Section 15 SCC Crookes Hyperlinking Ruling Set for Tomorrow

2011-10-18T17:04:00.001-04:00

Is merely having a hyperlink to material deemed libelous enough to be found guilty of disseminating libel? The Supreme Court of Canada will release its ruling on this case tomorrow!

I suspect p2pnet will have the first analysis up.

Kinsella Agrees With Me

2011-10-09T13:51:00.003-04:00

I had argued here that the campaign themes used by all except the Ontario Liberal Party were off the mark. People, in uncertain economic times, don't vote for change. They don't vote for a party with a poor reputation in Ontario for running things (fair, or not fair, that's the NDP), or for a party with a reputation of controversy and which runs on a platform of killing jobs (that be the PCs).

They vote for a steady hand at the wheel.

Warren Kinsella made the same point in his Sun column yesterday.

Rob Ford: We're Great Because He Is

2011-10-08T12:50:00.000-04:00

There's much to discuss in this article, but I thought I'd amaze you with this tidbit concerning Mayor Ford's deep affection for the City of Toronto:

...asked what he loves about Toronto, the mayor said: “This is a great city. We’ve cleaned it up, there’s less graffiti, we’ve made it a safer city.”

or, by analogy

... asked what he loves about his wife, the mayor said: “She's a great wife. I’ve got her to to be neater, cleaner, and less violent.”

Meanwhile, Federally, the Shenanigans Continue

2011-10-07T11:29:00.002-04:00

Want to learn more about the Auditor General's investigations into the Harper Government's military cost overruns? The Harper Government's former do-nothing 'integrity' commissioner's half-million dollar severance package? The Harper Government's mismanaged renovations on Parliament Hill?

Too bad.

The Harper Government *majority* on the public accounts committee forced the committee to go in-camera, and voted to not review those reports. How convenient. As a result, opposition members can't even comment on what was discussed.

Yes, we can read those reports, but Parliament will be acting on them, as the committee won't. How convenient.

Federally, transparency and accountability is getting worse and worse. The Harper Government figures the less we know, the less we will criticize.

We know the result. As we've already seen with gravy train gazebo Clement, jet-setter MacKay, and gold-embossed Baird, the Harper Government is very capable of the worse of excesses.

The more we tolerate this secrecy, the worse it will become.

Oh, as you may have noticed, I am constantly calling this government The Harper Government, just as his Prime Ministerialness likes it.

Might as well make him wear it.

And the winner is...

2011-10-07T08:47:00.000-04:00

So, which pollster had it right?

I recorded the last polls of the election here.

Here they are compared to the results.

Source	Liberal	PC	NDP	Green	Dates	Details
RESULTS	37.6%	35.4%	22.7%	2.9%	Oct 6	THE ELECTION!
Angus Reid	33%	36%	26%	5%	Oct 2-4	Online; Sample: 2223; 2.1% 19/20
Ipsos-Reid	41%	31%	25%		Sep 30-Oct3	Sample 1020; 3.1% 19/20
Abacus	37%	34%	24%	4%	Oct 3-4	Sample 1001; 3.1% 19/20

Abacus has the best call, perhaps because their sample was concentrated closest to election day.

The huge Forum Research Poll, also under that link, didn't report percentages, but did make a seat call of 45/45/17, which was damn close, and nailed the NDP count. Given that that poll Forum conducted the poll over the weekend, days away from the election, the reason for the discrepancy is clear.

Ipsos-Reid was way off, but also was working with the oldest data, and a smaller data set sprawled over many days.

For those who don't know, the final count was 53/37/17, the largest minority possible.

Toronto's Sacred Blue Cow

2011-10-06T09:06:00.001-04:00

Toronto's entire budget deficit can be explained by its bloated police force budget.

For all of the incompetence of the brothers Ford, going after the Toronto police budget is the one thing I can support.

To be clear, Ford did not get elected with such a mandate. He promised to scrape the alleged gravy without cutting a single service. This time last year he was promising to hire 100 additional police officers.

Then, shortly after gaining office, Ford granted, without argument, a gravy-dripping pay increase of eleven per cent over four years, making them the highest paid force in Ontario, if not Canada.

Now he is seeking to cut police spending by ten per cent. This is a difficult task given that nearly nine tenths of the police budget is spent on wages and benefits.

For years, the police budget has been untouchable. As Marcus Gee points out, since 1957 Toronto's population has doubled, while the size of the police force has nearly quadrupled. The original budget back then was $12.4 million.

Adjusted for inflation, that budget would be just shy of $102 million today.

The size of the current force is about 8,000. To support a police force of 8,000 at the 1957 rate would cost $43 million in 1957 dollars, or $353 million in today's dollars.

We are looking at a police budget this year of nearly one billion dollars. That over $600 million dollar difference is more than enough to wipe out the entire budget deficit the City is staring at this year.

I don't beget paying our officers decently, and giving them reasonable benefits; but, adjusted for inflation, we're paying nearly three times per officer what we did 50 years ago.

For all things, there are opportunity costs. The cost of paying police this much means there's so much less for other budgets.

A Canadian Armed Forces private faces a far higher mortality and injury rate than any police officer in this country. They are subject to extreme conditions, and a lack of stability in their lives as they are moved from posting to posting. Their starting salary?

$32,000.

The starting pay for a police cadet in Toronto, not counting overtime?

$50,000.

That's what a basic corporal makes in the military.

I know there's no going back to an equivalent 1950s level of spending.

Going forward, trimming the force size, and pulling back on benefits and pay, is a must.

More on the Flogs Issue

2011-10-05T09:17:00.001-04:00

BCL has more on the M THIRTY enviro flogs issue.

Also, I've heard that PB is removing identified flogs.

Polls-a-Ticking

2011-10-05T09:05:00.003-04:00

Polls, polls, polls. The last ones are out for the Ontario election, and predictions range from a Hudak technical win giving way to a likely Liberal minority, to a Liberal majority.

Don't look at me.

For posterity, here they are:

Source	Liberal	PC	NDP	Green	Dates	Details
Angus Reid	33%	36%	26%	5%	Oct 2-4	Online; Sample: 2223; 2.1% 19/20
Ipsos-Reid	41%	31%	25%		Sep 30-Oct3	Sample 1020; 3.1% 19/20
Abacus	37%	34%	24%	4%	Oct 3-4	Sample 1001; 3.1% 19/20

I'm doubting the Ipsos-Reid poll the most as it's older. The Angus Reid has the best sample size, and contains the most recent data; but it's an online poll, which are still subject to much criticism.

To add to the noise, a huge Toronto Star poll of ridings 'too close to call' is predicting a hung legislature. The poll was conducted by Forum Research.

The Liberals and PC are predicted to get 45 seats each, the NDP 17. Fifty-four seats are needed for a majority.

The poll has a sample size of 23,000, and looked at 23 key ridings where the leader spread was under 5% in the last poll (done two weeks back). The poll was conducted Oct 1 and 2. If you're wondering about all the other ridings, know that most elections involve fighting over a minority of seats, with the remainder being so secure to almost not matter except in rare occasions.

With such a larger swing of numbers over such a short date span (Sept 30-Oct 4), and with the NDP showing strong numbers, many ridings are going to be determined by a sliver of the vote. Such small movements in ridings can't be caught by normal polling, so it seems safe to use the Forum Research poll as the best indicator.

Much like the last federal election, though, voting intentions firming up during the last few days are really going to matter.

This election was Hudak's to lose. I think he has, though McGuinty having a majority is quite uncertain. If McGuinty does get a majority, it looks likely to be with a heavily divided electorate, and I hope he governs accordingly.

Funding Anti-Green Sock Puppets

2011-10-04T09:15:00.001-04:00

Not all unions are in McGuinty's pocket. The Ontario Power Workers' Union (UPW) has bankrolled a campaign against McGuinty fighting the Green Energy Act.

More and more, marketing companies are using social media to promote their clients. UPW is pushing for power produced using coal and nuclear by, in part, seeding conversations in social media.

The marketing company in question is M THIRTY. Read the link above if the details and ethics interests you. I'm not getting into it.

Except to point out that one of the bloggers M THIRTY uses seems to be on the Progressive Bloggers blogroll.

Rather, I just wanted to point out that anti-green groups like Wind Concerns Ontario likely don't exist without similar backing. They say differently, or appear to.

Note: As I write this quick note, I see that BCL has written more, and has included the same suspicions as mine, fleshed out in detail.

UPDATE:

BCL reports some flogs are going into maintenance mode...

A Quick Read Regarding The Toronto Sun

2011-10-01T17:54:00.001-04:00

Perusing The Toronto Sun's online front page (yes, it happens), I was struck by what the creators of that site consider to be important information for its readers.

I call them readers, but The Toronto Sun seem to barely consider them capable.

As you hover over the tabloid images, a popup image appears giving you one of two essential pieces of advice: Either it's a video, or, as shown to the side here, a Quick Read.

I looked over every image. None were advertised as a long read, or an intermediate one.

Quick is a virtue, and, apparently, a necessary enticement for The Sun's readers.

I know. I know. The Sun's readers are all hard-working conservatives with no time for petty things like details. Eventually, The Toronto Sun may get rid of text altogether and just post pictures accompanied by your expected emotions. 'Good!' 'Bad!' 'Be angry!' 'Bizare!'

A Thought on Campaign Slogans

2011-09-28T12:48:00.000-04:00

We're in turbulent times. Economically uncrertain. People are worried about their jobs. People want certainty. Comfort.

Canada just elected a stay-the-course Prime Minister preaching exactly that.

So, here you are, trying to come up with a theme for your opposition political leader in an upcoming provincial election.

And the theme you choose is 'Change?'

You call the policy book 'Changebook?'

Your advertised Twitter hashtag is '#changevote?'

Your campaign bus says '[change]' all over it?

Your candidates have roads signs on their pamphlets saying 'Change Ahead?'

Is this wise?

Compare and contrast:

PCs: Change
NDP: Change that puts people first
Greens: It's Time
Liberals: Forward. Together.

The NDP slogan reads like PC-lite. Even my beloved Greens are working on a 'change' theme.

Look at the Liberal slogan. Isn't that safe? Secure? Together, going forward, which is always good, right? It's safe, it's optimistic. It visions, even. We are given a positive direction, and none of us are alone.

Do people really want change now?

They don't want change. Change isn't safe. They may want BETTER, but they'll stick with being safe. Stay the course (FORWARD). TOGETHER.

You know what? That's a good slogan for the times.

Change isn't. Change is scary.

My Optimistic Debate Analysis

2011-09-28T08:38:00.003-04:00

I didn't watch the debate. I couldn't. I happily lack cable. I don't have an antenna attached. And if I did. it couldn't pick up the new digital broadcasts if I tried as I lack the gadget. Anyway, I had better things to do.

I was enjoying a fine steak dinner bought by a friend for my birthday.

I didn't think of the debate once.

What a wonderous birthday gift that was!

(I have happily discovered the joys of borrowing DVDs from the library, BTW. The downside is I'm waiting ages for Buffy Season Two to show up. Everyone has it on hold!)

I hate debates. So much do they drive me crazy, that if I were to watch, my television would implode (it's a tube set) under the onslaught of cutlery, plates, books and whatnot thrown at it. And for what? My analysis of 'who won' is useless. As a political watcher and former PR hack, I know far too much, and am far too cynical, to be caught by turns of phrases, or statistical tricks. My view doesn't reflect the public will at all.

So, then, what of John and Jane Public? What did they think?

Watch for the next set of reliable post-debate day polls, and then you'll know (not this one -- it's an online poll). Maybe. You won't know if it'll last, though, assuming there's any significant movement in the polls at all.

If you insist on figuring it out, don't read newspapers, watch television. If the talking heads say no one won, then the public will likely agree.

Heack. Don't bother. Wait for the polls.

And, why care? If your leader 'lost' -- assuming your leader was even in it -- what are you going to do about it anyway?

Okay, fine. I'll give you my optismistic take.

McGuinty won.

I can tell because he isn't being stoned to death this morning.

I'm sure this is a frustrating election for conservatives and dippers. There's all this ammo, and McGuinty should be long dead from the gunfire. eHealth! Taxation! Debt! But, he keeps on going. It's like he's a zombie. Or Harper. LOL.

Oxymoronic 'Ethical Oil' Meets Irony

2011-09-21T16:00:00.000-04:00

I hate promoting the severely flawed concept of 'ethical oil', so much so that I don't even like using the phrase as it spreads the meme. Still, with the Keystone XL pipeline in the news these days, here's a fact worth punting your way.

The toxic, corrosive Tar Sands crude to be transported by that pipeline will be processed by two refineries.

