CRTC Betrays Canadian Public Again

CRTC Chairman Konrad von Finckenstein

The news out of Ottawa this week is that the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) is proposing a regulatory change that would give Canadian TV and radio stations what some are describing a  free reign to broadcast false and/or misleading news.

The regulations now prohibit broadcasters from putting any "false or misleading news” to air but apparently the commission thinks the ban is too onerous. 

The new proposed regulations propose a ban on the broadcast of “any news that the licensee knows is false or misleading and that endangers or is likely to endanger the lives, health or safety of the public.”

That of course would make it perfectly acceptable for a broadcaster or a reporter to make up the news and to put that news to air with impunity. As long as no one's health and safety was endangered. 

The CRTC quietly posted notice of the proposed change, which is slated to go into effect on Sept. 1, on its website last week. The commission has also limited the public's ability to respond to this proposed change. They will only be accepting comments from the public until Feb. 9.

You too can raise your objection to this very questionable decision at the CRTC Website. Scroll down until you get to 2011 - 14, The subject  is Call for comments on amendments to the Radio Regulations, 1986, Television Broadcasting Regulations,

I have lost count of how many CRTC hearings I have testified at over the years. I lost any faith I may have had in that bunch years ago.

I worked in television when the CRTC started to blur the lines between “news” and “public affairs” programming. As the definitions became more and more fuzzy, reporters and cameramen were assigned to an increasing number of what we used to call, “bobbing for apples” stories and away from the harder news which required extra time, cost a little more and for which some actual research might be required. Seasoned reporters found themselves working as purveyors of info-tainment instead of real news.

So, thanks to the CRTC, news today is less relevant that it once was and fewer reporters are out there working the beat. Now truth in news is going out the window. If you are looking for that elusive silver lining in this story, there may be more jobs for creative writers in broadcast news rooms in coming months. Researchers need not apply.

The timing of this decision, just a few months before a right wing Canadian  “FOX news style”  channel is preparing to go on the air is very interesting to say the least. This latest betrayal by the keepers of the “public airwaves” is probably the last nail in the coffin of broadcast news, such as it is.

A Naval Adventure

In 1962, when I was seventeen my high school suggested that I not bother coming back in the fall. They weren't teaching me a hell of a lot and I was fed up with the whole process so by some sort of mutual agreement, I moved on and joined the Royal Canadian Navy.

Three Frigates alongside in Halifax

After several months of ritual humiliation the armed forces calls basic training I was sent to serve on a Prestonian Class frigate, HMCS La Hulloise.

I remember turning up carrying  my two kit bags across the quarterdecks of other frigates. My ship was the third one in.  The La Hulloise looked well past its prime. In fact they all were. I had been hoping for a new destroyer escort  and I wasn’t all that impressed. As it turned out the old bucket of bolts had quite a history.

During the second world war it saw service pounding back and forth across the Atlantic, protecting convoys and on July 7, 1945  the La Hulloise along with two other Canadian warships, managed to sink German U-Boat 1302 in a depth charge attack in Georges Channel between Ireland and England. No mean feat considering how primitive the sonar was in those days.

Decommissioned after the war these old ships were eventually upgraded a bit and renamed Prestonian Class frigates in the 1950’s at put back into service.

So there I was, 18 years old, an Ordinary Seaman, un-trained and clearly at the bottom of the pecking order. We slept in the forward mess deck. Right above the sonar dome with its reeking smell of hydraulic fluid and the only thing between us and the pointy end was the paint locker which stunk of varsol and paint.

Not the most comfortable

We spend that first winter pounding around the North Atlantic, most of the time in anti-submarine exercises.  So I spend hour upon hour in the small sonar room with old bakalite headphones on listening to the reverberations echoing back to us, hearing the odd whale and to my memory never ever hearing the echo of a submarine contact despite the restrictions we put on the old Royal Navy Submarines that were acting as targets.

The rest of the time we did other meaningful things, like gunnery practice which didn’t really involve me and of course we scrubbed floors, polished brass, painted and took part in other navel activities.

The officers did other important things like learning how to sail the ships in a straight line. Sometimes one after another and sometimes in a straight parallel line.

I remember one afternoon we were in the Gulf Stream north of Bermuda and our squadron commander was putting the junior officers through these important drills choreographing things from one of the other ships. The seas were really rough and the ships were pitching heavily. When the bow of the ship next to us would come through a wave and pitch up, we could see right under the bow, back as far as the sonar dome. No wonder it was tough to sleep at night. Our messdeck was above that dome.

I was on watch as the lookout, standing on the upper bridge, exposed to the elements. The officers were all in the lower bridge, inside keeping warm and drinking coffee.

