An analysis of the new Cabinet (aka What is wrong with Canada)

Well...not a whole lot different than the old cabinet.  There are a lot of names that we've seen a lot of.  But in reading through this article, two things struck me:

1) James Moore seems to be a bit of a Jerry Gergich.

2) A lot of similar professions seem to pop up

So, have a look at this list, Canada.  I think I know why our country is broken.  We are a nation run by lawyers first and foremost (13 of 34 members of Cabinet are lawyers, by my count - 38%).  And then career politicians and  PR/Communications professionals.  The below list is Title - Name - Education - Previous Career.

Prime Minister - Stephen Harper - Bachelors and Masters in Economics - Political Staffer
Aboriginal Affairs - Bernard Valcourt - Lawyer - Career politician (Mulroney Minister, NB Provincial PC Leader)
Defence - Rob Nicholson - Lawyer - Career politician (Mulroney, municipal)
Justice - Peter MacKay - Lawyer
Health - Rona Ambrose - BA, MA Political Science - Journalist
Public Works - Diane Finley - BA, MBA - Businesswoman (founded publicly funded ambulance service company), Consultant
Foreign Affairs - John Baird - BA Political Science - "Consultant"
Treasury Board - Tony Clement - Lawyer
Finance - Jim Flaherty - Lawyer
Government Leader - Peter Van Loan - Lawyer
Employment - Jason Kenney - Philosophy? - Career politician
Agriculture - Gerry Ritz - Contractor, Farmer
International Development - Christian Paradis - Lawyer
Industry - James Moore - BA, MA Political Science - Broadcast Journalist
Queen's Privy Council, Infrastructure - Denis Lebel - Hotel Manager
Environment - Leona Aglukkaq - No degree? - Public Servant, Politician
Transport - Lisa Raitt - bachelor of Science, Master of Chemistry - Manager
Fisheries and Oceans - Gail Shea - No degree? - Career Politician?
Veterans Affairs - Julian Fantino - Police Officer
Public Safety - Steven Blaney - Engineer, MBA, Business Owner "Engineer/Businessman specializing in environmental technology"
International Trade - Ed Fast - Lawyer
Natural Resources - Joe Oliver - Lawyer, Investment Banker
National Revenue - Kerry-Lynne Findlay - Lawyer
Canadian Heritage - Shelly Glover - Police Officer
Citizenship and Immigration - Chris Alexander - BA, MA Political Science - Diplomat
Labour - Kellie Leitch - Surgeon
State (Small Business and Tourism) - Maxime Bernier - Lawyer
State (Foreign Affairs) - Lynne Yelich - Unknown Education - Farmer, Banker
State (Economic Development) - Gary Goodyear - Chiropractor
State (Atlantic Canada Opportunities) - Rob Moore - Lawyer
Whip - John Duncan - Forester - Career Politician
State (Multiculturalism) - Tim Uppal - Education? - Radio Producer, Mortgage Manager
State (Seniors) - Alice Wong - Education Phd - Education
State (Sport) - Bal Gosal - Bachelor of Science, Stationary Engineer - Insurance Broker
State (Democratic Reform) - Pierre Poilievere - No degree - Communications, PR
State (Finance) - Kevin Sorensen - No degree? - Farmer
State (Social Development) - Candice Bergen - Financial planner
State (Science and Technology) - Greg Rickford - Lawyer and nurse
State (Western Economic Diversification ) - Michelle Rempel - BA Economics - University Admin.

Worst of all, Harper seems to stuff the people with actual practical experience off in the boonies.  Chris Alexander, an experienced diplomat would seem like a suitable head of Foreign Affairs.  Nope - Citizenship.  Hey, we have a surgeon!  Put them in charge of labour.  What about the engineer with experience starting up environmental technology engineering firms?  Why, sounds like a great Public Safety Minister.

Get the Pitchforks - Week 115 - July 8-15

It's amazing what sort of shit Canadians get upset about.  Billions wasted on bungled military procurement?  Meh.  Using the government as your own PR firm/propaganda arm?  No biggie.  Selling Canada's soul for oil and gas?  Jobs, jobs, jobs!  A few hundred thousand dollars in improper expenses?  Lynch the bastards!  Canadians are really pissed about the Senate and are letting Stephen Harper know about it.  The irony is delicious.  It's like Ralph Nader getting killed driving a Corvair.  Or David Suzuki getting a speeding ticket in a Ferrari.  Or something.  Some detail on the RCMP case against Mike Duffy.

Update - Cabinet shuffle!  Lot of familiar names in there. End Update...

Oh man...Even Israel thought that Canada's cut to Palestinian aid was over the top.  And it was supposedly for Israel's benefit?  Not that we were doing much in Palestine in the first place.

