Why?

How well do you sleep at night Tom?

My Member of Parliament Tom Lukiwski, has once again let his constituents down. Yesterday all except for seven members of the Harper Conservative Government,  Tom included, voted to defeat private member's bill C-398.

The only Saskatchewan MP who votes "yes" was Maurice Vellacott.

The bill, brought to the House by New Democrat Helene Laverdiere who said in part as she introduced her bill,  "Mr. Speaker, today, I am proud to introduce my bill entitled An Act to amend the Patent Act.

This bill will modify the provisions of the current access to medicines regime, which allows Canada to export generic versions of drugs for HIV-AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other illnesses to developing countries, and it will make the regime easier to use.

This will enable Canadian manufacturers to send potentially life-saving medicines to those who desperately need them.

This bill is an improved version of Bill C-393, which the House passed by a comfortable margin last March but which, unfortunately, died on the order paper in the Senate.

When drafting this bill, I worked closely with the Grandmothers Advocacy Network and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network"

The bill was championed by the Grandmothers Advocacy Network and thousands of Canadians signed petitions in support of this bill.

When the original bill passed the big drug manufacturers opposed it. This time around withdrew any opposition to the bill being passed.

In advance of the vote former Member of Parliament Gerald Caplin said “If you had the opportunity to save hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of AIDS sufferers in Africa and other poor countries, what would you do? A complete no-brainer, right? Why in the world is it even a question?” 

Why indeed. 

Why did the Conservatives change their minds and defeat this bill?

Why did the Harper Government mount a campaign of misinformation in a push to assure the bill was defeated?

Why won't any predominant cabinet ministers comment on the decision to defeat the bill?

Disappointment in the Harper Government was expressed widely by those working on the front lines internationally was widespread.

UNICEF for example released a statement saying in part "We are highly disappointed with the result of tonight's vote. This Bill would have helped get life-saving medicine to the world's most vulnerable children without any additional costs to the government or Canadians. This is a missed opportunity and it is children who will suffer most," says UNICEF Canada's President and CEO David Morley.

Currently only 42 per cent of the estimated 1.5 million infants born worldwide to mothers with HIV receive the antiretroviral (ARV) treatments needed to prevent transmission of the disease.

If passed, Bill C-398 would have strengthened Canada's position as a true global leader on newborn, child and maternal health. The Bill proposed critical amendments to CAMR removing the unnecessary bureaucratic hurdles that have made the process impossible to use.

How many children will die before a bill like this is finally passed?

Stephen Harper should be ashamed

What about an Order of Canada

Another story that grabbed my attention because of the outrage expressed by the media. Saskatchewan Conservative MP Maurice Vellacott, generously gave Queen's Diamond Jubilee medals to two anti-abortion activists who have been jailed repeatedly.

One of the 30 medals Vellacott was allotted to give away as a Conservative backbencher, one went to someone called Mary Wagner, whose actions at abortion clinics have landed her behind bars time and time again. He also gave one to Linda Gibbons,who is currently in jail in Toronto awaiting trial after she attempted to force her way into a Toronto clinic’s private treatment area.

Should we be giving these things to criminals? Do we care? What if the shoe was on the other foot?

Although I have never been convicted of a crime I have had my share of confrontations with police and have been arrested, and jailed as a result of my actions on picket lines. Should I now be disqualified?

Thinking of the issue in that light I am not so sure. I have been an activist too.

* Just a quick note to my MP Tom Lukiwski: I am still waiting for my medal in recognition of a lifetime working in the trenches fighting for the rights of working peoples.
OK Tom,  you were probably right in not offering me that one. A medal from the Queen wouldn't really be appropriate for me but, all things considered, I would accept an Order of Canada.
And after all if Conrad Black still has his and...never mind, I feel a rant coming on. I should just quit.

The Harper Economic Record

Jim Flaherty would have Canadian’s believe that the retread budget and the fiscal policy he intends to inflict on us Canadians will save us from another recession and bring prosperity back to the country. The only way to do that he says is through cutting fat in Ottawa. When he talks about bloated Ottawa administrations somehow I don’t think he is talking about the PMO. Don’t expect cuts there.