From where I was I could see that the constant pounding was beginning to tear away at some of the metal shielding which protected the gearing on the mechanism which was used to haul up the anchor chain. I dutifully reported all this to those in charge below. The deck officer was summoned and he came up to where I was and surveyed the damage.  He figured it had better be fixed quickly or even more damage would be done so, he summoned a few  able seamen, the ship was turned so the waves were not coming head on and once we had stabilized, the crew along with the deck officer went up to the fosc’le to repair the damage as best they could and lash everything down.

Meanwhile the squadron commander, a pompous old begger, looked over and saw that our ship was no longer sailing parallel to the others. He immediately got on the ship to ship radio and tore a strip off the officer of the watch who panicked and immediately turned the ship back into the wind and told the engine room to put on a bit more speed to get us back in line as soon as possible.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. The revs on the prop cranked up and the ship turned to starboard. The bow rose high into the air and the fo'c'sle plunged down deep into the next wave.

When the spray cleared, there was no one on the forward end.  I ran over and started yelling into the tube of brass that was our intercom system and we quickly turned back to port and a more stable course.

Incredibly no one went over the side. The deck officer was picked up and slammed into a bulkhead hurting his back and a couple of others were washed down the deck scrambling and grasping for anything to hold on to. That is the most frightening feeling. I know how they felt,  it has happened to me a few years later. But, they were ok.

The last guy was slammed into and the force of the wave pushed him across the heavy gearing on the capstan. He was cut up, quite badly.

La Hulloise at Sea

There were no doctors on those ships, just a medical assistant, a leading seaman with basic medical training and a knowledge of first aid. His advice to the captain was that we head for the nearest post and get our guy stitched up properly. The squadron commander said “No.”  We were on important exercises.

That night in sickbay the injured and delirious seaman tore off his bandages and ripped out stitches. By mid day were turned south and steamed toward St Georges, Bermuda where our buddy was taken off by helicopter and rushed to the hospital in the American air base there.

I ran into him months later. He still was in quite a bit of pain and more than a little bitter. He left the navy after his first term was up.

There was no inquiry. I guess it was all put down to unpredictable seas. No one ever asked for my version of events and I am the only one who saw it all happen.

So don’t bother asking why I don’t have any faith in military leadership, why I seldom believe what they say and why I don’t trust them much at all.

Been there, Did that. Wasn’t impressed

Just Sayin'

I don't want to get pulled too far into the Sarah Palin website controversy and her response to the criticism of her but I thought Michael Moore put it well when he said:

If a Detroit Muslim put a map on the web with crosshairs on 20 politicians, then one of them got shot, where would he be sitting right now? 
Just asking.

Saskaboom not Quite What Some Claim

Living here in Saskatchewan I am getting more than a bit tired of all the talk about the economic boom we are living through. I lived in Calgary during the booming early 80's and believe me, the Saskaboom is quite different. 

By anyone’s terms, Saskatchewan is still small potatoes compared to the big boys.

Sure we have lots of oil and gas, our own, yet to be developed, tar sands, potash, uranium and of course diamonds. And, if agriculture was as bad as the farmers would like us to think, no one would be still in the game. So, according to the government and the newspapers things are really cooking but, truth be known, it is bubbling away  in a pretty small pot.

Things may be percolating over at WalMart but I still can't get an Ikea Stornas/Henriksdal dining room set without driving to Calgary. Boom or not, Saskatchewan is too small for Ikea to even think about opening up an outlet.  

This week, in the midst of our so called boom,  Standard & Poors downgraded their outlook on the City of Regina from stable to negative. I don't know a hell of a lot about the language used by financial ratings organizations but even "stable" doesn't sound very good to me. To me "stable is not all that many steps away from "on life support", but what do I know.

Regina’s Mayor, Pat Fiacio got elected on a cut spending/no new taxes campaign and true to form he tried to beat up the city's workers and held the line on taxes. He and his pro-development council have approved ugly and sprawling new housing developments and shopping centres but have done very little to maintain what we already have. Roads are so badly made it is like riding a roller coaster just driving to work, we  still don't have curbside recycling, residents complain that street lights take months to be replaces after they burn our and the snow removal is so spotty residents living off bus routes have to hire contractors to clear snow from their street. 

Now the city faces a deficit of $238,000,000 to the Civic Employees Superannuation and Benefit Plan and there is a infrastructure debt of almost $1.5 billion in the 10 year capital plan.

Lets bring back a much needed small dose of reality to all this. I heart Regina too Pat but, in my books, you are all booster, no boom.

Time to Chill

I know there are differing opinions about this but in my mind, the blame for the tragedy in Arizona which killed several people and severely injured Gabrielle Giffords sits directly at the feet of those who have ramp up the rhetoric about the political differences between left and right or, what is the US is really between the middle and the right. I don’t really think any self respecting left-winger could actually get elected in that country.

Has political rhetoric gone too far? As Sarah Palin might say if she was a thinking person, “You betcha.” But of course Sarah is all about being cranky and plays a larger than life role as a right-wing cheerleader. You probably know this already but her website, until a very short time ago had a map of the USA posted there with gun sight images over states that she suggested should be targeted by Republicans. One of those “targeted” was Ms. Giffords.

