OttawaCon

Media gets it wrong on GHG trading

2007-02-08T13:50:00.000-05:00

CBC and other sources are reporting that Baird ruled out a carbon market as climate change policy. That is simply not what he said. He said no carbon tax, no international carbon market, but he was open to a domestic market.

Somebody wrote their story last night ahead of the hearing.

Canadian Climate Change Policy Myth #1

2006-12-20T22:09:00.000-05:00

As it appears that Rona Ambrose is all but done as Environment Minister, it is interesting to note the Opposition attacking intensity targets as some sort of Bush Republican invention that Ambrose is responsible for bringing to Canada.

From Stephane Dion's climate change plan:

"Our government committed to impose intensity targets by industrial sector"

In fact, David Anderson also used intensity targets in his half-hearted events.

I support the objectives of the Kyoto Protocol, flawed though it may be, and I have no interest in debating climate change science - I believe we are seeing climate change, and it is a long term challenge of government to take responsible action. If anything, the Conservative government has hurt a genuine effort to improve Canada's environmental record of the last 15 years by repeating some of the same mistakes the Liberals made on climate change. I just can't stand hearing Liberals now pretend they had nothing to do with any of it.

Michael Ignatieff is an irresponsible wanker

2006-08-31T14:47:00.000-04:00

Ignatieff today provided us with definitive proof that he has no business leading any Canadian political party, because he simply has no grasp of the country.

In an interview with La Presse, Ignatieff took a hardline on Quebec separatists. Fair enough, not my best friends either. But ths sentence is mindblowing:

"We want to avoid a civil war and I have all confidence in the world that we will avoid one"

This is dangerous, stupid, and inflammatory language designed to draw attention to himself.

Setting aside just how irresponsible it is for a Parliamentarian to speak in any serious context about a Canadian civil war, a simple fact is clear. Ignatieff does not understand this country. Regardless of any sort of dispute between English Canada and French Canada, civil war is not part of the equation. Some of my Quebecois neighbours are separatists. I disagree. So what? So we don't talk about politics as much when having a beer on the dock at the lake. We both may be passionate about our views, but an essential part of those views is the peaceful right of individuals to hold opinions on the direction of the government - including separatism. It is not citizenship that makes us neighbours.

Besides, we all despise the Liberals together now.

NDP and Liberal madness on foreign policy

2006-08-21T08:50:00.000-04:00

A couple of Opposition MP's think Canada should remove the terrorist designation from Hezbollah. Their logic being that somehow this designation is an obstacle for a peace settlement.

The question I have is: ifHezbollah is not a terrorist organization, then what is? By any coherent test, Hezbollah is a terrorist organization. If, like the IRA example cited, it wishes to become something else, it needs to take steps to alter its conduct first.

Sue the bastards?

2006-05-29T21:24:00.000-04:00

I was speaking to an organizer for one of the more credible Liberal challengers this weekend. One of the topics that came up is the unaccounted-for $40 million that the LPQ probably stuffed into its coffers and friends. The question was whether or not the Government, now under Conservative direction, should go after the Liberal Party to recover.

His suggestion was that this was just too partisan, and it would backfire. At least a real possibility, though I wonder what Mulroney would have to say about that, given the fact we have hard evidence of Liberal malfeasance, and he was hounded for years on unsubstantiated rumour. The Liberals paid back $1.3 million, so the question is not if they stole, it is only how much. On that score, I see no reason to trust the word or judgement of an admittedly corrupt organization.

On the other hand, it is at least risky. In the end, the question should probably be whether or not it is the right thing to do, and let the political consequences fall where they may. My Liberal friend was very convincing in laying out the political logic - I think that might be how they got into trouble in the first place.

Stumbling toward incoherence on Kyoto

2006-02-17T13:08:00.000-05:00

According to Jean Charest, Harper supports the Kyoto Accord, but disagrees with its implementation. Fair enough – the Liberal management of the file was absolutely horrendous. Canadian business spent the better part of a decade waiting for an answer from the Liberals on what our rules were going to look like.

But we also have Monte Solberg - he overstates the case, but he is essentially saying that compliance with Kyoto with a Canada-only solution is an impossibility.

Of course, our new Environment Minister, Rona Ambrose, has now said we aren’t going to use emissions trading to comply. No international instruments, and probably no market mechanisms at all. Kyoto, without using the tools that are provided - which, given the fact the Liberals were basically planning on having the government buy emissions credits, not really trading at all - was more or less the Liberal plan. Completely ignoring the effectiveness of the American Nox and Sox trading system.

It sounds to me that the ‘made in Canada’ solution is going to be a whack of program spending trying to achieve unreachable domestic objectives.

If Canadians wanted a government that was going to spend billions of tax dollars on NOT complying with the Kyoto Accord, they could have just voted Liberal. Let’s not spend valuable resources on political window-dressing. If we are going to walk away, and Conservatives think there are enough voters who feel that way to deliver another mandate, let’s be decisive. Pay the financial penalties for exiting for the years we are obliged to stay in, and try to pin that on the Liberals.

I happen to think that that would be a mistake. Kyoto is a brutally flawed treaty, and the conclusions that attribute all global warming to human activity are questionable. The US and developing nations need to be brought into a global solution.

But climate change is happening, and it is one of the challenges Canadians expect their government to address. Not with the dismal array of contradictory policies the Liberals have cobbled together, and not with Rick Mercer ads either. Clear, effective policy that allows business to provide leadership and provides incentives for developing and deploying new technologies – and a policy that Alberta can work with – one National Energy Plan is more than enough. Engagement with our trading partners, especially the US, and an honest assessment of why the US is outperforming Canada instead of asinine grandstanding. Structures that allow business to develop opportunities

Canada is uniquely positioned to shape how the entire world addresses this problem – any successor agreement will be taking shape under Canadian leadership.

Conservative leadership on climate change is an opportunity to show how Conservatives deliver. We can do more in eighteen months than the Liberals did in twelve years. But we need to get our act together - Conservatives are not in opposition any more. We will be judged by how we manage these issues.

Troubling and puzzling

2006-02-08T07:47:00.000-05:00

The Liberal EDA in Vancouver-Kingsway is reportedly demanding their money back from Emerson. I am personally uneasy with the move, so I will let the EDA's case pass without comment.

