Harper Supports Canadian Asbestos Sales Oversees

Sierra Club Canada is joining with the Canadian Cancer Society, the Canadian Medical Association, the World Health Organization, other environmental and health organizations and many concerned Canadians in calling for an end to government funding of the asbestos lobby group the Chrysotile Institute. While Stephen Harper's government is cutting funds from women's groups and aboriginal healing programs, they will be providing $250,000.00 of taxpayers' money to fund an asbestos lobby group.

The use of most asbestos products is illegal in Canada. Canadian authorities say the product is simply too dangerous to our health for us to use. The material is still mined about 100 km south of Quebec City.

This Chrysotile Institute promotes asbestos in developing countries, telling them it can be safely used. Health authorities say the Institute's information is dangerous and false and will lead to an epidemic of asbestos disease and death in the developing world where it is sold.

Last week Christian Paradis, Minister of Natural Resources and MP for the asbestos mining region of Québec, appeared before the Standing Committee on Natural Resources to defend the industry and the Conservative government decision to fund the lobby group.

Come on Harper, give your head a shake. This is all a bit beyond the pale isn't it. Will you go to any length to buy a few votes in this riding.

Do You Feel Conned Yet?

No doubt most of you who follow Canadian Communications news have seen that the CRTC sided with the broadcasters, at least sort of. Over the years most of us have learned not to expect anything definitive from the regulator.

The broadcasters, all except the for CBC that perhaps most needs the money, can now charge the cable/satellite companies for carrying their signal. The regulator did not say how much they could charge. That would be expecting too much. So now the broadcasters and the cable companies will fight that out, in what no doubt will be a very public negotiations. What ever the result of that process is, the cost will be passed on to you and I.

In commenting on their decision the chair of the CRTC showed just how out of touch he, and presumably the Commission is by suggesting, that the cable companies should be wary about passing on fees, because consumers have a choice. They can get the signal for free simply by putting up an antenna. Don't expect a forest of antennas to spring up in your neighborhood any time soon. The average TV watcher is not about to trade his/her 100 channel universe for three or four, low quality, off air signals.

Now most Canadians who have been subjected to months and months of print and television advertising by both sides in this dispute might think, after watching the ads bought and paid for by that coalition of broadcasters, that we will now see a rejuvenated local programing schedule. How could we forget "Local TV Matters." Well, don't hold your breath. They just wanted you to think that they cared. The broadcasters gave up any real commitment to local programming years ago.

Do you feel conned. Well you should.

Canadian Booksellers Fight Against Amazon

First let me say that, in principle I am not in favour of opening up our market place more than it already is to American business wanting to cash in on Canadian prosperity. I suppose in that regard I am a bit of a protectionist. I’m not ashamed of that, I just think there are many things about our Canadian society and culture that I think are worth holding on to and there already is too much American influence on the Canada I hold dear.

So, I guess I am, in principle, against Amazon moving into Canada. They already have a pretty big market share in Canada as a result of Google’s habit of putting them ahead of Canadian on-line booksellers when you search for on-line books. I don’t really think we need their greater presence here.

What is starting to get under my skin however is Heather Reisman’s campaign to keep Amazon out by evoking the image of that American bookseller forcing the independent bookstores out of business. I am sorry Heather; you have pretty much already done that, all by yourself. Aggressive marketing by Chapters/Indigo has made it pretty tough for all but the largest Canadian booksellers to survive. Even some of them are in trouble.

Reisman’s effort reminds me a bit of the campaign by Canada’s private broadcasters, claiming that they are trying to save local programming when the truth is, they have little to no commitment to it at all and haven’t had for over 20 years.

Ok kids, can anyone spell disingenuous.

The Ritz Cracker is in the Hot Seat Again

There was a time when we Canadians scoffed at the lax regularity climate in the USA but, pushed by business and the neo-cons successive Canadian governments have bought into the move towards deregulation and replaced tough inspections systems with self regulation.

