Archive for the ‘Federal Politics’ Category

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Live by the pen, die by the pen

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

So many clichés come to mind when I consider the antics of this fellow. Something about living in glass houses and throwing stones is appropriate, along with the kettle calling the pot black. It seems Warren has had his feelings hurt yet again, and he’s launched a $1-million libel suit against the Conservative party and Public Works Minister Christian Paradis:

Kinsella’s Toronto-based lawyer, Brian Shiller, accused the Conservative party and Paradis of “egregious conduct.”

“It’s a concerted campaign by the Conservative party to target and defame and destroy the reputation of a private citizen who is a volunteer for the Liberal party and nothing more,” he said.

Source.

Warren Kinsella seems to have made a career out of attempting to target and destroy the reputation of private citizens he disagrees with. He’s even written a book on the subject. As another blogger puts it:

The Jackal needs to take a long look at his behaviour. The arrogance and the deep sense of entitlement need to be considered. He needs to take a break from litigation and from blogging. Most of all, he needs to consider whether he has falsely accused decent people of things which are nasty and untrue.

For more backrgound on the self-proclaimed “Prince of Darkness” have a look here.

Posted in Federal Politics, General, Politics, Provincial Politics, The Hypocrisy File | No Comments »

Quote of the day

Monday, March 9th, 2009

A reasonable person would see the record of repeated failures in government-run medicine as evidence that such a system is not sustainable. Yet every central planner thinks he or she — or his or her immediate group — is smart enough to correct the flaws of socialist programs and therefore has the moral authority to force others to participate in his experiments. It is the same thinking that will move a person to say we are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, March 06, 2009

Posted in Federal Politics, Healthcare Reform, Politics, Provincial Politics, Quote of the day | No Comments »

The Hypocrisy File – It’s not bad if liberals do it.

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Inspired by the recent Presidential election campaign south of the border, along with my long-time interest in pointing out blatant examples of political hypocrisy, I bring you the first installment of the “Hypocrisy File”.

The other glimmer of Liberal hope is political weaponry they have purchased from the Barack Obama campaign.

Specifically, they’ve purchased computer programs and donor-targeting technology at a discount from the friendly U.S. Democrats and plan to unleash hundreds of gigabytes at crafting a master list of donors while combing the country for new support.

Source.

Let’s now recall how the Liberals virtually based their entire 2003 smear campaign on the mere suggestion that Stephen Harper had been helped by those nasty Americans in his leadership bid.

“Who paid for Stephen Harper’s rise to the head of the party?” asks the voice. “We don’t know. He refuses to reveal his donors. What do you suppose he’s hiding? We do know he’s very popular with right wingers in the U.S. They have money, maybe they helped him. We just don’t know. He just won’t say.”

Source.

—

Update: Not to be outdone by the Liberals, the NDP have have climbed abord the hypocrisy train.

Posted in Anti-Americanism, Federal Politics, Politics, The Hypocrisy File | No Comments »

“Splenetic” – what a neat word

Thursday, January 29th, 2009

John Ivison does a nice job of putting some context around the federal/provincial wrangling that has once again erupted, this time inspired by the recent budget.

In Mr. Harper’s Old Testament view of the world, he needed to get even and in Tuesday’s budget he did. Newfoundland and Labrador is now the second richest province in Confederation, on a per capita basis. It no longer receives equalization payments as a “have” province but because of two separate deals known as the Atlantic Accords it still receives “offset” money – in reality, bonus cash aimed at helping transition from “have-not” to “have” status.

Over the next three years, those payments were expected to total $2.5-billion but, without warning or explanation, the budget cut that number by around $1-billion. There’s no doubt that this violates the Atlantic Accords or that the manner in which the changes were communicated was conduct unbecoming a federal government.

But these are strange days and, to borrow Mr. Williams indelicate phrase, the fact is that it was the taxpayers in the rest of Canada who were getting the shaft under the old arrangement. The second richest province in the country was, de facto, continuing to receive equalization payments, even though it no longer qualified. It will still receive around $1.5-billion over the next three years when the offset payments run out — that’s $3,000 for every man, woman and child on the Rock. That is in addition to the $2-billion “signing bonus” the province got in 2005 for inking a second Atlantic Accord.

He goes on:

Given his electoral ambitions in the province, it was equally certain that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff would offer words of sympathy for Mr. Charest. “It’s about fairness and equity in our federation,” he said.

Are these people sniffing glue? Quebec will get $8.3-billion of the $14.2-billion pot of equalization money next year, in addition to $5.7-billion in health transfers and around $2.5-billion in social transfers.

As Ted Menzies, the parliamentary secretary for finance, pointed out in the House on Wednesday, equalization payments to Quebec have risen 74% since the Conservatives came to power in 2006.

Source.

Posted in Federal Politics, Politics, Provincial Politics | No Comments »

CUPE asks that Israeli professors be blacklisted

Tuesday, January 6th, 2009

This news release really had me shaking my head:

CUPE Ontario to recommend support for ban on Israeli academics in response to Gaza bombings

TORONTO, Jan. 2 /CNW Telbec/ – CUPE Ontario’s university workers committee will bring a resolution to its annual conference supporting a ban on Israeli academics doing speaking, teaching or research work at Ontario universities as a protest against the December 29 bombing of the Islamic University in Gaza.
“In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general,” said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario. “It’s a logical next step, building on policy adopted by our provincial convention in 2006.”
Resolution 50, adopted in May 2006, supported boycotts, divestment and sanctions aimed at bringing about the Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and a just peace in the region.
“Clearly, international pressure on Israel must increase to stop the massacre that is going on daily,” said Janice Folk-Dawson, chair of the CUPE Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee, whose conference is scheduled for February. “We are proud to add CUPE voices to others from around the world saying enough is enough.”
Ryan and other CUPE representatives will join in the demonstration against the Israeli assault on Gaza at 2:00 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, January 3 at Dundas Square in Toronto.

