The Dictator

This week I took my nephews to see the latest Mission Impossible, and by far the biggest response from the audience was this preview for the latest film by the creator of Borat spoofing Lybian dictator Muammar Gaddafi. We'll see if the movie to be released this summer is as funny as the preview, but it is appropriate that this movie was made in the same year that two nutty and dangerous dictators died. It might not be easy to find comedy in Middle Eastern megalomania, but if anyone can pull it off, it is Borat.

12 Predictions For 2012

Every year I attempt to make some predictions for the upcoming 12 months. Last year at this time I predicted a spring federal election, a Conservative majority, and that Ignatieff would be ousted as Liberal leader. While those predictions came true, roughly 70% of my forecasts were wrong. With that being said, what do I think is going to happen in 2012? Today's poll question; which of these predictions is most likely to happen?

1. Planet outlives Mayan Calendar
2. Assad regime ousted in Syria
3. Putin remains in charge of Russia
4. Few if any emerge to challenge Rae for Liberal leadership
5. Allison Redford will be defeated in pending election
6. Sidney Crosby plays fewer than 30 games in calendar year
7. Romney defeated by Obama
8. Republicans take back Senate
9. There will be no war with North Korea
10. There will be hostilities with Iran
11. The NDP will be polling below 20%
12. Irwin Cotler will not retire, even if he had previously been considering it.

Canadians Have Some Advice For Liberals: Get A New Leader

Jane Taber's latest headline piece at the Globe is titled "Canadians have some advice for Harper: Communicate with people" based on a recent Nanos poll. That is to say, 12% of Canadians offered that advice, the 88% did not. It should be noted that the Prime Minister communicated his way to a majority government earlier this year, so it is not as though he lacks the ability to communicate effectively. I'm just throwing that out there...

Perhaps the more intriguing story from this poll is that 12% of respondents offered this advice to Liberals: "get a new leader". A new leader would be someone other than Bob Rae, otherwise their advice would be "make your temporary leader permanent". The same number of people who responded that Harper needs to improve communication also said the Liberals need to ditch Bob Rae, and yet I do not see Bobby's name anywhere in Taber's article (she only wrote "the Liberals will not be holding a leadership contest until 2013").

6% of Canadians want the Tories to be more honest and transparent. Interestingly, that's the same proportion that want the Liberals to be more honest and transparent. I'm not sure this poll is even newsworthy, but given the slow news cycle over the break, it's difficult to find headline news stories.

The CBC's $7 Million Dollar Birthday

Wow, the CBC sure loves to throw a party and they certainly spare no expense! For their 75th birthday celebration the public broadcaster spent $6.6M dollars, and once again many of the details regarding those expenditures are being withheld to protect "creative practices". We do know that they spent over $300K on DVD box sets. They spent $19K on commemorative coins and "employee recognition", $37K in banners, and $40K for a former anchorman to do a series of lectures. FYI guys, with that kind of coin you could buy several fake lakes and beautification gazebos. A nice gazebo and flower garden can enhance a community for many years to come, certainly more so than the anchorman monologues.

The birthday budget dwarfs the $72K plus they spent to celebrate the renaming and shortening of the Strombo Show. Though the Strombo party was just one single event (an exclusive gathering of celebrities and CBC employees at a 5 star hotel), where the birthday celebration was a series of smaller parties held across the country where they actually invited members of the general public.

Montreal Should Only Hire French Coaches

As a hockey fan who loathes the Montreal Canadiens, I would like to encourage the franchise to hire only francophone coaches. Why? Because there are so few in the NHL to choose from, and many of them have already coached the Habs (Vigneault, Therien, Julien, Martin, etc) and been fired. Is Randy Cunneyworth the right guy for the job? Maybe, maybe not, but insisting that fluency in French is an absolute requirement severely limits their options. It is not as though the team is loaded with French speaking players and that language harmony is required for the coach to communicate with players. The perceived language requirement is mostly for communicating with local media, which hardly affects the team's on ice performance.

Please Montreal, keep lobbying so vehemently for a French speaking coach that the team is left with no choice but to scratch 90% of the candidates off their list. That's what I'd like to see, the Habs forever doomed to mediocrity.

A History Channel Christmas

It is Christmas Eve and what is being featured on the History Channel? A series of documentaries about the pending end of the world. Merry Christmas everyone! Enjoy it, as it will be your last Christmas before the end of the Mayan calendar. Oh well, it is a step up from having "ancient astronaut theorists" describing to me how the virgin Mary was impregnated by E.T and that the last supper was one last attempt by alien Jesus to phone home. You really have to wonder about some of the crap that passes for programming on the History Channel these days. Surely it caters to a certain audience and it gets ratings, otherwise they wouldn't be showing it.

Everyone have a Merry Christmas!

PS: I was watching ET before channel surfing, and let me say hindsight being 20-20, that movie is way overrated. The best Christmas movie of all-time is still a toss up between Rocky 4, Die Hard, and Gremlins.

Helena Guergis Suing Stephen Harper For $1.3 Million Dollars

While it is fair to question whether or not Stephen Harper should have banished Helena Guergis from caucus over busty hooker allegations, it is ridiculous to suggest that he's guilty of intentional infliction of mental suffering. The Prime Minister was concerned about surviving in minority parliament and winning elections, not deliberately trying to hurt her feelings. What we do know for sure is that she was removed from caucus after the busty hooker story came out, and she was not reinstated when she was cleared of wrong doing in that case. The truth is that there was more to her expulsion than just Magnum PI's cocaine and prostitute story. Her husband Rahim Jaffer created his own business and was using her office, even her e-mail account, to lobby Conservative MPs for government contracts. They even had a website that suggested Jaffer had special access to the government, unnerving considering he was married to a Cabinet Minister.

People seem to forget that there was more to Guergis-gate than just hookers and blow. There was the airport meltdown that prompted Mark Holland to accuse her on national television of "assaulting airport security", though I don't see his name included in the defamation lawsuit. Anitta Neville accused her of being a drug dealer, but she's not getting sued either. While Guergis may have been cleared of trafficking drugs, her husband was still picked up driving dangerously while in possession of cocaine. I always believed that Helena's permanent expulsion from caucus had as much to do with the indiscretions of her husband than anything she had been accused of. It had everything to do with winning the next election in a minority parliament with a rabid media and opposition, not the intentional infliction of pain and suffering on Helena Geurgis.

The less covered story is that Guergis had several family members involved in local politics in her riding, and they were all wiped out in municipal elections in 2010. The family brand had become toxic in that area because of their support for a very unpopular development project. Why was the riding association in Simcoe so quick to let her go?

"Tony Guergis received a letter from Helena Guergis, his cousin, touting a green technology company to Simcoe County officials while her husband, Rahim Jaffer, and businessman Nazim Gillani were involved in a plan to take the firm public in a $1 billion deal.


Meanwhile, David Guergis became famous for wanting to dissolve the Nottawasaga Conservation Authority. He drew criticism when it emerged that his wife owned potential development property on a local flood plain."

It was the Prime Minister's right to remove the candidate if he felt they damaged the electoral prospects of the party. The illegal lobbying and her husband's indiscretions caused more harm to her political career than Stephen Harper removing her from caucus. She still ran in the 2011 election and lost. Her constituents did not want her to be their MP any longer.

Biggest Canadian Political Gaffe Of 2011?

Today's poll question; what was the biggest Canadian political gaffe of 2011? Obviously Ignatieff forcing the early election has to be at or near the top of that list, though Duceppe also forcing that election was a colossal blunder that decimated his party. The appointment of Nycole Turmel was an enormous mistake, as the NDP was so eager to find someone who could speak French that they overlooked her inability to speak English. Seriously, news channels need to start cutting to the voice-over translator when she's speaking in both languages, or at least have subtitles at the bottom like the show Swamp People. We had an F-bomb tirade by Pat Martin and an S-bomb tirade by Justin Trudeau. Also, Christy Clark and Allison Redford being selected Premier by their parties also deserves consideration, as they will both likely cost their parties the next election.

Why BC Tories Should Vote Conservative

All of a sudden heading into the Christmas break, the BC Liberals and the BC Conservatives are in a dead heat for second place to the NDP. Unlike others discouraging vote splitting in favour of unelected Premier Christy Clark, I say we need a viable alternative because the BC Liberal brand is mortally wounded. The NDP taking power is obviously a serious risk to the province, but voting for Christy greatly increases their chances of taking power. The BC Tories need to run a full slate of candidates when we finally get around to an election. Christy chickened her way out of a quick vote which she had promised, and now the rest of us are left to wait. The BC Liberals are damaged goods. We need John Cummins to do a good job and save us from the NDP. Salvation ain't coming from Christy...

Strombo Knows How To Party!

Are you looking to host a really great Christmas or New Year's party and have $70K-$100K to spend? If so you should consider calling the CBC's George Strombolopololis. Strombo really knows how to throw an epic party! Your base cost will run you about $72K plus extra for booking a 5 star hotel and a private security team to protect Strombo. For your trouble and extravagant cost, you can expect celebrities, Twitter buzz, and a magical night you won't soon forget. Granted I cannot be more specific about what exactly you'll get for your money, because that information is tightly guarded.

Last September Strombo threw such a party at a cost to taxpayers of $72,372 (which does not include the cost of the 5 star hotel and Strombo's personal bodyguards). Most of the financial details of this party are being withheld by the CBC on grounds that their release "would harm CBC's creative, programming or journalistic activities." The party was intended to launch his new show "Strombo Tonight"; which is basically the same show he had before but 30 minutes shorter with a different name. That's a lot to spend on a party to celebrate the renaming of a television show. It's also a bit rich to claim that releasing how much you spent on booze somehow jeopardizes your creative property.

This might be the most ridiculous example yet of the CBC fighting the release of information on creative grounds, but if you want to throw a bitchin' party, call Strombo.

