the Liberals were already struggling with the next phase of their existence, a broken leaderless bankrupt party.

Nope, it's not even a full week into the election.  A lot can happen.  The Liberals aren't out of this yet.  Stephen Harper and the Conservatives have to work hard to earn the trust and votes of Canadians.

That's not just talk. It's the truth.  I know because I checked the calendar.  It's only September 13.

Why vote swapping is illegal (logically)

Actually, I don't know if the parallel holds, but it seems to me that the same logic that prevents Canadians from reporting on polling results in areas of the country where polls are still open suggests that vote swapping is also illegal.

Liberal Shawn Murphy: There won't be a Green Shift this winter

A new headache for the Liberals.  The Liberal MP for the riding of Charlottetown, Shawn Murphy, has revealed that for the sound and fury, the Liberals won't be implementing a carbon tax after all.

At least not right away.

Wow.

Oh, and Shawn Murphy's website has suddenly gone down.

How do you say "The Green Shift" in Russian?

Check out the Liberal Party campaign video for the Green Shift, Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan.

Part of Stephane Dion's vision for the fairer and greener Canada is more mass transit.  A subway system is shown in the video.

Apparently, a fairer and greener Canada is best imagined by watching the Moscow Metro in action.

David Orchard: Green Shift leaves no options for farmers

Hey, remember when people said that David Orchard, the Liberal candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, would turn out to be a headache for Stephane Dion?

They were right.  You see, according to David Orchard, Stephane Dion's carbon tax, also known as the Green Shift, will hurt farmers.  And farmers have no technological options other than to use diesel.

But Stephane Dion said farmers can go green with the subsidy he's promising them.

Shouldn't Dion and Orchard be reading from the same script during an election campaign?

The Liberal Party is a living example of how the carbon tax works

The Liberal Party is showing us the carbon tax in action.  And it's not pretty.

Paul Zed says fuel consumed by oil refineries not to be taxed

The Liberals are at it again.  Yet another, Paul Zed, has come out to say that the carbon tax being promised by Stephane Dion will not affect a major industry in his province.

Apparently, oil refineries don't use energy and so don't pay a carbon tax.

Carbon offsets are a campaign expense?

Give the Liberals credit.  Cash-strapped as they are, they are paying for carbon offsets.  I mean, I think carbon offsets are dumb, but the Liberals are walking the walk, as it were.

But then the Liberals are hoping to get donations to cover the cost of carbon offsets, which they say is a campaign expense.

Which leads to interesting questions.

Why the Liberals want Elizabeth May in the debate

Hey, it's just a theory, but I wonder if the Liberals want Green Party leader Elizabeth May in the leaders debate so that she can irritate voters.

I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but somehow it makes some sense.

Jack Layton catching Stephane Dion's Google wave [and Stephen Harper's too!]

Maybe you have to have worked in the industry, but I am quick to catch evidence of who is taking the Web as a serious channel for information distribution.

Right now, the NDP is clearly laughing at the Liberals, using Stephane Dion's strength as a Google search term to spread the NDP message.

Update: And laughing at the Conservatives too!

Appearing on the Michael Coren Show

Four noteworthy Canadian bloggers are guests on tonight's Michael Coren Show.

Garth Turner's donations: Where's the official agent?

If you're a candidate for a federal party, you can't just spend money and accept donations.  You have to have an official agent that authorizes spending, including any advertising, and who accepts cheques on your behalf.

The cheques can't be made out to you -- only to the official agent.

Garth Turner knows all this.  That's what makes this so puzzling.

This blog is "worth watching"

Well, I have to say I'm starting to enjoy this election.  Canwest News has put me on their "worth watching" list today.

Stephane Dion against tax cuts

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made an announcement regarding taxes on diesel fuel.  If the Conservatives form the government, those taxes will go down.

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion says taxes ought to go up.

NotALeader.ca

The online wars continue with the Conservatives unveiling NotALeader.ca.

Update: Stupid bird!

Topping the CBC Blog Buzz

Hey, I didn't even know we were having a contest.

Liberals have a new writ expense: Paying for "Green Shift"

The good news for Jennifer Wright of Green Shift Inc is that the Liberals are conceding that she owns the rights to the name "Green Shift" and so have agreed to pay her a license fee.

The bad news for the Liberals is that this license fee is a writ expense, and will count against their campaign spending limit.

Elizabeth May won't be in the TV debates

This just in.  Elizabeth May, leader of the Green Party, has had her request to participate in the leaders debate denied.

Jack Layton's response to the Barack Obama issue

Jack Layton is taking a bit of heat over a story he told at his press conference on Sunday.  In it, he told a story that sounded very similar to one Barack Obama told.

Very, very similar.

I still don't know if it's coincidence or plagiarism, but I do know that Jack Layton's response (reproduced in full here) doesn't really clear things up.

Canadians trust the Conservatives to deal with the environment

Readers of this blog might notice that I don't comment on polls all too often.  I do read polls, of course, and think they can incredibly useful.  But there are so many reasons to be cautious of what polls are saying.

So I usually don't say much about a poll unless there is some bit of news or information, not derived from a poll, that reinforces a polling result.

Such a tidbit has popped up today, reinforcing what I think to be one of the strangest, and yet most pleasing, polling results I've seen in while.  The Conservatives are trusted more than the Liberals when it comes to dealing with the environment.

Jack Layton nabbing stories from Barack Obama?

NDP leader Jack Layton tells a heart-wrenching story about the man who had to box up the equipment he'd worked on for twenty years so that it could be shipped, along with his job, to China.

Um, yeah.  Barack Obama, the nominee for president for the Democratic Party, told the same story.

Exactly the same story.

Stephane Dion's translation gets the wrong Green Shift (again) and during an election too

The Liberal Party is facing an $8.5 million lawsuit from Green Shift Inc because of Stephane Dion's decision to call his carbon tax plan "The Green Shift".

The Liberal defense is that no one would ever get the two entities confused.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Wright, the head of Green Shift Inc, has filed for an injunction, arguing that in the spotlight of an election, the damage her firm is suffering from being associated and confused with the Liberal Party is going to accelerate.

So how does Stephane Dion help the situation?  He goes on and directs people to Jennifer Wright's website to find out more about his carbon tax because of a bad translation.

Liberal Party carbon offsets

The Liberal Party is leasing a 30-year-old 737 as Stephane Dion's campaign plane.  It is, by far, the dirtiest aircraft used by the major parties.

But apparently any criticism is misguided.  See, the Liberal Party is buying carbon offsets.

Well then, that fixes the problem, doesn't it.

Doesn't it?

Car Pools and Corpses

Stephane Dion seems to live in another world from the rest of Canadians.

He has no idea what a car pool is.  The man who wants us to believe that he knows the secret of how to lead Canada to an environmental Nirvana doesn't know what a carpool is.

Of course, he probably thinks Nirvana is reached through the yoga poses he practices every day.

I hope he's working on Shavasana.  The Corpse Pose will be very appropriate for Stephane Dion's political aspirations unless he figures out how to connect with real Canadians.

Liberals spending a load of money to run a dirty campaign

No, not negative advertising.  It's about airplanes, and the stinky expensive gas-guzzler that the Liberals are barely able to get their hands on.

Jennifer Wright is pursuing an injunction against the Liberals

Ironically, forcing the Liberals to stop talking about what they call "The Green Shift", that is, Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan, might actually help the Liberals in the long term.

The carbon tax is turning into an albatross for the Liberals.

But over the short period of an election, the embarrassment of not being able to use the name they selected for their carbon tax would be a disaster.

Then again, Jennifer Wright's company, Green Shift Inc, is facing a branding disaster as an election looms.  As a result, she has filed for an injunction.

Is Bob Friesen selling his farm or selling out farmers?

Bob Friesen was the head of the CFA, the Canadian Federation of Agriculture.

As such, he argued against Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's carbon tax as bad for farmers.

Now he has sold his farm, moved to a house in the suburbs, and announced his candidacy for the riding of Charleswood-St. James for the Liberal Party, without the need for a messy and expensive nomination race.

And the carbon tax?  Now Bob Friesen says it's good for farmers.  Funny how that worked out.

Le Quebec Prend des Forces

An official ad from the Conservative Party of Canada.

 

Canadian Trucking Alliance rejects Stephane Dion's carbon tax adjustment

Liberals are praising Stephane Dion as someone who listened to "suggestions" about his proposed carbon tax, and then acted on those suggestions to make his carbon tax "stronger".

To others, however, it looked more like some Liberal MPs were furious that they could lose their seats unless concessions were made, and they forced Stephane Dion to make those concessions.

Hey, is anyone listening to what the truckers -- one those groups who complained loudest -- are saying.

They don't like the carbon tax, and the adjustment hasn't changed their minds.

Michael Ignatieff: No more carbon tax changes

Today Stephane Dion announced subsidies for farmers, fishermen, and truckers, as a way of offsetting the effect of a carbon tax.

So the natural question is whether Canadians can expect more changes.  According to Michael Ignatieff, there won't be any further changes.

Stephane Dion's useless subsidy

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion has had to back down on a major portion of his carbon tax.  Faced with growing criticism from farmers, fishermen, and truckers, and the frustration of Liberal MPs who would lose votes from these groups, Stephane Dion is throwing money at the problem.

But not just money.  He's going to give farmers, fishermen, and truckers a subsidy that can only be applied to buy green equipment to replace existing equipment.  Which I'm willing to bet makes this an utterly useless subsidy.

Appealing to SpongeBob-Canadians like me

Elizabeth Thompson of the Montreal Gazette has an amusing piece about how she caught one of the Conservative Party ads being shown during an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Silly Conservatives, says Elizabeth, kids can't vote.

Yes, Elizabeth, but SpongeBob-Canadians can.

Apparently global warming can be defeated by complaining loudly enough

Here is a primer for those of you who still don't understand how global warming works:

• The dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil.
• We drilled for oil, and used most of it to spray on ducks, and the rest we turned into carbon dioxide.
• Carbon dioxide is a hot gas, and it's making the Sun hotter, which is making the Earth hotter, which makes polar bears sweat, and that's a bad thing.
• To make the Earth cooler and make polar bears happy, Canadians will pay money to Stephane Dion, who will give all of it back.
• The exchange of money will cool the Earth (ok, this part is a bit vague).
• Farmers are worried that they won't get enough back after all of it is given back (clearly they are confused, because everyone is supposed to get all their money back, a process that results in global cooling in a way that is not entirely understood by non-Liberals).
• Liberals who are worried that farmers won't vote for them are complaining loudly, which is generating even more hot air (which warms the Sun and makes polar bears sweat even more, and that's a bad thing).
• Stephane Dion is going to change the plan by making the carbon tax even stronger, making farmers happy so that they stop bothering Liberals.
• This results in less hot air and comfortable polar bears.
• The happiness of farmers who might vote Liberal will cool the Earth (ok, this part is a bit vague too).

Remember, if you don't believe this science, David Suzuki is going to throw you in jail.

But perhaps you want know more details, minus the silliness.

Liberal Party handholding for Marc Garneau?

The McGill Daily has published a Q&A page with the candidates in by-election in Westmount-Ville-Marie.

Only the Liberal candidate, Marc Garneau, appears with a minder.  Michael Ignatieff takes the first question and runs with it.

Liberal blogger's brilliant carbon tax analysis

Steve V at Far and Wide has a brilliant analysis of the support for Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

I urge you to read it, top to bottom, then consider what it means.

Reporters ought to expand their vocabulary

Print reporters have to listen to the spoken word, and then render it in print for us to read later.

The rise of the Internet has done nothing to change that.

So why do I get the feeling that reporters are allowing their vocabularies to wither away?  They hear a rather obscure word (though not a rarely used one), and then substitute it with the wrong word entirely.

Stephane Dion plays chicken by himself...and still loses!

Liberal Party Stephane Dion has a remarkable ability to take something as simple as a meeting and turn it into a battle of wills.

A battle of wills between himself and no one else.

And then Stephane Dion still manages to lose.

Atlantic Canada shift -- Carbon tax criticism driven by Liberal Party polling?

In the polls, a lot of focus falls on Quebec.  The Conservatives doing well, the Liberals still struggling -- clearly part of the decision to go to an election.

But there is another shift happening that matters too.  In Atlantic Canada, the Liberals number have tumbled badly, and I think that is driving two high profile criticisms of Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

Blair Wilson, the Green Party, and Elizabeth May lusting for a TV spot

History has been made today.  The Green Party has an MP in Canada's parliament.

Well, technically, the Green Party has an MP who is ready to sit in parliament, though it is unlikely parliament will sit before an election is called.

Indeed, after all is said and done, the Green Party might come out of all this never have had a sitting MP.

And certainly not an elected MP.

That might not matter much to some people, but I think these are more than just subtle distinctions.

Garth Turner lurking as "Milton John"?

At the blog Repossessing Halton, there is a convincing argument building that suggests that Liberal Party MP Garth Turner dons the pseudonym "Milton John" in order to lurk on blogs critical of him, and post nasty responses.

Martin Cauchon: Rumoured candidate that ought to give Stephane Dion pause

On the verge of an election, the rumours are flying fast and furious.  In this case, the Liberals are rumoured to making a serious play for their former stronghold of Outremont, lost to the NDP in a by-election. 

The secret weapon would be former Liberal cabinet minister Martin Cauchon.

But if I was Stephane Dion, I'd be worried about why Martin Cauchon would be willing to get back into politics.

Hoping for a visit from Liberal leader Bob Rae?

The BC riding of Nanaimo-Alberni is represented by Conservative MP James Lunney.  There is no Liberal candidate yet, and no one has filed papers yet to be the candidate.

Nevertheless the Liberal riding association president thinks the Liberals can win this riding, but it would help a lot if "leader" Bob Rae would come for a visit.

Huh?

Gilles Duceppe pulls rug out from under Stephane Dion

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion has done it again.  He tries to act decisive, and ends up being made the fool.  In this case, he refused to meet with Stephen Harper until he, Dion, was good and ready. 

Well, Jack Layton decided the meeting was an opportunity to look like a responsible opposition leader, and has agreed to meet.

And now Gilles Duceppe is rumoured to be meeting with Harper ahead of Layton.

And with that, Gilles Duceppe has rendered Stephane Dion irrelevant.

Elections Canada allowance was driving Liberal Party election plans

The Liberal Party under Stephane Dion wants to fight an election, or so they say, but later this fall.  Apparently kicking off an election now, in September, is a bad thing.

A good thing would be kicking off an election in October.

Why?  Really, what difference would it make?

In either case, Stephane Dion would still have to face a leadership review in December, either as the new prime minister or as the loser of a general election, so from that point of view, there really isn't a difference.

Then it struck me that, for the Liberals, there is one big difference in starting an election in October.  All federal parties that meet the criteria get their next Elections Canada quarterly allowance in October.  The way the Liberals have been complaining about starting an election now instead of just a few weeks from now tells me that the Liberals need that money, and desperately. 

Until that cheque arrived, Stephen Harper was going to get a free ride from the Liberals.

I think we ought to have an election now.  Having the proper functioning of parliament (which includes an effective opposition) short-circuited by a broke political party that lurches from quarter to quarter on the back of taxpayers is just wrong.

A survey of Liberal Party online shiftiness

Last night I completed a survey of all the websites of sitting Liberal MPs.

I was looking to see how the Stephane Dion's carbon tax was being described, but as a bonus the survey itself turned up several interesting things.  The first thing you notice is just how un-shifty the Liberal caucus seems to be.

www.StephaneDion.ca goes nowhere

Hey, did you notice that www.StephaneDion.ca doesn't go anywhere?

The Devil and Joan Beatty

The story, told over and over again, of the guile of the Devil entrapping the greedy and the foolish is one we are all familiar with.  That literary device is one of those minor gifts of our Christian heritage (where the embodiment of evil is a lesser being than God, and so must depend on his sly words instead of brute force to win souls to his side).

When I see what has happened to Joan Beatty's name online, I immediately think of this metaphor. 

Ireland's Green Party leader dumps plan for carbon tax

Astonishingly, some people aren't as perceptive as Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion, and think that a carbon tax is a complex plan that will negatively affect a lot of people.

In Ireland, the leader of the Green Party and the Minister for the Environment in the coalition government, John Gormley, has dropped plans for a carbon tax for exactly such reasons.

This the second time the goverment in Ireland has been forced to step back from implementing a carbon tax.

Why?  Who knows?  The reasons given make no sense.  Don't they know that this tax is simple to implement, makes everyone richer, eliminates poverty, has no effect on rural voters, and saves the environment?

That's what Stephane Dion has been explaining to Canadians.  Maybe he needs to give John Gormley a call and explain it to him.

Shouldn't take more than 15 minutes or so. 

Stephane Dion does not want Stephen Harper falling into Dion's trap?

Sometimes I just don't understand what Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is talking about.

With Prime Minister Stephen Harper making it clear that he is setting down conditions for not triggering an election, Stephane Dion is saying that Prime Minister Harper could be convinced not to call an election once he realizes such a call would only work in favour of the Liberals.

So what is Stephane Dion saying?  That he doesn't want an election that would favour the Liberals?

Wrong Green Shift (again), this time from a media pundit

I know it might seem boring, but tracking just how the Liberal Party's idea to name Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan The Green Shift, deliberately ignoring the existence of Jennifer Wright's Green Shift Inc, is damaging Wright's company serves a purpose.

It stands as a testimony to just how Jennifer Wright is right -- her company is becoming confused by one and all with the Liberal tax plan. 

Gone fishing (and back)

Sorry for the long break between posts, but I've been on vacation, and a series of unfortunate events conspired to keep me offline for the entire duration.

Heck, I only just found out about the Maple Leaf listeria outbreak.

thegreentaxshift.ca: A Liberal backup plan? [Update: More backup names?]

Interestingly, a full 11 days after registering thegreenshift.ca to be the online home of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's plan for a massive carbon tax, the Liberals registered thegreentaxshift.ca.  That was only days after being told by Jennifer Wright that she did not want to share the name.  Days after registering this alternate name, the Liberals were served with a cease-and-desist order from Jennifer Wright of Green Shift Inc.

Despite registering this alternate name, the Liberals aren't using it, preferring to fight Jennifer Wright for "Green Shift".

Update: I found some more alternate names.  And they were all registered after the launch and after the call to Jennifer Wright, not before.

Liberals still confusing GreenShift.ca and TheGreenShift.ca

Right on the heels of a news story reporting that the Liberals claim no reasonable chance of confusion between the Liberal Party's Green Shift tax plan and Jennifer Wright's Green Shift environmental consultancy firm, I find yet another example of confusion between the two.

As before, it is a Liberal who is unable to keep the two straight.

Even as he threatens to trigger an election, Stephane Dion loses yet another candidate (again)

No this isn't a double posting.  I just posted yesterday about how the Liberals lost candidate Parissa Aujla.

In reading an entirely unrelated story, I learned that another candidate has quit.

It happened at the beginning of the summer, and the reason given by Buffy Baumbrough for quitting was that she did not feel she could help the environment as a federal Liberal.

Liberal MP Karen Redman's "but": She uncovers In-and-Out in all the parties

Shocking revelations at the committee hearings looking into Conservative Party election spending.

Thanks to Liberal MP Karen Redman, we learned two things:

• Other parties engaged in In-and-Out funding and are being investigated by Elections Canada
• The Liberals are sore at Conservative efficiency, and believe that is why the Conservatives need to be punished

Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote's summer fling

The Ontario Young Liberals hosted a three day party in Guelph this past weekend.

That's great.

And they debate Liberal Party policy and strategy.

That's great.

And they want everyone to vote for Frank Valeriote on September 8 at the by-election.

Oops.

Liberal Atlantic Caucus really did avoid mention of carbon tax

Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a point of mentioning how the Liberals in Atlantic Canada avoided mention of Stephane Dion's plan for a carbon tax in the media release following their caucus meeting.

The silence speaks volumes.

But oddly, the media made it sound like a simple statement of fact -- that the Liberal media release did not discuss the carbon tax -- is some sort of clever Conservative trick meant to confuse the listener.

Even as he threatens to trigger an election, Stephane Dion loses yet another candidate

The Liberal Party has lost yet another candidate.  And this time in a riding that had lost its previous candidate mere months ago.

You would think that with Stephane Dion threatening to trigger an election, Liberal candidates would be pulling together instead of looking for the escape hatch.

Garth Turner apologizes...for no good reason

Garth Turner has apologized.

I know.  It's a day to remember.  But I'm confused, because Garth Turner has nothing to apologize for.

But let's back up and set the stage for how this happened.