I would not ignore the role the Liberals have played in this area, they are hardly free from criticism but, this kind of thing is right up Stephen Harper's alley.

The latest problem in this area of deregulation falls right into the lap of our Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz who is obviously a slow learner.

Most Canadians will remember listerosis contamination crisis. It was troubling to hear then that federal meat inspectors spent most of their time in their offices these days doing paperwork while the responsibility for keeping the market place safe was left to the meat packers and processors themselves.

The inspectors themselves complained that what they were doing was unsafe but under-staffing and changes to the inspection regimen made it impossible to do their jobs in what they considered to be a proper manner.

Gerry Ritz was caught making a joke of the crisis and embarrassed by it all he finally agreed to hire more inspectors. Today it just might be that all those new hires Gerry boasted about were replacements for people who had quit and were replaced. The union representing the inspectors says the size of the inspection force is the same as it was before the listerosis outbreak.

Somebody is lying.

Well, just when Gerry thought things had quieted down and he was operating under the radar again, what do you know.

The American officials, never known for tough regulation themselves, have said that the Canadian practice of inspecting the plants that process the packaged meat once a week, falls far short of the American requirement of daily inspections. The ultimatum is clear. Either meet American standards, or keep your Canadian processed meat at home.

Now, just when Stephen Harper plans to cut public service jobs, the government is discovering that they actually need these workers.

The question now is will Gerry Ritz actually do anything to fix the problem this time or should we expect more of the same. I am betting on the latter.

I for one think its time to move Gerry to Parliament's backbenches where he belongs.

Fair Vote Canada Speaks out on Reform

As British Prime Minister Gordon Brown prepares to announce plans to replace the unelected House of Lords with an elected upper chamber, Canada is headed for a constitutional quagmire on Senate reform – unless Canada’s political leaders see that parliamentary reform should begin with the House of Commons, says Fair Vote Canada.
“Traditionalists claim the Senate provides strong regional representation and sober second thought,” said Larry Gordon, Executive Director of Fair Vote Canada, a national citizens’ campaign for electoral reform. “The appointed upper house does neither. Regional representation is badly skewed and sober thoughts, when they occur, lack democratic legitimacy.”
While the reform of Parliament is an urgent necessity, the House of Commons rather than the Senate should be the top concern.
Addressing the Senate in a piecemeal approach is doomed to failure. The election of some Senators by some provinces virtually guarantees constitutional challenges by provinces whose interests are compromised. Furthermore, Senate reform can only be legitimate when all the main issues – method of appointment/election, allocation of seats among provinces, and the powers of the Senate in relation to the House – are resolved and then implemented at the same time.
“Before we even head down that path, another step is required,” said Bronwen Bruch, President of Fair Vote Canada. “Voters should first give direction to our political leaders through a referendum: should Canada have an elected Senate or should the upper chamber be abolished?”
With no quick fix for the Senate, Canadians could still gain a benefit often associated with the Senate - strong democratic representation for the regions – by reforming the way House of Commons is elected.
Today’s voting system suppresses the variety of voices in every region. Twenty-seven of Alberta’s 28 seats are occupied by Conservative MPs, even though more than a third of Alberta voters voted for other parties. Meanwhile more than a half-million people in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver voted Conservative, yet not a single MP from those cities sits in the governing party’s caucus. Two-thirds of Quebec voters voted for federalist parties, yet two-thirds of the Quebec’s seats are held by Bloc MPs.
“By giving every voter in every region an equal and effective vote, through a fair and proportional voting system, Canadians could elect, for the first time, a House of Commons that reflected all voters in all regions,” said Larry Gordon.
The governing party and opposition caucuses would then include MPs from all regions, not just those where their support is most concentrated. When every vote counts, national parties would have more incentive to pay attention to voters in all regions, rather than just those in swing ridings in geographic strongholds created by the current electoral system.
“Best of all,” said Gordon, “the introduction of a new voting system for the House does not require a constitutional amendment. It just requires our political leaders to amend the Canada Elections Act to reflect a widely shared democratic value: equal votes for all.”

