Thursday, May 03, 2007

Radio Canada Blog

Well I made it to the Radio Canada Blog with my Shane Doan story, blogger Philippe Schnobb says;

"Un blogueur Albertain fait de l'ironie en comparant l'affaire Doan à l'affaire Dreyfus qui a divisé la société Française au début du 20ième siècle. "

I am joined by a link to the Save Shane Doan Petition blog produced by Adam Sobkow and a link to the World Cup site.



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Danny Williams A B C's


Ouch this is gonna hurt.

" Progressive " Conservative Danny Williams unveils a new alphabet in the battle against political illiteracy...


Premier Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador is now actively campaigning against his federal party brethren, urging people not only in his home province but in the rest of Canada to “vote ABC” — anybody but Conservative.

Williams, himself a Tory, upped the ante Thursday in his ongoing verbal skirmish with Prime Minister Stephen Harper over equalization payments. In recent weeks he has hoped aloud for the defeat of the Conservative minority government in Ottawa and taken to calling Harper “Steve” as a sign of his disdain.

On Thursday, he took his message to the Economic Club of Toronto where he refrained from the name-calling but didn’t hesitate to describe the prime minister as “untrustworthy” and “stubborn.”

“I’m telling voters in Newfoundland and Labrador and in Canada to vote ABC — anybody but Conservative. I’m hoping for just that,” Williams said. “My hope though is that the ABC campaign will basically stop them from forming a government.”


See:

Tory Cuts For All

You Tell 'em Danny Boy

Red Tories Are Progressives

Conservatives New Nanny State

No Room for Red Tories

Canada's New Progressive Right

Elizabeth May and Red Tories

Liberals The New PC's

PC=Liberals

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Activist Courts and Afghan Torture

The Americanization of Canadian politics continues.

First we have a General signing Foreign Affairs agreements on prisoner transfers.

Now a new policy is announced not by Foreign Affairs, nor the Minister of Defense, nor the Government but appears out of the blue in Federal Court. This gives new meaning to activist courts.

This must be the new agreement that the Defense Minister announced in an elevator last week.


A Federal Court of Canada hearing was abruptly adjourned Thursday mornin
g when it was told that Canada had struck a new detainee transfer agreement with the Afghan government.

Federal Court Judge Michael Kelen announced details of the agreement with Afghanistan Thursday during a case brought by human rights groups demanding the transfers be halted immediately.

He told the court this was a major development that took the urgency out of deciding whether to block future transfers.

It probably wouldnt have happened if this court hadnt been happening, he said of the agreement.


See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip


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Buzz and Stephen

He quotes Buzz, out of context, in the House but will he take his phone call?

Right Hon. Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, CPC):
Mr. Speaker, I am not sure I have anything to add to this subject at the moment, but I would hardly want today to pass without a rare chance for me to quote Buzz Hargrove on the good work that the Minister of the Environment is doing.

Buzz Hargrove said:


I believe [the minister] tried incredibly hard to find balance between the economy, the concern working people have for their jobs and the environmental concerns that concern every Canadian. I think he took a major step forward today that will deal with some of the environmental concerns that will not throw tens of thousands of Canadians out of work.

See Related Article;

Buzz the Protectionist


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May Daze

Could this article from the Hill Times be the real reason for the political stoning of Elizabeth May? Since this was published April 30 and the attacks on her Sunday Sermon, began May Day. Ooh, get it May Day.

May says Greens could expand sensational deal with federal Grits to other ridings

Green Leader May also says it's a world of hypotheticals but it's an open question for the future

J'Accuse


Canada's Dreyfus affair over Hockey. What foolishness. Luc Malo the BQ MP has made it his personal mission to be prosecutor, judge and jury in L'affaire de Sean Doan.

Parliamentary committee summons Hockey Canada


At the House of Commons Official Languages committee today he harangued and harassed Hockey Canada and Sport Canada officials refusing to believe them, when they said Shane Doan had not used an anti-French slur against a referee in the NHL.

"I mean it is not the first time that words like that are used against French players. That was almost a tradition and we should accept that? Never," Gilles Duceppe, leader of the Bloc Quebecois party, said.


No matter what they said Malo insisted they were wrong. His is a personal mission of scapegoating and political interference in the arms length operations of Hockey Canada. Perhaps his venomous misplaced attack on our national hockey team captain is the result of confusing Shane Doan with Don Cherry or Sean Avery.