I am not suggesting for a moment that Ms. Palin was suggesting that the Democrat be “targeted” in the manner she was but the imaginary is chilling.

Could we end up in the same place here in Canada?

There is a difference but in recent years the rhetoric from the Harper camp, and others, has been building exponentially. Most of us are disgusted by it but a cross section of the population buys in.

Generally, Canadians don’t think it is acceptable to carry around concealed weapons or to have the unfettered right to purchase handguns but, if you took the time to scratched a little bit below the surface during the Gun Registry debate, like me, you would have been shocked.   You don’t have to take my word for it. Try a few web searches. There are some real crazies here too.

So, let’s take a deep breath and let’s hope our American friends do the same. Time to chill a bit.

What a Way to Spend a Saturday Night

This all seemed like a good idea when we ran into Will Chabun from the Leader Post at the Fieldhouse at some point before Christmas and he told us he was planning to spend an evening working at the Bodega's Ice Bar. "Its for a good cause" he said. "It is a fund raiser and all proceeds go to Transition House." 


Eric thought, "You know, our Friday Night Floor Hockey team could do that" and before we could say "Vanilla vodka" we were committed.


So, we dropped in for a drink. We got tips from Will about how to dress for an evening outside, tending a bar made completely of ice. We stood chatting around the fire and Will  Chabun got a column out of it. 


The Ice Bar was built by Peter Fogerty and sits inside the courtyard at La Bodega, probably my favorite Regina restaurants. La Bodega's owner, Adam Sperling has the ice bar built every winter and all the money raised from the bar goes to Transition House, which provides safe refuge for women and children affected by violence. It has been the ice bar's charity of choice for the fourth straight year 


In advance of all this we dug up all our warmest clothes and we monitored the extended forecast  day by day and things looked good - warming up - perhaps some light flurries - light wind - then, just our luck, Saturday arrived along with snow, strong winds and minus 15 with a wind chill that brought it below - 25. In a word "cold."


Yvette did the first shift, Eric and Donna were there all evening and Shelley and I worked from 8:00 to Midnight. No doubt about it it, there was a chill in the air but, we had a lot of fun.

Friends dropped by, Anne and Dave brought cookies, customers dropped in telling us they come every year because it is so much fun and one women came to have her picture taken at the bar because she was flying to Mexico the next day and wanted to show everyone around the pool how we do it in Canada.


At some point a limo pulled up and 16 young women in high heels  and higher spirits swooped into the bar for a shot of vodka - we obviously were't their first stop. They were all in short sleeve tops, no coats and having a ball. Eighty dollars later out they went, whooping and hollering, back to the limo and on to the next bar.


By the time midnight rolled around we were pretty damn cold but as we warmed up in the restaurant we felt pretty good about the fact that we'd raised over $700.


Just as the feeling was starting to come back to my toes Eric said, "You know, maybe we should do this again in February."  I must have been in shock from the hyporthermia because before I could stop myself I answered, "Sure Eric, lets."


If you can't make it to the ice bar this winter but still want to support Transition House you can donate on line through their website.

I thought I was Cynical

I always find it interesting when the "law and order" Harper government acts as though they are above the law and ignores its own rules and regulations. Particularly when they wrote the rules themselves.

The government developed rules around websites which would make the line between what is government information and what is party propaganda fairly clear. The rules which only came into effect in 2009, set standards for government websites to make sure that they are credible, technically accessible, uniform and non-partisan. Then along came the economic downturn and the Economic Action Plan and any notion of things being non-partisan flew out the window.

Remember those times? Harper's communications people got busy setting up photo-ops with Tory MPs handing out oversized cheques with Conservative logos plastered all over them as often as they could. The re-announced funding for projects that had been trundled out months before. It was enough to make even the most cynical government watcher’s stomach turn over.

Well included in that orgy of partisanship was their flag ship Economic Action Plan website. It was as you might imagine, knowing these guys, a pretty flashy thing complete with lots and lots of photographs of Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Canadian Press reports that senior civil servants advised the government before it went up that the website violated their own rules and that there was no way justify bending those rules to exempt the government in this case.

Any Prime Minister who thinks it is justified to shut down Parliament at whim isn’t about to be deterred by a few regs. He made sure it was approved anyway. It was pretty simple. He had Treasury Board President Vic Toews ignore the rules and give the project the go ahead using a lame excuse about their intentions to change to rules soon anyway. Of course they haven't. They can't afford the criticism.

These guys just don’t get it. Come on Canada. They have to go.

My Sentiments Exactly

Banksy says it all

Time to give it a rest for a few days. 