Did the Conservatives snitch to Elections Canada about Garth Turner's accounting problem?

Liberal MP Garth Turner has had a relatively minor dustup with Elections Canada.  Frankly, he should have just kept quiet about it.  Instead, he makes an accusation in an attempt to embarrass the Conservative Party.

The problem is that based on the evidence I've developed, I can't see how that accusation can be justified.

Well, you can decide who's been embarrassed.

Update: Garth Turner apologizes...for no good reason

Oops: Liberal MP Hedy Fry promises high food prices but huge benefits for Alberta and Saskatchewan from carbon tax

Liberal MP Hedy Fry becomes the latest in a line of Liberals attempting to explain Stephane Dion's promised carbon tax.

It is a pitiable performance.

Robert Thibault: Who's the idiot?

The Liberal MP for the Nova Scotia riding of West Nova, Robert Thibault, is in some trouble.  In the space of two weeks, he has insulted seniors and women.  In his attempt to defend his comments, he called Senator Majory LeBreton an "idiot".

Clearly Garth Turner is working his special magic with his communication seminars for Liberal MPs.

But to the question of idiocy, I cast my eye on Robert Thibault.  Does he not know the demographic cross section of his riding?

GPS ankle bracelet a great idea...for parolees

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day has announced a plan to start testing the use of GPS tracking ankle bracelets on parolees.  There is resistance to the idea, which has me puzzled.

You would think parolees would love the idea.

Garth Turner attempts to wipe his blog clean of his latest stumble

In my last post, I looked at a blog post by Garth Turner, Liberal MP and communications guru for the Liberal Party.  A senior citizen by the name of Jon C Coates had a letter printed in a Halifax newspaper, in which he proceeded to show how a single senior would suffer under Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan.

Garth Turner immediately responded by alleging that this person was not real, and indeed was some sort of fraudulent Conservative Party frontman spewing lies.

This even after Garth Turner had spoken to Jon's wife.

Well, in the best Orwellian fashion, Garth Turner has erased his old post, put up a new one, speaks highly of Jon C Coates, and proceeds to call Stephen Harper a liar.

Hmmm.  I don't see a public apology directed at Jon for publicly declaring Jon to be a liar.

Garth Turner vents his spleen on a senior citizen on long-term disability -- and prepares to backtrack

A letter from Jon C Coates of Halifax is getting a lot of attention.  In it, he describes how he is going to suffer as a result of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

Well, Garth Turner is the communications guru handling the carbon tax file.  So he reveals on his blog that (1) Jon C Coates is a liar, and (2) Jon C Coates probably doesn't exist.

Jon C Coates, according to Garth Turner, is likely a fiction concocted by the Prime Minister's Office, and Garth Turner is pulling back the curtain to reveal the ugly truth.

OK, so I called Jon C Coates, and we had a long conversation.

David McGuinty can't keep Green Shifts straight

I've been idly checking out references to Jennifer Wright's website greenshift.ca, the site that supports her company Green Shift Inc.  The Liberals under Stephane Dion decided that the name "Green Shift" should really have been theirs, and so named their carbon tax plan The Green Shift, supported with a website thegreenshift.ca.

The reason I've been checking is to see whether Jennifer Wright is correct in her assertion that the Liberals are damaging her brand.  The Liberals say that no one is going to be confused and that the two entities can easily coexist.

The problem is that I find evidence, over and over again, of confusion.  This time from the Liberal's own environment critic, David McGuinty.

Liberal Party candidate Claudette Roy names greenshift.ca as carbon tax website

As I've posted before, there is something to Jennifer Wright's argument that when the Liberal Party decided to name Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan "The Green Shift", her company Green Shift Inc would suffer from the confusion that would result.

Nonsense, say the Liberals and their apologists.  People will be able to tell the two apart.

Apparently people can't tell them apart.  One such person is Claudette Roy.  She's the Liberal Party's candidate for the riding of Edmonton-Strathcona.

More Green Shift confusion

Jennifer Wright of Green Shift Inc is suing the Liberal Party.  The Liberal Party has named their carbon tax plan "The Green Shift", and Wright's position is that the use of that name is hurting her business.

The Liberal contend that there is no reason for people to be confused.

Well, for the second time, I've found a blatant example of confusion is the media.

Garry Oledzki's cold send-off

Garry Oledzki was the Liberal Party candidate for Palliser in Saskatchewan.  Until yesterday, when he quit.

The report of his resignation was, well, cold.

Frigid even.

Oil prices already too high said former Liberal candidate Bobby Morrissey

Even as Stephane Dion is making noises about a fall election (that could be as soon as six weeks from now), the Liberal Party has lost two candidates. 

Garry Oledzki in Saskatchewan and Robert "Bobby" Morrissy in PEI have both stepped down as candidates.

In the case of Bobby Morrissey, it might indeed be a problem selling Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

Confused Liberals: The Top 21 Carbon Tax Questions

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion could not explain his carbon tax plan to his own aides.

There are a lot of questions that I suspect Stephane Dion will have trouble answering.  I've compiled my favourite 21 questions that I think every Liberal MP ought to be able to answer.

Stephane Dion and the Carbon Tax: Martha Hall Findlay responds

I was among many people who commented when Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay was quoted as saying that the effectiveness of Stephane Dion's carbon tax could not be predicted, or even measured after the fact.

Martha Hall Findlay wrote to me by way of response.  I've posted her note here in its entirety:

Garth Turner: Spamming for Stephane Dion?

Liberal MP Garth Turner is very excited.  The most loyal of all Liberal MPs is hosting a town hall meeting for his hero, Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion. 

But what if no one shows up?

To make sure that doesn't happen (and so show that he can command a loyal following of Liberal voters) Garth Turner has sent out a mass mailing to encourage people to turn out for the meeting.

Here's the problem.  Pulling together various threads, I wonder if there is reason to believe Garth Turner has contravened the anti-spam rules of the US-based email marketing service he is using his effort to look make Stephane Dion look good.

Another stealth Liberal praising Stephane Dion in the press

A "resident" of Cornwall is very upset at the mailing he received from his Conservative MP, Guy Lauzon.

According to local resident Guy Tropper, the flyer is juvenile in its design, and shows how the Conservatives are not spending time dealing with global warming, the way the Liberals are.

Gee, this letter to the editor could have been written by someone in Liberal headquarters.

No wait, it was written by someone at Liberal headquarters.  Guy Tropper.

Stephane Dion remains committed to cycling

You might think I'm talking about Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's green credentials -- using a bicycle and such.

I'm not.

I'm talking about the Stephane Dion Election Cycle.

David Suzuki Foundation gets ripped a new one

The David Suzuki Foundation gets roughed up badly by the Center for Media and Democracy Watch, the group that looks to expose spin and propaganda.

Motivations unknown: Julie Couillard had no reason to take files

A report from an internal Foreign Affairs department investigation has concluded that Maxime Bernier was the victim in the events that led to his resignation from cabinet.

Riding associations backing Liberal Party loans

In my previous post, I looked at Liberal Party fundraising for the second quarter.  Not surprisingly, fundraising for the Liberals is flat.

But in looking over the numbers, I noticed something unexpected.  Several riding associations emptied out their banks accounts to move money to the Liberal Party.

Why?

Then someone reminded me of what the Liberals were doing.  The party had taken out a big loan in order to stay in operation, using the riding associations as collateral.

Liberal Fundraising: Still in the doldrums (but one shockingly generous riding transfer)

The second quarter returns of the major parties have been made available by Elections Canada.

The Liberals are the only major party that saw an increase in donations!

Yeah, but it was just a burp really. 

No surprise, but it seems clear that through the second quarter of this year, the Liberals still hadn't figured out how to squeeze any money from Canadians.

Note that the return covers a period to the end of June.  For all we know, the money is pouring in now, even as I type this.

But until we see those returns in 90 days, we can ponder a different mystery.

How did the riding association of Pierrefonds-Dollard get hold of $30,000 to transfer to the party?  No other transfer comes anywhere close to this.  It is half of all of last year's income for the riding association.

Very strange.

What was Marc Mayrand thinking?

We have some details concerning the payback plans for the Liberal Party leadership contenders who have all been granted extensions to pay back their outstanding campaign loans.

Except Stephane Dion, whose plan is still under review.

But of the others, the details are, well, difficult to reconcile with reality.  As such, I can't imagine why the extensions were granted.

Carbon tax confusion cleared up -- Stephane Dion just doesn't care

British Columbia has a carbon tax.

Quebec has a carbon tax.

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion promises to inflict a carbon tax on Canadians if he ever becomes prime minister.

The obvious question -- how do these two levels of taxation interact -- is causing no end of confusion.

But really, there is no reason for confusion.  Stephane Dion has made it clear today that whether Canadians in some parts of the country will be required to pay two taxes is irrelevant to him.

He has the power to make every Canadian pay a price for everything they do, and he intends to use it.

The devil is in the (paydown) details

As widely expected, Elections Canada has waved away the failure of Liberal leadership contenders to payback their leadership debts by granting extensions.

OK, let's be clear.  Extensions are often granted by Elections Canada to candidates who fail to hit the deadline.  Sure it looks like special treatment for the Liberals, but it is not as bad as all that.

But then, maybe it is.  The devil is in the details.

Does green living mean recycling news stories?

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is touring the country trying to sell people on his plan for a carbon tax.

It's all about being more environmentally responsible.  You know.  Recycling and all that.

But does recycling news stories count as recycling?

Green Shift: A lump of coal or a precious diamond?

Just how prevalent is the phrase "green shift"?

Stephane Dion directs people to Jennifer Wright's Green Shift Inc

As we all know, Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is proposing a carbon tax, which he calls The Green Shift.  There is a company that has been in operation for years called Green Shift Inc that is suing the Liberals for using the name without permission.

But one is "Green Shift" and the other is "The Green Shift", or so argue Liberal Party apologists.

Perhaps it is a significant distinction, but only if the Liberals actually use it.  So what does it mean when Stephane Dion directs people to the website for Green Shift Inc, instead of the party's website for The Green Shift carbon tax?

To me it means that Green Shift Inc boss Jennifer Wright has a point when she says that the names are causing confusion, which is why she needs relief from the courts to force the Liberals to change the name and to pay for damages.

Marc Mayrand fails the memory test -- by twenty million dollars!

Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand explained that one of the reasons the Conservatives are being targeted for investigation is that candidates and their agents weren't able to recall details of the advertising spending.

Well, that's why we write things down on things like receipts.  So we don't have to remember.

But that's not good enough for Marc Mayrand.

Marc Mayrand holds these people to a higher standard when it comes to remembering details like these. 

Amusingly, it is not a standard he seems to be able to meet.  In fact he misses the mark by a wide margin -- actually by nearly $20 million!

Misleading Liberal Party fundraising email

I received an email this week from the Liberal Party.  I am being hit up for a donation in support of Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

So far, so good.

But let's say I'm one of the majority of Canadians who doesn't know about Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan.  The email helpfully offers to send me to the website for the plan where I can "learn more".

But instead, I am sent back to the donation page on the Liberal Party site, where I'm expected to cough up cash.

That's misleading.  Even a bit spammy.

Message to Stephane Dion: Do your damn job, sir!

Stephane Dion gets a rough ride while on the road...from his own nominee!

Oops: Liberal nominee Gerry Samson can't sell Green Shift (except to stealth Liberals)

Yet again, Liberals are undermining Stephane Dion's attempt to sell his carbon tax plan (aka The Green Shift) to Canadians.

This time, we have Liberal nominee Gerry Samson in Stormont-Dundas-South-Glengarry admitting, on the record, with Stephane Dion in the room, that Samson can't get local residents to believe him when he tells them that they will benefit from Stephane Dion's new tax.

Well, one guy in the audience loved the idea of the carbon tax.  But then as it turns out, he's a local Liberal Party riding association activist (ed. actually a director and a member of the riding association executive).  Of course, that wasn't mentioned in the media report.  He's described as just a local resident who was really impressed with Stephane Dion.

Stephane Dion selling the carbon tax

Can Stephane Dion sell the carbon tax?

The question is misleading.

The real question is this.

Can Stephane Dion sell the carbon tax without alienating everyone around him?

Stephane Dion? Oh.

Stephane Dion is mistaken for a popular local politician.  When the mistake is corrected, enthusiasm for being in such close proximity to that carbon tax guy drops dramatically.

Hey, it's just an anecdote, so don't read to much into it.  But it is funny.

What's more interesting, though, is that the story became ammunition in a Liberal-versus-Liberal infighting.

Oops: Liberal MP Ralph Goodale explains how most oil consumption will not be taxed

Is Saskatchewan going to hurt badly by Stephane Dion's carbon tax?  Well, Stephane Dion admitted as much, but Liberal MP Ralph Goodale has taken the time to explain this more clearly. 

Don't worry, he says.

Almost all the oil taken out of the ground in Saskatchewan will be consumed and turned into carbon dioxide emissions without a dime of tax being applied.

Oil company profits are safe!

You might wonder how this helps the environment.  On the other hand, you might have stopped asking that question after Liberal MPs Ken Boshcoff and Martha Hall Findlay have already explained that no one expects any actual environmental benefit from the carbon tax.

Time to Wade into the Pilot Seniority Problem at Air Canada

Is it time for the government to get involved in the ongoing labour dispute at Air Canada?  With the troubles plaguing the airline, this is one issue that could be resolved.  And ought to be.

Blair Wilson and the anonymous letter

Yesterday I wrote that the story of Blair Wilson was coming to a close.  I think that's likely to be true, but today I have to point out the Blair Wilson is putting up what might be a last minute fight.

Part of that is what might be an attempt to alter the understanding of what started the Elections Canada investigation in the first place.

Blair Wilson story coming to a close

Blair Wilson had admitted to violations of the Elections Act, but there will be no prosecution.  It is also likely that there will be no seat for Blair Wilson once this parliament rises for the last time.

The Conservative Boxes: A good show for the cameras on the way out, then quietly returned

Seventeen boxes of sensitive Conservative material related to the In-and-Out affair being removed from Conservative Party headquarters by grim-looking Elections Canada officials.

The images from last April were quite powerful.

Would you like an update?  Well, for one thing, the boxes didn't leave the building, at least not until the relevancy of the seize material was determined.

And that determination was that over 85% of the material had nothing to do with the question of advertising financing in the 2006 election.  That material has been returned, but without a phalanx of cameras recording the march back into Conservative Party headquarters.

And the rest?  Virtually all of it was material Elections Canada already had.

Makes you wonder just what the point of all this was.  Just to put on a good show for the cameras?

Stephane Dion: Thief

Some strong language from Jennifer Wright, the head of Green Shift Inc, the company suing the Liberal Party over the use of the name "Green Shift".

Yasmin Ashareh: Application for a publication ban covering William Imona-Russel

One of the stories that has gone dormant for almost a year is the case of the murder Yasmin Ashareh.

Well, it was come back with a vengeance.

Disturbing details from Toronto Police about man charged with sexual assault and incest

A disturbing report from Toronto Police.  And I'm surprised at the amount of detail they're releasing.

Stephane Dion: Underwhelming performance in Guelph

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion was in Guelph this past week.

It was not an impressive performance.

Contradictions about the Cadman tape?

More news from the saga of the Cadman tape.

According to the headlines, a third expert is contradicting the claims made by two other experts that the tape misrepresents a conversation between Prime Minister Stephen Harper and reporter Tom Zytaruk.

The headline is an attention grabber, but the the truth is that the third expert is not willing to come to the same conclusion has the first two experts without access to the original tape and the original recording equipment, something Tom Zytaruk is not willing to grant.  He does say that there are irregularities in the recording though.

Not actually a contradiction as I read it.

Oops: Liberal MP Martha Hall Findlay admits to Liberal greenwashing

Liberal Party MP Martha Hall Findlay talks about Stephane Dion's plan for a carbon tax.  The carbon tax will save the planet, right?  We'll be encouraged to consume less energy, right?

According to Findlay, there's no way to really know, or to be sure if it's really working.

Still, that's no reason not to impose a tax on Canadians.

Oops: Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff admits to Liberal greenwashing

Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff has let the cat out of the bag.  Apparently Stephane Dion's carbon tax program is just a big vacuum designed to suck money out of Alberta, pass it through  Liberal government social programs, and put it in the pockets of whomever the Liberals deem worthy of receiving the cash.

The whole "environmental" thing is just words slapped on to make the tax grab more palatable.  That's called "greenwashing".

You know, this just makes Jennifer Wright's argument that her company is being damaged by the Liberals lifting the name "Green Shift" all the more compelling.

Planning for a day in court

Prime Minister Stephen Harper's legal team wants to make Tom Zytaruk answer some very particular questions while under oath.

Liberals make jokes about murdering Stephen and Laureen Harper

In what has to be one of the most tasteless displays from the Liberal Party, this "joke" appearing in the official newsletter of the St Catharines Federal Liberal Association makes light of the deliberate murder of Stephen Harper and his wife, as discussed by schoolchildren.

Are the Liberals trying to hide the Chuck Cadman stories? [Update: Links restored]

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has filed a $3.5 million lawsuit against the Liberal Party.  The suit stems from allegations made by the Liberal Party via their website through two so-called news stories that Stephen Harper knew of and condoned an attempt to bribe independent MP Chuck Cadman just before a crucial confidence vote in 2005.

I just checked, and you can't get to those two stories via the Liberal Party website.

Are the Liberals trying to quietly hide the stories?  Perhaps as a prelude to a settlement?

If so, they need to do a better job.  I can still get to those stories via their policy forum.

Update: The navigation is back, and the stories are accessible again through the Liberal Party website.

Jennifer Wright to sue Liberals despite veiled threat from Garth Turner

Stephane Dion and the Liberals ignored a cease-and-desist letter from Jennifer Wright of Green Shift Inc., over the use of the name "Green Shift" to describe the Liberal carbon tax.

As a result, the Liberals are about to get sued.  We don't know by how much, but it'll be over $2 million.

And this despite Garth Turner's veiled threat to dig around her private life if she went ahead with the lawsuit.

Stephane Dion to shut down the oilsands?

Stephane Dion is trying to convince an interesting cross-section of people that his carbon tax is a good idea.

These people aren't interested in taxes though.   They want Stephane Dion to shut down the oilsands completely.

Paul Cheema: The suspicions born of evidence

When Paul Cheema, the prime suspect in the murder of his wife, Shemina Hirji, was found dead of a suicide, the story was essentially wrapped up.

Nevertheless, a lot of people seemed to think that Cheema was hounded by police who had no other suspects and so defaulted to the husband.

Not too long ago I spotted a news story that revealed why the police were interested in Cheema from the start.  It wasn't widely reported.

Who's the loser, eh? It's not who you think.

Garth Turner, Liberal MP and alleged communications guru, has gotten into trouble.

Again.

This time he has called Quebeckers and Albertans who are worried about their livelihoods and their futures losers.

As a result, he's been chewed out in a big way.  Does that make him the real loser?

Yes, but perhaps surprisingly, not the biggest loser in this story.

Misappropriation of Personality

A reader on another blog asks what exactly earned the Liberals the charge of committing misappropriation the personality.  That allegation was combined with an increase by $1 million in the damages sought by Stephen Harper in his lawsuit against the Liberal Party.  The original lawsuit was tied to Liberal Party accusations that Stephen Harper had known and condoned illegal activities regarding the late MP Chuck Cadman, in particular, an attempt to bribe Cadman with an insurance policy.

I guess the basis of the misappropriation of personality charge is not widely known, so let me help explain.

Ecological harmony: Who are the real villains?

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is prepared to tax the oil operations of Alberta and Saskatchewan, to punish them for being the source of so much carbon dioxide that is wrecking the planet.

Kyoto (the protocol, not Stephane Dion's dog) demands it.

It makes no such demand of countries like India. 

It doesn't seem fair, at first glance.  Take a deeper look, and it's grossly unfair.

And I mean gross.

Does David Suzuki sound nervous to you?

It wasn't too long ago when David Suzuki was urging young people to find ways to imprison politicians who don't interpret scientific evidence in the same way Suzuki does.

With polls showing a majority of people in British Columbia are against the provincial carbon tax, Suzuki has tried to play it a bit more casually.

The problem is that he comes off as nervous.  Like he's worried that the crowds aren't listening to him anymore.

No votes? Screw you!

Stephane Dion and the Liberals are looking more and more like the classic Liberal Party of years past, playing region against region based on vote potential.

Selling the carbon tax: Canadian apples and Australian oranges

In a remarkable story from the Canadian Press, we learn that Stephane Dion and the Liberals have been inspired by Kevin Rudd's success in winning the November 2007 general election in Australia based in part on a platform that included a carbon tax.