One of those refineries is half-owned by Aramco, the state-owned oil company of Saudi Arabia.

Given that the 'ethical oil' propagandists are pushing the false fact that more tar sands oil will mean less oil sold by human-rights-abusing, terrorist-funding Saudi Arabia, this is quite an inconvenient truth. After all, the point of oil is profit, and Saudi Arabia will profit directly from this so-called 'ethical oil' pipeline where it would have made nothing before.

Of course, there's nothing ethical about oil production and consumption.

It drives untenable infrastructure.

It causes, and will continue to cause, armed conflicts, which we will still be involved in because the Tar Sands actually can't produce enough for all of our needs. Heck, looks like it's just going to be refined and largely exported. Meanwhile, Eastern Canada will continue to import oil from abroad.

Oil production and consumption pollutes.

It produces greenhouse gases. The production of crude from the Tar Sands is the most greenhouse-gas intensive way of making crude. It leaves a highly toxic goop behind that we store in huge lagoons. We have no idea what to do with the goop, but we gleefully make it anyway.

It severely disrupts the ecosystem when they extract it (remediation efforts to date are very modest).

And, no matter how much we make, Saudi Arabia will have no problem selling all the oil it wants to somebody. Like the emerging economies of China and India.

The only true point to the 'ethical oil' frame is to shut down debate with a false argument propagandists hope will be of appeal to the masses.

Remember, guns are legal too.

Is a gun made ethically any less deadly?

Conservative Party Promoting on Our Dime, Again

2011-09-20T16:00:00.000-04:00

Well the omnibus crime bill is out. It's an expensive pile of solutions looking for problems, but I'll leave that to others.

Instead, let's talk about under-reported 'crime':

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson unveiled the bill at a Brampton news conference, not in the House of Commons. A series of cabinet ministers marched before cameras to promote the moves.

I'm reminded of Ernie Eves presenting a provincial budget at a car parts plant. The point is to frame and control the message by taking the process of presenting a bill out of Ottawa, where it belongs, and to a controlled audience.

We, of course, pay for this, while still paying for Parliament, where the introduction of bills belong. We pay for airfare, staff, equipment and the "parading of cabinet ministers." No mention of gazebos.

Austerity, indeed.

Picture from Total Recall 2012, the remake

2011-08-07T21:56:00.002-04:00

Forgot I had this! While biking across the waterfront a few weeks back, I happened by a film shoot for the Total Recall remake. I was allowed to take a picture of this cool car from the movie.

They were getting ready to film a chase scene or something under the Gardiner. I suppose they are depicting a bleak future filled with decaying infrastructure?

Friday Night Fun

2011-08-05T21:35:00.000-04:00

Master musicians are their instrument.

Ya, I'm a Rush freak.

Fordconomics 1

2011-07-16T10:36:00.000-04:00

Claiming you have saved $70 a week because you are making $70 less a week and have borrowed the difference.

Vote Swap Canada 2011: Facebook app finds you someone to strategically vote swap with

2011-05-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

Use it now!

http://voteswap.sharurl.com/voteswapcanada/

Instructions

Submit your riding, party you support, and parties you're willing to vote for.

Review your matches.

Submit requests to swap votes with the people you've matched with. You can submit as many requests as you like.

Once someone accepts your request, you vote for their supported party on election day and they vote for yours.

Ridings at risk of falling into Harper's hands andwhom you should vote for:

Liberals:
Swap into Eglinton/Lawrence*, Don Valley West*, Avalon*, Vancouver South*, Vancouver Quadra*, St. John's South-Mount Pearl*, Cardigan, Etobicoke Centre,Ajax--Pickering, Bramalea, Brampton West, Brampton Springdale, Guelph, Mississauga South, Mississauga Streetsville, Richmond Hill, Vaughan**, West Nova**

NDP:
Swap into Pontiac*, Beauport-Limoilou*, Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles*, Kamloops--Thompson--Cariboo, Nanaimo--Alberni, Vancouver North, Surrey North, Palliser, Saskatoon--Rosetown--Biggar, Essex, Oshawa, South Shore--St. Margaret's, Central Nova**, Pitt Meadows--Maple Ridge--Mission**, Gatineau**, Hull**

Green:
Swap into: Saanich-Gulf Islands*

* these appear to make Harper's majority, seats 153, 154 and 155 defend at all costs
** long shot gains that only locals dare predict; heavy voter turn out may swing these but they are risky swaps.

My predictions

2011-05-01T12:15:00.001-04:00

I know others have slaved over predictions models. Grats for your work. I just wait until the end, and then guess. Here's my prediction:

CPC 130
NDP 93
LPC 63
BQ 20
GPC 1
Ind 1

I have the Conservatives at 130 because I refuse to give them a bump up, and want their seat count significantly reduced as punishment for being so anti-democratic. Polls show this to be the lower end of Conservative support. It can be lower -- the NDP maintain momentum, by all accounts, and Layton has the highest leadership rating, which is an important predictor of eventual voting behaviour.

Will the conservatives get a majority? It's unlikely. Harper is grasping at straws calling on Liberals to defect to him. His rhetoric has gotten even thicker than usual. Harper would not issue such a call unless the NDP were a threat to his standing. Usually, Conservatives passively encourage NDP votes to split off the Liberal left wing. No longer.

I believe the NDP deserve a crack at government, but that means being the Official Opposition first. They have the poll numbers to support that position, and the Liberals did not manage to successfully challenge Harper on what is really a terrible government record. It's time for a change of guard in the opposition benches.

I don't think the BQ will be destroyed -- too bad -- but greatly reduced.

I want Elizabeth May to win her seat. It's quite possible.

There's an independent in Quebec who leans Conservative, but keeps winning. I'll concede.

As you see, I'm using the 'I sense it in my gut' seat projection system. LOL.

E-Day is going to be very exciting. There's some uptick in Ontario for the Conservatives, but polls vary too much as to how much support the Conservatives have here. The NDP-Liberal vote split will help the Conservatives, but not so much if the NDP manage to maintain their level of support, or even go higher. So many ridings in Ontario are in play due to vote splits, it's very hard to call. A lot will ride on last day impressions and GOTV (Get Out The Vote).

Forum Research even reports that it is possible, though not probable, for the NDP to form a minority government.

My preferred scenario at this point is 18-24 months of a Conservative minority, giving the NDP time to firm up these gains, and showcase skills. Layton is experienced, and Harper will have a harder time painting him to the Canadian public with attack ads as Canadians already know him.

Perhaps in the meantime the Liberals will fold their tent into the NDP, though I think this unlikely during a minority government, and certainly even more unlikely due to their pride.

Preserving Judeo-Christian Values in Canadian Society

2011-04-29T23:10:00.000-04:00

Bearing false witness is apparently not much of a Judeo-Christian value these days.

Check this out:

"Naked in a bed in a brothel with a young Asian woman." Well, that's not in the story linked to. He was in the bed, she wasn't. And it was "suspected" of being a "bawdy house." Not the same as *being* a "brothel." Layton was questioned, but not charged. There wasn't anything to charge him over.

So, if you go to the wrong place to get a massage -- I see them all over and have no idea which is good and which isn't -- and the police come in, that's it, your public career is over?

This is Conservative endgame crap all over again. Remember Goodale and the baseless RCMP investigation announced at the end of the 2006 election? "Senate seat" Duffy releasing the tapes against Dion? Same thing.

I note that the NDP considers the story malicious. People need to be more cautious about what they write.

I get mail: Stephen Taylor

2011-04-29T16:58:00.000-04:00

I think he's blowing a gasket:

Days before Canadians go to vote, I am shocked by the latest poll numbers. Apparently, the socialist NDP is surging in various parts of the country and may indeed spoil a Conservative majority. Even worse, Jack Layton has suggested that he would share power with the separatist Bloc Québécois and reopen Canada's constitution. Pair this with an economic agenda that was written in Candyland, and Canada could be facing a generation of political and fiscal turmoil.

I remember Bob Rae's Ontario and the accidental election of the socialist NDP in the 90s. Many Canadians are looking to the socialist NDP as a protest vote, but the time is critical to bring everyone back to the sobering reality. We must protect this fragile economic recovery that has now become uncertain with the rise of the socialists.

I've let you know of our plan to run these ads in the weekend editions of the Globe and Mail and National Post. We're spreading a wakeup call to Canadians to remind them of the consequences of a terrible Orange Dawn that may come next Tuesday after election night. If you agree with me that this is a critical time to remind Canadians of what is at stake under the socialists and separatists please help us run these ads by contributing $35, $145, $250 or as much as you can afford at this time.

This is it... Let's fight this together. We can save this election.

Thank you,
Stephen Taylor
Fellow Rallier
Director, National Citizens Coalition

Conservatives conceed "NO MAJORITY"

2011-04-29T02:18:00.000-04:00

From today's Star, a source inside the CPC says "It all comes down to Ontario and we're just not there...[there is currently no] seat matrix that gets Harper to a majority.”

They need to find two dozen more seats in Ontario than they think they can get due to loses elsewhere in the country. They shook free Liberal votes alright, but they all went NDP... There just isn't enough time to regain momentum and outpace the NDP.

This means they are looking at a reduced seat count somewhere around 130-135.

If the Bloc are held to under 20 seats, NDP+Liberal will equal a majority.

Could happen.

Forum Research reports reduced Harper minority, NDP in Stornoway

2011-04-27T16:06:00.001-04:00

From The Hill Times, the projection is Conservatives 137 seats, the NDP 108 seats if an election were held today, 60 for the Liberals and only three seats for the Bloc Québécois.

As for individual ridings, Gerard Kennedy is set to lose Parkdale-High Park to the NDP's Peggy Nash, and Beaches-East York as well to the NDP. Everyone's favourite Conservative Gerald Keddy is set to lose to the NDP out in Nova Scotia.

Liberals and Conservatives will lose seats to the NDP in Quebec.

There's even a loss of Conservative support to the NDP out West, though what that will do to the seat count is not clear.

There's still a few days to go, but the Conservative campaign is winding down, correctly expecting less air time for the campaign as hockey and the royal wedding take the final weekend over.

That also means there will be little action to change numbers. With the NDP having momentum, we're looking at the Bloc marginalized, and the NDP and the Liberals creating a majority.

I recommend an accord, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

---
Update:

EKOS has a different take, but not that different. NDP are a bit lower and the Bloc is holding some ground, but the NDP has surged well ahead there. All in all, I think we're waiting to see if NDP+Liberal = majority.

Two simulstaneous polls, two very different results

2011-04-21T19:00:00.001-04:00

Proclaims the National Post: Tories 19 points up, NDP tops Liberals for second: Poll !!!

Yikes! Ipsos Reid has the Conservatives at 43%, NDP 24%, Liberals in third at 21%? Can it be?

A second poll by Ekos has the Conservatives at 34.4%, and the NDP and the Liberals tied at 24.7%.

Both were made by random sample phone April 18-20.

Both can't be right!

The answer is (likely) Ekos. Its sample size is 2156, whereas Ipsos Reid is only 1000.

One thing is common here: The NDP is up, way up, while Liberal fortunes are sagging.

Read the links. the regionals on Ekos are interesting.
========
UPDATE:

I thought I'd toss in the Nanos numbers. Nanos is compiled differently than the other two. 900 random calls a night are added to the two previous nights and averaged to get an ongoing rolling average. The most recent shows Con 39%, Libs 26.7%, NDP 22.1%

These numbers cover April 18-20 as well.

Conservative numbers appear to be all over the place, but I've been watching the Nanos poll for weeks, and the Cons have been stalled at 39% for a long time.

hard to say what is going on out there. The only consistent pattern is NDP support rising, and Liberal fortunes flagging.

Updates from The National Citizens Coalition

2011-04-19T23:43:00.000-04:00

FYI, I get emails from the NCC, all of them peddling shamelessly for Harper...

April 12, 2011:

Dear Friend of freedom,

It seems like just yesterday that we braved a certain frigid December day, which changed the way we'd look at Canadian politics for a generation. We rallied for Canada against the socialist-separatist coalition.

We thought we had put this all behind us, but now, in the midst of a surprise election, while our economic recovery is still fragile, the ambition of Michael Ignatieff and his reckless co-conspirators has proven too much and it's time to raise the alarm again.

If we don't see stability in Ottawa, the coalition will try to take over again. If they do, you might as well staple Michael Ignatieff's platform together with that of the NDP and the separatist Bloc. They all love to spend our money on their special interests. Meanwhile, they won't say no to each other's spending demands, while they dangerously hold onto power.

Friend, the National Citizens Coalition (NCC) is an organization that is continuing the fight alongside Rally for Canada, letting Canadians know about this socialist-separatist threat. The NCC is mobilizing the fight against the coalition in key ridings where our voices can make the strongest difference during this critical election.

