Pay Attention Canada

I noticed an important story in the Hill Times today, unfortunately ignored by most of the mainstream media, at least so far.

We remember Pat Stogran the veteran's ombudsman  who is being drummed out of his position by the Harper bullies for having the gall to actually do his job. To speak up, forcefully on behalf of veterans and to voice some of the concerns raised to him by those he considered his constituents and he brought to light the shoddy treatment many of them felt they were getting under the leadership Conservative government.

Harper loved the ready access the military provided for photo-ops and the like but when he was needed to provide support to people wounded or traumatized by Afghanistan little Stevie pulled the political equivalent of a "cut and run."

Real support is so much much more than a photo-op Stephen.

Perhaps the most telling thing he brought to light was when he confided that he was told by a senior civil servant   " … that it is in the government’s best interests to have soldiers killed overseas rather than wounded because the liability is shorter term.” The former senior military officer was shaken to the bone by the comment. “

Now Stogran has revealed that says he believes that the Veterans Affairs Department may have improperly accessed and shared his medical files and other information after he brought forward his concerns and was speaking out on behalf of  veterans.


Mr. Stogran said he first raised the issue after discovering there had been as many as 400 “improper inquiries” into his personal file at the Veterans Affairs Department. At first he didn't worry too much about thinking that people in the department were just curious about who he was but Mr. Stogran became more concerned when
another high-profile veteran, Sean Bruyea, told CP last week that  he obtained information that his personal information and medical files had been spread around within government and used in attempts to discredit him.  It was at that point that Stogran  became aware he may also have been a target. "It was apparent that more people had been in my file than had any business being in my file" Stogran said.

Doesn't this just piss you off? I hate where we seem to be going as a country. Our government is out of control and in the face of it all, Harper is up in the polls.

Give your head a shake Canada. Is this what you want.

Greetings From Taiwan

Many of us were wondering this week why Mordon, Manitoba’s own Candy Hoeppner wasn’t around to respond to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police endorsement of the Long Gun Registry.

It wasn’t as if the conference was a surprise. It is always held in August. So, as her divisive Bill to scrap the long gun registry was once again thrust back into the limelight Candy was nowhere to be found.
Instead of setting up guest spots on the dependable right wing, radio talk shows or meeting with the editorial board of the National Post to defend her bill against this latest blow by the police chiefs, her office simply says she is “away” and not available for interviews, even as "she" continues to put out press releases on the issue.

Media are being redirected to another PMO approved spokesperson, Conservative MP Shelly Glover. This is what she had to say about Candy’s disappearance:
“My understanding is that Candice Hoeppner isn’t available because she is away.”
Where is she?
“I have no clue.”
It seems odd she’s not available to do interviews on her own bill on the very week the issue is heating up.
Glover said, “The woman is away. She is human. I don’t know where she is, you’d have to ask her office. I’m told she’s away.”
It seems like an odd time to take a vacation.
“I don’t know if she’s on vacation even. I don’t know if she’s on Parliamentary business. I don’t know.”

It turns out Candy and a bunch of her MP buddies were in Taiwan on a junket paid for by the Taiwanese government.

Perhaps Harper and his gang have figured out this no-brainer. "Long Gun Registry good." and are starting to soft peddle it. No, that would be too much to hope for.

Some Days you Just Have to Wonder Who Buys These Things

New High Tech Gopher Rifle

I find the whole long gun registry issue very interesting. The Harper Government is rock solid behind Morden, Manitoba's own Conservative MP Candice Hoeppner's private member's bill. Guys like the fool on the Hill, the little known Garry Breitkreuz from Saskatchewan's Yorkton-Melville riding are solidly behind her harassing Liberal MPs who might vote with their party despite the pressure but on them by the Conservatives.

If you listened to them it is all about the cost of the registry which they being the government have the responsibility to bring under control and the hardship the registry is putting on gun owners. They claim they are just protecting hard done by hunters and the right to bear arms which of course is not a part of our constitution..

Well several of those "hunters" have been buying up a Chinese made Norinco Type 97A rifle nicknamed the bullpup. Apparently the RCMP have recently gotten interested in this firearm. Apparently it can be quite easily be converted so that it will fire on fully automatic. The cops, quite rightfully are a bit concerned about what these "farmers" and "hunters" might do with these guns.

This would be an opportunity for the registry opponents to stand up and make a few points for being responsible and reasonable. You would think so anyway. Instead, the National Firearms Association of Canada is trying to challenge the RCMP's right to declare this killing machine a prohibited weapon, in court.

The government, careful not to annoy the gun owner crowd will reimburse the full cost, about $900.00 for these guns if they are turned in. A very rare move.

If you ever did wonder who buys these things are, have a look at some of the blog postings. These are some of the mild ones. I don't know. I just find their mindset a bit scary.

• I just got back from Tenn. going in a gun store there makes you see just how screwed we are up here almost makes me want to move there.
• Like I said, you guys should be as free as us, and we should revoke every gun law passed since the communist infiltrators started hitting in the ’30s. I’d be totally cool with you guys having all the stuff we have, and both of us having more than we do.
• speaking about communist infiltrators, you know how it goes: first it is restriction on some firearms, then it is the restriction on acquisition of the new ones, then it is confiscation, and finally it is the mark of the beast if you want to get some food. Mind you they will tell you that it is all for your own safty! Communist..hmm..or do i detect budding horns and faint smell of sulfur?!
• All I ask is that we be prepared. Have a survival kit made up, have lots of ammunition at bay, have your bolts and actions greased, keep lots of extra canned food, rice, and bulk multi vitamins around. Stop thinking inside the little box we were born into (especially americans, canadians, and the brits). Do you think people were ready for ww1, the holocaust, ww2, the de-colonization of africa/india, vietnam, jfk’s assassination and the list goes on. Only the people who weren’t ignorant saw these things coming,