Really, that can't possible be true, can it?  I mean, has anyone noticed how much has changed since last November, and what next November is shaping up to be like?

The coming summer storm of carbon tax thunder

I don't have a simplistic computer model to use to predict the future.  I leave that sort of "science" to the global warming nutters.

But there are hints of what is coming.  I'm afraid it'll be loud and incessant.

My stories are seriously skewed (I hope)

Digg led the way with user-submitted stories and user voting.  But I have never been satisfied with Digg.  It had no focus, with people submitting stories from every possible area of interest.  That has led to issues with political stories.  People would vote stories up and down not based on the intrinsic value of the story, but rather with a goal of eliminating stories of either the left or right.

There is a new player in the user submission field.  It is called Skewz, and it focuses entirely on political stories.  Better yet, you're supposed to vote on whether a story skews to the left or to the right, not on whether you should read it.

Is Stephane Dion boiling the frog to create a new GST?

One thing that has been puzzling more and more is the way Stephane Dion speaks of his carbon tax changing people's behavior with regards to using energy, while his actual plan seems to be predicated on no change in behavior at all.

Then, after chatting with a newspaper columnist acquaintance of mine, it hit me.  Stephane Dion is boiling the frog.

Why didn't I see it before?

Stephane Dion and the questionable size of his reduction predictions

I wrote a post recently in which I tried to understand just how much the carbon tax being proposed by Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion would reduce emissions.  In his plan, he predicts $15 billion in revenue from a tax of $40 per tonne of carbon dioxide emissions paid on fuels.

After struggling with the numbers, and a couple of false starts, I came to the conclusion that the emissions predicted in Year 4 of Stephane Dion's new tax regime are not any different from the emissions today.

I thought that odd, but then maybe it was reasonable.  Perhaps Stephane Dion figures that four years is not enough time to see the effect of a new universal tax on energy.  It takes time for factories to shut down and move to Mexico.

But in an interview with the editorial board of Sun Media, Stephane Dion says there will be large reductions by 2012 (the impilicit assumption being that he can implement a tax in 2009).

That doesn't make sense. 

Skipping the problem of replacing the fuel source

I swing between amusement and frustration when I read comments from well-meaning environmentalist types who think that if all bought electric cars, we wouldn't need oil.

It belies a fundamental ignorance of how the world works, and makes me nervous about these people ever being in charge.

In particular, I'm looking at a comment on the Liberal Party discussion board, in which the person posting says the world will be so different in 10 years when we stop using petroleum to power transportation having switched to electricity.

I shake my head.  What did they teach these people in science class in high school?

Why the Liberal Party must be sued over the Green Shift name

This situation that has developed over the name "Green Shift" is not as amusing as it seemed to be at first.  The name "Green Shift" is a trademark, and the Liberal Party lifted it in an attempt to make Stephane Dion's carbon tax seem more palatable.

But the company that owns the trademark is mad, and is planning to sue.

They should sue.  In fact, they have to.

Stephane Dion's carbon tax means more imports from massive polluter China

Stephane Dion's carbon tax plan promises to apply a tariff against the carbon content of imported goods.

As with everything else in the carbon tax plan, there are no details, just promises that Canada would benefit.  Ignore that.  like everything else in the carbon tax plan, it's nonsense.  When you actually think about what the tariff could mean, it's clear that Canadians would suffer.

And like everything else in the carbon tax plan, it will do nothing to limit emissions.

Carbon tax: Letting Halifax airport crumble away

Peter Duffy, writing in The Chronicle Herald, suggests that keeping the runways at Halifax's international airport in good condition is a waste of time.  Fuel prices means fewer flights.

What's the point of having an airport?

If Stephane Dion gets to implement his carbon tax, I wonder just what else we can just throw away as being unnecessary.

Liberal candidate Frank Valeriote against carbon tax and the funding of green industries

Now that Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion has unveiled his carbon tax, it might be interesting to gauge reaction from his own people.

If Guelph Liberal Party candidate Frank Valeriote remains consistent with his previously stated positions, he won't like it.

Morphing Signatures

This is just a quickie post about how Stephane Dion's signature on the Liberal Party carbon tax handbook is a lifted image from another copy of his signature, but altered.

Before anyone says it, this post is about nothing at all significant, or perhaps even that interesting.  Just something I noticed.

The Blogging Tories have gotten a bit grumpier

Welcome to the newest Blogging Tory, The Grumpy Voter.

Working through the carbon tax numbers

OK, I've got a question.  Where the heck did Stephane Dion get his numbers for Canadian fuel consumption?

I'm trying to see where his numbers come from, and they seem way too high.

Update: No wait, I forgot to factor for the increase in weight for carbon dioxide.  That makes the numbers work.

Update: No wait, the numbers have a problem after all.  I successfully showed that the 2007 fuel consumption rates match up with the carbon tax revenues predicted by the Liberals in Year 4 of the plan.  But that's not right either.  The whole point is that fuel usage would drop.  Why aren't they dropping?  What's the point of this tax?  Just to raise money?

[This is a reposted version of the first post, now deleted.]

Conservatives cut GST by 28% (something the media forgot to mention)

Remember when Prime Minister Stephen Harper cut the GST by a whopping 28%?

Good times.  Good times.

Of course, it was reported as a 2% tax cut, from 7% to 5% in two separate steps, not as a 28% cut, which is the percentage difference between 7% and 5%.

Now that might seem more honest, but then why is a 1.5% income tax cut proposed by Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion as part of his carbon tax package being reported as a 10% cut?

Stephane Dion: Man of the (Green) People

A trusted source in Ottawa has flipped me some details about the planned launch of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

Apparently it will be a "man of the people" video.

Sex abuse allegations based on a psychic vision

In Barrie, Colleen Leduc was put through a nightmare.  Allegations were made that her daughter, Victoria, was being abused by a man aged 23 to 26.  The Children's Aid Society is investigating.

Who was this man?  The psychic who told the teacher to be only the lookout for an abused child whose name started with "V" was not that specific.

What the...?!  A psychic?

Will I pay the GST on the carbon tax?

The carbon tax announcement is coming.  All questions will be answered.  Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion will make it all clear.

Well, I have a question.  Am I going to be taxed on the tax?

In-and-Out and the question of privilege

The Globe and Mail is running a story on how Elections Canada tried to manage the story of the "raid" on Conservative Party headquarters.  But as an interesting side note, there is correspondence concerning the nature of legal privilege.

It seems to be far less strict than I thought, at least according to the General Counsel at Elections Canada.

Oily bugs: Scaling up tiny refineries

With so much of the planet's technology based on crude oil, it seems pointless to think about getting off oil.  That's just a fact.  The real solution to rising oil prices is more supply, and there is always buzz around artificially creating oil using microorganisms.  Of course, the devil is in the details. 

Not the little details, but the really big ones.

Paying the carbon tax long after the environment is no longer a concern

Details are emerging about Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion's carbon tax.

As suspected, it is not a tax designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.  If it was, then I would expect the tax to go away once emission goals were met.  Instead, it is shaping up to be just another tax designed to raise money for Liberal social spending.

And I thought it was going to be different this time.

Liberal Party fundraising email for carbon tax advertising: Money is not important, just personal information

The Liberal Party has sent out an email soliciting funds to support an advertising campaign to promote Stephane Dion's carbon tax.  But the odd thing is that the email says that the amount donated is not important.  The Liberal Party just wants your information.

Media analysis: There is no such thing as saying the right thing at the wrong time

Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre is in a pickle.  It's of his own making because he doesn't have my training as an engineer.  But then the Liberal research bureau has been helping things along too.

Still, the reaction of the media is interesting.

Update: After posting this, Pierre Poilievre has apologized on the floor of the House of Commons.

The carbon tax: Only Garth Turner knows the truth

Apparently, the great carbon tax plan of Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is, well, just a lot of hot air.  A report today says that basic questions remain unanswered, and the rollout of the plan is being delayed week after week as Liberals try to define a plan to meet the goals stated publicly by Stephane Dion.

Goals that weren't actually backed by a plan.

But if that is true, then why is Liberal MP Garth Turner making statements that he has seen the details?

Sun, heat, and Stephane Dion's carbon tax

Stephane Dion led the Liberals into not stopping an immigration bill that they resolutely oppose.

Why?

The answer is so funny when you think about.

Stephane Dion's carbon tax details revealed -- permanent income tax cuts!

What we've all been waiting for -- the definitive explanation of just how Stephane Dion's carbon tax is going to work.

The Carbon Tax grab: Garth Turner blinks

Garth Turner, the Liberal MP who has suffered oh-so-much for being one of the few truly loyal Liberals supporting Stephane Dion, has blinked.

Yes, he has blinked.

Stephane Dion says no election -- spend the summer explaining to Canadians that they need to pay yet more taxes with his Carbon Tax.

Is Garth Turner behind his leader on this one?  Hold off on the carbon tax, says Garth Turner.  It's not the right time, pleads Garth Turner.  I'm swamped with people who hate the idea, complains Garth Turner.

*Blink*

The tax trick: A tax that, if successful, results in higher taxes overall

The Conservatives have launched a new ad campaign with www.willyoubetricked.ca, also known as The Dion Tax Trick.

It aims at the heart of the matter.  Stephane's "green shift" (his latest name for his plan after the more accurate "Really Big Tax on Everything" stunk in focus groups) is neither green nor a shift.

This is not propaganda or speculation.  It's common sense.

The tax trick: A tax that, if successful, results in higher taxes overall

The Conservatives have launched a new ad campaign with www.willyoubetricked.ca, also known as The Dion Tax Trick.

It aims at the heart of the matter.  Stephane's "green shift" (his latest name for his plan after the more accurate "Really Big Tax on Everything" stunk in focus groups) is neither green nor a shift.

This is not propaganda or speculation.  It's common sense.

The wrong window of opportunity

The rumbling out of Ottawa is about secret Liberal Party meetings.  As always, we know who was at the meeting and what was said.

Note to self: Send this link to every Liberal MP.

Apparently, meetings have been held, and more meetings will be held, in which the topic of discussion was one thing: how to get Stephane Dion to force an election.

There is a window of opportunity, Liberals are saying.  Of course, there is.  But no Liberal will find an election win by going through that window.

Stephane Dion knows it, and that's why he's dead set against an election right now.

Linda Schwey's big seed giveaway

Liberal Party candidate Linda Schwey is planning to give away tens of thousands of seed packets during the next election.

Seeds cost money.  Doesn't that count as election spending?

Zytaruk-Harper interview timeline

I'm surprised by the confusion surrounding the alleged doctoring of the taped interview between Tom Zytaruk and Stephen Harper in 2005, discussing efforts by Conservatives to have Chuck Cadman rejoin the Tories.

The Liberals chant, Explain the tape!

What about the doctoring?  Piffle, say Liberals, it's just the sound of the recorder being turned off and on at inconsequential moments.

Clearly these people have not taken the time to review the evidence submitted by the audio experts.

Still trying to peg Andre Thouin and Raymond Lamothe as Elections Canada employees

The latest data from Elections Canada regarding contracts has been disclosed today.  I've been looking forward to seeing it in order to determine if investigators Andre Thouin and Raymond Lamothe are actually working for Elections Canada.

And yet with data covering a period ending a mere nine days before the search warrant was signed off by Raymond Lamothe, I still can't find where he was rehired by Elections Canada after his initial contract ran out in March of 2007.  The same goes for fellow investigator Andre Thouin, who collected the evidence on April 15.

Expert analysis makes Tom Zytaruk look to the Liberals for source of manipulation

The analysis of the Cadman tape is pretty damning.  So much so that Tom Zytaruk himself is putting some distance between himself and the tape.  He tries to draw a distinction between his original tape in his safe, and the digital copy on the Liberal website.  Zytaruk points out, rather reasonably, that he can't control what people do with digital recordings that they put on the website.

Zytaruk is not directly accusing the Liberals of doctoring the tape, but he certainly sounds like he would prefer that questions be aimed in that direction.

The tape that wasn't there

The Chuck Cadman story takes another strange turn.  The question of whether the Conservatives offered some sort of bribe to Chuck Cadman in 2005 to rejoin the Conservatives and bring down Paul Martin's government has already been put to rest with the RCMP reporting "no evidence" to support such an allegation.

But there is still the matter of the lawsuit filed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper against the Liberal Party for having published statements on the website to the effect that Stephen Harper knew of a bribe.

Part of the lawsuit hinged on a tape recording, a tape recording that the Conservatives now say has been doctored.

What law does Stephane Dion thinks he is obeying?

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion had eighteen months to pay of his debts left over from his leadership bid.  He has failed to in a rather spectacular manner.  Of the original debt of $800,000, he has $600,000 to go.

Now Stephane Dion has to face the legal ramifications.  Unless he can convince Elections Canada that he has a really good excuse -- like he didn't know it was due today, or something like that.

CTV alters emotion-laden headline

Conservative Environment Minister John Baird has some issues with the proposed Ontario-Quebec cap-and-trade system.  But did he really sneer?

The news staff at CTV thought so at 1:47pm today.  Thirteen minutes later the news staff thought otherwise.

Interprovincial cap-and-trade: An opportunity being squandered?

The reaction of the government to a proposed cap-and-trade system being set up between Ontario and Quebec seems short-sighted to me.  Isn't there a way to make this work in a way that everyone wins?

Carbon Tax or Cap-and-Trade?

Let's say that for political reasons, there is going to be some sort of carbon pricing regime.  Maybe we'll do it to combat global warming which is stupid because:

• The planet isn't warming.
• The planet is warming, but it has nothing to do with man-made emissions.
• The planet is warming, but Canada's 2% contribution to greenhouse gas emissions is negligible, and a 10% cut, or a 20% cut, or a 50% cut, or even a 100% cut in a negligible contribution is a negligible improvement.

But hey, it wouldn't be the first time things are done for stupid reasons.  Heck, stupid reasons notwithstanding, carbon pricing might still be a good thing to do, for some good reasons:

• Pollution is bad, and assuming a correlation between greenhouse gas emissions (probably harmless) and other sorts of emissions (certainly nasty) is a strong one, then cutting back on carbon emissions means cutting back on other forms of real pollution.
• Energy efficiency is good, and carbon usage as a function of GNP might be considered a measure of efficiency, one that can be shifted in the more efficient direction.
• Maybe there's a way to make money from this.

And then there is the most important reason of all:

• Despite the best efforts of better informed members of society, the majority has drunk deeply of the global warming Kool-Aid, and demand something be done, even if it makes no good sense at all.

One particular carbon pricing scheme has always made more sense to me.  If we need to do this thing, let's at least do it right.  Or at least as right as is possible to do something that is intrinsically ridiculous.

Michael Ignatieff's last minute plea for cash

I received an email from Michael Ignatieff's fundraising operation.  It was remarkable for its stark simplicity as well as the timing.

Green Party accepting anonymous donations [updated]

The Green Party of Canada is accepting hundreds of dollars in donations from anonymous donors.  We don't know if these are people who have already reached their donation limits, or if these are donations from corporations or unions, or if these donations are actually from Canadians instead of from environmental activists from beyond our borders.

It matters because in any of these cases, the donations would be illegal.  Which is why anonymous donations are illegal in the first place.

Elizabeth May jokes about suicide

Green Party leader Elizabeth May seems to lack the most basic ability all successful politicians have to pause in order to consider her words carefully, and then answer a question without offending people or making light of a serious subject.

In an interview with the Guelph Mercury editorial board, Elizabeth May says she was close to slitting her wrists after listening to the leader's debate during the last election, finding the politicians remarks too well packaged.

The editorial board was taken aback by Elizabeth May's flippant reference to suicide, and as a result, Elizabeth May spoiled an opportunity to deliver the Green Party message.

It makes me wonder just why the Green Party puts up with her.  It isn't the first time this has happened.

Pharmaceutical patents and the return of evergreening

There has been a fight playing out in slow motion for over two years between the big pharmaceutical companies, the government, and the bureaucrats at Health Canada.  Losses in the Supreme Court by big pharmaceuticals are being redressed by regulatory changes, and as a result, the contentious practice of "evergreening" is poised to make a comeback two years after it was deemed to be counter to the Canada Health Act.

Maxime Bernier is out, but expect the Liberals to make the situation even worse (and a suggestion about Jason Kenney)

Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier has tendered his resignation, and it has been accepted.  Not much could be done in this situation -- Maxime Bernier had lost track of sensitive documents, and that's a firing offense.

The government will work swiftly to make sure that any breach does not compromise Canadian security or the security of our allies.  On the other hand, you can be certain that the Liberals will look to maximize any damage in exchange for political points.

Oh, and my vote is for Jason Kenney as the next minister of foreign affairs.

Trying to understand how "revenue neutral" works

I want to maintain a constant flow of water into a basin that has a drain in the bottom.  I have two taps.  One tap is on and the water flow in balances the water flow out.  I turn on the other tap.  The sink is starting to fill up, so I turn down the first tap by the same amount as the second tap was turned up.

I've achieved a neutral flow.

But now the flow from the second tap is starting to shrink.  It's not my doing.  It's just getting smaller and I can't control it other than opening the second tap even more.  The water in the basin is starting to shrink away.  To get back to a neutral flow, I need to increase the the flow from the first tap, or increase the flow from the second tap. 

But what I can't do is let the flow from both taps shrink away.  I need water in the basin.  More water is going to have to come in from one of the two taps.

Follow me?

Predicting Stephane Dion's carbon tax

Stephane Dion is going to roll out a carbon tax plan.  Canadians are praising it or denouncing it, without any idea of what the plan is actually going to be.

Let's try and figure it out.  Just the base carbon tax rate and nothing more.  It's not really all that hard to do.

What happened to Garth Turner's ecotourism The Credit River Company? [updated]

This was pure accident to have tripped over this.  I was Googling for local points of interest, and in my linking I came across The Credit River Company.  It promotes itself as an ecotourism company that restores heritage buildings.

It also sounded familiar.

As it is, the founder and CEO was Liberal MP Garth Turner.  Yeah.  Him again.  Honest, I wasn't looking for this.

Anyway, I went to the website, and was very surprised at what I found.  It looks like Garth Turner has gone out of the ecotourism business.

Are the Liberals quoting the CBC's Rex Murphy out of context?

The Liberal Party has just sent out an email, and in the lead piece, the party quotes experts who are heaping praise on Stephane Dion's idea for a carbon tax.

One of those experts is Rex Murphy.

I remember the piece being quoted.  Rex Murphy gave Stephane Dion credit for being logically consistent, but I didn't see any praise for the tax itself.

It's hard to tell from the two sentences extracted from the essay.

Garth Turner, the Future NDP Member for Halton

Chris Selley, aka Megapundit, who blogs for Maclean's, has the best line I've seen today.  Not only is it funny, it's prescient.

Garth Turner turns on the Liberal Party

Liberal communications advisor Garth Turner warns the disloyal MPs are hurting Stephane Dion.

Hurting who?

What sort of MPs?

Communications advisor?!

Richard Brennan, Guy Giorno, and payback time

With the news that former chief of staff to former Ontario premier Mike Harris, Guy Giorno, is taking over from Ian Brodie as chief of staff to Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

People are trying to get a take on who Giorno is, and reporters who have known him for some time are helping.  Richard Brennan is one such reporter, and he calls Giorno very bright, a neocon, and socially challenged.

Socially challenged?  Where did that come from?  Does Richard Brennan think Guy Giorno is applying to be a cruise director on the Pacific Princess?

Actually, there is a bit of history behind this.

Is David Smith rewriting history concerning Joan Beatty in order to protect Stephane Dion?

The Liberal nomination for the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River is wide open.  David Orchard and Joan Beatty are both fighting to the chance to represent the Liberal Party.

It'll be interesting to see how that nomination race proceeds.

But I find it also interesting to see how studiously the Liberal Party is avoiding making too much of the fact that Stephane Dion's meddling played a key role in how the by-election played out on March 17.  Now, instead of Stephane Dion making a gutsy leadership decision (as was explained before the by-election loss), we hear that Stephane Dion was compelled to appoint the nominee because of a "tight timeline".

I guess anything that absolves Stephane Dion of responsibility.

Garth Turner and caucus confidentiality

I'm just sharing some thoughts about the implications of breaking Liberal Party caucus confidentiality with regards to Garth Turner.  Was it just gossip, or part of a plan?

Tuna, beer, popcorn -- next comes the carbon tax

It occurs to me that the carbon tax is a very dangerous policy to propose.  Not just because it'll wreck the economy and accomplish nothing whatsoever.  But because trying to sell it is going to be so hard.  Already we see hints of how defending the carbon tax is likely going to cause someone to trip up and say something really, really, stupid.

