Radically Incorrect - Week 37 - Jan 9-16

I like this photo.  Two of my favourite people, sharing a moment.  Steve-O looks like he's made out of plasticene.  Is that even a real photo?  The National Post is using the same photo as well...with the same story.

Turns out the West is starting to get angry about the Conservatives plan for health care financing as well.  Christy Clark detaches her lips and speaks out against Steve-O.

This week gay marriage did what Conservatives have said gay marriage will do: confused everybody and wreaked havoc with the justice system.  First there was an uproar that people weren't actually married (or something) and then it was all fine and the fault of the Liberals.  Neat tactic.  Say something that pisses everybody off and then blame it all on your enemy.

Stupid "radicals", concerned about boats filled with oil driving around a stormy, rocky coastline of pristine wilderness.  I heard some of them are foreign as well.

An ex-Bloc MP has decided to sue the government for pulling out of Kyoto...and proves what Gilles Duceppe never could - that the Bloc Quebecois isn't completely useless.

I know it's early, but as Lise St-Denis breaks ranks with the NDP and joins the Liberals, I think this could be a candidate for political quote of the year.  "They voted for Jack Layton.  Jack Layton is dead."  Indeed.

I think the Globe and Mail recently wrote a similar article, but I like the Puck Daddy take on the posturing of Stephen Harper as a hockey lover in order to create a populist persona and score votes.

I know that this is an amazing concept for reporters to grasp, but tax cuts generally have a cost.  Namely, reduced government revenue.  Surprisingly, this is what has come to pass with some recent Conservative tax breaks.


I thought Real Estate was supposed to be smooth sailing.  Forever.  A bubble?

Here they come!  Backbench Conservative MP is talking about his "duty" to the unborn.

I think there must be some research somewhere suggesting that election night blackouts are actually hurting the Conservatives because they've decided to do away with the process.  Perhaps they figure they can get rid of those pesky 1 or 2 Alberta Liberal seats if they can show everybody in Alberta that they've already won? 


Blah blah...Liberal vs. Conservative donation gap...blah.

Irwin Cotler!  Still working and now writing stuff for the Huffington Post!  What, I'm not sure.  I didn't read it.

A New Year - Week 36 - Jan 3-9

I'm starting something new this week.  An awesome Conservative Government photo for each week.  Here, our buddy Steve waves at us.

FEMA Canada announces that the 3rd Party Manager appointed to the Attawapiskat Reserve (at huge expense) might miss payroll.  Way to handle a crisis, Steve.

Steve warns us that "foreign environmental interests" could delay approval of the Northern Gateway Pipeline.  Ummm...Ahhhh....what about all the foreign oil money?  And, these "radical groups" are so scary, he's going to change the environmental review process, because the current process takes too long.  This seems to be a theme developing here...too many people asking questions, shorten the period for discussion.  Surprisingly, people aren't happy about it.

Great story about the decline of public institutions in the US. There's just so much in this article.  What really stood out for me is how wealthy some of these American politicians are.  Romney is worth $200 mil?  That's crazy.  These guys are getting paid millions and millions of dollars by corporations to convince the average American that spending government money on things that will help them is a bad thing.  I think the key problem is that the average American thinks they're just a lucky break or two away from the 1%.  Are any Canadian politicians super wealthy?  Paul Martin had a few bucks.  Belinda Stronach had money (and strange taste in men).  But I can't really think of any in the same league as the Americans.

More on income inequality, with the richest 100 CEO's of publicly traded companies making $8.38 Million per year.  I'm okay with that, actually.  I'm got more of a problem with the average wage of $44,366.  It is shocking that the CEO's will have earned that $44,366 by noon on Jan. 3rd.  But does that include the stat holiday?

Copyright reform gets even worse.  Canada seems to be quietly considering extending copyright terms from lifetime + 50 years to lifetime + 70 years.  You really can't argue that it will help artists make a living by tacking on an extra 20 years in earnings after they have been dead for 50 years.

Friday afternoon.  Time for some Senate Appointments!  Hey, gotta reward those police chiefs that agreed to your crazy tough-on-crime legislation somehow.

What is the Office of Religious Freedom and why does it fall in with Foreign Affairs?