I hope you all have a great 


Holiday Season

All the best

Gord

The Things You Learn in the Bar

Not long ago I was having an after badminton beer in Bushwakkers and wondering what group was providing the music the following evening, I asked Eric if he could read the notice pasted on the wall some metres away as I was having some trouble focusing. It was quite noisy in the bar and I thought he said it is The Regina Male Boys Choir, the redundancy in the name not quite sinking in.

Coming into the bar the next night I was therefore surprised to see a choir of well dressed gentlemen, some of whom must have been in their late 70’s at the very least. The “old boys” choir I thought.

It turns out the Regina Male Voice Choir was there to entertain us with Christmas music.

A beer or two later and just at the start of one of their numbers we were surprised to see a couple of the kitchen staff coming out carrying a large boar’s head, on a tray which they carried around the room during the singing of the piece.  “Oh, that was the Boar’s Head Carol” we were told.”  Who knew?

It turns out that this little known carol – at least little know amongst beer drinking badminton players – dates back to the fifteenth century.

The story is that an Oxford scholar named Capcot - no first name provided -  who was studying at Queen’s College   was walking over the common on his way to church in Horspath village when he was attacked by a wild boar.  Capcot, obviously a very tough guy, is said to have grabbed the boar by the scruff of the neck and to have jammed a copy of Aristotle which he had been reading down its throat.

The scholar then is reported to have cut off the boar’s head and stuck it on his staff leaving it outside the church during the service. He subsequently brought it back to his pals at Oxford for dinner.

The Horspath parish church has a window celebrating this event.

This event is still celebrated in Oxford at an annual dinner during which the carol is sung and during the singing three chefs carry a boar’s head  decorated with a garland of bay leaves and rosemary around the hall.

The things you learn in bars these days.

Ok everyone, all together now.

The Boar’s Head Carol

The boar's head in hand bear I,
Bedecked with bays and rosemary;
And I pray you my masters be merry,
Quot estis in convivio

Chorus:
Caput apri defero
Reddens laudes Domino
Laudes Domino, Laudes Domino, Laudes Domino

The boar's head, as I understand,
Is the bravest dish in all the land
When thus bedecked with a gay garland
Let us servire cantico.

Our steward hath provided this
In honour of the King of Bliss,
Which on this day to be served is
In Reginensi atrio

Something Wrong with this Picture?

Patty Cake Fiacco

Just in case you wondered from time to time who pays most of the freight in Regina, here are a coupe of hints.
According to the Premier, Brad Wall Saskatchewan is booming economically. I don't really see it frankly but Brad insists.
So, in a boom, do you really have to offer incentives to corporations to lure them into your city/province?
Apparently you do.
Mosaic, that other American based Potash corporation is moving its "head office" to Regina when ever they get the new McCallum Hill Tower built in downtown Regina. The building, by the way, is the first new office tower  build in boomtown in 18 years..
They announced the move about a year ago but, development friendly city hall just agreed to give  the multi billion dollar corporation a five year tax break worth $1,500,000. I guess that decision was made to encourage a move that had already been decided upon tax break or not.
This in a year that, for those who actually pay city taxes, they will go up almost 5% and water tax will increase over 27% over the next  three years.
I wonder how a guy gets in line for the trough.

Watch Pat Squirm

Big news in Regina.  Property taxes are going up almost 5% and water will cost us 9% extra in each of the next three years.
Anyone who has been paying attention shouldn't be surprised though. The
Pat Fiacco has always run on a "no increased taxes" platform as if a city could always maintain services in the face of increased costs by just tightening a few belts here and there, contracting out services and by beating up on city workers. It is cheap politics and gets people elected but it doesn't work in the long term.
Under his leadership services like snow removal have become a laughing stock and now Pat has to start talking realistically about  services and where the money is going to come from to provide them. I find it kind of funny.
Pat has always been guided by the self interest of groups like the Canadian Federation of Independent business that is speaking out against any hike. They don't think this is the right time to hike taxes. Nothing new there.
Personally, I don't mind paying my fair share. It is worth every penny just to see Pat squirm.

Harper Treats Pension Reform Like the Environment

I notice that Harper's Conservatives are taking the same approach to the much needed Canada Pension Plan reform that they do the the environment. And, why not? Ignoring the problem works for them and after all, the chickens won't come home to roost until this bunch are long gone.
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says this is not the time for an overhaul of the pension system. The problem is of course is that there never us a "good" time to cough up the extra cash needed and by the time the shit hits the fan, I predict the government in power, whatever party is in power will say, "If Harper had dealt with this at the time it could have been fixed but...we are too far down the road and we just can't afford to do in now."
Boomers, most of whom are still working will start to put real pressure on the plan as they retire and tap into the fund. When the bills come, it will be our kids who will pay for Harper's inaction.
The Harper government claims to have been working on what they said was serious pension reform for 18 months and what we get instead of reform is just more inaction.
To be honest, I didn't really expect much more out of this government but I had hoped that, just perhaps, the provinces would step up. Six of the ten provinces supported action but unfortunately Alberta and Quebec supported by the Saskatchewan Wall government worked against reform.   