Scratch one up for Wiley Coyote

I was encouraged to see that Saskatchewan Agricultural Minister, Bob Bjornerud has canceled the coyote bounty program, even he did it a bit begrudgingly. When announcing the cancellation Bjornerud had to admit that the Saskatchewan Party had received a great deal of criticism about their plan.

Well, chalk one up for the bloggers, the activists, the naturalists and the wild life experts.

The program, which stipulated that in order to collect the bounty the hunters had to cut off, and submit all for paws, before being paid. That struck me as a more than a bit barbaric and it also raised the speculation that those out shooting coyotes for beer money probably can't tell their left from their right so the government had to make it all four paws..

The announcement also make me think that books like little Red Riding Hood and Peter and the Wolf kept the Agriculture Minister up nights when he was younger. Obviously those books left some permanent scars. Bjornerud is afraid of coyotes. Suggesting that canceling the program might put children at risk he said, “I have grandchildren” and it would be tragic if someone’s children or grandchildren were mauled or killed by coyotes.

Of course other than grandchildren, the coyotes eat quite a few gophers and other pests. The way I see it the more coyotes eat, the fewer gophers and the less poison the farmers put into the soil.

The next time you see Bob. Give him a hug and tell him everything will be all right.

They Just Don't Get It.

The Saskatchewan Party just can't figure out why people are offended at their use of a photo of an aircraft being flown into the Twin Towers in New York.

Saskatchewan’s Environment Minister is using an image of the 9/11 attacks was used to advertise a Saskatchewan Party fundraiser in her riding.

The poster promotes the “2nd Annual Spring Fundraising Dinner” in Nancy Heppner’s Martensville riding and promises a pig roast as well as a speech from Chief Richard Picciotto, the highest-ranking firefighter to be pulled from the rubble of New York’s World Trade Center.

What the Chief's insights have to do with Saskatchewan is a mystery to us all. Hepburn Saskatchewan is, after all, some distance from the events of September 11th.

A photo that forms the poster’s backdrop shows the World Trade Centre exploding into flames. The New York Times photograph was taken right after the hijackers flew the iarcraft into the building’s upper floors.

Shame on Heppner and shame on the Saskatchewan party for trying to capitalize on this tragedy to raise politcal funds in this cheap manner.

Now That Would be a Interesting Twist

We may see an interesting turn of events in the Omar Khadr matter in the coming months. Little Stevie Harper may have to soften his position that Khadr must be tried in the old USofA.

Khadr, who is perhaps the world's most famous child soldier, was sent to Guantanamo just a few weeks after his 16^th birthday in 2002. I wrote about facts of the case as I understand them in an earlier blog. The story is a twisted tale of lies upon lies by US officials.

It seems that the new administration don't want the publicity and criticism that bringing a child soldier to trial would heap upon them. It limits their ability to be critical of other nations who use child soldiers. Trying Khadr legitimizes the practice.

So US officials are trying to figure out a way to get Canada to ask that Khadr be repatriated. The Americans don't want to simply send him home. They would get too much flack from Republican knuckle draggers and I can just imagine how Fox news would react.

The trick now is to get Harper, stubborn to a fault, to change his position on Khadr which would be a little embarrassing for him.

How Does She Read this Stuff with a Straight Face?

Stephen Harper usually doesn't have much truck with the Governor General presenting the speech from the throne. In fact, most of his government's Throne Speeches have been quite short. One was only seven minutes long. In a break from his tradition, yesterday's speech was described as being about the size of an Ottawa phone book which must have been a bit of an exaggeration but, it did run about an hour.

I listened to some of it yesterday. I can only stand to listen to so much bull in one sitting. I can't say that I was terribly impressed.

It made me wonder how long the bad taste will remain in the Governor General's mouth after having to participate in the charade. One of the toughest things about being the GG must be having to read that specious tome.

Some would say she deserves it after rubberstamping his prorogue request. Submitted by telephone no less.

