Kennedy Fights Back

National Newswatch has just posted a little item from the Star about Gerard Kennedy who is obviously not a happy camper since Jonathan Kay's National Post story broke.

Kennedy says that the allegations are "totally baseless".

He must be referring to the following from Kay's editorial:

Among veteran Liberal insiders, it is believed that the several hundred Sikh convention delegates Bains and his allies led into the Dion camp (via Gerard Kennedy) came with a price: an end to the investigative powers contained in the Anti-Terrorism Act, which was opposed for predictable reasons by various Sikh, Tamil and Muslim organizations.

Well, I would welcome a house-cleaning here. Let's get it all in the open. How about we have an inquiry?


Jack's Newswatch has also picked this up. He has a great analysis of his own as well, "Raising Public Awareness".

* * * *

UPDATE: This is BIG! Separate post-worthy even; but I'm tired - Tom Wappel spills the beans! Read all the details at the CTV site. All the things that Dion denied; all the spin. It's all there just as the Conservatives said. Other Blogging Tories are covering this as well.

...It was only after a caucus committee meeting on Feb. 5 that he learned the new leader had decreed "a 180 degree reversal'' of the Liberal stance on the issue.

"Under no circumstances did I expect that it would be anything but a formality and, yes, we'll support the extension . . . To me it was a total shock,'' Wappel said.

Having recommended renewal of the measures in the sub-committee report, Wappel said he had no choice but to support the government motion.

"I have to stand by what I wrote in October. Otherwise I can't live with myself.''

Hidden Agenda

You might have missed it if you blinked, but CTV has disclosed the real secret Liberal agenda behind last night's vote against extending the anti-terror measures. It wasn't about upholding civil liberties at all:

Todd Russell, a Liberal MP for the riding of Labrador, said that "any time you take a bully on and push him back, that's a victory. (Prime Minister Stephen Harper) is a bully, and he got what's coming to him tonight."

Playing partisan games with Canadian lives. And they call Harper 'scary'.

* * * *

More agendas here.

Meanwhile, Lorrie Goldstein treats us to a wistful vision of Parliament.

Adding Insult to Injury

Maureen Basnicki, whose husband Ken was one of 24 Canadians killed in Manhattan's twin towers, has according to Michael Ignatieff simply been participating in a 'sideshow':

Ignatieff said while he sympathized with terror victims, their appearance during the debate over whether to renew the powers is "just a sideshow."

"The issue here is not whether we have or have not met with victims of 9/11. Every member of our caucus feels the grief and horror that those victims went through."

After the vote, Basnicki, on behalf of the Canadian Coalition Against Terror, said she was "very, very disappointed" in the outcome, and angered by Ignatieff's comment.

"Sideshow? I was a victim of terrorism. My husband was murdered.

"I don't like to be a victim of politics."

(Alberta Ardvark has also picked up on this Toronto Star article.)

So, I guess it's fine for some Liberals to cast aspersions at grieving Canadian citizens; seek to diminish their pain and question their motives.

However, if a Conservative MP even makes a general comment that is substantiated by solid investigative journalism, then self-righteous Liberals are allowed to publicly demand apologies.

Another Liberal entitlement, I suppose.



Oh, yeah, and by the way Ms. Basnicki, didn't you know that TIMES HAVE CHANGED???

Get with the program.

* * * *

And let us not forget Stephane Dion's remarkable show of empathy for the Air India families. What did he call them again? Ah yes, "emotional"...


Update: National Newswatch has now picked up this story. Click on the link 9/11 VICTIMS JUST A SIDESHOW: Ignatieff (via Hamilton Spectator).

And if you were wondering what they were thinking about all this on the other side, here's an example - Victims; not experts. (Warning! Not for the faint of heart).

Here's another - Will the Sun Rise Again? (Jason Cherniak)

Where's Dion?

In the previous post, Molarmauler asked me where Dion was. Stephane was conspicuously absent from Question Period this afternoon.

It's a fair question; especially in light of the fact that a very important vote is coming up shortly. He left his underlings to defend his stubborn position against extending the anti-terror laws in spite of advice from his own caucus, Liberal ex-ministers, the Liberal Senate, families of 9-11 victims and of Air India, and so on.

So I tracked him down. He was in Toronto busy campaigning. It's going to take a lot of work to build that Liberal majority government you see. But the main thing is to get back the power for the Liberals.

As long as he has his priorities straight, right?

* * * *

Update: Irwin Cotler will be abstaining from the vote.

Further Update: As anyone who has been following this story now knows, the sun has now set on Canadian security.

Steve Janke - The National Post says the Unspeakable - Stephane Dion sold out Canada's security for personal power.

More from Steve: Stephane Dion wins one - and will likely lose big. Steve gives a great analysis of possible outcomes for my two new heros, Tom Wappel and Irwin Cotler.

Also, ChuckerCanuk is a great read tonight. (Well, not just tonight, but this one is especially well done.)

9-11 Families speak out

Families of Canadians killed in the 9-11 terrorist attacks are adding their voices to those begging Stephane Dion to reconsider his position before today's vote (CNews), (CBC), (CTV)

Stephane's going to have a lot of people to answer to about this.

* * * *

Stephen Taylor provides some background: Held without charge? Some context.

Meanwhile, Stephane is already planning his MAJORITY GOVERNMENT!

Also please check out these Star stories (I hope the links work) - Tensions mount as anti-terrorism vote nears, and Liberals review legal options. Liberals are now demanding an apology from Pierre Poilievre!

When the sh*t hits the fan, throw it back even harder, I guess.

Playing Politics with Canadian Lives

The anti-terror laws die Thursday. Yesterday in the Commons, Stephen Harper offered a compromise, but Dion has stubbornly refused to consider it.

Unfortunately, this very important issue has spiraled out of control and become some sort of political showdown.

I hope to have an more extensive commentary later, but let's start with Don Martin's column, "Not all Liberals will enjoy the kill":

...Opposition parties argued yesterday that these emergency powers are too radical for rights sensitive Canadians, yet in the next breath insisted they merely duplicate measures available elsewhere in the Criminal Code...

(. . . )

And the Conservatives have signalled an unusual willingness to bend on the extension, offering to settle for a six-month extension with a promise to study changes to the law until the fall sitting.

Liberal MP Ralph Goodale, whose righteous indignation knows no blustery bounds, is having none of it. The way he argues it, the political atmosphere in Ottawa has been so poisoned that the Conservatives cannot be trusted to keep their word.