Do these bozoes not read the news?  Are they totally unaware of what a conflict-of-interest is?  Another Tory MP (a parliamentary secretary to boot) is accused of improper lobbying on behalf of a constituent.  Since then she's been promoted.

The F-35 is turning out to be a bit of a piece of shit.  So much so that the American military keeps dumbing down its flight requirements.  In a few years we'll end up with a Cessna with a machine gone mounted to the wings.

In a story I am unable to read, the Montreal Gazette outlines a new Harper budget cutting technique...don't spend the money budgeted to various departments.  Kind of ingenious, really.  You could announce billions in new, budgeted spending while slashing budgets.

More specifically...Transport Canada is accused of doing just that.  Not spending their rail safety budget...etc.  Tough to say you're doing all you can for rail safety when you leave a chunk of your budget on the table.  Nearly half, in fact.

Oil shipments by rail have increased 28,000% since 2009.

Details on the de-regulation of Canada's railroads.

The Conservative obsession with past military accomplishments and royal ass-kissing have reached new heights.  We're changing our ranks back to the British style, as well as uniform designations.

Stephen Harper's deport-the-criminal-immigrants trap has caught a Canadian born man.  They might deport him to India even though he's never been there in his life.  Technicalities abound as he is the son of Indian diplomats.

I'm still trying to sort this one out.  David Suzuki suggested that we (Canada) are doing the world a disservice by only allowing the cream of their crop to immigrate into Canada.  And that we should do more to bring refugees into the country.  Jason Kenney freaked out.

I really don't know much about what is going on in Egypt.  But the response from the west does seem kind of odd.  I guess we don't like democracy in other countries if it gives us governments we don't like.  See Chavez.  See Egypt.

Vic Toews! - Week 114 - July 2-8

Well...We won't have Vic Toews to kick around any more, as he announces his resignation (shortly before getting kicked out of cabinet?).

So a train full of crude oil derailed and levelled a town in Quebec, if you haven't heard.  Which has logically prompted some questions about our practices of hauling crude oil in trains.  At first, I was taking the position that it is easy to blame the government after a disaster, but that perhaps we shouldn't jump to conclusions.  But then on the CBC I heard a man from Greenpeace explaining the history of hauling oil on trains:  Train companies lobbying to use obsolete cars, self regulation, etc.  And ya, I think there might be some blame for the government here.

So now that the RCMP are digging in to things, a whole lot more information is coming out about Mike Duffy and Nigel Wright.  The party had originally agreed to make the payment?  And then decided not to?  And the PM didn't know?  Ya right.

The Conservative Senate Leader is stepping down.  And another MP is announcing that she won't seek re-election.  Rats from a sinking ship?  Polls suggest maybe so.

Peter Kent thinks his upcoming demotion is going to be awesome!

It seems like the majority of failed terrorist plots, especially in the US, reek of entrapment.  A disillusioned loaner is spurred along to act in a violent manner by a police informant.  They tend not to catch to not catch the ones with the ambition and ability to truly act on their own (see multiple school shootings, Boston bombing, etc.).  The bumbling idiots are encouraged and caught.  The scary ones follow through.  We've talked about this before.  So why is there so little information out there about the BC Legislature bombing?  Yes, it's only been a few days, but this Tyee article speculates that perhaps something like this is going on with this case.

More on the bombing suspects.  Sounds like there were a number of people who continually met with them leading up to the bombings.  But nobody else has been arrested.  Were they police?  How responsible were they for the actual plot planning?  How does a guy, described as broke and a bit slow by friends, pull this off?  I'm all for stopping terrorists.  I'm not for creating boogiemen to justify our state security apparatus.

Something about this really pisses me off.  Not only are you cutting funding to Environment Canada...but you're bringing in communications experts to provide advice?  This suggests that you know it's not the right thing (or at least the popular thing) to do.  Are they providing spin control as well?

Like a deadbeat parent, Patrick Brazeau is going to have his wages garnished to pay back his expenses.  Which sounds awesome, but when you think about it...essentially he's just getting a bit less taxpayer money to screw us over in the future.

Oh man...we're still talking about flood residents guns?  This is a story?  "Onus on law enforcement"?  Here's a new headline: "Idiots don't properly look after guns"

Senate Redemption - Week 113 - June 24 - July 2

I'm reminded of Dumb & Dumber right now.  "Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this...and totally redeem yourself!"  The Senate votes to send the union finances bill back to the House of Commons.

If you constantly have to spend a lot of money telling everybody how great you are, how great everything is and how great of a job you are doing...chances are it might not be so.

Is it common for elected officials to issue politicized talking points to bureaucrats?  About another bureaucrat?  Man.  What a bunch of assholes.  The Conservative encouraged diplomats and bureaucrats to talk shit about the Auditor Generals report on fighter jet procurement.  What a bunch of stupid assholes.

Too bad.  I had hoped Vic Toews leaving politics would have been the result of pitchfork wielding farmers.  Not retirement.