We're buying billboards, radio ads and spreading the word via social media. You answered Canada's cry for freedom before, will you do it again?

I'm asking you for a $20, $50, or $200 contribution, whatever you can afford to help us in this fight. Please click here to make your contribution. Every dollar helps gets our message out to more Canadians. Will we celebrate the end of the coalition soon? Let's win this fight!

Thank you,
Stephen Taylor
staylor@ncc-on.org
Fellow Rallier
Director, National Citizens Coalition

PS - Please watch the attached video by clicking here. It delivers our very serious message in a humorous and memorable way. Please forward this email and our video to as many of your friends and fellow citizens as possible.

April 15, 2011:

Dear friend,

I contacted you a few short days ago regarding the socialist-separatist coalition that threatens to destabilize Canadian politics. When asked point-blank in the leaders' debate of his plans for a coalition after an election won by Stephen Harper, Michael Ignatieff said that Stephen Harper could go ahead and just "try" to form a government.

Will Michael Ignatieff "try" to form a coalition instead? To paraphrase another Liberal, "Just Watch Him".

I sent you a video that we produced at the NCC likening Ignatieff, Layton, and the separatist Duceppe as the Three Stooges bungling everything from raising our taxes to opening the floodgates on government spending. We've been criticized for our efforts by the usual suspects on the left for our video (including a firestorm of anti-conservative vitriol at the Globe and Mail), but on the day it launched, our website nearly crashed under the traffic and the video got thousands and thousands of views.

Even the CBC featured it as an example of getting the word out virally! Imagine that...

The NCC is the only right-of-centre organization registered with Elections Canada for this federal election. That means that while the other special interests groups are shilling for more government pork, we're the only ones standing athwart this election yelling "STOP"! Our special interest is the taxpayer, free enterprise and smaller government.

I wanted to share an urgent action item with you today. Please see our attached radio ad that we're pushing into heavy rotation in strategic ridings across the country. Our efforts are completely donor-driven. If you agree that the outcome of this election is critical, please consider making the maximum contribution that you can afford at this time whether it be $20, $50, $200 or more. To do so, please click here.

Thank you,
Stephen Taylor
Fellow Rallier
Director, National Citizens Coalition

April 19, 2011:

Hello!

I just wanted to give you a quick shout to let you know about the amazing feedback we're getting spreading the small-c conservative message to ridings that could go either way in this election. We are running radio ads in key markets where we think they will make the greatest impact come election day. We are reaching millions of Canadians during this election with our message that Canada needs more freedom through less government. You can click here to check out the issues that WE think should be on the agenda this election.

Also, you may have seen that the Globe and Mail featured criticism of the NCC and our viral marketing campaign against the coalition. Not only this, but the same so-called "newspaper of record" got their facts wrong on the NCC and tried to put words in Stephen Harper's mouth that weren't his! And would you be surprised that the Liberals took this misattributed quote and used it in one of their shameless attack ads? They did! Just more evidence of what we're up against this election.

Your support has been encouraging and I wanted to send this note to say thank you.

You are an important part of the conservative movement. Your enthusiasm is motivating!

Thanks!

Stephen Taylor
Director, National Citizens Coalition

The NCC got its start fighting universal health care, and counts Harper as one of its favoured sons. Harper worked there for a time when he tired of the Reform Party. When he re-entered politics, the NCC was more than happy to run ads in his riding to help him get elected. The NCC desperately wants Harper to have a majority. Gee, I wonder why...

Harper to consider treatment centre only if a Tory is elected in riding?

2011-04-18T16:49:00.000-04:00

Am I reading this right?

YELLOWKNIFE — Stephen Harper's vision of a strong and free Far North ran up against northern reality Monday.

Even as he reannounced a promise to complete an all-season highway in the Arctic, he said funding a drug treatment centre for poor and addicted northerners isn't a promise he should make.

"In terms of specific infrastructure investments that need to be made in this area, I always say during a campaign, I don't make the local commitments. That's up to individual candidates to make and to bring those priorities to Ottawa," Harper said in answer to the only question he took from a northern reporter.

But, he said, if voters in this sprawling Western Arctic constituency elect Tory candidate Sandy Lee, an ex-territorial health minister, maybe she could bring the plan for one to Ottawa.

Yes, I think I am reading this right. If a non-Conservative MP is elected, there's no chance for a centre. Well, after seeing how the Harper Government favoured Conservative ridings for stimulus spending and for G8/G20 spending (Muskoka and Tony Clement, $50 million, Toronto $0.00), I'm not surprised.

Campaign Strength/Weakness Observation

2011-04-14T08:59:00.000-04:00

For a PM who didn't want to do any stimulus spending, and took Parliament to the brink over it in 2008, Harper certainly has reaped considerable political leverage with the so-called Economic Action Plan.

The opposition, despite having forced it to happen over Harper ideological objections, has failed to remind the electorate that they were the authors of this policy. They have allowed Harper to own their idea.

If Harper gets the majority, how ironic. He's will have ridden the economic message using policies he detests. His masters thesis was at least in part on how to not use stimulus spending during recessions.

Coming soon: Harper Bunker Book

2011-04-01T08:55:00.001-04:00

Harper reconsiders avoiding debate with Ignatieff

2011-04-01T07:28:00.008-04:00

Harper and Ignatieff receive invitation for two-man debate

2011-03-31T13:15:00.000-04:00

Decision Canada is carrying this:

OTTAWA — While the Liberal and Conservative leaders exchange barbs through Twitter over the prospect of a two-man debate, a public policy centre has made an earnest offer to host the two men.

“We believe that this format will allow Canadians to hear directly from you and learn of your contrasting positions on key issues as they make their voting decision prior to Election Day,” Canada 2020’s advisory board chair, Don Newman, wrote in a letter to Michael Ignatieff and Stephen Harper on Thursday.

Newman —a former broadcast journalist with four decades of experience — would moderate the 90-minute bilingual debate, which would take place within a week of the already-planned leaders’ debate which is hosted by a consortium of broadcasters.

...In Canada 2020’s proposal, each leader would make his opening statement, then take part in eight 10-minute debates based on questions posed by a panellist.

There would be no in-house audience, and there is still no guarantee that national broadcasters would carry the event, Newman said in a release.

“I look forward to hearing from your representatives in the coming days to discuss this invitation in greater detail,” Newman wrote to the leaders.

Do it! If no broadcaster picks it up, stream it, and YouTube the thing. Those are friendlier formats these days anyway.

Harper is back to running in a bubble. He's severely stage managing everything, and refuses to take more than a handful of questions a day from journalists. Being out in the open has never been something he's been comfortable with. Too bad. He's been PM for five years. He really shouldn't have a choice.

If he respects the Canadian people, he'll debate. As he doesn't we'll just have to shame him into it.

No Coalition? Don't worry about it. Here's how the Liberals can get power

2011-03-26T14:49:00.001-04:00

Short of Harper getting a majority, if the Liberals truly know what they are doing, Ignatieff will be our PM within six months.

Ignatieff has ruled out a coalition. Good for him. This election can not be about whether we should be governed by a coalition. This election must be about the Harper Government and its lack of ethics, contempt for democracy and screwed up spending priorities.

People concerned about Harper winning again are... well, right. He will.

But even with Harper returning with yet another minority government, there is another way for Ignatieff to become PM.

Parliament must squash Harper at the first opportunity.

When Harper returns with a minority, the first order of parliamentary business for the 'new' government will be a Speech from the Throne. Convention says defeat him then (see CuriosityCat's excellent piece on this), so close after an election, and the Governor General will give serious consideration to giving the second place party a chance to govern.

Indeed, if a Harper government fails to gain confidence, so close after an election, it's all but an absolute given that the GG will grant the Liberals an opportunity to gain the confidence of the House.

(Technically -- and it's an important technicality -- the GG will consider any and all proposals from any MPs, regardless of party affiliation. We are represented constitutionally by MPs, not political parties.)

Will Ignatieff seek the PMO with an official coalition in hand? I doubt it. It's not in the Liberal's interest as it plays against the Liberal's 'natural governing party' instinct, spreads out the glory, and (sadly) gives credibility to the Harper Conservative's arrogant and hypocritical rhetoric about "risky, unstable" coalitions. (As if Parliament hasn't been unstable for the past five years...)

The Liberals should be able to negotiate sufficient ongoing support in the House regardless for, say, 18 months.

Having just found the 'Harper Government' in contempt, the other parties will be in an awkward position supporting a Conservative government.They also must hate dealing with Harper's hyper-partisanship. Allowing Parliament to accomplish very little while extending the powers of the 'executive' under the motto "majority or bust" has been Harper's legacy of the past five years. (Five years already?) For all the opposition parties, enough must be enough.

Working with the Liberals vote by vote, under the theme of democracy renewed, the Bloc and the NDP (and maybe, just maybe, one Green seat -- we'll see) will have more influence than they do currently. And yet, without a formal coalition, they will be unconstrained in their potential criticisms of the government.

In other words, if everyone knows their hand, they can get more without losing independence.

And the public gets to see Parliament finally work as it should.

It's my theory that this is the Liberal's intent.

Let's pray they are as smart as I hope they are.

Coalition to Protest Against Mayor's Call for TCHC Tenant Directors To Step Down

2011-03-07T09:37:00.000-05:00

Sunday, March 6, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Coalition to Protest Against Mayor's Call for TCHC Tenant Directors To Step Down

The Coalition to Protect Toronto Community Housing Corp. (TCHC) will hold a protest and press conference on Monday, March 7th at 1pm at 931 Yonge St. to rebuff calls from Mayor Rob Ford that TCHC's elected Tenant Directors resign.

The Coalition believes that it is imperative that these two directors remain on the board in order to ensure continuity of tenant representation at the Toronto Community Housing Corporation. If they are in fact removed from the board, the Coalition contends that tenant representation will soon become non-existent.

The two have been elected by tenants to serve a full term up to December 31, 2011. Even though the City has ultimate control over who serves on the Board, none of the tenants who voted had an expectation that their elected directors would be terminated early without cause or without fault found.

"In fact," says Danish Ahmed, leader of the Party for People with Special Needs and former TCHC tenant, "We call on the two of them to serve as interim co-chairs on the board of TCHC."

In November 8, 2010 and January 1, 2011, the two directors made a pair of requests to Doug and Rob Ford that an equivalent of Baltimore's CitiStat accountability program be established in Toronto, starting with TCHC. The program would save hundreds of millions of dollars and would ensure accountability at TCHC on a bi-weekly basis. Mayor Ford ignored this request and called on the tenant directors to resign.

The Party for People with Special Needs is a leading voice in the Coalition, and its leader points to the CitiStat proposal as an example of the tenant directors' dedication to accountability at Toronto Community Housing Corporation.
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2007/04/pdf/citistat_report.pdf

"The removal of the two elected directors would spark discontinuity at TCHC. The pair have shown that they are committed to serving their tenants and the City competently," Ahmed says. "Our proposal is that they be appointed interim co-chairs to bring the innovations they have recommended for accountable government to Toronto."

Further information on the Coalition and its protest can be found at:
http://specialneedsparty.blogspot.com/

For media requests regarding the coalition, contact Danish Ahmed
at 647-439-5011 or cell 416-500-0216 or coalition@ppsn.on.ca

- 30 -

Dale Goldhawk Live Tonight: One of the remaining TCHC board members

2011-03-03T18:52:00.000-05:00

I know one of the board members -- Dan King -- and he's on Dale Goldhawk Live tonight at 9 pm to set the record straight. He has refused to resign.

Here's what he's sent around:

ON TV Tonight!
Program: Dale Goldhawk Live
Time: 9pm
Date: Thursday March 3rd, 2011
Channel: 63 in Scarborough
10 in the rest of Toronto
Dial in to our talk Show!
Dial in #: 416-446-7090 @9pm.- state your opinion!
Topic: "Should we Privatize Public Housing!"

Today, March 3rd 2011 was a dark day for public housing in Toronto.
Today, all of the citizen board members, seven in all, resigned.
This was a week of onslaught in the press about 1% of our spending that we admitted was out of control. We know we have problems in Public Housing.
Additionally, in order to ensure that we got government grants with tight time application deadlines, our staff circumvented the purchasing regulations to make sure TCHC did not lose valuable federal and provincial infrastructure funding.

It is alleged that up to $10 million might have been saved if staff had followed procedures. Up to $300 million might have been lost had staff not met the deadlines.

