Climatology Vacation Retreat

It must be a great life to be a climatologist, as every year you get the opportunity for a lush retreat to a popular vacation destination. This year, they climate changeology lobby gets to visit beautiful Cancun. If they are so serious about making a difference in the arctic, why don't they do this conference in Nunavut in December? Instead, they are going to a tropical environment where they can sit on the beach on work on their tans. Way to go guys, where does moral superiority end and hypocrisy begin?

Ignatieff Improves Byelection Record To 1-7

Great news for Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff, who finally won his first byelection as Liberal leader, improving his record to 1 win and 7 losses. Sure, they might have lost a Liberal stronghold in a region that elected half his caucus (including his own seat, which he did not win my a large margin in 2008), but he finally won a byelection in Winnipeg North. Jack Layton has to be feeling the most heat Tuesday morning; but with the political trends in greater Toronto, Iggy has to be concerned about even winning his own seat in the next general election.

Most Signficant Defeat?

Today's poll question; which lost seat in Monday's byelections is the most significant? Is it the Liberals losing Vaughan (which they won by 15% in 2008), or the NDP losing Winnipeg North (which they won by 40% in 2008)? Statistically the NDP loss was the larger upset, but the fact that most of the Liberal caucus comes from Greater Toronto means that they need to be afraid. As the votes were being counted, Warren Kinsella was on Twitter saying that he expected Fantino to win by more, and that Julian didn't reach an optimistic projection represented bad news for Conservatives. Nice try Warren, trying to spin a significant Liberal loss as bad news for the Tories.

There was a funny exchange on the Soloman Show Monday afternoon when a Liberal strategist from Bluesky was talking about how the Liberals "decided" to select "grassroots" candidate Tony Genco in Vaughan. Chapstick from the NDP interrupted and reminded his Liberal friend that they only selected Genco after being turned down by Fantino. It wasn't exactly a "grassroots movement".

Jack Layton The Biggest Loser

Well, the Tories pulled off an improbable upset in the Liberal stronghold of Vaughan in Monday byelections, but the day's biggest loser was NDP leader Jack Layton. The Liberals pulled off an even more significant upset in Winnipeg North. The Dippers beat the Liberals by 54% in that riding in 2008, and despite Layton's "home heating tax" commercial blitz suffered a devastating defeat.

That being said, the Liberals can hardly claim any significant victory. The Tories won 2 of 3 byelections and were clearly the big winners on Monday. Considering that roughly half of the Liberal caucus hold seats in the Greater Toronto Area, they have to be concerned that the city is shifting the right. Some voices on the left tried to argue that the election of Rob Ford was an "anti-establishment" vote and therefore bad news for the federal Tories. Well Vaughan just voted for the establishment in a Liberal stronghold. That disproves the "good news for Rob Ford is bad news for Stephen Harper" Theory and suggests that Toronto is shifting right.

With the bad news of losing Vaughan, the unexpected win in Winnipeg North might just save Iggy's job. The Liberals aren't the big winners, but certainly are not the biggest losers. Jack Layton just took a hard shot on the chin. They spent all that money on a national ad blitz with Jack having a one on one with Canadians about their home heating bills with "send Stephen Harper a message" as the money shot. Instead, voters sent Jack Layton a message.

Free Willie!

While I am no fan of Willie Nelson's music, I don't think the world is suddenly a safer place with him incarcerated for marijuana possession. The Willie Nelson Tour bus was searched crossing from California into Texas, and big surprise, they found weed; leading authorities to put Willie Nelson under arrest. This is what the drug war has come to, putting the 77 year old Willie Nelson in jail? He is out on bail, but come on guys, FREE WILLIE!

My mother always used to tell me that had she ever had the chance to meet Willie Nelson once upon a time, he could have been my father. Same with Rod Stewart, the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, etc. But that never happened and my parents have been happily married for over 30 years.

Good Luck Julian Fantino

On this day of federal byelections, I would like to offer my best wishes to Conservative candidate Julian Fantino in Vaughan. I lived next door in Guelph for 6 years, and I support Mr Fantino's bid to join federal politics. Don Cherry is all the character witness that I require to decide that this is a worthy representative. The Don is not as dumb as some people make him out to be. This is supposed to be a safe Liberal seat, so Fantino is fighting an uphill battle. Statistically speaking, given the Liberal margin of victory in the last general election, the Tories should have no better than a 5% chance of winning this riding.

And I blame Dalton McGuinty for the policy errors in the Caledonia Crisis. Many of you agree with me. Should provincial governments set policy for its provincial police force? Maybe that should be a poll question? In Ontario, the government issues orders to the OPP. That's the law.

Best Leslie Nielsen Movie?

Today's poll question for those of us mourning the loss of Canadian comedic icon Leslie Nielsen, what is your favourite of his movies? The 4 top contenders are obviously Airplane and the Naked Gun trilogy. The one talent that Nielsen had above all his contemporaries was the ability to act completely serious when being completely sarcastic. That was his gift. I will vote for the second Naked Gun as my favourite. Leslie, you will be missed.

Replacing Gordon Campbell

With BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell set to resign, candidates are starting to throw their hats into the ring to replace the wildly unpopular "Gordo". Federal Conservatives in BC, the remnants of the Social Credit Party, have to decide on a new Liberal to support or whether or not to shift their preference to the fledgling BC Conservative Party (who have yet to run a full slate of candidates). From 1952 to 1986, the Social Credit Party won 11 of 12 BC elections. Then Bill Vander Zalm destroyed that Party and most of those votes went to Gordon Campbell against the NDP.

Campbell didn't win in 2008 because people love the carbon tax, he won because most British Columbians are still afraid of the disaster of NDP forming government. Yet if there is a mass defection from the BC Liberals to the fledling BC Conservatives, that increases the probability that Carole Taylor (whom I have described as a Jim Henson acid trip gone horribly awry) will become Premier in the next general election

What do we do?

The Grey Cup

I don't have any prediction's for today's Grey Cup because I don't follow the CFL closely enough to have an opinion on the outcome. My strongest attachment to the Grey Cup was my mother going into labour with me at a Grey Cup party. I never bothered asking if they stayed to watch the rest of the game, but that would be a funny TV commercial. Generally I am excited for the end of the CFL season because that means that Vancouver sports talk radio and TSN start going hockey almost around the clock. I played high school football in Northern Ontario and we played 4 downs. I love football, but strongly prefer 4 downs. It leads to more creativity and running plays. I would rather watch a running back break a 60 yard run than see a receiver catch a 60 yard pass. I played Offensive Line, team captain, won 2 regional championships.

Caledonian Blame Game

Today's poll question; who do you think deserves the blame for the Crisis of Caledonia? Was it Julian Fantino, Dalton McGuinty, Stephen Harper, or even Mike Harris? Ipperwash is alleged to be the fault of Harris, so why then is Caledonia not the fault of McGuinty? The Ontario Provincial Police are beholden to the elected government of Ontario. Whether or not you think that should be so, I try to look at the big picture. Should Fantino have arrested McGuinty for creating a passive containment policy? If you want to change the law, vote for people who say that they plan to change the law; but don't blame the civil servant who followed the orders of the elected government.

Julian Fantino was first approached by the Liberal Party to run for them in Vaughan. Why do you think he said no? This seat, despite recent conjecture is the Liberals to lose as it has been Liberal for 22 years. Some media pundits are trying to set up the Tories as the leaders such that they can spin it as a Tory loss if they fail to win an otherwise safe Liberal seat. If Fantino wins, Ignatieff has big problems.

Tiger Woods "The Most Unfaithful Guy Of The Year"

Another November 26th has come and gone, the day of which in 2009 Tiger Woods crashed his car into a tree while his wife may or may not have been chasing him with one or more golf club(s). If you want a good laugh, what this Christmas song parody of Tiger Woods to get you in the spirit of the Holiday season. Do you think Tiger has paid a sufficient price for his indiscretions? It cost the man a fortune, both in the settlement and in endorsement deals. The Tiger Woods brand has stopped selling since this happened. It should cost him a least a billion dollars by the end of his career.

Obama Takes One In The Mouth

Yesterday at a Whitehouse pick-up basketball game, President Barack Obama took a "hard foul" in the mouth that opened up a gash requiring 12 stitches. That makes me wonder, did the Secret Service take down the offending player? Jesus Christ, why doesn't at least one agent run up and down the court with him? Hell Obama's entire team should be made up of Secret Service agents! Have they started running profiles of the offender in the media yet? Was a disgruntled staffer trying to get payback for Obamacare?

I doubt we'll ever know the whole truth... :)

Sign Me Up For Sun TV News

I am happy to see that Sun TV has been granted an operating license by the CRTC and will now be going ahead with a 24 hour news broadcast in March. When it becomes available, I plan to subscribe. Today's poll question; do you intend to subscribe to Sun TV News? I'm sure some of you would like to have it, but can't necessarily afford to buy an expanded cable package. They were unlikely to ever win must carry status out of starting block, where many believe that CBC Newsworld and CTV Newsnet should not be must carry either. But when they didn't get it, the media establishment cheered it as a major defeat for "Fox News North".

I have always said, "if you build it, they will come". Launch a product, and build a subscriber base. You don't need to force the whole country to buy it on its first day of operation. The best asset that Sun TV has signed, the Boss of Talk, Charles Adler; a man I would pay to watch.