Jane Taber's weasel report on Garth Turner

Last Friday, a report by Jane Taber on Mike Duffy Live spawned some off-the-wall rumours about Liberal MP Garth Turner being run out of caucus.

As far as we know, Garth Turner continues to sit with the Liberal Party, but the actual report is a case study in knowing where to draw the line.

Real life is not a blog.

Does David Suzuki advocate exempting industry from the Liberal carbon tax?

The NDP does not like the Liberal plan for a carbon tax.  For the NDP, the problem is with charging both industry and individuals -- the NDP thinks industrial polluters should pay.

Piffle, says David Suzuki.  The Swedes have a robust carbon tax in comparison to what the Liberals are proposing. 

Interesting example.  The NDP would prefer a carbon tax that targets industry.  David Suzuki, on the other hand, is impressed with the Swedish system that exempts industry from paying the full tax, and only requires that the full tax be paid by individuals.

What?  You didn't know that?  I guess David Suzuki forgot to mention it.

Will housing prices to take a beating under the Liberal carbon tax regime?

Will a carbon tax blast housing values?

The Garth Tape [and an apology offered]

Garth Turner has caught a bit of a break.  Apparently there were two reporters at the event in which he allegedly described Canadian artillery as being solely for the purpose of destroying villages.

If we take his transcription of the tape at face value, and I have no reason to assume it isn't accurate, his comments were...well...not much different than what has been discussed already.

Cadman controversy is dead, but the Liberals uncover evidence of criminal activity

In a stunning turnaround, the Liberal Party has announced the discovery of evidence to support allegations that the Conservatives tried to bribe Chuck Cadman.  This despite today's announcement by the RCMP that the case was closed.

Garth Turner says he meant blowing up Taliban villages only (or something like that)

Liberal MP Garth Turner is in a bit of a bind.  He was quoted in a local paper as saying that the Canadian military buys artillery shells whose "sole purpose" was to destroy Afghan villages.

I called him out on that.  He wrote a post that suggested that he was misquoted.  I got in touch with the paper and the editor was adamant that the quote was accurate. 

Garth Turner seems to have largely abandoned that defense.  Now he says Afghan villages in Taliban-controlled territory are the ones being blown up.

Or something to that effect.  Really, it's not clear at all what he means.

How is that better?

Canada is right to avoid bogus "right to food" meeting

With all the other news, the fact that Canada is not supporting an attempt by the United Nations' Human Rights Council to hold an emergency "right to food" meeting has not been widely noticed.

Right to food?

Accurately quoting Garth Turner

In the tempest brewing over Garth Turner's comments that the Canadian military purchases weapons whose only purpose is to destroy villages in Afghanistan, Garth Turner raised the possibility that he was misquoted.

He doesn't actually say he was misquoted, nor provide a different recollection of the comments he made.

I hate ambiguity, so I contacted the paper in question to get their side of this particular issue.

Is the Liberal Party issuing tax receipts covering the personal expenses of Liberal Senators?

The Liberals in the Senate have a caucus fund.  Basically, it's petty cash. Senators contribute a hundred bucks or so to the fund, and the money is used to pay for food and other incidentals related to partisan caucus activities.

The Conservatives have a similar fund.

Notice that this money does not go to the Liberal Party.  It has nothing to do with electioneering or leadership debts or nomination fights or whatever.

So why does it seem like the Liberal Party is issuing donation receipts for Liberal Senators kicking money into the fund, presumably so that Liberal Senators can take advantage of the tax credit normally given to people who've donated to a political party?

Garth Turner accuses Canadian military of pursuing the destruction of Afghan villages [Updated...again...and again]

Liberal MP Garth Turner had an interesting comment about the Canadian military and the strategy being pursued in Afghanistan.  Apparently wiping out villages with artillery attacks is our main mission. 

Carbon tax issue evidence of Stephane Dion's growing problems inside the Liberal Party

After all the talk about a carbon tax, my mind keeps coming back to the same thing.  Why are we talking about it at all?  I mean, The Liberal Party has not released any details.  But by allowing the Conservatives to know ahead of time that an announcement concerning a carbon tax is in the very near future, the Conservatives have been able to frame the issue.

You would think Liberals would have learned that by now.

The story was apparently leaked.  But I thought that maybe, just maybe, the Liberals were being clever.  Perhaps this was a trial balloon.

Then I looked at it again, and realized there is no way this could be a trial balloon.  It was a leak, plain and simple.  Worse, it was designed to hurt Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion.  Worse still, the leak came from an Ontario Liberal, and not a Quebec Liberal, which means Stephane Dion seems to be no closer to solving his leadership problems, and indeed his problems might be growing.

A 1993 analysis of consumption taxes done for the Liberal Party

Ever wonder why a consumption tax (like a carbon tax) is politically unpopular compared to a sales tax (like the GST)?

The Liberals under Jean Chretien wondered that in 1993 when they took over from the Progressive Conservatives.  Jean Chretien had promised to eliminate the GST, but of course, he didn't.  Different alternatives to the GST are discussed in this report.  It is very interesting to note what the researcher had to say about consumption taxes, and it helps understand why we still have the GST.

Of course, under a government led by Stephane Dion, we would get the worst of both worlds.

The carbon tax and the cost of gas

Stephane Dion's carbon tax is not a gas tax, or so members of the Liberal Party are supposed to say.  Too bad not all the Liberals got the memo.

Stephane Dion's carbon tax will succeed

I haven't written about Stephane Dion's carbon tax idea, not since it was announced that he intended to make a carbon tax a cornerstone of a Liberal Party platform in the next election.

I wanted my thoughts to gel, to consider just what such a tax could do, good and bad.  I'm glad I waited, because as I began to peal away the layers, I realized that a carbon tax is really unlike any tax every imposed by a government.  It is guaranteed to succeed.

Victory Fund to replace the ChequeMate Plan?

The Ontario wing of the federal Liberal Party had a monthly donation program called ChequeMate.  It appears that the new central party program, the Victory Fund, is displacing it.  It isn't clear if donors are being migrated to the new scheme.

Quietly migrating long-established ChequeMate Plan members to the Victory Fund would certainly make the Victory Fund look like an early success.

Did Lawrence Cannon suggest that Gilles Duceppe threatened the media?

The story behind the story of Maxime Bernier's former girlfriend is a lot more interesting (though perhaps less salacious) than the story itself, that being demands from the opposition that Bernier resign over the fact that his former girlfriend was once married to a notorious Quebec biker.

Apparently, the media did not break this story.  The media had known about it for some time, but realized there was nothing to it, since Julie Couillard had long since been cleared of any suspicion regarding the criminal activities of her former husband.  So why did the story break?  Because the opposition Liberals and Bloc Quebecois pushed it and pushed it hard.

Of course, you'd never know it, based on their surprised expression over the "revelations".

And yet, there are hints that people know what is going on.

The real story behind Maxime Bernier and Julie Couillard

In what has been and under-reported element to the Maxime Bernier story, we learn that the controversy over Maxime Bernier's girlfriend, Julie Couillard, was of no interest whatsoever to the press.  The opposition lobbied to have the story published by a unimpressed media corps.

Victory Fund includes Central Nova, where no Liberal is running

With the launch of the Liberal Party's Victory Fund, the Liberals hope to re-energize their fundraising ahead of the next election.

In that election, the Liberals will be running 307 candidates, taking a pass on the riding of Central Nova.  Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion and Green Party leader Elizabeth May entered into a pact.  The Liberals would not run a candidate in Central Nova (where May is running) and in return, the Green Party would not run a candidate in Saint-Laurent--Cartierville (where Dion is running).

So why would the Victory Fund, which aims at raising funds to defeat the Conservatives in the next election, explicitly raise funds for the Liberals in Central Nova?

Liberals launch Victory Fund with a shocking admission

For months now, the Liberal have been saying that they are ready to fight an election.  Lack of funds?  Not a problem, they said.  The party could spend up to the limit.  Just say go!

Well, apparently it is a problem, after all.

CAIRS not a tool for openness

Elizabeth Thompson has written a piece on her blog that puts the CAIRS database question into perspective.

Despite the moaning from the opposition, shutting down the CAIRS database is not about secrecy.  CAIR was never about openness.  It was always about making it easier for the government to limit access to information.

Liberal Party fundraising implodes

Is this another reason why Stephane Dion is not eager to fight an election?

Stephane Dion poised to infuriate Liberals

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion is about to make a decision that is going to infuriate Liberals everywhere.

Age of Consent, Miley Cyrus, and Predatory Artists

In Canada, the age of consent is set to rise from 14 to 16.  This is good news, but not all predators have sex with their victims.

Pierre Poilievre brings the Elections Canada Investigators' Manual to parliament

Until now, the debate on the significance over the apparent decision not to follow its own internal rules governing investigations and search warrants with regards to the Conservative Party In-and-Out issue has been limited to the blogosphere.  That changed yesterday when Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre raised the issue in the House of Commons.

Main stream media was the first to mention the Elections Canada Investigators' Manual

I just discovered that I was scooped by just over a week on the question of whether the investigators who pursued a search warrant targeting Conservative Party headquarters had followed the rules in their own manual.

Glen McGregor of the Canwest News Service mentioned it briefly in a story printed on April 15.

Stephane Dion: Higher taxes make Canadian food more appealing

Maybe there is a subtlety to the economic principles involved that I'm not getting.  But according to Stephane Dion, if I force a Canadian farmer to pay more in taxes, he'll be selling more produce than a foreign farmer who pays none of those taxes.

Stephane Dion to make a decision this year

Ralph Goodale provides a view into Stephane Dion's to-do list:

• Bake sale for leadership debts
• Threaten to invade Pakistan to look like tough leader done that
• Get smaller dog hamster to replace Kyoto to reduce pet-related greenhouse gas emissions
• Make a decision this year

Let's look at that last one.

International observers: More power to Elections Canada, more foreign participation in Canadian politics

With the range of contentious issues facing the work of Elections Canada, from allegations of differing standards for party filings to the draconian rules about publication of polling results to the free-speech limiting interpretation of advertising rules, I thought it might be interesting to see what election observers from other countries think about Elections Canada.

Judging from a report from a branch of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe called the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the attitude seems to be that Elections Canada is doing fine, but there ought to be some rules that need to be changed.  Rules to protect the rights of prisoners to vote, to allow foreigners to become involved in Canadian elections, and such -- but when it comes to restrictions on the free speech of Canadians, well, the less said the better.  Perhaps literally.

In general, the ODIHR is more concerned that Elections Canada doesn't have enough power, and that the ODIHR does not have enough access to provide oversight of Canadian elections.

How the Conservatives were singled out by Elections Canada

One of the more difficult things for many Canadians to accept is the notion that Elections Canada had singled out the Conservative Party for special treatment.  Let's be honest -- it does sound a bit paranoid.

The actual explanation is really very simple.  Ridiculously simple.  But unfortunately, it does not dispel the conspiracy theory entirely.

Four questions concerning the search warrant

I try to eliminate some of the fog based on the speculation by asking some very simple questions.

Elections Canada warrant makes no mention of interviews with senior Conservative officials

Elections Canada investigators have a process by which they attempt to get documentation from people they suspect as having broken the law regarding elections.  Reviewing the warrant, I don't see any evidence that the process was followed with regards to officials at Conservative Party headquarters.  I wonder if that explains why officials drove all the way to Toronto to have a judge who specializes in commercial litigation sign a warrant dealing with electoral law.

What's wrong?  No specialists in electoral law sitting on the bench in Ottawa?

Maybe that's want they wanted to avoid.

Elections Canada Investigators' Manual

Helpfully, there is a manual that explains just how an Elections Canada investigator is supposed to do his job, including the level of non-cooperation that has to be reached before a search warrant is justified.

The Toronto judge and the warrant

Elizabeth Thompson points out something interesting.  Elections Canada officials drove from Ottawa to Toronto to have a judge in Toronto sign the warrant that subjected the Conservative Party headquarters to a search.

I'm not sure what it means, or if it means anything at all.

In-and-Out Timeline

A list of the major event moments in the In-and-Out story.  What's so remarkable is just how short the list is.

Guelph voters can continue with absentee Liberals, or vote for change

You always hope to have a good MP.  But when you think about it, a good MP generally has a low profile.  As a member of a federal party, big decisions are made at the cabinet level.  Issues being voted on affect the country as a whole.  Most truly local issues are properly handled by a municipal representative or perhaps a provincial MLA.

That is not to say an MP doesn't have an important role to play.  For all the money spent on polls, for example, a party would do well to listen to MPs about the feeling on the ground.  And a good MP ought to always be plugged in to his riding and the issues that people are concerned about.

When all is said and done, an election is still won riding by riding.

And a great MP, well, can do a lot for a riding.  Especially one who is well versed in politics.

I say this by way of introduction to an interesting post by Gloria Kovach, who is hoping to win in the riding of Guelph, next door to where I am in Cambridge.  No by-election has been called yet, but perhaps one ought to be called soon, because it seems like Guelph has not been well served by the former Liberal MP.

What does Stephane Dion mean when he says he won't support a bill?

Stephane Dion is clear on this. He cannot support the proposed changes to the immigration law.

Unfortunately that says absolutely nothing about an election.

Some answers and more questions about Andre Thouin

Unexpectedly, the question about Andre Thouin's exact job is turning out to be more interesting that I expected it would be.

Elections Canada: Who does Andre Thouin work for?

A minor detail, but you know Andre Thouin?   He's the Elections Canada official photographed carrying out that box of material from Conservative Party headquarters.  Here's the thing.  I can't find him in the staff list.

Can the Liberals really use this picture?

That picture of Andre Thouin of Elections Canada carrying out papers from the headquarters of the Conservative Party is quite striking.  But can it ever find its way into Liberal Party election material?

I doubt it.

If the search warrant was leaked...

...the someone could be in a lot of trouble.

Repost: Liberal and NDP in-and-out funding

Do other parties engage in the same sort of funding practices as the Conservatives?  You look at the evidence and decide for yourself.

Did Elections Canada use the Mounties as props?

What exactly was the role of the RCMP officers who participated in yesterday's visit to Conservative Party headquarters?  Did the Mounties know what role they were to play, and who was setting the stage?

What is Elections Canada hunting for?

Big news from the capital is, of course, the so-called "raid" on Conservative Party headquarters by the RCMP.

OK, call me old school, but it ain't a raid unless someone is rappelling down the side of the building.

But it is interesting even if it isn't much of a raid.

Elections Canada is looking for something.

Evidence?

Payback?

Revenge?

Jason Cherniak is not a Facebook spammer

Is Jason Cherniak helping me find out who has a secret crush on me?

This time around, Joan Beatty has to fight for the nomination

I guess Stephane Dion doesn't like a loser.

Jason Kenney and the overheated context

The funny thing about Jason Kenney's allegedly racist remark is that there is so little context provided for it. The events happened quite a while ago, but after asking for some old articles, I found an interestng story behind this story, one that helps understand better how Jason Kenney came to say what he did.

Elizabeth May ought to respond to Paul Watson and his act of war

Drama on the sea, as Canadian law enforcement officers board a ship run by Paul Watson's Sea Shepherd group protesting the annual seal hunt.

Paul Watson, who is safe in New York, is blustering away while his ship is being impounded, claiming exemption from Canadian laws and other such nonsense.

A fool like Watson is normally only good for entertainment value, though that glib attitude belies the trouble he causes for people in coastal communiities in Canada. But politically, Watson is interesting because of his ties to Elizabeth May, the leader of Canada's Green Party, and a candidate for the Nova Scotia riding of Central Nova.

Liberal stooge CAITI repeats Chuck Cadman bribery libel

The Canadian Association of Income Trust Investors (CAITI) is one of those organizations that might have started as an independent group with a particular goal (in this case, overturning the decision to tax income trusts), but with the failure to reach that initial (and improbable) goal, has morphed into something different -- in this case, a stooge for the Liberal Party.

To be a stooge apparently requires that the stooge repeat libelous accusations that Stephen Harper committed a criminal act.

The Telegdi conundrum

Stephane Dion has a new problem.  An Ontario MP, Andrew Telegdi, has vowed to vote against the government on the next budget vote.

So far, the Liberal strategy has been to abstain from these votes in order to avoid an election that would likely be disastrous for the Liberal Party.

Well, certainly disastrous for Stephane Dion.

This frustration level among Liberals has been rising steadily.  Telegdi's plan poses a real threat for Stephane Dion.

Has the Liberal Party leader finally appeared?

What will be different in two weeks?

The rumour is that the Liberals will bring down the Conservative government in time for an early June election.  Usually an election runs six weeks, so that would mean bringing down the government in about two weeks, near the end of April.

Why not now?  Why not two weeks ago?  Nothing suggests a massive shift in Liberal fortunes.

The only reason I can think of is that there has been in a shift in the balance of power in the caucus, and Stephane Dion has been issued new marching orders by the people he ostensibly leads.

Which leads to the question of who the real leader is.  Is it a coincidence that this rumour of a shift to an election fighting mode follows immediately after Bob Rae's by-election win?

Is privacy in a public inquiry illegal?

Warren Kinsella makes an argument for the upcoming inquiry into the Mulroney-Schreiber affair to be open, saying any "private" investigation would be illegal.  Hey, I'm no lawyer, but his argument seem less compelling under closer examination.

Send Jason Kenney to the Beijing Olympics

Is Canada going to participate in the Beijing Olympics?  I think that's a forgone conclusion.  Several people have pointed out that my contribution to the debate has not been all that constructive, and they're right.

So if the Canadian government is going to the Olympics, who should go?  I've tried to be constructive, and I think Jason Kenney would be an ideal choice.

The Liberals respond to the Johnston recommendation

Dr David Johnston has recommended that any inquiry into the business relationship between Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber be limited in scope and out of the public eye.

This has generated an entirely predictable response from the Liberal Party.

Olympic sacrifice

Should we boycott the Beijing Olympcs?  What of the sacrifices, say many.

Yes, what of the sacrifices?

Anonymous sources, unnamed sources, lending credibility, and unveiling the critics

Jason Cherniak has advice for the media.  The use of "anonymous" Liberal sources for dirt on the Liberal Party, and in particular, as sources of criticism aimed at Stephane Dion, makes it difficult to judge the credibility of the criticism.

Well, if you looked carefully, the sources are rarely, if ever, anonymous.

And if you consider this even more carefully, you wonder whether Jason Cherniak might have reasons to name these critics that have nothing to do media credibility.

Tom Lukiwski's penance

Here are my thoughts on what Tom Lukiwski could do to atone for his hurtful words.

Stephane Dion and Celine Hervieux-Payette infuriate Quebec Liberals

The absurdity surround yesterday's events seem to be leading to some very serious consequences.

Everyone laughed when the Liberal Party dropped an attempt to block La Presse from publishing a list of names of Liberal Party candidates in Quebec.

Well, not everyone.  The most senior Liberal in the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party was foot-stomping mad.  The target of his anger?  Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion and his hand-picked Quebec lieutenant, Celine Hervieux-Payette.

The list will be published; Stephane Dion panics

News that the list leaked to La Presse that suggests that despite Liberal statements to the contrary, that the party is nowhere near ready with a Quebec slate of candidates, has been cleared to be published.

Apparently, the Liberals dropped a legal attempt to block its publication.

Maybe the Liberals realized there was no point in trying anymore.  That the list was leaked in the first place was the most damaging thing of all.

Turns out the list wasn't actually a Liberal leak, and this post has been updated accordingly.

Memo to Paul Martin: Generosity is not a substitute for responsibility

Former prime minister Paul Martin is still a Liberal MP.  You'd be forgiven if you had to look that up on Wikipedia in order to be certain, since he has left no record of his existence in parliamentary records.

Of all the MPs in parliament, Paul Martin has not voted once.  Not even on votes that the Liberals did support.

But his response is what bothers me more.

Stephane Dion signs the KYOTOplus pledge

Environmentalists ought to be pickier.  They ought to be more careful about who they call their friends.

Bragging about how Stephane Dion signed a petition makes these particular environmentalists look pathetic.

Stubbing your toes for the Earth

Today, on April 1, I would like to unveil an idea that will save the Earth. 

Denis Coderre is dumped as Stephane Dion sends a warning on behalf of Bob Rae

The news that Liberal Party leader has demoted Denis Coderre raises many questions:

• Is Stephane Dion finished, or are more shifts on the way?
• Is Michael Ignatieff next?
• What is Bob Rae's role in all this?
• With Denis Coderre gone, who in Ottawa will represent the interests of Hezbollah?

