Paul Martin's handlers believe there is a chance
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper will "burn people out"
with his daily doses of policy announcements.
It’s possible that I shall make an ass of myself. But in that case one can always get out of it with a little dialectic. I have, of course, so worded my proposition as to be right either way (K.Marx, Letter to F.Engels on the Indian Mutiny)
Three weeks on from the accident, China's leaders are finally scrambling to assign blame, says a BBC correspondent in Beijing, Louisa Lim.
The saga has already led to two resignations - the head of the environmental watchdog and the boss of the petrochemical company in charge of the plant which exploded.
The government has set up a team to find out who was responsible for the explosion. It warned that anyone who failed to co-operate would be punished.
Government leaders are increasingly stressing the need for local officials to be seen to be accountable, and more transparent.
But our correspondent says that the terms of the investigation refer only to the immediate explosion, not to any ensuing cover-up, and therefore might not be enough to assuage public anger.
"This is a terrible strategy," said Martino, who feels the Green party is attempting to recruit voters who are morally opposed to the seal hunt but may not be informed about it.
"I have put so much work personally in distancing Newfoundland from that generic, stereotypical view [that] completely overrides the complexity of the issue ... and the economic importance and cultural importance of the hunt," Martino said.
Martino, though, said Green strategists hoping to appeal to new voters devised the initiative.
She said rank-and-file members she consulted did not support the decision.
"There was just such a disconnect between the membership and the leadership. And the Green party was never supposed to be about leaders," Martino said.
Harris said potential economic replacements for the seal hunt could include ecotourism.
Good on ya Martino. Jim Harris has placed the Green Party in the position of taking on a popular yet misguided opposition against Sealers. Martino is right it isn't about cute cuddly seals, thats incidental. Its about oddles and oddles of money that Green NGO's make off the seals so called plight.The Conservative Party's baby bonus -- more precisely, its promised annual $1,200 allowance per child -- is classic state interventionism. It's also a significant upping of the bid in the parties' competition to stake out the family values constituency.
As such, it is the thin end of what could become a ruinously expensive wedge. Society may be prepared to countenance tax breaks for low-income families, but as a general principle, people who have children should pay for them.
Why would anybody expect the state to do so?
The reason, of course, is that Quebec's socialist Parti Quebecois started this madness in 1997, with its so-called $5-a-day day care. Since upped to $7, it proved wildly popular.
Looking for a vote-winner itself last year, the embattled federal Liberal government adopted the idea, pledging $5 billion over five years for national day care.
Frankly, Quebec's experience should have been a salutary warning, rather than an inspiration.
Well contrary to this editorial the Quebec program didn't just pay parents it provided a public regulated non profit day care system for children. It then subsidized these programs at a cost of $5 per day allowing for more affordable access. The creation of public day care spaces is what this ediorial must mean by statist.