Justin Trudeau Attacks Fantino, Whom Iggy Courted To Run For Liberals

So Justin Trudeau has a problem with the long policing history of Vaughan Conservative candidate Julian Fantino and is now attacking him in video? I wonder what if anything Justin was saying to his "dear leader" when Iggy was courting Fantino to run for the Liberal Party? As Justin said "we need people in Ottawa who want to protect the Charter of Rights, not tear it down. That’s what’s at stake in this election in Vaughan". Really JT? Did Iggy know what was "at stake" when he tried to get Fantino to run for the Liberal Party? Did the Liberals try and recruit a candidate who wants to shred our constitution?

With just days before the byelection, the Liberals are bringing out all their big guns to try and save the suburban Toronto seat that has been red for 22 years. The Libs have a lot to lose. Statistically given the margin f victory in 2008 the Tories should have less than a 5% chance of picking up the seat. But now that Fantino is running even the polls, the media is calling it the Conservatives riding to lose. Therefor if the Liberals lose, many pundits will try to paint it as a major loss for the Tories when realistically it should have been a completely safe Liberal seat from the start.

Endangered Species

Today's poll question; if you could save one endangered species, which would you save? I did 30 minutes of internet search for my list, but I'm sure I left some off. The Giant Panda is probably the most famous endangered species, but now China is doing a great job of breeding the bears. The Panda's biggest problem is it is an inefficient species that only eats one thing which is very low in nutritional value. I'd probably vote to save the Tiger.

Touch Iggy's Junk?

It would seem that Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff is enthusiastic about being "touched in the junk". I don't know any people who would like to touch Iggy's junk with their hands, but I can think of a few who would like to do it forcefully with their boot (probably even a few Liberals). Thank you Mike for just being you. The more Open Mike the better, as he gives us Tory bloggers quite a lot of amusing material.

EKOS Mood Swings

I am growing tired of the skipping record that has become the polling network of Liberal pollster Frank Graves. A regular pattern has started to emerge from the world of Graves, Tories pull ahead, then it is tied, Tories pull ahead, then it is tied, and so on and so forth. While other pollsters like Ipsos, Nanos, and Harris Decima have had very little change over the past few months, every week it seems EKOS is providing a new mood swing for Liberal activist Jane Taber (who "sets the agenda" at the Globe and Mail) to write about. Even when the Tories surge ahead they try to spin it as bad news for the party.

It is no big surprise that the CBC contracts Liberal donor Frank Graves to do their national polling, which Taber reports on weekly. Sadly, the CBC prefers to employ pollsters who have their own news making agenda. Though it should be noted that no pollster overrates the Green party more than Frank Graves. He just knows who to call to get the results he's looking for.

Farewell Danny Williams

The flamboyant Premier of Newfoundland is going to step down next week, a move that is quite the surprise. I didn't see this one coming, unlike the slow demise of Gordon Campbell. Jean Charest is hanging by a thread, and Dalton McGuinty has passed his expiry date. Danny is on TV saying that he is sad because he is leaving what he calls "the best job in the world", which makes you wonder if there is more behind his decision than is currently being made public. He has stopped complaining about Stephen Harper, and I doubt that there will be another PC led ABC campaign in the next General Election.

It seems that a lot of people are leaving politics, Liberal and Conservative these days. While I enjoy being a Canadian political pundit, I have no desire to ever run for public office. Politics has become a bloodsport in our era of 24 hour news, and it blows my mind how some people can handle it for as many years as they do. I do know this much, I am not going to miss Danny Williams, but I do wish him a happy retirement.

Jean Charest, The Survivor

Stop the presses! There is giant news! Quebec Liberal Premier Jean Charest's majority government has survived a non-confidence motion, as the majority government did not vote to plunge themselves into their 3rd Provincial election since 2007. What a shocker, big news maker! A majority government survived an opposition motion of non-confidence. Granted, there ain't much going on right now in federal politics, so I understand the media trying to overblow the significance of a story.

Polygamy Back In The News

Once again the issue of polygamy is back on the television news, as the BC Supreme Court prepares to make a ruling on the matter. I really hope that they don't screw this up, because I don't see this as something supported by the majority. That gets us to today's poll question; should people be allowed to marry more than one spouse? I vote no.

While the social libertarian in me would vote to legalize prostitution and marijuana, I draw the line at polygamy. It isn't on moral grounds per say, but that if you allow a small number of men to collect a large number of wives, then you are skewing the ratio of single men to single women. If our court says it is okay and people in the big cities can start pairing up with multiple spouses instead of just isolated communities, you are opening a Pandora's Box.

Bob Rae "Captain Control"

Bob Rae has a new nickname for our Prime Minister "captain control" meant to criticize Canada's foreign policy. Evidently Bobby thinks it is wrong for the government to vet public speeches by diplomats in foreign countries. We should instead have all these people representing Canada freestyling in "Open Mike" jam sessions without consulting the government of the day. Frankly Bob, I would rather have "Captain Control" as my Prime Minister than steaming towards an iceberg with "Captain No Control" Ignatieff.

Then again, the Liberals cry foul when the government manages the public words of their MPs, but think it is okay to order their own caucus to shut up on specific issues. Why do you think Liberal MPs stopping complaining about "torture-gate"? The Liberals tell their own elected members what they can or cannot talk about, but don't think diplomats in foreign countries might want to be careful what they say? Come on guys...

The Expendables

I recently had the opportunity to watch the movie the Expendables with Sly Stallone. I am having difficulty figuring out if this sucks, or if it is entertaining. Some of the acting performances are fun to watch and the plot is almost decent, but the gratuitous action is way over the top as expected. Simply maximizing the number of big explosions does not in and of itself make a movie worth watching. That's all this movie is. If you want to watch some familiar faces in the action genre with big explosions, go out and rent the Expendables. If you require a respectable plot and serious acting, this movie is probably not for you.

Airport Security

Today's poll question; would you prefer a clothesless body scan or a genital pat down to ensure a safe flight? Are you okay with either? Do you dislike the measures but are willing to accept a hand job in the name of security? Or have the terrorists won and you are done with airports? I already have a flight booked for Christmas vacation, but I think I will drive next time.

A Tale Of Two Koreas

When I see North Korea launch a major artillery attack on South Korea with a building pattern of aggression, my first thought is what the hell are they thinking? They can't possibly want to re-ignite the Korean war, which is technically still a war (cease fire, no peace agreement). Yet at the same time the leadership there is borderline insane, and I doubt it would take more than a puppet show to convince them that they could win another major conflict against an Asian Tiger (supported militarily by the USA).

It would seem that the most likely scenario is that North Korea is using a show of force in an attempt to scare the international community into a better extortion deal. The question is, how much more should South Korea be expected to endure in order to secure a "golden parachute" for Kim Jong Ill?

What's China saying? Only Beijing has sway over Pyongyang.

The Pacific

Having rented and watched episodes 1 and 2 of the Pacific, the most recent Hanks/Spielberg WWII collaboration, I can't say that I enjoyed it. I thought that episode 1 sucked, and episode 2 was alright. I doubt that I will rent the rest of the series, I'll just wait for it to appear on free TV. In fact having watched disc 1, I'm starting to think that we have done enough WWII movies/series. This feels like a series too far. I don't regret spending $4 on episodes 1 and 2, but I'm not willing to spend $4 more on episodes 3 and 4. If you are going to watch a WWII piece, I recommend "Battle 360" featuring the USS Enterprise.

Don't Touch My Junk

In a month I am going to be flying to and from the United States for Christmas, and as I understand it I will be getting a very personal pat down from airport security. It has created a "don't touch my junk" movement among the civilian population who don't want their private parts touched by security, prompting more people to drive to their holiday destinations. The full body clothesless scanners are one thing, but why both? I don't mind going through a full body clothesless scanner in the name of security, but I am not cool with another dude touching my junk.

I'm sure there are lots of men out there who would not have a problem with a female guard performing their pat down, but uncomfortable with another male performing the duty. Globally men spend many billions of dollars to have women touch their junk. That being said, you can't very well force a female guard to perform very personal patdowns on male passengers. My preference is that we have a machine that we walk through which can detect any instrument of harm, because I'm wondering how much farther I can be pushed before I just don't want to fly anymore.

Prince William As Canada's Head Of State?

Today's poll question; do you think that Prince William would be a good Head of State for Canada? It would appear that since his wedding announcement, Canadian opposition to the monarch as Canada's Head of State has diminished. My guess is that it has something to do with the unpopularity of Prince Charles, though it was only announced that William is getting married and not that he is necessarily going to leap frog his dad on the successors list. Is there now a perception that William's marriage increases the probability that Charles gets skipped for the crown?

Personally I have an open disdain for Charles and have a much more favourable opinion of William. I support severing Canada's formal ties to the monarchy, but I will admit that I will be significantly less upset if William becomes Canada's next Head of State than the alternative. I would even vote for Harry, the pot smoking Nazi before Prince Charles.

From Ipperwash To Caledonia

A week before the upcoming byelections in Vaughan, Conservative candidate Julian Fantino is still drawing criticism from right minded people for his role in the Caledonia crisis. His "great mistake" was carrying out the policy of Dalton McGuinty's government. Remember the road from Ipperwash to Caledonia.  In September of 1995 a group of First Nation protestors occupied the Ipperwash National Park. When small bands of native mobs started spilling out of the park into adjacent civilian areas, the Ontario Provincial Police assembled a Swat Team/Riot Squad to force protestors back into the park, a riot broke out, and somebody was killed. Ontario Liberals (including especially Dalton McGuinty) hammered the Harris government forevermore for the forceful response in the Ipperwash case.