Gosh. If it wasn't so wretchedly costly and doomed to recreate another minority Parliament, an election could almost be justified to euthanize a House of Commons slowly spiralling into bickering paralysis.

He also suggests that MP Navdeep Bains should abstain from the vote, which is what I have been saying for the last few days, and which I suspect was what was partially behind Kim Bolan's weekend revelation:

"Liberal MP Navdeep Bains should be a tad squeamish as well. Mr. Bains was the MP Prime Minister Stephen Harper inferred had influenced the Liberal's position because his father-in-law might appear at an investigative hearing on the Air India bombing. As such, Mr. Bains is clearly in a conflict of interest and should abstain from voting."

I fault both sides for this impasse. More to follow.


Also please check out:

Paul Jackson - Grit Record Terror-ible.

Dr. Roy - Dion unwilling to compromise.

Jonathan Kay - National security vs. Liberal ethno-politics. Very interesting!

Excellent post by Sandy (Crux of the matter) - Alice & Liberal Friends in Wonderland.

Kim Bolan - Air India Probe Crippled if MPs Kill Key Part of Anti-Terror Law.

* * * *

Update - Personal Comment: I suppose the only thing I would like to add to this post is that I agree with the Blonde Conservative - It may indeed be time to pull the plug on this acrimonious session of Parliament and put us all out of our misery.

Things are not just at an impasse; they are moving in the direction of threatening the safety and economy of the country, by means of an unofficial coalition of opposition parties promoting an extreme left-wing agenda.

This Parliament is not getting things done for Canadians. All parties appear to be just out for themselves. The Conservatives seem most interested in preserving the integrity of the country, but I am getting fed up with the whole lot of them in Ottawa.

But what would we replace it with? More of the same?

More Self-Serving Political Machinations

Kudos to the National Post for today's hard-hitting editorial, "Don't let C-257 become law".

As anyone living in Ontario knows, gas shortages from the recent CN strike have seriously jeopardized business and transportation.

The Bloc's private member's bill to outlaw replacement workers would only serve to exacerbate this type of disruption. Our economy could be seriously affected to the point of driving even more manufacturing jobs out of Canada.

The Bloc has tried this trick before and failed nine of the previous times. However now that the Liberals have Sheriff Dion in town, they are placing political manoeuvring above the best interests of the country:

But now that their left wing is in charge of the party, and now that the Conservatives are in power, the Liberals favour the law because they reason it will embarrass the government while also permitting them to steal votes from the NDP.

Not even the Liberals, with all their political machinations, are prepared to back a law that would shut down essential services during a strike. But if they can persuade House Speaker Peter Milliken--himself a Liberal -- to permit amendments that would exempt emergency workers, the Liberals seem prepared to vote for a measure they rightly defeated nine times.

This is just one more illustration of what happens in a minority government situation when all oppostion parties join in an extremely irresponsible left-wing agenda to further their own partisan interests. It happened with the Kyoto bill, it is going to happen with the Anti-terror vote, and it looks as if it will be happening again with the National Economy held hostage.

* * * *

More at Dr. Roy.

Tuesday Update: CFIB opposes C-257 (not surprisingly). Check out BC Tory.

Self-interest trumps integrity

Today's Hill Times reminds us that the measures that were brought in as part of the Anti-Terrorism Act by the Liberals are set to expire on March 1. A vote is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon. (You can access the HT article via National Newswatch - "Dion's Whipped Anti-Terror Law Divisive...")

For some reason, Stephane Dion as chosen to frame this issue as a pivotal test of his leadership and caucus loyalty, even though Liberal opposition to his three-line whip and subsequent threats is well known and even extends into the Liberal-dominated Senate:

Ontario Liberal Senator David Smith denied that the Liberal caucus is divided or that this issue is affecting the morale of the caucus members.

"I haven't sensed that. These things aren't totally black and white. There's a range of opinions on it but our caucus is very supportive of our leader. I support him 150 per cent and he'll get through this complicated, tricky issue in a way that's reasonable and responsible," Sen. Smith told The Hill Times.

Sen. Smith, who chaired the special Senate Committee on the Anti-terrorism Act last week, recommended that the two controversial measures be extended for three years.

Excuse me, but I detect a disconnect somewhere there. I suppose though, in the world of Liberal-think it makes some kind of sense.


In any case, as the Hill Times has apparently talked to a top Liberal source who supports a renewal of the anti-terrorism clauses:

..."It's a mistake, it's divisive and has affected the morale of the caucus. If this was brand new legislation and the Liberals didn't have their fingerprints all over it from before, then it would be different but it's not. The majority of the people who are in the House now on the Liberal side were there when this legislation was passed by the Liberals"...

Since Dion has threatened to refuse to sign nomination papers for anyone who opposes him, his caucus now has no option. They either follow the leader or they cross the floor.

And in the case of Senator Smith, he must feel that party solidarity trumps all else, and thus his 150% support.

Why this issue Stephane? Why??? What are you not telling us?

* * * *

Update: Courtesy of National Newswatch - Charles Adler - "Stephane Who?"

Check out Olaf's latest post - Dion and the ATA...

CNews - Grits say no to changes. Dion has his heels dug in.

Caledonia Update

As the one year anniversary of the Caledonia dispute draws near, Kate has an inconvenient truth posted - "It's time for the politically incorrect truth to be told".

Just for the record, the Feds have said that the claim is invalid.

However, there is a breaking news link on the main Hamilton Spectator page at the moment titled "Caledonia resolution not coming soon..." I'm not even going to try to link to it, because those Torstar breaking news links are so frustrating.

However, Monday's Spectator does promise extensive coverage of the upcoming Happy Anniversary, which I'm sure all the townsfolk will be busy celebrating.

* * * *

Monday Update: CTV - No quick end to Caledonia dispute... Mayor Marie Trainer says, "Despair has set in".

Check the Spectator all this week for articles (click 'Local').

CP picks up Bolan Story - THERE WAS NO LEAK, Ralph!

Liberal Catnip breaks the news that Kim Bolan has contacted CP and stated openly that "that there was no leak from anyone and that the story was done on her own initiative." (H/T to Ross at the Gazetteer, who played a major role in uncovering the truth).



From Canada.com:

"The story was not a plant by anybody," Bolan said. "All this talk of plants by the government or the RCMP is ludicrous.

"Nobody has disputed a single element of the story because it's true," said Bolan, who has covered the Air India case since the tragedy in 1985.

Bolan said it's ridiculous that politicians are reacting as if the information is some kind of security breach. She said anyone who has covered the Air India case in any detail has the information.

