New Poll Shoots Holes in Harper Strategy

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

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

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

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

 Other interesting figures jump out of the survey;:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

Flaherty Sucks up to Business Again

In 2008, the Conservative government set up the Canada Employment Insurance Financing Board, an independent body created  to set premium rates and to take the politics out of the process. At least that is how it is supposed to work.



That board which don't forget is a Conservative appointed board, called for an increase to premiums of almost 10 per cent on January 1st.  


Before anyone could act on the recommendation a private member's bil proposed by Bloc Quebecois MP Yves Lessard,  and hit the floor of the house. This bill, supported by the NDP, would have allowed anyone who has worked at least 350 hours, as opposed to the current minimum of 420 hours, to qualify for EI benefits. It also would increase the maximum weekly benefits to 60 per cent of earning, up from 55 per cent.


The  bill that would have allowed more jobless Canadians to collect employment insurance premiums at higher rate was defeated in a Commons vote Wednesday after Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff  made sure enough Liberals defeated the bill and he climbed on the finance minister's mantra about the cost of the proposed bill. 

MPs voted 147-124 to defeat the bill, which until Ignatieff's public change of heart had been given a strong chance of winning approval in principle and being sent to a committee for further study.

Once the private member's bill was out of the way, thanks to the Liberals, Flaherty announced that the he was going to ignore the Board recommendation and that the 2011 increase will be limited to five cents per every $100 of insurable earnings. He says, he limited the recommended increase after "listening and consulting" with business owners. 


What everyone conveniently  seems to forget is that the EI fund has a surplus. The government owes the Employment Insurance Fund over $60 billion. Most of that money was taken from the fund when the Liberal were in power.  


I guess neither Flaherty, nor Harper, nor Ignatieff thought to consult with the people who use the plan, the unemployed. My sense is that their message would have been slightly different from the incessant whining of business community leaders.


What really confuses me is why people actually vote for those guys.

 

Michaëlle Jean Moves On.

I am not what you would call a monarchist so I  have never been a huge fan having the  post of Governor General here in Canada but, I accept the fact that the position exists. I my lifetime Prime Ministers have for the most part appointed stuffy old white guys to the post, a tradition Stephen Harper has returned to with the appointment of the new guy, 69 year old David Johnston.

Harper owes Johnston big time for basically saving Brian Mulroney's ass when wrote the terms of reference which restricted the jurisdiction of the Oliphant inquiry, that probed the business transactions between former prime minister Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber. Surely a good bottle of single malt would have been enough. Lets just say Johnston and Harper have a special relationship and leave it at that. 


To be honest I am sorry to see Michaëlle Jean leave. I thought she brought a touch of class to the position and she   overflowed with real human warmth. My only real problem with her was her decision which allowed Harper to prorogue parliament when there was a workable coalition waiting in the wings, capable and willing to form government. I think that was a huge error which will forever temper my feelings about her.


It was a low point in Canada's history which plagues us still. One which illustrates how little most Canadians actually know about how our country works. Harper and his gang of thugs still go on and on ad nauseam about coalitions as if they are some how illegitimate. 


So, I was surprised to read this morning in the Globe & Mail that in his new book  Harperland,  columnist Lawrence Martin claims that if he was turned down by the G.G., evidentially Harper, never one to take no for an answer, was prepared to try to go over Jean's head and talk directly to the Queen, asking her to do the dirty deed.


Now that would have been an interesting political drama.

How Come We Don't Get It

Anyone interested in political process in Canada has been watching the New Brunswick election pretty closely. Voters delivered the ruling Liberals an upset Monday night bring into power David Alward’s Progressive Conservatives.

It wasn’t supposed to work that way.

In 2006, then Premier Bernard Lord promised a referendum on a proposal by the Commission on Legislative Democracy which suggested a mixed-member proportional voting system be brought into the Atlantic province.

Ironically, before a referendum could be held on the issue, Premier Lord was defeated in an election, in which Lord’s Progressive Conservatives got more votes, but in which the voting system gave the Liberals a majority of seats.

In this election half the voters cast votes for the Progressive Conservatives and half for other parties. Fair enough one might think but the half supporting the PC’s will hold a whacking three times as many seats. In fact they will hold a bit more than that.

