Left, Right and in between

I’m not sure when it started but somehow this country’s political reference points have seen a huge shift over the last few years, or is it just since Stephen Harper came on the scene? It used to be simple. The Progressive Conservatives were on the right, the Liberals were in the centre and the NDP was on the left. Truth be told we have heard very little from the “socially conscious” side of the Liberals for some time now.
From my perspective the Liberals were always right of centre but, that is another story and, These days when Stephan Harper refers to the parties on the left he means anyone who doesn’t see the world his way. To my disappointment the media seem to have bought into his definition, at least partly. It wasn’t that long ago that the media in Canada thought the three parties were fighting for the middle.
It is no wonder with the constant chipping away of Canadian culture and values by the barrage of American media we face every day. If the Conservatives have their way and relax media ownership rules, it is going to get worse.
My view is that this is all a result of the current Canadian government’s close ties with the Republican Party in the USA. It isn’t exactly a secret. Harper has acted like a toadie to the Bush government for years now and his Party workers have been trained by the Bush Republicans. It is no wonder Harper sees it the way he does but the media should hang their heads.
The terms “left” and “right” are supposed to be defined within our own country using our own political compass, not as compared with the Republicans and Democrats. The last time I looked the Democratic Party, defined as “left” in the USA was still quite a distance to the right of our Canadian definition of the terms.

So lets get it right:
The NDP and the Bloc are slightly left of centre
The Liberals are slightly right of centre
The Progressive Conservative, before they were sold out by Peter McKay were to the right and;
The Conservative Party is to the far right.
Any questions”

The Polls etc

As much as I got pretty annoyed that the first day of the election newspapers reported "Harper heading for Majority" I am a sucker for the polls. I have been tracking a couple day to day.

CTV is tracking swing ridings in Ontario, Quebec and B.C. You can take a look here

The Globe and Mail is tracking the combined results of several different pollers. The results don't show a great deal of movement nationally but the Liberals and the Conservatives have slipped slowly over the past 2 weeks. The NDP are on a slow climb. The block and the Greens are up and down. Try it here

September 14 this is where they stood:

Harper 40%
Dion 26%
Layton 15%
Duceppe 9%
May 8%

As of today

Harper 37%
Dion 24%
Layton 19%
Duceppe 9%
May 9%

It ain't over yet

What happened to Gerry Ritz?

Journalists on the campaign trail tell is that Gerry Ritz has become invisible ever since his "cold cuts" jokes came to light. A Harper staffer even suggested that the Ritz Cracker was campaigning in the far reaches of his riding where there was no cel phone coverage.
Not to get Gerry off the hook at all but new reports suggest that Harper set up Ritz, giving him very little warning about his decision to call an inquiry and throwing him into a media scrum with very little warning.
My guess is that Gerry's days in cabinet are numbered. I'm sure life as the Battleford Backbencher won't be half as much fun.

Update: Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz surfaced Monday speaking publicly for the first time since issuing a public apology nearly two weeks ago after his cold cuts joke. Ritz refused to speak with reporters after participating in a national agriculture debate hosted by the Canadian Federation of Agriculture. The opposition parties were very critical of Ritz's quick exit.

“I guess it's typical of this government. When the going gets tough, they slip out the back door," said Tony Martin, an Ontario MP who represented the NDP at the debate.

Monday's Musings

Harper is complaining that he needs a strong majority because the opposition parties have not been cooperating with his agenda. He sees that as somewhat unfair.

Let's think about it. The opposition parties represent about 60% of Canadian voters. Harper's Government represents about 40%. Does it seem unfair that the opposition want a few things to go their way?

The beauty of minority governments is that to work, they depend on diplomacy and cooperation. Political parties have to work together to make it successful. Some of the most progressive legislation in Canada has been enacted during minority governments. Unfortunately cooperation is not Stevie's long suit. The problem with the current government is that Harper wants to rule as if he has a majority.

I personally don't think Canadians are dumb enough to give him one. Please don't prove me wrong.

Fey as Palin again

There is no doubt, the election to our south is more amusing than ours here in Canada but, then again, I don't have to live there. Tina Fey was at it again on SNL lampooning Republican John McCain's running mate. It is a must see.

Come to think of it the bloggers are getting a bit vicious

The softer side of Little Stevie

Not mine either

The "Not my Prime Minister" slogan seems to be catching on. With a quick scan of a few blogs and comment sections I found these.

====================

What due process has Omar Khadr received? What does, “doing the right thing” mean to Stephen Harper? Is it advocating torture and an institution that the rest of the world decries as an abomination to justice?

Mr. Harper, you are not my Prime Minister, because I am a Canadian, and I believe in justice. You on the other hand, are a stooge and a war criminal.