Canadian Parliamentarian Of The Year?

Today's poll question; who was Canada's top parliamentarian of 2011? Jim Flaherty is considered by many to be among the best Finance Ministers in the industrialized world, so he deserves significant credit for our country's strong economic performance relative to the global economy. Jason Kenney has done outstanding work with the Immigration portfolio, and John Baird has exceeded my expectations in Foreign Affairs. Peter Kent had a great year. Clearly if Stephen Harper is included in the poll he'd be the runaway winner, but I think of our Prime Minister as more than a regular MP. It wouldn't be fair to everyone else if the PM were included in the poll.

I will be launching the webpoll at 11pm pacific time, and in the meantime let me know who you think should be nominated.

Bob Rae Finally Discovers Attiwapiskat

There must not be much happening in the Canadian news cycle if Bob Rae (leader of the 3rd place party) making a trip to Attiwapiskat is headline news. According to Bobby, the reserve is living in deplorable 3rd world conditions and Stephen Harper must act. Hopefully the Prime Minister's response will be better than Rae's response to a similar crisis while he was Premier of Ontario and in charge of the reserve's provincial money. Bob Rae did precious little to fix the problem when it was presented to a Royal Commission while he was Premier, but now he expects others to do what he was unable or unwilling to fix when in power. Now that he's got no power at all, he's screaming bloody murder.

This reminds me of Bob Rae protesting in the streets against Stephen Harper briefly proroguing parliament, before we were reminded that Bobby prorogued almost every year while he was Premier of Ontario. It seems like a common occurrence that Bob's outrage over certain issues end up uncovering hypocrisy based on his record in a leadership position. Thank you to the Toronto Sun for uncovering this latest bout of Rae's hypocrisy.

Top News Story Of 2011?

What in your opinion was the top news story of 2011? Was it the Conservatives winning a majority government? There were significant events in the world, like the deaths of Bin Laden, Kim Jong Ill, Jack Layton, Steve Jobs and Muamar Gaddafi. There was the Japanese earthquake, the crisis in Attiwapiskat, the occupy protests, the European debt crisis, the Arab spring, and the US withdrawal from Iraq. Quite a lot of significance happened in this year, so today's poll question, what do you think is the biggest story? Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, there were shootings in Norway, the death of Steve Jobs, Prince William and Kate were married, and Charlie Sheen had a public meltdown. There are certainly many stories to choose from.

Do Not Buy Chiquita "Conflict Bananas"

When you buy a Chiquita banana, be warned, you might end up with blood on your hands. The fruit company boycotting our oil sands has a long history of bribery, violence, and corruption in Latin America to secure its banana monopoly. In recent years they have admitted to large monetary payments to terrorist organizations like FARC, who use violence in attempting to overthrow governments. Do you want to purchase and consume these blood bananas knowing that the money could find its way into the hands of paramilitary groups guilty of murder and kidnapping on an industrial scale? As Ezra Levant said "where do you think the term Banana Republic comes from?"

Ezra deserves most of the credit for discussing the violent history of this corrupt company, and for "blood bananas" trending on Twitter. All of this came to pass because Chiquita thinks our oil sands are unethical. Do they think the local environment will be better off if we leave the oil in the sand? Listen people, we have a serious problem. Thousands of acres of sand in Alberta are contaminated with oil. To me oil sands production is a massive clean up effort, not a precursor to doomsday. The oil companies deserve our praise for removing the oil from the sand. Plus I'm sure when workers strike for better working conditions, I doubt Suncor issues orders to open fire on their employees.

Should Opposition MPs Be Invited To International Conferences?

Today's poll question; should a delegation of opposition MPs be entitled to travel with the government to international conferences or meetings? Why is Peter Kent allegedly a piece of s**t? Because he did not invite opposition members to attend a conference with the government. Justin Trudeau's little temper tantrum was based on a belief that the opposition is entitled to tag along to these symposiums at the tax payer's expense. Meanwhile the Liberals are sitting in 3rd place and are not in power. When you are out of power, you don't get to share the job of governing. Then again, Justin has only ever sat in opposition, so he can be forgiven for being a little rusty on the rules of majority parliament.

Also in his Tweet the day of the S-bomb, Justin claimed that Peter Kent "banned" the opposition MPs from the Durban Conference. I'd like some clarification, did Kent call Durban and tell them not to allow any opposition MPs from Canada? Or did he simply decline to offer them tax funded hotel rooms and plane tickets? The left is now trying to flip Trudeau's tantrum as Peter Kent's fault, with Trudeau calling for an apology. Gee Justin, Lizzy May found her way to Durban. Even "Stop Harper" girl made an appearance. Just because nobody offered to pay for your plane ticket, does not mean that Peter Kent "banned" you or anyone else from attending.

Trudeau Wants An Apology?

Justin Trudeau lost his temper in Parliament calling a Conservative Minister a "piece of s**t", and he thinks Peter Kent should apologize. Really??? Yesterday he Tweeted "I used unparliamentary language and apologized. Is Kent going to apologize for chiding the Opp for not being at COP17 -when HE banned us!" Keep talking JT, because you aren't doing your party any favours by dropping expletives in the House of Commons. Justin, you are a piece of s**t and I demand an apology from you for making me so upset that I was left with no choice but to curse at you. You are responsible for my irresponsible behavior! This is all your fault!

Come on man! This is ridiculous. The CBC is defending Justin this morning. They did a segment reading e-mails and the host starts off by saying "instead of focusing on what he said, we should look at why he was upset." Then he only read e-mails with that theme.

Bloc Gets New Leader, NDP Plunge In Quebec

Over the weekend the Bloc Quebecois elected a new leader, and it barely made a ripple in the Canadian media. Today Harris Decima released a poll showing the NDP has plunged 16% in support in Quebec since the May election and have fallen into a tie with the Bloc. It appears that the NDP has bled support to all the major parties, not just the separatists. Clearly Nycole Turmel is not helping their fortunes in the one province where she was expected to be popular. Given her inability to speak passable English, she already has a significant challenge connecting with voters outside Quebec. The appointment of Turmel was one of the biggest political gaffes of the year (next to maybe Iggy and Duceppe forcing an election), and they can't pick a new leader fast enough. Forcing the May election did work out well for the Dippers who reached historic heights in the polls.

The interesting question is how plunging support in Quebec will affect the NDP leadership race, as candidates make an array of promises to try and stop the bleeding. This could launch Mulcair to the top of the charts if the membership decides that it needs a Quebecer to maintain what they've got. Then again, Mulcair will never have the personable popularity of a Jack Layton, and they really have nowhere to go but down regardless of who becomes the next leader.

Peter Kent "You Are A Piece Of S**t!"

So much for the new era of civility and decorum in Canadian Parliament, as today Justin Trudeau called the Minister of the Environment a "piece of s**t". Smooth move Justin, but it would have been nicer had you just told him to f**k off. On Power Play Justin explained that he's frustrated with the lack of Conservative accountability and just couldn't take it anymore. Right, it is the Tories fault that Justin can't control his temper. Also Justin, you might want to consider shaving the goatee because you look ridiculous, like a cheap retro Bond villain.

Political pundits this afternoon were musing that our parliamentarians need a vacation, despite many opposition members skipping a whole lot of votes in this session. Justin only missed 19 votes to Bob Rae's 46. Even Ruth Ellen Brosseau who famously vacationed in Las Vegas during the last election campaign has only missed one vote in this Parliamentary session. She deserves some credit, because her NDP colleagues account for 6 of the top 9 most absent MPs. 50 Tory MPs missed zero votes.

Quebec Suing The Government?

Quebec is going to sue the federal government to try and save the gun registry, or rather the data contained within. Their plan is to start their own gun registry, which is their government's prerogative. If the province would like to go ahead with their own gun registry, then that's their business. The matter of debate is whether or not the data held by the feds can or should be shared with provincial jurisdictions. The Tories have long campaigned on abolishing the registry and were recently elected to a majority government (including MPs from Quebec). The abolition of the registry becomes law in January. Should the gun registry data be shared with provinces who want to start their own registries? That should be a poll question.

Personally I would not object to the Tories sharing limited data about only Quebec residents, but the information of gun owners outside the province should be off limits. Although I am not a gun owner, I have always supported scrapping the gun registry because it is expensive and does nothing to prevent crime. If my province of British Columbia planned to launch a gun registry I would strongly oppose that action and it would affect my vote. However if it is popular in Quebec, go ahead, knock your socks off.

Please Sort Your Garbage

Today at work we removed all the garbage and recycling bins, replacing them with a more complex waste disposal/recycling system. We generally get about two thousand people per week come through our facility (sometimes more), and the municipality decided this green initiative was of critical importance. There are now different bins for several different types of waste, which requires the public to participate by sorting their garbage before tossing it out. Food items go in one bag, containers another, napkins another, etc. Will the public do their part? Unlikely. The old system had 2 different bins, garbage and recycling, and people would very frequently throw garbage in the recycling bin. Some people care, many don't.

I was often reminded today of the "Green Police" Super Bowl commercial, joking with my boss about waste disposal infractions and our authority to enforce a moral responsibility in the general public. This disposal system will not produce the intended results unless there is some kind of enforcement policy in place. We need badges and the authority to issue fines. Throw a bottle in the paper bin, $50 fine or a night in jail!



Today's poll question; how much of a priority do you place on recycling? Is it very important, something you only do when convenient, or no concern at all?

This Penn and Teller Bullshit episode is priceless...

End Of The Year Poll Questions

With three weeks remaining in 2011, I would like to run some webpolls for the (blank) of the year. The two big topics are the top political newsmaker and top news story of 2011, and your suggestions for additional poll questions are encouraged. The two biggest political stories would be the death of Jack Layton and the Conservatives winning a majority government; which would then suggest that Layton and Harper are leading candidates for biggest newsmaker. The Liberals falling to 3rd place was a big story, and Iggy made significant news for all the wrong reasons. What was your favourite piece of legislation in 2011? Which politician had the worst 2011, not counting the deceased?

