At Home in Hespeler

I have been pondering la affair Cadman all weekend, trying to get my head in the right place for commenting on it. My concern was that I was quite prepared to pooh-pooh this whole thing because my team are the bad guys. That’s not good enough thinking, and I tried to turn it around: if this was a Liberal scandal, how would I react?

My conclusion, there wasn’t enough there yet. Legally, there is no crime committed, only hearsay evidence. Ethically, again it’s one a few peoples word vs. the hearsay of what a dead man said (if Cadman was alive, we have a different story). My conclusion was going to be, until the other shoe drops, there’s not much here. However, I also felt there was more to come, and it could complete this story. The question was, who was going to look worse once the story played out?

Well, Stephen Harper dropped a shoe today, a big one, by threatening to sue Stephane Dion, Ralph Goodale and Michael Ignatieff:

The prime minister served notice Monday that he plans to sue the Liberals if they don’t apologize for comments they made concerning the Chuck Cadman affair.

Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, the Liberal Party of Canada and MPs Ralph Goodale and Michael Ignatieff were all served letters over statements published on the party’s website.

Those statements question Stephen Harper’s alleged involvement in financial “offers” made to Cadman to sway his vote in a crucial 2005 Commons showdown.

Harper’s lawyer, Richard Dearden, calls the statements “false and devastatingly defamatory.”

“These malicious and reckless defamatory statements impugn the reputation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper,” Dearden writes in a letter of notice.

Who knows what’s coming next, but one things for sure: Harper has decided he doesn’t want an election over this issue. Unless the Liberals have more proof to offer (and believe me, the folks at the “Warren Kinsella coffee house and war room” are looking), they won’t be inclined to bring down the government over this issue – at least not yet.

Politicians acting badly, whack-a-mole politics

Nice piece in the Financial Post today by Terence Corcoran, Flaherty should tackle his own price gougers, making some reflections on Jim Flaherty’s announcement that he would meet with retailers to discuss why the price of goods hasn’t come down lock-step with the rise in the dollar. Nice to have a conservative finance minister that has so little faith in the free market, that he must intervene at the slightest provocation (and I do mean slightest).

I have an idea for Jim Flaherty: want to see the market kick into gear? Remove the duty on goods consumers bring back into Canada upon leaving the country. No need to be away 48 hours for a $400 duty free (or 7 and $750). One day in the U.S., bring back as much consumer goods as you please (booze and cigarettes subject to the usual rules, of course). This would create competition with American retailers, forcing Canadian retailers to bring their prices more in line with American prices.

This way, you see, I could get up Saturday and say, Hey! Let’s go shopping! Couple of hours later wee’re in Buffalo, buy a big screen TV, 5.5 Surround sound system for it, a HDDVD, and a bunch of DVD’s. Back at the border:

“How Long have you been out of the country?”
“Couple of Hours.”
“Anything to declare?”
“Four-thousand-five-hundred and seventy-two dollars worth of goods.”
“Any liquor or tobacco?”
“No.”
“have a nice day, sir.”

Jim Flaherty says he wants the markets to work for Canadians. That’s how they would work, by adding competition, not by some busybody politicians harassing sellers.

And the big advantage is he could do it tomorrow, just issue an order in council, or whatever these guys do, and suspend the paying of consumer duties until a) Jan 1 b) Further notice. Simple, and would even be popular amongst us unwashed masses -er voters.

While we are on the subject, and speaking of upping the competition, and since the price differential in books seems to be one of the items that is really annoying people, how about eliminating those pesky Canadian ownership requirements to owning a large bookstore. Then we can get Borders/Barnes and Noble in here and give Chapters a run for their money. Problem being, I admit, this one would take a while. Unlike the issue with not paying duties, which could be implemented tomorrow.

So how about it Jim Flaherty, want to really fix the problem of consumer prices? or do you want to play big hero politician who interferes in the market, but solves nothing?

Economic Fundamentalism, Silly Politicians, Unsolicited Political Advice, whack-a-mole politics

It has been a while since I caught wind of the media reading At Home in Hesepeler, but today it appears not just are National Posties reading, it is requires reading down at 1450 Don Mills.

First up is Don Martin who, in an column on the Liberals response to the throne speech, Majority Rule in all but Name, had this to say:

A theme for this Parliament has now been set. Canada’s Official Opposition is but a government whack-a-mole game with Prime Minister Stephen Harper using the election hammer to knock them down every time they raise their heads.

Whack-a-mole? This very blog coined the term whack-a-mole politics back in April, I have even been using it as an entry label. (although, I believe the politically correct Canadian term is whack-a-prairie-dog politics).

It is a great term though, isn’t it Don?

Next up is Terence Corcoran from todays Financial Post, Dion Needs A New Dog. Further, Corcoran notes Kyoto is a “dead dog that no longer has relevance.”

Meanwhile, yesterday I wrote, and posted the following:

While Joanne is wondering where Stephane Dion is… The answer seems obvious to me: he’s mourning for his dog. Poor Kyoto.