OK, that last one is me being a jerk, but there are plenty legitimate questions to consider.

Liberal brand continues to slide in Quebec

There has been a lot of focus on Quebec this week.  For a time, it looked like Liberals in the province were ready to rise up against Stephane Dion. 

Stephane Dion reacted with a news conference and a demand for discipline and loyalty.

Now a new poll shows Liberals facing electoral disaster in Quebec, not leading in any region, anywhere in the province.

I think it's safe to say that Stephane Dion's Quebec troubles are not behind him.

Joyce Murray and her sad package of election filings

I wrote recently about Joyce Murray's nomination filings.  The (barely) successful candidate for the Vancouver Quadra by-election filed a description of her spending to secure the Liberal nomination that seemed to indicate the she ran her own copy business, pizza franchise, phone company and so on.

Every vendor charged for services, under every category, was named "Joyce Murray".

I wasn't the only one who thought this looked odd.  Kevin Libin of the National Post has carried the ball forward on this.  No one suggests that Murray has done anything wrong.  But as Libin's article shows, that such a filing is considered acceptable showcases just how campaign financing rules are an incredible burden that fail to do what they are designed to do -- provide a transparent window into how our politicians raise and spend money to secure their positions.

Elizabeth May stumbles trying to play Jack Layton's role

Elizabeth May has embarrassed herself trying to play the role of a socialist firebrand instead of her more accustomed job of environmental gadfly.

It is a small example of the trouble the Green Party is going to face as it tries to capitalize on the gains enjoyed at the expense of the NDP.

Opposing fear, fearing to oppose, and the real fear

Just a timely contrast.

Pierre-Luc Bellerose might be an idiot, but is he a useful idiot?

There is some excitement around today's news story that a former Liberal candidate Pierre-Luc Bellerose has announced his intention to seek Stephane Dion's ouster from the Liberal Party.

Liberal bloggers are almost universally scornful of Bellerose.  I think they have a point.  Bellerose is hardly the poster boy for a loyal Liberal Party member.  And his plan seems like a stretch.

But that doesn't mean Bellerose can be so easily dismissed.  He might be an idiot, but is he a useful idiot?  And if so, who is using him?

More fireworks tomorrow in Quebec

Stephane Dion is dismissing comments made in Quebec calling into question his leadership of the Liberal Party.

I guess we can expect to hear more of the same.  Apparently a group of Liberals will be voicing their opinions in a Montreal newspaper tomorrow.

Liza Frulla plunges the knife of pity deep into poor Stephane Dion

In a particularly brutal attack on Stephane Dion's qualities as a leader, former Liberal Party cabinet minister Liza Frulla cuts deep.

And she uses the sharpest knife of all -- pity.

China in a moment of profound weakness

With the violence in Tibet grabbing the world's attention, many are calling for a boycott of the upcoming Olympics.

Let me add my voice to that.  By finally winning the Olympic bid, China has put itself into a profoundly weak position. 

Now is the time to strike and strike hard.

Pope Benedict XVI puts his life on the line

Pope Benedict XVI has performed the traditional Easter baptism of adults, but the tradition is not well known.  When adults enter into the Church, it is traditional to do all the baptisms on Easter Saturday (infants are baptized soon after birth).  The pope will perform a number of baptisms as any priest is called upon to do.

But this Easter, the pope has stood apart, performing a baptism that any priest could perform, but that the pope has taken onto himself to do.  It was a surprise -- a well-known Muslim has abandoned Allah for Christ.

In the eyes of many Muslims, that is a crime punishable by death, and it would not be a surprise if the priest who performed the ceremony might be targeted as well.  That is a risk any Catholic priest would be willing to take.  It is clearly a risk the pope was not going ask anyone else to take.

An important consideration when shutting off government funding -- the spread of pornography!

The Conservative government has reduce or cut off funding to a number of programs, including quasi-private special interest groups.  Though I have no problem with the government vacating these areas, there are some unintended consequences to be considered.

In particular, of course, is having government computers help out with the spread of online pornography.

But you knew that's where I was going with this.

A move to oust Stephane Dion?

Mike Duffy reported today that senior Liberals are actively working on a plan to ease (or force) Stephane Dion out as leader of the Liberal Party.

But who?  I think I know the answer.

Putting an end to the Afghanistan fiction

Listen to the Liberals crowing about the Afghanistan motion.

Of course, we supported it, they say.  It is the Liberal plan that we forced the Conservatives to adopt.

Right.  So why did so many Liberals not vote for it?

Private Liberal grumbling on the web

Apparently, there is Liberal "private" and then there is Garth Turner "private".

Which is to say that what Liberals are saying privately are published on Garth Turner's blog.

No momentum for Liberals, and another Stephane Dion loss

Only Stephane Dion can leader the Liberals into four by-elections, win three, and be seen as the loser.

Quebec Liberals squander costly time, both their time and ours

Last Friday, it was reported that a rather ugly meeting was held in Quebec by federal Liberals.  At issue was the fact that nothing seemed to be done to get the Liberals in Quebec ready for an election.

Just what the heck have they been doing?  The Liberals have paid a high price for constantly rolling over in parliament, a price they paid in order to buy the time needed to get ready for an election.  That time seems to have squandered.

It's like a case of embezzlement. 

Is Farhan Chak planning another political run?

I know it's hard to believe, but I wonder if Farhan Chak is planning to run for office again.

The Chak came back, we thought he was a goner

Remember Farhan Chak?  He was the Liberal nominee for Edmonton-Mill Woods-Beaumont who was forced to resign when it was revealed that he had told a bunch of whoppers on his application.

Well, like the cat in the Harry Miller song, he comes back when you expect that his story is over and done.

A truly wasted vote and the legacy that comes of disenfranchisement

Arguably, no vote is wasted, at least not by the voter.  The vote cast contributes to the collective decision to select a representative for the constituency.

But with the Liberals racking 10 abstentions or so, you have to wonder if Stephane Dion is wasting all the votes cast in ridings represented by Liberals.

No matter who the vote was originally cast for.

And then you have to worry about what might come of that in the long term.

Bob Rae, the World Sikh Organization, and a curious cancellation

Bob Rae got into some heat for concluding that Sikh separatists were behind the Air India bombing.  Many Sikhs refused to support Bob Rae, and their leadership moved this bloc's support to Gerard Kennedy and ultimately to Stephane Dion during the Liberal leadership campaign.

What is interesting is that Bob Rae was scheduled to speak to the World Sikh Organization this week, but that his appearance was canceled, allegedly by Bob Rae himself.

Curious.

Joyce Murray and her weird nomination return

Joyce Murray is amazing.  The Liberal candidate for Vancouver-Quadra ran her nomination as a one-woman show.  I mean literally.  I looked at her nomination returns and compared them against Conservative Deborah Meredith's, and while Meredith raised thousands from two dozen donors, and spent thousands on local printers and communication consultants and so on, Murray raised a mere $1300 and spent nearly ten times as much...and all the expenses claimed are listed as owed to Joyce Murray, who supplied all the services.

Like I said.  Amazing.

Actually, the entire expenditure is listed as unpaid claims, which seems a bit odd.

Conservatives stay on target with libel suit

The most underrated character from the Star Wars movies was Gold Five.  We all remember Gold Five.  Stay on target!  Stay on target!  BOOM!

Well, except for the unfortunate and tragic BOOM, Gold Five is the epitome of the person who can ignore all the hurly-burly and keep his eye on the ball -- in this case, the exhaust port the spelled the destruction of the Death Star.

The Liberal Party Death Star is a lot less impressive than Emperor Palpatine's, what with Grand Moff Stephane Dion ordering that they hide at the sight of Conservatives tabling confidence motions.  But with the filing of the libel suit in court, Stephen Harper has shown that he knows how to stay on target.

And unlike Gold Five, I doubt Stephen Harper is going to get splashed.

Did Joan Beatty break a copyright by lifting her own bio?

You know, I'm not sure how this works.  Someone writes a biography about me.  It is published on a page with a copyright held by a third party.   I then create a new piece of copyrighted material, and I lift almost the entire biography, about me, word for word, to be used on that new page.

Am I breaking a copyright by doing that?  It is about me, after all.  On the other hand, how hard could be it to rewrite the biography to use different wording?

Ask Joan Beatty.  She might have the answer.

Bob Rae rattles the Liberal sabre...did I say Bob Rae?

Stephane Dion has threatened to bring down the government.

No, really.

He means it this time.

Oh, stop laughing.

I have two words for you: Bob Rae.

Liberal election readiness is a moving target

Why aren't we in the middle of an election right now?  I know it's because the Liberals under Stephane Dion refuse to bring down the government, but what is motivating that?

The Liberals say they aren't ready for an election.

But then the Liberals has said they were ready only three weeks earlier.

So which is it?

The answer?  Both answers are right.

That green scarf takes on a distinctly yellowish hue

Stephane Dion sported a green scarf at the Liberal Party convention.  He was the green choice, the former environment minister who was going to lead the Liberal Party into taking ownership of the Green agenda in Canada.  Stephane Dion would lead the Liberals back to power on a wave of environmental sensibility.

Well, push came to shove, and Stephane Dion is showing his true colours.  It isn't green, but a very obvious yellow streak.

Micro-satellites the plan or the compromise?

An interesting report recommends that Canada develop its own launch capability for satellites.  I haven't seen the report myself, but the newspaper report does not mention if the question of a launch facility and where it would be located.  There's the rub.  Picking a launch site is tricky, and it affects things like the size of the payload.  The report apparently pushes for Canada to develop a micro-satellite capability.  That might be a good idea, or it might just the best we can manage being a northern country.

Liberals continue to republish the libel posts on new web pages

Are the Liberals digging themselves deeper?  Stephen Harper identified two specific webpages on the Liberal Party website that contained allegedly libelous statements in connection to the Chuck Cadman controversy.  Stephane Dion, Ralph Goodale, Michael Ignatieff, and the Liberal Party have each received a notice of intent to sue.

The webpages are still up.

But what's interesting is that the Liberals have opened a new online presence called Forum Liberalis.  And guess what?  It includes a blog with links to those two posts, and distributed via a new RSS feed.

Does that mean that the Liberals are compounding their problems?  Are they guilty of further distributing the content even as a libel suit has entered its preliminary stages?

And does it mean that everyone involved in the Forum Liberalis website, including Joan Bourassa (National Policy and Platform Committee Chair) and Dominic Leblanc (MP and Vice-Chair of that committee) are now subject to the electronic discovery outlined in the notice of intent?

Stephane Dion to lead Liberals in condemning opposition parties who oppose

Stephane Dion and the Liberals continue to chart new territory when it comes to absurdity.  I thought they had reached a pinnacle when Stephane Dion declared that he would find a way to make sure the Conservative government did not fall.

But that was just a warm up.  Now the Liberals are putting forth a motion of non-confidence...in the other opposition parties.

Huh?

In particular, the motion condemns the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois for bringing down the Paul Martin government in November 2005.  As a result of giving Canadians the chance to vote, the Conservatives won. 

The democratic result was a huge mistake, or so suggests the Liberal motion.

Condemning democracy?  Or just condemning other opposition parties for having acted like opposition parties?

Is the Liberal Party going to buy this line, or will the caucus tell Stephane Dion publicly condemning opposition parties for opposing is going too far?

Liberals and Conservatives agree on the need for courage

What is the role of the Loyal Opposition?  To act as critics, to be a government in waiting, to protect the interests of the minority.

But as two giants of Canadian politics agree, a common thread is courage.

Abstention-palooza continues

If the Liberals are looking for a silver lining in the rapiding collapsing Chuck Cadman debacle, it is that no one noticed yet another mass abstention of Liberals today.

What makes it amusing is that Liberals made a point of not appearing to support their own amendment to the budget.

The Conservatives launch an electronic attack on the Liberal Party

The Conservatives have gone on the offensive.  The libel suit over the Chuck Cadman controversy is not a defensive move designed to chill Liberal attacks.  It is an attack designed to rip the heart out of the Liberal Party's electronic operations.

The Cadman Questions

Charles Adler asks a series of important questions regarding the Chuck Cadman controversy.  They aren't comfortable questions, but I know at least one other person who has been thinking along these lines.

Me.

Liberals lose candidate Rani Bellwood

Not widely reported is the decision of Liberal Party candidate Rani Bellwood to abandon her effort to win the British Columbia riding of Pitt Meadows--Maple Ridge--Mission.  Not a crushing blow, but it does represent a loss of a female candidate, and another riding without a candidate even as the Liberals ponder whether to trigger an election.

Truth in scandalous advertising

Ironically, the Toronto Star is engaging in an online advertising campaign to draw in readers looking for new information on the Tory Bribe Scandal.

Ironically, though that phrase is the headline for the advertising campaign, the material to which the excited reader is directed warns against prematurely labeling the Chuck Cadman story a scandal, and carefully puts the word "bribe" in quotes.

Industry officials pour cold water on Cadman insurance story

The allegation that Conservative Party officials tried to bribe dying Independent MP Chuck Cadman in May 2005 to vote against the Paul Martin government continues to keep the political watchers in a state of frenzy.

A key element of the story -- that the enticement offered was a $1 million life insurance policy -- seems absurd on the face of it.  Insurance officials now confirm that they can't imagine how anyone could believe that anyone in the final stages of terminal cancer would be offered a life insurance policy.

An incomplete apology and an unanswered question

A Liberal blogger's attempt to embarrass a part-time Conservative researcher has come to silly end with an abject apology.

All posts have been withdrawn -- including the one in which someone inside the parliament used their access to government computer resources to provide confidential information in the effort to wreck this person's life.

Too bad the apology doesn't take the time to mention who is still lurking in the halls of parliament, looking for an opportunity to send out personal information of any Conservative who looks vulnerable.

Does the Cadman Cam hold the answer?

A new story is gripping Ottawa.  Did the Conservatives try to bribe Chuck Cadman before the May 2005 confidence vote against the Paul Martin minority government?

If only there was a fly on the wall.

No wait, there was!  Let's recall the "Cadman Cam".

Stephane Dion to seek ways to keep Conservatives in power

I know that sounds ridiculous.  Don't look at me.  I didn't say it.

Stephane Dion supports a Conservative beer-and-popcorn budget that hurts the Liberal Party

The spin from the Liberal Party has been that Stephane Dion decided to support the Conservative budget because there was little in it to oppose.  That's nonsense. 

Liberal fury and the withering of the Royal Guard

The Conservative budget has been delivered, and Stephane Dion and the Liberals have announced, both in word and in print, that they will not vote down this budget.

The fury in the Liberal ranks is palpable.  Stephane Dion's guards are growing nervous and ever more desperate.

David Suzuki and uncomfortable warming

If you listen to David Suzuki, you'd hear about how human activity is causing the Earth to warm up.  Specifically, how a mere 30 million Canadians are supposed to shoulder a large amount of the blame.

His rhetoric has become increasingly heated, ironically.

Well, it seems that the heat generated by his latest comments has caused David Suzuki to throttle it back. 

Who should be be allowed to keep his job?

Sometimes you wonder if people are saying more than they mean to.

Is Kirsty Duncan suited for the world of politics?

Stephane Dion has done it again.  Without even taking the time to inform the local riding association, the Liberal Party leader has gone ahead and appointed a candidate for the riding of Etobicoke North.

Dr Kirsty Duncan will be the candidate.  Hopefully for the riding association, she will have turned out to be a good choice.  It's hard to say, given that she has no experience whatsoever in politics.  But she is a woman, and Stephane Dion needs to reach his goal of 33% female candidates. 

Still, there are elements of Duncan's personality that makes me wonder just how well she'll perform in the rough-and-tumble world of politics.

Why wildly different polls matter

There have been three very different polls released in rapid succession. 

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey conducted from February 14 through 17 showed the Conservatives and the Liberals in a dead heat, with the Conservatives making modest gains in Ontario to pull into a near tie there as well. 

On the other hand, a poll by The Strategic Counsel for The Globe and Mail/CTV News, conducted over the same three days, showed the Tories ahead of the Liberals by a full 12 points nationally, and by 8 points in Ontario.

An Ipsos-Reid poll split the difference, showing the Tories just seven points ahead.

So what gives?

Well, guess what.  It doesn't matter.  What matters is how the information is going to be used and by whom.

Will Liberals follow Stephane Dion into an election with these poll numbers?

CTV has released the results of a new poll.   There isn't any good news for the Liberals in it.  Not even a little bit.

John McCallum reveals Liberal Party plans on the budget vote

Today John McCallum spoke to Graeme Richardson on Mike Duffy Live.  It was really quite enlightening.  According to McCallum, the Liberals have drawn a line in the sand, and the Liberals will be voting.

Confusion over John Manley as candidate for Afghanistan super-envoy

The Globe and Mail has reported, based on information from unnamed sources, that the Conservative government is proposing that John Manley be appointed as the United Nations "super envoy" in Afghanistan.

John Manley is the Liberal and former cabinet minister who delivered a report to the government advocating continued Canadian involvement in Afghanistan.

But the Ottawa Citizen is debunking the story...somewhat.

Stephane Dion trades harmful budget for personal job security

Not surprisingly, Stephane Dion is in full backpedal mode.  Yesterday he said he would be satisfied to let Canadians suffer economically if it meant he could hold on to his job as Liberal Party leader.

Yes, that's what he said.

A slap in the face of Stephane Dion

News that a popular and eminently electable former Liberal MP, Francoise Boivin, is going to run for Jack Layton's NDP is an insult to Stephane Dion.  There is no way to spin this as anything neutral.

Stephane Dion has left the building

Senior Liberals are opening discussing a coup with reporters.  Stephane Dion's response?  Nothing.  It's like he's not even there.

Bob Rae wants a Seinfeld election

Bob Rae wants an election about nothing.  That would suit him just fine.

Liberal Party is pimping out politicians

There are people out there who sell companionship, usually in hourly increments.

Well, someone order a purple velour hat (with leopard print trimmings) for Stephane Dion, because the Liberal Party has turned into an escort service.

Stephane Dion avoids leading the Liberals today

I'm confused about something.  Today, the Liberal caucus walked out of parliament in order to avoid voting on a motion designed to pressure the Liberal-dominated Senate to finally deal with the long delayed omnibus crime bill.

But it seems that Stephane Dion didn't want to be photographed walking away from the House of Commons.

Maybe he was worried it would look too much like a retreat.

So he lets Ralph Goodale do the deed.

Hey, maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that if Stephane Dion wants to earn the respect of the rest of the caucus, he's going to have to do more than make uncomfortable decisions.

He's going to have to be seen acting on those decisions.

David Suzuki: Be skeptical of scientists

David Suzuki has been in hot water this week over comments he made (on two different occasions) that politicians ought to be jailed for expressing skepticism about climate change (specifically, about David Suzuki's view on climate change).

Go way back, and you encounter an entirely different David Suzuki.  This man pleaded for Canadians to be skeptical of science, to exert influence and oversight over the scientific community, and to be careful of the hidden agenda behind scientists and their theories.

I kid you not.

David Suzuki, Salt Cay, and low hanging fruit

There is something called going after "low hanging fruit".  When confronted with a large task, one approach is to go after the most easily solved problems first.

Engineers are often taught to do the opposite -- tackle the hardest problem first.  The reason is that you will almost certainly spend too much time on the low hanging fruit.  Such a problem is solved easily, of course, but you will try to do a complete a job as possible, to the point of gold-plating (that is, doing more than is necessary).  Often it is to avoid tackling the big problem while still looking like you're make progress towards reaching the overall goal.

The bad thing is that you've used up precious time you'll need to tackle the hard problem you've put off.  In fact, you are almost sure to fail now.

Environmentalists are like that.  They go after the low hanging fruit.  Kyoto is all about low hanging fruit.  Get the industrialized world to carry the load, since they have the technological prowess to make it happen, and the democratic institutions that can be used to compel politicians to go along.  On the other hand, tough nuts like India and China are deferred until some unspecified future time.  These countries and others like them present difficult problems -- a lack of sophisticated industrial infrastructure, huge energy-hungry populations, and most importantly in the cases like China, governments that are authoritarian or even dictatorial and have no reason to listen to anyone, not to their own people and certainly not to foreign busybodies.

So the foreign busybodies make excuses about why these countries are allowed to skip any effort to meet Kyoto targets, and they go after countries like Canada that contribute a tiny percent of green house gas emissions. 

The busybodies will waste a great deal of effort on Canada because Canada is a low hanging fruit.  China, on the other hand, continues to build coal-fired power plants daily.