Flaherty expects Canadians to believe that the Blue Meanies alone can save us all from financial oblivion. I think he expects us to believe that if it wasn’t for him, Harper and the rest of the Blue Man group we would have gone the way of Ireland long ago.

Now he boasts that the Conservative policies will bring us out of deficit spending by 2015. A year earlier that expected. No one actually believes he will but, it gets good media coverage and Canadians are a forgiving lot. After all this government has the new and daunting task of keeping the spendthrift socialists away from the door of the Bank of Canada vault.

What Flaherty forgets is that without the unnecessary reduction he made to the GST, we wouldn’t need to make the cuts he is now suggesting are crucial.

The other thing that Harper and Flaherty don’t ever want Canadians to look closely at is what the Conservative financial record really is.

Brian Mulroney in 1993 had run up a $38 billion deficit. Canadians were shocked. 

Under Liberal leadership, Jean Chretien and Paul Martin had beaten the deficient and by 2006 when he lost the election the Government was running a $16 Billion surplus.

Under the Harper/Flaherty regime the deficit is up over $55 Billion.

And these guys ran on their economic record. We must be really stupid.

Why Would Anyone Vote For Tom?

My MP's campaign people called me up a couple of nights ago asking if they could depend on my vote. They obviously don't read their mail.

Tom  Lukiwski thinks the only reason we are in an election "...is because of the united coalition opposition..." He must not of been listening to what the Speaker had to saw about the "Harper Government's" conduct and I guess he slept through the vote which ultimately found that gang had acted in Contempt of Parliament. In one sense I guess you are right Tom. If you guys had a majority you wouldn't have to worry about democracy getting in the way at all.

This stuff might sell in Findlater, Grand Coulee, Regina Beach, Chamberlain, Eyebrow or Holdfast but it doesn't have legs here in the city.

Tom, according to Wikipedia, has built somewhat of a reputation on Parliament Hill for his ability to stall Parliamentary Committee business by filibustering. As an example he spoke for almost 120 minutes to prevent the Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development from studying a bill to implement the Kyoto Accord on October 26, 2006. Wait, if you are not proud enough yet hold on to your hat.

In Opposition MP, Lukiwski argued that non-renewable natural resource revenues, such as revenues from oil and gas, should be excluded from the calculations of the equalization formula. Lukiwski estimated that Saskatchewan would be between $800 million to $1.5 billion wealthier each year if non-renewable resources were removed from the equalization formula.

When the Harper Government reneged on their equalization election promise, Tom flip-flopped.

We can't forget Tom's homophobic remarks found on an old video tape in a vacated Saskatchewan Party office.

Tom hurried to apologize but never acted to make amends with the gay and lesbian community he had so insulted. I was never sure if Tom seemed contrite as a result of the fact that he had acted like a redneck or, that he was caught acting like a redneck. It is good to remember too, that Tom replaced another Conservative/Reform/Alliance MP who was drummed out as a result of his own homophobic remarks.


More recently Tom laid pretty low during all the debate about BHP Billiton refusing to comment until Harper said it was OK to do so.

He kept his head down over the stadium bid too.

A strong voice in Ottawa. I think not. Tom, along with the other 13 Conservative MPs are little more that mouthpieces for Stephen Harper. Tom won't speak until Stephen gives him the nod.

They will be happy to see the gun registry back on the table. That plays well with the rural voters that keep these guys in power.

Can you trust him? I think not. This bunch have done very little for Saskatchewan and should be thrown out on their ear.

Regime Change

Ready, Set, Go

Everyone is doing it so Canada, don't miss this opportunity. The chance doesn't come often enough.

The "Harper Government" is set for a fall and although all the chatter is about the rejection of the budget, it isn't that at all. This government is going down over integrity, dogma, secrecy, lying, bullying, lack of vision, partisanship and corruption.

I wish I'd made a list. I know it would be as long as my arm but I am as bad as everyone else. I move from issue to issue forgetting fairly quickly what annoyed me last week as a new clumsy misstep grabs our attention.