Please submit your suggestions, both for poll questions and for nominations of biggest news maker/story of the year.

Stombo The Historian

Of all the people on the CBC roster that management could have chosen to host a series of historical documentaries, how they decided upon George Strombopolis boggles the mind. Seriously, the glorified disc jockey with all the piercings, that's your chosen educator on matters of world history? In his WWII doc, he kept talking about Hitler and Mussolini with frequent references to "right wing ideology". In the latest history lesson, we learn that Ronald Reagan was one of the true villains of the Cold War. Did the world really need more documentaries on WWII and the Cold War? What we needed was history according to Stombo...

I'd be very curious to know how much these Love-Hate docs cost to make, and how much they paid George to read the cue cards. Sound like an idea for an Access to Information request. They should not have cost much to make because there was no original research and they just recycled the same historical footage used in every other documentary. I'm willing to wager that they spent more than they should have. For those of you considering buying the Love, Hate, and Propaganda box set for $35 at the CBC Shop, be aware that they play these with great frequency on CBC TV. You'll probably get about 500 opportunities to watch it for free in the next year. This is not something you want to spend money on, though since your tax dollars helped pay to make it, you already have. That's sad.

Peter MacKay Did Nothing Wrong

Did you know that the search and rescue squadron that hoisted Peter MacKay away from his fishing trip runs 2 training events every day as part of its regular routine? On that infamous day when they took MacKay away, they were actually seeking something to do because a new engineer needed experience operating the hoist in a real life simulation. There was going to be a flight regardless of whether Peter MacKay needed an airlift or not, and the Minister was willing to put his life in the hands of rookie who required training. These exercises increase the competency and readiness of our search and rescue fleet, so that when there is a real emergency and people's lives are on the line they get the job done.

The NDP demanded MacKay's dismissal for reasons of incompetence based on e-mail semantics and hearsay before anyone thought to talk to the actual pilot! Even Don Martin of all people came to MacKay's defense today. Peter and Don don't get along, which Martin speculates might have something to do with the Belinda Stronach Biography. He wrote about the testimony from the pilot today:

If the opposition parties refuse to throttle down their hysterical demands for MacKay’s apology or resignation, MacKay has plenty of high-calibre ammunition for return fire to make them look even more hysterical than usual in Question Period today.

In two sentences, Maj. Reid removed most of the political heat from the controversy.

“The flight would have been flown regardless of whether or not the minister was included because the squadron conducts two training events per day as part of a regular routine,” he declared. “In this case, a new flight engineer required hoist training, therefore the training intentions were well matched.”

So there you have it. It was a routine flight while MacKay’s hoist helped train a newbie looking for rescue experience and never dreaming it would include the Defence Minister.

It’s been a fun controversy to cover, exacerbated by horrible spin from a minister who used to excel at media relations, but there’s nothing more to see or say on this file. MacKay’s search for a rescue is over.

Saanich Gulf Islands Byelection?

With rumours swirling around the internet that Green Party MP Elizabeth May could be defecting to Papua New Guinea, the local Tories in her riding should start preparing for a possible byelection whenever that might happen. Even if the byelection is years away, there is a benefit to cold calling constituents to identify possible voters. Is it fair to engage in such activity before the MP has officially resigned? If there is a plausible basis for the speculation, then why not? Elizabeth May has started working on behalf of the government of Papua New Guinea, so it is entirely plausible that she might defect. Call it wishful thinking if you will, but we should start working the phones on Vancouver Island.

I have to take a principled stand on this issue, and do what's right. Identifying supporters allows you to offer help getting them to the polls at election or byelection time. This is furthering the cause of democracy by trying to get as many people as possible out to vote. Getting people out to vote is morally sound and should be embraced, not confronted with outrage and self important righteousness...some assholes are just completely irrational...

How Did The Ancestral Cree Survive James Bay Winters?

As the housing and infrastructure crisis in Attiwapiskat continues, one can't help but wonder how the Cree ancestors of the residents survived the harsh northern winters for hundreds of years. They have been living up there for a very long time, and somehow managed to survive without $250,000 homes and millions of dollars in government aid. I suppose these people have now lost their ability to live off the land, where they prospered self sufficiently for a millennium. Now these once proud people have deteriorated into a welfare ghetto with complete dependence on government.

Charlie Angus, the federal NDP MP for the area is applauding the band for telling the 3rd party financial managers to go home because they didn't bring supplies. Auditors and accountants are not the Red Cross, yet Charlie seems to think they need to function as delivery people. Don't expect the auditors to get a warm welcome or cooperation from the band leadership that squandered $90M over 6 years. We need to find out what really happened to the money, therefor auditors and 3rd party management are required, not optional.

Elizabeth May Representing Papua New Guinea

Excellent news that Elizabeth May has opted to represent the people of a foreign country at an international symposium. If we are lucky, her return trip from the conference will be to Papua New Guinea instead of Ottawa. Seriously Elizabeth, you should consider taking up residence in your new country. It is a tropical climate and word has it that the local people are very friendly. You can swim with sharks, forage with tree kangaroos, and enjoy everything their ecosystem has to offer.They even recently introduced a Limited Preferential Vote system for elections that is similar to how the Liberals elect their leaders. Very exciting, right? I would support the Prime Minister making her our ambassador to Papua NG, allowing her to reside there year round.

Moving to Papua New Guinea is something you should seriously consider Elizabeth. Many people would love for that to happen, even if the happiest people would be in Canada.

Should Peter MacKay Resign?

The Minister of Defense is once again under siege for his impromptu helicopter extraction from a fishing trip as he stands accused of lying in his initial version of events. Today's poll question; should Peter MacKay resign? The Prime Minister says the the Minister was recalled from vacation and thus they sent a helicopter so that they could conduct government business. However the connecting flight was only a 2 hour drive from the cottage, making the helicopter part of it appear rather unnecessary. Or perhaps they were overdue on training to evacuate VIPs from cottages? Come on, if you don't practice every so often, you don't know what can happen in an emergency. I'm a little bit disappointed, but not angry about this incident. Some pundits and politicians are furious.

Regardless, Peter MacKay won't resign and he will not be dismissed over this controversy. Truth is the Tories have reduced Challenger flights by 80% since taking over for the Liberals. I'd be curious to see how many Challenger air miles Ralph Goodale collected while working as a minister of the crown.

Dippers Say The Darndest Things

On Sunday the NDP will have their first leadership debate, which may or may not produce the next hot sound clip for the next election. Today's poll question; which NDP leadership candidate will produce the most "memorable" quote in the leader's debates? Memorable in the same way that Ignatieff's "we didn't get it done" knocked Stephane Dion off the rails once upon a time.

There are 9 names to choose from:

1) Brian Topp: most likely to screw up on a stage in front of the cameras.

2) Paul Dewar: plays the self-righteous blowhard better than anybody.

3) Tom Mulcair: I'd love for Tom to tell us what he really thinks about international terrorism. The most gaffe prone in the field.

4) Peggy Nash: She's likely to make the most in spending promises.

5) Niki Ashton: I don't know anything about this person.

6) Romeo Saganash: I don't know anything about this person.

7) Martin Singh: I don't know anything about this person.

8) Robert Chisholm: I don't know anything about this person.

9) Nathan Cullen: Least likely to make a gaffe. He's a savvy media guy.

NDP Leadership Debates Kick Off Sunday

Just a heads up to political junkies out there, the NDP will be having their first official leadership debate on Sunday. While many of us are disappointed that Libby Davies will not be participating, the festivities should still produce memorable quotes which can be used as campaign fodder. Brian Topp has been the hand picked front runner thus far, though Mulcair and Dewar are unlikely to waste the opportunity to take some shots at the establishment candidate. What will be interesting is whether or not any of them will deviate from current party policy left behind by Jack Layton, and blaze forward with their own juicy initiatives. Or will this debate be about who would do the best job of enacting the policies of Jack Layton?

There's a strong chance that aboriginal affairs will dominate the discussion given the recent emergency in Northern Ontario. Who will make the biggest spending promise? Guaranteed there will be some very colossal dollar figures thrown around in this debate. This should be entertaining television for those of us who follow politics closely, though we will be lacking the wild and crazy ideas of Libby. Expect Peggy Nash to lead the way on dollars promised to public sector union workers, with the 8 other contestants clamouring behind to try and court that crucial demographic of the NDP constituency.

November Polling

Here are your poll results from the month of November. Who should be the Premier of Alberta? Do you know the lyrics to our national anthem? Should Rob Ford sue the CBC? Do you think that a fleet of tankers is cleaner and safer than a pipeline? Is Canada screwed? Hermain Cain topped your list as the Republican who should face Obama in 1012, but there have been some new extra marital affair accusations since the poll, so his candidacy is in jeopardy.


DO YOU KNOW THE LYRICS TO OUR NATIONAL ANTHEM?

Yes (84%)
No (16%)

WHO SHOULD BE THE PREMIER OF ALBERTA?

Danielle Smith (63%)
Monte Solberg (19%)
Alison Redford (5%)
Wayne Gretzky (4%)
None of the above (2%)
Ted Morton (1%)
Ed Stelmach (0%)
Raj Sherman (0%)
Doug Horner (0%)
Gary Mar (0%)
Naheed Nenshi (0%)

IS CANADA SCREWED?

No (68%)
Yes (21%)
Undecided (7%)
The world will end in Dec 2012 (4%)

ARE THE TORIES RESPONSIBLE FOR PAT MARTIN'S F-BOMB TIRADE?

No (96%)
Yes (4%)
Undecided (0%)

DO YOU THINK THAT A FLEET OF TANKERS IS SAFER AND CLEANER THAN A PIPELINE?

