The Day of the Raitt

Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt has had a deservedly terrible day.

The Chronicle Herald has won the Nova Scotia Supreme Court hearing, and has published what it says is the critical content of the audio tape of Natural Resources Minister Lisa Raitt talking with her former aide, Jasmine MacDonnell.

They are discussing how to politically leverage the recent Chalk River reactor problems. That reactor makes a good portion of the radioactive isotopes used to treat -- and thus save -- cancer patients the world over. We were warned last year by Linda Keen of the reactor's problems, and Keen was fired by Harper as a result.

Certainly, politicians talk about leveraging issues to their benefit, but given the sheer failure of this government to deal with an issue of international significance, affecting the very lives of countless persons, you'd think she'd be more concerned about discussing ways to solve the crisis, instead of looking for ways to personally benefit from it.

Raitt was parachuted into 'maverick' Garth Turner's riding, backed by huge money. Previously, she headed the Toronto Port Authority, where she sued the Community Air advocacy group using that old stalwart Tort of Oppression: LIBEL.

Trinity-Spadina NDP MP Olivia Chow was called for an investigation into Raitt's travel expenses while she headed the Authority. On top of that, Chow claims that Transport Minister Baird prevented the Authority's Board from investigating the expenses issue, changing the Authority's constitution by adding, and then appointing, two loyal conservatives to the board to reduce the majority seeking the investigation to a minority.

Chow has called upon the Auditor General to investigate.

Last week, Raitt let go a staffer -- director of communications MacDonnell, actually -- for leaving a significant briefing binder at CTV.

All in all, Raitt is under severe attack.

The recoded segment deemed important is below. You can read the news story here, and listen to the clip.

As they drive around Victoria, chatting with their driver, Ms. Raitt and Ms. MacDonnell discuss their unsuccessful efforts to get Ms. Aglukkaq to contribute a quote to a news release on the isotope crisis.

Click here to listen to the conversation

“They’re terrified of the issues,” said Ms. Raitt.

“You know what? Good. Because when we win on this, we get all the credit. I’m ready to roll the dice on this. This is an easy one. You know what solves this problem? Money. And if it’s just about money, we’ll figure it out. It’s not a moral issue.”

“No,” says Ms. MacDonnell. “The moral and ethical stuff around it are just clear.”

“It’s really clear,” says Ms. Raitt. “Oh. Leona. I’m so disappointed.”

“Isn’t that interesting,” says Ms. MacDonnell. “They’re just so .... I wonder if it’s her staff trying to shield her from it or whether she is just terrified.”

“I think her staff is trying to shield her,” says Ms. Raitt. “Oh, God. She’s such a capable woman, but it’s hard for her to come out of a co-operative government into this rough-and-tumble. She had a question in the House yesterday, or two days ago, that planked. I really hope she never gets anything hot.”

Ms. MacDonnell says the communications strategy around Ms. Aglukkaq is to never put her out in public.

"You always hear Health officials talking. There is definitely a time and place where you want to keep it at the officials level, but you need to also demonstrate leadership as a minister,” she says.

“Yeah, you do,” says Ms. Raitt. "Wow.’’

Ms. Raitt is the lead minister on the isotope file, but she and Ms. Aglukkaq, who had previously served as health minister of Nunavut, work together to deal with the shortage of isotopes. Canadian hospitals are already delaying tests for cancer patients because of the shortage of isotopes.

Click here to listen to the next conversation

Ms. MacDonnell said the isotope issue is hard to control, “because it’s confusing to a lot of people.”

“But it’s sexy,” says Ms. Raitt. “Radioactive leaks. Cancer.”

“Nuclear contamination,” says Ms. MacDonnell.

“But it’s only about money,” say Ms. Raitt.

What's next? Obviously, Harper has a decision to make.

The Wingnuterer has an idea what that will be.

Neighbourhood bomb threat

I received a bomb threat in the mail yesterday. A real, honest-to-goodness bomb threat demanding the removal of some local school officials. It was addressed to my apartment, not me personally, and I was not the subject of the threat.

I called the police and found out that I was not the first to receive the letter. What it said, minus the names of those threatened and the school:

WE HAVE PLACED A BOMB IN ---------- PUBLIC SCHOOL AND ANYTIME WE WILL ACTIVATE IT IF ------ AND ------ THE PRINCIPAL ARE STILL WORKING IN THAT SCHOOL WE WILL TERMINATE THEM IN ANY POSSIBLE WAY THE STUDENTS ARE NOT A CONCERN TO US. -------------

This didn't look like a kid's prank. The school only goes up to Grade 6, and the letter took some cash and effort. Each one was stamped, the address and return address glued onto the envelope . The return address was for the school in question.