However, something is odd. They want $96,755 that was transferred to run his campaign. But the Elections Canada site lists Vancouver-Kingsway as having about 78,000 electors, which would place the spending limit at around $69,000.

That EDA has some explaining to do. Emerson would have had no direct knowledge of spending. Either the Liberal EDA and campaign were cheating, or they are making a false case, or, the most innocent of cases, they are asking Emerson to return the fundraising expenses that would otherwise be netted to revenue and not declared as a campaign expense.

Update: Thanks to Rhetoric for finding the list of expense limits by riding on the EC site. I simply could not locate it - I was off by $10k. I am aware that pre- and post-writ expenses are not under this limit, but there was no separation of these in the Liberal EDA statement - just 'campaign' - which in the election law usage, is during the writ.

Come what may

2006-01-21T07:59:00.000-05:00

Watching Chantal Hebert last night on the CBC panel, I was struck by her point that a pre-election myth has been dispelled: the Liberals are no longer the only national party, and the Conservatives have a real presence.

It has happened so fast that we are likely to be a little disappointed in the number of seats we see in Quebec - the organization is still catching up. But the important thing is that federalist Quebec has a choice again. This election may be a historical turning point.

In the next Quebec provincial election, when Boisclair talks about sovereignty, there will be a strong federalist leader untainted by Liberal corruption who can stand with Charest. A leader who can offer a renewed federalism that respects provincial powers. A leader who was not afraid to debate in French, in Quebec and stand up for Canada - and made the Bloc back down. All I can ask is for is that the people of Canada give Stephen Harper a mandate.

No matter what happens on Monday, I have never been prouder to be a member of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Where's Mahoney?

2006-01-18T07:02:00.000-05:00

Ottawa Centre Liberal candidate Richard 'Lobby then register' Mahoney has suddenly disappeared fromthe campaign trail.

Yesterday's event had three candidate meetings, one hosted by the Democracy Project, one by a community group, one by a Jewish community.

Richard Mahoney evidently didn't believe any of them were worth his high-priced time.

Would this have happened if he was a Liberal?

2006-01-17T07:20:00.000-05:00

RCMP demotes officer over political bid
'Valuable' counter-terrorism agent transferred out of elite unit after trying for Tory nomination

Just another example of the way Liberals have repeatedly bullied the public service. His only failing cited was his political views.

Blogging Tories challenge - $200 to Keith Fountain

2006-01-13T08:23:00.000-05:00

Made my 2006 donation to Keith Fountain's campaign to meet the Blogging Tories challenge. Keith is fighting hard for Ottawa Centre, and you can tell both the NDP and the Liberals are scared - their canned audiences don't seem to like Keith much, but after every debate he is surrounded by people.

From Election Prediction

Moving this one into the too close to call, from my earlier Liberal call. Of the four campaigns, Fountain's seems to be getting the most traction, with Green not far behind. Dewar seems to be losing some of his base, and in particular might be losing the 'Broadbent Tories' to Fountain as the Conservatives run a far more effective campaign locally. On the other hand, not enough of the ethnic community base that Broadbent took from Mahoney is returning to the Liberal fold - seems to be splitting to the Big Three. Mahoney is probably still the front-runner, but is facing a strong challenge on both sides, and doesn't seem to have anything else except the 'Scary Harper' tactic. Combined with an inept national Liberal campaign, could be bad news for Mahoney.

That was from last week - I seriously doubt Mahoney is the frontrunner now.

I saw a Conservative.
In our riding.
Here.
In Ottawa Centre.
Standing up for Canada.
We are not making this up.

Liberal blogger smears the civil service..

2006-01-12T22:58:00.000-05:00

So last week, I called Liberal blogger The Rest of the Story on what I thought was rather homophobic language he used about Pierre Pettigrew. Predictably, I was accused of fake outrage. I was not particularly outraged, but so be it.

This week, The Rest of the Story has decided to smear Canada's public service, essentially because Liberals stole. Our erudite friend is justifying the onerous and paralyzing rules Alcock has imposed on what is a fundamentally honest public service - "Problem is, these hired staffers have caused at least as many problems (if not more) than elected officials."

These rules that will not do a damn thing to prevent a PMO from stealing again. He cites two examples, Chuck Guite and .....David Dingwall!!! A flunky and a Liberal ex-Minister!

I am beginning to see why the Liberals were so tone-deaf to their vicious smear of Canada's armed forces. Even at the grass-roots of the Liberal Party, there is a fundamental contempt for the military, the civil service, Parliament, and, in the end, voters.

I particularly liked his answer to my comment. Last time around he thanked me for the traffic. You're welcome.

Legalize polygamy?!?

2006-01-12T19:11:00.000-05:00

A Department of Justice report has called for the legalization of polygamy. While I believe firmly in same-sex marriage - not because it is a Charter right, but because it is the right thing to do - I cannot support this. It is simply not the same. Every society that has polygamy as an institution that I can think of has profound problems with women's equality.

Just one more reason why the notwithstanding clause is an essential part of the Constitution.

Harper should demand an apology.

2006-01-11T08:50:00.000-05:00

Not to the Conservative Party. We all have seen enough to know that hateful ads like the 'Soldiers with guns' ads were coming. For the men and women of the Canadian Armed Forces who put their lives on the line for the interests of the nation. Who have defended democracy and peace around the world for generations, but apparently can't be trusted in a Canadian city.

The national Liberal phone line is (613) 237-0740. Or phone your local Liberal candidate. Stand up for Canada. Stand up for the men and women of the armed forces. Demand an apology.

You can always count on the Red Star...

2006-01-08T17:41:00.000-05:00

QUOTE: "It would be crazy for anyone to speculate on any particular outcome. The numbers don't show that," the Tory leader said.
"If you look at all the data that's out there, the best read is that it's a statistical dead heat."

HEADLINE: Harper muses on possibility of majority win

Blogger shows Liberal tolerance in action

2006-01-07T22:58:00.000-05:00

I just hate this sort of crap. I just know this Liberal punk will be first in line to call Conservatives racists/homophobic/bigoted/ephitet of your choice. His main objection to Pettigrew is that he might be gay. I don't like Pettigrew, he is a poor minister, but mostly because he is a Liberal. His sexuality, whatever it is, has nothing to do with it.