L.C. says that, "Whether or not this will satisfy the Liberals remains to be seen and it certainly, in my mind, does not excuse Stephen Harper's part in this affair".

I have to ask, 'excuse him' from what?


In today's Toronto Sun, Sheila Copps states the following:

Most political observers were shaking their heads when Prime Minister Stephen Harper attacked newly minted Liberal Member of Parliament Navdeep Bains.

How did PMSH attack Bains? He simply began reading from the Vancouver Sun, and wasn't even allowed to finish what he was trying to say!

If there was an implication of any kind, it was a question about whether or not Stephane Dion's steadfast refusal to support the extension of the anti-terror laws was in any way influenced by some sort of political debt. But Harper never got to finish his thoughts. You can't condemn a man without evidence. So much for the Liberal values of civil rights.

I now have two remaining questions:

#1. Why isn't this plastered all over MSM?

#2. When will the Honourable Member from Wascana retract his nasty allegations and apologize to the Prime Minister of Canada?

* * * *

More at Political Staples - Today's news tomorrow.

CTV Question Period - Bains 'Baffled'...
Good links to interviews. The one between Jay Hill and Ralph Goodale is especially interesting. Ralph blames the government for not bringing forth changes, but Jay makes the point that the Liberals under Dion flip-flopped at the last minute. Time has now run out. Jay says the changes could be made after the vote to extend the provisions.

But Ralph likes to bluster and obfuscate to protect the leader. Thank you Stephane Dion for putting Canadian security second.

* * * *

And for a little chuckle, check out Chucker - "If I were Don Newman on next Friday's Politics". Chucker, you sure do have some strange fantasies...

CTV Politics Blog Picks up Bolan Story

Kudos to Ross K. of the Gazetteer for an awesome piece of investigative journalism by a blogger.

David Akin has picked up this story, and commends Ross for his due diligence in confirming that the person who left the comment was indeed Kim Bolan.

Once again we see the power of blogs to uncover truth. Ross has promised a followup post, which I am looking forward to reading.

* * * *

Update: Is this a time to be going soft on terror? - Gay and Right.

Debunking the Conspiracy Theory

I'm still trying to digest all this, but in the previous post, Wilson directed me to a curious sequence of events at Liberal Catnip that led me to The Gazetteer, who apparently has received direct communication from the author of the infamous Vancouver Sun article, Kim Bolan.

I wrote the story and there was no leak. It was very apparent from sitting through 19 months of the Air India trial who would be the obvious choices for investigative hearings - all the names came out during the evidence at the trial. After the trial, I wrote my book on Air India, called "Loss of Faith: How the Air India Bombers Got Away With Murder" and reviewed documents related to the one Supreme Court challenge of the investigative hearing provision, launched and lost by Satnam Reyat - the wife of the only man convicted.

I have covered this story since 1985 so there are few mysteries or secrets. I first interviewed Darshan SINgh Saini back in 1988. I have a copy of parts of his police statement that came out during the Air India trial. The reason I wrote the story this week is because I just learned (through Sikh community contacts, not POLICE) that Saini was the father-in-law of Bains. I did not know that until very recently. I called up Saini and Bains and they confirmed it. I thought it was relevant.

So don't always look for a political conspiracy. In this case, there isn't one.

Kim Bolan | 02.23.07 - 2:17 am

Why isn't this all over MSM?

* * * *

Other bloggers following this developing story:

Crux - Who Is Slandering Whom?

Political Staples - No More Mr. Nice Guy

Molar's take on the terror provisions - Sunset Boulevard.

Dust My Broom - There was no leak.

More mud-slinging

Ralph Goodale's return volley at Stephen Harper strikes me as being both desperate and disingenuous.

No doubt he is still smarting from his own self-perceived character defamation regarding the Quebec attack ads. I suspect he and his fellow Liberal caucus members are also using the opportunity to deflect attention from Dion's steadfast refusal to consider the extension of the controversial anti-terror clauses.

"We have seen here the disclosure of secret security information to personally smear a member of Parliament. Canadians need to know who in the government is responsible," Goodale (Wascana) said in question period.

That's a pretty serious allegation. He is not even just suggesting that it was a deliberate government leak; he is stating it.


The Winnipeg Free Press states that "Goodale said that even if no one in government gave the Sun Saini's name and drew attention to his links with a Liberal MP, the RCMP answers to the government."

Ralphie is trying to cover all his bases here. So he is in effect saying that however the leak occurred, it is the government's fault. They are responsible because everyone answers to the government at the end of the day.

Too bad that as Finance Minister, he didn't apply this line of reasoning to his own department during the Income Trust debacle.

Enviro-Socialist Hypocrisy

Peter Foster's excellent FP editorial (The Living Come First) puts forward an interesting view on the current popularity of the Kyoto Kult, and the underlying enviro-socialism that drives it.

Sir Nicholas Stern, according to Foster, particularly tends to espouse the concern for the future generations:

The alleged ethical trump card in the enviro-socialist stance is that the market has no way of accounting for the fate of people a hundred or two hundred years hence (although it seems to have done a bang-up job in the past two hundred). Future generations "lack representation." To discount the future -- by this account -- is to cheapen the lives of the unborn.

Stern suggests that the unborn should have equal "weights" with present generations. "Are there any persuasive ethical arguments," it asks, "for discrimination by birth date?" Well, abortion certainly seems to be one, since mothers have by definition to be born before their babies. But in fact we need not get into the thorny ethics of the "Right to Life," since this is not a matter of the living taking precedence over a fetus, but of the bizarre notion that the living should not take precedence over those who have not even been--and may never be--conceived.

The main precondition for the prosperity of future generations is the health of present generations. Enviro-socialism seeks to turn this obvious logic on its head. But the notion that the present might sacrifice itself to the collective future is bizarre. By impoverishing ourselves we necessarily impoverish our descendents, and make them less equipped to deal with any challenges they might face (and we also further impoverish the present poor, contrary to the redistributionist fantasies of Kyoto).

I'm not sure that I agree with everything Foster says in the editorial, but it is a fascinating read.

The irony, as he points out as an aside, is that all this concern for the unborn seems to ignore the present reality of abortion.

But of course, in a world view where humans are the supreme culprits, I suppose that abortion is simply another tool with which to offer sacrifices to Mother Earth.

* * * *

Update - More Enviro-Socialist Hypocrisy:

Lorrie Goldstein - Let 'em live like Common People.


Toronto Sun Letters :

Do as they say?