My children don't attend that school, so I'm not as nervous as I could be.

When I later met with police, an officer there had a fistfull of similar letters, and agreed with me that someone was likely venting.

Anyone living in the Junction area of Toronto who has any information concerning this should contact the police at 11 Division. Please.

Carbon Tax success in BC

"To others who may have looked at this possibility (carbon tax) with trepidation and said this can't be done, it should be done and it must be done for our children and grandchildren." -- BC Premier Gordon Campbell.

I am not a fan of the BC Liberals, and cannot support many of their policies; however, with the entire continent watching to see if the NDP's ironic efforts to get rid of the carbon tax in favour of an incredibly tepid carbon trading regime succeeded, I'm glad the NDP failed.

The few million who reside in BC may very well be worse off under the BC Liberals, but for hundred of millions on this continent there remains hope that good environmental policy won't get trumped by electioneering-by-slogan.

From a sometimes more advanced legal culture

Up here, we just sit around being victimized. Meanwhile, in California, they drag the free speech chillers into court.

The Channel Wire
April 28, 2009
Sour Apple: EFF, Wiki Site Sue Over Copyright Claim
Whose software is it anyway? Tired of what it calls Apple's "bogus" legal threats, The Electronic Frontier Foundation and OdioWorks Monday filed suit against Apple, claiming that the company is trying to suppress discussions about iPods and iPhones software on a hobbyist Wiki site.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court of Northern California, alleges that Apple made legal threats against OdioWorks, the owner of the BlueWiki site, after its users talked about making some iPods and iPhones interoperate with software other than Apple's own iTunes.

Last year Apple lawyers "demanded" that BlueWiki take down three sites created by Apple enthusiasts: Ipodhash, iTunesDB and IPodHash _ test_data _contribution, according to the suit. Apple claimed that the software violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that guards against copyright infringement. The software, however, actually never succeeded in jail-breaking the iPhone or iPod.

The suit also pointed out that in addition to Apple's iTunes software, there are several third-party media management software products, such as Songbird, Rockbox, Banshee and Winamp, that can write to the iTunesDB file to sync media files.

OdioWorks said that it complied with Apple's request, fearing legal action. But now it wants to be able revive the discussion on its Wiki site.
"Apple's legal threats against BlueWiki are about censorship, not about protecting their legitimate copyright interests," said EFF senior staff attorney Fred von Lohmann, in a statement." It's legal to engage in reverse engineering in order to create a competing product, it's legal to talk about reverse engineering, and it's legal for a public Wiki to host those discussions."

Refreshing.

How about some of that here?

No reasonable person...

It's not libel if it's funny:

Los Angeles, CA (CNS) - Sacha Baron Cohen wins another lawsuit. A judge has thrown out the libel lawsuit a woman filed against the British comedian and his former show "Da Ali G Show."

...Judge Terry Friedman dismissed the $800,000 lawsuit, saying no "reasonable person could consider the statements made by Ali G on the program to be factual."

...The sketch saw the comedian as Ali G interviewing author Gore Vidal about amending the U.S. constitution. Baron Cohen made a reference to an ex-girlfriend, saying she was always "amending herself."

Rather clear, right?

Now, if the plaintiff had instead filed in Canada, she would have likely won. Despite our good humour, and love of parody and satire, Canadian libel laws are clear that humour should not spoil a plaintiff's droll lawsuit.

The Walrus had a good piece on this a last year:

Here's a sample:

...when This Hour Has 22 Minutes comedian Mary Walsh told Preston Manning that his speech was “more edifying in the original German,” the Reform Party threatened to sue. Had they followed through, it would have been up to Walsh and her producers to prove what they implied was true—that Preston Manning was a fascist. Of course, we all know it was a joke and not all jokes are true. But when a joke damages someone’s reputation, then it’s no longer funny—it’s libellous.

No reasonable person would consider this defamatory; but our courts think different.

Are they reasonable?

Wave and tidal power generation coming to San Francisco

The Mayor of San Francisco recently gave a seminar for Long Now Foundation where he describes his city's efforts to use renewable energy from tidal flow and wave action. Two projects have been approved.



Imagine that: A city engaged in pushing these projects -- hard to see that happening in Canada.

Apparently not satire?

The National Organization for Marriage, down in the USA, has produced this gem of an ad against gay marriage.

I say "gem" because it is inflammatory without explaining why same sex marriage will cause any of the vacuous claims they make.

Give it a watch:



I'm remembering the nonsense claims made up here by the anti-gay crowd. So far, civilization hasn't fallen.

If only these people put so much energy into fighting things which really matter, such as global warming.