What a Great Time of Year

This time of year we are all trying to cope with all the snow, struggling to get our Christmas shopping done, get a decent tree and get it decorated and for those who are working, trying to get thinks wrapped up before the end of the year. It can be a bit hectic.

That is why I am always a bit on edge before hosting a seasonal get-together but, the bottom line is, I like to have people over.

Saturday evening we had a seasonal pot luck supper for the board and staff of the Folk Festival. Few of us work closely together but we have served on the board together for varying lengths of time and I think we have a great group and super staff. We work together well but, we don’t often get an opportunity to meet in a social sense.  

So we have been getting ready. I have been freezing star shaped candle holders for our driveway all week, cooking and the house looks  - well... homey.

So there we were Saturday night, about 26 of us including our partners/ boyfriends/husbands/wives/significant others all jammed into our living room/dining room.

We had, beer, red wine, white wine and a non-alcohol punch – did I mention the beer, cold Big Rock beer – Traditional, Gopher, Grasshopper, Warthog and Winter Spice, lots of it.

I had prepared quite a few snacks to get things going. Everything from the regular cheese plate, to marzipan stuffed dates, a nice zesty salsa, crackers with chevre and jam and some crab pate but it was the dishes people brought that blew me away. We had Braised beef ribs, curried potatoes, Jamaican patties, gyoza, hummus, a tomato-cheese vegetable dish, a salad with pomegranates, a red cabbage salad, cookies, lovely artesian bread and chickpeas in curry. The table was so full we couldn’t fit another plate on if our lives depended on it.

There was a line up in my dining room, people were chowing down in every corner of the living room and almost everyone went back for seconds and thirds.

And, we had conversations. Lots of them. We talked about knitting, music,  Universities, Laval’s football dynasty, books,  education, badminton, how our generation just seemed to fall into our jobs, photography, print making, Québec cheese, the second world war corvette fleet and submarines. It was great.

As people drifted away into the night we tried, unsuccessfully to recruit floor hockey players and talked about how we should do it all again, and we should.

I love having people over but there is something about this time of year that really make it special. We are all gearing down a bit, being a bit reflective, relaxing – whatever it is, it just seems to work.

Do it again? Any time.

Come to think of it the floor hockey team is coming over the 29^th.

Maybe They Did Take Geography in School

My daughter, her husband and my two grandchildren, live in Alaska. That makes it a challenge to keep in touch properly particularly with people like me, who are prone to procrastination.

I aways swear that, this year, I will get our parcels off in good time and each year I find Christmas getting closer and closer before I actually wrap thing up and send them on their way.

This year Amazon saved my bacon when it came to my grandchildren. They gift wrap too which really took the heat off. When it came to  a gift for my daughter and her husband we thought way ahead. My partner, a skilled craftsperson, made a special gift for our kids in Ontario and Quebec and for our family in Alaska. I have to note that she made these gifts in July so we could get them off in plenty of time for Christmas.

So, on December 9th, still way ahead of the game by my standards, I headed down to FedEx to get the parcel shipped north. I thought 16 days is plenty of time for surface delivery even taking into account a few inevitable snowstorms. They promised delivery by December 16th. I felt confident in my decision.

Now, one of the best features of shipping FedEx, I thought, is their tracking system. I love it. I spend a lot of time at my keyboard so can I check progress several times a day.

I started getting nervous when I noticed the package had arrived in Winnipeg. That is 571 kilometres in the wrong direction. Then it sat in Manitoba for the weekend. The next stop was Grand Forks North Dakota. Another 147 Kilometres off course. The next day it was in St. Paul and I thought "Ok, they have decided to hook up with a major American shipping route and it will soon start to turn west."

Next stop Chicago. By now I wasn't starting to panic but I had some serious questions about FedEx's sense of direction. Did they sleep through geography in school? Did those dispatchers think AK is the postal abbreviation for Arkansas?


It sat in Illinois for 36 hours, 1991 km off course. It was December 15th. A day before the promised delivery.


Then by some miracle a new entry saying On the truck for delivery - Anchorage.`` This morning an e-mail saying, the package arrived safely, on the date promised and is safe and sound, under the tree in Anchorage.

Next year I think I`ll get to it all a bit earlier...then again, it did get there.

Some Times it Makes you Wonder

Peter Plays Dress up

Defense Minister Peter Mckay loves to wave the military's flag and does so every chance he gets. He and his boss Stephen Harper love to play dress up, and get their pictures taken in military garb, rubbing shoulders with the troops. He just loves the look of camouflage.
McKay was in the news this week giving us all glowing reports about how military Griffin choppers were being used to rescue people stranded in the snow in Ontario. Peter is Canada's number one military booster.   Ask him any time.