Fast forward to 2006 and suddenly Dalton McGuinty is sitting in the Premier's office when a similar land dispute gets nasty in Caledonia. Paranoid that Caledonia will become his Ipperwash, Dalton sets up a policy of ‘passive containment’ and ostensibly stops enforcing the rule of law in that area. It was government policy. As Jonathan Kay wrote in 2007: "Since the crisis began, Dalton McGuinty's government has been petrified of taking decisive action, lest the Toronto media compare his actions to those of Mike Harris' government during the Ipperwash Crisis of 1995. At numerous points during the Caledonia standoff, the OPP has been ordered to sit on their hands despite numerous provocations by native protestors."

I am not trying to argue that the order of passive containment was the best course of action, but that policy came from Dalton McGuinty's government, not Julian Fantino. He was the civil servant instructed by the provincial government to avoid a violent confrontation with native protestors at all cost. The Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services is responsible for law enforcement services in the province of Ontario, including the Ontario Provincial Police, jails, parole boards, public safety and disaster management.

How exactly should our police force respond to these types of incidents? I think the answer lies somewhere in between Ipperwash and Caledonia. As one OPP Sgt was recorded saying the day before the deadly Ipperwash riot, "we want to amass a fucking army. A real fucking army and do this. Do these fuckers big-time". I don't think that's the answer. At the same time, I don't think suspending the rule of law because you're afraid of bad press is an appropriate response either. Some of you want to blame Julian Fantino for Dalton McGuinty's poor judgment. I guess Fantino should have raised an army to "do those fuckers big-time" and defy the orders of the elected government who sets their policy?

Don Cherry Endorses Fantino

The big question today is can a glowing endorsement for Conservative Julian Fantino from Canadian icon Don Cherry in next week's byelection help flip a riding that has been Liberal red for the last 22 years? "“There are not enough words to describe how much respect I have for Julian Fantino. He is honest, brave and always there for the ordinary guy. A class act and someone who will never let you down. He tells it like it is." Jane Taber seemed annoyed with the endorsement calling Cherry "the bombastic and sartorially outlandish Hockey Night in Canada commentator" and then following the Cherry quote wrote "there is more fawning analysis from Mr. Cherry, a former coach – but you get the idea."

Vaughan is of course a seat that the Liberals can not afford to lose in suburban Toronto. Polls currently indicate that the Liberals and Tories are running in a dead heat. Can such a strong endorsement by such a beloved opinionist push Fantino over the top? We will find out next week.

The Big Bang Theory

I have now watched about 5 episodes of The Big Bang Theory, and while the show is well written with witty dialogue that appeals to the geek inside me, the acting doesn't exactly "float my boat". Darlene's boyfriend from Roseanne over-acts his character and is not worth watching, his neurotic roommate gets more annoying each time I watch the show, and the girl from 8 Simple Rules is pleasant to look at but is not a skilled actress. I think the writing is fantastic, but the acting is mostly just annoying.

Right now my favourite sitcom is My Name Is Earl. Big Bang Theory has better writing, but for my money Jason Lee has more acting talent in his pinkie finger than the entire cast of Big Bang. If Jason Lee does not win the next award for best lead in a comedy series, something is wrong with the voting process for that award.

Does Bob Rae Want To Be Prime Minister?

Today's poll question; do you think that Bob Rae wants to be Prime Minister of Canada? Suddenly as Iggy's numbers within his own party plummet, there are rumours that Bob Rae is going to retire as a Member of Parliament to become ambassador to Israel? Bobby started campaigning to become Prime Minister the moment he became a Liberal, but are we suddenly supposed to believe that he has given up on that ambition? Let's say that he does resign, does that mean he's giving up on Liberal leadership, or that he is Brutus but doesn't want a knife in his hand on D-Day? I ask you.

I think it would be great if Bob Rae retires from politics, because I shudder to think of what harm would befall the Canadian economy if he became Prime Minister. I remember during the 2006 Liberal leadership race one of my friends in the Conservative Party asked me who I wanted to win, Iggy or Rae? I answered Ignatieff. He said "but doesn't Rae give us the best chance to win?" To which I replied "perhaps, but Rae would do the most damage to Canada if he became Prime Minister, so Iggy is the lesser of two evils." Neither of us even remotely predicted that the Liberal membership would elect Stephane Dion, a move that set their party back a decade.

Bob Rae To Retire?

I was just browsing the blogosphere, and saw a rumour reported by the Toronto Star that Bob Rae is preparing to retire from federal politics? I don't really believe it, considering Iggy is at point where 60% of Liberals want a new leader. Doesn't Bobby still want that job? That's why at age 60 he suddenly dumped the NDP to join the Liberal party, because somebody convinced him that he could become Prime Minister and he wanted that job. Then after Dion's failed coup, Bobby and Iggy negotiated a backroom deal where Rae forfeited contesting Ignatieff for the leader's office. I watched the 2006 Liberal leadership convention. Bobby really wanted that job. What was his deal with Ignatieff?

Iggy and Rae had one thing in common. They both started campaigning for the job of Prime Minister the moment that they decided to become Liberal candidates (not unlike Belinda Stronach). They both had their eye on the prize from the word go. Now Iggy is on the verge of revolt and allegedly Bobby is going to walk away? Is it that he doesn't want to be seen as involved in Iggy's ouster and he will return to run for the job again when Count Chocula is gone? Or is Bobby giving up his ambition of becoming Prime Minister? Regardless of whether or not Bobby steps down before the end of 2010, I fully expect him to be running for Iggy's job after Iggy goes back to Boston.

Ross Rebougliatti Political Career R.I.P

As a Tory pundit, today I am mourning the loss of Ross Rebougliatti's Liberal Party candidacy. I was very much looking forward to Ross becoming a Liberal candidate and campaigning in a national election. I was excited to quote him if he ever debated Stockwell Day and his Liberal nomination would have been a strong asset for the Conservative Party nationally. It is a sad day. I hope that Ross reconsiders his decision to drop out because it would be really great if he could follow his political career on its natural path.

Choosing Leaders

Today's poll question; what is the best method of selecting a party leader? The preferred method is a leadership convention where party members are provided the opportunity to elect a man or woman to lead them. The Liberal Party never elected Ignatieff leader, choosing instead the "backroom deal with nearest rival to avoid democratic process" method. Should we rethink the conventional logic that leadership conventions are the way to go? How about a webpolling or mail in voting method? Should we go with a more populist approach and have a Canadian Idol type contest on the CBC, or have rivals compete on the TV show Wipeout?

60% Of Liberals Want A New Leader

More bad news for Ignatieff as a recent poll has found that nearly 60% of Liberals think their party should have a new leader (where only 20% of Conservatives want to replace the Prime Minister). As Allan Greg said on the At Issue Panel "there is not just a disinterest in Ignatieff, there is an active disdain". When they went to Chantal Hebert, she went to her default position that the poll is bad news for Stephen Harper in Quebec. Granted I still remember Chantal predicting that the Tories would be completely wiped out in Quebec during the 2008 election campaign, and last time I checked we still have a strong Quebec caucus. Take her opinion for what it is worth.

Iggy's favourability numbers among his own party are even lower than Stephane Dion. I guess that explains why Dion defeated Ignatieff the only time they ran against each other in a leadership convention. Maybe next time they should actually have their membership vote on leadership instead of just installing the 2nd place guy in a bloodless coup after a failed attempt to overthrow the government and form a coalition with the Bloc Quebecois.

It Is Raining Jet Planes

For the second time this year, one of our active fighter jets has crashed landed in a practice run, and thankfully the pilot survived the incident. It is very important that we replace our current fleet of fighter jets. How much do we spend annually on maintenance of our current fleet? Ironically that is never reported in the media when journalists complain about projected maintenance costs for the rest of our fleet.

We need to buy new fighter jets.

Peter MacKay Going Rogue

Big story on CTV news last night, during a fire alarm Peter MacKay wore a hat that said "Fly Emirates" and stated his position that he believes we should have granted the UAE airline more landing rights in Toronto. He is entitled to have his opinion, even if I disagree with it. Yet the result of him taking that public position has the media speculating about a caucus revolt. That's what happens when you have "open mike" sessions with MPs. That's why Iggy asked his MPs not to talk to the media about his position on Afghanistan. In our 24 hour news cycle, it allows pundits to create a narrative.

That Peter MacKay would do this given the predictable media response probably suggests that he's leaning towards that private sector job offer. That's too bad, I always liked the guy. After the UAE spat went public, I ran the poll question with my Tory audience about whether or not the UAE should be given more landing rights on Canadian runways. The vote was a tight one, 95% no. I don't think this particular policy position translates into a successful run for party leadership.

Should Senate Appointments Last A Lifetime?

Today's poll question; should Senate appointments last a lifetime? I found it odd that the opposition would vote down Tory legislation to limit Senate terms from life to 8 years. The NDP wants to scrap the Senate, but isn't term limits a good first step? How can you logistically say that you want to scrap the institution but then vote in favour of lifetime appointments? It is hypocritical. We have several examples of Senators behaving badly (many of those Liberal, like that Lavigne guy) and yet the opposition wants guys like that to keep their jobs forever?

I understand the Liberals voting this down, because they believe that their bureaucrats are entitled to their entitlements, but shouldn't this have been a step in the right direction for the Dippers?