The Liberals win the rest of the seats, 13 out of the 55 seats up for grabs. The 17% of voters who voted for other like the NDP and the Greens do not get any representation at all.

The galling part is that although far in a majority of democratic governments around the world use some sort of Proportional Representation, Canada's mainstream parties cling to the First Past the Post system which often allows them to win majority governments when they actually receive much less than a majority of the popular vote. And, of course it delivers skewed results such as those in New Brunswick.

For more information on proportional representation have a look at the Fair Vote Canada website or to have a look at how New Brunswick would look had proportional representation been in place visit Wilf Day's blog.

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.

Way to go George

Usually main stream media just don't seem to get it. 

Last night on his show George Stroumboulopoulos  said;

“The gun registry survived last night’s vote 153-151, but the prime minister just won’t let it go.

Take a look. (Stephen Harper: “. . . we will continue our efforts until this registry is finally abolished.”)

Here’s what I just don’t understand. And you can help me through this. Does the Prime Minister think it’s not a democracy if he doesn’t win?  ‘Cause MPs represent people. So we have to assume that they voted for their constituents. In fact we know that a lot of MPs went against their own personal beliefs to represent their constituents. So in a sense Canadians have spoken.

But Mr. Harper . . . if you think the system isn’t fair – I’m with you. So why don’t we change it. How about proportional representation, where every vote actually counts.”

I know George probably doesn't consider himself main stream so "I am sorry for suggesting you are George but "Way to go  buddy!"

Check George out at http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/videos.html?ID=1599034077  or go to 

Fair Vote Canada

Can We Trust This Guy?

Well, after missing his opportunity to address the United Nations last year, in lieu of a double double and a tour of an Ontario Tim Horton's plant Prime Minister Stephen Harper agreed this week to grace the body with his presence. Contrary to all the spin at home, the delegates were less than impressed. 


They packed the house for Obama - no real surprise there- and for Doris Leuthard   a Swiss politician and   member of the Swiss Federal Council and head of their Federal Department of Economic Affairs but when Harper's turn to speak came up, the place emptied out. Not a good sign for a leader trying to hustle a seat on the Security Council.

Despite his past criticism of the international body and working multilaterally in general, he praised the UN's record. I thought Harper spoke well and said a number of things which rang true for me. He cited the United Nations for their good work, recognized Canada's contribution to the body over several decades and praised Canada's traditional multilateral approach.

The problem is, I just don't trust the guy. He is a shrewd politician. His record clashes with his rhetoric.

• Under Harper's direction in 2007,  Canada was one of only four countries to vote against the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights
• When it comes to global warming Canada under Harper's rule has been noteworthy for its obstruction of meaningful and serious efforts to tackle this most urgent of global issues. At last year’s COP15 UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen, The Harper government was singled out for condemnation.  George Monbiot a respected British environmental scholar and activist said, “This thuggish petro-state is today the greatest obstacle to a deal in Copenhagen.” As leader of the opposition Harper once called the Kyoto Protocol "a Socialist Scheme."
• His stance on international law defies logic.  His is the only western government to leave one of its own citizens, Omar Khadr, languishing in America’s illegal concentration camp, Guantanamo Bay.
•  Rather than keeping Canada's even handed approach to the middle east under Harper Canada become Israel's best friend, supporting them through their worst  transgressions and alienating most Arab states.

Most UN delegates either went for an early lunch or some say, they boycotted Harper's speech. No doubt they have been watching Canada's less than stellar performance internationally.  Actions speak louder than words and no doubt the greatest stumbling block to winning the seat is Harper's record. So who knows? 


To be honest I am not sure I want our country to sit on the Security Council under this Conservative government.  It saves the embarrassment later on.

What About Private Citizens P-3's

Well the concept of a new stadium for Regina is in the news again today.

The new catch phrase for Ken Cheveldayoff, the Minister responsible for trying to get this project off the ground is P-3. Nothing new about P-3's, right wing governments love them. Public-Private-Partnership, it has a kind of ring to it doesn't it.

The way it goes with this Regina Stadium project is that there are supposedly five partners working together trying to get things off the ground.

• The City of Regina, 
• The Provincial Government, 
• The Federal Government, 
• The football team and 
• The private sector. 