Unfortunately Peter is only really there when solders are healthy and under active duty. Wounded, that is another matter altogether. A guy with his leg blown off just doesn't give you the same warm and fuzzy feeling. The Harper Government has fallen way short when it comes to supporting those wounded or otherwise disabled in the field.


This isn't a new story but it is one that the Conservatives have managed to ride out so far.
There is a new twist on this story though out of Ontario.


The  Ontario Trial Lawyers Association says they are astounded by the "hurdles, the runarounds and the hardships” Canada’s veterans face when they try to collect federal military service and disability benefits.

“These veterans fight for our country and they really should not have to fight for these benefits,” said lawyer Patrick Brown, chair of the new initiative. About 40 members are taking part in the new program, called Trial Lawyers for Veterans. “If we can help out, we will,” said Brown. “The commitment from our volunteers is to offer free services. It is all pro bono.”
After suffering devastating injuries from roadside or suicide bombers, missile attacks, vehicle rollovers or gunshot wounds, the veterans are often stunned when they find themselves battling Ottawa for money, for a job and for respect.
Peter McKay hasn't said if he is embarrassed by all this. Of course, he could argue that these men and women are not his responsibility anymore. Once they are wounded and ultimately leave the service they fall under another ministry. They are Veterans Affairs Minister Jean Pierre Blackburn's problem now. 
Peter is reported to be looking for another photo op.

G20 Ombudsman Report Ignored in Globe & Mail

I am sorry Madam, you have to show us some ID

I was reading my favorite television commentator John Doyle in the Globe & Mail this morning. Even if I seldom watch the tube I like his writing style and sense of humor.  Commenting on how badly the television industry deals with the Wikileaks stories Doyle said "A reason that TV news mishandles it is that the documents unleashed by Wikileaks undermines the blithe acceptance of official spin that emanates from governments which TV news specializes in regurgitating."


I thought, "Well said John" then moved on to sift the rest of the mornings offering. I was looking for the G&M's take on the Ontario ombudsman, Andre Marin's report on the conduct of the police during the G20. The story had been covered fairly widely and I wanted to read the Globe's take on it.


Some distance from keeping the peace  Marin said the Public Works Act “wound up contributing to massive violations of civil rights.”  

He came to the conclusion that the law  used to expand police powers to detain and search demonstrators was “unnecessary and probably illegal,” and “likely unconstitutional”.  It found it was  misused “to intimidate and arrest people who had done no harm” and resulted in a “mass violation of civil rights.” The political and security measures turned Toronto into an armed camp where excessive force was used to disperse peaceful protesters and wrongly arrest more than 900 people.

In my view any Canadian who watched the coverage of last summer's event should have been disturbed by the actions of police. What it showed us all is what a fragile hold we all have on the civil liberties we take for granted.

The mainstream media didn't take too long to fall into line in buying into the official line about keeping order and about the mobs of armed black block protesters. What disturbed me however was the high school kids, parents with kids and grandmothers out walking their dog who were chased by, out of control,  baton wielding thugs in uniform.

Even the Times of India picked the story up. They reported that “Canadian authorities have been slammed for using a secret regulation that "amounted to martial law" to detain protesters at the June G20 meeting. “ and that “The secret regulation to detain protesters at the June G20 meeting in Toronto had "dubious legality" and probably violated the Canadian Constitution by creating "extravagant police authority,"   

The Globe & Mail, I am disappointed to say, didn't carry the ombudsman's story at all, at least not in the edition I get delivered to my home each morning. So John, I am afraid it isn't only TV news that falls short. Have a chat with your buddies down the hall, will you John.

A Few Things I've Noticed

Saskatchewan Debt
I never bought it, but it seems pretty clear that a majority of the Saskatchewan voters believe the Saskatchewan party line that the province is in a boom. I was told the other day that Saskatchewan has the highest debt to income ratio in Canada. I wasn't surprised. Brad says we are in a boom. Things are good. Buy buy buy.

Then the Visa statement comes in the mail.

Domed Stadium
I'd say it has become pretty clear. Regina won't be seeing a new stadium for a while and certainly not a domed stadium.

Now, if the Riders had won the Grey Cup, Brad in his enthusiasm might have...but I digress.

The Regina Definition of a Booming Downtown.
They might be erecting a crane downtown sometime soon to start a new building. They closed the Plains Hotel months and months ago saying they were going to build a new hotel, office condo tower. Isn't it about time to start at the very least digging a hole in the ground.

My Snow Removal Rant
Regina has the worst snow removal plan of any city in the country.  Or perhaps Regina just has the worst snow removal system of any other city I have lived in and I have lived in more than a few Canadian cities, coast to coast.

This year they have embarked on a campaign to guilt homeowners into clearing their sidewalks. Not a bad idea actually. In my neighborhood an army of old retired guys get out their snow blowers and do the job but, all the while, the city ignores the snow banks their own plows have piled onto sidewalks along the parks and other city property.