The Bristol Palin Conspiracy

Oh the humanity, people are crying foul that the Dancing With The Stars "competition" is being rigged by dedicated Palin supporters! How dare anyone compromise the dignity and tradition of celebrity dancing with phone in voting to keep people on TV! Bristol Palin is a compelling person and people want to see her on television. I don't watch that show so I can't really talk about her on stage, I just think it is nuts to have this as a major story on my Canadian news channel. Some people are very upset that Bristol Palin keeps winning, and I think it's hilarious.

This is not news. It should be on Entertainment Tonight, not the news.

Liberal Caucus Revolt

Evidently there is a growing rift between Ignatieff and his caucus on supporting the Prime Minister Afghanistan. According to liberal activist Jane Taber, Ignatieff has instructed his MPs not to talk to the media on this matter. Isn't that the same kind of "fascism" that that the left loves accusing our Prime Minister of? Ignatieff has to either keep as firm a grip as possible or attempt to placate the anti-war segment of his "big red tent". There has to be a cost to Iggy walking out on (and therefor killing) Gerard Kennedy's "conscientious objectors" bill. Did anyone else noticed that Iggy took the Foreign Affairs portfolio away from Ujjal Dosangh? Ujjal seemed pretty happy in that job during torture-gate.

What's odd is that Bob Rae seems to share a very similar opinion to Ignatieff on the Afghanistan mission. The MPs who are upset are many of the lightweights. Jane Taber relies on her access to the Liberal caucus to "set the agenda" at the Globe and Mail.

Would You Go To Mexico?

Today's poll question; would you consider taking a vacation in Mexico? Between the growing violence between drug cartels, kidnappings, and now exploding swamps, should that country remain one of Canada's top vacation destinations? Have never been, nor do I ever intend to. The only times in my life that I have left Canada was to visit the United States. Some day I would like to broaden my horizons, but I will likely be crossing the Atlantic before I cross the Rio Grande.

Worst Performance By An Actor Portraying A Soldier?

Today's poll question; what is the most overrated war movie of all time? This is going to lead to the follow-up poll question, what is the single most terrible performance by an actor portraying a soldier? Early nominees are Charlie Sheen in Platoon, Ben Affleck in Pearl Harbour, Nick Cage in Windtalkers, John Travolta in Broken Arrow, and (insert your suggestion). This can include television if you want to include David Schwimmer for Band Of Brothers.

Aung San Suu Kyi

I would like to extend my best wishes to the recently released pro democracy advocate Aung San Suu Kyi who has spent most of the past 20 years under house arrest by the military junta that runs Myanmar. I don't know that I would agree with all her policy positions should she actually form a government, but her love for the right of people to elect the people who lead them in the face of repression is nothing short of inspiring. She is probably my favourite female political figure on the planet.

She is comparable to the Dalai Lama, except that the Dalai Lama fled Tibet. Suu Kyi was given the option to leave, and she chose to stay under arrest rather than leave because she knew that she would not be permitted to return. After being freed, she said that she will not be free until the people of Myanmar are free. I am concerned that her life is in danger. In order to repress its people, Myanmar has the highest military per capita ratio in the world. One in every four Burmese are employed by the military.

We had to read Letters From Burma for my 20th Century World History course in University, and it is a book that I strongly recommend if you are looking for Christmas gifts for the politically minded in your family.

Currency Wars

Do you think that trade with China is fair? I ask because there seems to be the rising probability of a currency war with the Chinese, who make it their policy to devalue their currency to maximize exports. China is the #1 exporter of cheap manufactured goods, but the catch is that they buy almost no manufactured goods from other countries. They have the largest labour force on the planet which they are able to manipulate. It is a capitalist version of communism with almost no regard for human rights. I have met a whole lot of Asian people in my life, and I have a strong respect for them. Most people that I have talked to in Greater Vancouver who have lived in China hate the Chinese government. Otherwise, they would still be living in China. One of my best friends fled from Hong Kong in 1999.

I remember when Prime Minister Stephen Harper boycotted the Chinese Olympics in the summer of 2008.  In the election of the fall of 2008, the Chinese-Canadian vote shifted strongly Conservative. Just look at Richmond BC. I remember when Harper was critical of the Chinese regime the Liberals slammed him, and yet Asian-Canadians strongly agreed with the Prime Minister. You don't have to play nice with the Chinese government to win Chinese votes in Canada. It is like, should I support Robert Mugabe to win the support of Zimbabwean refugees? Not at all, if they liked Mugabe and the state of their country, they never would have left.

Gordon Campbell Lame Duck

Should a political leader in our country who has announced that he is resigning because the people have turned on him be allowed to govern for another year? BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell is going to stay on long enough for a new throne speech and a new budget, even though his approval rating is in single digits and the province is revolting against him. I voted for his party because my options in the voting booth were Liberal, NDP, and Green. It wasn't really a choice, it was a lack of options. When I heard that Campbell was resigning, I was very excited. When he beat Carole James, I reported being pleased that the Sheriff of Nottingham had defeated the Wicked Witch of the West.

Today's poll question, if a Premier resigns due to excessive unpopularity, should he be allowed to table a new budget?

The Rise Of Jason Kenney

Fresh off speculating that Peter MacKay would be leaving politics, Liberal activist Jane Taber who "sets the agenda" at the Globe and Mail is now focusing on the "growing power" of Jason Kenney in cabinet, suggesting that he is positioning himself to replace the Prime Minister. "And now, with Jim Prentice, the former environment minister, off to Bay Street, and with speculation that Defence Minister Peter MacKay is not far behind him, Mr. Kenney is gaining even more power in the Harper cabinet" and "Mr. Kenney says he doesn’t want the leadership. He gives the canned lines – he is happy where he is; Mr. Harper is doing a “phenomenal job” and he hopes the Prime Minister continues to govern."

I have great respect for Jason Kenney, and like Peter MacKay he is among my top 3 choices to replace Stephen Harper in 6-10 years. It just sounds to me like Taber, who "sets the agenda" at the Globe and Mail, is trying to create a narrative that there is a leadership controversy in the Conservative Party.

What Is The Most Overrated War Movie?

I have been watching Platoon, a movie that I once thought was a great film. Watching it now for the first time in a long time, this movie blows. Maybe it is because I can't take Charlie Sheen seriously anymore, but his performance in Platoon is comically bad. It is almost fun to watch just to see Charlie Sheen's bad acting through the lens of hindsight. This leads me to the question, what is the most overrated war movie of all time? I think Windtalkers is the worst war movie ever made, but which war film that won critical acclaim sucked the most? Windtalkers was getting any chatter at award time. This is going to be the subject of a future poll question. Thin Red Line will also be on the list. Lions and Lambs was an absolutely awful film.

Also, what was the single worst acting performance in a war movie? Nick Cage, Windtalkers? Charlie Sheen, Platoon? Ben Affleck, Pearl Harbour?

Should Parliament Have To Vote On Military Missions?

Courtesy of the Soloman Show, today's poll question; "Should the government be required to hold parliamentary votes on all of Canada's military missions?" I was actually kind of shocked that Evan's audience only voted 63% yes. Extending the Afghanistan mission without a vote is the sort of thing that typically gets Evan's panties in a bunch, and often his audience will vote 90% plus in favour of Soloman's opinion. Granted I think Ryan Hicks sets the agenda at the Soloman Show, E-Solo just reads the cue cards like a liberal Ron Burgundy. I think there was some pull back by Ignatieff supporters who don't want to put a pox on Iggy for supporting the extension without a vote. Many on the right want to stay in Afghanistan in some capacity while many on the left want to leave altogether. And where this kind of poll question would have normally voted 90% to vote on it, I think many of Evan's Liberal viewers are trying to defend Iggy's position to shore up their left flank.

Ignatieff, you have a problem. It is among the left-wing swing votes that you don't want to see turn NDP.

Zero Emission Car Hits Zero Emission Cyclist

To quote Alanic Morrissette, "isn't it ironic, don't you think?" Vancouver was hosting an International event running electric cars, and one of them hit a cyclist. The spokesperson for the event said "It’s like a dog running off the curb right in front of you". I offer my best wishes to the cyclist who was taken to hospital in serious condition, and I hope that man makes a full recovery. It is ironic that cars that are being championed and showcased to save the planet (despite possibly running on coal fired electricity in most places) would have a serious incident at an international event with the most truly emissionless mode of transportation.

By the way, I drive a car daily through the streets and highways of greater Vancouver, and cyclists who think they are cars with more rights than pedestrians are a very serious problem. It was not nearly this bad when I commuted in Ontario, but it seems there are far more provocative cyclists in Vancouver. They often ride in the middle of the road, ride dangerously, and on the last Friday of every month militant cyclists gang up to clog traffic through the downtown core. One of my golfing buddies is a hardcore leftist, and he loathes Vancouver cyclists.

"Liberals want Peter MacKay to come clean on exit plans"

Another day in the writing of Liberal activist Jane Taber, trying to fuel speculation that Peter MacKay is leaving politics. The Minister of Defense never suggested that he was going quit, and has denied predominantly left wing accusations that he is planning to do exactly that. I like Peter MacKay and he is one of my top 3 choices for Stephen Harper's successor 6-10 years from now. I most certainly want him to remain in federal politics because I believe he is a fantastic Minister.