With the inevitable cost overruns this stadium will cost at least $500,000,000. Since the football team  doesn't have an extra $100,000,000 we just have to assume their contribution will be smaller so each of the other partners will have to come up with over $100,000,000.  

So despite the unlikely odds,  lets just pretend that happens. Then the question is who will own the place when we are all done? Well, the private sector of course. The minister as much as admitted it yesterday saying "If somebody came in and said they wanted to own it and operate it, that's something we would look at very favourably..."

For the private sector's perspective there is real beauty in the P-3.  They put up a fraction of the costs, they agree to run the place and are generally given guaranteed profits, they assume ownership and if they screw it up the public are their to bail them out. A hell of a deal. This is the new Saskatchewan entrepreneurial spirit. It is the kind of thing that makes Enterprise Saskatchewan wet their pants.

I'm not so sure. I am holding out for private citizen P-3s. Just imagine. I always wanted a Beamer. So if I put down $20,000 using P-3 logic the other partners could put up the rest of the $100,000 cost for a Series 6 BMW. The provincial and civic governments would waive the licencing fees and give me tax credits because of my strong contribution to the local economy. 

The more I think about it, the more this free enterprise model grows on me. Bring it on.

Do You Think Defeating the Bill Will Shut Them Up

Well the bill to scrap the gun registry is almost dead. Finally.

It has been a long infuriating summer's debate. E-mails, call-in shows, newspaper ads, commentary, chest thumping election style speeches - we had it all.  Perhaps the NRA wasn't involved but their spirit was ever present. Again and again the gun owners claimed, "The next thing is the police will take my guns away." Farmers talked about "The right to brae arms." What bull.

Those Conservative MP's claim the Liberals and the NDP are out to get hunters and farmers. What a crock.

Very few Canadians have any problem with hunters bagging the add deer or farmers shooting gophers but I must tell you that some of the pro-gun bumper stickers out here in Western Canada make me nervous. Who are my neighbours anyway?

We have to ask ourselves, who benefited from all this rhetoric.  No one really except perhaps the spin doctors, the big advertising firms, the pollsters and newspaper industry.  The ad on the right is a prime example. It ran, full page in Ottawa's Hill Times. Two days before the vote that, it has already been determined, will fail.

The ad says that ordinary citizens were not consulted and implies that if they were listened to, the gun registry would be on its was out.

I agree that many, many Canadian citizens were not listened to. I agree, but not in the same way the ad implies. My MP, Ton "A Team' Lukewski didn't listen to my support for the gun registry nor did any of the other Conservative MP's I wrote to.

What the ad really does is threaten. "WE WILL REMEMBER" it says. And, it implies, "If you don't vote to support the bill, we'll take you out next election.

Conservative style wedge politics at it's best.

Lets not go half way here. Let's just get it over with and call an election.

The Wilderness Downtown

We all find wild and wonderful things on the web and by taking a look at my in box I would guess that many of us feel compelled to share those things with everyone on their e-mail list. I generally don't do that. In fact it is usually annoying.

From time to time I can't help myself. Thanks to the Globe & Mail's Ivor Tossel this is one of those mornings.

Try www.TheWildernessDowntown.com It is delightful.

Enter your address or the address of where you grew up for example and it creates a multi windowed personal video set to Arcade Fire's We Used to Wait

They say it works best using Google Chrome and it needs a good processor but there is no doubt it is fun.

When you are done, draw and send a postcard.

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.

