A few Short Political Notes

Parliament is back this week which never has a positive affect on my blood pressure but what the heck...It gives me something to write about.

I see my friend, and newly elected MP Mike Sullivan (York South-Weston) got his picture in the Globe & Mail this morning. Mike is, quite appropriately, the first person on the left. He and about 50 other newbies were attending an orientation seminar on The Hill. I have a lot of time for Mike and think we'll hear more from him in the coming months.

The Blue Meanies are loaded for bear and the New Democrats have their hands full.  Say good bye to the Long Gun Registry, a majority of wheat and barley farmers will see their wishes ignored as the government winds down the wheat board, stand by to get "tough on crime" and of course the government will most likely interfere once again in the collective bargaining process and order the Air Canada flight attendants back to work, should they exercise their right to strike.

There should be a few interesting debates about spending too. The Chief of Defense Staff thinks it is OK to spend $1.5 million using government jets for travel. He thinks he is much too important to travel on commercial aircraft. In fact he got quite uppity about it all.

Much of it was travelling to and from hockey and football games where we would take part in tributes to the armed forces. This is all part of selling the conflicts we, to an increasing degree, getting involved in since Canada, under this Harper Government, has moved from our long tradition of peacekeeping into a much more aggressive role. I understand the Chief of Defense Staff was in his role as a shill for government policy but, not at that price.

The PM will be working on strengthening his ties with Israel this week as Canada takes a strong position against the recognition of Palestine as a state by the United Nations. This time Harper isn't just parroting the American position but following his own blind support for the Israeli government. It all strikes me as odd. Once again it puts us out of step with most progressive nations. So stand by for Canada's currency to take another hit at the UN.

New Poll Shoots Holes in Harper Strategy

I thought I was done with the long gun registry but there was something in the Harper Government response to the defeat of Candy Hoeppner’s bill that offended me enough to keep watching this file. Remember Harper was very clear that those who switched their votes will pay at the polls and that the Conservatives will not rest until the registry is abolished.

I new poll was released yesterday that illustrates how out of touch that bunch of Tories really are. The Ipsos Reid poll was conducted between September 27 and October 4l shows that two thirds of Canadians, support the long-gun registry. The figure is 66% to be exact. Even people who tend to vote for the Harper Conservatives are split on the issue.

Alberta is the only place in Canada where citizens support the scrapping of the registry. No real surprise there but even in wild rose country, the figures are close with 53% in opposition to the registry with 47% in support. The poll finds that support for the registry is highest in Quebec  at 81% followed by Ontario at 66%, British Columbia at 61%, Atlantic Canada supports the registry by 59%  and Saskatchewan and Manitoba combined come in at 57% supporting the registry.

The last figure may come as a surprise to Saskatchewan residents who were bombarded by media reports during the registry fight, suggesting that far in a majority of residents supported abolition. Even the CBC in Saskatchewan pandered to the abolitionists giving voice to every crazy in the province on Garth Materie's call-in show. I simply couldn’t listen to the rants and as a result have pretty much given up on CBC local radio.

 Other interesting figures jump out of the survey;:

-  Conservative voters mirrored the Alberta results with 47% supporting the registry and    53% opposed.

-  Liberals  were at 78% support to  22% opposed.

-  Sixty sever percent of NDPers support the registry and 33% oppose.

-  Bloc Quebecois voters: 88 % support; 12 % oppose.

-  With the Green party, 68% support; 32% oppose.

The poll finds that 23% of Canadians say the results of the recent parliamentary tussle over Hoeppner's bill could have an impact on how they vote in the next election.

 Let's bring on an election an toss those bums out.

Say Good Bye to the Spotlight Candy

It has been a tough fight but it looks like Harper and his gang of thugs is going to lose in their bid to scrap the gun registry.

Once we are past that vote and fresh from a rare win perhaps the opposition will suggest some legislation to fix some of the shortcomings of the system.
It won't be pretty. The Conservative bully boys are already threatening those who have, after no doubt months of soul searching, decided to change their votes to support the registry.
It will be a big win for common sense. Now, it is up to Ignatieff, Layton and Duceppe to throw the buggers out of office.
In the meantime, lets start charging people who up until now have refused to register their weapons.

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,