The mayor is now calling for privatization of public housing.
My first question is, will he also privatize our ...
* Tenant Participation Program
* Tenant Capital budget allocation program
* Social Investment Fund (SIF) grants
* Eviction Prevention Program
* Lesage report: 81 recommendations

Additionally, we are considering tenant social support recommendations stemming out of a demand for change to the Social Housing Reform Act, TCHC's mandate.

I am open to this discussion as long as it includes the valuable programs above, programs that we already have. I wonder if the mayor is?
He may make a guest appearance on our show, tonight at 9pm.
Come and see your tenant board members, Dan King and Catherine Wilkinson, on TV Tonight.
We have not resigned.
...Dan King, TCHC Tenant Board Member

The Deficit Kings

2011-01-22T11:57:00.001-05:00

When I read Brian Mulroney giving Harper advice to "do something big," I laughed.

First I thought perhaps Mulroney meant taking in a $300,000 bribe, lying about it, and then successfully suing the Federal government for over $2 million due to allegations he was crooked?

Or, perhaps another constitutional conference?

Or, the hated GST? (On a personal note, I agreed with that tax.)

Then I hit on it. Mulroney must be talking about his legacy. The one that haunted us well after he was gone: Deficit and debt.

On this then, a note to Mr. Mulroney: Never mind. With a historic $56 billion structural deficit, and a growing debt, Harper has already done something big. I wouldn't want him to try something larger.

If Iggy is still 'just visiting'...

2011-01-17T23:00:00.000-05:00

and he's Canadian-born, what must Harper truly think of immigrants?

Those attack ads are out again. Evil coaltions! Iggy just visiting!

Regarding that blurb on the bottom of Toronto's press releases

2011-01-13T16:20:00.000-05:00

The Goods in The Toronto Star has written up a great little post concerning the new blurb that appears at the bottom of the City of Toronto's press releases.

I used to write press releases for a living. The new footer stinks.

The new:

Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. Toronto's government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The old:

Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto's government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its residents. For information about non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

I've highlighted the difference (blue for Ford, pink for Miller). Need I say more?

I wrote a quick email to the senior PR person listed on that press release. Here it is.

To: sjohnsto@toronto.ca

Dear Steve,

I used to write press releases myself. I have some comments. Please pass them on.

I have to say, as a Toronto citizen, The Goods (http://thestar.blogs.com/thegoods/2011/01/under-mayor-ford-press-releases-a-little-bit-different.html) has it right.

"Toronto is Canada's largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. Toronto's government is dedicated to delivering customer service excellence, creating a transparent and accountable government, reducing the size and cost of government and building a transportation city. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can dial 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

This doesn't work for me.

First, the phrase "delivering customer service excellence." Since when am I a *customer*? I'm a taxpayer, a voter and a citizen, not a customer.

Second, it advertises to the world that we don't have a "transparent and accountable government" as we are merely "creating" it. Not positive. Even if true, why bring it up?

Third, "reducing the size and cost of government." Well, people can argue over this as to whether its a positive or negative and if it should be featured on a press release footer. What I do know is that what it replaces was far superior: "Toronto's government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its residents."

Am I to assume that Toronto no longer believes in these things?

Actually, all that was removed is vastly superior:

"It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto's government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and liveability for all its residents."

Put it back, please.

I do like the "building a transportation city" phrase. If only it were true.

Sincerely,

Mark Francis
Ward 18

Here come the clowns!

2010-12-08T10:20:00.000-05:00

More...

The National Post speaks to me

2010-09-09T14:51:00.000-04:00

I found this amusing. Here's a screen capture from the National Post page in FB:

Sheikh's resignation removed from Stats Can site

2010-07-22T14:13:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I posted Munir A. Sheikh resignation letter from Statistics Canada, warning that t was likely to be removed.

24 hours later, it's gone. In its place is this:

Media advisory: 2011 Census

July 16, 2010

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada is not in a position to answer questions on the advice it gave the Minister in relation to recent statements the Minister has made.

For more information, contact Media Relations at 613-951-4636.

For details on the 2011 Census, see 2011 Census questionnaire.

Cet avis aux médias est aussi offert en français.

Too late! Google claims 114,000 hits for Statistics Canada resignation.

This one's not going down the memory hole.

Stats Can head resigns over census

2010-07-21T19:17:00.003-04:00

Clearly, Harper and Clement were imposing a political decision on the internationally renown Statistic Canada. Munir A. Sheikh stood up, and with honour, did the right thing.

If only we saw more such honour within, oh, let's say, the PCO.

Before it vanishes, here is his resignation letter:

Media advisory: 2011 Census

July 21, 2010

OTTAWA — There has been considerable discussion in the media regarding the 2011 Census of Population.

There has also been commentary on the advice that Statistics Canada and I gave the government on this subject.

I cannot reveal and comment on this advice because this information is protected under the law. However, the government can make this information public if it so wishes.

I have always honoured my oath and responsibilities as a public servant as well as those specific to the Statistics Act.

I want to take this opportunity to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion. This relates to the question of whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census.

It can not.

Under the circumstances, I have tendered my resignation to the Prime Minister.

I want to thank him for giving me the opportunity of serving him as the Chief Statistician of Canada, heading an agency that is a symbol of pride for our country.

To you, the men and women of Statistics Canada – thank you for giving me your full support and your dedication in serving Canadians. Without your contribution, day in and day out, in producing data of the highest quality, Canada would not have this institution that is our pride.

I also want to thank Canadians. We do remember, every single day, that it is because of you providing us with your information, we can function as a statistical agency. I am attaching an earlier message that I sent to Canadians in this regard.

In closing, I wish the best to my successor. I promise not to comment on how he/she should do the job. I do sincerely hope that my successor’s professionalism will help run this great organization while defending its reputation.

Munir A. Sheikh

For more information, contact Media Relations at 613-951-4636.

For details on the 2011 Census, see 2011 Census questionnaire.

Cet avis aux médias est aussi offert en français.

----
UPDATE:

24 hours later, it's gone. In its place is this:

Media advisory: 2011 Census

July 16, 2010

OTTAWA — Statistics Canada is not in a position to answer questions on the advice it gave the Minister in relation to recent statements the Minister has made.

For more information, contact Media Relations at 613-951-4636.

For details on the 2011 Census, see 2011 Census questionnaire.

Cet avis aux médias est aussi offert en français.

CCLA Files Five G20 Policing Complaints with OIPRD

2010-07-15T11:10:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association has filed five complaints with the Office of the Independent Police Review Director for

- illegal mass arrests of 1105 persons;
- illegal detentions;
- unlawful dispersals of peaceful protests;
- unlawful use of excessive force on peaceful protestors and passersby;
- unlawful and inadequate conditions of detention.

Exact details of the complaints appear to not be visible. If anyone knows where I can find them, please let me know.

Police Services Board makes like it's doing something

2010-07-06T14:15:00.002-04:00

It's going to select someone independent to review the G20 policing issues. The meeting today ended in some sort of shambles as public outcry against the lack of planned public participation in developing the terms of reference for the civilian review.

In two weeks we will learn more when the board reconvenes with some terms of reference. They will apparently accept deputations from the public then.

So, is the board serving the public, or is it serving the Chief? It's not clear yet. Looks like the board is moving forward, as after all, stonewalling isn't going to work. The real test is going to be who is selected to run the review, and what the terms are.

And, let's be clear: this is not a sufficient review. Multiple police services from multiple governments were present. This board only deals with the TPS. It's not clear how they can review what went on inside the command centre in Barrie.

Read Joe Warmington's column for more. Warmington has been doing a great job covering the police issues around the G20 fiasco.

Is the Toronto Police Services Board shafting the public it represents?

2010-07-05T13:34:00.000-04:00

One week ago, Toronto's Police Services Board, the civilian body which holds Toronto Police accountable, announced that it saw no need for an inquiry. That's right, no evidence was in, no public submissions, no complaints yet filed, and the conclusion was already in.

Tomorrow morning, the board will vote on accepting a report from its Chair regarding "issues of public oversight of the police raised following the G20 Summit."

Not knowing its contents in advance, we can't know if the fast production of this document is a good thing or a bad thing.

But I'm not anticipating anything great.

The Police Services has a historical reputation of representing the police to the people rather than holding the police accountable, and I'm not expecting anything betterthis time around.

May they prove me wrong.

The Bad Lieutenant...

2010-07-02T17:08:00.000-04:00

LOL! h/t Torontoist.

Burning police cars, assaulting police... remember that last Habs game?

2010-07-02T12:05:00.000-04:00

Sixteen police cars damaged, several set on fire. Store fronts smashed, police subject to thrown objects, direct assaults and insults. Arrests? Only 16.

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/montreal/story/2008/04/22/mtl-habs.html

Police Propaganda: Chief Liar Blair dressing down a civilian via email

2010-07-01T10:21:00.000-04:00

There is outright police propaganda currently published on the Toronto Police Service website.

To not be supportive of the police after their mass violations of our rights is, apparently, to be aligning wih "the criminals."

It's even called an 'email tale:'

An Ontario man sent the following email to Chief William Blair on the afternoon of Monday, June 28:

“My wife and I are in our mid 50’s and regularly come to Toronto to see shows and attend events. I am so sorry to hear the things I am hearing about the officers who answer to you and their actions over this past G20 weekend. For the first time I feel frightened by the idea of visiting Toronto and actually having to encounter one of the men or women who serve on the force there."
"It is not very likely I will see members of the ‘black block’ or whatever they are called, the fools who caused so much damage, but I will regularly see your staff, and after what I am reading and hearing on the radio, I will do my best to avoid them.“
“There is a lot of shame to go around there this weekend. I hope your people are feeling their fair share.”

Chief Blair replied 34 minutes later:
“Contrary to your comments, I am enormously proud of my officers and the officers who gathered from across Canada to protect the Summit and the City. If you chose to align yourself with the Criminals that victimized my officers and my citizens, that is your right.”
“I am in receipt of thousands of emails and phone calls of support and congratulations from honest, law abiding Canadians, who appreciate the courage and dedication of their police services. The police did an extraordinary job in the face of criminal provocation and danger. Your criticism, like the handful of similar sentiments expressed by the naive and uninformed will be given all the attention that it deserves.”

The Ontario man replied three hours later:
“Chief Blair, your direct and strong words and clear pride in your officers has left me ashamed for having written what I did earlier. I apologize. I could very well be naive and uninformed and that is not a place to judge from, which I did.”
“Good luck to you and the force you lead. They were faced with a difficult time and deserve credit for that and better than I gave. I mean that sincerely.”

Oh, please. Is that hamfisted slop or what?

We need to rid ourselves of this petty, self-important authoritarian.

Chief liar Blair must resign.

Irony

2010-06-30T10:45:00.002-04:00

"Canada condemns the decision of the Iranian authorities to use violence and force against their own people... The government's reaction has been to silence the voices of its own people through brutality... The Iranian people deserve to have their voices heard, without fear of intimidation or violence. Canada condemns the use of force to stiffle dissent... The Government of Canada continues to support freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Iran."

-- Conservative Foreign Affairs Minister, Lawrence Cannon, June 2009

h/t

Quick, call the riot cops

2010-06-30T08:54:00.000-04:00

Parents in the northern BC community of Dunster have occupied their school to protest its impending closure. "We have been fighting with the school board and ministry for almost six months and getting nowhere," said Julie Marlow, whose oldest child

Just sayin...

Chief Liar Blair admits he violated our rights en mass

2010-06-29T14:56:00.001-04:00

This piece of offensive police state crap just in:

Police admit deliberately misleading public on expanded security fence law

‘I was trying to keep the criminals out,’ police chief says there never was a five-metre arrest rule.

Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair displayed a shocking array of weapons and tools [allegedly] obtained from arrested G20 protesters this morning at police headquarters.

The recovered items included body armor, sledgehammers, machetes, an electric drill, saws, crowbars, shields, aluminum bats, dog repellent, bamboo rods and bottles of hot sauce.

Although the display of items took up half the lobby of the headquarters, officers on hand said more than five times the amount on display had been seized by police.

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Blair said the items on display demonstrated the extent of the criminal conspiracy surrounding the violent G20 protests over the weekend.

“No one should be so naïve as to think these people were there for the purpose of lawful protest,” he said, noting that the items were capable of “delivering deadly force.”

“We are all deeply disturbed by the crimes that were committed here.”

Chief Liar Blair just pulled this stuff out of storage. The hot sauce is his. Given that this disgrace of a Police Chief lied to the entire city about powers he didn't have, and had his police force illegally stop, search, seize and detain huge numbers of peace-abiding citizens, why should we believe anything this dishonorable man has to say?

'Criminal conspiracy'? Oh, please. Laying it on a bit thick, aren't we Chief Liar Blair?

