In 1977, the Canadian government identified the need to replace the NATO-assigned CF-104 Starfighter, the NORAD-assigned CF-101 Voodoo and the CF-116 Freedom Fighter (although the decision was later made to keep the CF-116). Subsequently, the government proceeded with the New Fighter Aircraft competition (NFA), with a purchase budget of around C$2.4 billion to purchase 130–150 of the winner of the competition. Candidates included the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, McDonnell-Douglas F-15 Eagle, Panavia Tornado, Dassault Mirage F1 (later replaced by the Mirage 2000), plus the products of the American Lightweight Fighter (LWF) competition, the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, the F/A-18 Hornet, and a de-navalized version of the Hornet, the F-18L. The government stressed that the winner of the competition be a proven off-the-shelf design and provide substantial industrial benefits as part of the order.
Now this is truly amazing. The Speaker of the House. Who is an elected Conservative MP. Has decided that the Government did not mislead the House of Commons with its Fighter Jet dealings. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about why the robo-calls were okay as well.
Remember all those times that Stephen Harper talked about how important the arctic is? How important it is to send our troops up there to defend our turf? Well, apparently we're sending them up there without enough parkas, heaters and cold weather tents.
Vic Toews. Man. Who is this guy? Nobody likes him. Not Anonymous. Not Federal judges. As they decide that it's not really a good thing that he refuses to bring Canadian prisoners home.
In other Vic Toews news, aren't you sick of these prisoners living high on the hog! Did you know that the top prison earners...the prison 1%...earn as much as $6.90. Per day. I will not stand for such excessive compensation levels! Luckily, our good friend Vic Toews is there, fighting it out for the good of us taxpayers. Yes, he's going to solve all our debt problems and stick it to the criminals real good in the form of increased rent payments. So we're going to shove a whole bunch more people into jail and then we're going to make them pay for the privilege of being there. Damn straight! Stupid hippies shouldn't be smoking weed anyhow.
In other prison news, I actually can't believe that this happened so quickly. But remember the prisons that were closed a few weeks ago (prison, singular?)? Ya, there's already overcrowding problems.
The Conservatives have decided (smartly) that not all environmental groups that criticize them are terrorists or political organizations. Which sounds suspiciously like a shade of grey. But the day after this announcement, Tides Canada faces an audit of their charitable status. Perhaps the new technique is to say things that are reasonably positive while doing exactly the opposite? And...As the government promises to do away with troublesome environmental protections with little debate in an Omnibus bill, an auditor reveals the insane costs of past lax environmental regulations.
And...A slightly misleading "expose" from the Globe and Mail, pointing out that Environmental charities do not receive the most in foreign money relative to other charities. Some good points are made though. And I don't really understand. Foreign investment is the bees knees, but foreign donations are evil?
I remember that at one time I thought Peter MacKay was one of the good guys. But he keeps really stepping in it. And he can't do math. And he just digs and digs and digs when he finds himself in trouble. And now, he just can't get the math straight on the mission to Libya. Which is fine. This is something I support having spent the money on. But come on MacKay! I know Belinda left you, but that was a long time ago. Get your head in the game.
John Baird personally stepped in to assure that his buddies Community Center gets Federal Government Funding. A million dollars worth of funding. Ya, nothing wrong with that.
The base revolts! Anti-abortion protesters take to the streets and express their outrage at Stephen Harper. He doesn't listen to anybody else, I'm not sure why these guys think they will be different.
The Robo-call fiasco gets a bit more confusing. I can't really follow this story at all. I think that the author...or the police...or Vic Toews or somebody doesn't really know how the Internet works. I guess this is what happens when your scapegoat won't cooperate.
The Conservatives received a bunch of donations from companies in Quebec accused of bribery and corruption
The Conservatives spend some more time on really important matters and announce a bill making it illegal to be a masked rioter. Somebody pointed out that it is already illegal to riot and to wear a mask while performing a crime, but that isn't stopping them. Indeed, and I'm not even joking here, they had to up their punishment level to keep pace with the amount of jail time for the (already on the books) crime of wearing a mask while committing a felony. Way to go, guys.
A medical distress call from a ship on the East Coast is routed to a doctor in Italy. Which isn't even the bad part. The bad part is that the Conservatives actually tried to defend this as being okay. Oh, I should mention that the doctor didn't speak English. And the ship's captain was from Newfoundland so he didn't really either. Har-har.
Oh, to be a defeated Conservative MP. Fat pension. Plum foreign posting. Lawrence Cannon goes to Paris.
I've been worried that I've become too reliant on the Globe and Mail for links. Well, they read my thoughts and have announced that they will be erecting a pay wall in the fall. Which sounds like a great way to drive away readers. Hopefully, this will be the last week that I rely heavily on the Globe and Mail for links. I'm going straight to Google News. Who probably link all the time to the Globe and Mail. Anyhow, my only real worry is that my years worth of links are now going to be cock-blocked by the Globe and Mail pay wall. Or I can just ask all of you readers to sign up for the Globe and Mail. Funny story. There was a flyer on my car window the other day. It was advertising a public meeting about the evils of smart meters. And it required a 5 dollar donation to attend. Nothing gets people riled up and informed than making them pay 5 dollars to come to your meeting of outrage.
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