A new report on drug use in Vancouver suggests some not-all-that-surprising conclusions:  One, Vancouver's "harm reduction" strategy seems to be resulting in more treatment and less jail time.  Two, federal drug supply strategies (i.e. the "war on drugs") seems to be having little to no impact on drug pricing or availability.

The Conservatives are seeking a shitpile of money from the Council of Canadians to pay for the robocalls trial.  Didn't they basically lose this trial, but it was found there was no proof that the election outcome was affected?

What a pandering asshole...can't have a gun lover angry at the Prime Minister.  How is this deserve comment from the PM?  The RCMP in High River picked up some unsecured, out-in-plain-view guns when they were searching houses for flood victims and this is some sort of tragedy for the PM and his gun lobby buddies.

This Tyee article blames Calgary flooding on climate change and hopes that the oil industry will see the error of their ways.

Quebec seems to have lost their court case to try to hold on to Quebec long gun registry data.

Convenient.  The trial of a former Harper aide has been delayed due to health concerns.

An interesting Slate article linking up statistics and studies into gun violence.  In the US.

I thought it would be a short one - Week 112 - June 17-24

But no.  The stories just keep piling up.


This doesn't surprise me.  But it's still interesting to see some of the behind-the-scenes action as the Harper Government slowly turns itself into the marketing arm of large oil companies.  I understand that Governments are, by definition, supposed to set the strategy for a country.  But there's something very wag-the-dog about this.  Deciding on something and then using PR tactics to vilify opponents and change public opinion?  Shouldn't they be acting on the public opinion that is already there?

Certain people are questioning why the Prime Minister is launching attacks on Justin Trudeau using his taxpayer funded office.  There's a certain irony in using criticizable tactics to criticize your opponents.  The Tyee expands on this and shows the crazy extent to which the PMO's office is involved in political slagging and partisan story creation.  Taxpayer funded PMO's office.

The Tyee lays out the depressing story of Canada's submarines.  Why are we so incapable of buying military hardware?

Conservative Senators don't like Stephen Harper's union finances law.  It's taking some work to get them to vote for it.  I had never thought about it much before, but one of them mentioned the double standard of pursuing this but not pursuing doctors, lawyers and engineers professional organizations.

The RCMP investigation in to the Mike Duffy payment seems poised to unleash a shitstorm of awesome as records for nearly a dozen Conservative candidates have been seized.

Man.  How meta is this?  Dean Del Mastro called out Elections Canada and a witness against him for "sullying his good name" last week.  So the witness speaks out this week about the "sullying of his good name."  It is pretty chickenshit for Del Mastro to use his speech protected parliamentary privilege to suggest a witness is lying.  Or, as phrased in the CBC story, "a privilege to slander".

Another reason to hate the Census.  New data points out that 40% of native children live in poverty.

The biggest thing for me about building new pipelines, is that the companies looking to build these new pipelines do a terrible job of managing their existing pipelines.  The Tyee points this out that this is how it works in Alberta as well.


Sounds like Shelly Glover has caved in to Elections Canada expense demands.  Was this really all it took to get them off her back?

It seems sad that defeating a frivolous bill to strip the citizenship from "terrorists" is something to really celebrate.

I will admit that it seems pretty stupid for a sitting MP to collect speaking fees from a charity.  Perhaps some fees to cover travel expenses?  But $20,000?  From a charity (I'll admit, they do seem to be a pretty terrible charity).  And paying the money back once there is an uproar seems like a pretty disingenuous move.  This article outlines many of the bizarre allowances for MP's and Senators to earn extra income.The charity that requested money back from Trudeau is concerned that they created a giant political mess.

Oh Senate!  So, somebody thought it would be a good idea to bring in a bunch of high paid motivational speakers to boost the low Senate morale due to all of their expense scandals.  Gotta spend money to spend money, I guess.

Canadian Real Estate professionals are insisting that all is well with Canadian Real Estate.  Not sure which statistic they're using this time around.

I have a personal theory that no male children are born any longer.  It's all females.  Turns out that there might be something to this.

Perp Walk - Week 111 - June 10-17

As in...the Conservative caucus meetings are turning into a bit of a perp walk.

Nigel Wright is under investigation by the RCMP for the Mike Duffy payment.

Dean Del Mastro is demanding to be either charged or cleared by Elections Canada.

Irwin Cotler catches a break!  Lost in the shuffle of the mayor of Montreal getting arrested...also arrested was Saulie Zajdel, infamously hired by the Conservatives as a "shadow MP".  Nice candidate selection, guys.

Conservatives just don't seem to understand election expenses.  And it seems to be somebody elses fault every time this happens.  Eve Adams attempts to claim personal campaign expenses way over and above what is allowed.  Including Salon visits.  And a cupcake.