No (93%)
Yes (3%)
Undecided (2%)

WHO DO YOU THINK SHOULD WIN THE REPUBLICAN NOMINATION TO RUN AGAINST OBAMA IN 2012?

Herman Cain (30%)
Newt Gingrich (24%)
Mitt Romney (17%)
None of the above (7%)
Ron Paul (6%)
Undecided (5%)
Rick Perry (2%)
Michele Bachman (2%)
Rick Santorum (1%)
John Huntsman (1%)

DO YOU SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL MAYOR ORDERING THE DISMANTLING OF AN OCCUPY CAMP NEAR YOU?

Yes, and bring tasers (82%)
Yes, no tasers (13%)
No (4%)

IF THE LIBERALS HOLD AN AMERICAN STYLE PRIMARY TO SELECT THEIR NEXT LEADER, IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?

Yes (40%)
No (38%)
Undecided (22%)

SHOULD CSIS CONDUCT OPERATIONS IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES?

Yes (91%)
No (6%)
Undecided (3%)

DOES THE JOY OF GETTING AN EXTRA HOUR IN THE FALL JUSTIFY THE PAIN OF LOSING AN HOUR IN THE SPRING?

No (53%)
Yes (36%)
Undecided (10%)

IF THE TAXPAYERS DIDN'T HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL, SHOULD ROB FORD SUE THE CBC?

Yes (83%)
No (15%)
Undecided (2%)

SHOULD CORPORATIONS AND UNIONS BE ALLOWED TO MAKE POLITICAL DONATIONS AND RUN ADVERTISING DURING ELECTION CAMPAIGNS?

No (88%)
Yes (9%)
Undecided (3%)

SHOULD 30 NEW SEATS BE ADDED TO CANADIAN PARLIAMENT?

Yes (55%)
No (44%)
Undecided (1%)

What Can You Buy For $90M Dollars?

When a state of emergency was declared this week in the Northern Ontario Aboriginal community of Attiwapiskat due to deplorable living conditions, the initial response was anger at the government for neglecting the people. Then we find out that this small community of 2000 people has received $90 Million dollars in funding from the Harper government since 2006, prompting most logical people to ask the most obvious question, what the hell did they spend that money on? Today's poll question; should $90M over 6 years be enough money to lift a community of 2000 people out of "3rd world" living conditions?

What can you buy for $90 million? As the government is sending in a team of auditors, we should soon find out. There is a very good chance we are going to find that the leaders of this community in charge of spending that money did not spend it wisely. They are saying that nearly all of that money went to education. Somehow I seriously doubt that, but I will allow the auditors to do their work before making my own allegations about local corruption. For all those attacking Stephen Harper as being responsible for this state of emergency, remember that the McGuinty government in Ontario has a Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. What do those people do for their 40 hours a week? What responsibility for local mismanagement falls on the Ontario government?

We are going to find what happened to the money. Speculating that it was spent on beer and popcorn at this early stage isn't helping anyone...

Shinning A Light On The CBC's Flawed Decision Making

There are only two days remaining to vote in the webpoll for which CBC employee you think tested the worst with focus groups. As of right now Terry Milewski has a large lead over his colleagues, followed by Stombo, Mary Walsh, and Soloman. Now that the CBC has been ordered by the courts to hand over internal documents such as focus group data, we may finally get a chance to shine a light on some of the Broadcaster's inner machinations for evidence of flawed decision making at the programming level.

Many of us would also like to see what programs lose the most money so we can start trimming the fat. Meanwhile, there is at least one group fighting to save the CBC's tax payer subsidies. The "Friends of Canadian Broadcasting" are launching an ad campaign targeting the Tory government on the CBC issue. The objective is to protect the flow of tax money to prop up a public broadcaster notorious for putting untalented people on the air. Somebody needs to fight for the right of Mary Walsh to get paid to be on television, because otherwise no network would hire "artists" like her. Generally you have to be funny to get a gig as a comedian, unless that employer is the CBC.

Liberals Surge In New Poll

Don't look now, but the Bob Rae Liberals are surging in the polls up to 28% support, putting them in 2nd place, 7% behind the Tories. The question on everyone's mind, does this mean that the opposition will pull the plug on the government and try to force an early election? Hurry, get the buses ready and the lawn signs out of storage! Oh that's right I almost forgot, the Tories have a stable majority government...we no longer need to get election ready every time a good poll comes out for the Liberals. People like Nik Nanos still need to remain relevant somehow, though it is difficult for them when we do not have election speculation at every turn. You'll have to forgive our media, they still have a hangover from 6 years of minority Parliament.

What this poll means, should Bobby's Liberals hold some of this ground they've gained on the NDP, is that it will be more likely Rae breaks his pledge and runs for full time leadership when they finally get around to having a convention. A question I'd like to ask as I watch The Soloman Show, why do the Liberals send Holland, Findlay, or Kennedy to do the majority of their press spots on the politics shows? Not much talent on the actual elected team, eh? Because what I really needed today was Mark Holland getting sanctimonious about the Wheat Board. Bob probably wants to keep potential leadership contenders out of the spotlight.

Dropping Out Of Kyoto?

How is this news that Canada is withdrawing from the Kyoto protocol? It will certainly be used as a point of criticism by the opposition, but isn't Kyoto already dead? Surely a Liberal or NDP leadership hopeful has already named their dog Copenhagen. Even CO2 Armageddon activists have to admit that the Kyoto treaty was fatally flawed by how Russia, China, and India fit into the equation. That's why they needed the "Copenhagen Accord". Of course the reason this is news is because there is a new conference planned where they intend to extend Kyoto. Canada won't be playing along, and there will even be a pre-Christmas press conference to formally announce our withdrawal. That will be a nice little Christmas gift for the base, but ultimately meaningless.

Even if the world spends trillions of dollars to meet the targets, the end of the world will only be postponed for a few years. True, those few years might give us the chance to start a new civilization on Mars or in a parallel dimension.



Ah, Glenn Beck back when Glenn Beck was cool. I miss those days, before he went bat shit crazy.

Grey Cup Sunday: Don't Worry Vancouver

On CTV News tonight the anchor expressed concern that there could be riots following Sunday's Grey Cup in Vancouver. Don't worry people, the Lions do not enjoy the same level of widespread committed fandom as the hockey team. The Lions have their fans, but in much smaller proportion and passion than with the Canucks. They aren't going to burn down the city if the Lions lose, so everyone can relax. Besides, playing in an 8 team league means every team makes it to the championship every few years, whereas in the NHL it could take the Canucks another 15-30 years to make it back to the big show. Losing in the finals is not nearly as devastating in the CFL.

I'm not sure if I'm going to be watching the Grey Cup. I work early in the morning and only have a fleeting interest in CFL football, preferring the NFL instead. 4 downs and 32 teams provides much more variety and a better game. Though 32 years ago today, my mother went into labour with me at a Grey Cup Party, so I do have a nostalgic connection to the big game. Mike Harris was also at the same Grey Cup Party where I started being born, but that was before he entered politics.

I'm predicting no riots on Sunday.

Court Forces CBC To Hand Over Focus Group Results For TV Personalities

The CBC lost a court appeal forcing them to answer Access to Information requests that they had previously ignored on the grounds of protecting artistic secrets. Among the documents ordered be turned over are focus group results regarding CBC personalities, something that the CBC did not want to be made public. Many of us would love to see the results of this ATI request published in the media. Infact I hope that they have focus groups results for every single television personality, and that they become public information. If the CBC would like to keep this information private, they should stop taking money from the government.

This begs the question, which CBC personality has the most negative or damaging focus group results? On the news side it has to be Milewski or Soloman. The CBC repeatedly airs commercials for the Soloman Show with Evan pleading with viewers that he's "tough, but not unfair", over and over again. I wonder if that's what his focus group said? The most negative results probably come from their regular television programming, where they have some absolutely atrocious TV shows.

Which CBC TV personality has the most negative focus group results will be a future poll question, after a sufficient nomination period. Who do you think tested poorly, but kept their jobs anyway? The lead actor in Little Mosque is reportedly an alpha male within CBC ranks, so if he tested poorly it is plausible the results would be disregarded.

But even more than focus group results, the information I want to see the most is how much each show cost to make, and how much revenue each produced. Who made money, and who lost money? And how much?

"If being a grumpy old man makes you an expert"

Didn't Jack Layton promise after the election to bring a new level of decorum to the House of Commons? Didn't Jack Layton proclaim that Canadians don't like insults? Weren't NDP MPs wearing "civility" buttons at the beginning of the first session in June?  Perhaps Megan Leslie did not get the civility memo, after today she started a question with "if being a grumpy old man makes you an expert" before being cut off. That's pretty classy coming from a party that has accused the Conservatives of "ageism" for criticizing the youth and inexperience of the new Dippers in caucus. By NDP standards discriminatory "ageism" only applies to comments against young people, not older people. It is okay if the target is a "grumpy old man", but try to say that a University student lacks the experience for elected office and suddenly you've committed a despicable act of age based discrimination.

It certainly seems of late that Megan Leslie is getting more face time than NDP leader Nycole Turmel.

NDP MPs Require Help With Oh Canada Lyrics

Tonight CTV's Lisa LaFlamme Tweeted @LisaLaFlammeCTV "Just watched HoC vid of NDP MP's using cheatsheets to sing the National Anthem. Wouldn't believe it if I hadn't seen it. We'll air at 11." Isn't that sweet, members of our official opposition require assistance to sing Oh Canada. I'm not quite as shocked as Lisa LaFlamme. Can anyone really be surprised? Patriotism has never struck me as a strong suit of the Dippers. Maybe it isn't fair to poke fun at them at them for needing cheat sheets; it isn't like their caucus is fully bilingual and knows how to sing the English version. Their leader can barely speak English and often has to read from a script to ask questions in the House.

