Stupidest Week Ever - Week 53 - May 1-7

Bev Oda!  2 weeks in a row.

We're officially at the 1 year in point and I'm going to make a bold proclamation: This is the stupidest week so far for this government. (but at least people might be slowly realizing that things might be off a bit - on a side note, can you believe this headline?  Somehow this is spun as trouble for the Liberals?)

Honestly.  There are just so many stupid decisions.

But before we get into that.  Here is is.  Pretty much the smoking gun that somebody officially affiliated with the Conservative campaign was behind the robo-calls.  Now, I realize that one rogue operator does not a conspiracy make.  But still.

First up, the war on statisitics.  Stats Can announces that they are going to lose roughly half of their employees.  Half!  They say there is no way they can produce the same amount of information if they lose all of those people.  You would think that the government would be concerned about detailed information that can be used to make informed decisions based on the make-up of our country.  But perhaps I've just inadvertently explained why this isn't a problem for them.  And the Parks are up for serious cuts as well.

And in the spirit of plunging ahead with improper information, they've also decided to get rid of auditors.  Well why the hell not?  Look at all the trouble these so called "auditors" can cause with their nosy meddling.

Next up, I can't find a detailed report, but this article mentions the reason for Bev Oda switching hotel rooms in London:  She couldn't smoke in the first one.  Which really speaks volumes about this woman's judgement and decision making capabilities.

Next up, in the midst of financial ruin, job cuts and all around bad things, what is this government focusing on?  Well, it seems they are focused on creating a law that will somehow outlaw gang recruiting.  While this does sound like a noble purpose, it seems to me that this is a tremendous waste of time.

Hardened Gang Lord - "Wow.  Our membership has really deteriorated after we shot all those guys.  We really need some new members."

Murderous Gang Minion - "Gee boss.  We can't recruit any new members as that's against the law now."

Hardened Gang Lord - "Really?  Well, we'd better just close down shop and stop all this murdering and drug selling because it's now against the law to recruit gang members.  I'm glad you informed me of this."

The Conservatives have limited debate again.  Don't worry though.  It's not an important issue.  Just the budget.  And cuts to environmental oversight.  I can understand why they don't want to hear the opinions of others.

And then, some corporate hack decided to dig back even further than World War II (see last weeks post) and decided to look way, way back in history to when our nation was created.  And he's decided that John A. McDonald would most likely support a pipeline.  This sounds like a bad marketing plan where the heirs of a famous person make a cash grab and lend their dead relatives image to a badly thought out television ad.  And of all the things for John A. McDonald to rise from the dead and lend his support to, he decides to zombie support a pipeline?

Apparently Vic Toews is still trying to fight the Internet and bring Anonymous to justice.  I wonder if he owns a computer?

And let's revisit fighter jets.  All that neutral 3rd party information provided by the Auditor General about how screwed up the purchase is of these jets?  Ya.  According to the Department of Defense the Auditor General "Got it Wrong".   As well, Americans are starting to feel a bit badly about the whole deal as well.  This Slate/Foreign Policy article rips the whole thing to shreds.  And then we have them here insisting that we need this jet to support all of that international ass-kicking that we do all of the time.

I don't really agree with the NDP criticism of the Royal Visit (toursim spin-offs, etc.), but I love the "Bread and Circuses" meme.  This needs legs.

A think tank has dug in to the numbers and speculates that Canadian banks may or may not have received a secret bail-out from the Canadian Government.

John Baird decides to sell off property but not art.  Perhaps he senses a global housing bubble and hopes to buy these properties back on the cheap in a few years?

Lastly,  The government wants to change the rules on EI.  More than that, they want to move the rules from "legislation to regulation".  So that they can change them whenever they want.  So, potential reasons for rejecting a job if you are on EI, such as a low rate of pay, work in a different field or poor working conditions could go away.  And that's fine.  What do people think EI is?  A short term safety net that allows people to find a good job and get back on their feet again?  No sir.

Celebrating the Crap out of Canada Day - Week 9 - June 27-July 4

This started out as a really boring week, before it picked up some steam over the long weekend. Can you believe that Parliament only sat from June 2nd-June 23rd? I mean, thank god. Who knows what kind of crazy crap they'd come up with if they actually stayed in session for any period of time. But 21 days? That's crazy. They're not back until September 19th.

Anyhow, I started the week grasping at straws, so we'll start with my panic post.

In honour of Canada Day, let's look back on some history. Did you know that Income Tax in Canada originated during the First World War? Indeed, it was meant as a temporary measure to help pay for wartime spending.

So, doing a bit more research...the Prime Minister at that time? Sir Robert Borden. Who happened to be a Conservative. Yes. The Conservatives brought in a "temporary income tax"...94 years ago. That's probably one of their oldest broken campaign promises.

Moving along to actual items...

This Globe and Mail opinion piece nicely sums up my exasperation with the political landscape of today.

Another Globe and Mail article talks about the Senate and it's handling of the Canada Post back to work legislation, pointing out that their reading of it added a "real, ongoing contribution to public discourse and public policy." Which is a fair point. In the past, Liberal senators have made some remarkable points about drug law, amongst other things. But honestly...we have an entire branch of government in place to add to public discourse and public policy? That seems a bit indirect and frivolous, no? Especially when nobody, especially the Prime Minister, is required to listen to them.

To further honour Canada Day, the "Harper Government" decided to show it's appreciation for the arts. So they've decided to micromanage arts funding because Canada does not want to "fund plays that glorify terrorism." They have cut off the funding to an entire festival because they didn't agree with one of the plays that happened LAST YEAR. Because anything that talks about terrorism is obviously glorifying it.

Slate takes Canada to task for it's stance on Asbestos. They point out that as we're busy exporting the stuff we're making sure we remove every last molecule of it from the Parliament buildings. Another Globe and Mail article on asbestos as well.

Tony Clement steps in it by tweeting a candid shot of the visiting Royals. Once again, I don't think it's the photo or the tweeting that bothers me, it's the complete lack of acceptance that he may have done something wrong. Only a Harper Cabinet Member could be oblivious to the questionable optics of using your government post to put yourself in a position to take a photo of the backs of two of the most privacy-crazed individuals on earth and then tweet about it. And then...standard Conservative response..."We did nothing wrong. You're stupid for even raising this as an issue. The whole thing might even be your fault." Perhaps the last bit might be a bit of a stretch, but not much.

Moving along to even more concern about the G8 Summit. This time, the RCMP has pointed out that if somebody had decided to shoot one of the 8 leaders, Muskoka probably would have worked out pretty well for them. The same report also points out that several planners had little relevant experience, information and file sharing (amongst security groups, I assume) was poor and that six undercover teams were quietly monitoring all protest groups. Because obviously that's going to be your source of assasination attempts and other "criminal activity".

And finally, in our Strange Stephen Harper Obsessions posting for the week, a "show of force" in the High Arctic is planned for the near future. I'm not sure if I'm more troubled by us wasting money running around in the arctic thinking that people are impressed or by us considering 1,000 troops to be a "show of force".

Actually...more finally...let's end the week off with a running list of Strange Stephen Harper Obsessions:

The Arctic
Asbestos
The Long Gun Registry
Per Vote Subsidies

I feel like I'm missing a couple. But honestly...he just can't let some of that stuff go.