Vacation. Again - Week 207-208, April 6-21

I've been away.  I've been lazy.  I've been sad.  I've been disgruntled.  Where did we even leave off?

Stephen Harper met Castro.  Wouldn't provide a photo.  So here it is.

Of course we have the budget.  Where apparently Joe Oliver buying a pair of NB runners is a story.


I recognize that the auto bailout wasn't an "investment".  But still...somehow we lost $3.5 Billion?  We certainly didn't negotiate very good terms with the companies about to go bankrupt, and then sell it all off to balance the budget.

An article on Stephen Harper's less than great economic leadership.

And Mike Duffy.  A good breakdown here.  And details!  Of how he was an incredibly popular fellow among Conservative MP's.  74 of them asked him to show up at campaign events or otherwise help them get elected.  Canadaland suggests he paid journalists to help him out.  He started claiming expenses before he was even a Senator.

The Speaker isn't letting people ask questions about Duffy in the House of Commons.








Contained in this story - A former senior member of the Kits Coast Guard base says the Coast Guard Commissioner is full of shit when he says the Kits base would have had no effect. "Toxopeus said the base had thousands of feet of oil-containing booms and a pollution boat. Reopening that base, and reversing cuts to Coast Guard staffing would mean federal responders ready to hit the water 24/7 from full-time, dedicated stations, not needing to be called in from afar."

Of course, there are a lot of people hurling a lot of blame over the spill response.  Most of it at Harper and the Coast Guard.  Feds deny anything went wrong.

Jeffrey Simpson isn't a fan of the Conservative Government advertising program.

The NDP fights back against ridiculous "balanced budget" legislation.  Suggests the Harperites pay back a bunch of salary for all the deficit budgets they've passed.

A story about Thomas Mulcair and his Dutch Disease comments.

We're selling off Diplomatic properties around the world...but building a new embassy in Israel.

Tax evasion convictions have gone way down.  Speculation is that this is due to a lack of resources.

Mohamed Fahmy may finally be getting his passport.

Quite a few stories about councils and government type people who will continue to pray in an official capacity despite the Supreme Court ruling.  Edmonton City Council.  Saskatchewan Legislature.

The National Post lays out all of the Supreme Court victories and losses for Harper in the last few years.  8 Losses.  2 Victories.

Harper refuses to disclose the work that went into making "Strong. Proud. Free." the new Government slogan.  It's been classified as a "cabinet confidence".  They're also using legislation designed to fight terrorism to suppress news about the Harper family.


We're selling the Canadian Wheat Board to a Saudi Arabian firm.

Judges refusing to charge the victim surcharge are being reigned in.

Pierre Poilievre.  An idiot who can't use numbers.

Toyota moves some production from Canada to Mexico.

A Steelworkers charity is being targeted by Revenue Canada.

The government spend $750,000 recruiting TFW's overseas.