Mr. Doan allegedly made derogatory remarks toward a French-Canadian NHL linesman two years ago. Mr. Doan has categorically denied making the comment and the NHL cleared him when it looked into the allegation at the time.

But some MPs still allege that Mr. Doan made a racist insult and wanted Hockey Canada to explain its decision to parliament.

Bloc MP Luc Malo aggressively questioned the hockey officials, saying the whole controversy is their fault and it could have been avoided if they had simply appointed someone else as captain.

He asked why they took the word of the NHL over the word of the linesman, who claims it was Doan that made the insulting remark.

The officials explained that Hockey Canada is a partner of the NHL and it is not about to challenge the NHLs jurisdiction or trustworthiness. They said the NHLs investigation determined an insult was made on the ice, but it could not be proven that it was Mr. Doan that said it, and so they see no reason not to have Mr. Doan on the team.


Could the BQ's real agenda be that they would like to see two teams in Canada, one from Quebec and one from the ROC. That was after all the official party line of the BQ in the last election as expressed by their Marxist Leninist leader Gilles Duceppe. One that Hockey Canada flatly rejected. Revenge is a dish best served cold, and in this case it is ice cold.

Bloc wants Quebec to compete in international hockey

When asked about a Quebec hockey team, the Bloc leader immediately rattled off the goalies who would be available: Martin Brodeur, José Théodore and Roberto Luongo.

"Today I'll announce goalies — tomorrow I'll give you the defence," he quipped yesterday.

Hockey world rejects Duceppe's plan

Kevin Lowe, assistant manager of Canada's 2006 men's Olympic team, doesn't think much of Gilles Duceppe's idea of entering a separate Quebec team in international hockey competition — and he has company in the hockey world.

Lowe, who grew up in Montreal and is fluently bilingual, flatly rejected the Bloc Québécois leader's proposal, which was unveiled Wednesday as part of his party's election platform.

"Those politicians should stick to politics," said Lowe. "If they want to come and apply for a job in hockey, then they can have their say."

Prominent lawyer wants a Team Quebec at the 2008 worlds

If lawyer Guy Bertrand has his way, Canada could be represented at the 2008 world hockey championship by Team Quebec.

Bertrand, who is again proclaiming his sovereigntist faith after embracing federalism for several years, said Thursday he wants Quebec's hockey elite to play a pre-tournament best-of-three or best-of-five series against players from the rest of Canada.

Up for grabs would be one spot at the 2008 world championship, which will be held in Quebec City and Halifax.

Bertrand's scenario would see some of the losing players allowed to represent the winning team at the worlds.

"When you look at Czechoslovakia, it split in 1992. Since then, Canada has won four championships, the Czech Republic won five championships and Slovakia one. Not bad for a country that split."
Duceppe returns to the hockey sovereignty theme he broached earlier in the campaign.

The BQ contests only Quebec ridings. Apart from earning ridicule early in the campaign for his claim that Quebec national teams should be able to play in international tournaments for ice hockey and soccer, leader Gilles Duceppe made few new policy announcements.
Election 2006: Canada changes government



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Stelmach the Perfect Strom



As I have said before our new Alberta CEO Ed Stelmach is haunted by the ghost of a Premier past; the lame duck Harry Strom.

Edmonton Sun columnist Neil Waugh knows this too and gloating with glee likes to rub it in;

Listen up on land

Last week Premier Ed Stelmach finally gave Albertans a peek under the tent flaps about his plans to stop the insanity of Ralph Klein's flawed oilsands policy, which sees energy companies pay a penny-on-the-dollar in royalties while at the same time shipping raw bitumen and jobs down the pipeline to Illinois and Texas and turning 48 townships of pristine boreal forest around Fort McMurray into a vast industrial zone.

"My government is committed to ensuring there will never again be a major downturn like we saw in the 1980s," Stelmach boomed to the Canadian Energy Research Institute.

He plans to thwart any National Energy Program rerun by "developing and diversifying" the energy industry.

During the Alberta PC leadership campaign last fall Stelmach compared pipelining raw bitumen to Texas as selling the "topsoil" from a farm.

"This includes encouraging more upgrading and value-added activities in the province," he told the oilmen. "Our government will encourage that to happen."

He has a strange way of doing it. The latest jobs-down-the-pipeline dust-up happens before the National Energy Board in Calgary on June 4 when TransCanada Pipelines pitches its ultra-controversial Keystone bitumen pipeline to the States.

Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan has already filed an intervention describing the dubious line as a "devil's bargain".

NEB documents reveal the Alberta government is intervening too. But instead of a blizzard of submissions backing up the premier's pledge, Alberta taxpayers will be represented by one lowly "regulatory analyst" who is only there to "monitor" the hearings on behalf of his Edmonton bosses.

Spare us any more goofy speeches, Ed.

Tories drop ball on housing problem

They recommended the premier consider "limited, short-term market intervention." In short, they proposed the province impose "rent stability guidelines" consisting of once-a-year rent increases of no more than 2% above inflation. Also proposed was a one-year notice for condo conversions with no lease-busting rent increases in the meantime.

The task force report described this recommendation as a "very difficult one."

The Alberta Tories obviously had a difficult time of it as well. Because when the smoke cleared and Housing Minister Ray Danyluk released his $285-million response this week, rent controls were mysteriously missing.

In their place were a series of half-hearted attempts to rein in runaway accommodation costs.

The proposed condo conversion restrictions have been accepted. But landlords can impose once-a-year hikes with no ceiling.

Instead of responding boldly and constructively to a problem that's creating economic hardship for large numbers of Albertans and employment problems for many Alberta businesses trying to compete with the oilsands developers for workers, the Tories tried to dodge the bullet. They're attempting to buy a little more time.

In the meantime, apartment owners will continue to record huge profits, the affordable housing crisis will continue and the whole problem will blow up again next spring.

This is not leadership.

Boom's deadly toll

The blood spilled and the body count wasn't as high as in the tragic Diversified 690 bus crash. Thank God for that. But the cause of the death of two Chinese temporary foreign workers at Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.'s Horizon oilsands plant this week can be traced back to same source.

And that's the Alberta Tories' botched - and now extremely deadly - oilsands policy, which triggered a massive oilsands building boom without first putting in place the necessary infrastructure.

The Tories then conspired with the developers to tear up the labour peace treaty that ruled the oilsands for more than a decade.

There followed the airlift of cheap foreign workers, while thousands of Alberta tradesmen and women sit on union dispatch lists.

The collapse of the tank roof structure that killed Genbao Ge and Hong Liang Liu and injured four others working for the Chinese-government-owned contractor was the culmination of this goofy policy.

It's the same one that allows oilsands developers to pay a penny-on-the-dollar royalty until the multi-billion-buck plants are paid out, while at the same time shipping raw bitumen and jobs down the pipeline to Illinois and Texas and leaving behind irreparable environmental damage in the pristine boreal bush north of Fort McMurray.

It wasn't until after the bus crash that killed six construction workers on the Syncrude job that the Alberta PCs finally admitted that Highway 63 was fundamentally dangerous. And they're now playing a desperate game of catch-up to twin the major route to the oilsands.

But only last week, Finance Minister Lyle Oberg was bragging in his budget speech about more offshore workers coming in.

"We will develop an immigration strategy to encourage more skilled workers to come to Alberta." Oberg boomed. Well, how do you like your strategy now, Lyle?

And just how panicked the Stelmach government is to control the damage and deflect the blame has been clearly evident since Tuesday's tragedy.

A limited internal investigation by government bureaucrats - and no public report, but simply a handover to the dubious Alberta Justice Department, which already has the worst record in Canada on bringing boardroom bad guys to justice. (They've yet to get the trucker who crashed into Bus 690 into court - an accident that happened way back on May 20, 2005.)

Worker error

Meanwhile, CNRL is being allowed to do a parallel "full investigation" of the incident, where worker error will be the inevitable conclusion.

Heck, Employment Minister Iris Evans didn't even bother to issue a press release acknowledging the latest oilpatch accident even happened.

Smoke and mirrors

"Alberta intends to borrow $300 million on behalf of its corporations this year," noted CIBC World Markets economist Avery Shenfeld. "With half of that raised in the public debt market."

Shenfeld added that the government-backed Alberta Capital Finance Authority and ATB Financial plan on floating paper worth $2 billion this year.

BMO Capital Markets economist Michael Gregory also determined that the Tories are back in the borrowing business "which will be subsequently lent to other provincial corporations to meet their funding requirements."

Things get even more murky when you dig deep into the budget documents to find the true meaning of P3 (public/private partnerships), like the Anthony Henday and Stoney Trail ring roads in Edmonton and Calgary.

P3 magic, we are told, is that it "allows the government to transfer certain risks that the private sector is better able to manage."