I was somewhat disenchanted to learn that two champions for global warming control have not been practising what they preach. My day started poorly by learning that David Suzuki's entourage of seven are touring the country in a bus with 40 seats. Later, to my dismay, I learned that Al Gore showed up to his Toronto engagement in a gas-gulping limousine. What message are we to take from this?

Grant Kelly

Angus

* * * *

Great post at Officially Screwed, "Suzuki Paying for Salvation...". The post itself is worth the read, and then in comments we have one reader referring to "Kooky Suzuki" which gave me a chuckle, and another gives a link to one awesome debunking site: A Dog Named Kyoto. I could spend the whole day reading that blog!


Tom Brodbeck - Suck it up, Suzuki!

Saturday Update: Suzuki lashes out at Alberta premier.

Where there's smoke...

Bizarre. It almost seems as if someone at the National Post was reading my blog yesterday.

Today's editorial, 'Shame'? Hardly, not only espouses the same ideas I had, but even uses some of the same words:

No one--including us --is accusing the MP in question, Navdeep Bains, of any illegal behaviour. And voters are entitled to make their own individual judgments on whether the PM was engaging in dirty pool by opening the pages of the Sun in the privileged environment of the House of Commons. But they would be advised to ignore the slanted, indignant language that some other media outlets are trying to disguise as impartial reporting.

The PM is being accused of suggesting that the Liberals changed their policy on ant terror legislation to protect Mr. Bains' father-in-law, Darshan Singh Saini, or, more generally, to cripple an Air India investigation that many in the Sikh community oppose. In fact, it is only by clairvoyance that reporters can claim to know what Mr. Harper would have said in his complete reply. He was shouted down long before he had the chance to make the "suggestion" being freely attributed to him (readers may wonder why the Liberals did not sit quietly and let him continue covering himself with "shame").

But even if Mr. Harper intended to suggest what he is being accused of suggesting, his only "shame" lies in saying what millions of Canadians are thinking. The Sikh voting bloc that Mr. Bains drew to the Dion camp (via Gerard Kennedy) at the Liberal convention in December is a critical reason why it is Mr. Dion, as opposed to Bob Rae or Michael Ignatieff, who now sits as Leader of the Opposition. Why would it be out of bounds to suggest that Mr. Dion's sudden and stalwart opposition to key anti-terrorism provisions -- even over the objections of many influential members of his own divided caucus -- might somehow be traced to those same provisions being potentially used to compel testimony from the supporters of a king making MP?

This is the first example of any attempt at impartial comment on this debacle that I have come across. Ralph Goodale revealed in many recent interviews that the Sun article was in distributed along with other noteworthy newspaper articles as usual that day. So it would seem that the Liberals were anticipating that this might be brought up, and they wanted to prevent it from being read into the official record.

But by stopping the PM from reading the whole story, they ended up bringing more attention to the issue than if they had just let him finish it, and then either attack him then for alleged defamation when they had some kind of proof, or else just quietly go on to another topic and hope the whole thing would die.

Harper knew that the story itself would not be carried by most MSM. He was talking straight to the people.

* * * *

More fallout at Steve Janke - Prominent Sikh Liberal Resigns...
(H/T National Newswatch)

Chronicle Herald - Air India Families Plead for Justice

National Post - No Apologies

Ottawa Citizen - "... Senate Supports Terror Law".

* * * *

Friday Afternoon Update: Vancouver Sun chews out Harper:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper abused his privilege this week when he cited a story by Vancouver Sun reporter Kim Bolan to suggest that the Liberals are opposing an extension of an Anti-Terrorism Act provision set to expire next week because of a connection to one of their MPs.

Bolan's exclusive report that the father-in-law of Ontario MP Navdeep Bains is on a witness list to testify before an investigative hearing in relation to the Air India bombing made no such connection.

My only question is, why did Kim Bolan bother mentioning Bains?

Liberals are Clairvoyant! - Harper reprimanded for unspoken thoughts.

PM Stephen Harper is getting pummelled in MSM today - and of course the sanctimoniously-enraged Liberals are demanding an apology for the alleged allegation that he was never actually allowed to articulate due to their raucous chorus of "Shame"! (Hansard - 14:20). Clearly, they were ready for the Conservatives to reference this article. They had a game plan.

And perhaps I would be more convinced of the lack of substance to the Vancouver Sun story if Stephane Dion hadn't ordered his caucus to vote against extending the anti-terrorist measures; with threat of severe punishment for any dissenters. The phrase "Methinks he doth protest too much" springs to mind.

But the real puzzle is why would Harper risk jeopardizing his current high poll results, by apparently attempting to draw a connection, based on a news story, between Dion's steadfast refusal to even consider the extension for a short period of time and a possible conflict of interest and/or indebtedness to certain factions that supported him during the leadership convention?

I suspect that there is a lot more going on here than meets the eye. Perhaps this was Harper's attempt to warn Canadians about something that he ordinarily would not be able to divulge. Who knows what exactly he was going to say, or how he was planning to frame it? He was never given a chance to finish.

So the Liberals demanding that Harper apologize for something that he was not even permitted to say is rather rich. Why didn't they allow him to finish what he was reading, so that it would be in permanent record in Hansard, and then they could crucify him with the glaring evidence?

* * * *

Update: I highly recommend Phantom Observer's take on this.

Mmmm.... Very interesting

This little news item just showed up on National Newswatch - "Liberal MP's In-law Interviewed in Air India case".

I'm still trying to understand all the implications. Please weigh in with your thoughts.


Update from Kerplonka.

And exactly who is the Control Freak?

More great headlines to wake up to

Lots of good stuff at National Newswatch this morning.

I may comment later; depending on how much I can type after one of my many accident-prone mishaps yesterday.

I should just put on full body armour every day.

Congrats Dalton, on Lifetime Achievement Award!

Just couldn't miss this one from the 9th Annual Teddies Waste Awards courtesy of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation:

Mr. McGuinty made two significant statements that ensure he will be long remembered by taxpayers. First, as Liberal Opposition leader on the election trail in 2003 he repeatedly told voters: "I won't raise your taxes, but I won't cut them either.

But he didn’t stop there. He showed up at a downtown Toronto hotel and signed a pledge drafted by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation that committed a Liberal government to abide by the Taxpayer Protection and Balanced Budget Act. Above his signature, read: "I, Dalton McGuinty, promise that if my party is elected as the next government, I will not raise taxes or implement any new taxes without the explicit consent of Ontario voters."