Manley warming up his engines

2006-01-03T07:04:00.000-05:00

A lot of of Manley's team are suddenly very active. Ostensibly, this is to help put on one event, a fundraiser for Ottawa West-Nepean Liberal Lee Farnsworth. But the pattern is interesting. The local riding association is working their own turf, Manley's people are working the rest of the Ottawa area.

It's pretty clear they are trolling for supporters of a Manley leadership bid. In Ottawa Centre, where Martin insider and late-registering lobbyist Richard Mahoney has a Team Martin campaign with some of the best lobbyists money can buy, some disaffected Liberals are interested.

No idea how well the event is going, but my guess is that other hopefuls like McKenna are going to start making their move soon. Perhaps it is time to file an ATIP for the DC head of mission phone logs, to make sure McKenna doesn't start campaigning on the public dime.

Of course, in a Liberal leadership race, that is practically an entitlement.

Make your 2005 Donation to your local Conservative candidate

2005-12-31T14:45:00.000-05:00

One of the things that hasn't really been noticed by the pundits is the fact that the Conservative Party has raised more money at a national level than the Liberals, but in general Liberal EDA's have more money than the Conservatives. That matters at the riding level (for some reason the Liberal EDA's in Quebec have a lot of money....), and it will start to show up as we head toward January 23. More bought media for the Liberal candidates, more signs, you name it.

A lot of Conservative candidates have online donations - I used Keith Fountain's today. You can get in under the wire for the 2005 tax year, and your support will make a difference. In Ottawa Centre, Keith Fountain is giving the Liberals and the NDP a real fight, despite all the lobbyists Mahoney can muster.

I put my money down to match Mike Klander's(h/t Bound by Gravity).

All too precious

2005-12-30T08:16:00.000-05:00

At noted Liberal mouthpiece The Sir Robert Bond Papers, Ed Hollett has a screed about nasty Canadian politics have become, called "The cheapening of politics, the lessening of the nation". In it he decries the emergence of what Americans now call the politics of personal destruction. I have been saying something similar for several years.

In particular, I love this sentence:

"And so Liberals across the country will bitterly resent the cheapening of politics we have seen from Conservative and, to only a slightly lesser extent, from New Democrats."

Where, exactly, do you think these bitter lessons were learned, Ed?

I am no great fan of Day's, but do you remember how viciously he was attacked in 2000?

Do you recall the 2004 election? The one where the Liberals launched the most negative barrage of campaigning in Canadian history at the halfway mark, despearate to hang on to power?

Is Feschuk on the public purse now?

2005-12-21T22:17:00.000-05:00

Taking a look at the Liberal campaign blog, and noticed that Scott Feschuk is not with the campaign for the next ten days or so.

Does that mean that he is back collecting his PMO salary for the next two weeks? Somebody should be asking 'Blog Boy'.

He is, of course, entitled to his entitlements.

Duceppe won't face Harper

2005-12-21T17:37:00.000-05:00

The network will put it on, but Duceppe doesn't want to face a debate where he can't attack Liberals, and instead has to talk about offering Quebec, and all of Canada, real choices in government.

Come on Gilles, cut Harper to shreds. Your terms, your native language, in front of your own province. What are you afraid of?

If ever there was proof that the separatists need corrupt Liberals as much as corrupt Liberals need separatists, this is it.

Harper stands up for Canada!

2005-12-21T07:58:00.000-05:00

Martin won't stand up for Canada in Quebec, he'd rather be in Ontario claiming to do it. But Harper is willing to take on the Bloc in Quebec, debating Duceppe in French in Quebec. He understands - Liberal corruption has built the Bloc, and Martin's willingness to say anything to get elected has destroyed the last shreds of Liberal credibility, even of someone I respect like Stephane Dion.

This is big news in the Pontiac. My family originally comes from the Gatineau, and I spend time up there every Christmas. This time I am bringing brochures for Lawrence Cannon.

Going into the corners

2005-12-20T22:27:00.000-05:00

Ottawa-Centre is a pretty tough place to break through for the Conservative Party. The riding is a Liberal stronghold, recently breached by Broadbent. Richard Mahoney, the Liberal candidate and lobbyist extraordinaire is so confident of taking the riding that his website reads like a weight loss journal - he has more to say about his pedometer than he does about policy.

I live in Somerset Heights, Chinatown. A year ago, my sign might have been the only one in this neighbourhood. The Conservative campaign ceded this heavily ethnic area to the Liberals and the NDP. That has changed, and dramatically. Keith Fountain is carrying the Conservative Party into the tough places we have always lost this riding in, reaching people and mobilizing support from the tradional Liberal base. Walking through the neighbourhood, most businesses have a sign - not just a Conservative sign, sometimes a Liberal or an NDP sign, but at least we are in the game this time. The difference is striking.

This is the beginning of a change. There are no safe votes for the Liberals to take for granted anymore. Mahoney is going to lose more than just a few extra pounds.

They just can't help it.

2005-12-20T06:41:00.000-05:00

First, 'beer and popcorn'. Then, insulting a public servant who happens to work in law enforcement, specializing in gun crime. Liberals simply contain the contempt they feel for voters. It is really our fault for disagreeing with them.

So much for integrity

2005-12-17T00:36:00.000-05:00

Ottawa Centre NDP candidate Paul Dewar seems quite happy to claim the mantle of integrity from Ed Broadbent, but he isn't walking the walk. His campaign is in open contempt of the Elections Act.

His campaign is using public resources to do Dewar's political work - the use of federal government telephones during work hours is a violation of umpteen rules around ethical conduct. Is Social Development Canada going to declare a non-monetary contribution to the Paul Dewar Campaign?

With all due respect to Devin Baines, who brought this to public attention, the apology from the NDP campaign should not go to Mr. Baines. It is not Mr. Baines whose democratic will has been disregarded for partisan reasons. Apologizing to Mr. Baines is only the beginning.

Ottawa Centre Conservative candidate Keith Fountain is a public servant on unpaid leave of absence to run. A man with a young family has sacrificed months of unpaid effort to stand up for Canada because he believes in public service, and he believes that the Liberals are steadily destroying the idea of a non-partisan civil service focused on excellence. Clearly, his NDP opponent just doesn't get it. The law has been broken, an important principle has been treated with contempt.

Liberal hack attacks THE Conservative government!