The newspapers have analyzed the hell out of it so I won't bore you by going on and on about the speech but there were a few things worth mentioning.

First there was the observation by some commentators that Harper did less recalibration than he did regurgitation of policy and ideas. In typical fashion he rolled out some items in the speech that he has already rolled out two or three times before. The line was so good Iggy picked it up and used it in the Liberal release.

Then there was revelation made by several media outlets and by the Liberals that the thrust and title were stolen from a speech made by John Howard in Australia. It isn't the first time that Harper has been accused of swiping material from the Aussie PM. In 2003 he was accused of plagiarizing parts of a speech on Iraq. One of Harper's speechwriters resigned over it.

The Globe & Mail reports that Canada now ranks 25th on the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index. That is all a bit too distressing considering that in 2007 we were 18th and in 2006 we ranked 14th. Several groups have been quite vocal in accusing the Harper government pushing back gender equality but in this Throne Speech he shows us how he intends to make it right. The government is going to rewrite Oh Canada to make it gender neutral. The truly troubling thing is that many Canadians will buy into what Harper characterizes as progress.

Harper, never one to show any respect to people represented by trade unions announced yesterday that there will be a wage freeze on government workers' salaries. A legislated wage freeze flies in the face of the concept of free collective bargaining. It is one thing to say we will be going to the bargaining table with our employees' representatives and we will be holding the line on wage increases in these tough economic times. It is quite another to implement a government wide wage freeze. It shows a deep disrespect for the tradition of collective bargaining and laws of the land.

They will try to lower the bar when it comes to pensions in this country. Instead of moving to protect pensions this government will move to gut the pensions held by Federal government workers justifying it by saying that they are out of line and that Federal workers have to share in the pain. Anything to hold on to the votes of their grass roots members. It is shameless.

Now that the glow has come of our involvement in Afghanistan, even in the eyes of Harper's supporters the Government has cut funding military. Curiously, or perhaps just a smart strategic decision they didn't mention that in the Throne Speech at all.

Today we will hear about how Harper will pull us all out of this economic deficit we find ourselves in. Don't expect any mention of the fact that before any of the global economic down turn happened Canada was already in a structural deficit caused by Harper's rollback of the GST.

Fresh from all the free and fawning publicity given to Harper by CTV at the Olympics I am sure he thinks Canadians are ready to buy into his hocus pocus. I am not so sure. If these Olympics were the defining moment for Canadians that the media claims they were then perhaps we will stand up and say "Sorry Harper. Your definition of this country is quite different from mine." We can only hope.

Let's send this guy packing. We can't do it quickly enough for my liking.

Where do the Come From

I am always curious to see where visitors to this blog come from and what they were looking for when they came across it. I'd like to think that I have a large fan base who visit regularly but I know there are only a few returning readers who drop in every few days. So most visitors are random drawn in by search engines.

I have a tracker on the site so I know where visitors come from. A posting from several months ago titled Doctor Poaching seems to draw most first time readers these days. The tracker also offres a recent visitor map which I always find intriguing. I hope you do too.

A Few Olympic Thoughts

I have been trying very hard not to blog about the Olympics. There is so much about the way the Olympics are run that I find offensive. McDonald's as the official restaurant sponsor or wherever it claims to be, is preposterous just for a start.

But first I have to say, in all honesty, there were a few of the things I really did like about the games.

1. Clara Hughes may be my favorite athlete of all time. Her commitment to programs such as Right to Play, her humility, and her determination are great examples for all of us.
2. Nothing equals the exuberance of the Canadian woman's hockey team when they win gold. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to get swept up and into their celebration.
3. I am a big bobsleigh fan and have been since I have been a teenager. It is fast and loud and exciting even if in person you really only see about 10 seconds of any given ride as they plummet down the track. I always thought it should be called bobsled though. The term sleigh for those sleds just seems wrong. It always makes me think of Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost. But I am getting a bit off track here. Woman's two man, gold and silver. What more can you say except that, it was amazing.