I realize that this is a completely useless poll.  And it's kind of a stab in the gut, seeing that this majority government was really a perfect storm of bad things.  Anyhow, if an election were held today (with no debates, advertisements or dirty tricks), there would be no majority.

Best of the new Harper Government - 2011 Edition

What a frighteningly awful year it has been in Canadian politics.  If you had told me at the start of this year that we'd end the year with a Conservative majority...well, I would have gotten very angry.  However, that turn of events did inspire me to create this blog - my attempt to document our slide down the slippery slope. 

Here are my top political moments/events/happenings in our new Conservative Canada, where nothing is ever the Government's fault and no question is worth answering or acknowledging and...screw that...you're an idiot for even asking.

Broke their campaign promise to balance the budget by 2014-15 - Actually, we're not going to balance the budget and create a surplus in 2014-15 but we might get around to it in 2015-16 or 2016-17.  And, actually, we're pretty awesome for showing such remarkable budget flexibility.  Hey, it's been 28 weeks since the election when we made that promise.  A lot has changed.  And it's not like this was an important part of the platform or anything.  Heck.  It's way down there at number 3 (of 5) on the list of "key priorities".  The most awesome thing.  It took them only about a week to break the promise.

Introduced copyright legislation that nobody in Canada really wants, except for a bunch of media conglomerates (and the US Government) that aren't really suffering all that much due to piracy - But don't worry, it's not really practical for us to enforce some of this stuff, so you shouldn't really worry about it too much.

Brushed aside a scandal whereby one of their MP's may or may not have had an affair with a woman who may or may not have been a Chinese spy (looks like she probably was) - But you're the idiot for asking about it.

Ignored youth advocates and statistics and lawyers and some of the Provinces (maybe even judges too?) and decided that the key to a better country is a really expensive batch of "tough on crime" laws - What do those "experts" know about anything?

Announced that if British Columbia (and Newfoundland and PEI) didn't immediately sign their RCMP contract as is, then they'd withdraw RCMP services - Just because we call it a "negotiation", it doesn't mean you get to have any input.

Made a series of increasingly baffling announcements and law proposals to stir up Canadian nationalism and remind us of our links to the monarchy - From a crazy law that would forbid you from preventing somebody else from flying a flag, to creating special laws about mischief around war memorials, to re-introducing the "Royal" into our military, to ensuring that the Queen's picture is hanging in our embassies, to War of 1812 re-education...I'm sure I missed one somewhere.

Thoroughly embarrassed Canada by joining up with pillars of the international community (Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Vietnam) to ensure that asbestos didn't make it on to a UN list of controlled substances...so that they could support a mine in Quebec that may or may not have enough asbestos to stay open past 2012. - Hey, small town Quebec votes are more important than an international reputation.  Or a bunch of poor people dieing.

Made a gigantic, huge big deal out of the fact that the temporary head of the NDP had past ties to the Bloc Quebecois...which is fine, except when you ignore the fact that members of your own cabinet have past ties to the Bloc Quebecois.

Created a new form of governing whereby anything that suits your list of priorities that you happened to mention during your campaign warrants no debate whatsoever.  Things that you didn't mention during your campaign don't get much discussion either.  And things that you promised during your campaign but that you can't deliver on, get ignored.  See item #1.

So.  That's it.  All that stuff happened.  4 more years.

Bubbling Away - Week 34,35 - Dec 19-Jan 3

Okay.  I let Christmas get the best of me.  Not much here.  I don't think anybody else was up to much either.

Remember.  The Conservatives didn't cause the bubble by relaxing mortgage approval policies...it's the bubble that caused them to not meet their unrealistic financial plans.

The Conservative government is summed up in the first couple of paragraphs in this article - "Little notice and no negotiation".  Myself, I have a hard time understanding exactly what these funding decisions for our health care means.  But I can clearly see that this isn't the right way to do things.  And when 2 of the 3 people that agree with you are Christy Clark and whichever Conservative lackey who happens to be running Alberta...

As with most Christmases, Stephen Harper lurks out of his hole in the dead of night and starts handing out patronage appointments while nobody is looking.

It was a mistake.  Honest.  We had no idea that we were phoning Liberal voters and telling them that their polling station had changed.