2005-12-14T20:48:00.000-05:00

Watching Countdown with Mike Duffy, and Liberal Mouth of Martin Thoren Hudyma, right about 8:45, attacked the Conservative government. Apparently, Scott Reid and John Duffy are very, very busy for, oh, the next six weeks. (Bonus - Google beer +popcorn and see what you get - no need for Canadian sites only)

My guess is their internal polls are a little uglier than they are letting on. She looked nervous.

Liberal policy announcement leaked!

2005-12-11T20:44:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, Paul Martin is going to be announcing a major overhaul of federal government social spending.

Employment Insurance will now be paid in food stamps and rental coupons, because the unemployed cannot be trusted to manage their money and their priorities. They will just blow it all on beer otherwise.

Canada Pension Plans will also now be paid in food stamps, and rental coupons. However, this is an interim step before a large bureaucracy can be put in place to manage all affairs for the elderly - they too will otherwise blow it all on beer, and some of them are apparently senile too. Certainly can't trust them.

Canada Student Loans will be paid strictly to universities and colleges, and all students receiving loans will be required to live and eat on campus.

No word yet on what Scott Reid has in mind to make sure the provinces spend money on the priorities that the Board has chosen.

Martin does not understand the Clarity Act

2005-12-03T09:13:00.000-05:00

Martin is showing that he considers his own political fate more important than national unity. Where before he did everything he could to avoid supporting the Clarity Act, now he is trying to frame the election as a referendum. That in itself is undercutting the Clarity Act - he is suggesting Quebec's voters are getting a clear choice now. That is a shocking level of irresponsibility for a Canadian party leader.

If Martin really cared about national unity, he would refuse to sign Lapierre's nomination papers. He knows full well that his own party has resurrected separatism in Quebec, and now has the gall to claim that only they can face the separatists.

Here is the simple truth - Quebec voters support the Clarity Act. Martin and Layton have both stated they don't, and Martin's recent statements clearly show he just doesn't understand it. Harper practically wrote the Act before Chretien woke up.

Maybe Martin should try to engage the issues of the campaign - issues that matter to all Canadians, like tax cuts, health care, and accountability.

Note to Liberal lobbyists - we can cut more than one tax

2005-12-02T23:01:00.000-05:00

Notable unregistered lobbyist Richard Mahoney, who is currently running for the Liberals in Ottawa Centre of winning at least a seat in the Senate, today launched a feeble attack on Keith Fountain, the Conservative candidate, falsely claiming that Fountain was against cutting the GST.

For some odd reason, the Liberals seem to assume we can't cut more than one tax. We can. More importantly, we will, unlike the GST promise that Chretien and Martin made in 1993. A Conservative government will cut taxes - a GST cut is just the start. In fact, as Fountain points out, it is a priority. That means now - not in 2010, which is when the Liberal claim they plan on cutting taxes.

A Conservative government could cut the GST in January, and still have five years to match the best that Mahoney is willing to offer, and he knows it.

Bringing Down the House!

2005-11-28T13:07:00.000-05:00

The Ottawa Centre Conservative EDA is hosting a fundraiser/party tonight at the National Press Club.

Bringing Down the House with Keith Fountain

starts 5:30 pm, 165 Sparks Street, steps away from the Hill

$10 suggested donation

It's time.

Ignatieff may have picked the wrong riding

2005-11-27T22:00:00.000-05:00

Etobicoke-Lakeshore may be a little too Ukrainian for his liking. Odd how unforgiving Ukrainians are about a trifling matter like the mass murder through starvation of perhaps 7 million innocents. Look, Ignatieff looks sharp in a turtleneck, and he reminds baby-boomers of Trudeau.

Personally, I loathe the parachute politics of this, even if the alternative is ethnic slates. It may have cost us a great MP like the late Chuck Cadman, but I still believe the Conservative Party is right to let local constituent democracy decide.

Not particularly thrilled by Ignatieff's apparent acceptance of torture, regardless of the cause. Perhaps he should return to Harvard Yard.

It was criminal, it was organized, and it was corrupt

2005-11-26T00:36:00.000-05:00

and it was Liberal. No apology necessary for stating the truth.

As for the argument that it is misleading to then leap to "organized crime", well, let's not forget noted Liberal fundraiser Jos. 'I was accompanied by the person who accompanied me' Morselli. The caterer who got his car blown up in a still unsolved crime, exchanged envelopes stuffed with stolen cash, and was in charge of Liberal Party finances in Quebec.

From p. 82 of the Gomery report:

"The LPCQ as an institution cannot escape responsibility for the misconduct of its officers and representatives. Two successive Executive Directors were directly involved in illegal campaign financing, and many of its workers accepted cash payments for their services when they should have known that such payments were in violation of the Canada Elections Act."

Organized, criminal, and corrupt. Liberal.

Liberal spending splurge becomes surreal

2005-11-25T09:04:00.000-05:00

The flood of our tax money flowing out the doors of the PMO is now moving so fast that absolutely no one knows what is going on.

Yesterday, I was talking to a senior civil servant whose issue area just 'received' announced funding in the hundreds of millions. Not just his Department, but the specific issue area that where Canada relies on his management (clearly, I am not talking about Heritage Canada here...). Big announcement, emails flying around, his phone had been ringing off the hook to congratulate him for such a massive increase.....and to ask him about the program. Surely he must know?

He has no idea about this funding. Never heard of it. No idea what the budgetary figure would be based on, no idea of how to measure effectiveness, no framework for accountability. Nothing. No one in the Department does. No one in PCO knows any more than what is in the press release.

But I am sure this has been in the works for months.

Liberal donor SLAPPs concerned mother!

2005-11-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Ontario mom faces $2 million lawsuit

Louisette Lanteigne of Waterloo has been sued by local developer Activa Holdings, for creating a website where she claims to have documented various environmental and safety abuses in the development around her neighbourhood.

While I accept that corporations have every right to defend their interests in court, asking for $2 million in damages is clearly a SLAPP suit. If Activa was confident in the merits of their argument, they could simply seek an injunction to take the site down. Throwing out $2 million in damages is simply an attempt to intimidate.

Interestingly, Activa is a Liberal Party donor. But that shouldn't worry Ms. Lanteigne too much - really, what are the chances that the judge who hears her case is tied to the Liberal Party?

About 60%

Brison calls for civility!