Our Messed up Electoral System
The Globe & Mail tells me that the Harperites are headed for a majority government because they have just passed 38.1% in the polls. How screwed up is that?

Any system that would give a majority to a government that can garner 38% is seriously ill. What is perhaps even sicker is that none of the political parties will make this fact a major issue. They all are dreaming of the day they can dupe the public using the same broken system to give then the advantage.

Who the Hell Wanted us There in the First Place?
As much as Stephen Harper, bolstered by the Liberals wants Canada to have a continued presence in Afghanistan, almost 60% of Afghans and most Canadians want foreign troops either out right now, or very soon. Imagine if all that money could have gone into healthcare or education.

What idiot Canadian politician thought it was a good idea for us to go into to that country in the first place?

Sorry Link, it isn't Working

Let me be up-front. I am a card carrying member of the New Democratic Party and have been for some time.  That doesn't mean I am very happy about that party's performance.  I still be support them but some times I think it is becoming tougher and tougher to be a New Democrat as each day passes.

Time for a change?

Jack Layton is well beyond his best before date, the Manitoba New Democrats have slipped to 34% and the NDP in British Columbia are self destructing. 
Here in Saskatchewan despite the fact that the  Saskatchewan Party is basically a one man show leading a group so bush league that most of them would not be capable doing the job as a village alderman, the NDP trail badly in the polls and will be lucky to hold on the the seats they have in the next election.
When Lorne Calvert left politics it was time for the New Democrats to rebuild. Renewal should have been the catch phrase on everyone's lips. When a leadership race was held there were choices which would have given us just that but the tired old party decided  instead to pick a leader from the past. We picked Dwain Lingenfelter.
I came to Saskatchewan not long before Lingenfelter left politics to work as an executive in the energy industry in Calgary so I don't know him well but from what I gather, he was touted to be Roy Romanow's successor but instead, he decided to seek his fame and fortune in Alberta. An odd decision for a New Democrat but a good fit for Dwain.
He wasn't my choice but he did win the race and I respect the process so I figured, what the hell Link, show us how it is done.
He hasn't. His leadership is such a liability that a new NDP candidate in the next election told me, "We'll never will another election here in Saskatchewan until we get rid of that bloody Lingenfelter" (I actually cleaned up the language quite a bit)
So, the NDP in Saskatchewan have a couple of choices. Dwain could resign today and the party could begin to rebuild now, bringing in new blood or, we could get trounced in the next election and then he could get forced out in a leadership review.
Don't get me wrong, there are some very good bright, young faces on the New Democrat side of the legislature and I am encouraged by some of the young, smart candidates running in the next election but unless some of the old guard move over, we are hooped. 
The new face of the party are MLAs like Trent Wotherspoon, Warren McCall, Cam Broten, Danielle Chartier and Darcy Furber. Candidates like Yens Pederson, Jaime Garcia and Heather McIntyre. Guys like Ryan Meili.
My view is the best decision would be to start right now. Have Link step down, put in the Deputy Leader Kevin Yates in as a place holder, elect a new leader, take your lumps in the next election and get on with the rebuilding process.
Any bets on what we actually do?

Isn't it About Time

I sometimes wonder at what the opposition parties think they are doing in Ottawa.  They don't walk the walk and it seems that these days they hardly even talk the talk.
Here we are Federally, being governed by a right wing political despot with a minority government that very few people would be willing to admit that they support yet in any way yet, the opposition parties are dropping the ball and not surprisingly, trail in the polls.
We do have alternatives, the opposition parties could, very easily get together in some kind of coalition, they do after all collectively represent a strong majority of Canadians. It isn't likely to happen however, political hubris would prevent that before and discussion even gets off the ground.
Here is an idea. They could show some leadership.
The conservatives are laughing.
So, we march on, the Liberals talking tough, then embarrassing themselves by supporting the government or, the Bloc quietly making side deals that serve Quebec and the NDP braying impotently from the sidelines.
Time after time the gang of bullies Harper calls a government abuse the system they are bound to uphold and time after time the opposition drop the ball.
It is more than a bit disheartening.
So my challenge to our political opposition is this. Take a good long break over Christmas and think about where this country is going. If this government is in power much longer then Tough on Crime - soft environment will seem like the norm. We'll see more thugs like Julian Fantino get elected. We'll be tearing each other apart over gun control again. We will hardly recognize our country.
So, listen up Iggy and Jack. There is no room for Tea Partiers here but what might work is the good old coffee klatch. So, no more staged breakfast meet and greets filled the party faithful. Get off your rear ends and get out there and do your work one voter at a time. Get out and meet voters in the malls and on the street. Sure you get knocked around a bit but...but after all, you deserve it. You might just learn a thing or two.
We don't need any more old party rhetoric. How hard can it be debunking the Harper political agenda?
Most of all, let us help you throw these bums out of office. If you can't or won't, then move over and let someone else who has got enough fibre to do it for you.