Some Other Time Brad

With time spent traveling to Central Canada and then contracting a bad cold I have been neglecting this blog but I am back, if only at half steam.
Here have been so many issues missed over the last few weeks. Harper and his crew never stop offering opportunities to rant.
While in Quebec I was quite interested in the debate over Federal funding for a new arena in Quebec City as a part of a bid to get Les Nordiques back. Even Harper waded in for a while seeming to support the idea of injecting Federal cash into the project contradicting several of his Quebec ministers. In Quebec it was seen clearly as a vote buying scheme in an effort to garner support much needed by the Reform/Conservative/Alliance bunch. They have taken a big hit in Quebec over the gun registry issue. They are practical people in Quebec. The sentiment seemed to be. “OK, give us the money but we aren’t going to vote for you anyway.”
Now I see that Hamilton wants a bit of Federal cash to refurbish Ivor Wynne Stadium in advance of the Pan American Games. Why not jump on the vote buying bandwagon too, after all?
All this action puts the likelihood of the much hyped Regina stadium project going ahead into doubt. Both Regina mayor Pat Fiacco and Premier Brad Wall see the stadium as a legacy project. Their legacy project.
They are starting to panic.
Wall had a meeting with that motley crew of Saskatchewan Conservative MPs this week and came away with very little. I am not sure how they sounded while they were in the meeting but after the discussions ended a few of the MPs had comments none of which should encourage Saskatchewan Stadium fans. My own MP Tom “A Team” Lukiwski’s comments were incomprehensible. According to media reports he suggested that the Regina bid would have a better chance of success securing funds under a kind of public-private-partnership which of course is what Saskatchewan has already applied to the Feds under. Then he said “We have been facilitating that process for Saskatchewan rather that advocating one way or another. P3 is not a perfect fit, but it has a lot of commonalities in it.”
Now in fairness, no one ever said that Lukiwski was very bright but, his comments make no sense. I sometimes wonder if these Conservatives have been sent on some kind of Ottawa double speak course or, perhaps they are all so afraid of contradicting Little Stevie that they just mumble gibberish when asked a question. The theory being that if they say anything to offend Harper, they will find themselves sitting in the backbenches beside some Independent.
I think Brad is out of luck. Harper was recently quoted as saying, in Saskatoon of all places.
“In terms of financing major sports facilities, there are demands here, there are demands in Quebec City, I am aware of demands elsewhere. In terms of financing these things going forward, we’re going to have to respect the precedents we have had in the past and be sure any treatment we’re prepared to make to one city we’re prepared to make to all,” said Harper.
That sounds to me like “Perhaps some other time Brad.”
Harper needs votes in Quebec and in Hamilton and it appears that he isn’t going to cough up in those cities. Why should he bother when Saskatchewan voters will support him no matter how many promises he breaks in this Province?
And Brad Wall? Brad still clings to the hope that his “special relationship” with Harper will benefit the province at some point. It is kind of cute that Brad can hang onto that small town naivety in politics but I am afraid he heading for a rude awakening.

Greetings From Taiwan

Many of us were wondering this week why Mordon, Manitoba’s own Candy Hoeppner wasn’t around to respond to the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police endorsement of the Long Gun Registry.

It wasn’t as if the conference was a surprise. It is always held in August. So, as her divisive Bill to scrap the long gun registry was once again thrust back into the limelight Candy was nowhere to be found.
Instead of setting up guest spots on the dependable right wing, radio talk shows or meeting with the editorial board of the National Post to defend her bill against this latest blow by the police chiefs, her office simply says she is “away” and not available for interviews, even as "she" continues to put out press releases on the issue.

Media are being redirected to another PMO approved spokesperson, Conservative MP Shelly Glover. This is what she had to say about Candy’s disappearance:
“My understanding is that Candice Hoeppner isn’t available because she is away.”
Where is she?
“I have no clue.”
It seems odd she’s not available to do interviews on her own bill on the very week the issue is heating up.
Glover said, “The woman is away. She is human. I don’t know where she is, you’d have to ask her office. I’m told she’s away.”
It seems like an odd time to take a vacation.
“I don’t know if she’s on vacation even. I don’t know if she’s on Parliamentary business. I don’t know.”

It turns out Candy and a bunch of her MP buddies were in Taiwan on a junket paid for by the Taiwanese government.

Perhaps Harper and his gang have figured out this no-brainer. "Long Gun Registry good." and are starting to soft peddle it. No, that would be too much to hope for.

A little free and easy with the truth

Ok, I think it official now. Prime Minister Stephen Harper thinks we are stupid.

He would have Canadians believe that we were on the edge of being attacked by Russia.  His comments today claiming that the scrambling Canadian military fighter jets somehow stopped Russian bombers from entering Canadian airspace is specious at best.

It is just another example of Harper being fast and easy with the truth.

The Russians have been conducting exercises  with those old bombers for longer than a mojority of Canadians have been alive. It is a game. They never enter our airspace. We always send out a couple of jets to greet them. The pilots wave, shadow them for a bit then both sides go home.