Taking the Lead on the Environment - Week 33 - Dec 12-19

China and India are suggesting that we're acting irresponsibly towards the environment by bailing on Kyoto.  I realize that there are many reasons to ignore anything that either country has to say about environmental stewardship...but...Wow.  Imagine if Herman Cain described your behaviour as "scandalous and inappropriate" or if Rupert Murdoch suggested you had "overstepped the boundaries of reasonable behaviour".  I think it would suggest that you are on the wrong path in life.  This Tyee story (and Salon)outlines some of the lobbying that has lead to decisions like this.

More on the Environment.  We'll have to dig back a ways here.  The Conservatives refused to bring any members of the opposition along to the UN Climate Summit (which, I'm assuming is generally custom).  And then, today, the Minister of Environment chided the NDP for not attending the UN Climate Summit.  It's amazing that the story is Justin Trudeau swearing.  If he hadn't, this wouldn't even be a story.  Nobody seems to have a problem with...is that even hypocrisy?  I don't know what to call it.

Oh my.  Gizmodo highlights why the F-35 program is a disaster that should be run away from.  Perhaps Peter McKay is excited about the hovering version and what that could mean for future fishing trips?

So, SOPA is kind of a big deal right now.  I think the Get Your Censor On take is my favourite.  I'd like to not worry about this, but, unfortunately, I know that once they ruin the US the Copyright Gestapo is going to come try and ruin Canada.  I think I may go throw a stick in a field as well.  These guys will never be happy.  These guys will stop at nothing to get whatever they want.  They will ruin the Internet and then they will ruin the Inter-Internet that springs up to replace it.

Irwin is pretty mad.  It seems the speaker agrees that the Conservatives are acting like jackasses ("reprehensible" even) but doesn't want to do anything about it.  At least he still has a job.  And finally, some tough talk on holding somebody accountable.  Of course, nobody in the Conservative government is responsible, but perhaps the polling firm that they hired will be?  And, officially, no problems here for the Conservatives.

The Globe is convinced that seat redistribution is going to ensure the next Conservative majority.  I think Ontario is tougher to predict than this story suggests.

 If we start focussing on how much per night our defense minister is spending on hotels we're missing the big picture.  I think it's reasonable that a high ranked Canadian official does not crash at the super 8 while hosting meetings at the local cafe.  I hope he's not responsible for booking his own rooms, as well.

Lack of Recognition - Week 32 - Dec 5-12

I've been working on my year end "best of" list.  Reading through the past, this stupid blog has gotten out of hand.  What started out as 4-5 posts with a whole lot of snark has turned into an information dump.  Honestly, these jackasses are just overwhelming me with terrible deeds that need to be discussed.  I don't have the time to craft decent snark about any of them.  I don't really know what to do.

What the hell is wrong with these guys?  Now they want to replace Kyoto with some other form of binding climate treaty?  They're like the Brett Favre of climate treaties.  It's just a complete embarrassment and a disaster and I'm not buying real estate in Richmond any time soon.  They're actually bragging about avoiding the $14 Billion in penalty charges that we'd have to pay if we actually agreed to follow through on Kyoto.  I can see the next Conservative ad campaign - "We avoided hundreds of years in jail time by no longer recongnizing the Geneva Conventions."

I always love cheap political outrages.  Who wouldn't get angry about people "cheating the immigration system".  All 2,100 of them.  As well, the ass-hats announce that you can't wear any form of veil during the swearing in ceremony.  Because you "may not actually be reciting the oath" if you're wearing one.  Because it's like you're joining the Night's Watch and if you don't actually say the words, it never happens.  And this is a super important thing that Canada should be worrying about right now.  Not that it matters...as you're more likely to end up on a terrorist watch list than a Canadian citizen if you insist on wearing a burqa.

Steve-O seems to be about doing whatever he wants because he happened to mention it once on the campaign trail.  I think the Canada-US security perimeter is him moving up to just doing what he wants regardless of never mentioning it at all on the campaign trail and negotiating in secret.  There's not much substance to what they are saying, but I can't help but fear what this means.  I don't think that fast-tracking food shipments is the end goal of what they're trying to accomplish her.  Even the RCMP seems a little concerned.