Hello out there

Every once and a while I think it is fun to have a look at where the visitors to this blog come from.
My tracker keeps a note of how many visitors I get each day, who is new and who is returning and where the last 500 people who log onto the site live. It provides me with the visitor's IP address, the name of service providers, the browsers being used and the city and country visitors live in but, of course, not their names.
So if one of those little dots represents you,
welcome to my blog and feel free to leave a comment.

Wikileaks more like Wikigossip

I have got to say that I have been more than a little disappointed at what has been revealed by Wiki-leaks this week. After the first announcement that Wiki had new secrets to reveal, I waited through the weekend with growing excitement.

Everyone but governments and diplomats love this stuff. The more salacious the better. 

The build-up was great. The American Government was reported to be calling around the globe tipping nations off that they may have been a bit more candid then "friends" would like and Harper and his gang were putting on a good, brave face saying "No matter what those guys might have said, they are still our best friends." Holy smoke we thought, great stuff coming.

In the end there was very little for anyone to get their knickers in a knot about. It was more like high school than anything else. 

• Some American diplomats thought that some of the CBC dramas were taking shots at the American border service. 
• They also thought that Canadians have an inferiority complex. 
• The head of Canada's spy agency thinks that the courts are making his job tougher. (Thank God for that I thought)
• A Canadian diplomat was caught out saying things about the leadership of Afghanistan that we have all heard or read in the media time and time again.     

Governments are still nattering on about putting people in harms' way but in reality, at this point, five days of releases have told us nothing we didn't really already suspect was happening anyway.

Whoop-de-do. This time it was all hype, little substance. Wikki-leaks indeed. I have heard more gossip  in the bar on Friday night after floor hockey.

The Conservatives are Spammers of the Worst Kind

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

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

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

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

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

I find this stuff particularly offensive.

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

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

Pirates, all of Them

I was intrigued this morning by a piece by Neil Reynolds writing in the Globe and Mail about the return to the Gold Standard. He quotes Canadian born economist Dr. Robert Mundell extensively. Mundell has evidentially been predicting a return of that shiny metal as a backbone of our modern economies since 1997. And, now he is backed up by World Bank President Robert Zoellick who is suggesting that the world needs to embrace the gold standard.

To be honest the world economic system all seems like a bit of a shell game to me. Economies seem to rise and fall because of how a group of insecure people feel about them on any given day. The value of currencies being affected by events like North Korea feeling a bit randy one morning or a politician's unfortunate ad lib. It doesn't seem real.

But gold? It is really of very little value except that it is kind of shiny and makes good jewelry. I am not sure I get it.

Or, perhaps I do. I wasn't all that long ago when the world economic system went into free fall that critics were referring to our world's bankers as a bunch of pirates playing loose and free with what is essentially our money. Perhaps it is all beginning to fit together.

I think Michael Flaherty would look good with an eye patch and a three cornered hat. Bring it on.

All together now:
Sixteen men on a dead man's chest
Yo yo ho and a bottle of rum

My New Favorite Chicken Recipe

I tried a new recipe this evening. A Spanish dish, Paprika Chicken with Garlic. It is a dish that a good restaurant wouldn't hesitate to charge you $25.00 for.
So why pay through the nose for something which is so simple to make.

Ingredients
6 to 8 chicken thighs
2 cups of flour
3 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 couple of glugs of olive oil
20 cloves of garlic, peeled and halved
2 cups heated chicken stock
1/3 of a cup of dry white wine
3 bay leaves
1 1/2 Tbsp dried thyme
Salt & pepper

Dredge the chicken in flour then in the paprika. If is isn't covering well take some paprika in your hands and rub it into the chicken. Set it aside.
Heat the olive oil on medium heat in a deep frying pan or a dutch oven. Add the garlic and heat for 2 or 3 minutes. Don't let it brown. Remove the garlic with a slotted spoon and set it aside.
Brown the chicken well on both sides. Don't crowd it. Three at a time is probably the easiest depending on the size of your pan. When all the chicken are well browned place the chicken pieces skin side up in the pan. Hopefully your pan is large enough to have the chicken all on one layer,
Put the garlic back into the pan distributing it evenly and between the pieces of chicken. Add the bay leaves, the thyme and the salt and pepper.
Add the hot stock and wine to the pan and turn up the heat bringing it to a boil.
When it boils, turn the heat to simmer, cover the pan and cook for 25 minutes.
After the chicken is done, take it out and put in in a warming oven.
Take out the bay leaves.
Bring the stock back to a boil and reduce it to about 1 1/2 cups.
Put the chicken on warmed plates and pour the sauce and the pieces of garlic over the chicken.

This dish would be great with roast potatoes and what ever vegetable you like.