No big deal. No one get pumped about it but the Prime Minister and perhaps Peter McKay who is a bit of a flake to start with.

I just wish they would all just shut up

Another Dirty Grain Car Rolls Past

Over the last several years the Governments have been refurbishing the buildings on Parliament Hill. They sand-blasted the exteriors and replaced the existing roofs with new copper sheets and have done massive upgrades to the interior offices etc. Not that I think  that has been a bad idea. I nation should be proud of the seat of government and the repairs and renovation were well over due.

Harper loves to help Canada’s military put a shiny new face forward too.  Little Stevie's enthusiasm for the dirty little war in Afghanistan has helped Canada’s warriors upgrade their rolling stock and to be honest I don’t begrudge them.

Now the  Harper government is also about to spend an obscene amount of money on new state of the art fighter jets for the Air Force. Why exactly we need new fighter jets  I’ll never know particularly when most of the combat missions we have seen in recent years involves IEDs planted by men in sandals and wearing what the Globe & Mail tells me the American military calls “man dresses.”

I read one commentator recently who suggested that it would be a lot cheaper just to buy all those young men with a need for speed new Porsche Carrera GTs. It would help get that out of their system and it would kill a lot fewer people.

I was thinking about all that today when the traffic on Albert Street here in Regina had to stop to let a train go by.  I was struck by the state of disrepair the grain cars were in. They are so dirty and the paint is so corroded off these cars that you can hardly read where it says Government of Canada on the side.  What a mess!

I remember when those cars were brand new.   They looked great. It made you think that the Government actually gave a damn about getting Canada’s wheat to terminals. It made you kind of proud.

The only newer ones I’ve seen these days are owned by the Government of Saskatchewan either re-painted or refurbished during the NDP’s days in power.  It makes me think of the old days when signs heralding improvements here in Saskatchewan used to say “Brought to you by the people of Saskatchewan.”  What a concept.

But I am getting off topic.

What the government spends money on reflects who is in power. Harper and his gang love the military and these days they happily pay truckloads of money to promote them. Here in Regina everything from rock concerts to football games get a military jet flyby. I have often wondered what budget that comes out of, probably promotion and recruiting.

They love showy stuff like the Olympics and hosting the G8 but they don't like the arts,  immigrants or any group that might actually criticize them.

And, when it comes to practical stuff on the ground, like grain cars, who in Ottawa actually gives a damn.  Agriculture Minister Gerry “The Cracker” Ritz obviously doesn’t.  Stephen and the Harpettes don’t really think anyone out here will notice and anyway, our flawed electoral system almost guarantees him a clean western sweep.

I for one miss the time when our government actually gave a damn.

The Sham Continues

Illegal Detention

The U.S. military judge presiding over Omar Khadr's war-crimes trial does not believe that the child soldier was ever tortured by his American captors or interrogators.

In a ruling released today the co-called judge, Col. Patrick Parrish says there is no "credible evidence" Khadr was abused. The nine-page document explains his reasoning as to why  he is allowing confessions Khadr gave during interrogation to be used against him at trial.The judge of this kangaroo court  said Khadr's self-incriminating statements were given voluntarily and that admitting them as evidence is in the interests of justice.

They next thing is that the judge will most likely claim is that Khadar was not 15 years old when it all happened, that he was not shot and wounded in the gunfight and of course he already believes the process doen't fly in the face of international law.

 I am sorry but there is no justice to be found in this process. The military trial will admit evidence which would never be allowed in any court in the USA or Canada. Khadar is doomed.

This whole process is a sham any supposedly democratic nation should be ashamed of. If Canada had a Prime Minister guided by reason instead of ideology Khadar would have been freed years ago.

Harper has to go.

A couple of Different Approaches to Bullying

NOT MY PRIME MINISTER

As if the RCMP didn’t have enough problems.
The force recently had to hire Reid Morden, the former CSIS head to take a close look at the RCMP’s work environment after several of the senior Federal cops complained that Harper’s handpicked commissioner was acting like more than a bit of an a-hole.