We do remember a few like:

• Agriculture Minister Gerry "The Ritz Cracker" joking over listeria deaths.
• The stonewalling over Canadian soldiers turning over Afghans to be tortured.
• Using the unelected Conservative majority in the Senate to defeat a bill after it was approved by Parliament.
• The unbridled use of Republican style attack ads to attack the leader of the Liberal.
• The prorogation of Parliament by Harper in an attempt to save his own skin.
• The insertion of the word "not" into a document which it seems was approved by the minister in order to reverse that decision.
• Using Parliamentary staff and budgets to raise funds for the Conservative Party
• Ignore the law over election spending

Under Stephen Harper's leadership the Conservatives pandered to the anti gun control lobby, shunned climate change research and supported dirty oil and held fast to the view that lower corporate tax rates will solve our economic issues. They are soft of humanitarian aid,  overtly militaristic, most of their elected members are little more than mouthpieces for the Prime Minister's Office.

So this is our chance to make a real change. What do we want instead?

• Well, what if we had a Prime Minister who believed in and supported our arts and culture a  leader who saw the value of investing our tax dollars to support our writers, our poets, our artists and musicians instead of   and business, business and more business. Sorry, a $75.00 tax write-off for music lessons doesn't cut it.

• What if we had a Prime Minister who understood that poverty, homelessness, desperation and crime are all pretty much part of the same equation. Some one who was prepared to roll up his sleeves and work to solve those problems instead of just putting those who fall through the cracks in jail.

• What if we had a Prime Minister who believed that Canada should be a world leader in education and research?

• What if we had a Prime Minister who valued democracy, human rights and transparency, who was prepared to fix our broken electoral system, who believed in and supported out public broadcaster, who really believed in a Canadian style healthcare system.

What if? 

What if? 

What if?

What if we could believe any of the leaders in the running would bring us all that? They won't but getting rid of Harper would at least be a start.

If we can believe the Globe and Mail poll most Canadians want an election and I'm looking forward it. Anything that would put my MP, Tom  Lukiwski into the opposition back benches would be a positive thing.

Saskatchewan Business Can't Think Their way into the Boom Box

Would You Hire This Man?

OK its official the whole Regina new stadium idea is dead. Oh sorry, The new Multi Purpose Entertainment Centre is dead. Or as Mayor Pat in his new persona as a caring municipal leader might say "The opportunity for North Central Regina urban renewal is dead."

No matter how you cut it, no new stadium.

Now those of you who read this blog probably already know that I won't be shedding a tear as the final nail is driven into the stadium coffin. I always wondered why since neither Calgary, Edmonton or Winnipeg have domed stadiums, Regina thought that we were entitled to one. Those cities are much bigger and just as cold yet, they seem to cope.

Blame the feds. Blame the Feds. They didn't come through with the needed $100 million needed to jump start the idea. People are so pissed that my MP Tom Lukiwski will probably lose his seat next election over his lack of support for local projects. Boy, now there is a silver lining if I ever saw one.

What I do find interesting through all this is the fact that with no Federal funding and no NHL team promise Quebec City is going ahead with their new big $400 million arena. In that city the private sector ponyed up.

Here in Saskatchewan with the arguably the most financially successful team in the Canadian Football League and a fan base that can be depended on win or lose, there was no sign of that private sector cash.

In my opinion that can mean one of two things;

1. Either there is no economic boom here in Saskatchewan despite what Premier Brad Wall would like people here  to think. 
2. Or, The private sector in province is so stuck in the "have not" mentality, they can't think their way through to the "boom" box.

What do you think Brad.

The Member for Regina - Lumsden - Lake Centre Gets it Wrong Again

Come on Tom. Try a bit harder

We all got a lesson in ethics from Tom Lukiwski this morning.  Well, Harper style ethics anyway.

Commenting on the Bev Oda affair my MP waded in yesterday suggesting that Oda was honest with her answers as to how, or why the “not” appeared on the CIDA document recommending continued funding for KIRIOS.  Tom, not the sharpest tool in the shed, suggested, “Perhaps the member should have asked a different question or more questions or have been more diligent in his inquiry, but his unhappiness with the answer is not a breach of privilege.”