The only conspiracy I am aware of is the mass violations of our rights this past weekend by our own police force.

Special TVO tonight: Police, Politics and Protest

2010-06-28T17:48:00.000-04:00

A special issue of The Agenda with Steve Paikin is on tonight concerning the G20 protests and the uneven police response to them.

The panel, last I heard, is to be composed of

Kate Holloway is a parent of someone detained during Toronto's G20 protests. She is a former Liberal candidate for provincial parliament.

Ken Chan a former police officer, Ken Chan served as an advisor on community safety and police oversight in the office of Boris Johnson, Mayor of London, England.

Jesse Rosenfeld was covering the G20 demonstrations for the Guardian newspaper's Comment Is Free section and is an editorial collective member of the alternative media center in Toronto.

Tyler Hodgson is lawyer with Borden Ladner Gervais and a former crown attorney

Mercedes Stephenson is host of the national, weekly, current affairs series MSI (Mercedes Stephenson Investigates). She's also vice president of the Breakout Educational Network, a registered, non-profit, charitable foundation.

Ben Powless is Mohawk from Six Nations in Ontario. He is currently studying Human Rights, Indigenous and Environmental Studies at Carleton University in Ottawa. He is also heavily involved with the Indigenous Environmental Network.

The topic: What can the police do and not do? Were their actions this weekend within the law?

It is on tonight at 8 and 11.

The picture I took above is of a released detainee's ID sticker.

Steve Paikin calls unjustified mass arrests a "sad day for democracy"

2010-06-28T12:42:00.002-04:00

Steve Paikin is interviewed by The Real News about his experiences Saturday observing the protests. He cites multiple instances of police intefering in our rights to associate and peacefully assemble.

G20 Rights Abuse: Sam, Rose and Ben are missing

2010-06-27T21:14:00.001-04:00

Saturday night, I had dinner at my place with Kate Holloway and her son, Sam (a nice lasagna Kate had made). With Sam were his friends, Rose and Ben.

After eating, they announced they wanted to go downtown to observe the protests. *OBSERVE* not partake. The two men had bikes, but Rose didn't, so Kate lent her hers.

As they left, I reminded them to stay out of the way of police, and to split at the first signs of trouble. They were adamant that they wanted to observe, not protest.

A few hours later, Kate got a call: It was Sam saying that they were all about to be arrested at the Esplanade. He explained that they were just there observing, got cordoned off by police, and had no way out. Watch the video below to see what the police did.

At the same time, Steve Paikin started twittering alarming statuses about the same location. See Runesmith for a log of his alarming twitters from last night.

All day, many of us have been trying to get some news on their status. No news. No phone calls, no court appearance, nothing. Steve Paikin picked up the cause for a while, reporting on Twitter:

more fallout from last night:"My 19 yr old son, Sam and his girlfriend Rose were arrested.... > Esplanade last night. They weren't prot

"They are still being processed and I have not heard from them... > they called me last night to tell me that they were being arrested.

sam's mom is kate holloway, a liberal candidate in the 2007 ont election. ironic.

premier mcguinty's new law against assembly in certain places has caught the son of one of his candidates

What we have heard about the detention centre is that conditions and respect for our fundamental rights is not promising. Mike Barber, who was also arrested at the Esplanade, got out recently, and has tweeted some of his his experiences.

Hey everyone! I just got home after spending 18+ hours in the detention centre. Was arrested around 11pm at the anti-#G20 march.

#G20 detention centre guards kept hundreds of wet peaceful protesters in cold, cement air conditioned cells. #G20report

#G20 detention centre guards refused to grant prisoners demand for a phone call and/or access to legal representation #G20report

of dozens of fellow prisoners I was able to personally keep visual/verbal communication with, none were granted phone/lawyer #G20report

most of us charged with "unlawful breach of the peace" RT @Martin_K24: @apastdenied arrested for what? What kinda charges

1.) in last night's confrontation b/w cops and peacuful marcher in front of the Novotel Hotel, police phallanx surround and closed in +

2.) of everyone caught between the two phallanx (which offoer NO ESCAPE ROUTE... the police kept surging and grabbing, arresting EVERYONE +

3.) In my first cell (they moved us around) I had two mates that were just jogging in the area. Wrong place/time. Police didn't care.

Guards routinely ignored demands for water, food, blankets, bathroom visits, and demands to make a phone calls, contact their legal defense

Right now, the police have for hours kept a crowd of fellow Canadians 'kettled' at Queen and Spadina out in the rain. They can't go anywhere. This is what illegal detention looks like, folks. And if they'll do it in the open, you can only imagine what conditions they'll allow in private.

I'm hearing on CP24 that many are being released from the detention centre.

Let's hope.

======
Update:

Found! They've been released. Rose has shown up, and the others are on their way.

Breaking: Rights banned within G20 defense perimeter

2010-06-24T21:45:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association is reporting that a draconian regulation has been enacted severely restricting rights within the G20 perimeter:

...streets and sidewalks within the perimeter of security zone have been designated under the Public Works Protection Act. Importantly, this Act gives dire powers to the “guards” of the public work: power to search without warrants, obligation of visitors to state name and purpose of the visit, power to deny entry. Most of these powers contradict current constitutional safeguards. The Regulation which was not announced and has appeared on e-laws and will be published in its regular form on July3rd 2010. One person has already been arrested under the Act, which provides:

A guard or peace officer,
(a) may require any person entering or attempting to enter any public work or any approach thereto to furnish his or her name and address, to identify himself or herself and to state the purpose for which he or she desires to enter the public work, in writing or otherwise;

(b) may search, without warrant, any person entering or attempting to enter a public work or a vehicle in the charge or under the control of any such person or which has recently been or is suspected of having been in the charge or under the control of any such person or in which any such person is a passenger; and

(c) may refuse permission to any person to enter a public work and use such force as is necessary to prevent any such person from so entering.

Every person who neglects or refuses to comply with a request or direction made under this Act by a guard or peace officer, and every person found upon a public work or any approach thereto without lawful authority, the proof whereof lies on him or her, is guilty of an offence and on conviction is liable to a fine of not more than $500 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than two months, or to both.
CCLA is obviously extremely concerned about the implications of this measure and will seek to challenge them.

WARNING : The new designation changes dramatically the advice that lawyers may have been providing to protesters or the general public if they find themselves at the proximity of the fenced area. Please consult and write to us if you are concerned about this development.

What gets cut in response?

2010-06-22T12:55:00.003-04:00

My hero, Kevin Page, has produced numbers showing that just one of the Conservative's crime bills will cost us a staggering $618 million per year.

This does not include the capital costs of building new prisons (another $1.8 billion over five years). It only looks at the costs from Bill C-25, the Truth in Sentencing Act.

Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has budgeted $2 billion overall. Originally, he had claimed it would be only $89 million.

The response by Toews regarding this immense bill is typical: Crime costs society, so any initiative is worth it. Of course, Page had trouble getting any data from the government, so one has to wonder how much Toews believes his own rhetoric. If it's all such a great idea, why hide the numbers, Toews?

People like Toews considered the billion-dollar price tag for the gun registry to be a waste...

When states in the US started doing this (jail guards in California became arguably the most powerful union, and donated heavily to Republicans), increased costs for the prison system was met by slashing costs in other areas, such as education.

In our system, the budgeting is even more complex as many of these costs are borne by the provinces. How convenient for the Conservatives. Pass the buck, take the credit.

Framing is everything. Instead of debating whether or not this initiative reduces crime, and, if it does, is it worth it, debate whether spending $1 billion per year less on, say, our children's education, is worth making our already declining crime rates perhaps slightly lower.

A modest proposal

2010-06-09T09:29:00.000-04:00

Why not hold the next G8/G20 meetings in Second Life? I understand fake lakes are the norm there.

BP hires Dick Cheney's former press secretary

2010-06-03T13:56:00.001-04:00

Anne Womack-Kolton has been hired to head its American public relations efforts.

From PR Watch:

Womack is a former employee of the PR firm APCO Worldwide, perhaps best known for its work on behalf of the tobacco industry. In 1995, Philip Morris hired APCO to orchestrate a massive national "tort reform" movement, and in 1993, PM hired APCO to organize the front group The Advancement of Sound Science Coalition to attack the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency after it rated secondhand smoke a Group A Human Carcinogen, the same rating the agency gives asbestos and radon gas. Womack also served as a White House spokesperson, defending Bush's White House Office Of Faith-Based Initiatives.

This does not inspire confidence.

BREAKING: Latest BP well containment attempt a failure?

2010-06-02T11:49:00.001-04:00

Bloomberg is reporting that the latest attempt to abate much of the gusher has failed, and there's nothing to do but wait until the relief wells are complete, sometime in August.

On the slightly brighter side, other news outlets are still reporting that the latest 'great idea' is merely stalled.

From that last link:

"The slick from the crippled well has now drifted within striking distance of beaches on the Mississippi, Georgia and northwestern Florida coast."

Here's an idea: If we can't solve a well failure like this, maybe we shouldn't be drilling at such depths? At all?
====
UPDATE:

Bloomberg is too early on the call. The gusher may be mostly capped in the next 24 hours.

Lyin' Brian gets to keep his $2 million

2010-06-01T10:53:00.000-04:00

There's some great posturing from the Liberals about getting back the $2 million Mulroney "legally defrauded" from us taxpayers in his false libel suit. Unfortunately, in law, settlements are settlements; that is, when done, they are done. He gets to keep the cash. We get to stay screwed.

We didn't label him lyin' Brian for nothing!

Crooks and lairs have used libel law for generations to intimidate truth-tellers into settlement and silence. Politicians and captains of industry have long been loath to change these laws because they nearly alone have the ability to use the reverse onus nature of Canada's various libel statutes to grind whistleblowers into humiliation.

Demanding the money back is the right thing to do, but it'll never happen.

Here is one law for all in Canada, but some of us are better able to leverage it.

Whatever happened to the austerity budget?

2010-05-27T20:22:00.001-04:00

The exploding G8/G20 security budget. Ya, you've heard it all already. But, so far, Don Martin says it best:

The inexplicably ludicrous billion-dollar security tab for the twin G20 and G8 summits, which soar far beyond any rational explanation when compared with similar summits held as recently as last September, is gaining political traction in Ottawa.

The Auditor General has been asked to probe the unfathomably escalating security budget by the Liberals. The parliamentary budget officer also has been called in to investigate by the New Democrats, and Kevin Page has agreed to give it a closer look.

No amount of righteous government bluster about living in post-9/11 protection paranoia, last week's bank firebombing in Ottawa or the precedent of hosting two back-to-back summits can explain how an $18-million security tab for the G20 in Pittsburgh last September, which involved 4,000 police, must balloon to a billion dollars in Toronto requiring 10,000 cops on the ground.

This is Canada, not Kandahar. In a London that has seen subway and bus terrorist bombings, the official security tab for its G20 gathering last March was $30-million.

Yet one month to the day before the G20 convenes for a dinner and half-day Sunday meeting behind the barricades, the protection tab reportedly surged another $160-million without explanation.
If that's true, total security costs now surpass $1.1-billion for about 16 hours of actual social and formal meetings at both summits - and that doesn't include the $100-million budgeted for host country organization and hospitality. At that ferocious spending rate, taxpayers will be on the hook for $75-million per hour of leadership schmoozing.

If there were tangible expectations of globe-enhancing accomplishment, this might be theoretically defensible.
But my diplomat golfing partner is undoubtedly correct - the broad-stroke results have already been pre-negotiated and the final press release need only be fine-tuned on June 28.

That's the true outrage in hosting a monetary squander without historic equal, particularly given what could be accomplished putting that much cash to work in the real world.

The tab for this security overkill could cover a third of the estimated international cost for the African family planning initiative, or pay two-thirds of Canada's 10-year humanitarian assistance program in Afghanistan.

A government that still hasn't delivered on its promise to beef up police forces could hire 2,500 officers for five years, buy a million advanced Tasers, pay a year's salary for 23,000 soldiers, procure a total of 366 LAVs or purchase five Black Hawk helicopters for every hour the leaders are yakking.

None of the government's subject-to-inflation estimates include serious disruptions to Toronto business, the drop in scared-off tourism from shutdowns of the CN Tower and Rogers Centre, or the productivity loss from motorists seething in traffic jams courtesy of closed expressways into the core.

Utter cluster-fornication.

Harper: The Environment is a Sideshow

2010-05-18T19:10:00.001-04:00

Here's one the many questions Harper would not allow to be asked at the tightly scripted G8/G20 Forum Monday:

“In light of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the reluctance of the companies involved to accept responsibility, what new control measures for oil drillers will the Canadian government put in place to reduce the risk of oil spills in Canadian waters, and ensure the continuance of our marine ecosystems and the sustainability of our fisheries?”