No, he's not.

My Prime Minister would not betray his country.

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Harper's idea of "opening the market" can best be described as the surrender and betrayal of an entire segment of the Canadian way of life: the small wheat farmer.

No doubt Harper has similar competition enhancing measures in store for milk marketing boards as well assuming he will be able to coerce (oops, I should have said "convince") provincial premiers to follow suit.

Harper is nothing more than the traitorous lapdancing whore of the American corporate class.

He is certainly NOT my Prime Minister.

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It used to be thought, not so long ago, that the Prime Minister worked for us, the Canadian people. Harper seems to have missed that lesson and appears to believe that he works for Bush. If only we could get a Prime Minister with a spine! Right now, it's embarrassing to have this lap dog pretend to care about Canada when it's blatantly obvious he does no such thing.

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Lets be clear .. Steve Harper is not my Prime Minister.. I voted for someone else... He is the Prime Minister of the Canadian State elected by only 25% of eligible voters. That means the minority rules the majority... Who set up this form of democracy? Not the working class that's for sure... Mr Harper speaks for the Canadian State and the Canadian State says that all people that do not want to fight the wars that the state decides are needed will not receive

Can anyone spell coalition?

Vote Swapping

There is an interesting site up about a way to vote strategically. Swap your vote with someone in another riding. Votepair.ca

It struck me as a bit suspect but evidently Elections Canada says it isn't illegal.

Not My Prime Minister

I heard last night that a group in Saskatoon is starting a campaign entitled "Not My Prime Minister." That is certainly how I feel. I put together a poster of my own this morning. The website should be up and running soon. When it is I will post a link

Back into it

Harper's boys used the RCMP to keep reporters away from candidate Dona Cadmen yesterday after Little Stevie's appearance in Surrey. After promising the media access to her the handlers called in the RCMP to shield her from reporters and whisked her away. There is no need for the national media to talk to a local candidate explained a Conservative spokesperson.

The New Democrats are surging forward in British Columbia so Harper took aim at the NDP while in B.C. focusing on the fact that they voted against the $1200 Child Benefit. Does he think everyone forgets that the suplement was put in to replace the first meaningful day care program scrapped by Harper hinself. He really does thing Canadians are stupid.

The polls show the numbers are flatening out in Ontario swing ridings, the Tories are dropping rapidly in Quebec and the NDP are climbing in B.C.

Quiet Day

Today is a quiet day about halfway through the election.

Harper is trying to convince Canadians that he really didn't cut arts funding. Everyone just imagined it I guess. Personally I don't trust very much that he says.

Health Minister Tony Clement who managed to dodge his mishandling of the Maple Leaf Crisis thanks to the Ritz Cracker's foot in mouth disease is stumbling around trying to respond to the Liberal and NDP drug plan proposals. We'll do stuff too he says.

Little Stevie is also out there waving the tough on crime flag. They have been flogging that horse for months. It doesn't fly with voters with any level of sophistication. Enough said.

Dion says he won't agree to a coalition if Harper wins with a minority. What else can he do at this point? I just hope Stephene hasn't screwed this thing up so badly that the Tories get a majority. If they do win the expected minority government Dion would be wise to reconsider his position.

Jack Layton is banging the arts drum in Quebec today.

Someone has posted video clips of empty Liberal seats in the House of Commons during important votes. Dion had simply been afraid to bring the Government down when he should have.
They are on YouTube

Layton opens coalition option

Finally someone is making sense. Few leaders want to talk about this during an election but
Jack Layton says he is open to a coalition if Little Stevie doesn't win a majority.
Here we are in an unnecessary election, some would say an illegal election considering the legislation, and most likely when the dust settles we will be right back where we started. Why are we here at all? Harper wants to be king and he couldn't goad any of the opposition leaders into bringing the government down. He thinks Canadians love him and will give him a majority. I don't think Canadians are that stupid.
He would say that government was unworkable when in fact, he was getting bills passed and he was moving ahead his agenda.
So, assuming Harper wins another minority government the opposition parties should get together and show Harper what a dysfunctional government really is. They should bring the government down at the first opportunity and come together in a coalition and govern the country with a group of politicians that at the very least represent a majority of Canadians.
I for one have had enough of a government that has less that a majority of Canadians supporting them, working to change the very fabric of our country.

The start of a new week.

Every election a few questionable candidates surface. It has to make you wonder. Where do they get these people?

The Tories have lost their candidate Toronto who was challenging Bob Rae.

Harper's people say candidate Chris Reid resigned this weekend after telling them that he couldn't commit to serving four years in government. Yeah right!