But here's another example you might not know about.  The Turks and Caicos Islands are negligible when it comes to things like global warming, ocean pollution, ozone depletion, or anything else.  Environmentally-speaking, the impact on the ecology of these islands is zero.

But the government of this British dependency has declared that one tiny island that makes up this tiny place is going "green". 

And David Suzuki is flying down there to celebrate this achievement.

Dear Stephane Dion: What is a security-only mission anyway?

Jack Layton and the NDP want to pull Canadian troops out of Afghanistan.  It is a cowardly position to take, it ignores the successes that have been achieved so far, and it dooms the people of Afghanistan to a life of terror.

It makes no moral sense, but at least the position makes logical sense.

Stephane Dion has a different approach.  He wants Canadian troops to stay in Afghanistan, and in particular, in the dangerous region of Kandahar, after February 2009, but demands that they stop fighting.

No more combat.  Something short of combat called "security".

What does that mean?

The Suzuki-Nexen-Marqui Axis of Confusion

I tried to explain the links between David Suzuki, the oil sands developer Nexen, and the online marketing firm Marqui.

It's confusing.

So I've drawn a diagram.

The diagram is also confusing.

You're welcome.

David Suzuki's web marketing company helps sell oil sands development

It's amusing to listen to David Suzuki.  David Suzuki wants politicians who are not avowed environmentalists thrown in jail.

Yeah, he's a loon.

But how can David Suzuki sell his particular brand of eco-nuttiness?  Seriously, why does anyone listen to him? 

The answer is simple: money. 

He spends money on sophisticated marketing professionals.  His only concern is that these people succeed in getting him in front of the cameras and in the public eye where he can revel in his foam-flecked fury.

I don't think he really cares if anything gets done in favour of the environment.  I say that because the company he pays to help get his message out also takes money from several large oil sands concerns.  If David Suzuki was really committed to his enviro-jihad, he would make sure all his minions were as pure and virtuous as himself.

But instead, he takes money from his naive followers and hands it to people who work hard to promote oil sands development.

Better yet, he takes money from the oil sands developers themselves, and hands it to the people who work hard to promote oil sands development.

There's your saint of the environment.

United States follows Canada in quitting Durban II conference while the NDP waffles

Stephen Harper and the Conservatives led Canada to be the first country to pull out of the Durban II conference, a UN-sponsored event combating racism.  The first conference in 2001 turned into a spectacle of anti-Semitism and West-bashing.  Seeing that Durban II was shaping up to be more of the same, the Canadian government announced that no delegation would be attending.

Until now, Canada stood alone.  But now the United States has announced that no American delegation would participate.

I expect more countries to follow soon.

Meanwhile, the NDP is waffling on the issue.  After initially criticizing the government, the NDP came out in support of this decision.  Then that support was withdrawn, and the NDP seems to want Canada back in.

Is David Suzuki going to fill the jails with the victims of his environmental jihad?

David Suzuki has definitely jumped the shark.  The environmental crusader has morphed into a fatwa-issuing green mullah.  Now it seems that if you don't listen to him, you should go to jail.

Jack Layton sides with Taliban against Canada and the United Nations

Jack Layton, leader of the NDP, has long held the position that Canada ought to abandon Afghanistan.  Until now, the reasoning has been vague.  Basically, it was that it was not pleasant to shoot guns and that people would not like Canadians as much as before when Canada's foreign policy consisted entirely of voting for whatever annoyed the Americans the most at the United Nations.

But now, Jack Layton has come out clearly.  Canada should not be in Afghanistan because the Taliban are invincible and Canadian troops are not up to the task.  Best that they sat in their barracks, never seen by Afghans or Canadians alike.

It's too bad that this position is at odds with that of the United Nations.  Secretary General Ban Ki-moon lists an impressive number of military and civilian successes achieved by Canada and other nations doing the dangerous work in Afghanistan.

Jack Layton and the NDP wanting to abandon the United Nations.  It's just so odd.

I would not recommend handing over your tax returns to the CBC

Now that the CBC has admitted that one of its reporters, Krista Erickson, had indeed colluded with two Liberal MPs to direct the questioning of former prime minister Brian Mulroney, who was appearing in front of the Commons ethics committee investigating allegations made by Karlheinz Schreiber, the question remains.

Can this committee carry on?

Now that the committee is requesting access to Brian Mulroney tax returns, the answer has to be a limited "No".  Would you want your tax returns handed over to CBC reporters?

Globe and Mail backs off the furious Rick Hillier story

With the question of the treatment of Afghan detainees providing much of the fuel for political debate in Ottawa, one element of the opposition attack is the strained relationship between the government and the military.

According to "sources", General Rick Hillier was furious and told Prime Minister Stephen Harper exactly that in a phone conversation.

According to Hillier and Harper, though, that conversation never happened.  The Globe and Mail seems to be backing away from the story.

Francis Chartrand and Micheline Montreuil: Is Thomas Mulcair behind NDP problems in Quebec?

Though there is some confusion about the size of the fallout from the decision of the NDP to cancel the candidacies of Micheline Montreuil and Francis Chartrand in Quebec, it is clear that there has been some fallout.

Anne Humphreys, a candidate who resigned her candidacy in support of Francis Chartrand, attributes the problems to Thomas Mulcair, the former provincial Liberal cabinet minister who ran for the NDP in the Liberal stronghold of Outremont.  In that by-election, Stephane Dion's hand-picked candidate, Jocelyn Coulon, was handily defeated by Mulcair.

According to Humphreys, Mulcair has promised to bring in a dozen star candidates.  Jack Layton desperately wants these people as candidates, so longtime NDP members like Chartrand and Montreuil are chucked aside.

NDP members in Quebec are not happy about this.

Is the NDP reconsidering the support given to the Conservatives on Durban II?

On any other site, it would just be a technical problem.  But on the site maintained by a political party, the disappearance of a page makes you wonder.

In this case, the folks at rabble have noticed that the page just put up by the NDP two days ago in which the NDP agreed with the Conservative government decision to withdraw from the Durban II conference in 2009 has disappeared. 

Is the NDP reconsidering its position?  There are plenty of folks at rabble who certainly hope so.

Joan Beatty forgets name of that third party while struggling to justify her appointment

Joan Beatty was interviewed about her controversial appointment by Stephane Dion to be the Liberal Party candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan.

Her answer to the critical question about why the nomination process needed to be suspended speaks volumes.

Rejecting Durban II: Canada to pursue full membership in Holocaust Remembrance Task Force

In the wake of the announcement by Jason Kenney that Canada would withdraw from participation in the UN-sponsored Durban II anti-racism conference coming up in 2009, the opposition Liberal Party and NDP have come on board to say that the government made the right choice.

Frankly, it was the only possible choice.  The first Durban anti-racism conference turned into a West-bashing anti-Semitic nightmare hijacked by Middle Eastern dictatorships and neo-Nazi NGOs pretending to be "progressive".

Durban II will likely be worse.  The United Nations assigned the job of organizing the conference to Libya.  Iran is an executive member of the planning committee.  All the NGOs that distributed Hitler pamphlets during the first conference in 2001 are automatically invited back.

Durban II will likely be worse than Durban I.

When the announcement was made that Canada would not participate in Durban II, Jason Kenney promised that Canada would find other venues to fight racism.  One such had been identified back in June, when Canada applied to be an observer on the Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research.

Now Canada has announced its intention to become a full member.

An important membership criteria?  Totalitarian, authoritarian, and dictatorial regimes need not apply.

Sounds like a good idea for the UN itself.

Liberals follow NDP in supporting Conservatives on Durban II

At the risk of offending the Canadian Arab Federation, Stephen Dion and the Liberals have issued an official statement in which the party endorses the Conservative decision to withdraw from all activities related to the upcoming Durban II conference.

The Chartrand Affair: Reports of more NDP resignations in Quebec

When Francis Chartrand was forced out as an NDP candidate, it seemed to be an interesting story of NDP spin doctoring.  Chartrand had posted an angry open letter on his blog, calling Jack Layton and the NDP undemocratic.  We learned later that NDP officials twisted his arm and compelled him to replace that post with another one that spoke highly of the NDP, and claimed that Chartrand had himself decided to step aside as a candidate.

Well, the whole story came out, and now everyone knows that Chartrand was forced out as the candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles, and that the NDP tried to cover it up.  My friend in Quebec is telling me that the Quebec media is now calling this "L'Affaire Chartrand", and that the list of NDP candidates and campaign staffers resigning continues to grow.

Liberal-linked Canadian Arab Federation attacks Jason Kenney over Durban II decision

The Canadian Arab Federation has come out strongly against the Canadian government's decision, supported by the NDP, to not participate in any way with the upcoming UN-sponsored Durban II conference on racism.  The position of the Conservative government, supported by the NDP, is that Durban II is shaping up to be an exercise in the most vile and repellent anti-Semitism, as was experienced by the Canadian delegation that attended the Durban I conference in 2001.

The CAF has every right to take a different position.  But to call Jason Kenney an Islamophobe who is contemptuous of Arabs and of Islam?

But then CAF president Khaled Mouammar, who has all sorts of links with the Liberal Party, declares anyone who sympathizes with Israel to be guilty of complicity in war crimes.

I wonder if Khaled Mouammar is planning a trip to the Durban II conference.

NDP pulls back from initial criticism of Conservatives over Durban II announcement

Canada has been winning praise for taking the decision to withdraw participation in the Durban II conference in 2009, a UN-sponsored event ostensibly to fight racism, but almost certainly to degenerate into an anti-Semitic spectacle like Durban I in 2001.

Now even the NDP agrees with the government.

Stephane Dion tries to ruin lives of tobacco farmers by getting them to switch to ginseng

I'm sure it wasn't intentional.  In fact, I wonder if anything that comes out of Stephane Dion's mouth is intentional.  He just seems to say the wrong thing whenever the opportunity presents itself.

In this case, Ontario tobacco farmers were paid a visit by Stephane Dion.  These farmers are suffering because of market conditions for their product.   So what does Stephane Dion suggest?

Switch to ginseng -- another product that has producers struggling to turn a profit.

Liberals: Canada ought to shake hands with Nazis as an act of respect to the United Nations

When I wrote about the government's decision to remove Canada from the preparatory work being done in advance of the Durban II conference, I really expected this to be a non-issue.

I really expected that the Liberals would applaud.  I really expected that the Liberals, who as a government sent a delegation to Durban I in 2001 and reported the most shocking examples of widespread anti-Semitism, would consider the words of John Manley and Irwin Cotler who advised against repeating that mistake.

Indeed, the Liberals could even take some credit, publishing those quotes and pointing out that they had concluded some time ago that the Durban II conference was not the sort of thing Canada could engage in.

I was wrong.  I really don't believe I'm saying this, but the Liberal Party position is that as awful as Durban I was when the Liberals attended, and as strongly as senior Liberals have said the entire experience was grotesque, Canadian diplomats ought have meetings with anti-Semites to discuss how to best to word the demand for the destruction of Israel as a measure of respect to the United Nations.

Stephane Dion: Foreign Policy Guessing Game

Another very clever video.  It really puts your knowledge of contemporary Canadian politicians to the test.

Can you guess which politician is on the right, and which is on the left?

Canada will not take part in racist conference

The 2001 World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, was a utter fiasco.  The conference was hijacked by anti-Semites and West-hating NGOs.  The atmosphere become so toxic that the United States and Israel withdrew their delegations.  Canada joined other major nations in condemning the conference, though Jean Chretien stopped short of actually pulling Canada's delegation.

Stephen Harper, Maxime Bernier (foreign affairs), and Jason Kenney (multiculturalism and Canadian identity) are being proactive this time around.  The follow-up conference scheduled for 2009 is showing every sign of being as bad as Durban I, perhaps worse.  Major nations have voted against funding it, but the resolution to fund the conference out of the UN general budget passed the UN General Assembly anyway. 

Canada might not be able to control the UN budget, but the Canadian government can still enjoy the sovereign right not to legitimize another UN pet project that demonizes the West.

And so it's great to hear that Canada is the first country to stand up and say that it will not participate in this upcoming conference.

Hopefully, countries like the United States will follow Canada's lead.  In the end, who wants to be at a conference facility where participants hand out pamphlets that mourn the fact that Hitler was not able to complete the job of exterminating the Jews?

 

Was the CBC happy to reveal Krista Erickson's collusion with the Liberal Party?

This is pure supposition, of course, but I've been thinking about the collusion between CBC reporter Krista Erickson and Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez to use a Commons ethics committee hearing as a proxy for a CBC interview studio.

The Conservatives and others demanded that the CBC make the details of their investigation public.  The CBC has done that, to a point, revealing the name of the reporter who colluded with the Liberals, and detailing her punishment.  Krista Erickson has been reassigned to Toronto from Ottawa.

Some think the Conservative government put the screws on the CBC.  Nonsense.  If you think about it, the CBC had every reason to come clean and make it all public.

Giving Jason Cherniak credit for bucking the Liberal Party line

Krista Erickson's career as a CBC reporter has taking a blow.  She has been taken off the Ottawa beat as punishment for having worked with Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez in an attempt to make the Commons ethics committee into a means for the CBC to compel answers posed by its reporters.

Pablo Rodriguez, for his part, denies everything, and moreover, insists that actions taken by the CBC against Krista Erickson cannot be of interest to him.

Jason Cherniak, Liberal blogger and apologist for all things Liberal, has taken a different approach, and is agitating in support of Erickson.

Got that.  The Liberal MP at the centre of this controversy says CBC actions are of no interest, because he is not involved.  Jason Cherniak disagrees, and thinks the CBC actions need to be challenged.

Jason Cherniak disagrees!

Who woulda thunk it?

John Manley to Stephen Harper: Fix Liberal Party mistakes!

John Manley has delivered his report on what the future of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan should be.

Essentially, it is what the Conservative government is already doing.  Stay in Afghanistan until the job is done.

Oh, and erase the Liberal Party legacy.

Pablo Rodriguez: He might be honourable, but he's no gentleman

Now that the CBC has identified the reporter who wrote the questions for Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez to ask at Commons ethics committee hearing into the business dealings between Karlheinz Schreiber and Brian Mulroney as Krista Erickson, it is curious to hear what Pablo Rodriguez has to say.

Remember, the CBC has already declared that Krista Erickson broke the rules, and the CBC has already punished her.  She has been reassigned to Toronto from Ottawa.  For the CBC there is no question, therefore, that Krista Erickson did exactly what had been alleged, and that is write questions for Pablo Rodriguez to repeat like a trained seal at the hearing.

Krista Erickson has been taken to the woodshed over this.  So what does Pablo Rodriguez do?  He denies everything.

He's hiding behind her skirts, as they would have said long ago, a time when being a gentleman meant something.

CBC fingers Krista Erickson for collusion; Erickson reassigned to Toronto

The CBC has responded to the Conservative Party on the question of collusion between a CBC reporter and the Liberal Party.

The CBC has named the reporter.  It is Krista Erickson.

The CBC has issued a punishment.  She has been pulled from covering Ottawa and has been reassigned to Toronto.

The CBC agrees that the reporter acted unethically.  And the Liberal Party...?

What we don't know is if the Liberal Party is sticking to the line that there was no collusion.

The NDP, Francis Chartrand, and hints of fallout in Quebec

As readers might recall, Francis Chartrand was the NDP candidate for the Quebec riding of Riviere-des-Milles-Iles.  In mid-December, the party cancelled his candidacy.  Francis Chartrand was outraged, claiming that he hadn't even been told, but that he found out through news reports.

The NDP tried, unsuccessfully, to suppress his story, pressuring Chartrand to change his story so that it was his decision to step down as a candidate, and that Chartrand was happy to work for the NDP in another capacity. 

That plan worked...for about a day. 

This blog published both versions of Chartrand's story (he had them both on his blog, replacing his angry version under NDP pressure).  When confronted with the evidence that the story on his blog had change dramatically, Chartrand reverted back to his allegation that he was unilaterally forced out, and revealed that party officials in Ottawa and Montreal were compelling him to tell a very different story.

Until now, there has been little fallout reported from all this.  But a reader tells me that this could change as NDP candidates are resigning in support of Chartrand, or in protest of the NDP's heavy-handed way of handling the matter.

I have found some independent reports of resignations because of the Chartrand issue.  This could change everything.

Apparently this blog ruined NDP plans to keep Francis Chartrand under wraps

If you've been following this blog since December, you'll know I've written a series of articles on Francis Chartrand.  Francis Chartrand was the NDP candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles in Quebec, until in mid-December, the NDP declared he was not going to be the candidate for the party.

That's when the fun began, and apparently, I spoiled an attempt by the NDP to keep Francis Chartrand under wraps.

Daily Times of Pakistan: Stephane Dion is uniformed, irrational, and deluded

When Stephane Dion suggested that NATO military forces intervene in Pakistan, he set off a firestorm.

And yes, from now on I will assert that this, in fact, what Stephane Dion meant.  Every reporter in the room took that to be meaning of his words.  Who am I to disagree?

Senior Liberals have tried unsuccessfully to convince people that Stephane Dion meant diplomats when he spoke of "NATO forces".

Canadians don't believe that pitiful spin.  And based on the reporting I'm seeing in the Pakistan press, no one in Pakistan is going to believe it either.

Pawns in the fight between Ralph Goodale and Tony Merchant

The Liberal Party infighting in Saskatchewan over the appointment of Joan Beatty as the candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River.  Local Liberals are up in arms, angry over the way Stephane Dion removed their chance to choose their own candidate, setting up their own riding association executive, and generally becoming a thorn in the side of Stephane Dion.

But it seems to go much deeper than this.  It appears that the major players are really pawns in a long-running Saskatchewan rivalry between Ralph Goodale and Tony Merchant.

Are Stephane Dion's supporters stuffing partisan Liberal pamphlets into Universal Child Care Benefit envelopes?

This is simply shocking.

The Universal Child Care Benefit is the program brought in by the Conservative government that issues monthly payments to every family with children under the age of 5, amounting to $100 per child per month.

The Liberals, of course, offered a universal daycare program, funded through tax increases, but in all likelihood only available to eligible families based on income.

We receive our benefit by direct deposit, but many Canadians receive their benefit by cheque sent in the mail.

This month, one person is reporting that his envelope was stuffed with partisan Liberal Party material, issued by the office of the leader of the opposition, Stephane Dion.

Allegedly, someone is using the bureaucracy to distribute partisan Liberal pamphlets and to use a government program to target specific Canadians with tailored Liberal Party messaging.

News Post India: Canadian Leader Warns of NATO Action in Pakistan

Even as the Liberal Party tries to explain that when Stephane Dion spoke of the "option" of "NATO forces" in Pakistan really meant the same diplomacy that has been in constant use for years, the obvious meaning of Dion's words continue to make news.

News Post India, based in New Delhi, India, is carrying the story.

I guess that means sending Liberal bigwigs to the subcontinent to explain to these people the subtle shades of meaning that add excitement to any attempt to understand Stephane Dion.

Latest Stephane Dion video: Don't take a chance on Dion

Liberal blogger: Peter Kent behind Stephane Dion's Pakistan gaffe?

Last week, Liberal blogger Jason Cherniak smeared Conservative candidate Peter Kent, who is also a former reporter and now a senior editor at CanWest Global.  Jason alleged that:

• Peter Kent sets the editorial policy of the media giant and so is using it to further a Conservative agenda
• Peter Kent is not really a resident of Thornhill, where he has been nominated to stand as the Conservative candidate

In a pair of posts (Peter Kent is an example of integrity that Liberal MPs would do well to emulate and Why did Jason Cherniak call Peter Kent a liar for renovating a Thornhill heritage property?), I think I successfully showed both allegations to be untrue.  Without actually providing the link, Jason half-heartedly withdrew his second allegation, claiming victory by forcing Peter Kent to go on the record, which seemed bizarre given that Peter Kent did not reveal anything new and that had not already been well reported.

But now Stephane Dion is twisting in discomfort over his latest gaffe.  In this one, Stephane Dion thinks the best course of action for Canada is to abandon Afghanistan while NATO forces (presumably with no Canadian participation) invades Pakistan.

But according to Jason Cherniak, this is a case of gross misreporting.  And Peter Kent is behind it!

Jason Kenney to Stephane Dion: Ridiculous, weak, amateurish, profoundly irresponsible

Jason Kenney takes Stephane Dion to task over the Pakistan invasion gaffe.  Read the transcript or listen to the audio feed.  Then wonder just how anyone could think Stephane Dion could run a country.