What a great question. Notice how it ties the environment to the economy?

As reported by Jane Taber, this question was submitted by Raimey Gallant, a student from Winnipeg’s Red River College.

Harper's stage managers nixed the question. As we all now know, PM Office denials aside, this entire matter was heavily stage managed.

What does Harper have to say about concerns which do not fit his very narrow definition of economics?

"Anything beyond the economy, including issues frequently covered by the national media, is a “sideshow,” the Prime Minster said."

To have our environment described as a sideshow by this circus act of a government speaks volumes about it's pettiness and lack of concern for my children's future.

Yes, but was he snorting coke?

2010-05-14T17:11:00.000-04:00

Liberal MP charged in breathalyzer incident

Okay, so there's no allegations of rights violations. I couldn't resist.

I'm curious to see, if convicted, what an MP gets for this. There's no other charges, just 'failure to blow hard.'

You'd think a politician would be good at that.

Drill, Baby, Drill!

2010-05-01T10:38:00.000-04:00

"...fears are growing that the spill in the Gulf of Mexico could become one of the worst ecological disasters in history."

If the maveriks were instead in The White House, I wonder how they would have handled this fiasco?

This is so well timed. Less than a month ago, Obama signed an order allowing more offshore drilling to take place. That was done despite protest. Let's hope he permanently kills the order.

Hopefully, plans to send Alberta oil via pipeline to the West coast for tanker shipping will be doomed by this as well.

Meanwhile, WholeGovScam continues

2010-04-29T11:49:00.000-04:00

Mary Dawson, the conflict of interest and ethics commissioner, has ruled that those big ceremonial government cheques Conservatives were handing out covered in their party logos and personal signatures were over the line. Really?

Ethics watchdog scolds Tories for 'partisan identifiers' on ceremonial cheques

Of course, aside from making the ruling, there are no consequences to this ethical breech.

I'm sure the Conservatives, being THE law 'n order party, will be jumping up and down demanding the commissioner be given powers with teeth...

Milliken: Parliament has the power to force government produce documents

2010-04-27T15:40:00.001-04:00

Just this in from Kady's live blogging:

"In light of these various arguments," Milliken notes, the House does, indeed, have the right to order the documents in question, as it did in December. Got that, everyone? Now, the question is whether it would be a breach of privilege to refuse to comply. Oh wow, that last line just got a round of applause from the opposition benches. On the other side? Silence. Kind of unsettling silence.

Fingers crossed...

And the result is... two more weeks for Parliament to come up with a plan that deals with security concerns while still allowing for the unredacted documents to be viewed.

And, says Milliken, this is a Matter of Privilege, so if the government refuses to play ball, there's going to be trouble.

So far, our stumbling parliamentary democracy appears to still be intact.

My fear? Harper is preparing to lawyer up, and frag this through our courts.

Conservatives introduce 'coerced abortion' bill

2010-04-15T14:09:00.000-04:00

A true private member's bill, or not, they now own it.

Rod Bruinooge, chair of the all-party pro-life caucus in Parliament, wants it to be a crime to coerce a woman to have an abortion.

Apparently, however, the Conservatives don't want it to be a crime to coerce a woman to not have one.

And... the abortion debate seems to be back on the table, eh?

Guergis makes me snore

2010-04-15T09:15:00.001-04:00

The whole Jaffer/Guergis affair is simply a tale of incompetence and indiscretion. How boring.

Unless a photo surfaces of Guergis snorting coke off of some stripper's belly, this is all officially boring.

It's fine that this "power couple" is going down in flames. We deserve better in Parliament.

Oh, in other related news, apparently the OPP kept Jaffer from receiving a phone call from his lawyer, and a strip search was done despite the fact he was to be ROR, in which case it is not proper practice to do such an invasive search. So the Crown was likely right to cut a deal.

Of course, had the Crown let us know this up front, some of us wouldn't have spent so much time wondering if the Crown was compromised, either politically or intellectually.

Supreme Court to hear link libel case

2010-04-01T13:02:00.001-04:00

Wayne Crookes appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada will be heard.

This is the P2PNet case, which Crookes is suing over hyperlinks to material he claims to be libelous.

The BC Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 that hyperlinks, unless expressively recommended, are not to be seen to be disseminating libel, and are comparable to footnotes, which are viewed in law as references, not dissemination. Crookes has maintained the latter.

If hyperlinks are viewed to always be disseminating what lies beneath, then it will become very easy for libel claims to perpetuate across the Internet, creating a considerable chill. Such a ruling would create huge liability concerns for aggregators such as Progressive Bloggers, and anyone keeping any form of blogroll.

Arguments by Crookes have included the reasoning that it should be sufficient to link to a domain, not directly to the alleged libelous material, for dissemination to be argued. The reasoning is, it is similar to me handing you a book containing libel on a page, but not indicating which page, or whether there is any in there at all. In such a case, current law says I can still be held responsible for disseminating libel.

None of the claims of libel have been proven yet in court. I am a named defendant in another libel case brought by Crookes.

Not an April Fools Joke. Damn.

====
Update:

Canadian Press has this story with the hed:

Supreme Court to hear case of libellous links

Sloppy journalism. Since he started these up in 2005, Crookes has yet to have anything found to be libelous by any court. That should read "alleged libellous links."

I feel like I just woke up!

2010-04-01T09:40:00.000-04:00

You may have noticed that I am barely blogging lately. Truth is, I can't be bothered.

After winning a share of the 6/49 lottery, I've found myself increasingly uninterested with the progressive blogosphere. Frankly, you mostly come across as a bunch of whiners who expect everything to be made perfect.

Wake up! There isn't any difference between Harper and Iggy worth mentioning, and the NDP are pointless. This country is becoming more balkanized and politicized, the Federal government waning in its power. The dollar is rising due to money trader speculation (where's Jesus' money-monger table kicking when you need it?), crumbling Ontario's manufacturing sector. Our government ignores Parliament, and most of us. Ontario continues to leach Toronto dry while failing meet promised funding for transit projects badly needed by our worst-in-the-world gridlock.

I'm fed up. I'm moving back to my birthplace of Montreal. I hope the province separates.

At least Gilles Duceppe stands for something.

If it doesn't, I have relatives in Nova Scotia, and political contacts there working on a separatist party there pushing for a formal and separate trade relationship with bordering US states. I'll move there.

Screw you all!

Kenney: Misson Accomplished

2010-03-31T05:54:00.001-04:00

I've been reading all over that Minister Jason Kenney is attacking the refugee claimant backlog with his proposed new rules. All over. With the exception of The Star's Thomas Walkom, no one else I've read has mentioned that the huge backlog has been largely caused by Kenney himself.

Auditor General Sheila Fraser reported in 2009 that two-thirds of the backlog has been caused by the Conservative government's decision to leave one-third of the positions on the Immigration and Refugee Board unfilled.

It's the old create a useful crisis trick.

Aside from Walkom, no one's calling him on it. No wonder they pull stunts like this.

I don't know who I want to believe more

2010-03-26T07:31:00.002-04:00

Fraser Institute ‘completely wrong,’ PM says

I'm edging towards supporting Harper on this, but only because Relentlessly Progressive Economics says so.

Leave Coulter Alone

2010-03-23T21:29:00.000-04:00

"Coulter event in Ottawa canceled due to security concerns" Great. She'll be on about that for years.

The best thing you can do to sensationalist trolls like Coulter is to ignore them.

She isn't worth "thousands protesting."

Lindsay Stewart video

2010-03-21T20:45:00.000-04:00

Good music. Love the video. All those cynical captions had me laughing the whole time. H/t CC.

The $17 Beer

2010-03-21T00:19:00.000-04:00

I just paid $17 for one (1) beer at my favourite local bar, Ciros. A Fullers Vintage Ale. It's a brown ale, not quite a stout (I love stouts), but curiously close. Slightly bitter, but with a sweet edge. Tastes a bit like molasses, but has a smother taste.

Was it worth $17? I still think I prefer my Dragon and Royal stouts, but it was worth the experience.

The Law and Order Crowd Strikes Again...

2010-03-09T12:27:00.001-05:00

I suppose if I robbed a bank while married to a Conservative government minister I'd get to settle the issue by paying an overdraft charge?

Rahim Jaffer pleads guilty to careless driving charge

FactCheck.org on recent IPCC issues

2010-02-19T13:07:00.000-05:00

FactCheck once again turns its non-partisan eye on the Global Warming debate, and address the recent 'gate' issues related to the IPCC. It finds little to complain about.

Climate Science Slipping?

Rally 'Facts' runs on a false premise

2010-02-08T07:45:00.013-05:00

If you haven't heard, Rally 'Facts' is the blog setup by some unknown conservative types -- I leave it to others to figure out whom -- to 'debunk' the understanding that the No Prorogue rallies were non-partisan. Apparently, as many organizers have current or past political affiliations, the rallies can't be considered non-partisan.

That's right. Dippers, Liberals, Greens, marxists, communists, unionists, human rights advocates, some closet Conservatives and independents like myself marching side by side can't be called non-partisan because the rallies were in part organized by persons who are or were involved in various political parties.

Maybe it's a question of definition? Let's see. What does 'non-partisan' mean?

A person or group that is non-partisan does not support or help a particular political party or group.

So, if various partisans and non-partisans come together under a common cause which does not support a particular party or group, that's a non-partisan gathering, right?

So we see there an entire web site based upon a false premise. Surprise.

Actually, the whole idea that this matters is an insult to Canadians. For all of us who attended, we attended because we had something important to say, not because of the various political affiliations of many of the organizers.

If discovery of partisans is supposed to diminish a cause, well, where does that place the Rally 'Facts' site? The anonymous and hypocritical cowards behind it are most certainly conservatives.

Anyway, tired of fighting with all the CAPPers, the Rally 'Facts' people shut down the comments. What's there is a fun read.

Harper's Buy American deal is a betrayal!

2010-02-07T13:55:00.000-05:00

In exchange for less than two weeks access to America's stimulus money, Harper has surrendered the ability of Canadian provinces and municipalities to prefer Canadian suppliers... FOREVER.

There is such reciprocity here. American states do not have to drop their current level of preferential buying.

Why did Harper do this? There is only one explanation: to get positive headlines, and ongoing bragging rights. Harper hopes he will brag louder than those who rightly criticize him.

You only have to think about what the headlines would say had he not reached a deal. "HARPER FAILS TO BREAK BUY AMERICA BLOCKADE" and the like. With the "Harper Government" way down in the polls, battered by Harper's partisan prorogation and his utter contempt of Parliament and the rule of law, more negative news is something this government is not prepared to have.

Harper sees that it is far better to sellout his country than to see his grip on power further erode.

Harper's partisan prorogation has made this deal even more possible. With Parliament closed, Harper doesn't have to ratify the agreement before it. There's no debate, no questions, and no criticisms on the Hansard record. We only get a few canon shots via the media.

I can imagine the mess Harper would have if Parliament were open. Instead, we get a PR roll out claiming this is a great deal, followed with some contrary reporting, quotes and comments print showing us that this is a lousy deal. I wonder which headlines win?

Well, Harper's tactical moves certainly have failed before; however, with this being framed as simply a "bad deal" and not as a sellout engineered to get good press, the resulting dialogue is not beyond what the public expects, and I doubt will get much negative traction. The typical headline OPPOSITION CRITICIZES GOVERNMENT AGREEMENT is not going to capture people's attention.

Advantage: Harper.

-----
Links:
Jane Taber Ottawa hails Buy American deal
Thomas Walkom Sold a bill of goods on `Buy American'

The Galloping Beaver Bye bye "Buy Local' - Hello "Buy North American"

The CAPP Toronto News Feed

2010-02-04T06:55:00.059-05:00

I've started volunteering with the Toronto chapter of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament sourcing and posting news concerning prorogation and, for that matter, any news item which illustrates the erosion of our demockery er... democracy.

To that end, I started a WordPress blog to chronicle and catalog the articles: CAPP Toronto News Feed. If you have a WordPress account, you can sign on to receive emails of the posts I do using the Email Subscription option on that blog's sidebar.

RSS is, of course, also available.

I am cross-posting it all to Facebook, so you won't have to.

I will be working to fill in significant details since December 30, such as links to the Economist articles, and that front page Globe and Mail editorial.

I'm making great use of WordPress' nested category ability, linking politicians to article when there's merit.

This is working hand-in-hand with my other project, the Prorogation Review-A-Con. I haven't forgotten about it, and took on this work in part because I'm already doing it.

If you see anything missing, let me know by dropping a comment here or on my FB page.