Don Martin and Terence Corcoran, two of the best: Your welcome guys.

The Media Following My Lead., whack-a-mole politics

Stephane Dion’s nightmare scenario became a reality in three byelections Monday night…

For only the second time since 1935, the Liberals lost the multiethnic riding of Outremont – and it wasn’t even close. They were beaten by 20 percentage points…

With the party hemorrhaging seats in the province…

The party’s fall from grace has been staggering in the province…

But despite Dion’s optimism, he should expect to face tough questions from his own troops. One Liberal MP went out of his way to point out that the Liberals’ current seat-count in Quebec – 12 – is the lowest since Confederation…

Another Liberal MP agreed that it’s time for a few changes. (emphasis mine)

OK, those are the highlights, but if Dion is going to get press like that, Stephen Harper need not worry about the backlash from the press gallery.

Gerry Nicholls predicts Dion is toast. He may be right, Liberals don’t tolerate losers, and right now that’s what Dion is.

Silly Liberals, Stephane Dion, whack-a-mole politics

Maybe Jack Layton is right, maybe the time to pull out of Afghanistan is right now. With polls constantly showing a majority of Canadians want our forces out of Afghanistan, with a Parliamentary majority making it clear that extension of the mission will not be supported, and with Stephen Harper saying a Parliamentary majority will be needed to extend the mission, why should anymore soldiers die in a lost cause?

Let me be clear. I support this mission, I think we should be there until the bitter end, however long that takes. I think Afghani’s want us there, I think we are doing what’s good and right and I think we are making Canada safer by being there.

The results of pulling out? Well, we lose, we are at greater threat. Those who pretend to understand history, and recite the mantra that we created these guys in the late 70’s and through the eighties, need to understand this: We did not create them by helping them; We created them by discarding them as soon as they served our needs. Not finishing the job is what got us into this mess, much like not finishing the job in Iraq in the 90’s opened us up to the current war there. Not finishing the job in Viet Nam led to Pol Pot’s Cambodian massacres of the mid-late 70’s, not finishing the job in Korea in the 50’s led us to a world were an insane lunatic like Kim Jong-il has the bomb. Not finishing the job in Afghanistan will be a disaster. Anyone who doesn’t think pulling out will increase, not decrease the terrorist threat in Canada, anyone who doesn’t understand that these terrorists prey on the weak, and a pull out is a show of weakness, is an idiot of the simpering variety.

But we, as a country, seem determined to not finish the job. Yesterday six soldiers tragically lost there lives in Afghanistan. If it is a lost cause, then the tragedy is greater yet. And if it is a lost cause, then every soldier who dies hence will be that much more tragic.

So Jack Layton is right. If we aren’t going to finish the job, then lets get out now.

Stephen Harper, whack-a-mole politics

… has lost the argument:

…Your Government is moving each day closer to a theocracy where a narrow and hateful brand of Christian fundamentalism will rule.

Your Government suppresses the science that doesn’t fit it’s religious, political and economic agenda, forcing present and future generations to pay a terrible price.

Your Government is moving to deny women here, and all over the world, the right to birth control and abortion.

Your Government enforces a culture of greed, bigotry, intolerance and ignorance.

People look at this and think of Hitler. They are right to do so. The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society, very quickly, in a fascist way and for generations to come…

Just astounding!

Signed: Olympia Dukakis; Edward Asner; Jane Fonda; Sean Penn and so on, ad infinitum.

whack-a-mole politics, Who You Calling a Nazi?

I knew as I was framing this post in my mind whilst working today, that I would be pretty lonely in my opinion. I knew already what the great Joe Warmington had to say, could have guessed what Right Girl and Wonder Woman were saying, yet still found myself agreeing with David Miller.

I, and this blog, have been supporters of our troops since day one. I used to own one of those magnets, until some anti-war-Bush-hating-BirkenstockAndSock -wearing-smelly-old-needs-a-haircut-hippy-unionist stole mine (or it fell off, who really knows)(see picture right). But again, I must say it, David Miller is right: showing the ribbon can be construed as a political statement.

The debate, then, ought to be, should we be making political statements on public emergency vehicles? And perhaps, a reasonable answer is no.

I happen to think they belong there, I happen to be happy that Rob Ford was prophetic ( “It should be 45-0,” adds Councillor Rob Ford. “We should all be 100% behind our brave troops.”). But, if the answer is no, we should not be making political statements on public emergency vehicles, that means NO political statements: no breast cancer ribbons; no firetrucks in the gay pride parade. Not just, no right of centre political statements, no political statements. And that’s what is really galling everybody. They know this wouldn’t even be a question if this was any other cause.

For me though, the best part of this was the bit nobody noticed. The ribbons would stay on until removed during routine maintenance. That means that, unless you are a highly paid unionized mechanic in the city of Toronto, you are not qualified to remove an over sized fridge magnet from a fire truck.

