Ottawa's Revolving Door

Shoved out of the Harpers inner sanctum at the end of June, his PR/Media point man Geoff Norquay went through the revolving door that is Ottawa and ended up at the prestigous lobbying firm of Earnscliffe, faster than you can say 'cooling off period'.

Earnscliffe is one of Canada's top lobbying firms with Liberal ties. Ironic that eh, Geoff went from being the Conservative flack on point about Liberal corruption and Earnscliffe's involvement to becoming a flack for Earnscliffe.

Earnscliffe, known for many years as a firm that employed several of Prime Minister Paul Martin's key political supporters, was hired to do polling and communications work on budgets and fiscal updates during Mr. Martin's tenure as finance minister from 1993 to 2002. His successor in finance, John Manley, ended the contract.

He must be replacing David Herle who has left Earnscliffe to work full time for his boss PM. And we all remember the little faux pas that David and his pals in the PMO pulled off just a week before the election was called. Untendered deal went to campaign manager David Herle provided mini-budget advice and polling to Liberals in federal contract

Do you think maybe Geoff let his pals in the Conservatives know about this little contract? Nah perish the thought. On the other hand Earnscliffe is being smart to begin to distance itself from the Liberals and just in case the Harper wins, have an ace in the hole like they have always had in the PMO.

Which is why it's only the NDP that's credible about a cooling off period for Ottawa's revolving door of lobbyists.

The Conservatives have it in their platform too, but Geoff's rush to the arms of Earnscliffe, before the door out of the Leader of the Oppostions office hit him on the ass, makes a joke out of that.

If the Liberals put accountability for lobbyists in their platform it would be a conflict of interest.

New chant for both Harper and Martin rallies; Earnscliffe! Earnscliffe!

Devils Dictionary Redux Updated

I have added two new definitions to my Devils Dictionary Redux; Creationism and Moron.

Political Prisoners USA

Dec. 10 is the International Day for Human Rights a celebration of the 1948 UN Declaration of Human Rights. In the United States one of the fundamental freedoms denied its citizens is the right not to be murdered by the State. Like they did to Joe Hill.

The Death Penalty continues to exist and be used against Political Prisoners. I am speaking here in particular of Leonard Peltier and Mumia Abu Jamal.

A Tainted Trial? A Stunning Win for Mumia Abu-Jamal

By DAVE LINDORFF; December 7, 2005 - Counterpunch

The recent high profile case of Tookie Williams and his pending execution in California has once again raised the question of the State Terror and the oppression of peoples of colour and their struggles against the Empire of Capitalism.

On this day we should not forget them. As the old Wobbly slogan goes; We are in here for you. You are out there for us.

“This has been one of the hardest years of my imprisonment, it might not

be the most brutal physical hardship that I have had to endure, but at

my age and with my poor health it was extremely difficult. The almost

two months “in transit” from Leavenworth to Lewisburg were sheer

torture, and I am alive today only because of those of you who supported

me and moved heaven and earth to get me out of solitary confinement.

During the time of my transfer odyssey Calvin Jumping Bull passed on and

immediately after that my brother Steve Robideau went. One of the

heaviest burdens to bear is that so many of my friends and family have

passed on to the spirit world without me being able to say goodbye, or

see them for the last time. Now I am told that at this point one of my

elders, Russell Loud Hawk, has survived a most critical surgery after an

automobile accident and his chances were very slim. His strength and the

strength of all my people, who live in the starkest conditions, in this

country that consumes twenty five percent of the world’s resources, and

overcome unimaginable challenges every day living under siege, gives me

the encouragement that I need to still walk tall behind these oppressive

walls. My body, my spirit, and my heart keep getting pounded but I am

not giving up. I will never give up and those of you who accompany me in

this hard struggle mean the world to me, I could not walk this

treacherous road alone.

Leonard Peltier

Privatization Leads To This

Like Canada's airports, services for airports are privatized, whether it is security or baggage handling. P3 operations of Canada's airports were brought in by the Liberals and plague us still. Here is another example of the entreprenaurial spirit of privatized public services.

RCMP investigating Vancouver airport company

CTV News Vancouver has learned that a company that handles baggage and freight at YVR is the target of a major criminal investigation by the RCMP.

Servisair/GlobeGround handles everything from passenger service to freight at 175 airports including the Vancouver airport.

The company employs baggage handlers, security screeners, ticket agents and the people who refuel planes.

According the Servisair/GlobeGround website, it has more than 20,000 employees who handle 1.4 million aircraft movements and 800,000 tonnes of cargo every year.

Goodale Tag Team Match Up

It's a tag team wrassling match over the Goodale File on Income Trusts, and who knew what, when, and why the markets responded like someone knew something.

In the left corner we have Mini Marauder, the one with the hyphenated last name.

In the right corner we have the Mouth That Roared, from Medicine Hat.



They are merciless in the political circle squared. They have wrestled the Goodale down and now they have him in a double leg suplex.

Will they succeed in making the hold stick, will Goodale squirm out before the three count?




Watch this space for more Wacky Wrestling Politicians.



Coming Soon:

Stronach Arm Wrestles McKay over who is more 'progressive'

Who Is Missing

Though the Conservatives do well from the west’s sense of alienation from Ottawa, the federal capital, beyond the region they are weak.
Despite the sleaze scandal and a ruling party that looks weak, the opposition party has gained surprisingly little in the polls since the last election—not unlike America. But Canada differs from its southern neighbour in a big respect. The two big parties must compete with the NDP across the country.