2005-11-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

Brison calls for civility, and sort of makes my point from my last post. What a sad wretch.

Even if not a single cent had been stolen, the Liberal Party created a program that was corrupt to its very core. To quote Corbeil's testimony, the sponsorship program was intended to "annihilate the Conservative Party in Quebec, to unite all of the federalists in Quebec under the Liberal banner, and to ensure that the Liberal Party became synonymous with Canada in the province of Quebec."

Not a single Liberal has even troubled to deny the veracity of this charge, yet in the end, this is far more serious. It erodes the foundations of democratic government, it corrupts the federal civil service politically, and has restored an aggrieved vigour to Quebec's separatist movement.

In the end, how can there be civility? Conservatives owe it the public to conduct themselves with integrity, but they owe Liberals nothing except a thorough investigation.

The sad fate of Scott Brison

2005-11-06T22:36:00.000-05:00

In reflecting on Scott Brison's pathetic attempt to smear Harper and the National Citizen's Coalition, I was struck by what he has become in the course of just a few years. A few years ago, he was seen as a bright and promising young politician, an achiever in business, with real leadership ability. Now, he appears to be some sort of sock puppet for Scott Reid, the only Cabinet member the Liberals dare throw out to take the heat for the sponsorship scandal.

This latest charge is his absolute nadir (so far..), and really reveals how little the Liberals have to offer. They cannot respond with policy or reasoned argument, all they can do is try and interrupt the news-cycle, use form to disguise an utter lack of content. Disrupting meaningful discussion of reform with cheap political thuggery shows how long it has been that the Liberals have forgotten that the good of the Liberal Party is not necessarily to the good of the public interest. The fact that Scott Reid can simply pull a string to make Brison bray like this is actually rather awful. Can Brison even delude himself that he serves the public good?

As I was not a member of the PCs, I don't think of Brison with any particular vitriol as a 'turncoat', just one more in a long line of wretches like Jack Horner. Few of these figures have really benefitted personally in the long-run. But at least Horner met his political fate quickly. Watching Brison shred the very last fragments of his integrity is just sad.

Isn't this exactly the problem?

2005-11-04T08:59:00.000-05:00

From the Globe this morning

Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said the Liberal government and the Liberal Party have come to a common understanding that $1-million is appropriate.

"The government has made the determination that this is what the party owes and the party has said 'We owe this, we're giving it back to you,' and that appears to have resolved that matter," Mr. Cotler told reporters.

You would think that a lawyer like Cutler would realize just how odious an example of conflict of interest this is....

Paul Martin was exonerated...

2005-11-03T00:15:00.000-05:00

and OJ Simpson was not guilty.

Logically, the Liberal Party is now dedicated to finding the real culprits.

The weakness of Martin's 'exoneration'

2005-11-02T08:44:00.000-05:00

The finding of Chretien's responsibility is not really subject to question, regardless of whether or not he knew, because by putting his exempt staff in charge, he is strictly responsible - no civil servants to blame. The fact that it was Pelletier directly in charge is that much more damning.

However, I think Chretien must be held responsible for more than just his formal parliamentary responsibilites as PM. Not only did he chose the structure, but as party leader, he was explicitly aware of how the program was conflating the Canadian national interest and the interest of the Liberal Party in Quebec. Further, in his position as leader, there were other responsibilities that should have, and probably did, provide him with far more knowledge of what was happening.

Of course, the same criticism can be applied to the claim that Martin is somehow exonerated because of the job description of a finance minister. In the end, all Chretien can really object to is the way Gomery so completely identified the scandal with Chretien, while issuing a pro forma absolution to Martin.

It is odd how Gomery provides such a strong conclusion based solely on a strict assessment of ministerial responsibility. Martin knew about the fund ("vote" money) as a minister, but nothing else. Gomery completely ignores other pathways of information, and therefore responsibility. But we more or less knew years ago that Finance did not have much to do with it per se.

It simply beggars belief that Martin could have known about the fund (enough to tried to have misled the Commons to say it was continuation of a Mulroney-era vote), been engaged in a struggle that unseated a sitting PM by taking over the party hierarchy from the ground up, yet been utterly unaware of any connection between that fund and the party.

Dan McTeague is a horse's ass....

2005-10-27T23:57:00.000-04:00

I really can't say it better than Paul Wells, but suffice to say that is hard to judge whether he was more rude than stupid, or the reverse.

Selling our rights in the name of ideology

2005-10-25T08:56:00.000-04:00

Layton meets with Martin today to name his price. Layton appears to think that seeing just how long you have to wait is somehow an acceptable response to the problem of the failed medicare system.

What matters is outcomes to citizens, not mechanisms of delivery. Private for profit health-care is not inherently evil. If that is what we need to use to ensure that every Canadian has affordable access to timely and effective health care, then so be it. It is in every country in the world now except North Korea, Cuba, and Canada. There is a wide range of possible choices in that set. The Liberals and the NDP are playing a very dangerous game, because the fundamental logic of the Chaouilli decision is not readily reversible. If they insist that the only way to deliver public health care is with a monopoly, they may end up being right.

Repeating old mistakes

2005-10-23T16:27:00.000-04:00

Quebec still torn on future in Canada, but a majority of Quebecois support the Clarity Act.. Allan Gregg correctly points out the bad news here is that the margin is still razor-thin, and a whole new generation of sovereigntists has been created.

So how does our current rudderless government manage this file? By essentially returning to Chretien's disastrous pre-1995 approach of denial. By failing to defend the Constitution, and in particular the Charter of Rights that Liberals love to invoke when it is convenient. Step by step they are accepting the principle that the National Assembly of Quebec can pass an Act to suspend the application of the Charter to Quebec - not just invoke the notwithstanding clause, but suspend it entirely.

Relying on Canadian economic prosperity to make the problem go away ignores the fundamental tensions that the Liberals' insistence on strong centralization must inevitably produce. To try to ensure his government survives the sponsorship scandal, Martin has been backing away from the one federal initiative that has clearly led to some improvement. The Clarity Act didn't go far enough, because it never addressed a unilateral declaration of independence - which was precisely what Parizeau intended.

It is worth remembering that Bill C-341, Stephen Harper's prescient private member's bill, was watered down to become the Clarity Act. The Liberals' confidence that there is no referendum around the corner is an abdication of responsible leadership before the imperative of partisan survival.