However, I sometimes wonder where these people that run things came from and how they got so far off course. To start with, their choice of sponsors was awful.

• Coke and McDonald's? What kind of message does that send to kids?.
• Weston? Wonder Bread?
  
• The best you can say about Cold-FX is that it probably won't hurt you.
• I have seen enough talking cars to last me a lifetime .

The IOC decided to remove Right to Play from any official status because of RTP's sponsors automobile maker Mitsubishi and Scotiabank. I can only guess that General Motors and RBC didn't like that. Canadian Olympic old fart Dick Pound explained it all saying "When you raise a lot of money from people who support your exercise, you can't have them ambushed by somebody else" His definition of the word ambush must be a bit different than mine.

Trying to censor performers by making them sign an agreement that they would not criticize the game was really stupid. It make Canada look like some China or the old Soviet Union.

Restricting facility access to anyone who wasn't a Canadian athlete was the worst example of poor sportsmanship I have seen for some time. If there is going to be an even playing field athletes have to be able to practice on the facilities they will race on. Some will argue for years that the decision most likely was the reason that 21 year old Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, miscalculated and flew off the track smashing into a metal girder and died.

And finally this Own the Podium thing was dumbest, most misguided program ever. I noticed today that they have Ken Reid trying to do a bit of damage control in the Globe and Mail. It will take more than that. I think most Canadians were embarrassed by it.

Don't get me wrong. Medals are great but they aren't everything. I never want to hear Canadian commentators talking about losing the gold, having to settle for silver and letting Canada down. It is the kind of response we expect from the American networks but it just makes CTV look bad. The Olympics is supposed to be about celebrating athletes personal best. Lets' celebrate that.

I for one, look back fondly at the days when kids from less favoured nations sewed Canadian flags on their back packs, when Canadians were thought of as polite, when we weren't jingoistic and when our soldiers were peacekeepers.

Aren't Mossad Hitmen Terriosts?

Interesting that no western government has really spoken up to condemn what most are agreed was a hit by Mossad, Israel's intelligence and espionage agency on Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai recently.

Oh, to be sure several countries have expressed their displeasure that the Mossad hit squad used forged passports in the names of a group of people from Australia, the UK, Germany France and Ireland. This is an old Mossad trick. In fact in the past they apparently used Canadian passports while up to their dirty work not so long ago.

If governments are to have any credibility at all, they are going to have to condemn acts of terrorism, those perpetrated by their friends as well as their enemies.

What is the Puffster Doing Now?

Remember when Mike Duffy was made a senator? It wasn't all that long ago. He was in the same bunch with Pamela Wallin and Nancy Raine Green. At the time the Puffster as Frank magazine use to call him said, "I'm not much or a partisan" but claimed he agreed to take on the job because Harper said he needed his help reforming the Senate.

Now Duffy and the old skier Nancy Green Raine have launched an video ad trying to give the Harper government a much needed bounce after the Olympics. This video is over the top particularly for a so called "non-partisan". I tried to find the original but couldn't. A few people are having fun with it however. Have a look here.

Basically Dishonest

You'd think we'd be used to it by now.

Virtually every "new" initiative announced by the Harper government gets rolled out 2 or 3 times. Often over several months. Amazingly they usually get reported 2 or 3 times as well. Sometimes by the same reporter who must wonder why his/her editor is sending them to cover the same old story again and again.

You have to give the PMO's Department of Deception and Deceit credit. Who knew you could get so much bang from the same buck.

The reality is however that many of these announcements are just that. A media hit. The money is never really spent. The projects are canceled. And Canadians forget.

The difference is that when they scrap the program they spent so much energy to promote. They do it quietly.

The latest one of these comes three years less a day after Prime Minister Stephen Harper stood there, all puffed up beside Bill Gates and promised $111-million which would be used in the search for an AIDS vaccine. Bill was putting up $28 million

The Harper government has scrapped the program and now says the manufacturing plant isn't needed anymore and that the Canadian researchers weren't up to the task anyway.