I suppose Jane is just having fun in the same way that Iggy was offered a prestigious job at U of T and some pundits had fun with that. She vigorously defended Iggy when the U of T job was offered, and now she is having fun with Peter MacKay being offered a job. It is either hypocrisy, sarcasm, or both.

Ignatieff Layton Divided

When Liberal leader Mike Ignatieff announced that he supported the Prime Minister's decision to extend our mission in Afghanistan in a reduced role without a vote in the House of Commons, evidently he did not take it to a show of hands in his caucus or among his would-be coalition allies. Jack Layton is furious. Not only is Jack furious, but several members of Iggy's own caucus are furious. If it went to a vote, Iggy may have a majority of his own caucus voting against him, which is why I don't expect to see him on TV demanding a vote on the matter.

I think it is great that he supports the Prime Minister on this because I do too. I just think it is outstanding that he risks alienating himself from his own allies for supporting the decision of a PM that he has worked so diligently to vilify.

Ignatieff To Teenagers: Decriminalize Marijuana Possession

Talk about a wildly inappropriate policy announcement in the wrong place at the wrong time. Iggy did one of his "Open Mike" sessions with teenagers at a high school where he announced that he wanted to decriminalize marijuana possession in small amounts. Ironically enough, I agree with him on the policy, but in front of teenagers? Even if marijuana were decriminalized, it should not be permitted or encouraged for use among young people. I have no objections if adults want to rock the happy smoke, but not 13 year olds. It was an incredibly stupid move to make this announcement at a high school in front of teenagers.

This was an unscripted Q&A. I wonder at what point during his answer that Iggy Pop realized he should not be having this conversation at a high school with an audience that is mostly under the legal drinking age. You gotta wonder if Donolo slapped him in the face after he walked off the stage.

Lloyd Robertson

Wasn't Lloyd Robertson supposed to be retiring? He is back in the anchor's chair at CTV and Lisa Laflamme has been relegated to a beat reporter. I would rather watch Robertson than Mansbridge, but I am no great fan of CTV News Channel. Their insistence on putting Liberal activist Jane Taber on the air as a host of one of their regular politics programs tilts the reliability of their news service. So did Lloyd come out of retirement, or did he just make the announcement really early? Some TV people like to really milk their resignations.

G20 Can't Agree

Several months after the leaders of Earth's most prosperous nations left Toronto, they were embracing the Stephen Harper message that we need to cut deficits and Canadianize world banking. Now they have met in Seoul Korea and are deeply divided on what to do about the current currency conflicts sprouting up among developed nations. It was a bit of a shocker to see the Prime Minister defending Obama's "quantitative easing" initiative, which has drawn significant criticism from the international community. Our PM is at the G20 conference defending the US federal reserve decision to buy $600 billion of their own debt (like using the visa to pay off the mastercard).

Canada is in a great position regardless of what monetary policy emerges from this G20 conference, but if the American economy tanks, they will drag us down with them.

Conan Ratings Plummet

Late night host Conan O'Brien launched his new show this week, and a whopping 4.2 million people tuned in to watch his show where he mostly complained about his multi-million dollar golden parachute from NBC. 1.4 million of those viewers tuned out for the second show. Jay Leno averages 3.8 million viewers per show. Today's poll question; which late night talk show would your rather watch? I'm not a big fan of any late night show, but I find myself very annoyed with "Team Coco" who paint Conan as a victim and Leno as a villain. Leno had the #1 rated show in the genre, didn't want to retire, and NBC tried to force him to retire. Conan got the Tonight Show and bombed, then was paid $40 million dollars to leave. Why should Leno be forced to quit? As Jerry Seinfeld said in defense of Leno, you don't make #1 quit. He goes when he wants to go, like Jerry did. Conan is just a rich crying baby that is not getting sympathy. How many of his viewers have ever been paid several million dollars to be let go?

Liberal Pollster Frank Graves Doubts His Own Poll

Liberal donor and pollster Frank Graves has produced another outlier poll that has Jane Taber very excited. Right after Nanos released a poll that had the Tories at 37%, Graves released a poll that had them at 29%. The guy even said that he did not know if these results are real (it is EKOS, so they rarely are). Other recent polls by other polling firms are closer to the Nanos number than the Graves number.

I think Jane Taber is under contract to write an op-ed piece about every single Graves poll. Suddenly Jane is speculating that the opposition will trigger an election in order to capitalize on the Graves poll. As a Conservative, I would love to see that. Get one outlier poll, trigger an election that Canadians don't want, and pay the price. Calm down Jane. "The two opposition parties are “tantalizingly close” to being able to combine forces and form a majority in the House of Commons" and then she goes on to write "To pollster Frank Graves, this raises the spectre of a coalition government supported by the separatist Bloc Québécois – something Stephen Harper’s Conservatives speak of darkly and love to point out".

Basically she is speculating that the opposition could form government and have to be thinking about it, to condemning the Tories for speaking on an unpopular union in a negative context. I am thinking about forever more referring to Jane Taber as "Liberal activist Jane Taber". That being said, Heather Mallick is still worse.

"Harper clings to five-point lead as poll exposes political rut"

When a poll has the Tories higher than a large majority of 2010 surveys, leave it to Jane Taber to try and spin it as bad news for the governing Conservatives. When the Liberals go up, she gets excited. When the Tories go up, they "cling" to a "five-point lead as poll exposes political rut". Jane, you are doing yeoman's work for Donolo. Any poll that has the Tories over 37% is great news for the party. You really need to grease the wheels to spin it in the other direction. Meanwhile a double digit win in Vaughan for the Liberals in 2008 has evaporated to a dead heat in the 2010 byelections. If the Liberals lose Vaughan, Iggy is going to be in big trouble.

Granted, that was Wednesday. By Thursday Liberal donor and pollster Frank Graves swang to the rescue like Tarzan with another outlier to get Jane excited. I wonder if any of that tax money the CBC is paying for these polls is going to be donated to the Liberal Party? Doesn't Frank always donate the maximum amount?

Afghanistan 2011

Today's Remembrance Day poll question; what should Canada's role be in Afghanistan beyond 2011? Should we stay in a combat role, a support role, or should we leave altogether? I support the Prime Minister's position on this matter, and whether or not we stay in a major combat role, we should stay so long as NATO stays. What say you?

Liberals Losing Talent

Keith Martin, a valuable member Liberal caucus is leaving politics due to the low morale within Liberal ranks. Martin was arguably the best MP that Iggy had, and when he's gone, the Liberals don't have the talent in their caucus to replace him. It shows the frustration in Liberal ranks, as Iggy loses someone that he can't possibly replace. This permanently damages the Liberal Party. They will be less effective without Keith Martin, and this resignation reflects poorly on the Liberal leader.

By the way, what I did here was take Chantal Hebert's assessment of the Prentice retirement and apply it to Keith Martin and the Liberals. If Prentice is irreplaceable to the Tories, Martin is irreplaceable to the Liberals.

The Toronto Maple Leafs Suck Again

All is right in the world. After starting the season 5-0-1, the Toronto Maple Leafs have since lost 6 games in a row. Cancel the Apocalypse, as all is right in the Universe. The fast start was evidence that the 2012 Mayan calendar end of the world theory was going to happen, but eventually over time wrongs were righted. Clarke MacArthur is not going to win the Rocket Richard trophy, and now I doubt that he will even score 20.

One of my golf buddies is a huge Leafs fan. After 4 wins in a row he texted me "how about them Leafs?" I talked to him 2 weeks later when the Leafs lost 6 straight, and he refused to even call the Leafs a playoff team. It is what it is.

Tribute To Our Soldiers

A day ahead of Remembrance Day, I just want to thank our Canadian troops currently serving in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Thank you for doing what you are doing, and that is from the bottom of my heart. If you want to listen to a fantastic monologue about our military, I would direct to http://www.charlesadler.com/. Scroll down the audio archive on the right hand side of the page and hear the Boss of Talk tell the story the way it is (October 9th monologue). In Vancouver, tune in daily to CKNW Newstalk 980 from 7pm-9pm to listen the the best Canadian political orator of our current era.

I would like to ask you for recommendations for poll questions to run on Remembrance Day. I know that my visitors strongly support our troops, so what poll question should I ask on the day that we remember our war fallen?

Is George W. Bush An Idiot?

Today's poll question; do you think that former American President George W. Bush is an idiot? He has some new memoirs being released and he recently did his first sit down interview since he retired from politics. So many pundits on the left have fought so hard to paint him as an idiot that it seems to have become part of the narrative. Yesterday I has having a friendly chat with someone at work who told me that George Bush was mentally retarded and that the greatest travesty in the history of democracy was Al Gore not winning Florida in 2000. I just smiled, said something nice about Obama, and changed the subject. It is best to keep politics out of the workplace. I despise Al Gore and I like George Bush.

Does that make me an idiot? I am not defending all the man's policies. TARP was a nightmare. He made mistakes, but he gets the most flak for military decisions and the man is loved by many military families.

Ignatieff "I could have been Prime Minister"

While I am polling visitors for the most substantial Iggy Flop, where the current leader is "coalition if necessary" then ruling out a coalition. It got me to thinking about his previous statement that he could have been Prime Minister but turned it down. It is a curious statement considering that after his bloodless coup against Dion, there was no guarantee that if he had then collapsed the government after prorogation that the Governor General would have made the newly unelected Liberal leader Prime Minister. It is quite an outrageous statement to say that he could have been Prime Minister when that was not the most probable outcome of his theoretical request of the GG when the man was not even elected leader of his own party.