Today's poll question: do you know the lyrics to our national anthem? What percentage of Canadians can actually get the words right? There has been polling on this. 62% of French Canadians report that they can sing the french version without effort, so the percentage of francophones who can sing the English version is probably below 50%. The older you are, the more likely you are to know the lyrics. 77% of Canadian born respondents said they knew the words. 64% of foreign born Canadians knew the words. Immigrants report to have better anthem knowledge than francophone Canadians.

When I'm at events and our anthem comes on, I just shut up and listen instead of singing, but I do hold the song in reverence.

Who Should Be The Premier Of Alberta?

With a left leaning Alison Redford now leading the Alberta PC Party, the next general election in Alberta should be very interesting. Today's poll question; who should be the Premier of Alberta? Is everyone just waiting for the acclimation of Danielle Smith? Should Gary Mar, Doug Horner, or Ted Morton have won the PC leadership and be leading the Progressives into the next election? The early consensus on the Redford administration is that the party is now more progressive than conservative, and that Wildrose might be the only Conservative party left to vote for. With Redford as Premier, Ed Stelmach has to be looking pretty good right about now...

What about Naheed Nenshi or Monte Solberg? Wayne Gretzky? I'm just throwing out names.

Occupy Vancouver Peacefully Dismantles, Before Moving A Block Away

This morning in Vancouver the talk of the town was that the protest at the Art Gallery was closing up shop, that the clowns were choosing to leave peacefully instead of defying a court order. So what did they do? They took down their tent city in front of the Art Gallery and moved it behind the Art Gallery to the provincial courthouse. Classy. To add insult to stupidity, they decided that it would be a good idea to block a major traffic corridor on a Monday afternoon while they were relocating around the corner. Nothing wins the battle for hearts and minds quite like making commuters sit in gridlock.

The new location is also on public land because they seem unable to find a private land owner who is willing to host them. Really, if you are the kind of person who wants a heroin party on your front lawn, you probably don't have a front lawn. Even our left wing Premier Christy Clark was pissed off, suggesting that the next court order will be coming a whole lot faster than the last one. Granted, this sounded a lot like her demand for swift justice for rioters back in June, so I won't hold my breath.

Occupy Evictions

This morning as snow hit the lower mainland, Occupy Vancouver protesters were packing up their junk and putting it in storage for another day. They will leave peacefully, but their comrades in Occupy Toronto might be getting ready for a fight. Both have been ordered by the Courts to vacate public property, as freedom of expression does not include freedom to squat in public parks. While it is great that the law has finally taken action against these clowns, these evictions should have come when the first tents went up. Hopefully next time we'll learn our lesson and evict them on day one, and trust me there will be a next time. The hooligans who do this seem to very much enjoy civil disobedience.

Ironically last week CBC reported a "major victory" for Occupy Toronto when a judge delayed eviction notices to allow arguments to be presented. It did not take long for the judge to reach this decision. It was strange that the CBC reported a short delay of eviction notices as a major victory, especially considering the evictions were eventually upheld. Vancouver is dismantling peacefully, Toronto may be gearing up for a fight. I'm sure that has nothing to do with Vancouver having a left wing Mayor and Toronto having a right wing Mayor...

UPDATE: So after all that, the Occupy clowns in Vancouver didn't leave, they just moved a block away to the courthouse. Please, start arresting people.

Canada Votes 2011: The Year Of The Incumbent

If the world were indeed collapsing around us as the Occupy Canada protesters believe, you'd think that this year would present a difficulty for all incumbents seeking re-election. That has not been the case (federal Liberals and Bloc Quebecois notwithstanding), and it started with Stephen Harper getting a majority mandate in the spring. Dalton McGuinty was re-elected, Brad Wall cruised to a giant majority, Selinger won in Manitoba, Ghiz swept PEI, and Saturday greater Vancouver voted strongly incumbent in municipal elections despite the unpopular gas tax. This has been a good a year for incumbents, even those with popularity problems. Canadian voters have not been voting for change, which you'd expect if things really needed to be changed.

Perhaps the strong performance of incumbents this year is a sign that things aren't all that bad in Canada? Yes the United States and Europe have their problems which will likely hurt us, but Canada is not heading to ruin because Canada is broken. We'll feel the pain when our allies run into trouble, however global financial markets are not falling based on news coming out of Canada. There's a reason incumbents are being re-elected.

BC Votes: Remember The Gas Tax

On Saturday the voters of British Columbia will be voting in municipal elections, and everyone should get out and vote. If you live in Vancouver, you need to vote against Gregor Robertson. He's a blowhard idealist who promised to solve all the world's problems when he was first elected. Here we are a few years later, and there are far more failures than successes. For those who aren't voting in Vancouver proper but rather a greater Vancouver municipality; I'm encouraging everyone to vote against any incumbent mayor who voted to jack up the gas tax when we already have a carbon tax. Vote the bums out of office!

The mayors primarily responsible for the gas tax are:

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson
Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts
Port Coquitlam Mayor Greg Moore
Langley Mayor Peter Fassbender
Coquitlam Mayor Richard Stewart
District of North Vancouver Mayor Richard Walton
West Vancouver Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones (not running)

Do not vote for any of these people who might be running for re-election. Richmond mayor Malcolm Brodie voted against the gas tax along with the Mayors of Burnaby and Delta, so keep that in mind if you are voting there.

As for city council, I don't have much of an opinion. If you happen to live in West Vancouver, do not vote for Bill Soprovich. Two years ago I attended a city council meeting regarding the Olympics, and one of the notes I wrote in my notepad was "do not vote for Bill Soprovich". I didn't elaborate and don't even remember why I wrote it, but I'm sure I had a good reason...

Ibbitson: Blame Tories For Martin's F-Bomb Tirade

According to the Globe's John Ibbitson, NDP MP Pat Martin's F-Bomb tirade was justifiable considering the Tories management of the Parliamentary agenda. As the headline goes, "NDP profanity marks Parliament’s hastened decline under Tories". As Ibby puts it, the tweets were "in poor taste. But he makes an important point." The theory goes that given how the Tories have handled debate in Parliament, we should expect opposition MPs to express frustration. If you have to drop a few F-Bombs to get people's attention, then you gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe it is in poor taste, but you have to make an important point, right? Can you really blame Pat Martin for being frustrated with the Conservatives, who have been limiting (though not eliminating) debate in order to speed up their parliamentary agenda to fulfill election promises?

How much more debate exactly are we supposed to have regarding the gun registry? Parliament and the media have already dedicated thousands of hours of televised debate on this subject. The Tories campaigned on scrapping it, and they were elected to a majority. Should we shut down the rest of the Parliamentary agenda to rehash a debate that we've already had nationally? It is called fulfilling election promises, not justification for temper tantrums.

That's just my opinion. Today's poll question; are the Tories responsible for Pat Martin's F-Bomb tirade?

Megan Leslie Goes To Washington

The NDP has sent their environment critic to Washington with the purpose of lobbying to kill the Keystone pipeline. Normally I'd be a little miffed to have a far leftist down in the USA claiming to speak on behalf of Canada, but I did get a good laugh from her interview on Power Play Wednesday. She hasn't actually been able to change any minds, and her most profound "observation" is how many people she's met who are shocked that there are any Canadians who care about the environment. While I can't produce an itinerary of the people she's meeting with and talking to, the majority of those people seem to think our entire country is hell bent on destroying the planet. She did meet with Nancy Pelosi's office. That much she confirmed today.

To any Americans out there reading this, Megan Leslie speaks for a far left party in Canada, not the majority. The majority of us do indeed yearn to destroy planet Earth...

(ps: that's sarcasm by the way)

Megan Leslie could become Prime Minister of Canada, if only she spoke French. That's so sad that she doesn't...

CBC's O'Malley Mocks Government On Access To Information Diligence

It's ironic that a CBC journalist blogger would direct mocking criticism at the government for their diligence in responding to Access To Information requests; when her own public tax funded broadcaster frequently refuses to respond to ATI requests about how they spend those tax dollars. Perhaps it is as they so often say, "takes one to know one". Oh that's right I forgot, the CBC has the moral high ground because they are protecting their "artistic integrity" (I know, calling anything produced by the CBC "art" is objectionable).

Kady's original post mocking of the government on this matter came a few weeks ago after an ethics committee hearing investigating the CBC questionable practices regarding ATI requests. She was trying to deflect criticism away from the CBC by throwing mud at the Tory government under the title "OpenGovWatch", questioning the gov's sincerity on posting ATI request results online by the end of the year. Today the government announced they would do exactly that, so Kady re-posted her original negative post from a few weeks ago, scratched a few words out, and added an update at the bottom. Is that her way of printing a retraction? Or did she use the announcement as an excuse to re-post her original mocking criticism?

It doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, but that's something we've come to expect from the journalistic blogging world of Kady O'Malley...

A History Channel Thanksgiving

This has not been a great season of South Park, but their most recent episode "a History Channel Thanksgiving" was good for a hearty laugh. It pokes fun at what is now considered "history" on the History Channel, such as the show Ancient Aliens which speculates extra terrestrial involvement in pretty much every significant event of human history. The episode also ridicules the people who pass for experts on some of these outlandish documentaries. Was the first Thanksgiving catered by aliens? You decide!

Personally I used to be a big fan of the History Channel but rarely watch their regular programming anymore. Brad Meltzer's Decoded had potential, but I've been watching that and it's a joke. They rarely figure out anything substantive and they are too easily seduced by conspiracy theories. Was the Statue of Liberty intended as a symbol of devil worship? Stay tuned! Did a cult in the Southern USA successfully predicted the end of the world? Maybe! We'll find out when the sun explodes! The channel has made some terrible programming decisions. Ice road truckers? How far can you pushed this? Seriously? One episode was all that anyone needed to see.