Where he belongs

2010-02-02T22:55:00.000-05:00

Look! Over there. See? Against that hard place.... Over there, hiding behind that rock... Isn't that Stephen Harper?

The Prorogation Review-A-Con Project

2010-02-02T07:55:00.017-05:00

This is the first of hopefully 145 posts I intend to write concerning what each of our 145 Conservative members of Parliament have to say about this last prorogation. If they have nothing to say concerning this controversy, I'm going to at least try to write about what they have been up to during this self-serving extended break away from democratic accountability.

This is part of my contribution to the 31 Days of Action event Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament is sponsoring.

To this end, I ask you all to supply me any links to information (yes, even to the CBC) which will help me with this endeavor. If anyone has a local news report not available on the Internet, I'm quite willing to accept cited excerpts. Personal observations of MPs in action are welcome as well. I am, however, staying away from rumour.

I will be running alphabetically though the list of Conservative MPs, using this page as a guide.

I intend to get this done before Parliament re-opens this March 3. Wish me luck.

My tweet to Kady O'Malley

2010-01-30T17:51:00.000-05:00

@kady Will retweeting U get me sued by CBC? http://bit.ly/930fb2

Dear Tony

2010-01-27T11:32:00.001-05:00

I can call you Tony, right? I figure you wouldn't want to be called 'the Honourable Tony Clement' seeing how that sounds so elitist.

Now, you don't know me, but I have been following your career for years. I watched you rise up through the ranks of Mike Harris' cabinet, all the way to Health Minister! Then, well, that all ended with the defeat of that government.

Do you remember when it all started to go downhill? That's right: Walkerton. Premier Harris' response to it was just, well, arrogant. You'd think it wouldn't have mattered. After all, Harris was already well known to be opinionated, defamatory and hard hitting. Somehow, that all changed, and he got out when the going seemed good. It was just a gong show after that.

My point is, you can't always predict when the worms will turn on you. Sometimes the negative narrative just builds, enough people hear it and catch on, and your halo runs out of shine.

Having any deja vu yet?

Monday, a dozen people chased you down at York University. I understand they had to work at it. As they brought their issues forward, I am told you said if we didn't like the government's conduct, we just had to vote you out.

I'd like to talk to you about that.

In a sense, we have voted you out. As I'm sure you know, yours is a minority government. Due to one of the many quirks of our electoral system, you and your pals got to form government despite having less than half of the seats. Most of us didn't vote for your Party, and we got you anyway. This has happened twice.

So, what? Third time's the charm? What if we had another three-hundred million dollar election, and got the same result? Would you, another minority in hand, declare all this 'nonsense' over prorogation done with because you were once again elected?

That doesn't make any sense.

Most of us already haven't voted for you. The majority not voting for your party again isn't necessarily going to solve anything.

What you are supposed to do, Tony, is respect these electoral realities and listen to the people. Your party did run on a platform promising accountability and democratic reform, remember? Our demands for the PM to be more subservient to Parliament should be quite acceptable to you and your fellow Conservative MPs.

So, how about a better answer next time? Something like "I hear your concerns, and will bring them forward to the Prime Minister and caucus?"

Next, there's this offensive business of you calling our nation-wide protests last Saturday a "stunt."

Normally, I'd just demand that our MPs raise issues of concern in the House, but, geez, your boss suddenly and quietly closed it.

Meeting with our MPs doesn't help because they are opposition MPs, and prorogation has effectively shut them up. So our best option is to meet with government MPs.Well, you all don't seem to want to do that. We keep getting in contact with your fellow Conservative MPs with letters and petitions and yet they keep telling the media that their constituents are fine with prorogation.

So, taking it to the streets seems to be the best way of getting your attention. It takes a lot of time and work to do that. We don't get paid for it. We don't get 'future considerations' for it. We do it and then come home to a backlog of work. People (sadly) like you insult us for it, calling us 'elites' and 'chaterrers.' Our Prime Minister largely ignored us.

We're concerned, Tony. We're not stunt persons, we're voters. Concerned citizens. We are due respect and a proper response.

Today, I understand you should be encountering a few more of my fellow chattering Canadians in Saskatoon. I hope you will be cordial towards them, more so than you were to my fellow CAPP members Monday.

We are Canadians. We are voters. We deserve better from you.

As a senior minister of some influence, I hope you'll have a heartfelt recalibration, and will come to provide us with real democratic leadership and representation.

Sincerely,

Mark Francis

"If we don't stand up to protect our democracy, we're going to lose it"

2010-01-27T07:45:00.001-05:00

Paul Kennedy, former head of RCMP complaints commission, interviewed on Power and Politics, has some startling and depressing things to say. Watch the whole 10 minutes.

Some of his comments:

"I beleive that these commissions that we have are one aspect of the democracy that we have in this country and I have seen a number of steps taken that I think are goign to erode democracy. If there's an inheritance that I want to leave to my children its the democracy that we've had in this country..."

"I haven't got the slightest idea what is on the mind of Stephen Harper... what I do see causes me concern and if it isn't arrested I think we've got problems."

"I am campaigning for is these commissions should be there they should be properly empowered they should have proper financial base and they should have proper effective leadership. Those attributes aren't there... If people lose confidence in the RCMP I think that hurts them as a police force I think it hurts the service that is delivered to Canadians."

"Parties come and go. Leaders come and go. Democracy and the system we have, that's what's important. That's our legacy... If we don't protect those cornerstones, we're in trouble... I think there's potential here if we don't stand up to protect our democracy, we're going to lose it."

He thinks that the commission is just being put to sleep so that it can not embarrass the government. He's very clear in that its a conflict of interest to have the minister appoint the commissioner. He doesn't think that the interim commissioner has the proper background to do the job.

(It's been widely reported that the new commissioner, Ian McPhail, is a purely politicized appointment. His legal knowledge is in estate law, and his qualifications seem to stem from many years of service to various Conservative parties.)

Commissioners would have more independence if they were beholden to Parliament not the government of the day.

I'm not the only one seeing a pattern emerge of what reforms we need, am I?

Parliamentary supremacy.

What book should I read next?

2010-01-26T22:40:00.001-05:00

Due to Christmas, I have a modest stack of new books to read. I just finished Gutstein's "Not a Conspiracy Theory" which is a great read for those interested in how corporate-sponsored propaganda is (mis)shaping our civilization.I have time to pick another one up. Please, help me select.

The list:

Paxton, Robert O., The Anatomy of Fascism
Hoggan, James, Climate Cover Up
Michaels, David, Doubt is their Product
Monbiot, George, Heat
May, Elizabeth, Losing Confidence
Flanagan, Tom, Harper's Team

Drop me a msg and let me know. Feel free to suggest other reads.

Tony Clement calls the CAPP protests "Stunts"

2010-01-26T21:41:00.000-05:00

A press release from CAPP concerning their meet up with Tony Clement at York University Monday.

TORONTO — When members of Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (CAPP) were set to confront Industry Minister Tony Clement about prorogation at York University today, Mr. Clement had the perfect solution: running away. Unfortunately for him, CAPP caught up.

After a security guard told a dozen sign-carrying CAPP members that Mr. Clement might talk to them after completing his tour at the university, protestors waited in the rain for the Minister to emerge. But as 4 p.m. approached, the student protestors couldn’t “prorogue their classes,” so they went looking for Mr. Clement.

After 25 minutes of rain-soaked patience, Toronto CAPP organizer Walied Khogali found him trying to escape the protestors by taking a back exit. “He was running away from us the way he and the Prime Minister ran away from their responsibilities to Parliament,” said Mr. Khogali.

When Mr. Khogali urged the Minister to return to Parliament, Mr. Clement demurred, replying, “All you have to do is vote us out.” Commenting on CAPP’s 25,000-strong nationwide anti-prorogation rallies last Saturday, Mr. Clement said, “I’m not proud of stunts.”

For photos of the event (showing Tony Clement and Walied Khogali), please see http://twitpic.com/zqvv6 and http://twitpic.com/zqvkp.

Conservative MPs report that they are taking some heat

2010-01-26T09:24:00.000-05:00

Robert Fife reports in this broadcast (see around the 8:45 mark) that Conservative MPs are taking "a lot of flak from their constituents... they think MPs are taking a two month holiday... they think the PM has abused his power for partisan reasons by shutting down parliament to avoid questions on the Afghan detainee issue."

Keep it up people!

FLASH MOB CALL: TONY CLEMENT @ YORK U 3:00 PM TODAY!

2010-01-25T13:15:00.000-05:00

I can't make it so you'd better! Make sure he hears you chatter!

A flash protest has been called for Today!

Encouraging Tony Clement to join other MP's back to Ottawa in working for Canadians.!

All folks are requested to meet at Vari Hall (beside the Student Center) at 2:55 p.m for a 3 p.m. protest at the
Life Sciences Building site (north side of Chemistry Building). That's

York University
4700 Keele Street
Toronto, Ontario

NOTE: Nearest parking spots available at Arboretum Parking Garage on Arboretum Lane.

Please bring any signs or materials!

Coyne has the budget all figured out

2010-01-25T12:22:00.000-05:00

And he didn't even have to prorogue to do it!

Andrew Coyne: How to cut $20-billion from spending without really trying

The banning of Patrick Ross

2010-01-24T15:47:00.002-05:00

A few years ago, I started moderating my comments. I did this because people would at times publish defamation here, and, as the blog owner, Canadian libel law holds me responsible for that content.

I also was allowing people to defame me in my own space.

I still do. The difference is, I only publish their comments when I'm ready. No more would some insult or calumny rest on my blog unanswered for hours at a time.

It's a strategy that worked well. Until recently.

A few days ago, Patrick Ross started leaving comments here. I published them. I had to offer rebuttal. My rebuttal was increasingly ignored. Eventually, for my own reasons, I stopped publishing Ross in one of my threads, and dropped a message there explaining why.

Between work, my kids, whom I financially support and, most days of the week, raise alone; and my political activities, which have had me quite busy for the past several weeks (CAPP), it takes effort for me to respond to people here. Frankly, if they are wasting my time, I am going to resent it.

It has become very clear Ross was commenting here to merely demonstrate that he could.

Ross and Canadian Cynic have a dispute, the history of which I am personally well aware of, but not involved in. I will not repeat it here. Still, due to my above mentioned commitments, I was not aware that CC had issued a request for progressives to stop publishing Ross. Those who continue to are subject to an embargo by CC.

Ross has been dropping comments around the progressive blogosphere more than usual lately. He made clear yesterday why: all of us who published him he is claiming to not honour CC's request. Ross has specifically named me as "rejecting" CC's request. This is out of line.

Ross never raised this issue with me, and I was not aware of it. My publishing of Ross' comments should not be construed by him as a lack of support for CC.

It is clear to me that Ross was occupying my valuable time only for the petty reason of defaming CC.

I will not allow myself to be used in this way.

Patrick Ross, you are banned from this blog for disrespect and misrepresentation. I know you are baiting me. I don't care.

I also support CC's call for a general embargo on Ross's expression.

If this sound wrong, it's not. CC, after all, is not preventing Ross from exercising his freedom of expression. Ross can publish all he wants on his blog. CC is not preventing any of us from doing the same. No, CC is just setting editorial restrictions within his own space. We are free to respond in any way we like. The blogosphere does not rise or fall based upon CC's choices and writings.

People need to be aware that in publishing a comment, either directly though moderation, or indirectly, through a open comment policy, that you are responsible for disseminating that person's ideas. This is both a legal and a moral responsibility. Though my comment policy arose out of legal issues, I am all too aware that allowing others to publish propaganda here means that I am disseminating that propaganda as well.

By coincidence, just a few hours ago, I read this passage in "Not a Conspiracy Theory" by Donald Gutstein (great book) pp 309:

"...progressives need a common enemy if they are to rally their diverse groupings to a common cause. Historically, the enemies of the left have been poverty, homelessness, inequality, poor health care, racism and sexism. The enemy of the right, in contrast, is the left. Progressives need to make the right -- the radical conservatives -- the enemy... they must engage the enemy, who they consider the source of most injustice."

If that sounds harsh, I'm sorry to say that it's not. We are under siege. For generations we have relied on Peace, Order and Good Government. We get the third in exchange for granting the other two.

Well, we used to have Good Government.We don't anymore.

Our Prime Minister is involved in a propaganda war against those he represents. He has locked the doors of Parliament for purely partisan reasons, and gives us lies to justify it.

There's a long list of Harper's active erosion of our democracy here.

Harper has many syncophants willing to perpetuate these lies. CC understands this better than most. He does not suffer fools, and calls them as he sees them. Mostly, he makes the right calls.