Pakistan condemns Stephane Dion's irrational comments

Stephen Taylor has checked with the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa to get a reaction to Stephane Dion's conclusion that NATO troops would have to intervene inside of Pakistan's borders in order to defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Let's just say this diplomat was not very diplomatic.

Pakistan gaffe is more than just embarrassing for Stephane Dion

The Liberal Party is fixing yet another gaffe by their "leader", Stephane Dion.  In this case, he though it would be a good idea to attack Pakistan, or something like that. 

Unfortunately, the effects of this latest verbal bombshell from Stephane Dion could hurt the Liberal Party for quite some time to come.

Was Stephane Dion worried about getting a medal from the Taliban?

Stephane Dion wants Stephen Harper to fire Helena Guergis for letting slip the fact that Stephane Dion was visiting Afghanistan.

Though the details ought not to have been released, the fact is that Stephane Dion was not likely in any danger.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Jason Kenney is not intimidated by law clerk Khurrum Awan

Jason Kenney, the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism and Canadian Identity, has been criticized in a letter for having stood up for the right of Maclean's magazine to print articles that some Muslims might find offensive, or at least discomforting.

I bet Jason Kenney gets plenty of letters, but in this case, the writer seemed to try to intimidate Jason Kenney.

That was a big mistake.

Just how duplicitous is Joan Beatty?

With her appointment by Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion as the candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River in Saskatchewan, the focus has been on the simmering anger among Liberals in the riding.

How could Joan Beatty have leaped to the federal Liberal just weeks after having fought and won a seat for the provincial NDP in Saskatchewan?

Though she has done nothing illegal, it certainly seems unfortunate for the provincial NDP that after all that money spent, Joan Beatty has changed her mind.

But did she change her mind?  Or was she already laying the groundwork for a switch even as she was carrying the NDP banner and spending NDP money?

Ralph Goodale and his flaming pants

In one week, Liberal MP Ralph Goodale is called a liar, not once, not twice, but three times.

And not by members of other political parties.  Liberals seem to have no problem in declaring that Ralph Goodale's grasp of the truth is shaky at best.

Did Francis Chartrand accuse the NDP of hacking his blog?

The story of Francis Chartrand continues to amuse me.  Chartrand was to be the NDP candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles.   Then mid-December, it was announced that he was no longer the candidate.

Then the fun began and hasn't stopped since.

The latest chapter: Francis Chartrand all but accuses the NDP of hacking his blog.

[Corrected] Why did Jason Cherniak call Peter Kent a liar for renovating a Thornhill heritage property?

Jason Cherniak has called Conservative Party candidate Peter Kent deliberating misleading and a "faker".  Well, to deliberately mislead is to lie, right?

So what did Peter Kent do to earn this harsh response from the Liberal Party's top blogger?  Well, Peter Kent spends his spare time renovating his home in Thornhill.

It's not just any home.  It is a heritage property designated by the Thornhill community.  Peter Kent's work on it was recommended for an award.

You'd think that if Peter Kent was faking, he's just rent a condo.

Correstion: See the end of the article for a correction.

Stephane Dion and the mystery of the political landscape

In his book, The Way it Works, Eddie Goldenberg, a senior advisor to former prime minister Jean Chretien, relates this amusing anecdote:

The day before they were sworn into Cabinet, [Stephane] Dion and [Pierre]Pettigrew met with Jean Pelletier and myself in a small conference room beside Pelletier’s office.  We were there to tell them that they prime minister had identified constituencies for them.  Shirley Maheu, the MP for the riding of Saint-Laurent-Cartierville in northwest Montreal, would be appointed to the Senate, and Dion would be designated the Liberal candidate in a by-election in that riding.  Andre Ouellet was to leave the Cabinet and the House of Commons, and Pettigrew would run in his former boss’s riding of Papineau-Saint-Michel in the northeast of Montreal.

Dion, who knew nothing about the political landscape, asked where the riding of Saint-Laurent was.  Pettigrew was much more political and knew that in the 1993 election, Maheu  had won with a huge majority, while Ouellet had won a close race.  He said, “Stephane, if you want to know where Saint-Laurent is, just look on the map for the safest Liberal seat in the country.  If you want to trade with me, I don’t mind."

It would be nice to say the Stephane Dion has come a long way since then, but really, does anyone really believe that Stephane Dion is any better plugged into the political landscape now?

Peter Kent is an example of integrity that Liberal MPs would do well to emulate

Jason Cherniak, Liberal Party riding president of some riding somewhere, and an apologist for all of Stephane Dion's missteps and trip-ups, has discovered something remarkable.

Peter Kent, a Conservative Party candidate in the last election, but who failed to win a seat, is also a member of the media!

And therefore, we ought not to be concerned at all that the CBC is secretly writing out questions for Liberal MPs to read out during parliamentary committee hearings.

It's so sad that Peter Kent, a man of remarkable integrity, is being mentioned in the same breath as the embarrassment that is Pablo Rodriguez and his CBC ghost writer.  But the mention was made, and worse, it was made incorrectly.  Now the record needs to be set straight.

The Stephen Harper - Karlheinz Schreiber Timeline

The absurdity to which we've been subjected to -- namely watching Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez humiliate himself and his party by being exposed as a CBC reporter wannabe when it was revealed that his job at the Commons ethics committee was to read as clearly as possible the words written down on paper by CBC reporters -- is even worse when you realize that the goal of this silliness, that is, to embarrass Stephen Harper, is a fool's errand.

I guess that's the Liberals are perfect for the job.

David Orchard to Ralph Goodale: LIAR!

I expected the controversy in the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River to get ugly, but I didn't expect it to get so ugly so fast.

Obi-Wan Dion and the Great Disturbance in the Polling Force

At some point, Stephane Dion has to realize that he has become a laughingstock.  I mean, how often do we have to hear about how Canadians do or don't want an election? 

He makes himself out to be some sort of empath, spookily detecting my mood for an election.

But it's all a smokescreen.  Stephane Dion's sense of my mood for an election seems to a striking correlation to polling numbers.

The Ruby Dhalla story becomes fractured and confused

What as the Liberal Party spins the Ruby Dhalla purse snatching incident.  After being shown on television distancing herself from an alleged police beating visited against two small children who snatched her purse, while at the same time hoping that the children learned an important lesson from all this, Ruby Dhalla has come out with a new story.

Here is the summary:

• She can't control police violence.
• She didn't know the police were violent.
• She condemns violence against children.
• She is glad that there will be an investigation.
• The children were not beaten.

No word if she has changed her position on hoping that the children learned anything from being beaten, or from not being beaten.

Yeah, I'm confused too.

Ruby Dhalla's shockingly callous attitude towards child-beating

Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla has lit a firestorm of controversy in India.  Visiting the Punjab region, she was the victim of theft, her purse being snatched by two young children.  After being caught, the children were severely beaten by the police.

When Ruby Dhalla was asked to respond, she said she hoped the children learned a lesson.

CBC discusses collusion discipline, but are the Liberals leaving the CBC to twist in the wind?

In following the story of how an unnamed CBC reporter wrote questions for Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez to deliver at the Commons ethics committee hearing question Brian Mulroney in the Karlheinz Schreiber affair, the question of whether any such collusion took place has been pretty much settled.

The CBC has said it is planning disciplinary action, so the story is credible.

Does that mean the Liberal Party is planning to backtrack on the public statement that the entire issue was a "fabrication"?  Or is the Liberal Party satisfied to let the CBC report to take the fall for this?

Forcing the reporter to bear all the consequences is a plan that could work, as long the CBC keeps the identity of the reporter a secret.  But whatever happens, hopefully the media in general will come to appreciate that getting too close to politicians is a dangerous thing.

Stephane Dion's leadership causes Saskatchewan Liberals to split into two

Saskatchewan Liberals are very upset that Stephane Dion, bowing to pressure from Ralph Goodale, appointed NDP MLA Joan Beatty, elected a mere two months ago, to be the Liberal candidate for the riding of Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, cancelling the nomination race, including the effort by populist David Orchard.

Their anger is such that some have decided to simply ignore Stephane Dion and elect their own candidate.

David Orchard, Joan Beatty, and Liberal Party elitism

When Stephane Dion appointed Joan Beatty to be the Liberal Party candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River, he rolled over the nomination effort of David Orchard.

A lot of people are upset at the elitist attitude exhibited by Stephane Dion and the Liberal Party in ignoring the effort by the riding association to democratically select a candidate.

The amusing thing is that the Liberal Party is not trying to hide the elitism.

Tories to CBC: Discipline meted out to reporter for colluding with Liberal Party must be public

The issue of collusion between the CBC and the Liberal Party in questioning Brian Mulroney continues to smolder.  A CBC spokesperson has said that action, if any, will be taken in private.

In a letter to the CBC ombudsman, the Conservative Party is challenging the CBC to come clean.

Will the Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River by-election turn into an ugly farce?

Few by-elections are as charged with raw emotion as the one shaping up in Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River.  Add to that suggestions of, let us say, creative campaigning, and we could be in for some fun.

Stephane Dion appoints Joan Beatty and inches closer to a February election

Stephane Dion has committed himself to forcing an election in February.  That is one way to look at the decision to appoint Joan Beatty as the candidate for Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River. 

Disaster for the Liberals as Canadians tell pollster they're happy

A poll that asks Canadians how they feel right now is one worth looking at.  As opposed to a poll that asks how they'd vote (which essentially ignores the effect of an election campaign) or one that asks to predict the results of an election (which generally has respondents parroting back what they've heard from pollsters), this poll asks Canadians how they feel about themselves, about the country, about the economy, and about the government.

No hypothetical choices.  No scrying. 

The answer?  Things are looking good.  And that's bad news for Stephane Dion and the Liberals.

I doubt the NDP could ever stop Irene Mathyssen

The NDP was deeply embarrassed when MP Irene Mathyssen stood up in the House of Commons to accuse Conservative MP James Moore of looking at pornography on his laptop, only to have her offer an abject and unqualified apology.  Similarly, the NDP accused Liberal candidate David Oliver of offering a bribe to an NDP candidate during the 2006 election, and was forced to offer up another abject apology.

Now the NDP says they have a plan to prevent this sort of thing from happening again.  I really doubt the NDP can do much though.  It strikes at the heart of what it means to be a liberal.

An echo is not data

An interesting poll asks Canadians what they expect will happen in the next federal election.  Not surprisingly, most repeat back what the pollsters have just told them is likely to happen.

Duh.

Jack Layton's bluster

NDP leader Jack Layton is talking big.  This year, 2008, will be the year the NDP surges out of it's traditional spot in fourth place to...what?  Third would be an improvement, of course.  In a parliamentary system though, there isn't much difference between third and fourth, except for bragging rights.

The real prize with real power would be official opposition.

Yeah, good luck with that.

Micheline Montreuil and the NDP exchange barbs

Transsexual Micheline Montreuil was dumped as an NDP candidate just before Christmas, and harsh words were exchanged.  She alleged that the NDP decided a transsexual candidate was a liability.  Now the two sides are exchanging verbal blows again.

Former NDP candidate Arif Jinha dumps on Jack Layton

There has been no news or announcement as far as I can tell.  Another NDP candidate, Arif Jinha, has quit.

Why?  That would be hard to know, since his blog has been erased, but thanks to the Google cache, we know what Jack Layton and the NDP would like to keep quiet.

Arif Jinha did not enjoy being treated as what he termed as an "advertising rep" for Jack Layton.

Rich people cars exempt from greenhouse gas rules

In Europe, new emissions rules are coming into effect, and no one is happy.

The automakers are upset because the rules are too stringent.

The environmentalists are upset because the rules are not stringent enough.

Regular people are upset because the cost of a car will go up significantly.

And rich people?  Oh, they're fine.  Their cars are exempt from the rules.

Joyce Murray is Stephane Dion's sort of environmentalist

Joyce Murray is the Liberal Party candidate fighting for the seat of Vancouver Quadra.  It is a strong Liberal seat, and no one would be surprised to see it go Liberal again.

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion would be especially pleased.  Not only would the Liberals retain a seat, Joyce Murray would bolster the Liberal reputation on the environment.  As an MLA in the BC legislature, Murray was the Minister of Water, Land and Air Protection in Gordon Campbell's cabinet.

Like Stephane Dion, she didn't actually do much for the environment.  And that's a good thing for Stephane Dion should she win in Vancouver Quadra.  Stephane Dion does not need another MP in his caucus quietly doubting Dion's commitment to the environment.  Another pseudo-environmentalist would no doubt tell Stephane Dion just how much of a great environmental leader he is, without bringing up any uncomfortable facts.

Francis Chartrand's NDP blog a victim of hackers...or maybe not

The story of former NDP candidate Francis Chartrand continues to amuse me.  In particular, his blog seems to be the focus of weird happenings, with Chartrand posting and deleting posts in rapid succession as a result of his candidacy being spiked by the NDP brass. 

On top of his political career being nipped in the bud, now it seems like Chartrand's blog has been hacked.

Or has it?

David Orchard and the Metis vote

In my piece on the need of the NDP to perform well in the upcoming by-elections, I made some general comments about the by-election in Desnethe-Missinippi-Churchill River.  Several people commented on David Orchard, who is running for the Liberal nomination, but who might not be given the chance to win.  There are reports that Liberal Party Stephane Dion is about to install a nominee, Saskatchewan MLA Joan Beatty, who currently belongs to the NDP. 

Some people seemed dismissive of David Orchard, but a letter posted on a Liberal blog suggests that David Orchard could have the last laugh if his campaign is terminated by the Liberal Party leadership.

The NDP to be tested in the next set of by-elections

Four by-elections have been called -- two in Toronto, one in Saskatchewan, and one in British Columbia.  These are ridings held by Liberals who have resigned, and so Stephane Dion's Liberals have to fight to hold on to them again.

Three ridings are probably safe, but the Saskatchewan riding might revert back to the Conservative Party.  If so, it is a net loss for the Liberal Party.

But I'm much more interested in seeing how the NDP figures in these fights.

Who is responsible for another dead Bhutto?

Apologies for the crude title, but it is the title of a thread on the Pakistani Defence Forum at PakistaniDefence.com concerning the news that Benazir Bhutto has been killed today.  There is a poll there that is very revealing.  Though we might count supporters of Pervez Musharraf or elements of the Pakistani Security Services in the ranks of suspects, it is interesting to see the world's number one villain bubbling to the top of the list in this unscientific survey.

The United States.  Of course.  It's so obvious when you think about it. 

Presumably Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are cackling in neocon glee.

Does everyone call him Iggy?

I've always avoided calling Deputy Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff "Iggy".  It seemed too familiar, and I wasn't even sure if Michael Ignatieff liked to be called "Iggy".

If he doesn't like it, then it would seem childishly provocative to use that nickname.

I then read a reference to Michael Ignatieff not liking to be called "Iggy".  Fine.  But then if that's the case, why does his website use "iggy" in the substructure?

Blair Wilson might be able to fight the Liberal Party

Disgraced former Liberal MP Blair Wilson has not given up the fight.  Embroiled in a controversy over allegations of election spending irregularities, he has been told by the Liberal Party that he will not be allowed to run in the next election for the Liberals.

The justification?  Though Wilson has yet to have had any of the charges against him tested in a court, the Liberal Party has concluded that Wilson was not forthcoming on his applications to run as an MP.

Blair Wilson has promised to fight this decision, and has retained Jay Straith, the same lawyer who represented David Oliver in his fight against the NDP.

Looking over the rules, I think Blair Wilson has a fighting chance.

Conservative, Liberal, and NDP expense accounts

How can three people take the same flight to the same place to complete the same task, and still two people can each spend full 33% more to do the task?

I don't have an answer for that.  It's just one of those things that shows how Liberals and NDP folks are more subtle and complex than Conservatives.

Stephane Dion meets the Kyoto Fairy

Stephane Dion believes Canada cannot meet the Kyoto targets.

Stephane Dion believes Canada can meet the Kyoto targets.

Who knows what Stephane Dion believes?  Who knows who tells Stephane Dion what to believe?

Does Stephane Dion believe in anything?

Maybe he believes in fairies.

Breaking: Stephane Dion disallows disgraced MP Blair Wilson as a future Liberal candidate

News is breaking on disgraced former Liberal MP Blair Wilson.  The MP forced to quit the Liberal caucus over allegations that he committed egregious violations of the Elections Canada Act has been told by Stephane Dion that he will not be allowed to stand as a Liberal candidate in the next general election.

Angus-Reid poll shows nothing much new...which is news

A new poll shows that...well...nothing much has changed.  So perhaps the excitement from last week's poll will fade away.

Former NDP candidate Francis Chartrand wanted Canada to be more like Venezuela or East Germany

Francis Chartrand was the former NDP candidate for Riviere-des-Mille-Iles in Quebec.  He was dumped as the candidate, and I posted on the shifting story as it appeared on his blog.  Well, guess what.  It has shifted yet again!

Fed up with this nonsense, I did a post-by-post walkthrough of his blog.  And boy, would he have made one find candidate for the NDP!  Nothing like having one of your candidates demanding the nationalization of everything and espousing an East German model for Canada to follow.

Jack Layton is in charge of the NDP

Jack Layton is in charge of the NDP.

You notice that I didn't say he is in charge only when he's in the room, or within earshot, or when he's had a good two hours notice of what is about to happen.

When pressed about the Irene Mathyssen case, Jack Layton is quick to mention that he had nothing to do with it.

And here I thought that as leader, Jack Layton is always responsible for what his caucus members say and do.

It's not fair, but then being leader sucks sometimes.

CBC Reporters, Liberals, and Double-Standards

So how does the CBC report on ethical lapses?

Not surprisingly, it depends on who has allegedly suffer a lapse in judgment.

But then it seems like the media establishment as a whole in this country is guilty of pulling its punches on the CBC-Liberal collusion story.

Did Pablo Rodriguez embarrass the Liberal Party by dealing with the CBC?

The allegation is that Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez colluded with the CBC, asking questions of Brian Mulroney written by a CBC reporter.  If you read blogs, you know all about it.  If you get your news from TV, radio, and newspapers, you might not.  That's not a surprise because professional courtesy makes news organizations loathe to accuse each other of wrongdoing.

It took less than 24 hours for bloggers to discover that Dan Rather and CBS had serious problems with the Killian Memo report in 2004, but it took a week before other networks in the United States dared to suggest that CBS had used faked documents to smear George W Bush.

In the same way, there is little reporting of the allegation of collusion between CBC news and the Liberal Party to embarrass or trap Brian Mulroney.

The National Post has broken that silence with a gutsy column by L. Ian Macdonald.  He makes the case that when Pablo Rodriguez asked his questions of Brian Mulroney during the Commons ethics committee hearing, it should have been immediately obvious that something was amiss.

Pablo Rodriguez rarely mutters a word in English, and yet there he was, asking  meticulously worded questions en Anglais.

I say gutsy because the column touches on two tricky issues.

The first is whether Pablo Rodriguez is even capable of functioning in English at that level.

The second follows from the first.  If you have doubts as to whether he can string that many English words together with that sophistication, then you have to conclude that Pablo Rodriguez was merely a sock puppet for the CBC.

But there is a third element not covered in Macdonald's column, and that is the conclusion that Pablo Rodriguez was looking out for Pablo Rodriguez, and the Liberal Party is now paying the price.

Stephane Dion cannot call an election

We're all guilty of it.  We all think Stephane Dion has the power to call an election.  We're all wrong.

He can only do it if Gilles Duceppe and Jack Layton are on board with the idea.  We're all assuming that the two of them are locked in election mode, just waiting on Stephane Dion.  An interesting article points out that this might not be true.

Stephane Dion needs to treat women candidates with more respect

Stephane Dion wants to appoint a woman candidate in the Saskatchewan riding of Desnethé-Missinippi-Churchill River, which is fine, except for one thing.  Joan Beatty hasn't agreed to switch to the Liberals from the NDP.

It might seem like a small thing, but it suggests confusion and poor communication.  What's worse is this is not the first time the Liberals announced appointing someone as a nominee only to find out that the person had no intention to run, and worse, had never even been consulted.

In both of these cases, the potential candidates were women.  Stephane Dion thinks he is doing them a favour by handing them ridings without having to go through the trouble of a nomination battle.  He'd be doing them a bigger favour if he actually asked them first.

It comes off as rather patronizing, otherwise.

An election in six weeks and a major shakeup? Something is not adding up

Stephane Dion, who is threatening to force an election in a matter of weeks, is dramatically re-arranging his core team.  Right, sounds like a man ready to go to the polls.  In any case, communications director Nicolas Ruszkowski is on his way out.  Personal reasons.  Of course.