Without getting too specific.

But the background blurb also admits: "contribution of public financing to a P3 project should reduce total project cost."

And under a section called "debt servicing costs," Oberg's documents show a line identified as "financing costs for government-owned capital (P3s)" growing from $8 million this fiscal year to $22 million by 2009-10.

Yup, we're back in debt.

Except the budget book would prefer to call it "alternative financing" or "capital lease liability".

Of course, there's more debt on the books in "debt free" Alberta.

Another $166 million in medium term bonds comes due this year.

That leaves over $1.2 billion of old Don Getty debt on the books to be paid off from the debt retirement account when it comes due. Some of that won't be until 2013.

Sure, there's another $2.2 billion surplus in the forecast this year plus another $7.7 billion ticking over in the Sustainability Fund.

OTHER FUNDS

At the same time, the Tories will pull another $1.4 billion of investment income out of the Alberta Heritage Fund, while other funds will yield an additional $2.1 billion more.

But isn't the HTF supposed to be used for a rainy day?

Don't worry, it could be pouring soon.

The University of Calgary's Institute for Sustainability, Energy, Environment and Economy recently released a paper on Alberta's economic future.

The results of that study are suddenly showing up in government documents.

The "bulk" of the government resource revenue came from gas royalties in recent years.

In 2004, it hit over $8 billion. By 2013, the institute predicts gas royalty revenue will be only $3 billion.

While oilsands revenue is the next big thing, the way the Tories have screwed up the royalty regime with their goofy penny-on-the-dollar giveaway leads the institute to a grim conclusion.

"In general, one would expect significantly lower royalties as a percentage of revenues in the case of oil- sands compared to conventional oil," the paper warns. Expected royalties compared to recent years will be "substantially lower."

And the projected royalty revenues for 2013 are "just over $5 billion" - which the report points out are "about one-half the average levels" over the past five years.

Looks like Oberg is just getting warmed up for when Alberta is back aboard the debt and deficit wagon.

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Glass House Politics

This is what happens when you are a politician preaching from a pulpit.

The fallout from Elizabeth May's comments on Neville Chamberlain continues. It is all about religion and religious outrage.

The Conservatives began it in the House of Commons with attacks on the Liberals, quoting from letter's they received from the Jewish lobbyists complaining May's comments some how demeaned the importance of the holocaust. Clearly political support for the Conservatives disguised as faux outrage. Call it pay back for all the nice things Harper has said about Israel and his unconditional support for their war against Lebanon and the Palestinians


I am pleased to extend my warmest greetings to everyone marking Yom Ha’atzmaut, the 59th anniversary of Israel’s independence.
On Yom Ha’atzmaut, you have an opportunity to reflect upon the history of the struggle that led to the birth of the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948. It is a time to remember the past while renewing your dedication to the challenges of the future. The Jewish people have always faced the task of building a nation of freedom and peace with perseverance and enduring faith. These qualities have helped Israel grow in strength and stature since its formation. Its very existence is a testament to the spirit of its people and the power of hope.
Canada enjoys close ties with Israel, and I know that our relationship will continue to flourish in the years ahead.
On behalf of the government of Canada, please accept my best wishes for a memorable and enjoyable celebration.
Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada

Not to be outdone in sucking up to that lobby the Liberals and NDP joined in throwing stones at May's glass house.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion said May should withdraw the comment, even though references to weak-kneed Chamberlain are often employed in commentary on environmental or poverty issues.

"We should not use it — for the very reason that in the spectrum of power, the Nazi regime is beyond any comparison," Dion said outside the Commons.

"So I’m uncomfortable with the reference to Chamberlain about anything else than what happened in the Second World War."

NDP Leader Jack Layton said May’s comment was "certainly not something we consider to be wise or appropriate," and added voters will be the ultimate judge.

A shame that, since this was clearly a political effort by the Harpocrites to divert attention away from the failure of the Tories green plan as well as their failures in Afghanistan to protect human rights. While abusing what May actually said.

Of Course the Harpocrites overlooked the fact that the same Jewish lobby that criticized her accepted her apology but gave a dyer warning to politicians who would usurp their right to be the sole arbitrators of the political implications of Nazism. Of course she never did compare Climate Change to the Holocaust, but never mind that small detail.

Bernie Farber, chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said the Green Party leader had telephoned the organization Wednesday to retract and apologize for her comments. The congress had written Ms. May a critical letter about her speech.