The Liberals won that election and Dalton McGuinty became Premier of Ontario. Yet, six months later, he broke that promise, ushering in the largest tax hike in Ontario’s history in the form of a so-called “health premium.” Voters called it a tax and the Big Lie.

Since then, Premier McGuinty has continuously blamed his predecessors for all his troubles, delivered 3 deficit budgets, ramped up spending, and continuously whined to the federal government for more handouts. Handouts for what taxpayers ask? In December, 2006, the McGuinty Liberals ushered in a 25 per cent pay increase for MPP’s. Does this sound like someone to be trusted with tax dollars?

I am so proud to be an Ontario taxpayer. Of course we Ontario voters will always vote Liberal, because after all, that's what our parents did - and we always do what we're told.

* * * *

Update: Dalton makes more promises - maybe trying to snag next year's Teddy too?

Kyoto Bill was a Huge Victory!

I agree with Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez that the passage of his private member's bill (C- 288) was a huge victory; but not for his party.

In today's National Post, Don Martin states the following (The Fantasy that is Kyoto) :

"It's not enforceable, not economical and not even constitutional," fumes a senior official in the Environment Ministry. "But we're working on something to deal with it."

"...The cost and consequences of Kyoto's implementation will not be sugarcoated by this government. The intention is not to deliver warm and fuzzys on ways to meet our international obligations, but to pour cold water and hard realities on the folly of aggressively trying to meet the 2012 target.

( . . . )

And the bureaucrats know there's no way to deliver on the target without making Canadian consumers recoil in horror at the sacrifices they will have to make -- which is precisely the message the Conservatives aim to deliver before summer.

Martin goes on to demonstrate in very cold, concrete terms what dear Pablo's bill will mean for the average Canadian:

Canadian greenhouse gas emissions will have soared about 270 megatonnes above the Kyoto target by 2010, about 40% over the limit, leaving us just two years to scale back to the emission discharge of 1990 minus 6%.

"...That's a big-sounding reduction, but consider what meeting it means to the economy. Canada would have to shut down all the power generation in Canada. Twice over. Or, it would have to eliminate all gasoline-fuelled cars and trucks. Three times over. It could shut down the manufacturing sector. Six times over. Or it might choose to scrub all mining activity. Fourteen times over..."

But more bad news for Pablo and Dion - Even the Red Star is presenting what must be for them some very disturbing news. Richard Gwyn says the latest Angus Reid poll suggests that Canadians are getting tired of trying to be the world's do-gooder. This has negative implications for Kyoto, and by extension for its cheerleaders:

The subject was global warming and respondents were asked their preferences about alternative policy approaches.

By a wide margin, 66 per cent to 34 per cent, Canadians said they preferred "domestic action" to halt climate change rather than "international policy."

Uh-oh! It seems that Canadians are getting weary of concentrating on the rest of the world, and now want to focus on concrete issues at home. This does not bode well for parties that only have Kyoto in their election arsenal.

And now that the Liberals have handed Harper a gift-wrapped ultimatum to deal with Kyoto, you can be sure that he will be letting Canadians know exactly what this fantasy is going to cost us in real terms. My guess is that we will soon see a money bill coming that will be up for a vote in the Commons. The opposition will either have to vote for it and incur the wrath of Canadians, as they realize who is responsible for their misery, or else the opposition will have to vote it down and trigger an election, since any money bill is a confidence vote.

And thus, Pablo Rodriguez will be hoisted by his own petard.

But the fatal blow will be to Dion.

Dreamy Dion - Updated Title: Dictator Dion

Despite being labelled "arse-lickers of Satan", things are looking up for the CPC these days.

The lead story in today's Globe (Tories Surge on Harper's Leadership) shows Harper polling way ahead of Dion. Allan Gregg, chairman of The Strategic Counsel, which produced the poll for the usually liberal-loving Globe and CTV News says:

“The thing I'd be very distressed about if I were Dion, is that, not only has he not established any prime-ministerial-in-waiting attributes, he's also got none of the attractive leader attributes.”

More poll info here (CTV).

Obviously, Dion is proving to be a leadership dud, and I would suspect that has much to do with his uncompromising, unrealistic, Halls-of-Academia worldview.


An influential senior Liberal feels Dion should be downplayed. In a front-page Post story ("Party Needs More Image, Less Dion"), Tom Axworthy, a Queen's University professor and aide to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, agreed to an interview "after CanWest News Service obtained letters he wrote to Mr. Dion and to Liberal party president Senator Marie Poulin insisting the party follow through on a renewal process Mr. Axworthy led during the Liberal leadership campaign."

Mr. Axworthy noted in the letter to the Liberal leader that a study of the 2006 federal election results showed "the party image as a whole" was far more influential than party leader or local candidate in vote choice by Canadians.

I keep hearing warnings from some pundits and Liberals that it would be a grave mistake to underestimate Stephane Dion. In fact just yesterday, the Record featured a glowing tribute (Dion Dilemma Confounding Tory Strategists) to Dion by University of Regina political sociologist and author, J.F. Conway (under subscriber lock):

One thing is clear about Dion. It's dangerous to underestimate him. When he arrived in Ottawa in 1996 he was dismissed as a lightweight. Yet he prevailed over Bouchard. When Paul Martin sidelined him (as a Chrétien loyalist) to the environment portfolio, Dion emerged stronger and more credible than ever. The Liberal establishment, and the Ignatieff and Rae forces, wrote him off as a non-starter. Now Dion is one election away from becoming prime minister.

O.K. Stephane. If that is true, I think the time to start dazzling us would be right about now.

* * * *

Update: Some very disturbing stories showing up on National Newswatch this morning. We may be starting to get an idea why Dion is fighting the extension of the anti-terror measures.

Please read Ex-PM Sought Support of Terrorist Group - Then check out Dust My Broom, who has a very interesting link to a blog entry by Tarek Fatah - "Race and Religion at the Liberal Party Convention".

Now consider this from the Globe! - Dion to Punish MP's Who Back Anti-Terrorism Measures Vote.

At this point, I really wish that Bob Rae was leader of the LPC; even if it meant more problems for the Conservatives. At least we would be safer as a country.


Further Update: Air India victims' families speak out. Dion sure has painted himself in a corner now!

Huge Update!!! - This is unbelievable. From C-News:

...But MPs privately complain that the decision was taken by the caucus social justice committee, which is dominated by left-wing Liberals. Most MPs, including those with expertise in national security and human rights matters, were never consulted and were surprised when the decision was presented to them two weeks ago as a fait accompli.

Some privately grouse that Dion has been influenced by militant Sikh and Muslim groups, members of which helped secure his leadership victory last December.