Don't look for little Stevie's face anywhere near the latest announcement however. That was quietly posted on the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative website. No sign of Bill Gates either and the link to his foundation on the CHVI website has been disabled.

Ok Canada, tell me please. Why do we put up with this?

An Injustice, Pure and Simple

Just before Christmas Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley threw out a security certificate against Syrian born Hassan Almrei who had been arrested eight years earlier on submissions of terrorism. Simply put, Mr. Almrei didn't do anything to justify keeping him locked up. The judge's ruling is just one of several recent decisions which continue to chip away at this controversial legislation.

Harper and his crew like these certificates. I think this fits into their agenda to make Canadians afraid. It is very like their tough on crime strategy.

When parts of the security certificate process were found to violate of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Canada in 2007. The Conservative government responded by introducing introduced a bill to amend the security certificate process by introducing a "special advocate", lawyers who would be able to view the evidence against the accused. However, these lawyers would be selected by the Justice minister, would only have access to a "summary" of the evidence, and would not be allowed to share this information with the accused, for example in order to ask for clarifications or corrections. The amendments are modeled on a much-criticized process already in use in the United Kingdom.

The Conservative bill amending Canada's security certificate regime, with support from the Liberals, was passed by Parliament and received Royal Assent in February 2008.

So we continue to have laws being used in this country that do not meet even the most basic test. CSIS has exploited these security certificates to incarcerate people based on shoddy investigative work. And ministers of the crown rubber stamp these certificates based on the work of incompetents. I don't know about you but, it makes my skin crawl.

There are however a few things about Mr. Almrei that get under my skin too.

I guess when you don't have ties to terrorists then spend eight years in jail because our bungling security agency screwed up and thought you did, you come out a bit bitter and with a sense of entitlement.

Notwithstanding that, I can't agree with Almrei's statement that "This is my country. It is my country as much as it is yours."

I'm sorry Mr Almrei it isn't. You are not a Canadian citizen. You abused our system by coming into our country using forged documents then used them to apply for refugee status. Not to mention that other aspects of your conduct before your arrest was hardly exemplary either.

But eight years out of anyone's life is a long time.

Does the fact that CSIS and some federal cabinet ministers breached their duties of "good faith and condor" as the judge suggests they did entitle you to stay here? Maybe it does. Does the fact that you spent eight years in jail on a security certificate without even being charged entitle you to an apology, compensation and the right to stay here in Canada? I'd have to say, "I think so"

So come on CSIS, it is time to go public, cap in hand and apologize. It is also time for the government to compensate Mr. Almrei for losing eight years of his life. And it is time for this government to scrap these ill conceived security certificates which go against every reasonable rule of law in what we like to think is a democratic country.

For a Change of Pace

Tempted as I am to grouse on about the Olympics I thought no one really has to read what I think about them so, why join the chorus.

So, for a change of pace, I wondered what it would be like to see some of my photographs on Canadian stamps. This is as close as I am going to see it actually happening.

Flaherty Move to Protect Banks from Themselves

I find it interesting that the Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has moved in to restrict Canadians' access to mortgages.

It is a move that I support by the way but, what I do find odd about all this, is that this is a strange move by a government which embraces the deregulation philosophy universally loved by big business and right wing governments. They favour a self regulated business community unencumbered by government rules of conduct. For these guys, even after the economic meltdown that has cost average Canadians so dearly, believe that business knows best.

So what is going on? So why has this government that loathes regulation, moved put in place rules which will restrict the banks' ability to lend Canadians' money?

Simple. Because the banks asked them to.

So, are the money lenders now saying what is they need are regulations to protect the industry from itself. The banks have always the ability to put into place what ever rules they think are prudent. No one can make them lend money to people they might think are a bad risk or who might be taking on too much debt.

But now, seeing the probability that interest rates are going to rise - something all of us who had mortgages during the interest rate spike in the 80's remember well - the banks don't want to take the heat when people who have been encouraged to buy homes for $500,000, $750,000 or $1,000,000 can't pay the extra costs of refinancing. Now banks can say, "We love to help you out but it isn't us. We are restricted by the rules put in place by the government."

