I Have Been on the CIA Website

I have been on the CIA website the last couple of days. No, it’s not what you think. The CIA, nosey buggers that they are, have an amazing amount of information about countries around the world, including Canada. They have information about Canada, our own government isn’t all that open with.

I went onto the site because I got thinking about oil. All this talk about the Keystone pipeline and the newer Northern Gateway proposal, which would export oil to Asian markets through Kitimat. Our Prime Minister says we need these markets. The growth of our economy depends on it. We have to sell our oil.

Harper wants Keystone big time. He and the oil companies have been talking about how the pipeline is win-win for the USA and Canada. This pipeline will create jobs in Texas he says. Why do these guys keep putting roadblocks in our way?

I got thinking about pipelines and about imports and exports and thanks to the CIA I have a better idea of the lay of the land.

The amounts are up and down but on average, Canada exports about 2,000,000 barrels of oil and oil products a day, mainly to the USA. By coincidence, Canada also imports about 2,000,000 barrels a day of oil and oil products a day from the Middle East, the North Sea and South America.

So, how about this idea Stephen Harper? If, instead of concentrating on building a new pipeline to Texas and creating a raft of new jobs there, why not forget about any expansion of the market, build the pipeline around the Great Lakes to Eastern Canada. Create the jobs in Canada and significantly reduce our oil imports or eliminate them altogether.

Once we start shipping our own oil to Eastern Canada the existing level of export to the USA can be sent south via the existing pipeline network.

Just saying Stevie, it is time to think outside the box.

Shouldn't We Expect Something Close to the Truth

The question we should be asking ourselves as Canadians is,  when at least a couple of government minister, have been shown to consistently lie through their teeth, is that news?


To me, honesty in government is a  fundamental requirement, but to our media it doesn't seem to be very important news at all. Now to their credit, the news outlet with the most to lose by attacking government, the CBC, did uncover this story but so far at least I don't see any other outlet picking it up.

Well are his lips moving?

You will recall that Max Bernier - most of us remember Max, not because of his good work but because of his ex-girlfriend and the secret documents he left at her apartment - was quoted ad nausim that when he was Industry Minister he received thousands of e-mails every day complaining about the long form census. Now to me, that did sound a bit over the top, even for Max but, if you can't believe the Minister of the Crown, who can you believe after all?


Using access to information legislation the CBC uncovered an e-mail from a senior StatsCan official which said in response to a question about the number of e-mails recieved by government about the issue "We got the standard 20 to 30 a year."


These days of course,  the misguided charge is being led by Tony Clement - a minister I will freely admit I really don't like - who claims the government received far too many complaints from citizens who said the mandatory long-form census is intrusive and they don't want to feel forced to file. Clement feels that forcing Canadians to fill out the long form   under threat of jail and fines is “a terrible degradation of the social contract between the governors and the governed.” He too claims that scores and scores of Canadian citizens have contacted him about it. Again evidence uncovered suggests that Tony, not unlike many of Harpers gang of hooligans makes it up as he goes along.


Now I know that it is considered unparliamentary for one MP to call another MP a liar but should we not at the very lease expect the response from ministers to legitimate questions to least resemble the truth.

What Happens When Politicians Go-rogue

When all this prorogue business started I speculated that Canadians might not really care and, lulled into complacency by the idiot box, would probably just yawn. Much to my pleasant surprise, I think I was wrong. Our strange and awkward Prime Minister just may have over reached.

The Liberals and the gang in power, are neck and neck in the polls. A couple of weeks ago that didn't seem possible. Even the NDP who have been all but invisible, are up a few points.

You know Harper, who has a well earned reputation for running a one man show, is in trouble when he has to call out the likes of Tony Clement to fend off criticism. We all remember Tony Clement who was only saved from being completely discredited for his mismanagement of things during the listeria crisis by the bumbling Gerry "cracker" Ritz who only took his foot out of his mouth long enough to change feet.

Responding to one letter written by Fair Vote Canada and signed by leading Canadian political scientists and another by a group of academics from universities across Canada, Steve's friend Tony said that ordinary Canadians don’t consider prorogation to be a big issue.”I know it’s a big issue with the Ottawa media elite and some of the elites in our country" ...ordinary Canadians don't care.

But, hang on. Tony got it wrong. Demonstrations against the prorogation of parliament are planned in over 30 cities from coast to coast and to date over 180,000 Canadians have signed on to a Facebook site called Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament The number is growing so quickly that it is most likely already out of date.

Canadians are waking up to the fact that this government just isn't working and dispute their complacency about government in the past, they are pissed at Harper's manipulation of the parliamentary system to hide from tough questions about a long list of things.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page says, parliament may be prorogued but that doesn't that stop him from doing his work. Page plans to release three substantive reports in the run-up to the March budget.

The first suggests that the government is ignoring the change in demographics which is nipping at the government's heels. As baby boomers retire there will be hundreds of thousands of Canadians paying less income tax. That simply flies in the face of the government's plan to reduce corporate taxes and the GST combined with all their new spending announcements.

Stephen Harper can recalibrate all he wants but he doesn't seem to be in a position to actually fix anything. Remember how he ridiculed the Liberals for saying that tax increases were probable inevitable. Stand by for a change in plan on that front.

Stay tuned and see you at the demo on January 23rd.