We progressives all too often make the mistake of thinking that we are engaged in some sort of reasoned dialog with people. Truth will prevail! Facts speak for themselves! Conservatives just need more facts, then they'll understand.

Sure, it happens that some come around. But far too many on the right are just ditto-head loyalists repeating lies and laying fog.

I have no cause to aid them in any way.

So I support Canadian Cynic.

The enemy is ruthless, and it's time that we were too. Especially now with our Parliament locked.

We should not be spending time arguing with the Patrick Ross' of this world when we need to be hammering on Parliament's doors.

It is going to get worse, people. It is.

Please watch this piece below, and understand that it is not a polemic. It is simply the truth.

As you watch it, remember that Harper, prior to re-entering politics, fought hard in our courts to remove restrictions on third party advertising during elections.

And stop giving a platform to those who would keep us on our knees.

And please, be afraid. Give yourself leave to be. You need to be.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to have a much-needed beer.

Gee, is Monte a bit biased?

2010-01-23T23:30:00.001-05:00

The protest today in Ottawa brought some 3000 protestors.

Former Conservative MP Monte Solberg thinks this invalidates the anti-prorogation movement:

Despite being shamelessley promoted by big newspapers, TV outlets and the opposition parties, a grand total of 3,000 showed up on Parliament Hill to protest the alleged end of democracy in Canada.

The anti-coalition protest last year in Ottawa also attracted 3,000 protestors.

Solberg was a speaker last year at an anti-coalition rally, and thought they were just all swell.

So, Monte, are you lying about the significance of last year's protest, or this year's?

Okay, Harperites, it's your turn

2010-01-23T23:03:00.000-05:00

They said we didn't care. Then they said we didn't matter. They said we wouldn't show up.

Well we showed up, alright.

Seven thousand of us took to the streets of Toronto. Thousands more protested Harper's abuse of his prorogation powers all over Canada.

This is not some flash in the pan.

The Harper trolls are busy as usual, trolling the comments sections of the major papers, claiming not enough people showed up. They say that those that showed up are just party hacks.

Talk is cheap. Prove us wrong. Hold pro-Harper rallies. Support his autocratic actions. And beat our numbers.

Until you can do that, you're just blowing smoke.

My rally comment to Harper

2010-01-23T21:42:00.001-05:00

Conservative MP Blaine Calkins caught proroguing reality

2010-01-22T10:03:00.002-05:00

It can pay to read the local papers. Look what The Wetaskiwin Times Advertiser claims Conservative MP Blaine Calkins said to the County of Wetaskiwin council:

Calkins said there are a majority of Liberal senators in the upper chamber right now, and that allows those senators chair senate committees. He said although Conservative sponsored Bills may make it out of the House of Commons, they are often killed in the senate due to lack of support.

"What has to happen, the only way to change that is to prorogue parliament and start with a new session of parliament. It will allow the Prime Minister and the house leader to negotiate a new format of the committees, which is good news."

Calkins said it is good news for the Conservative government because, with the possibility of appointing more conservative senators, the government's plan for tougher crime legislation and other proposals may find support in the Canada's upper chamber.

Bald lies. Not one Bill has been defeated in the Senate. Indeed, the Senate has been it's usual self, passing almost everything quickly without much fuss.

If you have to lie to justify a prorogation, that means the prorogation was done to hide from something.

Speaker Milliken says he wanted legislative agenda completed

2010-01-22T09:39:00.000-05:00

If you think it's unusual for the Speaker of the House to personally comment on the legislative agenda, and on the reasons for proroguing Parliament, you would be right.

Peter Milliken has spoken while far away from Canada, but in the age of the Internets, those little series of tubes can carry news from afar right back home real quick.

Traveling in India, Milliken happened to have a discussion reported in The South Asian Link Newspaper. This is what he had to say:

“I am a Speaker and a neutral person. I am not supposed to comment on the second consecutive prorogation. But governments have the right to do it even if it is for the wrong reasons... Personally, I feel that legislative business should be gone through in the scheduled manner."

Clearly, he did not agree with the timing of the proroguing of Parliament. He doesn't see why so much business had to be scrapped. And he hints that the prorogue wasn't done for the right reasons.

As for proroguing Parliament December 30th for the Olympics:

"At times when international conferences are going on and to facilitate the participation of Ministers there, the House can be prorogued for a week or two."

I was surprised to hear Milliken say anything about this. He himself says he really shouldn't be commenting.

Comments?

Harper's recalibrated repeating recalibration; and, more real reasons for the prorogue

2010-01-20T12:05:00.002-05:00

When I looked over yesterday's federal cabinet shuffle, this is what I thought: This is a tweak. Every other government has tweaked cabinet without prorogation, why this one?

In case you missed it, that's the latest reason for the prorogation: to do a cabinet shuffle. I knew that would be the latest reason before I learned of it today because the Harper Government has become quite predictable on this point. Any event, no matter how normal in a government's life it is while Parliament sits, is portrayed as justification for prorogation. It's a communications strategy which draws upon most people's general ignorance of the process of governance. It's a strategy to name anything and everything as the cause for prorogation, except for the truth. Eventually, the Harper Government hopes that they'll be some sort of favourable general buzz.

Just remember: Harper prorogued as quietly as possible, without notice. For someone with many alleged good reasons, he certainly tried to hide the deed.

As former Harper Chief of Staff Tom Flanagan pointed out the other week "...the government's talking points really don't have much credibility. Everybody knows that Parliament was prorogued in order to shut down the Afghan inquiry, and the trouble is that the government doesn't want to explain why that was necessary."

I swear, if Harper could justify prorogation using the disaster in Haiti, he would.

Chantal Hebert this morning agrees that prorogation has nothing to do with the cabinet shuffle.

As far as recalibrating a government goes, this week's cabinet shuffle does not justify closing Parliament down for most of the winter. It was a pit stop, not a major tune-up.

Let's not forget that Harper could have shuffled cabinet at the start of the winter recess, giving affected cabinet ministers time to adjust. Certainly, this is the point Norman Spector makes:

Had that been Mr. Harper’s true motivation, he could have shuffled his cabinet weeks ago. For, as has been widely reported, the Prime Minister sent his ministers updated mandate letters before Christmas. Normally, these letters are given to ministers on the day they assume their new responsibilities.

Had the shuffle taken place before Christmas, the new ministers would have had roughly the same amount of time to prepare as they will now have. Outgoing ministers would have been spared some useless work over the holidays. And the Conservative government – and the Prime Minister – may have still been flying high in the polls.

The reasons Harper has given to justify prorogation remain dubious. Indeed, more dark reasons have surfaced. From The Toronto Star:

Beyond the investigation into how Canadian Forces oversaw the transfer and treatment of detainees in the Afghanistan war, there are three other important government accountability situations not mentioned in any media coverage so far that the federal Conservatives are avoiding through the arbitrary proroguing of Parliament by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, all of which would likely have been reported on in February.

First, the ethics commissioner is investigating and will rule on whether the handing out of Conservative party-labelled government spending cheques by several cabinet ministers and MPs was legal under federal ethics rules.

Second, the ethics commissioner, the commissioner of lobbying and Elections Canada are investigating and will rule on fundraising events by a Conservative cabinet minister and parliamentary secretary that involved lobbyists and that raise serious questions about violations of the ethics rules.

And third, the auditor general would likely release a report or two on government spending practices by various departments and agencies.

So while the parliamentary budget officer has pledged to continue to release his reports (a power he would lose if he was made into a full officer of Parliament), the officers of Parliament listed above cannot issue their rulings and reports to Parliament in February because Harper shut it down.

If the Prime Minister's speech from the throne when Parliament opens is actually an election platform, and the Conservatives' proposed budget their spending plan, and he then immediately calls a snap election, none of these key government accountability reports and rulings will see the light of day until after the election.

There's likely enough fodder in those reports for the opposition to splatter bad news about the media for weeks. It would not do to have that going on before an election!

For a long time, it's been speculated that Harper was seeking a Spring election. He was hoping to get a boost from a recession recovery budget, and gain from the patriotic buzz from the Olympics and from the political attention deficit it causes. When he prorogued quietly December 30, it was with the hope that he could have all that without the baggage that comes with Parliament-enforced accountability.

What Harper failed to account for was us.

Harper's tactical prorogation is not going to topple his minority government. But it is highly unlikely that he will dare to call for an election in March knowing that it will shut down Parliament, and subject him to further criticism that he's delaying the country's business, and avoiding Parliament yet again.

It seems likely that Parliament will get down to business in March, pass a budget, and deal with whatever unpleasant news surfaces concerning this government. We will be reminded then by the Harper Government "See? Prorogation didn't matter" I'm sure.

Harper closed Parliament for partisan gain. The fact that he will have failed to make that gain should never be tolerated as a reason to doubt his partisan intent.

And he will fail to gain from this selfish act. He's going to fail because you are going to show up at one of the many rallies this Saturday. Right?

Harper's in Toronto Today! Protest planned

2010-01-20T06:55:00.000-05:00

From Citizens for Democracy:

Stephen Harper is in Toronto on Wednesday. Let him know how you feel about prorogation. Join the picket.

Stephen Harper will be in Toronto on Wednesday afternoon to attend a roundtable meeting with the C.D. Howe Institute. Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto) will be there to meet him, and to let him know how we feel about prorogation. We invite you to join us! Don't let Harper get away with shutting down Parliament.

Picket against prorogation

Wednesday, January 20

Meet at 2:00pm (SHARP)

In front of C.D. Howe Institute

67 Yonge Street (on the sidewalk)

Downtown Toronto

TTC: King

Bring banners, placards or homemade signs. We'll bring information leaflets. Spread the word. See you there!

For more information, e-mail noproroguetoronto AT gmail.com.

Don't forget this Saturday's city-wide rally and march: Saturday, January 23 at 1:00pm at Yonge-Dundas Square. The Toronto rally is organized by Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament (Toronto), a grassroots, non-partisan movement of ordinary Canadians that emerged in response to Harper's decision to prorogue Parliament. All are welcome to join us.

http://noprorogue.ca/ | noproroguetoronto AT gmail.com | http://twitter.com/ NoProrogueTO/

Chris Tindal running for Toronto City Council, Ward 27

2010-01-19T10:26:00.001-05:00

Blogger and former Green Party candidate and Chris Tindal has announced he is running for Toronto City Council in Ward 27 (pdf).

Tindal has previously run federally in Toronto-Centre (pdf), coming in third behind Bob Rae and the NDP candidate (who eeked out a last-minute 2nd place finish just a few dozen votes ahead of Tindal).

Tindal is strong advocate for democratic reform and local politics. He has lived in the ward for years.

Tindal is a hard-working optimist, who would bring a different perspective to the laggard Toronto council.

Sadly, its not my ward. If it were, he'd have my vote by far.

Good luck, Chris.

Conservative Arrogance 12

2010-01-19T07:55:00.004-05:00

"[The Charlottown Accord] included distinct society status for Quebec and some other changes, including some that would just horrify you, putting universal Medicare in our constitution, and feminist rights, and a whole bunch of other things." -- Stephen Harper, speech to The Council for National Policy, Montreal, 1997.

Conservative win on the In and Out front

2010-01-18T12:05:00.003-05:00

The Conservatives have a win on the In and Out 'scandal.'

I haven't time to read the ruling, but it appears, sadly, that it is now legal for a central campaign to eat up a local campaign's remaining spending limit.

I don't care that this is a win for the Conservatives. I care that this is a lose for local democracy.

Many local campaigns are going to be subject to pressure from central campaigns to hand over a (large) portion of their spending limits, an coercive event which can significantly limit grassroots initiatives. People will point out that the local campaign does not have to agree, but, give me a break. Defy the central party, and bad things happen. I've seen whole riding executives wiped out by central party trickery.

I know that political parties will strive to not shoot their own feet by further limiting the spending of ridings they believe they can win, but local riding associations often have a very different idea of what can be won and what is worth spending money on.

For those of us who believe that riding associations should be the political organs which legitimize political parties, this is just an other yoke around the neck of democracy.

The last thing Canada needs is even more centralized campaigning. People need to hear local voices more, and the sound of self-interested proroguing PMs less.

===
Update:

Kady is tweeting:

"have you read the full decision? it's a little less sweeping than i thought."

"it's basically 'unless and until someone is charged and convicted under the elections act, here's what has to happen'"

I''ll try to read it later. Let's hope.

===
More update:

And... it still isn't good for local democracy. The Conservatives may still be in trouble with some of their case, but local democracy is still more inder the thumb of central control as a result of this ruling. Accidental Deliberations has the take.

Context is everything

2010-01-18T10:34:00.000-05:00

"The city and the province were also ordered to pay $100 for seizing Ward's car, in which no pie was found."