The Ecomomist ran this photo with their article about the election in Canada. And after mentioning the NDP they forgot to include Jack in the photo. Or did they? Perhaps they have a hidden agenda, after all they are a conservative capitalist business magazine. Do ya think?

For the Economist this is the closest that they get to making an endorsement of the NDP sans Jacks picture.

But Canadians are grumpy. They worry about government ethics, but they fret even more about things like the state of their health-care system. The Liberals have a 12-year run in government behind them. They are likely—but not guaranteed—to convince Canadians to give them yet another chance. But a majority in the House of Commons may again elude them.

Gee, on second thought not being in this rogues gallery may actually benefit Jack. As in these three amigos are more of the same.

Sayeth the Harper

"Take taxation, for example. There are real limits to tax-cutting if conservatives cannot dispute anything about how or why a government actually does what it does. If conservatives accept all legislated social liberalism with balanced budgets and corporate grants - as do some in the business community - then there really are no differences between a conservative and a Paul Martin. "

Rediscovering The Right Agenda By Stephen Harper
June 2003 - Report Magazine

Seniors: Tax Cuts or Long Term Investment

Well as to be expected the Harper announced his Seniors bribe, err policy two days after the NDP announced their plan. And Harpers was well wait for it, yep tax cuts. 2.2 billion by 2010. To increase the amount of pension income that can be sheltered from income tax from its current $1,000 a year to $2,000 a year -- and increase it to $2,500 over five years. Yep if you are a coupon clipper and living off your investment income this helps you. But not the majority of Canadian seniors who are not as well off. And who do not have RRSP's and rely upon CPP, OAS, and GIS for their retirement.

However when it comes to seniors who are the poorest, and in need of care the NDP announced it would invest in seniors care and home care, for a total of $7.5 billion over the same time period. Investment is always better than taking a dividend, which is all a tax cut really is.The money would provide home care for about 100,000 people, Layton said, taking some pressure off hospitals, and helping to ease wait times.

Harper promises not to touch CPP, OAS, GIS and keep their COLA updated. Thats good because unlike his tax cut for the cuopon clippers, the majority of seniors in Canada rely on their income from these programs to supplement their other pensions.

Seniors on the margins: Aging in poverty in Canada

Until recently, the percentage of seniors with low incomes had been declining. It went from 21% in 1980, to 10% in 1990, to 7% in 2003.⁴ The National Council of Welfare points out that this catch-up period is over. Since the middle of the 1990s, seniors' income has reached a ceiling and the gap between seniors' revenues and those of other Canadians is now increasing. Between 1997 and 2003, the mean income of senior households increased by $4,100 while the average income of other Canadian households increased by $9,000.⁵ The situation is even more pronounced for seniors living alone.

The significant increase in seniors' income over the last 25 years was the result of the maturation of Canada's public pension plans, as more and more people became eligible for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) and its Quebec equivalent, the QPP. In 1999, 85% of seniors received these benefits, while in 1983, there were fewer than 75%. This increase reflects the greater presence of women in the paid labour force since the 1970s. Another change was the growing number of pensioners receiving the maximum amount of pension benefits. The plans were established in 1966, and the first workers to receive full CPP/QPP benefits turned 65 in 1976. It is only by the 1990s that a majority of retirees were receiving full benefits. This means that the effect of the CPP/QPP on seniors' income has now reached its maximum. An OECD study acknowledged the success of Canada's public pension system in increasing seniors' income, but it also points out that "a large public system matures only once."⁶ Between 1980 and 1995, gaps in income decreased among seniors, the poorest seniors seeing the largest increases in income, thanks to their participation in public pension plans and to increases in the OAS benefits.⁷

The Harper tax cut will do little for women seniors who make up the majority of seniors who live in poverty. So much for family values.

POVERTY IN CANADA: AN OVERVIEW

Seniors:
Note: The number of women 65 and older in economic families who are poor increased from 5.4% in 2000 to 5.9% in 2001.
• 40% of all seniors living alone are poor
• 45.6% of senior women living alone are poor
• 32.8% of senior men living alone are poor


Oh yes and the Harper has never found a public pension fund he liked, when he was in the Reform party, the Alliance party or as President of the right wing business lobby NCC. So his promise now to protect them rings hollow.

Mr. Stephen Harper (Calgary West, Ref.): It may take 10 years to balance the budget, 10 years to lower taxes, and 10 years to reform people's pension Hansard, Thursday, March 7, 1996 -- STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS (008)

Cheeky Comments

I have left a cheeky comment on bloggingtory Stephen Taylors CTV blog article Kyoto hypocrisy

And one here about the Conservative tax cuts being called bribes. Choice Is Important

Who Really Stands Up For Canada

Well no sooner had I pointed out that both the NDP and Conservatives are using Stand Up as a slogan on their web sites than a day later, and a loonie shy, the young flogger at CPC Energy caught on to this little fact. He got quite verklempt about it all. Literally gets his knickers in a twist over it. Me thinks he doth protest too much.

Tch,Tch, shouldn't draw attention to the obvious....and then advertise your opponents use of the slogan and include a graphic to prove the point. That's called advertising for the NDP. Good Go. Keep up the good work promoting the NDP, oh anonymous CPC flogger.

And speaking of the anonymous floggers at the Conservative web site, it appears their secret identities may have been revealed by none other than the anonymous blogger Phantom Observer. He has upset some Blogging Torys with his expose. One of them complains that it's rather rich for anonymous to out anonymous.
Doesn't anyone take themselves seriously enough to like, blog with their own names?