Fact and Film is always fun, and most of their military programing is well done; but there is a lot of crap on the History Channel these days. That was the basis for the latest episode of South Park.

Where There's A Gas Tank, There's A Way...

A message for the many voices trying to end the Keystone and Kitimat pipelines; you can kill the pipelines, but you can't stop the flow of oil. We have substantial oil reserves and the world has an insatiable appetite for the substance. Short of the NDP forming government and making it illegal to harvest oil, it will continue to travel by the old reliable methods, tankers, roads, rail, etc. Do you think that a fleet of tankers is safer and cleaner than a pipeline? Seriously? That is today's poll question.

The people who are fighting to kill the pipeline from Edmonton to northern BC, the alternative is the status quo, an aged pipeline that runs under metro Vancouver. Do you think that is cleaner or safer? Pipeline to Kitimat, or pipeline under greater Vancouver that carries oil to Vancouver harbour? It is a no brainer. And if you kill the existing pipeline that will just mean more trucks and trains traveling through the mountain passes. Great, that never turns out badly...

You can't stop the flow. Your best hope is diminishing demand through technological innovations, but that won't stop demand to the developing world anytime soon. Perhaps we could put an electric car in every Canadian driveway (though watch what that would do to the price of electricity), but you can't deliver that to the whole world within a plausible timeline. Demand will continue, and even if it slowly diminishes, as supply diminishes prices will remain profitable.

We have trillions of dollars worth of this stuff under the ground. That value leads to jobs, which leads to economic activity which supports countless supporting businesses. It also funds billions of dollars in tax revenue for the government. The oil sands in Alberta helps pay for health care in Quebec and Ontario. How much money does the Canada Pension fund have invested in Canadian Natural Resources? Billions. How many Canadians collect cheques from CPP?

Should Canada build more oil refineries? Yes, absolutely. But if you shut down oil production, the economic consequences would be catastrophic. Come on people; give your heads a good shake!

Who Should Be The Republican Nominee in 2012?

Today's poll question; who do you think should win the Republican nomination to run against Obama in 2012? Of the current candidates running in the race, Herman Cain is leading in the polls with 18%, followed by Romney and Gingrich with 15% a piece, the absent minded Rick Perry has 8%, Ron Paul has 5%, Michele Bachman has 4%, Santorum and Huntsman round out the field with 2% and 1% respectively. Undecided and none of the above are also options in the poll.

I'm not sure that I like any of the candidates currently in the field, and if this is the final list of choices I'll probably end up endorsing Newt. He's really the only one on that stage I trust, but age could become an issue. Romney might be the best business man among the group, but I'm not sure America is ready for a Mormon President. I don't understand the Herman Cain phenomenon. He came out of nowhere and suddenly was the favourite before anyone really knew all that much about him. He's certainly the most entertaining of the bunch. The brain fart pretty much eliminates Perry as a contender. Ron Paul is older than John McCain, and McCain was too old 3 years ago.

Should Occupy Camps Be Dismantled?

Today's poll question; do you support your local mayor ordering the dismantling of an Occupy protest near you? Is it time for Rob Ford to call the police on Occupy Toronto? These protests have been allowed to continue for far too long, and now with a growing epidemic of drug overdoses, it has become dangerous. Perhaps the question is not whether or not they should be dismantled, but what degree of force the police should use to shut them down. Tasers or no tasers? Some police officers have been assaulted or bitten when they have intervened, as these clowns don't want to go peacefully. They want to be dragged away kicking and screaming like little children, and if that's the case, then so be it.

"The 99%" Really Likes Their Heroin

The Occupy Canada "movement" has now experienced its third drug overdose in a week, this time in Toronto. It would seem that "the 99%" has a bit of a heroin problem. When the initial day of protest cleared and the comparatively normal people went home, those left behind pitching tents were not exactly the bright young minds of tomorrow. Maybe I'm just part of "the 1%" that does not enjoy shooting heroin, but they need to shut down this camping trip ASAP because it has become dangerous.

I'm sure there are some people at these Occupy protests who have good intentions, but what they have created is not what they intended. Some might say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, which is how I feel about extreme socialism in general. When the safety net becomes a magnet, the downward spiral is soon to follow.

Liberals To Hold American Style Primary To Select Leader?

The Liberals are considering an American style primary process to select their next leader, where they would hold individual votes in a number of different cities to see who comes out on top. Today's poll question; is this a good idea? The alternative is a flawed convention process that last produced the futile and inept Stephane Dion to run for Prime Minister. Perhaps the results of the last Liberal leadership convention justifies the impetus to alter the selection process. The big question will be whether or not you'll have to be a paid card carrying Liberal to vote. In many American primaries, declared Democrats can vote for Republicans and visa versa.

Would I show up to vote for the next Liberal leader if they held an open primary in Vancouver? Probably, but I'd much rather vote in the NDP leadership race. Thus far the NDP race has a greater number of candidates who have a 0% chance of being elected Prime Minister in the next election. Having survived Bob Rae's Ontario, I could never mark his name on a ballot, even if I expected him to lose.

The Death Of Occupy Vancouver

While I can't speak for all Occupy camps near you, judging by what's been going on at Occupy Vancouver, this so called "movement" is dying and will soon be at an end. This downward spiral of childish imbecility was entirely predictable when the decision was made right from day one to make it a permanent live in protest. You were sure to get big crowds on opening weekend with people of various left wing associations supporting any number of complaints against "the system", but you knew the people pitching tents would not be the sane and rational people from the original group. Some might call them the lunatic fringe, I prefer to call them clowns. In Vancouver it tends to be the same people, and I've seen their protests before.

Then, when the normal people went home to their jobs after their symbolic appearance on opening weekend, the people left speaking for the entire movement were the least desirable spokespeople you could possibly leave in charge. The inmates took over the asylum, and the tent city protests got substantial media coverage. Here's an idea, let's start a protest movement and leave the craziest among us in charge of it when we go home and see what happens! Now it has degraded to the point where they damned near need a mobile safe heroin injection site just to keep the protesters alive! There are a number of left wingers who are now frustrated, even angry, with the Occupy Vancouver protesters for taking legitimacy away from the original movement. People like my friend who initially supported the protest, but now believe it needs to be shut down because it has started hurting the cause.

If they won't leave peacefully. Make them leave. If the nuts throw temper tantrums, then deal with them accordingly. That's what tasers are for.

Should CSIS Conduct Operations Abroad?

Today's poll question; should CSIS conduct operations in foreign countries? This question has now been introduced to the media conversation and I'd like to know if you think our Secret Service/CIA should be conducting operation abroad (not counting trips by Canadian officials and diplomats). Normally I would defer to the Americans to fight the intelligence battle, but I'm curious about the idea of CSIS performing a similar function in order to protect Canadian interests. If foreign spy services conduct operations of espionage against Canada, would our interests be better protected if we had field agents operating in those countries? Our spies don't need to kill people or blow things up, but the art of collecting intelligence can be a very valuable commodity.

Oct 2011 Polling

Here are the results of your poll questions from the month of October. There were questions regarding the Occupy protests, the new ship building contract, should the Progressive Conservatives dump the word progressive, and whether or not it is acceptable for comedy troupes to film surprise/uninvited live sketches at the homes of politicians. And no, Halloween should not be a stat holiday.

SHOULD THE CANADIAN GOVERNMENT HAVE ACCEPTED FOREIGN BIDS ON THE NEW SHIP BUILDING PROJECT?

No (81%)
Yes (14%)
Undecided (5%)

SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT SPEND $33 BILLION TO UPGRADE THE CANADIAN NAVY AND COAST GUARD?

Yes (94%)
No (6%)
Undecided (0%)

WHAT DEMAND DO YOU MOST EXPECT TO EMERGE FROM THE OCCUPY PROTESTS?

(PS: sorry for not including free heroin as an option)

Anarchy (26%)
Income Redistribution (19%)
Minimum guaranteed incomes (14%)
Government pays off everyone's debt (8%)
Arrest George Bush (7%)
Revive Soviet Union (6%)
Free houses for everyone (5%)
Nationalize banks (3%)
Retirement at age 25 (3%)
3 day work week (2%)

SHOULD THE GOVERNMENT PAY OFF YOUR LOANS AND CREDIT CARDS?

No (89%)
Yes (11%)
Undecided (0%)

SHOULD DON CHERRY BE SUED FOR CALLING SOME FORMER HOCKEY FIGHTERS "PUKES AND TURNCOATS"?

No (87%)
Yes (13%)
Undecided (0%)

IS IT ACCEPTABLE FOR WOMEN TO SHOW CLEAVAGE IN THE WORKPLACE?

Yes (75%)
No (22%)
Undecided (3%)

SHOULD THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE PARTY DROP THE WORD PROGRESSIVE FROM THEIR NAME?

Yes (87%)
No (12%)
Undecided (1%)

WHAT'S WORSE?

Liberal minority supported by NDP (61%)
Liberal majority government (30%)
Undecided (9%)

WHAT SHOULD BE DONE WITH WAGES FOR PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS?

Reduced (53%)
Frozen (46%)
Increased (1%)
Undecided (0%)

DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU SHOULD GET MORE DAYS OFF WORK?

No (79%)
Yes (15%)
Undecided (6%)

DID DEFENSE MINISTER PETER MACKAY ABUSE HIS PRIVILEGE BY CHARTERING MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN FLIGHTS ON GOVERNMENT JETS?

No (74%)
Yes (22%)
Undecided (2%)

IS IT APPROPRIATE FOR A COMEDY TROUPE TO FILM UNINVITED UNEXPECTED IMPROV SKETCHES AT THE HOMES OF POLITICIANS?

No (96%)
Yes (4%)
Undecided (0%)

SHOULD BANKS BE ALLOWED TO EARN A PROFIT?