Now they have removed the RCMP officer who was in charge of the Canadian Firearms Program which oversees the gun registry. The action comes just weeks before Parliament resumes debate of the Conservative bill that attempts to do away with the national long-gun registry. Timing is everything.

The Canadian Police Association is asking why Cheliak would be removed from the post shortly before he was supposed to give a presentation on firearms strategy at the annual meeting of the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police later this month. He was also going to receive an award for his work at the conference. The RCMP say Cheliak is welcome to attend to receive the award but he may not take part in conference meetings.

When the PMO lays down the law to the RCMP I guess the expected response is “How high Mr. Harper, Sir?”

These right wingers don’t like anyone who doesn’t see the world quite the way they do and they have been working hard to make sure everyone on the payroll understands.

Things are a bit different on the Veteran’s Affairs front. As the federal ombudsman, Pat Stogran, a retired infantry officer, has spent the last three years advocating better treatment for Canada’s wounded veterans. It was only recently however that he got a real sense how screw up this government really is when it come to their handling of claims made by disabled veterans.

But the only realized the enormity of the battle he was fighting after a recent conversation with a civil servant who watches over the government’s purse. He said at a press conference “I was told … 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. “After two and a half years in this job it would be tough for me to say to a young person, ‘You know what? You want to join the Canadian Forces.’”

Stogran also circulated a 2002 Canadian Alliance political pamphlet in which then-leader Stephen Harper promises to defend Canadian soldiers the way that they have defended the country.

Rather that act the government most likely will just wait until Stogran’s term expires in November and until the media forget who he is. Until that point he has made it clear he intends to continue to expose this shameful treatment of Canada’s veterans by the Harper government and he will be urging Canadians to speak up for change. “These are your sons and daughters, your brothers and sisters. The time is now to do something about it. Make sure this government understands that this must stop.”

Meanwhile Prime Minister Harper and his band of flunkies continue to drop in the pools. The latest figures show that 70% of Canadians do not support this government.

So wake up Iggy, Jack and Giles. Give the bugger the boot this fall while we still recognize this country.

An Unprecedented Miscarrage of Justice

 
In an unprecedented miscarriage of justice the American government's trial against child soldier Omar Khadar started yesterday. The judge ruled yesterday that statements extracted from Khadar by the US military using torture will be allowed to be put into evidence. Khadar was 15 years old at the time.

Perhaps the Globe and Mail said it best in their editorial today. "It is difficult to imagine that a 15-year-old, handcuffed to a stretcher after surgery, bullet holes in his chest and his eyes full of shrapnel would feel anything but coerced during interrogation. Yet a U.S. military commission judge ruled yesterday that statements given eight years ago in those circumstances by the Canadian Omer Kader to U.S. authorities at a prison camp in Begram, Afghanistan, were reliable and not the product on coercion"

In her book Guantanamo's Child Michelle Sheppard reports that  he was bolted to the floor, hands and feet bound together. Left in that position for a long time, he eventually urinated on the floor. Guards poured pine oil on the puddle and then used Khadr as a mop. On more than one occasion, he was threatened with rape during interrogations

The very existence of  the Guantanamo prison, located on Cuban land occupied by the U.S. is a travesty in and of itself. Omar Khadar is the only remaining citizen of a western country held there whose government had not taken action to repatriate him.

Canadians should be outraged not only at the illegal actions of the U.S. government but at theshameful  inaction of our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper.

It is raining again

We have had the oddest summer here on the prairies. It is raining again this morning in Saskatchewan.
We were saying over breakfast, "It is just like living in Vancouver without those pesky mild winters and with no need to work in your garden for eight months of the year"

Brad Wall is off Base on MS

I'm not sure about this

In the face of two new European studies debunking controversial Dr. Zamboni's "Liberation Treatment" for Multiple Sclerosis Saskatchewan's Premier figures damn the torpedoes. full speed ahead. Who knows what drives him but I'd wager it was a meeting with someone in small town Saskatchewan or from his church who came to him with a heart wrenching story about living with MS and not a well thought out strategy from within the Saskatchewan Ministry of Health.

When you run a government filled with members whose business experience is limited to small town Dairy Queens and implement dealerships and whose scientific knowledge is just about nil, you can get away with this kind of thing.