Oh really. I don’t think Tom has been paying attention

My suggestion is that Tom Boy enroll in an Ethics 101 course.  Even if he doesn’t learn anything, his views on what is ethical and what is not, would be a source of great amusement to the rest of the class.

The Conservatives are Spammers of the Worst Kind

 My MP is a homophobic, bush league, Parliamentary bench warmer who only speaks out after it has been cleared by the PMO staff. He is good at getting his picture taken handing over cheques, but little else.

He was particularly silent on the BHP takeover bid even when his old buddy Brad Wall was talking up a storm.  He claimed in the media that he was prevented by law from give his opinion on the matter but unfortunately the reporters forgot to ask him what law it was that prevented him from supporting his constituents position on the takeover.

Tom doesn't really care what urban voters think. He has never come to my door election time and in fact he is seldom seen in the Regina area spending his constituency time pandering to rural voters. Those guys would elect a dead horse if it wore a Conservative t-shirt. Some would suggest they already have.

What Tom Lukiwski is really good at is having his staff send us all the Canada Post equivalent of Spam.

The conservative government members are flooding the postal system with useless propaganda hoping that we will in turn do  the same by returning the whole thing with the expected a response supporting Stephen Harper. When they ask me, "WHO IS WORKING IN THE BEST INTEREST OF CANADIANS (their caps not mine). I usually send it back with checks beside Micheal Ignatieff, Jack Layton, and Elizabeth May.

I find this stuff particularly offensive.

The latest rant I got from Tom Boy was all about how a Stephen Harper Government is so much better that the alternative which he sees as a "ragtag coalition".  The interesting thing is that neither Ignatieff, Layton nor Duceppe wants a coalition to many of us, a coalition government, by its very nature forced to work in co-operation with each other would be 500% better that the government we have. The Harper model is divisive.  Think about it. It thrives on setting one part of the country against another, rural versus urban, knuckle draggers against gun control advocates - you see what I mean. Harper is tearing this country apart and guys like Lukiwski are helping him do it.

Come on boys and girls. Next chance we get, let's dump these people before it is too late.

Saskatchewan Potash Soap Opera Continues

Little Stevie must be in a bit of a quandary over the Saskatchewan position on the proposed takeover of the Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan by the Australian firm BHP Billiton. The Saskatchewan government has been acting a bit like a banana republic in their in backroom talks with BHP trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of the company but their demand of $1 billion dollars and hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure money, was a bit rich. These guys are very large global players and one suspects that Brad's small town negotiators were much of a match. This isn't much like making a deal in Swift Current.  Billiton walked away from the table. 

Now Harper and his gang of thugs in Ottawa (well mostly Harper really) have to decide if they will continue with their policy of openness to foreign investment or, if they will ignore their policy in favour of supporting what Brad Wall calls his “special relationship” with this Conservative government.

Now truth be told, this issue of foreign ownership when it comes to Potash is mostly bullshit anyway. As Wall well knows, that horse left the barn years ago.

• The Potash Corporation of Saskatchewan has it’s head office in Chicago.
• Mosiac  the other major Saskatchewan potash player has their head office in Plymouth Minnesota.

Why pretend that these are Saskatchewan companies anyway? A bit of honesty would be refreshing here.

Right now Ralph Goodale, Saskatchewan’s only Liberal MP is getting great mileage out of the events saying that  if Harper doesn’t act on the Saskatchewan request and reject the BHP effort  they “...do so at great peril” ,also noting that if the government goes along with Wall’s request it puts Harper’s investment strategy into a tailspin.

The great herd of Saskatchewan Conservative Members of Parliament are not surprisingly, very  quiet about it all. But, no one ever expected for MPs like Tom Lukiwski  to speak out for his constituents before he was absolutely certain which way the wind was going to blow.

Historically Harper never really gave a damn about Saskatchewan anyway. We remember the broken promises on transfer payments. He never saw a problem with welshing on that promise and nor did his lackey Saskatchewan MPs.