Yes (91%)
No, 100% of profit should be taxed (5%)
No, the government should own all banks (1%)
Undecided (1%)

DO YOU SUPPORT THE OCCUPY CANADA PROTESTS?

No (94%)
Yes (4%)
Indifferent (2%)

HAVE YOU OR WILL YOU WEAR A HALLOWEEN COSTUME IN PUBLIC THIS YEAR?

No (87%)
Yes (12%)
Maybe (1%)

SHOULD HALLOWEEN BE A STATUTORY HOLIDAY?

No (93%)
Yes (7%)
Undecided (0%)

Occupy Heroin

It would appear that the Occupy Vancouver movement has developed a bit of a drug problem, as a woman died today of an alleged drug overdose. This comes two days after another person was rushed away by paramedics for overdosing on heroin. I'm not sure these are the kind of people we want dictating how our economy should function. At their next "general assembly", they should pool their collective minds to write the manifesto "economics for junkies" about the "evils" of capitalism. It is unfortunate that it takes the death of a young woman to expose what's really going on in tent city; getting stoned while being sanctimonious regarding something the protesters are ignorant about, our economy.

They need to shut this place down before more people die. They have proven unable to shoot heroin responsibly while deciding the future of the Canadian financial system.

Daylight Savings

It is that time of year again when most of us set our clocks back to get an extra hour, so everyone remember to adjust your clocks. Today's poll question; does the joy of getting an extra hour in the fall justify the pain of losing an hour in the spring? The "fall back" is among my favourite days of the year, especially while working on weekends, but the "spring forward" is probably my least favourite day of the year.

Last year at around this time I asked the question:

DO YOU THINK THAT WE SHOULD HAVE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME?

No (55%)
Yes (40%)
Undecided (5%)

So the majority of you would rather we scrap this practice altogether and just be more like Saskatchewan. Granted, I asked this question after the "fall back" when many were already delighting in their extra hour. If I ask this question after the "spring forward", it would probably go at least 70% no.

NDP "Whisper Campaign" Against Tom Mulcair?

Thomas Mulcair loves a good conspiracy theory. Now he believes that he's the victim of a "whisper campaign" among his NDP colleagues speculating that he has a bad temper. There is allegedly a "movement" against his leadership bid coming from within, and he's not happy about it! Is the source of this smear campaign "the front runner" Brian Topp? As Mulcair puts it, that's for the membership to decide. Considering he's being accused of having a bad temper, he certainly comes off as aggravated in the interview with left wing journalist Barbara Yaffe. (an aside: you might remember Barbara Yaffe from her op-ed in Nov 2009 fawning over the hiring of Donolo to run Ignatieff's campaign. As she put it, "he will almost certainly make a huge difference to Ignatieff's fortunes as leader." How did that work out Barb?)

Anyway, back to Mulcair. My advice to him is to relax. The NDP is a party currently built on the inherent likability of their leader. Coming off as "angry man" isn't going to deter the "whispers" coming from within his own party. That being said, as a Tory I will take pleasure in watching the NDP infighting over the drive to replace Layton.

Stay calm Tommy boy...

Tories Doing What They Said They'd Do

Now that the Conservatives have been elected by Canadians to a majority government, they are passing legislation that they campaigned on, which got them elected. Tough on crime, scrap the gun registry, scrap subsidies for political parties, no forced membership in the Wheat Board, etc, etc, all promises made well before Canadians elected them to a majority government. Now individual Premiers are revolting against this legislation, which seems odd considering the federal government was elected on promises to do exactly what they are doing. Just because left wing journalists are opposing Tory policies, that doesn't mean the current Conservative government does not have a mandate from the people enact these policies.

Seriously, how can you attack a government doing exactly what they said they'd do when they were elected to run the country? Are Tory MPs terrible people because they moved to scrap the gun registry? That's what they said they'd do, and people voted for them. Accept the mandate! It was the same thing with Mike Harris. I've talked to left leaning friends from Ontario about Iron Mike, and while they might not have always agreed with him, they all acknowledge that at least he did what he said he'd do during the campaign where the people elected him. He was very unpopular with the left, but was still re-elected to a 2nd term. I think sometimes we forget that after 4 years of Harris, Ontario wanted 4 more.

Should Rob Ford Sue The CBC?

This might seem like a ridiculous question, but one I'd like to ask; if the taxpayers didn't have to foot the bill, should Rob Ford sue the CBC? I'm not a lawyer, but between trespassing and blatant character assassination, there has to be enough to get a court date. If he were to sue the CBC, the taxpayers would be on the hook for the legal bill, so this is more of a hypothetical question. Home invasions are a little extreme even for the CBC, but I would really like to read the minutes from the meeting where they decided upon this new strategy. What was the dialogue between Walsh and her producer? Maybe I'll send an Access to Information request. They pushed the envelope farther than they ever have, and I suspect it was a deliberate attempt to force the Mayor into the most uncomfortable situation, impromptu left wing sketch comedy at his home in front of his children. Then he overreacted and called the police, prompting the CBC to ridicule him and then publish a negative story about the 9/11 calls that turned out to be totally false. That's damned near slander. You can get sued for that.

Message to anyone considering a political career, the CBC is breaking new ground where you need to be on high alert 24 hours per day. You won't be safe in your homes. Why the f**k anyone would want a career in politics with this ridiculous standard is beyond me. I guess this kind of attack is perpetrated more often against right wing politicians, who are vilified at every opportunity. Every Conservative is "the worst person in the world", right?

I have to give two thumbs up to Ezra Levant for this comedy sketch. It was brilliant and made me laugh out loud.

Heather Malice: "Harperites Don't Like People With Breasts"

Normally I make it a point not to read the filth written by Heather Mallick, and rather I choose to digest her insane ramblings through the mouth of Charles Adler. In one of her most recent rants she makes the claim "face it, Harperites don’t like people with breasts". As a Harper supporter, I have been lumped into this group. The Toronto Star should be ashamed of themselves for printing this garbage. I am a "Harperite" with 3 sisters, one of whom is currently fighting advanced stage breast cancer. My sister is about to lose a breast, and I'm reading that a "Harperite" like me hates people with breasts? So then by Heather's logic I won't "hate" my sister anymore, or at least by half. This statement is ridiculous and offensive. Many "Harperites" have wives, sisters, mothers, and daughters. Do we hate them? Is that what you are trying to tell me Heather?

At least now Mallick is getting paid by the Star and not the taxpayers. This bile was worse when my tax dollars were paying for it. I will never again visit the Toronto Star website for any reason nor send any exit links to their site. The Star should be ashamed for employing her. I'm endorsing a full boycott of the Star by any Stephen Harper supporter who does not hate breasts, especially those close to women who are fighting this awful disease. I strongly support donations to breast cancer research and treatment. Let's do as much as we can to help save our mothers, sisters, daughters, nieces, and even the random male who suddenly gets diagnosed . We are Harperites and we love the women in our families. We don't hate them because they have boobs. F**k you Heather Mallik.

Halloween Poll Questions

Happy Halloween! In honour of the day I have two poll questions. The first question; have you or will you wear a Halloween costume in public this year? The second question is dedicated to my nephew; should Halloween be a statutory holiday? He recently argued that Halloween should be an official holiday, and while I'm pretty sure how this poll will turn out, for his sake I had to ask. Perhaps it could be a day off school, but not a full blown stat holiday. Really my nephew was pissed off that he had to go to school on Halloween more so than he was advocating a new stat.

I've been seeing a lot of adults wearing Halloween costumes this past week, and I am curious to know how many of you are members of this club. If you are invited to a costume party and dress up for one night, that's acceptable; but when Darth Vader is bagging my groceries, I tend to roll my eyes in disapproval (FYI: no disrespect to people who work bagging groceries. That was my first job in high school). Then again, some employers likely encourage their staff to wear costumes today in order to max out the flavour of the day. I worked today. I dressed up as an ice maker. Nobody noticed, but then again, it wasn't a costume.

Corporation, Unions, And Political Contributions

Today's poll question; should corporations and unions be allowed to make political donations and run advertising during election campaigns? You may have noticed in recent years that many major unions in Canada have been spending a lot of money on advertisements espousing NDP and other left wing positions. This allows the Dippers to flood the airwaves with friendly words promoting their policies and attacking the government without counting towards legal spending limits. In Ontario the "working families coalition" (aka CUPE) put more money and effort into re-electing Dalton McGuinty than Dalton did! They wanted to keep the gravy train rolling, and it was worth their while to spend  millions of dollars making it happen.

Unions are becoming very politically active, or perhaps they've always been and I'm just noticing it more as I grow older. Peggy Nash is the biggest union cheerleader in the NDP leadership race, and she was on TV yesterday saying that if you are not in a union, you're probably struggling to get by financially. I'm not sure that we need more electoral law when we already have several laws that are outdated and should be scrapped. They were discussing this "political contribution" issue on the radio yesterday as I was driving to work, so I figured it was at least worth a poll question. Corporations were included in the poll question because reasonably, you can't deny one and permit the other. It is all or none.

NDP Leadership Race Getting Crowded

The number of people who have joined the NDP leadership race is now up to 8 with the addition of labour activist Peggy Nash. There are many heavy hitters within the party that are now vying for the top job, which also means that they are giving up their critics portfolios. That means no questions in Question Period, not joining panels on political shows while they campaign to replace Jack. Now that the A team is invested in a leadership race, the B and C team is being elevated to the top speaking positions. Having Nycole Turmel struggle to speak English is already a negative, throwing the rookies into the fire is not going to work out well for the NDP.

I will be VERY interested to watch the NDP leadership debates. I really really really want to listen to this cast of characters debate among themselves what should be the priorities of the party. Mulcair wants to move the party farther away from unions, and I can only imagine that Peggy Nash will have something to say about that. Those are the moments you want to record and save for future playback...