I think the Conservatives have lost Quebec.  Perhaps they've learned that it doesn't matter.  But, the fact that they're being shut out of commeration for L'Ecole Polytechnique massacre doesn't sound very positive.  Any other rational person would probably feel some sort of shame.

The Irwin Cotler affair gets worse.  Irwin says the Conservatives are basically paying their defeated candidate, with taxpayer money, to work as a shadow Parliamentarian.  Poor Irwin.  This whole thing reminds me of car salesmen.  You know the technique.  Talk to the person like they've already bought the car and you're just going through the motions.

Tough on Crime passes, and still no real indication of the costs.  I'm just waiting for their justification to be "well, we don't know how much the fighter jets are going to cost either, and we're moving ahead with that."

The Conservatives dig up a story about Bob Rae flying on a helicopter in 1992 to try to bail Peter McKay out of the doghouse.  It's pretty funny, actually.  I can just see them sitting around their computer (Mac or PC?), high-fiving and yelling "gotcha".  And he continues to get piled on.  Apparently, he took a similar flight a year before to "familiarize himself with search and rescue operations".  Like...almost the exact same area.  And just like this Seinfeld episode, he's going to put a stop to things by threatening to sue.

Liars - Week 31 - Nov 28 - Dec 5

This should be a bigger deal.  The Harper Government.  Steve-O says he never told anybody they had to use "The Harper Government" in official communication.  Well...actually...it sounds like he may have lied about that.  I just can't imagine that somebody in the PCO would have arbitrarily decided to move forward with something like this without approval from relatively high up.

Speaking of liars, Peter McKay!  Ya, a long planned operation to view search and rescue equipment in action?  Not so much.  A really expensive way to make his flight on time?  Yes.  Yes indeed.

Tough on Crime gets closer to completion and even some of the Conservatives seem to be rethinking portions of it.  As well, Statscan suggests that most Canadians aren't actually locking themselves in their homes through fear of crime.  93% of us feel safe from crime.  And, awesome quote located in this article - "We don't govern on the basis of statistics."  Or science.  Or public desires.  Or maybe even logic?

Guess who thinks torture is awesome?  CSIS!  Way to go, guys!

It doesn't sound like Canada is planning on becoming a world leader in environmental reform.  Indeed, "Kyoto is in the past".  And I agree that we need to get China involved, but we shouldn't use them as an excuse to not support anything.  But then... even China thinks we're making a hash of things.  And even China seems more willing to do something that we are.

Even though we elected a bunch of economic superstars (that's what they said, right?  That they would be good for the economy?), the jobless rate continues to move higher.

Speaking of Superstars, Steve-O announces his FIRST EVER meeting with native chiefs.  How is that possible?

A Canadian man improperly placed on the terror watch list takes the Canadian Government to task.  "You abandoned me for seven years – and you caused me all this suffering."  It's all a bit Kafkaesque, when you think about it.

The Americans discovered that we may have covered up news of a salmon virus a decade ago.  But don't worry.  The government assures us there are no problems with salmon stocks and fish farms are completely safe.

A nice summary of the F-35 situation from the Tyee.  Indeed, one of the comments asks the question "what are we planning on using these planes for anyhow?" and I am wondering the same thing myself.  We don't actually do much with our air force.  We might be able to over-run Mexico if it comes down to it.  But a few dozen high-tech planes isn't going to do much for us.  And the Americans continue to discover that the whole thing might be a bad idea.  Can't America make anything properly any more?

A former Chinese spy confirms that there is probably more rather than less in the Bob Dechert saga of the Chinese journalist.  What a bunch of jackasses.

This story makes me a bit sad.  It makes me think of Irwin Cotler as a bit of an "old Gill" from the Simpsons, as people plot to steal his job.  I guess we need to recognize that politics is nothing more than a game of demographics and marketing.  I love that forwarding a rumour is okay because "it's an honest answer to the question.  There have been rumours..".  I'm going to aks my neighbour to start a rumour that Stephen Harper eats a baby seal pup for breakfast every morning.  Then it will be true when I start telling people that there are rumours that Stephen Harper eats a baby seal pup for breakfast every morning.  More here.

An Edmonton Conservative MP has resigned from the Conservative caucus (yet still remains an MP) while he faces drunk driving charges.  Can't he just get out of the way and make way for a new robot?