Of course in Iggy's first few months as leader he was throwing around the "coalition if necessary, but not necessarily a coalition"; but now that he has more tenure, he has ruled out a coalition. I'm not convinced that the town's folk believe him on that one.

20% Of Canadians Find Ignatieff Trustworthy

The latest Ipsos Reid numbers show some very disturbing news for the Liberal Party, who despite controversy after controversy have not been able to gain traction in the polls. Why? Canadians don't like their leader. Can you ever get a second chance to make a first impression? These numbers come after his summer bus tour bonanza where he went coast to coast to coast shaking the hands of thousands of party activists. Even after spending all that money trying to make a second impression, still only 24% of Canadians think he would be the best Prime Minister and only 20% say he is the most trustworthy.

Based on these numbers, how many coalition members would prefer to have Jack Layton lead a Lib-Dip coalition government?

Best Prime Minister: Stephen Harper 43 per cent; Jack Layton 33; Michael Ignatieff 24.

Trustworthy: Harper 36 per cent; Layton 35; Ignatieff 20.

Gets things done: Harper 43 per cent; Layton 26; Ignatieff 21.

Open to the ideas of others: Layton 42 per cent; Harper 28; Ignatieff 22.

Has what it takes to lead Canada: Harper 43 per cent; Layton 26; Ignatieff 26.

Best to manage tough economic times: Harper 45 per cent; Layton 24; Ignatieff 24.

Bill Maher: "Independents Schizophrenic"

I just finished watching Friday's edition of Real Time with Bill Maher, where Billy is presenting the thesis that independents voted Republican because Obama was not left wing enough. He thinks that the issue that cost Obama the most votes was his failure to stick to the "public option" in his healthcare bill. In his monologue he called independents schizophrenic, like that is going to help Democrats in 2012...insult the swing voters and hope they vote for you next time. As I've said before, there are some pundits who are only effective at what they do when the people they don't like are the government. Maher loses an edge when he is trying to defend a President that he supported, but insulting the people who you need to vote for your guy in two years is not a smart move.

"What Parliament would look like if only women voted"

Recent analysis by Liberal pollster Frank Graves claims that if only women voted, they would elect a minority Liberal government. How convenient of Frank to do this analysis that women would elect Ignatieff. The theory goes that Tories are only in government because of men, who actually support the NDP in greater number than the Liberals. The Dippers have a 5% lead among men over Iggy's Liberals. So is this an honest analysis? The data does show that men are more likely to be Conservative than women, so why is that? I know that I have many female visitors who are among my most valued commentors. Hands down the two top Blogging Tories, Blue Like You and Small Dead Animals are women.

So when I see data that women are more likely to be Liberal than men, I get confused because there are so many great female voices in the Conservative Blogosphere. I would be willing to wager that even if there are more female Liberals, that female Conservatives do indeed show up to vote in significant numbers.

Should We Have Daylight Savings Time?

Today's poll question; do you think that we should have daylight savings time? It is fabulous to get an extra hour in the fall, but it really sucks to lose an hour in the spring. Benjamin Franklin is credited with thinking up the idea, but it did not become policy in the western world until after WW1 to save electricity. Does daylight savings save electricity? My friends and I were able to golf today thanks to the extra hour, but one of my friends argued that the negative effects of the spring forward on the human body offset any economic gains of an extra hour in the fall.

So should we even have it? Data shows that there is a spike in traffic accidents in the days following a spring forward. There is a belief that we do it for agricultural reasons, but why then does Saskatchewan, Canada's largest farming province not adhere to the north American standard practice?

The Iggy Flop poll will be coming out soon.

Overcrowded Prisons?

It was amusing to read Liberal cheerleader Gloria Galloway decry the Tory "tougher sentencing" legislation as creating overcrowded prisons. This is somehow supposed to prove that tough on crime bills are creating torturous conditions for criminals. Aren't the Liberals criticizing the Tory plan to expand prison capacity? I recall the Liberals approving "tougher time for serious crimes" legislation, which would inevitably increase the need for prison cells, then slamming the government for planning to spend more to increase capacity. The left is flip flopping over all sides of this debate. At least Galloway is acknowledging that our prisons are overcrowded, which justifies the need for more capacity. Yet the Liberals are complaining about the proposed increase in capacity when they voted in favour of legislation that would increase its need??? Another Iggy Flop.

This is all based on an ombudsman report that said our prisons were overcrowded, which prompted Galloway to blame Conservative tough on crime legislation that put criminals in prison longer. Liberals, are you tough on crime or cynical of prison time?

The Iggy Flop Poll

Sunday night I would like to launch the poll question; what flip flop has cost Ignatieff the most credibility? I would like to collect some more feedback before launching the poll to make sure that I'm not leaving anything out. Here is the list that I have compiled this far thanks to valued reader feedback.

*Israel was justified in the attack on Qana. Israel committed a war crime when it attacked Qana. (won't lose any sleep over it)

*Asbestos should be banned. Canada okay to export asbestos.

*Michael Ignatieff supports a carbon tax, father of the Greenshift in 2006 leadership bid. Michael Ignatieff does not support a carbon tax.

*Kyoto, we didn't get it done...face it, Kyoto is unachievable

*Stephen Harper must fill in vacant Senate seats, Senate is paralysed. Stephen Harper should not have filled in vacant Senate seats, hypocrite.

*The Conservatives must not spend the $3 billion in 'instant' stimulus, Libs will oppose. ..The Conservatives can spend the $3 billion to get stimulus rolling.

*Michael Ignatieff will definitely raise taxes. He definitely won't raise taxes unless he definitely decides he definitely needs to raise taxes, definitely .

*The coalition would have been legitimate and stable. The coalition would have been illegitimate and destabilizing. (Bloc is good, Bloc is bad)

*Support the duly elected Dion as PM, bloodless coup Iffy kicks Dion out.

*Michael Ignatieff takes Ruby Dhalla at her word. Michael Ignatieff won't say the allegations against Ruby Dhalla are unjustified.

*EI360 or election; Harper your time is up....Libs rush thru govt EI reforms, no EI360

*Charest's healthcare user fees comply to Cdn Health Act, oops, no it doesn't.

*Against the HST, Harpers Sale Tax;... Iffy whipped MPs to vote with govt to approve HST

*EI PMB good, EI Private Members Bill irresponsible

*Jaffer/Guergis are bad people, why is PM picking on such good people

*Coalition if necessary...No coalition, period!, Iffy open to a coalition but not merger

*Immigration reform negotiations gets Iffy's ok, Iffy withdraws support (lib negotiator MP Maurizio Bevilacqua quits federal politic to run for mayor of Vaughan)

*There would be no new Quebec chief, ending a Grit tradition that has served the "natural governing party",... Iffy appoints Garneau as Quebec lieutenant.

*Iffy backs Coderre, Cauchon candidacy rejected for Outremont; Iffy reverses after pressure from the big boys and backs Cauchon candidacy, gives Coderre the finger (note to self ) Coderre will face consequences

*The human rights/mining bill flip flop.

*The oilsands flip flop: 'Federal Liberal party leader Michael Ignatieff has gone from extolling "how powerful the oilsands make us" to backing a legal ban on tankers carrying oil sands crude on B.C.'s north coast.' Iffy calls for a moratorium on shipping oilsands fuel.

*The most egregious flip-flop is stimulus spending. Demanding money be spent and then blaming the CPC for doing it (well, actually, according to the AG).

Some more stuff here

Healthcare

Today's poll question; what is the ideal distribution of the national health care industry? Should it be completely private? Should it be completely public? Or should it be mixed? As the United States has put itself of the road to the publicization of their health care industry, perhaps they require some feedback from Canadians who have long lived in a mixed public/private system? If you had a vote on the ideal system, what would it be? Dennis Miller talks about Obamacare as being "the DMV with open wounds".

Liberals Overestimated G20 Spending

So the federal Liberal Party accused the government of spending "over a billion dollars" on a "photo-op", but the Tories opened up the books and it was far less than a billion dollars. I suppose they can campaign on the "outrage" of buying hotel rooms for police officers, but there was actually nothing wrong with the expenses. The books were originally opened to Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page, no friend of the government, and he approved it. Now that the books have been opened to the public, we have learned that the opposition greatly over-exaggerated the cost of the alleged "photo-op". Kevin Page was right.

Government Creating Jobs

After listening to some of the left wing commentary after Obama's massive defeat in midterm elections, the blame seems to be that he did not create enough jobs. It got me to thinking, how exactly should government be "creating jobs"? The government will get the blame if there are a loss of jobs, but other than overpaid jobs working for the government, how do we expect our elected officials to engage in the job making business? There are stimulus projects which take tax dollars and spreads it among workers, but that generally leads to deficits. In a market collapse it can serve the same purpose of providing morphine to a critically injured patient, but it doesn't fix anything.

The best way that the government can create jobs is to create a competitive business environment that encourages growth and employment. The best way for the government to create jobs is not for them to create more government jobs, it is to free business to hire more workers. So if the Dems lost Congress because their pundits claim Obama did not create enough jobs, what do they think Barry should do going forward?

Brad Wall

Today's poll question; has your opinion of Brad Wall changed this week? Do you like him more or less than you did before this whole Potash snafu began? Some economic pundits whom I trust a great deal are absolutely livid about Brad Wall's demand to block the Potash takeover. This being a minority government, the feds really had no choice but to respect the wishes of a popular Premier. Before this controversy even started, I ran the webpoll who is the best Premier in the country. Brad Wall was the runaway winner with 66% of the vote.