Does Parliament Need 30 New Seats?

Today's poll question; should 30 new seats be added to Canadian Parliament? In an attempt to fix some inequities in the current regional distribution of Parliament the government has passed legislation to add 30 new seats spread across Ontario, BC, Alberta, and 3 to Quebec. While I agree that provincial distributions should be tied to population, I do not support adding 30 new politicians to Parliament. Unfortunately you can't redistribute seat counts without adding new ones, so that's how we've arrived where we are.

The last thing this country needs is more politicians, but the Tories are committed to repairing the inequity as much as possible. It is a noble cause, even if adding seats is less desirable than shuffling the existing seats. I'd prefer they take seats away from Atlantic Canada, but I suppose we'd need to update our constitution, and that's rarely fun. I support what the government is doing, just not how they are doing it; and yet their method is the only plausible option. I'm torn on this one.

Why We Need A French Speaking Auditor General

While I am not of the opinion that all bureaucrats or judges need the ability to speak both english and french, on the matter of Auditor General the ability to understand french is very important. Quebec is the most corrupt province in Canada and will be the focus of many AG investigations of fraud and financial mismanagement. The Conservatives have announced a unilingual candidate to replace Sheila Fraser, and I agree with the Liberals that this is a serious mistake. It will be more challenging for the AG to hunt down the rest of the missing sponsorship money if he or she does not speak the local language. Come on Mr Prime Minister, we need an AG who can speak french and shake down Bonhome Carnival for information if necessary...

Ambush Comedy At Politician Homes?

Today's poll question; is it appropriate for a comedy troupe to film uninvited unexpected improv sketches at the homes of politicians? A maniacal CBC character and camera crew ambushed Rob Ford at his home on his driveway with his young daughter present, and the CBC has been hammering him all day for responding to the ambush by calling the police. Was calling the police necessary? Maybe not, but he should never have been put in that position. The loonie left has been sending death threats to the Mayor, and the CBC suddenly decides to jump this guy first thing in the morning outside his house when he's driving his young child to school? Seriously??? How long did they sit waiting outside his house for him to come out?

What the CBC did here was just stupid and wrong. If we permit this as acceptable we are setting a dangerous precedence. Who's going to want to get into politics if you are going to be harrassed in your driveway? The clowns on CBC Newsworld today were having a lot of fun with this story today, with one dude joking that he had to pour through many e-mails to find any supportive of Ford. The discussion of whether or not this home ambush was an appropriate decision was noticeably absent. Then tonight on the National, Mansbridge did a whole bit on why Rob Ford's 1st year was so terrible and the worst "mistake" they could name was him missing the Pride parade (meanwhile Christy Clark skipped the one in Vancouver and the media hardly made a whimper). Sure Ford has yet to cut the budget as promised (thanks in part to ardent left wing opposition), but nothing he's done can be classified as doing a bad job. Yet to hear some journalists talk about it, through one year he's the worst Mayor in the history of Canada. Some journalists and bloggers, like Marcus Gee at the Globe and Mail have pretty much dedicated their lives to attacking Ford.

Kelly McParland wrote a great piece on this story in the National Post which I strongly recommend reading.

Occupy Vancouver's "Run On The Banks"

On Saturday the Occupy Vancouver protest spilled into downtown banks so that protesters could close their accounts in what they called their "run on the banks". Miraculously, our banks and our entire financial system did not collapse as a result of this loss of wealth. I'd be interested to know just how much money the banks lost during this run on the banks. Are you even allowed to close your account if you have a negative balance?

Have fun living your lives without bank accounts guys and gals. I'm sure they'll all be back re-opening their accounts in the very near future so their parents have an easy way to send them money. It is unlikely that any of these clowns who went in and closed their accounts get direct deposit pay from an employer, if they even have jobs at all. The few people left camping out downtown seem to have a lot of free time on their hands. Occupy Vancouver does have a paypal account and are accepting donations. They are not a registered non-profit so they do not count as a charity.

Today's poll question; should banks be allowed to earn profit?

NDP Using Occupy Protests To Justify Higher Taxes

It is becoming clear why the leading NDP leadership hopeful came out so quickly to support the Occupy protests, because it is going to become his corner stone to justify increased taxation. It is the same reason that CUPE is paying to bus its membership to the protests, to keep taxes high so there's plenty of money to go around when it comes time to extort a better deal. If Brian Topp wants to run for office promising to raise taxes, have fun with that. In Canada the top 1% cutoff is around $180K per year. If his policy is to raise income taxes on the top 10%, you'll have many unionized workers taking a hit. He's going to find this tough sledding.

The problem for Topp is that the income gap is substantially smaller in Canada than the United States, despite what Topp said Friday on CTV news. He just kept blaming Conservatives, never mentioning the Obama administration, and then made the ridiculous claim that we have a larger income disparity. That's just not true. There's no reason for Occupy protesters to gather in downtown Vancouver banks because there's nothing fundamentally wrong with Canadian banks. Ours received no bailouts because they didn't need them. There were no CEOs getting fat bonus checks financed by tax payers. The Occupy Canada protests are coming from the same clowns who rioted at the G20 Summit and orchestrated those silly anti-prorogation protests.

I Am The 99%...

Judging by some of the hate mail I've received lately, I should probably clarify that I am not in the top 1% of wage earners in Canada. I am part of the bottom 99%, which entitles me to speak on behalf of all Canadians. All my complaints and everything I write is a representative sample of 99% of the country. I'm angry that I make less money than those fat cats at CUPE who are gorging themselves on tax payer dollars, and I want to go down to their nearest office, pitch a tent, and occupy their lobby until they are decertified. 99% of Canadians agree with me because I make less money than the top 1%.

Also, I have one "dedicated follower" in Toronto who keeps insulting me for being a security guard. Just to keep everyone current, I haven't worked security since 2009 and currently have a really cool job that I enjoy a great deal. It's pretty funny to have an Occupy supporter attack you for NOT being rich. Perhaps I'm just not allowed to have an opinion because I am a blue collar worker.

Stop Calling Yourselves "The 99%"

We need to get something straight; the far left does not represent 99% of the population and the Occupy protesters need to stop making that claim. These clowns are being interviewed repeatedly on local talk radio here in Vancouver and they keep saying "we are the 99%". Sure it's clever, but it's dishonest. Let's find out what percentage of Canadians support the Occupy protests so the miscreants can instead say "we are the 30% or less". In fact, today's poll question will be "do you support the Occupy Canada protests?"

When the Tea Party emerged as a protest to high government spending, the left's response was ridicule and homophobic jokes. I'm not going to start suggesting that these Occupy Canada protesters are busy sucking each other's nut sacks, but I am more than happy to ridicule their cause.

New Canadian Ship Building Contracts

Today's poll question; should the government spend $33 billion to upgrade the Canadian navy and coast guard? This morning it was announced that Halifax was awarded the bulk of this massive contract, with British Columbia getting the consolation prize and Quebec being awarded nothing (though they will surely see some of the money through parts manufacturing). This was not awarded by the Harper government, but rather an independent group that had support from opposition parties. It was not a partisan decision, though I'm sure you'll hear accusations that Nova Scotia won the contracts to get Peter MacKay re-elected. Canada requires a larger navy than most countries because we have a substantially larger coast line than any other country in the world.

Frankly I don't care which province won the contracts, just so long as they were the best bids. John Ivison is already upset that we did not accept foreign bids, which could have produced better vessels at a lower price. It is a fair argument, and perhaps will be my next poll question. If we sent the contract to Germany we could get boats that are 20% better for 20% cheaper, but would not receive the benefit of domestic economic activity (and the tax revenue it brings). Let's just hope that we don't end up with a bunch of Bricklins and Fast Ferries...

This has to be BC's largest ship building contract since the Pacificat Fast Ferry fiasco, so hopefully our local ship builders are able to do a better job this time. Christy Clark was really jazzed up at the press conference with over the top enthusiasm that was bordering on comical. You will rarely see that level of excitement for finishing in 2nd place, but this is the first good news of her tenure as Premier, so I'm not shocked by her outpouring of emotion.

The pundits were saying that this will cost the Tories more support in Quebec, even though they were not involved in the decision. Quebec deserved their fair share, even if their bid was lousy...

NDP Leadership Candidate Proposing Joint Nominations

At least one NDP leadership hopeful is proposing that the Liberals and NDP join forces in the next election to nominate a single opposition candidate in Conservative ridings. The goal is to maximize the probability of defeating Stephen Harper without actually officially merging the two parties. The downside being that it would decrease the probability of either the Liberals or the NDP winning a majority government, likely resulting in the need for a power sharing agreement in a minority government situation. If the Liberals run 220 candidates instead of 308, it will be more difficult to win 155 seats (70% of Liberals would have to win their seats to win a majority).

So are the Liberals going to diminish their probability of winning a majority just to remove Stephen Harper from power? It's plausible, and will be debated when the Liberals finally get around to beginning their own leadership race. Will it happen? I'm not convinced, but a limited non compete would be the first stop on the road to a merger.

Occupying Traffic

For a protest movement that seeks to grow public support for their anti-capitalism rhetoric, these clowns seem unable to grasp the simple concept that if you block traffic to force people to take notice, you will inevitably piss off far more people than you'll impress. Today the Occupy Toronto people began occupying vital intersections creating traffic havoc in Canada's largest city, because nothing wins hearts and minds quite like sitting in gridlock. I'm not sure how your movement can claim to represent 99% of people when your actions are only going to upset the 93% who have jobs and just want to get home from work.

All those idle car engines are pumping extra exhaust into the atmosphere, damaging the city's already poor air quality...and the greenhouse gases!!!??? Are the occupy protesters trying to destroy the planet? It seems as though they would rather spread misery and destruction instead of creating a Utopian society in Karl Marx's image.