So, despite what the finance minister said, this is not something that comes after "consultations with Canadians", it is something the banks asked for, and got. It protects banks from their more aggressive competitors.

It really makes you wonder where Flaherty was when people wanted tighter regulation put into place after those who control pension funds left thousands of Canadians with their dreams of a financially stable retirement in tatters.

Lowering the Bar Once Again

I take a lot of photographs. Some of them turn out pretty well and from time to time I struggle to think about what to do with them.

The printer I have does a reasonable job on photographs but when I just want to see what it might look like if it was printed professionally I have been going to see a guy who works at a photo department of a drugstore. He is a photographer, understands what I want and does a good job.

I went in to see him the other day with my usual request. I wanted the photographs printed so that I see the full image instead of being cropped arbitrarily by the machine. I put a lot of time and effort into setting the photograph up just the way I want it so I really don't think that is too much to ask.

This time the guys response was "Sorry I can't do that any more. The company came in, deleted my presets in and reprogrammed the computer. I am not allowed to over ride the machine."

So, what have we got? A processor that is completely capable of making good photo prints in the format customers want them, a technician who is bright and skilled enough meet customer requests and an employer that won't allow it.

There are other options I know. I can get them done at a higher cost somewhere else but I always saw this place as an intermediate step so I could get an idea of how the finished product might look before spending the money to get an "art print" done.

The retail sector complain that consumers just don't have any customer loyalty anymore. It is no wonder considering that they keep lowering the bar. It just doesn't make sense.

Slow Cow Meets Red Bull

I confess that never understood the allure of energy drinks. I tried a couple but, to me they kind of tasted like a mix of Coke and Buckley's Mixture so, I just didn't see the point.

While I was in the UK a few months back I saw deals on drinks like Jagerbombs - Jagermeister and Red Bull - as well as Rockstar and vodka advertised in pubs. I remember thinking, "I can't imagine why we need a bunch of wide awake drunks rolling out of the bars at 2:00 am"

Now, I read in the Globe & Mail this morning, that we are about to see drinks designed to have the opposite effect. There are a number of new drinks about to hit the Canadian market that are designed to relax us. With names like Slow Cow, Drank and Mary Jane's Relaxing Soda they claim to be "Out to help those looking for a quick relaxation fix...an acupuncture session" I have never tasted it but someone on-line suggested that "It smells exactly like Dimetapp and looks like a melted Popsicle."

Perhaps the next thing will be bars where you can either get a kind of hyper buzz with Rock Star and vodka or order a Slow Brown Cow, kahlua, half a can of Slow Cow topped with milk then, nod off in the corner. It all kind of reminds me of "A Clockwork Orange."

Perhaps a more sinister aspect of all this is that in the southern U.S. a mix of a strong codeine cough medicine, Sprite as well as sometimes vodka, popular in Houston based hip hop and southern rap circles is called purple drank. The concoction has become hugely popular. At least a couple of rappers have died of codeine overdoes.

The new Drank about to be released in Canada is in marketed in purple cans and promoted using hip hop artists.

Hell, if they want people to relax why no just legalize the real Mary Jane?

Off to Court Again

Boy, you have to give those Harper Conservatives credit for one thing. When they don't like something, they are like a dog on a bone. There is no distracting them.

These guys don't like safe injection sites.

Set up in Vancouver when Larry Campbell was mayor, Insite in East Vancouver was approved by the former Liberal government as a way to help stem the massive health risk addicts face when injecting drugs in back alleys and in sharing needles. Study after study has shown that these safe sites save lives.

It ain't pretty but it works.

The Conservative's (remember when they were the Progressive Conservatives) tough on crime agenda has seen the Federal Government challenging the legality of Insite to operate. They have gone so far as to bully staff, threatening them with prosecution if they continue to operate the site. They continue to lose their ever shifting specious arguments in court at every step yet, they press on..