Those complaints were echoed Tuesday by the chairman of the Air India Victims' Families Association.

"It looks like the sympathizers of terrorism have more influence on (Liberals)," Gupta said.

He said Dion may have become "victim of vote bank politics," referring to ethnic bloc voting...

Blowing in the wind

Ezra Levant comments on the tendency of Stephane Dion to switch positions according to political expediency.

He also suggests another reason why Steffi may be siding with the Bloc and NDP to kill the Liberal's own security laws - pay back time for Muslim support during the leadership race.

Oh, well. At least Dion is "authentic", according to Karen Redman. Whatever that means.

* * * *

Update: Check out tonight's Mike Duffy - Iggy tells Mike that even though the polls are favouring the Conservatives (especially the new Strategic Counsel poll), that voters need to compare Dion and Harper.

He says Dion is "a man of courage; conviction; this man really believes this stuff on the environment". "Mr. Harper makes it up".

What utter arrogance! Harper makes it up!

And BTW, Iggy, if Stephane Dion is believing all the hot air that Suzuki and company are dishing out, I wouldn't be bragging about it.

That's not being courageous. It's called being gullible.

Show me the money

Joseph C. Ben-Ami seems to be another Doubting Thomas.

He questions David Suzuki's claim that "corporations have not been interested in funding us".

Oops! He also calls him a "Global Warming Charlatan". I'm pretty sure that is considered to be blasphemy in the Church of Kyotology.

* * * *

And more Glo-Bull Warming info from Rachel Marsden - My Own Inconvenient Truth.

I've found a couple more Doubting Thomas' here and here. Their penance will be to take the bus to the hospital for any health emergencies.

Let's Rework those Ads

That nasty K-word keeps popping in the media.

In fact the Sun's Lorrie Goldstein has not only mentioned Kyoto in today's Point of View - "McGuinty's Green Smoke Screen", but also in his own column featuring the Top Ten Problems with the Kyoto accord (The Kyoto Horror Show).

Sheila Copps throws in her own two cents worth as well (Kyoto Cost Tories Dearly).

The Ontario Government's disingenuous attempt to portray itself as Kyoto compliant is a topic I'll leave for another day.

Copp's piece on the other hand, smacks of everything that causes the public to become cynical about politics, as she urges the government to support opposition's Kyoto bill:

Why not take a leap of faith and support Kyoto targets? Even if the requisite tonne reduction is not met, politics is about perception.

And there, my friends, is Liberal-think unplugged. Ugh.

Lorrie Goldstein has put together an incredibly insightful list of reasons why the Kyoto targets are flawed and unrealistic. Most have to do with the fact that non-signatory countries produce far greater greenhouse gas emissions than we do.

Copps says, "By standing up as the only party against Kyoto, the Tories were strangely out of step with the House of Commons and the country."

But Goldstein counters:

Finally, do Canadians support Kyoto? Our national media seem to think so, based largely on a recent Globe/Strategic Counsel poll, which asked people whether we should "try" to achieve our Kyoto targets. That received a 63% to 30% favourable response. But surely, Canadians believe we should "try" to do many things. Whether we're willing to make unfair sacrifices in a doomed effort, is the real question.

Interestingly, when The Strategic Counsel asked the same people if they supported charging "significantly higher prices" for gasoline and heating their homes -- a far more relevant question -- the vote was 64% to 34% against.

A CanWest/Innovative Research poll which was in the field at almost the same time as The Strategic Counsel, found about seven in 10 respondents agreed with the statement: "I don't care whether the new federal government implements Kyoto or not, so long as they take real action to make our environment better." Hmmm.

So, Canadians appear to support Kyoto, but when asked to put their money where their mouths are, they start jumping off the bandwagon.

I would go further and agree with the Globe's Jeffrey Simpson, that Canadians have been indoctrinated with the erroneous message that "Kyoto equals concern about climate change".

So here is my (once again) free and unsolicited advice, this time for Stephen Harper and the CPC. Drop those attack ads right now. Replace them with ads showing the real facts about the effects of Kyoto; both in terms of unrealistic targets and the possible effects on the economy. Lay out a pragmatic plan to reduce pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.

Expose the opposition and Kyoto for the shams that they are; but show me - don't tell me.

* * * *

Great link to Lorne Gunter's latest column at Political Staples - The Problem is Bigger than That. Edmonton Journal - Dion Paints Himself into Green Corner.

Some hilarious stuff here about 'Greenie' - Officially Screwed and SDA.

Monday Update: Check out Uncommon Truths - Another poll gone horribly ungreen...

Open Letter to Jack Layton

Dear Jack,

I am going to give you some free advice here. Back the government on extending the Anti-Terror laws. You will be seen to be flexible and responsible. You will be the hero. Dion will look even more pathetic by comparison.

Think about it, Jack.

* * * *

Not exactly related, but interesting story by Licia Corbella - Disturbing Reality Buried.

Stubborn Dr. Did Little

Stephane Dion is digging in his heels on the Terror Vote (H/T National Newswatch).

Kate also notes that his is losing the support of Liberal media regarding Kyoto.

Ah well, at least we have Ralph's assurances that Stephane is smarter and more sincere than Stephen Harper.

And you can always trust Ralph Goodale, right?

'He Who Should Have Been Liberal Leader' speaks out

I have to admire Bob Rae for breaking ranks with the Dion party line here on the terror law debate. (CNEWS; H/T National Newswatch)

The National Post is also carrying two interesting letters today. The first is a joint effort by Rob Nicholson, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General and Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, Ottawa:

"...The Liberals have not only gone against a bill they drafted but against their own subcommittee members' recommendations to support the renewal of these important law enforcement tools. Mr. Dion is rejecting his own Cabinet decision and the advice of his own national security experts on the subcommittee, who thoroughly reviewed these provisions of the ATA.

This is not the time for the Liberals to be playing partisan politics with our national security."

The next letter is even more poignant, since it was written by Richard Braudo of Toronto, who says he has "acted as legal counsel for the Liberal party and worked as a volunteer in its campaigns in the past. But now, due to its unprincipled actions surrounding this legislation, the party no longer has my support."

"...Unfortunately, many judges are focused on a strict statutory interpretation of the Charter, failing to recognize that individual rights must be balanced with public safety. In the absence of such balancing, Charter-based decision-making -- which has a strong bias toward individual rights -- undoes the underlying fabric of Canadian society. Such an approach leads us toward anarchy.