There is very little being said by the Saskatchewan medical community, they know enough not to bite the hand that feeds them. Speak out and it is easy pretty easy to find yourself replaced by an old party hack out here on the prairies.

The question if you ask me is "Why does Saskatchewan have the highest rate of MS in the country."

The Montreal Gazette reports that Dr. Jock Murray, a professor emeritus and founder of the Dalhousie Multiple Sclerosis Research Unit, said he doubts wall will get much support in his willingness to fund clinical trials.

"It's an unusual decision for a politician to select a specific therapy, unproven therapy, for a specific disease. It becomes then a political process. Whoever can put the most pressure on politicians will get the priority for medical research..." 

What a way to run a health Care system. I thought there was a national strategy of some sort.

 
The next think we expect that Brad will do is to offer copper bracelets free to arthritis sufferers.

As long as there are crippling and fatal diseases out there will be desperate people keen to find alternative treatments.  I guess we have to be thankful that Brad wasn't in power when Laetrile treatments were the rage in Mexico.

Changes Coming to Kenya

You may have noticed, buried in the back pages of your newspaper, that Kenyans voted yesterday to support their new constitution.

Kenya, which borders Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania, is the fourth largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa and has long been known for its corrupt politics.

This move certainly has the potential to reshape the political landscape in the country and it is an opportunity to move away from ethnic and tribal rule, bring in democratic rule and also should help the country focus on development and battling endemic corruption

The proposed constitution retains a presidential system but places checks on the executive. The president will now be impeachable and key appointments have to be submitted to parliamentary approval. The post of prime minister will be scrapped. A senate is created to include representatives of 47 newly-created counties. There a limitation on the number of ministers.

What makes this all interesting for me is that I have been reading M. G. Vassanji's The in-Between World of Vikram Lall, a book about an African born Asian man's lfe growing up in Kenya from his early years as Mau Mau violence swirled around him, the country's moves to self government and the massive corruption all too familiar when newly independent countries struggle with managing power in politics.


It is a story of a family's struggle with those changes and it is a story about corruption.

I you are interested at all about how this country got into the state it found itself in, I'd recommend giving this book a read.

This one fails the smell test too

A good deal is being written these last couple of days about the new American documents being posted on WikiLeaks. They say a great deal about our Afghan war, how badly it is going, the relationship amongst the players and they give more detail about several situations than have here-to-date been released.

What many Americans have found the most troubling is that the documents show that their administration, particularly under George Bush, glossed over much of the detail and painted a picture much rosier than the reality. No real surprise there to us cynics.

The Canadian reaction to the leaks was initially a brush off saying that the documents were American and that they didn't concern Canada so "No comment".

Later in the day however the government was forced to response when journalists discovered that the documents reference four Canadian soldiers being killed by friendly fire in the form of heat seeking bombs guided by U.S. troops.

At the time the government said they had been killed by enemy fire. In fact Defence Minister Peter McKay still insists that is what happened. The Minister's spokesperson said yesterday "The loss of four Canadian soldiers on September 3, 2006, was the result of insurgent activity in the Panjwai district of Afghanistan."

I know that when you are trying to "sell" an unpopular war to the folks at home "killed by insurgents" goes down a lot better that "killed by our friends by mistake" but, I for one, prefer a little more honesty from my politicians.

Put to the smell test, this one fails. Ask yourself, why would an American military report claim responsibility for killing Canadian troops if it was the Taliban all along?

Ask yourself, can we trust anything Peter McKay has to say? McKay has proved himself less that trustworthy from the promise not to merge the PC Party with the Alliance, to his responses during the Afghan detainee debacle up to this week when he claims that the government  has "always been open and forthright".

Sorry Peter it just doesn't fly.

A few thought about tenting

Well, I am back from my holiday although, being retired, I'm not sure what it was a holiday from. Perhaps from badminton, blogging and Bushwakkers.

It got me thinking about how much camping has changed for me, over the years. In the 1960's I can remember those old canvas tents that leaked in the rain and smelled musty all the time. We ate heavy breakfasts, bologna sandwiches for lunch and weiners and beans for supper. We also drank a lot of beer.

These days we mix it up. A few days camping balanced with a couple of days in a hotel. Our last evening in the tent we stayed at one of my favorite campsites in the National Park above Radium, B.C.