Some of the records related to Conservative MP elections expenses are missing/not publicly available?  I'm not clear here on who the CBC seems to be blaming.  Elections Canada or the campaign?

So Peter McKay launched his own secret surveillance program a few years ago.

Why is Stephen Harper not interested in International Tax Evasion cooperation?  As well, the CRA seems to be making things up and including non offshore tax evasion arrests in their statistics.

Crikey!  Mac Harb may owe up to $240,000 in improper expenses.  And the Conservatives jump for joy!  Surprising that they seem so eager to get this information out there.

How come every spill or disaster related to Oil and Gas comes with some sort of "The new stuff is going to be totally different!" disclaimer?  Another bad leak in Alberta.  Whose fault?  I'm guessing anybody but the company responsible for all the chemicals or the government tasked with regulating it.

Big moves on "transparency".
- The Conservatives defeated a bill that would create more independence for the Parliamentary Budget Officer
- Rumour has it that the next Parliamentary Budget Officer is going to perhaps be a Conservative party flunky (former Chief of Staff to Peter Van Loan)

Vic Toews!  Rejects the idea of a civilian management board for the RCMP as recommended by a federal advisory panel.

A fart in a windstorm.  The Harper Government announces $12 Million to fund "history education" in Canada.

Don't worry about the expense scandal or leaking pipelines.  Thomas Mulcair didn't stop at a security checkpoint!  That's the real tragedy.

What a schmozzle.  It's actually kind of absurd that QuebecSoccerHeadwareGate has reached a level where it requires comment from our Federal Politicians.  And even sadder that there are actually people defending their decision.  And that this has anything to do with language relations in this country.

So this is why governments are so pissed off at Snowden.  His leaks have compromised the shady world of international, government on government espionage.  I'm sure Britain isn't too happy about their G20 spying efforts made public.

Things fall apart - Week 110 - June 3-10

 So.  How does one refuse to give a breathalyzer sample, and then get found not guilty of refusing to give a breathalyzer sample?  Peter Goldring must have had some good lawyers.  Stephen Harper is "happy to welcome him back."

A Conservative backbencher has quit the caucus and will sit as an independent.  Why?  Well, they gutted his civil servant salary transparency bill.  I love that his idea of an "open and transparent" government rests on knowing salaries of senior civil servants.  His team didn't follow with him.

Two other Conservative MP's are in trouble for improperly filing their election expenses.  Elections Canada says they over spent (Obviously, they think it's Elections Canada's fault).  And the speaker seems to be making it up as he goes along.

There is something delightfully odd about Conservatives picketing a Justin Trudeau announcement on Parliamentary expenses.  Anyhow...Justin Trudeau promises that Liberal Parliamentarians will post their expenses online for everybody to see.  And the "Young" Conservatives picketed the announcement and suggested he "loves the status quo".

This is what happens when you draw attention to yourself.  Not only was Mike Duffy stealing taxpayer money...he was doing a terrible job at the same time.  Missing half of his Senate Committee meetings.

The Conservatives insist that the Mike Duffy payment didn't come from a Nigel Wright controlled slush fund.  Here's my wild-ass guess - Nigel Wright paid Mike Duffy with his own money...and then the slush fund paid him back.  In fact, they are claiming that there is no secret account to pay for expenses.  Well...there is an account...it's just not secret.

What the fuck?  Pamela Wallin continues to pull fat bank while sitting on the Board of Directors for many, many companies?  Oh well.  Her corporate filings reveal that she is not a resident of Saskatchewan and   shouldn't be a Senator.  And she resigned from one of her Board of Directors gigs.

A Liberal MP is pushing a bill that would mandate party leaders endorse attack ads that they create.  I think this is a tremendous idea.

Psh.  Real Estate is fine.  Buy, buy, buy.  Don't listen to the OECD when they say Real Estate in Canada is over-valued by 30-60% based on income and rents.  Those guys are biased!  Unlike our banks and real estate boards.  And Federal Government.

The Conservatives are going to make it more difficult to open up safe injection sites.  Seeing as it's been near impossible to open one up in the last few years, I wouldn't expect a rush on getting these opened in the next few years.  Hey!  Shut up, hippie!  Government regulation is only bad when it does things I don't like.

65+ countries signed a UN treaty in an attempt to limit the flow of cross-border arms sales.  Canada did not.

Once again, the Conservatives are not cooperating with the Parliamentary Budget Officer.

Thank-you Quebec Soccer Federation for making Canada seem like a bunch of bigoted imbeciles.  Oh, turbans and other headgear are not allowed due to "safety"?  Yes, fabric on heads has been known to cause serious injury.  This is not going to help people like you, Quebec.  Special rules for you, no consideration for the needs of others.

This Tyee article comes to a similar conclusion to the one I made a few weeks ago: Alberta doesn't charge much money in tax on Oil Sands producers.