I disagreed with Brad Wall on this issue, but after listening to an interview with Charles Adler, I disagreed a little less than I did before.  Do you think Brad Wall has a future in federal politics? Does he even want a future in federal politics?

Everybody Loves Prentice

Listening to the most recent edition of the CBC's At Issue, I was surprised to hear Chantal Hebert sing praise for Jim Prentice, saying that he is an incredible talent who will be irreplaceable. The loss, according to Chantal, will be costly to caucus productivity. Why do I find this praise confusing? Rewind to February of this year, when Hebert went on a tirade against Prentice on the At Issue, openly accusing him of "Quebec bashing" and attacking all Quebecers. How does a guy go from one day being francophobic, to being a great asset that the Prime Minister will not be able to replace?

Look, Chantal wanted to put a negative spin on the resignation and paint it as a costly loss for Stephen Harper. Some people remember that she all but accused Prentice of a hate crime when Jim criticized a bad policy decision by Premier Jean Charest. Chantal, je me souviens...

Alaska Rejects Sarah Palin's Advice

When Sarah Palin quit her job as Governor of Alaska before the completion of her first term to go on a lucrative speaking tour, many voices on the right said it was the wrong thing to do if she wanted a future in federal politics. I remember listening to the Laura Ingraham Show the next day and Laura, generally a big fan of Palin, recommended Sarah fire whoever advised her to quit. Fast forward to Republican primaries a year later where Palin bitterly opposed Lisa Murkowski bid to run for Alaska's senate seat. She endorsed Joe Miller who won the primary, so Murkowski decided to run as an independent. Who did Alaskans elect? Not who Palin told them they should.

Palin's inexperience may have also cost the Republicans a seat in Delaware where Palin went against the advice of Karl Rove and endorsed Christine "I am not a witch" O'Donnell, who again won the primary. In the election, the witch was crushed by 16%. Anyone seriously considering Sarah Palin for Presidential candidacy in 2012 needs to relax for some sober second thought. Sarah Palin gives Barak Obama the best shot at re-election.

Does Layton Want To Lower Price Of Coal Fired Electricity Too?

NDP leader Jack Layton has a clever new campaign commercial heading into the most recent round of byelections where he says that Stephen Harper "doesn't get it" on home heating oil and that federal taxes should be removed from the fossil fuel. It is a move designed to appeal to rural voters in Manitoba who might otherwise vote Conservative. My question to Jack, what about all those people who heat their homes in the winter with coal fired electricity? Should they freeze in the dark while those who use "heating oil" receive a break?
I'm just wondering how Jack jives this new ad with his previous position of making fossil fuels more expensive to save the planet. If this is about all Canadians paying less to heat their homes, then we should be talking about all electricity used for home heating. Does "heating oil" include natural gas? How exactly would Jack logistically cut the tax on "heating oil", and what about the other "heating fossil fuels"? I would like more details.

Ignatieff Numbers Continue To Slide

If you listened to Jane Taber or Rosemary Barton over the past few months, you'd have been convinced that the Tory government has been drowning in legitimate controversies that were expected to have a "devastating" effect on the ruling party. Canadians don't agree or haven't been paying attention. Iggy saw a polling bump during his summer tour, but once Parliament returned to work, Liberal numbers have gone down. This follows a pattern under Iggy's leadership of poll numbers going up when they are not in session, and down when Parliament resumes.

Why does this keep happening, Liberal numbers declining while Parliament is in session?

Prentice Quits Harper

Jim Prentice has resigned from his seat in federal politics, but the question is did he retire from politics, or was this a matter of him quitting Stephen Harper? The caption on CTV News Channel was "Environment Minister quits Harper cabinet", and many pundits have been speculating that this is the first step at a future leadership run. Today's poll question; do you think Jim Prentice is a viable candidate for a future Conservative leadership run? Personally, I don't think quitting politics is the best way to get leadership experience (ala Sarah Palin), so if quitting was about a future leadership run, I do not approve. If he is just sick of politics, I understand.

I don't know that he ever liked being Minister of the Environment, as Craig Oliver says Jimmy was very fond of the industry portfolio now held by Tony Clement. Others speculate that Stephen Harper put Prentice in a "dead end job" to neutralize a future leadership rival, such that now he is free to make a boat load of money and throw his name into the next Tory leadership race, whether that happens (be it in 2 years or 10 years). My last memory of Prentice will be his camping trip with Soloman and Suzuki.

The Obama Diaries

If you are starting to look for Christmas gifts for the politically minded in your family, one new book that I strongly recommend is Laura Ingraham's The Obama Diaries. I follow American Politics and Laura is one of my favourite American pundits. There are two American political podcasts that I subscribe to, Ingraham and Dennis Miller. If you want to read the work of one of the best experts in election metrics, which I like to call "Electionomics", who basically predicted the 2010 American midterm election results buy 2010: Take Back America: A Battle Plan by Dick Morris. For more laughs and less politics, I would recommend Adam Carolla's In 50 Years We'll All Be Chicks.

Free Trade

While a majority 55% of my visitors believe that an Australian company should be allowed to spend $40 billion dollars for the Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, I sense that there is a growing sentiment on the right for protectionism. The Tories are going to listen to popular Premier Brad Wall and veto the deal, even though it is the wrong thing to do. This was a bad decision, and just about everyone with an economics background knows it. Even Laura Ingraham discussed on her show recently that she visited many states in the recent campaign promoting her new book, and many on the American right want to put up trade barriers against China. By the way Americans who want to put up a firewall with China, they own your debt and could crash your currency with the push of a button. That being said, China doesn't play by the same rules as we do and has the ability to exploit its massive labour force. I suppose it could be argued that free trade isn't always fair trade is different competitors play by different rules.

Do you think there is a trend towards protectionism, or is the Potash case and the China case just two specific examples with specific points of contention that do not show a trend in any one direction?

Dennis Miller: "Payback is a Behar"

For a great recap of the 2010 election and what it means, you have to watch Dennis Miller on the O'Reilly Factor. You will get great analysis and a few laughs.  Of all the voices in America, Dennis Miller is by far the one that I agree with the most and he's funny.  If you have the time, you should really just watch the entire O'Reilly show on Wednesday if you are looking for a fantastic assessment of the election. I think that Dick Morris can give Karl Rove a run for his money on the best political mind in the United States.

To watch, click here and scroll down the playlist.

Goodbye Gordo

In arguably the best move of his political career, BC Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell has announced his resignation. I am very pleased to hear this. After he was re-elected to a 3rd term last year, I believe Andrew Coyne mused that the carbon tax could now be considered legitimate policy because Gordo was re-elected after enacting one. Most pundits are crediting the HST for his demise, but personally I think that he eroded all his credibility on taxation after the carbon tax. BC is still haunted by the ghosts of Ujjal Dosangh and Glen Clark, and his 3rd mandate was as much a rejection of the NDP as it was a victory for carbon taxes.

To quote a patron at my work today when he saw the news on the television: "Goodbye Gordo, I voted for you, but I won't miss you."

Who Deserves Credit For Republican Victory?

Here is a great subject for tomorrow's poll question; which pundit deserves the most credit for the overwhelming Republican victory in the latest midterm elections? Was it Glenn Beck? Bill O'Reilly? Laura Ingraham, Dennis Miller? Which if any individual should take the most credit for what happened yesterday? Or does Obama himself deserve credit for the wave of populist opposition against his party? Obama's own former Senate seat was won by a Republican. If the people who first elected Obama to represent them in Washington have no abandoned the Democratic party, they have big problems.

Tuesday, November 2nd, the end of Nancy Pelosi as majority leader of Liberals in the American House of Representatives.

"Devastated" Harper Canada's #1 Choice For Prime Minister

I seem to recall a few weeks ago that Taber and Travers were proclaiming our denial of a UN Security Council as "devastating" for the government, representing a repudiation of all Harper foreign policy. Even yesterday Iggy was "slicing and dicing Harper foreign policy" (so said the news ticker on CTV news channel). Why then is the Prime Minister rising in the polls for who is the best party leader to lead our country with 43%? "The poll finds that even many Liberal supporters aren’t confident in Ignatieff’s leadership. Just 55% of those who said they would vote Liberal if an election occurred now say Ignatieff would make the best prime minister."

If what the talking heads have been saying was true, both Tory and Harper numbers should be falling. Is it really devastating if Canadians don't care?

Liberals Losing Credibility

Today's poll question; crying wolf over which false controversy has cost the Liberals the most credibility? Their tactic in opposition has been to start kicking and screaming anytime they catch a whiff of any controversy, but this has not gained them any traction in the polls. Remember when Helena Guergis had that snafu at the airport? Mark Holland went on TV and said that she "assaulted security personnel". After Mansbridge watched the tape, he admitted it wasn't bad. There was the time that a nurse at a remote health station ordered extra body bags, and Iggy got on TV and said that the government was sending the message that they wanted aboriginals to die (where the Tory Health Minister is herself an aboriginese).

Bobby Rae demanded a pig flu vaccine for every man, woman, and child in the country; otherwise Canadians would die and it would be the government's fault. Swine flu then promptly disappeared with barely a whimper. The list goes on. The downside to crying wolf is that when a wolf actually shows up, the town's folk have stopped taking you seriously. Deal with it.