British Columbia Court of Appeal stood up to the Federal Government in early January saying that it went too far in holding the threat of criminal prosecution over those who work at or use Insite, the clinic in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Don't forget this was originally set up with the blessing of the Federal Government.

This Tory so called war on drugs may fly in the Conservative heartland but it is going nowhere in B.C. Insite is supported by the Mayor of Vancouver, the Vancouver Police, B.C.'s Medical Health Officer, the B.C. Attorney General and Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff.

So, in the face of medical evidence which says that Insite is saving lives and united opposition to their mission, the tunnel visioned crusaders are going to press on to the Supreme Court of Canada.

What about spend a bit of money on a harm reduction program? This so-called drug war, is being waged on the backs of the most addicted population in Canada. In doing so, it puts their lives at risk.

It makes no sense.

Live Long and Prosper

I always thought the slogan, I Love Regina was more than a bit lame. I was never sure why a decades old slogan idea was suddenly popular again so, I was more than a bit surprised when it actually was embraced by Regina businesses and even by citizens.

That branding was shamelessly copied the I Love New York slogan first used in 1977. The New York logo, using the heart to symbolize love, has been copied over and over again and every time someone in New York make a few bucks.

So yesterday, Mayor Pat Fiacco announced in his annual "State of the City" address, that Regina now has a new logo and slogan. Mayor Pat, who never saw a camera or microphone he didn't like, told the media that "This is how we will tell the world what a great place Regina is to live, to work, to invest, and to visit." Fiacco boasted that the cost of the logo was well worth it and that "...it will pay for its self in population growth and job creation."

Wow, all that in a logo. With that, it will be worth every cent of the $320,000 it cost us.

The Regina Leader Post's editorial board, never one to miss an opportunity to slather over anything Mayor Pat says or does pronounced that, "It is a measure of how far Regina has come that the slogan infinite horizons now accurately describes and promotes a city that's dynamic, innovative, full of potential and possibilities." Oh Yeah, did I mention that it was designed by a Winnipeg company?

But wait, there is more. Fiacco's announcement yesterday was just a preview. The new logo will be officially launched this coming weekend at the new Saskatchewan Olympic pavilion in Vancouver. Does that strike anyone but me, as odd.

I'll bet Vancouver residents and Olympic visitors will be pretty excited about that.

Can anyone spell boondoggle.

This Toyota Recall, Is There More to it Than Meets the Eye?

I don't drive a Toyota, nor is it likely that I will in the next few years but, that has more to do with my being quite fond of the Subaru I now drive, than any reaction of mine to the massive recall the car manufacturer recently issued.

In fact I wonder these days about all the attention being given the recall in the media. It seems that every news organization going has been whipped into a blather by the direct, hard hitting criticism directed at Toyota by the American automobile safety people. There is no question that it is their job to bring these issues to light and we are most likely all safer as a result historical role.

I do wonder however if this latest reaction has more to do with trying to even the playing field for struggling American automobile manufacturing industry than it has to do with keeping us all safe. Interestingly, media play the story has received here in Canada although the Canadian consumer protection group has not received even one complaint about the Toyota accelerator or the braking system for that matter.

Canadian media, along with their American counterparts, speculate about Toyota's survival in the face of this recall. It make me wonder if this is all a manufactured crisis.

Over the years we have seen recall after recall of vehicles built in the U.S. and in Canada by the American automotive industry. We have seen U.S. built cars that caught fire, brakes that failed, steering failures, sticky accelerators and seat belts that didn't work properly. I don't remember anyone ever suggesting the demise of those corporations until then almost collapsed last year. That had nothing to do with recalls but, was as a result of their own colossal lack of vision and fiscal mismanagement.

It makes me wonder if what we are seeing is the American media struggling to find a good news story in the face of a fiscal meltdown and speculation about the demise of a Japanese auto manufacturer was the best they could do.

So, don't hold your breath. Toyota isn't going to disappear and the Hummer ain't coming back.