And the opposition argument that the clauses at issue have never been used, and therefore are not needed, is nonsensical. It is especially absurd when at the same time the opposition claims that these clauses are abusive. These measures may be needed in the future. And the fact that they have not been used to date demonstrates that they have not been employed in an abusive manner, and can be fully expected not to be so used in the future..."

(So there goes that argument up in smoke, Red Tory).


As an Ontario resident, I can't believe that I am actually musing today that Canada would be better served with Bob Rae as the leader of the Liberal Party rather than Dion.

Perhaps Stephane should consider crossing the floor to the NDP. Then we could send both him and Jack on a one-way trip over to Afghanistan to initiate peace talks with the Taliban.

* * * *

Update: Dion is in a straitjacket of his own making. Check out Chantel Hebert.

Huge Update: Red Tory recanted his position!

That's it. Dion is done.

* * * *

Selling Out Terror Victims - National Post: A writer who lost her father asks why Stephane Dion is sabotaging the Air India inquiry.

Great post by Dr. Roy on the Air India connection.

How crowded IS it over there on the left?

With each passing day I marvel at how much further out in left field the Liberal party is positioning itself.

Right now, it's a dog fight among the Dippers, Grits, Bloc and Greens. Of course, of all those parties, only one has even a remote chance of forming the government. We regard the more extreme policies of the smaller parties with some kind of necessary indulgence.

However, we expect more from the Liberal party.

The issues swirling around in Parliament today, such as the Liberal party's disingenuous Kyoto bill, the hypocritical accusations of partisanship regarding the Tory's judicial advisory selection, and the Liberal flip-flop to the left concerning the anti-terrorist act's sunset clause should be a concern for all Canadians.

But the worst offence is the last one, because it speaks to the very safety and security of Canadian citizens.

We are now starting to see a schism in the 'newly united' Liberal party. Stephane Dion's leadership is a sham. He represents everything I am most fearful of in a leader. His elitist, idealistic world view is still firmly entrenched in the Neverland of Academia. From today's National Post:

A former human-rights lawyer, Mr. Cotler said he initially opposed the two provisions, which critics say give Draconian powers to Canadian authorities, and was pleased to see the Liberal government implement the sunset clause.

But as justice minister between 2003 and 2006, he saw that the provisions, neither of which have been used, were not being abused. As a result, he supports the three-year extension. Other dissenters from the party line include Roy Cullen, who sat on a parliamentary subcommittee that recommended extending the provisions in October. Mr. Cullen said he and other colleagues made their case at the Liberal caucus meeting yesterday.

"The problem now is that we sort of have staked out a position and it might be difficult to reverse that. But I'm always the eternal optimist."

The bill's Liberal architect, former deputy prime minister Anne McLellan, has also expressed concern at the new party position. "After 9-11, we did not actually believe we were going to have to deal with homegrown terrorists," she said this week. "The situation today is, if anything, more dangerous and more complex and the powers have never been abused, so why would you take these tools away from law enforcement?"

And from Canada.com - "Dion, meanwhile, is standing by his decision to oppose the measures. Those Liberals who support the move say a compromise could have been reached with the government on salvaging them had the Conservatives heeded the advice of a parliamentary subcommittee and brought forward legislation to amend the measures."

So this has ended up in a game of chicken.

Dion is not just incompetent - His hopeless naïveté puts us all at risk.

* * * *

Update: I did a little snooping around at Liblogs and came across this interesting discussion. (Shhh.... Don't tell them!)

This one is brutally honest. I admire that. This one too.

Kyoto Bill Lives

Tories fail to kill opposition Kyoto bill (CTV).

What next? If the government fails to act on this bill, which will likely pass with only the government opposing it, will there be a vote of non-confidence? How close are we to an election?

BTW, Buzz Hargrove is warning against the current Kyoto deadlines, especially in light of today's devastating news from Chrysler:

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Autoworkers Workers, does not expect any government to try to implement Kyoto according to current deadlines.

"It would be devastating for the whole community, anybody that signed on," he said. "It's not even a remote possibility. No prime minister in any one of the parties in the House of Commons is going to bring in any kind of regulation that says we have to do that. It would be suicidal for our economy.

"If somebody were to come out tomorrow and say you have to reach the objective that was laid out initially immediately you'd almost have to shut down every major industry in the country from oil and gas to the airlines to the auto industry and that just doesn't make sense."

Mr. Hargrove advocates a revision of Kyoto deadlines.

Is that an option?

* * * *

Update: Bill passes third reading.

Check out Robert Fife's link at the right hand side. He interviews Constitutional Expert Nelson Wiseman who says that it is 'virtually impossible to implement Kyoto.' He says that the government can no more do that than halt a blizzard.

BTW, Robert Fife does not seem to be a big fan of an unelected Senate. I like this guy!

New Update: We are 'very likely' going to be in an election soon.


Friday Update: John Ivison - Milliken refuses to show Tories the money. "...Speaker Peter Milliken, veered dangerously close to overt partisanship by letting the vote go ahead..."

Confession of a Doubting Thomas

Well, the David Suzuki-mobile rolled into town yesterday. The adulatory masses at the breeding ground of environmental activism were duly awed.

The prophet Suzuki was extolling the faithful to hold the politicians' feet to the global-warming fire:

Require governments to consider the impact of policy on future generations. "Tax the hell out of things we don't want." Force businesses to recycle packaging.

The Wise Bearded One was especially skeptical of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's recent conversion:

"There isn't a green bone in his body"

Oh, Hallowed Saint, how does one exactly test for that on an empirical basis to order to prove that revelation?

Or is it thy all-knowing, supernatural 'oneness with the universe' that gives you this power?

Please forgive my recent occasions of doubt.

Amen.

* * * *

Thursday Update: Check this out! The fruit fly guy implodes.

Stephane - Give your head a shake!

Short post today due to excess snowfall. However, as I glimpse at today's headlines, I wonder how the Liberals can even consider joining the opposition parties to allow the anti-terrorism measures to expire.

National Newswatch has a story up about Canadian oil and gas facilities being a terror target.

Another story here about terror concerns regarding the 2010 Games.

Why let our guard down now? Is Dion really concerned about civil liberties, or is this just a crass political gesture designed to undermine the current government?

Of course, the Liberals are all about ethics and integrity, right?

Yeah, right. Somebody get me that shovel.

* * * *

Update: Happy Valentine's Day, PMSH! Angus Reid...


Further Update: Will there be an election over Kyoto? Check out Step to the Right, Crux of the Matter.