Discipline and punish

2005-10-18T08:23:00.000-04:00

Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said he is willing to work with Mr. Layton to increase restrictions on private care.

Fresh off the admission that no material progress is being made toward reducing waiting lists, the Liberal/NDP coalition is identifying their policy priority - the outcome to the citizen does not matter, what must remain paramount is state control. If the system was working, people would not be entering a market to compete to offer a free good. But that does not seem to occur to Layton or Dosanjh.

To top it off, Layton is pressing for greater federal control, as if that federal intrusion into provincial jurisdiction is not at the root of the problem.

The political process desperately needs to engage the real issues here. Nearly six months have passed since the Supreme Court delivered the Chaouilli decision, but the stay has meant it has been all but ignored.

Pillaging the public treasury

2005-10-16T21:27:00.000-04:00

Is there another employer in the country that will reward a voluntary resignation to take another job? To get this plum, you have to be a Liberal:

"Employees have a right to severance pay when they end their services voluntarily, are dismissed, die, or are laid off owing to lack of work or discontinuance of a function. Severance pay stays the same, whatever the circumstances of termination, that is, the amounts will be the same for resignation, death, dismissal, lay-off and retirement." Treasury Board Policy.....

Two weeks per year, plus Minister's discretion for another 6 months...which is a policy that was just updated (9/30/05), in the midst of the furor over Dingwall. Hedging their bets, it would seem.

No wonder Dingwall is going to sue. Why should he give up what every other Liberal hack in Ottawa is entitled to?

Heads we win, tails you lose

2005-10-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

How long has Mahoney been lobbying for CSR?

If his lobbying activities have reached the notice of the Globe in early September, there cannot be much doubt that he is avoiding the spirit of the already toothless act governing lobbyist registration.

Of course, this also provides a neat little pathway around the election financing rules. CSR pays Mahoney as a lobbyist, then Mahoney pays for his own campaign.

Clearly, despite what the Martinites would have us believe, this inability to grasp the idea of a conflict of interest is not just a Chretien trait. Does anyone believe that Mahoney isn't headed for a lifetime at the public trough, win or lose in the next election? If not the Senate, I hear they have a vacancy at the Mint.

They found a goat...

2005-10-11T07:05:00.000-04:00

"Then he shall slaughter the people's sin-offering goat, and bringing its blood inside the veil, he shall do with it as he did with the bullock's blood, sprinkling it on the propitiatory and before it. Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary because of all the sinful defilements and faults...." - Lv. 16:15-16, 34

Yep, definitely time for a new budget

2005-08-13T08:42:00.000-04:00

Perhaps we should just go a quarterly budget approach.

Assymetrical federalism is definitely proving to be a big hit. The NDP and now the provinces are lining up their fall budget demands, fresh off the Martin-Layton-Hargrove spendathon at the Royal York.

Wow, that will be a big help

2005-08-12T09:04:00.000-04:00

Martin is going to get 'heavily involved' in the softwood lumber dispute.

By this, he must mean that he is going to call GWB and be 'very, very clear'.

First off, the PMO should have been making this file a priority to resolve. It is devastating to an important Canadian industry, and management on it has been inept. The talks in DC this July were a fiasco, yet International Trade was suggesting that a resolution was imminent. A blind man could have seen that the decision-makers in the Senate were not even in DC, so no positive outcome was possible. So far, the Liberals have accomplished nothing but burning a lot of taxpayers' funds, much of it to overpaid consultants like Ritchie and Tellier (in violation of Treasury Board guidlines, btw). Why has Martin ignored it this long?

Second, what the heck will that do? Wasn't he going to have a similar chat with Bush about greenhouse gases? There was a brief window where Martin might have had a decent relationship with Bush, but humiliating him over the missile defence flip-flop has destroyed that. No wonder Parrish is welcome back in the Liberal caucus at the first suitably quiet opportunity.

You may not agree with everything the Americans are doing, I don't. But Canada needs to have a functional relationship with the US.

Dang, have to change the name

2005-08-08T14:38:00.000-04:00

I had long since forgotten the book about Pierre Trudeau when I decided to use the title Against the Current for this blog.

Given that I think Trudeau was the worst Prime Minister in our history, whose obscene ego and desire for power led to his devastating fiscal policy - which will still being working against social policy in Canada generations from now - I have to change the title of the blog.

Besides, I keep looking at pickup trucks longingly, but wondering if they come as hybrids.

Martin's hidden agenda to reform the Senate

2005-08-03T09:25:00.000-04:00

I haven't been a real proponent of Senate reform, but the last two years have really made me take the idea far more seriously. This latest round of appointments takes that one step further - Dennis Dawson? At a time when federalism in Quebec is threatened by Liberal corruption and cronyism, Martin appoints one of his Anglo cronies to represent the province.

The Renaissance Popes have nothing on this Martin guy.

Here we go again...

2005-08-02T17:00:00.000-04:00

Time for Buzz and Jack out to pick out their fall fiscal fashions at the Liberal Red Tag Sale

Another budget?

What about the 0.3%?

2005-06-30T09:10:00.000-04:00

Lost in our happy public discourse about reaching the 0.7% of GNI in aid to developing nations - Pearson's original call was for 1%, of which 0.3% was to be from citizens directly, 0.7% from government.

As we watch the current round of mobilization to looby to get us from about 0.25% on the government side, it is lamentable that so little attention is being paid to Canadian's woeful performance on the 0.3%, which is something everyone can simply do something about. We are currently at about 0.015%, far below the realtive government level.

That is $8 per Canadian. Far less than the average concert ticket.

Now this is hypocrisy

2005-06-28T17:17:00.000-04:00

Some of the same posters at rabble.ca that decried the use of the word 'whore' by various provincial conservatives in reference to Belinda Stronach, are speculating about having sex with Rona Ambrose.

Rabble posters saying what they really think about women in politics

Liberal Party democracy in action

2005-06-28T07:24:00.000-04:00

Ottawa-West Nepean Liberal nomination dictated by Liberal STAVKA

In spite of Mr. Moors' comments, Ms. Farnworth dismissed suggestions Mr. Martin had sent word that he wanted a female candidate in the riding. "I have heard that rumour, but I think it was spread by my opponents," she said, after being acclaimed.

Ms. Farnsworth apparently doesn't have the good grace to acknowledge a gift.