Fortunately, this is all moot, as Toronto council voted 45 – 0 to keep the ribbons. Apparently the city of Toronto e-mail servers were getting a work out.

pimply minions of bureaucracy, Support The Troops, Toronto, whack-a-mole politics

The Young Liberals have put out a couple of ads, “I’m a Liberal,” in which a cute young girl proclaims “Hi, I’m a Liberal,” and a fattish, geeky looking guy says “and I’m a PC.” Funny how PC looks like Stephan Dion, but the real problem with these ads are, they are direct, unashamed rip-offs of the Apple Mac/PC guy ads.

Of course, their designed to be obviously a take off on those ads, But it is just an unoriginal bit of copying.

Liberals. The old ones steal our money, the young ones steal ideas.

The ads can be found here.

Silly Liberals, whack-a-mole politics, YouTube

David Miller is often found saying just dumb things. If he was right wing he would be eaten alive in the press, by the countries (supposed) comedians &tc. But he’s a ‘caring’ lefty, so he gets away with it.

The latest was last week, after a shooting at a Toronto High School, in which 15-year-old Jordan Manners was killed:

The incident prompted Toronto mayor David Miller to stress the need for stricter gun control. “Handguns have one purpose and that is to kill and it really reinforces what we’ve been saying for quite a while at the city… We absolutely have to get the guns off the streets. It’s going to require some changes to our laws but it has to be done.”

Agree or disagree with the sentiment at your leisure. However, it is illegal for a person under 18 to posses a firearm licence in Canada. With the various restrictions in place, that means a person under 18 cannot own a firearm, handgun or otherwise. In effect, if you are under 18 years old, handguns are banned.

Yesterday, police arrested two 17 year old youths in the murder of Jordan Manners:

Toronto police have charged a teenage boy with killing 15-year-old Jordan Manners in a North York high school and say another suspect turned himself in Sunday night.

The youths, both 17-years-old, are facing first-degree murder charges.

Investigators had obtained judicial authorization to temporarily release the name of one teenager, warning that he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”

Armed and dangerous, yet legally banned from owning a firearm in Canada. That’s what makes David Miller’s, and some other politicians, knee jerk reaction so dumb. It solves no problem, not even the principle one of getting David Miller re-elected.

freedom for the individual is the only truly progressive policy, pimply minions of bureaucracy, whack-a-mole politics

Thanks be to Kate and SDA, who provides the link to this clip.

The thing I keep noticing is how they say we gave them money, we have a right to ask how they choose their captain. This is the problem with big government, and with even seemingly innocuous
handing out of powers and rights to government.

While technically true that the federal committee has the right to ask questions, it is not at all clear that they are right to do so. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say no, they ought not be asking these questions. But give government, any government of any stripe, the right/power to do something and sooner or later, they will.

Meanwhile, there’s a petition. Go sign it, tell them you think this is stupid.

Parliament, pimply minions of bureaucracy, Shane Doan, whack-a-mole politics

I can’t figure out governments in this country anymore. The other day I was Praising Baird for his Kyoto paper, The Cost of Bill C-288 to Canadian Families and Business. But yesterdays nonsense makes no sense to me, especially considering the opposition for C-288 put forth by the environment ministry. Last week Baird was suggesting the costs of Kyoto would be onerous, this week he started imposing costs. The environment ministry is becoming the ministry of whack-a-mole (or is that ministry of whack-a-prairie dog?), bashing away here, then there… no up there.

This seems to me a simple problem. You believe global warming is on, it’s man-made and it is a looming catastrophe, or you don’t. If you believe all three parts of the first statement, then you do anything – ANYTHING – to solve the problem. If you don’t believe all three parts of that statement, then you do nothing, because there is no problem to solve. Half measures make no sense. And what John Baird is doing is half measures.

Which is it John Baird?

Then there’s the Liberals in Toronto. What ever came over them to release the FLICK OFF campaign. (Notice, by the way, you don’t need a fancy font. Use almost any font, type it in caps, it looks like what it’s supposed to look like.) If you haven’t seen it yet, here it is:

Never mind complaints about prissy indignation, it is entirely inappropriate for a government to be putting together this kind of vulgar campaign. The government should, and must, be held to a higher standard than the rest of us. They should be raising the level of debate, not lowering it.

But what boggles is, did they ever think this would be OK? As the Post points out “…the premier’s office thinks parents who find this campaign offensive lack a sense of humour — that they are just not with it.” Did they not realize this would be a problem? Or have they become so removed from reality, that it never occurred to anyone this would be a problem? If that is so, this group needs to be removed from office quick. If only there was somebody, anybody else to vote for.

Oh, and memo to a couple of children of my acquaintance. Telling your dear old dad to FLICK OFF at any time, for any reason, government approved or not, is hereby added to your “I really don’t recommend it” list.

Dalton, pimply minions of bureaucracy, Prairie Dog, Silly Liberals, whack-a-mole politics