I had a nap in the afternoon while Shelley sat outside and read Ulysses.

We drove down to the hot spring early evening for a soak then made a supper of chicken breasts stuffed with mushrooms, freshly picked corn on the cob and new potatoes, washed down with a bottle of Quail's Gate Pinot Grigio.

A far cry from the old days, but better.

A foggy, foggy day

What is a bit of fog in the day of a surfer

This morning started out lovely but arount 8:00 the fog rolled in from the Pacific. It played around for a while, in and out but although the town of Tofino was spared, the beaches were pretty socked in.

We walked around and up and down a bit and to be honest it all seemed a bit sureal. The tide was out and the fog was so thick that from the water's edge you could hardly see the shoreline. There was a moderate swell so the surf wasn't bad and the surfers were out in force. Surprisingly once we were on the beach it was quite warm although in the trees above the shore it was cold. Tenters must feel that damp cold  deep into their bones.

Tomorrow we hit the road again and drive to Vancouver.

The Trollsons

I forgot to mention that while at the Vancouver Island Music Festival we tented in an area set aside for volenteers. They weren't sure exactly where to put us,   there was a small section set aside for performers which is where they let us set up. We had a bit more space that most of the others.

The first evening our camping neighbours moved in beside us. It turned out they were a husband and wife team called The Trollsons a pair of very funny children's entertainers who have been touring since 1995.

Long Beach

I love this area of the country. Long Beach is magnificent. We spend the better part of the day walking  the beach and climbing up and down rocky outcroppings marveling at the inter-tidal life. Shelley is becoming an expert in identifying differant types of sea weed.

One more day exploring then off to Vancouver. I would move here in a heartbeat if I had an extra $1,000,000 for some where to live. At least that is how I feel about it in the summer. I am not sure about "storm season".

Tofino

Several years ago some forest giant was planning to cut timber on Meares Island across from Tofino. Bob Bossin from Stringbank let us know that a young First Nation's artist called Joe David was selling prints to raise funds for the fight. He was working out of Bill Reid's studio and my brother and I tracked him down one night a bought a couple of prints. Mine has been hanging in my living room for over 25 years now.

So, now here we are in Tofino staying at the Inn at Tough City and our room's balcony looks right across the water to Meares Island. The image is the one hanging on my wall all these years.

Vancouver Island Music Festival

We drove on from Nanaimo to Courtney and the Vancouver Island Music Festival.

We has a ball. There was lots of good music and the festival has a very good vibe. The crowd were great. Very laid back. Lots of B.C.bud. I could live here, no problem.

It was quite hot and sunny to at time in the afternoon anywhere without shade became a bit much to handle for any length of time. Luckily they have a couple of stages in the woods and there is a river running through so, many of us spent a little time cooling off with a swim.

Nanaimo

We moved on from Juniper Creek through Cashe Creek to Lilioet, Pemberton, Whisler and on to Horseshoe Bay. I always like that ferry ride.We spent the night in Nanaimo.

They have done good things with their old city centre. We decided Greek food would be fun considering that Regina's Greek fare is decidedly lacking. I called for reservations and was told that they were closing at 8:00. We were  disappointed but somewhat resigned to having something else but when we passed the place it seemed open so we went in anyway.

Oddly they greeted us with open arms so we had a small Greek feast and a bottle of Retisina. It was very good

Vacation Too

We camped at Juniper Creek just before Cashe Creek heading west. A great spot. Hot! The trains are a bit close though. I thought a couple were coming right through the tent in the middle of the night.

We drove from their through Lilloet to Pemberton. An amazing road but it took us 2 1/2 hours to go 180 km.

We are in Nanaimo. Had a great Greek meal last night

Off to Comox today

Vacation

It has been a bit tough to keep this blog up these days. I was sitting on an arbitration panel for several days them there is all the work that comes after the hearing is done.

I am on vacation now heading for the Vancouver Island Music Festival in Courtney/Comox.

The picture above is Takakkaw Falls. We camped in Kicking Horse campsite in Yoho National Park then drove up to the fall.
For all you geography nuts it is the 13th highest in the world

Good to get a break and I love thise mountains. I have been on the prairie too long