Recommendations posted on his blog under the title “Political Thoughts by a Gay Conservative” include: closing the CBC; ending Human Rights Commissions and hate speech laws; ending abortion; allowing “qualified and trained” citizens to carry concealed handguns; and ending the Indian Act and the reservation system.

“These policies just keep Indians and their corrupt leaders dependent on the state and unable to ever have the freedom to succeed,” Chris Reid wrote.

Reid went on to say criticize the passengers on the Greyhound bus who witnessed the horrendous killing of a fellow passenger in Manitoba suggesting that if Canada allowed people to carry concealed weapons they would have diffused the situation by shooting the aggressor in this situation.

I know they just found some nut bar who didn't have a chance against Rae but it makes you wonder. Even if you believe that those opinions are not universally held with the Tory ranks, it makes you wonder why Mr. Reid thought they were.

To make this even more curious, why would any gay man think he would be welcome to sit with Harper and his buddies I simply can't fathom. What, did he thing he was ready to sit on the "A Team" with Tom Lukiwski?

So, what has it been so far.

• The tainted meat scandal
  
• The pooping puffin
• The Ritz Cracker
• Insulting a first nations activist in Quebec
• Mr. Reid's blog
  
• Tom Lukiwski is always an embarrassment
• A supplier to the Canadian Armed Forces has racist posting on its website
• ...and on and on and on

At least Jack Layton has only had to deal with a dope smoker and a skinny dipper.

I can hardly wait to see what this week has in store?

It is going to be an interesting debate

Elizabeth May won huge in the debate draw. In the English language debate, Stephen Harper is on the extreme end with May next to him. That means May will be free to turn at any moment and directly confront the Prime Minister. She is also between Stephane Dion (in the centre position) and Harper, centring the frame in the only fight that really matters. Chances are very high that May will be in "the clip," if there is one.

Jack Layton has a similar - albeit less dramatic - win in the French language debate placement. Between Harper and Dion, with Gilles Duceppe to Dion's left is a good spot. He gets a chance to attack Harper directly, showing he is the real opposition leader, while Dion is off in the corner.

Dion has decent placement, but he would rather be confronting Harper than Duceppe in French. In English, he is going to have to fight Layton off while yelling over May to attack Harper (and in mediocre English.

Read the full story at the Globe & Mail

More calls for Ritz resignation

The union representing Canada's food scientists and inspectors issued its own call on Friday for Stephen Harper to fire federal Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz, saying he has "repeatedly disappointed" those who work for him during the listeriosis crisis.

The head of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, which represents 1,800 food inspection and health protection workers, described Ritz's jokes about the crisis linked to 17 deaths across the country as "the last straw."

"Crisis requires real leadership, and Mr. Ritz is clearly not fit to lead," the union's president, Michèle Demers, said in a release Friday.

The controversy continued to dominate the Oct. 14 federal election campaign for a second day on Friday as opposition leaders stepped up their attacks on the Conservatives.

Harper, speaking Friday at a campaign stop in Quebec, again dismissed calls to fire Ritz, saying the minister "clearly did not intend to make any such comments publicly and has thoroughly apologized."

He also said his government has committed to a full inquiry into the outbreak to ensure similar events do not happen again.

But federal NDP Leader Jack Layton countered that Canadians are facing a "food crisis" while the Conservatives have failed to act.

Read the full story at CBC News

Productivity

I picked up these stats in the comments section of the CBC site. I have no idea if they are accurate but they are interesting if they are.

Change in Productivity While in Office

Diefendaker 9.7%

Pearson 18.6%

Trudeau(1) 30.4%

Clark 0.4%

Trudeau(2) 11.8%

Mulroney 6.4%

Chretien 18.3%

Martin 4.1%

Harper -0.6%

Source: CCPA calculations from Statistics Canada quarterly data

Some musings

The Ritz Cracker is still making news. The reactions are interesting.

Some of the pundits are saying "stay on" and others are saying "this might cost Harper a majority." We can only keep our fingers crossed on that front.

I liked the Leader Post's Murray Mandryk's piece today. Murray remembered a Ritz quote from 2003. In responding to a memo about George Bush written by an NDP staffer old Gerry said ?These guys have to realize that every time you pee into the wind, you are only getting yourself wet.? Truer words were never spoken.

I can't find what the final tally was but on the CBC site yesterday about 70% of respondents said Gerry Ritz should resign for his cold cuts remark.

About the same time of day on the CTV site, with almost the same question the majority of people voting in the on line poll said he should stay on.