For further information: Sid Ryan, President, CUPE Ontario, (416)
209-0066; Pat Daley, CUPE Communications, (416) 616-6142

Source.

The suggestion that individuals must hold a particular opinion regarding a very complex and divisive issue, or lose their job is completely outrageous, and this public statement tells me all I need to know about the leadership of CUPE.

I would like someone to tell me when in history has any individual been singled out and asked to make a public statement of “outrage” based on their nation of origin? Sid Ryan has lost his mind.

Update: It looks like Hugo Chavez is getting in on the act, issuing this statement today:
“Now I hope that the Venezuelan Jewish community speaks out against this barbarism. Do it. Don’t you strongly reject all acts of persecution?” Chavez said. Source.

Posted in Anti-Americanism, Federal Politics, Politics, Provincial Politics, War on Terror | 3 Comments »

The tale of two polls

Saturday, December 13th, 2008

Within the past 24 hours two polls have been released, gauging the mood and intent of the Canadian voting public.

Canwest/Ipsos Reid:
The poll also said the Conservative party would garner 45% of the vote and score a majority victory if an election were held today.

Toronto Star/Angus Reid:
Ignatieff, Harper virtually tied in poll.

Well that clears everything up, doesn’t it?

As polls go, I’m not a big fan of online polling, although I recognize we’ll be seeing more of them. The random phone polling, which indicates the strong Conservative lead, is a more accurate measure of mood.

Anyway, as my buddy Peter likes to say “Research proves that research works.”

Posted in Federal Politics, General, Politics | No Comments »

Ignatieff is the perfect Liberal

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

I have written in the past about why I have trouble identifying the Liberal brand – what it stands for and what principles guide them. And now it appears the Liberal Party has a leader who embodies that “non-ideology” ideology perfectly. From today’s National Post:

Mr. Ignatieff’s arbitrarily shifted views on foreign policy and human ethics are hardly beside the point: He didn’t get nine honorary doctorates for his hypothetical future as a politician, or for his knowledge of economics for that matter. What good was done by all those years of navel-gazing on the human condition and the responsibility to protect if it must be ignored when real power is in view?

Source.

Posted in Federal Politics, General, Politics | No Comments »

“But it’s working in Europe”

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

To prevent a financial crisis from turning into an economic calamity, the European Union has pulled the emergency brake on green policies. At last week’s EU summit in Brussels, seven eastern and central European countries, together with Italy, threatened to veto the Union’s climate pact. The rebel governments claimed that the originally agreed goal of cutting the EU’s CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020 was too expensive; economic turmoil and rising unemployment meant that implementing the CO2 goal was no longer affordable.

Source.

But wait, didn’t the Liberals assure us during the election campaign that the carbon tax scheme was working in Europe?

If this approach to cleaning up the environment is not workable in Europe, which has a far more diverse economy and a population density that is much more conducive to green transportation initiatives, how on earth could this work here in the frozen north, where our economy is resource-based and our commuter lifestyle and transportation needs are tied to fossil fuels?

Just as this planet has learned that improvements to healthcare and education can only come about after improvements are made to our overall economic well-being and technological advances, significant improvements to the environment will require the same conditions if they are to be sustained.

Just ask China.

Posted in Environment, Federal Politics, General, Healthcare Reform, Politics, Provincial Politics | 6 Comments »

The sorry state of political journalism

Tuesday, October 21st, 2008

In an open letter to daily newspapers in America, Orson Scott Card (a Democrat, no less) laments the sorry state of mainstream journalism in politics today. As a conservative, trying to sell my home, and with a son now in his 4th year of journalism school, I found this to be particularly timely.

This housing crisis didn’t come out of nowhere. It was not a vague emanation of the evil Bush administration.

…

Isn’t there a story here? Doesn’t journalism require that you who produce our daily paper tell the truth about who brought us to a position where the only way to keep confidence in our economy was a $700 billion bailout? Aren’t you supposed to follow the money and see which politicians were benefiting personally from the deregulation of mortgage lending?

I have no doubt that if these facts had pointed to the Republican Party or to John McCain as the guilty parties, you would be treating it as a vast scandal. “Housing-gate,” no doubt. Or “Fannie-gate.”

Instead, it was Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, both Democrats, who denied that there were any problems, who refused Bush administration requests to set up a regulatory agency to watch over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and who were still pushing for these agencies to go even further in promoting sub-prime mortgage loans almost up to the minute they failed.

…

These are facts. This financial crisis was completely preventable. The party that blocked any attempt to prevent it was … the Democratic Party. The party that tried to prevent it was … the Republican Party.

…

So I ask you now: Do you have any standards at all? Do you even know what honesty means?

Is getting people to vote for Barack Obama so important that you will throw away everything that journalism is supposed to stand for?

There is indeed a story here, and you can read the rest of it here.

h.t. to Kate

Posted in Anti-Americanism, Community Interest, Federal Politics, General, Politics | No Comments »

Non-scientific polling comes to Keyes.ca

Monday, October 20th, 2008

As a follow-up to the October 14th federal election I thought I’d try a new feature here at Keyes.ca and see if I could get some feedback on how my readers were influenced during the campaign.

I’m also scheduled to appear on a televised political panel this coming Wednesday evening and it would be nice to share the thoughts of others.

And feel free to comment further if you feel so inclined.

Posted in Community Interest, Federal Politics, Politics | No Comments »

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