At least in OWN the criterion isn't just being a friend of Da Boss. Of course, they could always try the Conservative method of letting people vote for it. On the down side, it cost the party Cadman's seat, but on the plus side it has produced the youngest and most diverse caucus in Parliament.

Is the Fix In?

2005-06-26T23:30:00.000-04:00

On Saturday night, a Liberal insider told me something I have real problems believing. Bill C-38 will not make it to a vote before the House goes into break. I don't really understand the motivation, and the decision is now entirely in the hands of Liberals. It would seem to constitute a massive betrayal of Liberal supporters, as well as the NDP and the Bloc.

Update: Nope, went ahead. Can we move on now?

Newfoundland Held Hostage!

2005-06-23T08:26:00.000-04:00

The Martinites are clearly not done with using the Atlantic Accord to squeeze Doyle and Hearns. They just rejected a fast-track deal in the Senate that could have seen C-43 done immediately. That way, a vote against them on C-48 could still kill the Accord. By some bizarre logic, you just know that Fair Deal for Newfoundland will still find a way to blame the Conservatives.

Conservative Press Release

In a long and ugly history of callous abuse of Newfoundland by Liberal governments, this is fast becoming a new nadir. If a magic bullet policy could be found to make Newfoundland the most prosperous province in Canada, the Liberals would do everything they could to stop it - they need to keep those Commons votes bought and paid for.

No wonder I know so many people from Newfoundland

Update: Having reflected on some of the stories there on Hearn's motion in particular, my comment about Fair Deal for Newfoundland is not really fair.

Many Shades of Gray

2005-06-21T11:46:00.000-04:00

Just what we need...a Liberal-appointed Ethics Commissioner with the ability to see many shades of gray.

Time to resign.

Liberals Bow to Conservative Ultimatum on Whistleblower Bill

2005-06-16T18:00:00.000-04:00

From Guy Lauzon's media release

OTTAWA -- The Conservative Party of Canada today scored a major victory on behalf of whistleblowers, when Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, in a major reversal of his government’s position, gave in to Conservative demands for the creation of a fully independent commissioner to protect whistleblowers and investigate their disclosures.

Alcock announced the concession this afternoon in a statement to the Government Operations Committee, which is studying the government’s whistleblower legislation. The government’s reversal comes after months of intense pressure from the Conservative Party, including an ultimatum delivered in Question Period today by Conservative Treasury Board Critic Guy Lauzon:

“The Conservative Party, along with every single stakeholder and expert, has consistently demanded an independent office to protect whistleblowers and investigate their disclosures. The dithering has to end now. I have an ultimatum for the Minister: Either he amends his bill to create a fully independent commissioner who reports directly to parliament, or the Conservative Party will make sure the bill dies in Committee. Independence or death - Which will it be?”

For the second consecutive day, Alcock dodged the question in the House of Commons, but in the committee meeting that followed Question Period, he announced that the government would amend its bill in accordance with the Conservative demand. Lauzon said after the meeting,

“It appears that after a year of pressure by the Conservative Party, the government is finally moving in the right direction. I look forward to seeing the details of the actual amendment, to make sure it gives our public servants the protection they deserve. After all, the Minister tried to pull the wool over our eyes before by saying the original bill offered an independent process. I want to make sure the independence is genuine this time.”

Taking Legault Seriously

2005-06-13T17:35:00.000-04:00

The key to Legault’s claim that a sovereign Quebec will be better off seems to have been met with two responses in Anglo Canada. First, completely ignored, or the federal Liberal version, completely ignored but used as the basis for talking points to attack the Conservatives. Second, derisively dismissed with an ad hominem about the author being a separatist. I never thought I would miss Stephane Dion.

I think both are a mistake. We should be looking at these claims and engaging them seriously.

One of the key arguments can be found on p.28, Section 6, Estimation de la part du Québec des dépenses du gouvernement federal en 2003-2004, on the table entitled Tableau 10 : Autres charges de programmes et autres paiements de transferts assumés par un Québec souverain en 2003-2004.

On this table, the authors set out that portion of Federal spending other than EI and OAS that the Government of Quebec would assume. Surprisingly, the resulting average on the 2003-04 numbers is 17.4%, well below a percentage predicted by population. It is a significant analytical conclusion, because on that basis, Quebec’s hypothetical government would have spent $12.5 billion in 2003-2004. A percentage based on population would suggest about $20 billion. This difference alone is enough to wipe out the ‘margin of manoeuvre’ claimed.

Rather than simply insisting that it should be based on an arbitrary percentage of population, I examined some of the assumptions, and how significant they were in generating that $8 billion projected savings.

Over 25% of the savings would come from Defense spending, where Legault claims Quebec sees only 14% of the expenditures. No treatment of any economy of scale argument here.

Aboriginals in Legault's Quebec probably wouldn't be too happy to hear that his Quebec will find its second largest class of savings in Indian Affairs.

The most wildly implausible claim, however, has to be Agriculture. By Legault's reckoning, only 0.9% of Agriculture spending occurs in or benefits Quebec. I can only presume Legault expects continued access to the dairy quota system.

The Long Game

2005-06-09T10:00:00.000-04:00

Recent polls suggest that the Conservative effort to force an election to capitalize on the Gomery Inquiry have backfired. Support is now much lower than it was at the beginning of the process. If anything, the entire sequence of events energized Martin to break out of the Dithers-lethargy. It also has moved the NDP into the spotlight. As an organization, the Conservative Party has been revealed to have some major weaknesses.

So what's next?

It is not time to talk about dumping a leader. It is clear that Harper has problems, but is equally clear that the right in Canada is far better off than it was just 2 years ago. A Martin Liberal coronation was averted by the efforts of a unified party that didn't even have time to compile a membership list before it was forced to fight a general election. There is still alot of work to be done to consolidate that progress before the next election.

At the same time, the Liberals may be relieved, but they have just spent their usual pre-election goodies. They may have recovered from this spring's lows, but they are still not in a position to form a majority government. More importantly, there is no clear path toward that objective. The Liberals are hopelessly compromised in Quebec, and will be at least until a PQ government takes power provincially. A year ago, Martin was the greatest asset they had. Today, that is gone.