"This is probably a lesson for all politicians who are tempted to make comparisons with the Nazis in their speech. They are going to lose the argument every time," said Mr. Farber, adding he was impressed by Ms. May’s sincerity.

And now it has expanded into faux outrage from the Evangelical and Fundamentalist protestants as well for her comments about them too.

Mike Duffy Live: Debating the May controversy

You know the nice folks who are not political except for their lobby against human rights for gays and lesbians, their lobby to oppose a womans right to choose, their lobbying against child care, etc. etc.

"It is time for the Liberal members opposite to stand up against outrageous, hateful, mean-spirited comments by their candidate in Central Nova," Environment Minister John Baird said in Tuesday's question period. "It is inexplicable how they could not stand up against people who bash Christians and invoke Nazi-era atrocities."

But Mr. Harper, referring to a letter from Ed Morgan, the national president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, condemning the May remarks, said he lacks confidence in the Opposition Leader. He said Ms. May has "diminished the Holocaust, used the Nazi analogy that is demagogic and inappropriate, while belittling Canadians of faith.


Gee thats funny considering May is a Christian and she was speaking in Church. How that makes her anti-Christian well its your guess. The reality is of course that the terms; "Christianity and Canadians of Faith" are open to interpretation when used by the Conservatives. They are referring to Evangelical and Fundamentalist Protestants who make up their social conservative base.

By comparing today's approach to the environment to pre-war approaches to the Nazis, Elizabeth May shows insensitivity to context and history. Her comparison of Stephen Harper to Neville Chamberlain is both demagogic and inappropriate, revealing that the Green party leader is still too green to have learned to control her excesses of rhetoric. Further, her belittling of Evangelical Christians, characterizing their theology as "waiting for the end of time in glee," signals a truly dangerous mindset. The Green party leader, who is also an Anglican minister-in-training, demonstrated that she considers herself and her religion to be morally superior to another. And it doesn't matter that she ridiculed the beliefs of a branch of her own religion, rather than those of an altogether different faith.

Ms. May is not giving private lectures to her congregation now that she is running as Green party leader in alliance with the Liberals. She is being heard by a diverse public at large on an important policy issue. She should start respecting all of them.

Ed Morgan, national president, Canadian Jewish Congress, Toronto.


However as we can see those that live in glass houses and those professing in the House of the Lord should be cautious about throwing stones. Because the media is doing a good job of showing that the shoe is on the other foot when it comes to politicians using Neville Chamberlain against their opponents. Proving this is all a tempest in a tea pot that is the Glass House of Commons.

See:

Year of the Pig and the Liberal Green Alliance

Charles Agrees With Elizabeth May

Green Nazi's


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Wednesday, May 02, 2007

Hillier's War

Before it was Harpers War, Afghanistan was Hillier's War. And as such it was one that was created by him to change Canada's Armed Forces from Peace keepers to warriors. And as we know warriors take no prisoners.

Harper stands by Hillier


Prime Minister Stephen Harper is staunchly defending his Defence Chief amid claims the General did not consult with Foreign Affairs before signing a detainee transfer agreement in 2005 that left no provision to verify prisoner safety.

Hillier pushed flawed detainee plan

The Department of Foreign Affairs was pushed to the sidelines when Canada struck its detainee-transfer deal in Afghanistan, two senior government sources have told The Globe and Mail.

“We were not consulted,” said one, adding that Foreign Affairs was shunted aside by the Department of National Defence and Canada's top soldier, Rick Hillier, when he signed the accord in 2005. The deal has become mired in controversy because it includes no follow-up role for Canada on the fate of detainees in Afghanistan's notoriously brutal prison system.

Another senior foreign-service officer gave a longer explanation: “Hillier went to Kabul thinking of them [the detainees] as ‘scumbags' and made the deal. Hillier wanted to sign it; he insisted on signing it,” he said. “Defence took the file and messed it up.”

The comment played off a remark General Hillier, Chief of the Defence Staff, made in July, 2005, when he set off a national debate by referring to the Taliban as “detestable murderers and scumbags.”



See:

Afghanistan

Heil Hillier, Maintiens le droit

Joined At The Hip


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Anti-Smoking Hypocrites


An excellent summation of the philosophical and political morality of anti-smoking legislators;

Going into a privately-owned restaurant where smokers voluntarily associate and then complaining about the smoke makes as much sense as going to a rock concert and then complaining that they won’t turn off the loud music.



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