Is former NDP candidate Francis Chartrand still playing blog games?

Ousted NDP candidate Francis Chartrand has been playing games with his blog.  First he posted an angry challenge aimed at the NDP in response to his candidacy being terminated.  Then he posted a conciliatory post that gave a different view of the same events.

Then both posts disappeared.

That was this morning.

This evening, the blog changed again.  The angry post is still gone, but the conciliatory post has returned.

It's as if Francis Chartrand is playing whack-a-mole with the truth.

I've appended screenshots and some discussion to my original post about Francis Chartrand's terminated candidacy.

CBC VP says reporter colluding with Liberal Party will be disciplined

Aaron Wudrick has received an email from a VP at the CBC in which it appears that a decision has been reached concerning allegations that a CBC reporter was acting in collusion with the Liberal Party to frame questions to ask of Brian Mulroney at the Commons ethics committee hearings into the Karlheinz Schreiber affair.

Francis Chartrand, the NDP, and historical revisionism [now with a bonus revisionism game]

With the news of transgendered NDP candidate Micheline Montreuil's ejection as a candidate for the NDP, not much notice has been given to Francis Chartrand, the other NDP candidate in Quebec who was also told he would no longer be able to stand for office on behalf of the NDP.

Given Chartrand's unambiguous gender, the story seemed less interesting.

It might not be as salacious as Montreuil's, but Chartrand's story is far from uninteresting.

Update: Not to be satisfied with deleting posts, Francis Chartrand now adds posts back in.  Fortunately I have the screenshots to show the changes.

Suzan Pawlak story is coming to a close

Thanks to Liberals who decided not to listen to the people who run the party, the Suzan Pawlak story is coming to an end with little political fallout.

The Conservatives are demanding answers to allegations of Liberal-CBC collusion

The Conservatives are not satisfied with what has been said to date on the allegations of collusion between the Liberal Party and the CBC.  It seems that the CBC fed questions to Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez to ask of Brian Mulroney who was appearing in front of the Commons ethics committee to answer questions raised by Karlheinz Schreiber.  The questions asked by Rodriguez did not seem to have anything to do with Schreiber.

It's bad enough that the Liberals sometimes seem to be fishing, but to be fishing on behalf of the CBC, and doing it on the sly?

The fight between Micheline Montreuil and the NDP

The NDP has not had a good few weeks.  The latest is the news that transgendered candidate Micheline Montreuil has been dropped by the NDP.  It was not a friendly parting of the ways.  Instead we have conflicting stories and threats of legal action.

SlickCash, Brian Fabian, Facebook, spam, and Al Qaeda

A Toronto firm is in trouble for allegedly trying to crack open Facebook's data files.  Given the reputation of the holding companies in this porn empire, it seems like they were looking for email addresses.  I wonder if an interest in Al Qaeda four years ago was also just an attempt to get email addresses.

Jack Layton and the NDP versus transgendered ex-candidate Micheline Montreuil

The NDP has a problem.  The party is eager to build on the success of Thomas Mulcair to make a real breakthrough in Quebec.  But transgendered candidate Micheline Montreuil was problematic.  Depending on who you listen to, she was not a team player, or her gender status was considered to be a liability.

The NDP has dropped her as a candidate.

And now it looks like the NDP is going to learn what it feels like to be worked over by the Human Rights Tribunal.

Conservatives and NDP ought to make common cause against the real environmental threat of asbestos exports

Asbestos is the miracle mineral.  It can be woven like cloth and it is fireproof.  Unfortunately, those same fibres are highly toxic, killing people who are exposed to those fibres, even in small amounts, over a period of time.  Throughout the world, the use of asbestos is banned, except in some countries like India, where asbestos continues to be used in construction, and where workers will cut into asbestos sheets at the work site, exposing first themselves, and then the future occupants, to the fibres. 

And much of that asbestos comes from Canada.  This should come to an end.

Daniel Paille report reveals areas for improvement

When the Liberals insisted on an inquiry on the Karlheinz Schreiber allegations, their hope was to dig up dirt on the current Conservative government.  So far, lots of money spent, and nothing to show for it.

When the Conservatives assigned Daniel Paille to report on polling practises during Paul Martin's time as finance minister, their hope was to dig up dirt on the Liberals.  A bunch of money was spent, nothing new was reveal about the Liberals, but the report did point out that though the Conservatives are doing some things better, they need to be better organized.

Well, that was unexpected and a bit embarrassing.  But time to make lemonade from this lemon and implement the suggested improvements.  So money well spent, I'd say.

Daniel Paille report reveals areas for improvement

When the Liberals insisted on an inquiry on the Karlheinz Schreiber allegations, their hope was to dig up dirt on the current Conservative government.  So far, lots of money spent, and nothing to show for it.

When the Conservatives assigned Daniel Paille to report on polling practises during Paul Martin's time as finance minister, their hope was to dig up dirt on the Liberals.  A bunch of money was spent, nothing new was reveal about the Liberals, but the report did point out that though the Conservatives are doing some things better, they need to be better organized.

Well, that was unexpected and a bit embarrassing.  But time to make lemonade from this lemon and implement the suggested improvements.  So money well spent, I'd say.

Garth Turner's friend in the House of Commons

Glancing at the Wikipedia entry for Liberal MP Garth Turner, I noticed an interesting edit that came and went in the space of two hours yesterday.  And the identity of the person making the edit is doubly interesting.

Garth Turner's friend in the House of Commons

Glancing at the Wikipedia entry for Liberal MP Garth Turner, I noticed an interesting edit that came and went in the space of two hours yesterday.  And the identity of the person making the edit is doubly interesting.

CBC to investigate alleged collusion with Liberal MP

The Canadian Press is reporting that the CBC plans to investigate allegations that a CBC reporter and a Liberal MP worked together to frame questions to ask Brian Mulroney during his appearance in front of the Commons ethics committee.

CBC to investigate alleged collusion with Liberal MP

The Canadian Press is reporting that the CBC plans to investigate allegations that a CBC reporter and a Liberal MP worked together to frame questions to ask Brian Mulroney during his appearance in front of the Commons ethics committee.

The startling revelation reported by the CBC

There is no startling revelation. But there might have been one. If Brian Mulroney had given a different answer to the question posed by Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez, but actually written by the CBC, did the CBC have a headline and a story ready to go? Was all that was needed a "break"?

If the break was not forthcoming, was the CBC prepared to manufacture one by having Pablo Rodriguez act as a proxy reporter? And were the Liberals only too happy to help out?

The CBC and yellow journalism

One of the strangest things to come out of the Karlheinz Schreiber hearings is the allegation that the CBC and the Liberals have cooperated on designing questions for Liberal MPs to pose during the hearings.

Is the CBC trying to manufacturer the news, and guide the direction of the events? There is a name for this sort of thing -- yellow journalism.

Baseball's radioactive list

A list of names of baseball players that are going to appear on the report has been leaked to WNBC. The report is, of course, the George Mitchell report on steroid use in major league baseball. The players on this list are alleged to have used performance enhancing drugs.

Presumably the list has been secured in a lead-lined box, buried six feet underground, covered over by concrete, and marked by a sign that says "List? What list?"

NDP overshoots with racial profiling bill

The NDP is tabling a bill to ban racial and religious profiling. It is aimed at law enforcement agencies. The NDP is particularly proud that the bill includes CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

The problem is that CSIS is not a law enforcement agency.

Jason Kenney speaks out in defence of our freedoms

Using the easily abused Human Rights Commission, a group of offended Muslims is taking Maclean's to court for allowing them to be offended. Jason Kenney correctly speaks out against the action.

Words are nice, but maybe one day the Conservatives will be in a position to take action.

The Conservatives are embarrassing themselves over the isotope issue

The isotope crisis has passed, and the government has dealt with it. But in dealing with it, I felt acutely embarrassed. The Conservatives must resist the urge to use the word "Liberal" like a smear. They didn't resist that urge this time around, and it was just wrong.

The Taser joins the club of clubs

As far as the RCMP is concerned, the Taser is a snazzy 21st century version of a club.

Nadeem Jiwa due back in court

In August, York Regional Police Constable Robert Plunkett was killed while trying to arrest Nadeem Jiwa and Baseer Mohammed Yousafzai, who were allegedly removing airbags from a stolen car. Jiwa is alleged to have killed Plunkett by pinning him against a tree with the car while trying to make a getaway.

Nadeem Jiwa has been charged with first-degree murder, and he is supposed to make a court appearance today.

Styrofoam religion serves a purpose for Gilles Duceppe

Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois, has found religion.

Well, not really.

He wants to keep religion out of Quebec. In order to do that, he wants to fill the void with the trappings of religion devoid of faith. I call it styroform religion -- it fills the space, keeps everything else out, but when you actually take a moment to study it, there really isn't anything there.

The NDP non-apology offered to David Oliver reveals a serious problem

The NDP has delivered a fake apology for smearing Liberal candidate David Oliver during the 2006 election. I call it a fake apology because it doesn't actually name who is responsible for the decision to hide an Elections Canada letter that would have exonerated Oliver before voting day. The Liberals dropped Oliver as a candidate, and Paul Martin has personally apologized for that decision, a decision that he was responsible for.

The NDP has not identified who is responsible. That person's culpability remains hidden behind an apology that says that the "NDP" was sorry. I can only assume that the NDP wants to protect this person from any fallout that might come from being directly named as the person who hid the letter.

And that makes me think that the person is still an important, and possibly a senior, member of the NDP. Why else would the NDP care to protect him? Since we don't know who that person is, we can't be certain that he is being held to account, or or certain that the NDP can keep a promise that this sort of thing won't happen again.

It would be helpful to hear this person promise not to do this sort of thing again.

When environmentalists lobby for the chemical industry

This is a piece about the flexibility of Chris Benedetti. He is simultaneously a Liberal Party supporter, a head of several environmental organizations, a consultant encouraging companies to work hard to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, and a lobbyist for a Washington-based bromine industry front group dedicated to keeping the earth-warming chemical compounds that drive their profits from being subjected to further regulation in Canada.

Yeah, that last one is the one that is supposed to make you do a double take.

Punishing Canada for not bending over for China at Bali

Stephen Harper and the Conservatives are protecting the world against Chinese bullying rooted in the chronic Chinese gripe about being the victim of humiliation. The Chinese have made it clear that environmental treaties are a tool for punishing the West. Stephen Harper figures any environmental treaty designed around that premise will not be good for Canada or for the environment.

And for that, Stephane Dion and Jack Layton have labelled Stephen Harper the enemy.

Bridgewater's smoking ban extends outdoors and invites trouble

No smoking!

Not just in a room. Not just in your own car. But anywhere where people can see you.

Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, is on the verge of banning smoking outdoors. It's a dumb law. It is a dumb law not just because it solves a problem that doesn't exist (the notion that people are getting ill from transient second-hand smoke), but because it is a divisive law.

In Calabasas, California, a similar law is taken to the obvious next level, where enforcement is the responsibility of non-smoking citizens. Given that Bridgewater police have already said they're not interested in enforcing this by-law with any enthusiasm, that might be the next step.

A video for Irene Mathyssen

One last post on the Irene Mathyssen issue. NDP MP Irene Mathyssen claimed that Conservative MP James Moore was looking at pornography. Though she was wrong and reluctantly offered an apology of questionable sincerity, there is no doubt that the NDP is dedicated to protecting women from being "objectified" by men.

Well, protecting some women from some men. Really, just those women who as a whole have enough political and economic clout to protect themselves from just those men who as a whole are no threat at all.

Women with no protection threatened by men who literally see them as objects, well, they're someone else's problem.

Was Irene Mathyssen taken to the woodshed?

Irene Mathyssen was told in no uncertain terms that she had to apologize and without any conditions or qualifications. That was not her plan. Indeed, after the NDP MP accused Conservative MP James Moore of looking at pornography in the House of Commons, an accusation that was quickly shown to be baseless, Mathyssen made it clear she intended to get an apology from Moore!

At least one reporter is saying that the NDP decided this was too absurd, even for them.

Inspections of private homes to commence

The Ontario government will begin entering homes looking for evidence of laws being broken.

In order to ease the people of this province into this new reality, the process will be done in phases.

First, only elderly gun owners will be expected to submit to a search.

After that? Who knows? Once we've established that public safety trumps individual rights, it won't be too hard to extend this principle to anything that the government deems dangerous or risky. Or for that matter, to anything that runs counter to the public interest.

As a police spokesperson said, any steps should be welcome by the public.

And here I was only welcoming constitutionally legal steps.

Irene Mathyssen is the victim and she deserves an apology (according to Irene Mathyssen)

We're often too simplistic in our allocation of blame. Most of us think that when one person wrongs another, the first person should be doing the apologizing.

That might work with children and mature adults, but for people invested in a culture of victimization, they are always owed an apology, even when they made the mistake.

You see, professional full-time victims are never totally at fault for anything they do.

Consider the story of James Moore. Conservative MP James Moore is showing pictures of an outing at the beach, and in the frame of a picture of his dog is his girlfriend in a bikini. NDP MP Irene Mathyssen sees the picture from afar, jumps to the conclusion that Moore was looking at pornography, and publicly accuses Moore both on the floor of the House of Commons and to the press. Moore denies the allegations, and the truth comes out.

Irene Mathyssen, therefore, demands an apology from James Moore.

See, you thought Mathyssen was going to do the all the apologizing, didn't you? But Irene Mathyssen is the NDP critic for the Status of Women. As we all know, women are victimized by men who are looking at pornography. Mathyssen is demanding that Moore apologize to her for that.

A dionesque threat delivered by email

I've received a dionesque threat delivered by email.

Liberal Giorgio Mammoliti wants to put soldiers in the streets. In our cities. With guns. In Canada.

Irony of ironies. After the brutal backlash against the Liberal Party in the 2006 election over the so-called military ad, which claimed the Conservatives had plans to turn Canada into a police state with soldier patrolling the streets, we have a politician today calling for soldiers to patrol the streets.

But if you happen to be a Conservative who attacked the Liberals over the ad in 2006, don't worry about having to eat crow. The politician who is asking that soldiers be allowed to take over, Toronto Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti, is a Liberal.

Irene Mathyssen and the objectification of men

NDP MP Irene Mathyssen has deeply wounded and humiliated Conservative MP James Moore, publicly accusing him of leering at soft porn while he was seated in the House of Commons.

Turns out she was wrong.

She has since apologized. I don't think that's enough. Not by a long shot.

Stephane Dion's unpaid $2,000 lunch bill

Liberal Party leader Stephane Dion would like to be prime minister one day. If he wants the job, he needs to convince Canadians that, among other things, he can be trusted to manage the country's finances.

Liberals have a particular problem in that regard, given the baggage of the Sponsorship Scandal.

A note to Stephane Dion. If you want to be trusted with our money, show us you can manage something as simple as a lunch tab. Running up a $2,000 bill with portions running over 90 days past due is not a promising sign.

Hey, regular folks pay for their lunch. It ain't some sort of entitlement.

The Karlheinz Schreiber story is a hole for Stephane Dion to hide in

Stephane Dion must be very grateful for the Karlheinz Schreiber story.

Since the Schreiber thing exploded, the Tories continue to do well in the polls, while the Liberals have never polled so poorly.

So why would Stephane Dion be grateful? I have no doubt the polls would be telling us exactly the same thing had Karlheinz Schreiber never uttered a word and was quietly extradited to Germany. Schreiber has not hurt the Conservatives, nor is he helping the Liberals.

But it is keeping Liberal woes out of the limelight. The story has turned out to be a nice hole in which the Liberal Party can hide. Losing is still losing, but it's nice not to have to keep talking about it.

Nagging worries that Stephane Dion is hoping to embarrass Canada at Bali

Normally, I would have no concerns whatsoever that Stephane Dion will embarrass the Canadian government in Bali, where there is a major UN conference is taking place concerning climate change. The leader of the Liberal Party has taken it upon himself to go to Bali, though it is not clear why. As the leader of the opposition, Stephane Dion cannot speak on behalf of the government or explain government policy. He has promised in the past never to criticize the Canadian government in front of foreign dignitaries.

Indeed, in a recent incident, Stephane Dion had an opportunity to criticize Prime Minister Stephen Harper to a foreign official, and yet he was very careful to avoid doing so.

At the time, I congratulated him on it, and based on that incident, I have every confidence Stephane Dion will not disappoint me this time.

And yet...I'm nervous. There are signs that Stephane Dion is planning to embarrass all of us.

Karlheinz Schreiber gets bail and an extradition delay -- and admits there was nothing to his story

Karlheinz Schreiber has told the Commons ethics committee that there was nothing to his story. Brian Mulroney and Karlheinz Schreiber never discussed money while Mulroney was still in office. Mulroney certainly never took any money. And in any case, the money that later paid (after Mulroney returned to private life) had nothing to do with the Airbus Affair, which essentially means Brian Mulroney was correctly paid the $2.1 million in 1997 when he sued the Liberal government for libel.

Now thanks the inability of certain members of the Liberal Party to recognize when they were being played for fools, Karlheinz Schreiber might very well spend the rest of his life in Canada, and never face charges in Germany for fraud.

Thorarinn Jonsson needs better friends

Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson is out on bail, facing charges related to an art project in which he planted a fake bomb in the Royal Ontario Museum. Unfortunately for Jonnson, he seems to be surrounded by "friends" who seem to want Jonnson to think he did nothing wrong.

Stephane Dion on a collision course with the NDP, not the Conservatives

Stephane Dion has set his sights on the left of Canada's political spectrum. He says he's doing this in order to instigate a collision with the Conservatives. But that's not what a collision is. He's in conflict with the Conservatives because the two parties are vying for the same limited resource, that is, votes, which they need to accomplish very different goals.

The collision is with the NDP, because Stephane Dion is trying to occupy the same space at the same time as the NDP currently occupy. Liberals ought to recognize the difference between these two concepts before they vote to force an election.

Terrible news as weather deaths continue to drop

How will environmentalists succeed at terrifying people into following them by threatening death at the hands of planetary weather when the evidence shows a steady and dramatic decline in weather-related deaths?

The first thing, of course, is to point out that Big Oil is somewhere in the picture. That way the environmentalists can skip trying to actually refute the data.

Man assaults Santa Claus for his art

Compared to Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson and his art project, involving putting a pipe bomb facsimile in the Royal Ontario Musem in order for it to be recontextualized, the story of Clint Westwood seems tame.

This Missoula, Montana college student filmed himself assaulting a mall Santa to include in a film he was making.

Police caught him as he waited to convince Santa to sign a release form.

Women candidates might become a serious problem for Stephane Dion

Do an analysis of the spread of Liberal Party nominations, and you realize that Stephane Dion has a problem. In all likelihood, he is going to have to personally appoint nominees in many ridings in order to achieve the Liberal Party goal of fielding 33% women candidates in the next general election. But as things stand, most of those appoinments are going to have to happen in Quebec.

And that is seriously bad news for Stephane Dion.

Breakthrough in Newfoundland

Stephen Harper and Danny Williams are talking. The news really doesn't get any better than that.

Is all conceptual art rooted in cowardice?

The story of the fake bomb at the Royal Ontario Museum has got me to thinking about modern or conceptual art.

Not surprisingly, my conclusion is that it is without redeeming value, but I'm going to try and go a bit deeper than that.

And in particular, I'm going to avoid simply calling Thorarinn Ingi Jonsson an idiot. Plenty of people are doing that already.

Mistress Karlheinz Schreiber the Dominatrix

OK, I have to admit, I didn't see this one coming at all. I fully expected that Karlheinz Schreiber would not say a word to the parliamentary ethics committee, even after all the political fireworks expended in getting him to Ottawa from Toronto, where he was awaiting extradition to Germany on charges of fraud and tax evasion.

But to then turn around and harshly slap the committee? Karlheinz Schreiber gives out a little bit of pleasure, then a little bit of pain, and the opposition members of the committee don't see just how disgusting this is becoming.

Many observers predicted a circus when Karlheinz Schreiber appeared. I'm not sure a circus is the right metaphor. The metaphor I'm thinking of involved whips and straps and chains and latex body suits.

The fraud that is Sharia law

Some Islamic scholars hold to the idea that there is no need for democracy. In an Islamic state, the law is the Sharia, handed down by Allah through the Prophet Mohammed. A democratic government is a means to developing laws by gathering input from the citizenry. But there is no need to consider the opinions of the citizens, since the body of laws is divine, perfect, and complete.

Interesting theory.

And complete nonsense. Not that I don't believe that the Sharia is a good basis for law. I don't but that's not my point. My point is th