For now, Conservatives focus on building the party, preparing for the election whenver it comes, and offering a platform more meaningful than 'It Should Be Our Turn Sometimes'

Iceberg, Meet Titanic

2005-05-27T13:15:00.000-04:00

Canada's Labour Advantage Gone

DaimlerChrylser is going to have to look for ways to reduce costs to stay competitive. Ford and GM face similar challenges.

With Buzz Hargrove pulling Jack Layton's strings, and Jack Layton pulling Paul Martin's, it is only a matter of time before the Liberal government considers this a 'very, very important priority'. In other words, delays the adjustment of uncompetitive businesses by paying them off from the public purse, to the benefit of Buzz Hargrove's ever-shrinking auto worker membership.

Eleven weeks a year seems like a lot of time off.

How could Harper ever think such a thing!?

2005-05-12T12:38:00.000-04:00

The Martin regime was in full talking-point mode about Harper's accusation that the Liberals were exploiting the poor health of Chatters and Stinson. How on earth could he ever make such a low accusation.

Maybe because he has pulled it on members of his own party?

From Kinsella:

Well, I recall one Friday evening, a couple years ago, when I almost quit the Liberal Party of Canada. It was the night that the Martin cabal took over the riding association of former cabinet minister Herb Dhaliwal, knowing (a) Dhaliwal was out of the country and (b) his wife was dying of cancer. I had witnessed a lot political thuggery, to be sure, but I had never before seen anything as disgusting, and as inhuman, as that. It was only a friend in Ottawa who talked me out of quitting.

Welcome new returning officers

2005-05-09T13:27:00.000-04:00

The Federal Liberals just don't get it. As we head toward a federal election in the shadow of the worst politcal corruption scandal in Canadian history, they simply do not care to repair the dmage their own scandal has caused to public trust in our institutions.

They continue to use Elections Canada as a perk for their supporters. Of course, this is just financial contributions.

At least one isn't a Liberal.

Returning officers should not be a partisan appointment, no matter who is in power.

On April 27, the federal Cabinet appointed the following people as Returning Officers for the following electoral districts:

Frank Pearce (Nunavut);

Frank Pearce works for the Government of Nunavut.

There is a NDP (1 time Liberal) contributor from Smoky Lake Alberta, but it is probably not him.

Brenda Gleason (Macleod, Alta.);

Macleod Alberta? A John J. Gleason of Calgary is a frequent contributor to the Liberals.

Ann L. Boiteau (Calgary Centre, Alta.);

Not found – she is a regional director Katimavik

Tayeb Meridji (Saint Boniface, Man.);

Tayeb Meridji 2001 Individual Liberal Party $298.85
Tsyev Meridji 1998 Individual Liberal Party $258.72
Tayeb Meridji 1997 Individual Liberal Party $168.78

Thanks Ray!!

Phil J. Cels (Brandon-Souris, Man.);

Phil J Cels 2004 Individual Liberal Party $200.00

Merv, just so you know….

May Lynne Fong (Willowdale, Ont.);

There are several Oakville Liberal donors named Fong, but no information around on May Lynne Fong.

Darren Rotsch (Toronto Centre);

Nothing in the contributions on this name

Gail A. Lynch (Ottawa Centre, Ont.)

Gail Lynch 1998 Individual Liberal Party $389.97
Gail A. Lynch 1994 Individual Liberal Party $129.44

So long, Ed. Crown Prince Mahoney awaits.

Karen Mazereeuw (London-West, Ont.

No results found

Donna Kelly (London North Centre, Ont.)

Donna Kelly 2004 Individual Liberal Party $500.00

Carrie Snyders (Elgin-Middlesex-London, Ont.)

Carrie Snyder 1993 Individual Reform Party $550.00
Carrie Snyder 1994 Individual Reform Party $350.00
Carrie Snyder 1996 Individual Reform Party $350.00

William Lynch (Dufferin-Caledon, Ont.);

William Lynch 2000 Individual Liberal Party $1,600.00
William R. Lynch 1993 Individual Liberal Party $1,225.00
William Lynch 1998 Individual Liberal Party $570.72
W. J. Lynch 1995 Individual Progressive Conservative Party $350.00
W. J. Lynch 1996 Individual Progressive Conservative Party $320.00
W J Lynch 1997 Individual Progressive Conservative Party $250.00
W. Lynch 1998 Individual Progressive Conservative Party $250.00

Not sure if he is either one of these guys.

Nasir Addetia (Don Valley West, Ont.);

No contributions found.

Francine Tardif-Martin (Verchères-Les Patriotes, Que.);

No contributions found

Bernard Lauzon (La Pointe-de-l'Île, Que.);

No contributions found

Madeleine Dillon (Halifax West, N.S.);

No contributions found

Lottie Stewart (Central Nova, N.S.).

No contributions found – (Eloise? Not sure what this is short for.)

If anyone has more information on these people's political preferences, or clarification that the donor information does not refer to the person appointed as returning officer, please add a comment and I'll update.

Major hat-tip to Bound by Gravity for the online search tool.

Not enough cats in Ottawa

2005-05-05T08:24:00.000-04:00

Apparently, the punishment for corruption of public officials in the Roman Republic was to be sewn into a sack with live cats and thrown into the Tiber. Here in Ottawa, it appears we simply would not have a large enough population of cats.

Yesterday's released Guite testimony was explosive enough completely to overshadow the day's actual hearings. Claims that the Liberal Party illegally funded the production of campaign TV commercials through the sponsorship program now pass almost without comment. We are no longer shocked. Violations on this scale of the Elections Act and the misuse of public funds are now commonplace. Not so long ago, they alone would have been sufficient to make this the largest scandal since the nineteenth century.

The damage done to public institutions and trust is incalculable. A few years ago, I would never have thought to check a Canadian judge's name against an election contributions database. That too has become commonplace.

Not a single Liberal has resigned over this.

OK, that's it

2005-05-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

Last summer, a campaign worker for the Conservatives sent out one stupid fax about child pornography with an unfair accusation about Paul Martin, and the media were all over Stephen Harper to issue a personal apology.

Yesterday, a Cabinet Minister called all Conservatives racists and Ku Klux Klansmen. The journalists there asked him to confirm if that is what he was saying. And he did.

Today, it barely rates any mention in the press, and the broadcast media says nothing more than it might be 'a little over the top'.

To have any hope of communicating with the electorate, Conservatives need to find new ways to reach them.

This is my small contribution.