It will be interesting to see what happens. 

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.

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.

Does Tom Lukiwski Think I am Stupid?

My Member of Parliament is Tom Lukiwski and to tell you the truth, he is a bit of a disappointment. He is pretty much invisible in the community or, for that matter in the House of Commons. In fairness, he may be out there attending threshing contests and tractor pulls but we city folk really never see Tom.

I do hear from Tom though. As an MP he has the right to send me unsolicited junk mail using Canada Post and he does that with a vengeance. Tom doesn’t pay for that of course, we do as taxpayers.

I always thought the service was so Members of Parliament could keep the voters back home up to date with what their MP was up to. With Tom they are all pretty much campaign material churned out by the bright lights in Ottawa. Tom sends me quite a few of those mailings. They are very badly put together, kind of sophomoric in style and contend, and always offensive.

I’m getting used to them, in fact, I keep an eye out for them. They are easy to spot. They are uniformly grey and these days what we get are attack ads aimed at Ignatieff or Layton.

I think Tom figures this amateurish material will encourage me to vote for him but I can't imagine why. When I get his mail I either recycle it right away, or if it is particularly bad I write something encouraging on them like “God Tom you are an idiot.” And send them back by return post.

I am not going to support Tom for a list of reasons longer than my arm and I can't imagine how any body with half a brain would think this stuff would win me over. I have come to the conclusion that one of two things is going on:

Either Tom Lukiwski thinks I am stupid or;

Tom Lukiwski is stupid.

Frankly I am not sure which is true but I am beginning to lean towards Tom being a dunce.

Either way Tom, stop sending me your bloody campaign material.

Homophobia in Saskatchewan

Sometimes I just can’t figure out Saskatchewan. What is it with my fellow residents that makes so many of them comfortable supporting political positions and politicians that would make most Canadians cringe? Who are these people and what rock do they hide under day to day?

I am embarrassed by the latest Bard Trost rant against Tourism Minister Diane Ablonczy’s decision to provide $400,000 of Federal funds to the gay pride parade in Toronto. We aren’t sure if Ablonczy was actually disciplined for the decision or if Brad along with several other of the knuckle draggers in the Conservative/Reform Caucus just made it all up, to “look good” to his power base in Saskatoon. That is yet to be seen. I don’t know, perhaps Brad was concerned that Saskatoon’s own Gay Pride festivities only got a measly $9,000.

No, that can’t be it.

Maurice Vellacott, another of Saskatoon’s right wing loopy MPs is a bit uncharacteristically, more subdued on this issue. These days, instead of ranting from his pulpit, he speaks more or less in code about family values etc.

My own MP, Tom (A Team) Lukiwski has been surprisingly silent on this issue. I did notice that he once again snubbed the Regina Gay Pride bunch this year by refusing to attend their celebrations but, none of us really hears much from Tom anyway. He has become almost invisible except through the leaflets, his own kind of sophomoric rant, that he keeps sending to households at our own expense.

There is no word about whether Brad and the other twelve Saskatchewan lightweight Conservative/Reform MPs think the government should return the $18 million in Federal tax dollars generated by the Toronto festivities to the pride community. But don’t hold your breath on that one.

I don't know why they dumped Larry Spenser, he'd fit right it.

It must be the season for homophobia in Saskatchewan. While the Conservative/Reform Federal MPS work to embarrass most of us, I like to think most of us anyway, the Provincial Government is trying to find ways to pander to their own “conservative” members.

Justice Minister Don Morgan wants to see if legislation can be changed to allow Marriage Commissioners the right to refuse to perform any marriage between two people of the same sex. He says the government doesn’t want to force any commissioner to perform a marriage which goes against their values. To me that raised a few of questions.

• What does that say about the core values held by some of Saskatchewan’s marriage commissioners?

• Why do we tolerate people with these kinds of values performing marriages in the first place?

• Why would any self respecting gay couple, or anyone else for that matter, want to be married by a bigot?

Can you figure it out? If you do, let me know.