Regina City Councillor, Louis Browne, in a letter to the editor in the LP today asks voters to challenge candidates on the issue of funding for infrastructure. It is a very good point, our cities are struggling to keep up with crumbling and outdated infrastructure. Massive amounts of money are need by municipalities. The question I think is ?Where is Pat Fiacco on this issue during the campaign?? There has been no press conference on the issue and no attempt that I can see to make it an election issue.

Pat did have his picture in the paper today pretending to wipe some graffiti off a phone booth. Our Pat is never one to miss a photo op. Standing up to higher levels of government, now that is another matter.

I also note that Phil Fontaine is appalled that we are spending $22 billion in Afghanistan while Harper scrapped the Kelowna Accord which would have put a fraction of that sum into improving the lives of First Nations Peoples.

Phil is encouraging First nations People to get their issues on the table and into the minds of the leaders.

Thursday the Harper team had to apologize for of an aide to Transport Minister Lawrence Cannon who told an Aboriginal protestor in Quebec that they could meet with Cannon -- provided they were sober. It makes you wonder how many other Conservative knuckle draggers will be outed before this campaign is over.

The NDP candidate for West Vancouver - Sunshine Coast had to step down, after The Globe and Mail questioned him about his Vancouver Seed Bank. The company sells marijuana, poppy and hemp seeds. I thought the video of him trying to light about 15 joints at the same time shown on the CBC was pretty good but his driving while stoned video probably put the icing on the cake.

Meanwhile our largest trading partner's economy is crumbling and Harper says "Don't worry. Be happy. Vote Conservative and everything will be alright."

No one is talking about what this economic meltdown will do to pension plans in this country.

The travesty we are into in Afghanistan continues. The CBC reports that Canadian soldiers fired on a civilian truck, killing another Afghan civilian, after the vehicle came too close to their convoy The military says they tried to warn the truck. "Neither the warning signals nor the warning shot were heeded," military spokesman Lt. Al Blondin said in a statement Friday. "Two additional shots were required to finally stop the truck. Our soldiers are trained to take all appropriate steps to minimize civilian casualties," he said. "However, they must take action to protect themselves when they believe they are being threatened.

An army spokesperson went on to say "Either the signals perhaps were not seen or maybe this was an attempt to attack the Canadians," I am not sure what they were going to attack with, the truck was carrying fruit.

Who is the cracker from North Battleford ?

Saskatchewan's own Gerry Ritz is in the hotseat over a few comments made on a conference call dealing with the listeriosis crisis he quipped "This is like a death by a thousand cuts. Or should I say cold cuts," then And when he was told about a new death from listeriosis on PEI, Gerry joked: "Please tell me it's Wayne Easter." Easter is a Liberal MP and a strong critic.

Good old boy Ritz has a habit speaking out before his handlers can stuff something in his mouth. This spring in an interview with the Saskatoon Star Phoenix he referred to Canadian Wheat Board supporters as "the tinfoil hat and decoder ring crowd."

He is also about as honest as you can expect any Conservative MP from Saskatchewan to be. Before the budget in 2007 he joined the chorus of Saskatchewan MPs promising to keep their election promise on equalization. When Harper didn't deliver on the promise the promptly forgot the promise althgether.

Who knew there were rules for shooting kids.

When this story first went up on the CTV news site the headline read "Canadians followed rules in shooting of Afghan kids" I e-mailed them and the changed the headline.
Who knew there were rules for shooting kids.
Things just get stranger and stranger in Harper's "new" Canada. We sound more and more like the Americans every day.
Let's get the hell out of this war while we have some dignity still intact

CTV News

Palin/Clinton SNL video

I don't know how long this video will be here. Utube had pulled it be 9:30 A.M. but this SNL Palin/Clinton skit is priceless

See it here

Polling numbers as of today

The latest CP Harris/Decima poll suggests that Harper is ahead by 14 points.
With urban voters the Conservatives are on a downward tread and the Liberals are gaining.
As for the leaders, voters feel most the positive about Layton with Harper close behind.
It is interesting reading. This election isn't over yet.

Get poll here

What about gas prices?

I admit to being a bit confused by Saskatchewan voters. When I think about it I guess I am confused by Canadians generally who seem to be backing Harper in this election.
Harper says he is going to reduce the excise tax on diesel fuel by two cents and the farmers and the truckers send out a collective cheer although with the volatility of fuel prices, after a week or so they will never notice. What a good guy he is. Gas goes up by 12 cents the same day that a barrel of oil dipped below $100 a barrel and those same people still support a Prime Minister who refuses to do anything about that cost to consumers.
This increase is blamed on a hurricane in Texas when all our gas in Regina comes from Western Canada and is processed right here in Regina.
I don't know I guess I am just confused.
To see what the party leaders are saying try this link.

Try the CTV election site's election game above and to the left or to recap the election news stories so far try this one