Republicans Crush Democrats

Tuesday's midterm elections in the United States saw the Democrats lose the most seats of any party in one election since 1948. The Congress is now overwhelmingly Republican, while the Senate came down to the wire and was retained by the Dems. The best news of the night is that Nancy Pelosi is no longer the Speaker of the House, the 3rd in line to be President. Christine O'Donnell (the dabbler in witchcraft) who won a hotly contested primary after a last minute endorsement by Sarah Palin (against the advice of Karl Rove) was crushed by 16% on a night when 60 Democrats lost their seats.

Barak Obama's former senate seat went Republican, along with a number of stunning upsets. CBC ran the headline "America Divided" for its election coverage that started before polls had been closed. Sure, when the Democrats have the momentum they are overjoyed by the "hope-A-dope", but when the pendulum swings back Republicans, the headline is "America Divided". Way to go CBC. California voted down the legalization of marijuana. The state level elections were an even larger sweep for Republicans, who now control a majority of the country's governorships.

October 2010 Polling, vol II

Here are the rest of your polling results for the rest of October. With questions like; why do you think Canada lost its bid for the Security Council? What do you think Iggy would have done differently to win a seat on the Security Council? Do you expect your MP to vote on Private Members bills? What's the best nickname for Dalton McGuinty?

SHOULD ACTOR RANDY QUAID BE GRANTED ASYLUM IN CANADA FROM SQUATTING CHARGES IN THE USA?

No (90%)
Yes (8%)
Undecided (2%)

SHOULD THERE BE A FEDERAL TAX ON HOME HEATING?

No (87%)
Yes (11%)
Undecided (2%)

DO YOU EXPECT YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT TO VOTE ON PRIVATE MEMBERS BILLS?

Yes (96%)
No (2%)
Undecided (0%)

SHOULD CANADA HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY?

Yes (73%)
No (23%)
Undecided (4%)

WHICH DEMOCRAT WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO SEE LOSE THEIR JOB IN THE NOVEMBER MIDTERM ELECTIONS?

Nancy Pelosi (59%)
Barney Frank (15%)
Don't care (11%)
Harry Reid (8%)
Barbara Boxer (3%)
Undecided (0%)

WHAT IS THE BEST NICKNAME FOR ONTARIO LIBERAL PREMIER DALTON MCGUINTY?

The Taxman (36%)
Windy McSlippery (21%)
Promises McBreaker (16%)
Premier Dad (8%)
Dolton McWindy (7%)
Failton McEverything (6%)
Bubbles McGuilty (4%)

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT CANADA NOT SITTING ON THE UN SECURTIY COUNCIL?

Indifferent (43%)
Overjoyed (31%)
Relieved (20%)
Dissapointed (4%)
Devastated (0%)
Angry (0%)

WHAT IS THE IDEAL AGE OF RETIREMENT?

70+ (23%)
55 (16%)
60 (15%)
30 (9%)
64 (8%)
68 (7%)
62 (5%)
66 (5%)
50 (4%)
40 (2%)

WHAT DO YOU THINK IGNATIEFF WOULD HAVE DONE DIFFERENTLY TO WIN CANADA A SEAT ON THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL?

Condemn Israel (45%)
Shut down oil sands (9%)
Comply with Kyoto (8%)
Praise China on human rights (6%)
Free European vacations for students (6%)
3rd world abortions (6%)
More flights from Air Dubai (5%)
Join the European Union (4%)
Disband military (3%)
Sell arctic to Denmark (2%)
Green shift (2%)
Ban seal hunt (1%)

SHOULD CANADA JOIN THE EUROPEAN UNION?

No (98%)
Yes (1%)
Undecided (1%)

SHOULD CHRISTIAN PARADIS RESIGN?

No (68%)
Yes (18%)
Undecided (14%)

SHOULD CANADA GRANT GENEROUS LANDING RIGHTS FOR UAE JETS ON CANADIAN RUNWAYS IN EXCHANGE FOR RENTING CAMP MIRAGE?

No (95%)
Yes (4%)
Undecided (1%)

WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE BIGGEST REASON CANADA DID NOT WIN A SEAT ON THE SECURITY COUNCIL?

Strongly pro Israel (69%)
Iggy's "we don't deserve it" comments (16%)
Fewer aid recipients in Africa (5%)
Climate change skepticism (4%)
Harper is evil (2%)
Undecided (1%)

WHO IS THE BEST PREMIER IN CANADA?

Brad Wall (66%)
Undecided (11%)
Danny Williams (9%)
Gordon Campbell (2%)
Ed Stelmach (2%)
Jean Charest (1%)
Dalton McGuinty (1%)
David Alward (1%)
Darrell Dexter (0%)
Greg Selinger (0%)
Eva Aariak (0%)
Robert Ghiz (0%)
Dennis Fentie (0%)
Floyd Roland (0%)

America Votes!

As we speak the American people are voting for representatives to the Senate and Congress, and I would like to wish the Republican Party the best of luck. I don't like all of their candidates, but a Democrat monopoly on power is a very bad thing for Canada. They need checks and balances to Obama and Pelosi's vision of Utopian society. I am even cheering for Christine O'Donnel to win Delware, even if I don't believe she was the ideal candidate. Karl Rove knows his electionomics.

The Bloc Youth

The Youth wing of the Parti/Bloc Quebecois are demanding a bolder, more direct route to sovereignty than the current leadership is currently taking. I suppose Gilles Duceppe comparing Canada to Nazi Germany is not as bold and direct as the kids would like to see. In a perfect world, the bold approach would be to accept inclusion in the greatest country on Earth and advocate the transfer of power from Ottawa to the provinces. I believe that Canadian provinces should have more autonomy from Ottawa, but as a part of Canada. I'm assuming that is not what the "Marois Youth" are saying here...

Blogger Of The Year?

Today's poll question; which Blogging Tory would you vote for to be the 2010 Blogger of the Year? I have already endorsed Joanne at Blue Like You, the BT site that I visit the most. Her message board is basically a chat room for Tories to discuss all the relevant news of the day. Last year I endorsed Stephen Taylor, who is still one of my favourite media personalities in Canada. I am grateful that he does what he does.

I am not including myself as a candidate in the vote as the one hosting the webpoll. It doesn't seem fair to include myself as an option for a best blogger poll that I'm running on my site. Besides I'm pretty sure that this is a two horse race between Blue Like You and Small Dead Animals. I don't know that I want to get my ass kicked on my own website...

I can't include everyone, so there is an "other" option available if your favourite Blogging Tory did not make the list. Maybe we can have a run-off vote later.

Liberals Crying Wolf

With all the exaggerated faux controversies that have been thrown at the governing Conservative Party here in Canada over the past 2 years, none of them have done any significant damage in public opinion. It has been one controversy after another for this entire mandate, but none of them seem to stick. Is it just a matter of the "chattering class" and "spin doctors" defusing real problems, or have the Liberals lost credibility with such manufactured hysteria as pig flu-gate, prorogue-gate, Guergis-gate, doorknob-gate, torture-gate, stimulus-gate, G20-gate, and whatever I'm forgetting?

I would like to ask the poll question; which of all the false controversies have cost the Liberals the most credibility? My top two are Bob Rae telling Canadians that they would die of the pig flu and it would be the government's fault (meanwhile H1N1 is and always was less lethal than normal flu), and the fuss over prorogation. Bob Rae prorogued 3 of 4 years as Premier, yet marched in the streets of Toronto to protest Stephen Harper doing it twice in 4 years. Iggy proclaimed that "Parliament is the sovereign" and must be "allowed to do its work", and then proceeded to be the 2nd most absent MP in the next session.

Which false controversy do you think cost the Libs the most credibility? I would like to launch the poll on Tuesday.

Brazil Elects Marxist Guerilla President

On Halloween Brazil elected a former Marxist guerrilla to become their new President. For a country that has been experiencing very rapid economic growth over the past 20 years, I would expect the good times to soon be at an end. I don't know if she has renounced Marxism, but earlier in her life she decided it prudent to become a militant communist. Once a Marxist, always a Marxist, right? If she decides to do to Brazil what Hugo Chavez has been doing to Venezuela, the end result is high unemployment and currency devaluation. Private enterprise gets strangled, and business stops investing in the economy.

And yes, I realize that the outgoing President was a wildly popular leftist who was not allowed by the constitution to run for another term. I suppose the left can claim some credit for the economic success that Brazil has enjoyed recently, but trust me, you can get too much of a "good thing"...

The Sale Of Saskatchewan's Potash

Today's poll question; do you think that an Australian company should be allowed to purchase the Potash Corp of Saskatchewan? There seems to be a difference of opinion between the federal government and popular Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall (recently selected by 66% of my visitors as the best Premier in Canada). The feds approve of foreign investment in Canadian companies, but Brad Wall sees it as a loss of sovereignty over a treasured resource. The takeover bid is $39 billion dollars, most of which would be distributed to Canadian investors selling their stocks. This is going to be a massive deposit into our financial sector, while Canada retains most of the economic benefit to selling the resource.

Unless you think that the Aussies are going to come in and steal all our potash, how is this a bad thing? There is lots of foreign ownership in Alberta's resource sector, and it has made it our nation's wealthiest province. Even under foreign ownership they provide billions of dollars annually in wealth for our country.

And might I say that I have never in my life met an Australian that I didn't like. I am a big fan of the Aussies. Let them distribute most of $39 billion dollars into Canada. This is a good thing. I disagree with Brad Wall.