Income Splitting - It's the right thing to do

This post is for Sara (Choice for Childcare), whom I greatly admire. She is a real trooper when it comes to walking the talk; whereas most of us just sit back and complain.

Today is her Income Splitting Blogburst. Already Torian has a post up, and there is another excellent one at Cyrano's Steel.

My husband and I made the decision long ago to have one parent stay home with our children. It was a decision we never regretted, but it has come at a big cost financially. Things would have been much easier with income splitting. We often thought it unfair that dual-income families were given special treatment.

There are many reasons for the government to consider income splitting, and I believe that Jim Flaherty does see this as an issue of equality. Perhaps it isn't viable this time around, but with leaders like Elizabeth May also supporting the idea, I think income splitting will eventually become a reality in Canada.

With declining birth-rates, families now need our encouragement and support more than ever. Our economy depends on it. But this support should be extended to all families - not just those with two incomes.


In a country that holds the notion of equality high on a Canadian flag-draped pedestal, single-income families should not be discriminated against.

It may be too late for my family, but let's do the right thing for Sara and all the Canadian parents who want to care for their own children.

Sun Gets it Right on Editorials

Today the Toronto Sun is announcing a new editorial policy . Paul Berton says from now on, all Sun editorials will be signed.

This article provides an interesting insight into newspaper editorial policy and history. I welcome the change.

Is that a Pearl in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?

Ah, that's nice. It seems that McGuinty and RIM can't gush enough about each other (Record - Feb. 12 "McGuinty lauds RIM's Leaders"):

Brandishing a new BlackBerry Pearl like a TV pitchman, Premier Dalton McGuinty said the Waterloo invention shows all Ontario businesses the benefits of taking risks and ignoring naysayers.

(...)

"I then pull mine out of my pocket . . . and I tell people, as I did just recently in Pakistan and India, that as premier when I see one of these, I see much more than a very convenient, highly developed piece of wireless communications technology," said McGuinty.

(...)

While the billionaire RIM chair and co-chief executive officer insisted in his speech that he would not be so presumptuous as to proffer policy advice to the Liberals gathered here to work on their re-election platform for the Oct. 10 vote, he said they're on the right track.

"You've adopted and implemented very, very good and integrated policies for prosperity, very focused on innovation (and) investment. Cities are major wealth drivers," Balsillie said.

"Quite frankly, I think the fiscal policies of the government have been pretty untouchable and so I encourage what you're doing there. Keep driving the prosperity agendas."

(Record links are acting up today, so you'll just have to take my word for it.)

Now remember a while back when the Record reported the following? - (Feb. 2 - RIM execs among top donors to Liberals")

The link is no longer be accessible to non-subcribers, but here is the interesting part:

Research In Motion Ltd.'s top executives, who until last year largely stayed out of provincial politics, were among the top donors to the Ontario Liberal Party among individuals in 2006, according to party disclosures published by Elections Ontario.

A numbered corporation registered to Mike Lazaridis, RIM's co-chief executive officer, contributed $25,200. The Certified General Accountants Association of Ontario and Tribute Communities (York) Inc. were the only donors more generous than Lazaridis's numbered company.

RIM's other co-CEO, Jim Balsillie, his wife, Heidi, and Lazaridis's wife, Ophelia, each gave $14,000, making them the top donors among individuals.

I have a feeling that we are going to see that brand new Pearl popping out of McGuinty's pocket quite often in the upcoming election campaign.

* * * *

Meanwhile, it seems that Furious George has popped something else. Photo of the happy couple here. They are apparently planning to adopt a child.

Loonies on the left

A curious phenomenon is occurring in Canada. It seems that we no longer have a party on the right.

As the CPC is busy establishing itself as a centrist party, the Liberals and NDP seem to be stumbling over each other in an attempt to assume the role of 'Natural Left-Leaning Party of Canada'.


This in itself is rather amusing, but lately it is proving to be a possible threat to Canadian safety.


As the National Post reports today (under subscriber lock), Liberal MP John McCallum revealed Friday that the "Liberals plan to vote this week with the Bloc and NDP to strike down the two most controversial provisions of [their own] 2001 anti-terrorism law."

The Liberal decision means the minority Conservative government will not have the votes needed to approve a motion extending the provisions for three years.

Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day reacted by accusing the Liberals of bailing out of their own legislation and the war on terrorism.

As recently as October, the Liberals had said they would support extending the provisions that allow preventative arrests of terrorist suspects and investigative hearings.

The provisions, which have not been used, were subject to a five-year sunset clause in the 2001 legislation, and are set to expire at the end of this week unless the Conservative motion is approved by the House of Commons and Senate.

Mr. McCallum said the measures are no longer needed.

What? Is global terrorism no longer a problem? Why put the safety of Canadians at risk unnecessarily? Isn't it good to have these measures in our back pocket?

The Kyoto bill was bad enough, but now we see that the Liberals are even willing to risk national security when it comes to political gain. Does this party have no moral values at all?

I wonder how quickly they would change their minds if Dion was PM and a terrorist plot was uncovered to have him beheaded!

Scary thing is, the NDP is looking better as the official opposition party. The Liberals don't even deserve that.

* * * *

Update: You can get more hypocrisy here.

Chucker Canuk has a great post today - "Grits were actually for public security before they were against..."

Tuesday Update: N.P. - "Cannot 'slack off' terror watch, Day says."

Memories of DDT

Today Lorrie Goldstein likens the global warming hysteria to the knee-jerk reaction against DDT, which ended up causing millions of deaths in malaria-plagued third world countries.

His column Greens Aren't Always Good, Lorrie makes some pithy observations:

Global warming and the Kyoto accord are the crack cocaine of trendy causes for opportunistic politicians and chic environmentalists.

Since fighting man-made global warming involves "saving the planet," or so they tell us, it is the King Kong of all environmental crusades.

Of course, the fact we have been warned in the past by this crowd that life as we know it was about to end over everything from "the population bomb" to "global cooling," and that we survived, is now ignored.

Too many environmentalists know only one way of talking about these issues -- hysterically -- which has led to disaster in the past.

In this context, the history of the pesticide DDT is instructive...

Lorrie goes on to draw similarities to the two events and how even some respected environmentalists caution against jumping on the hysteria bandwagon.


The subject of DDT came up during a somewhat heated discussion in comments a while back in my post The Question Refuser Witch-hunt, so this column may be of particular interest to those involved.

* * * *

Update: Check out Charles Adler - "Canadians Driving Away from Kyoto"; H/T National Newswatch.

In a recent interview I did with the boss at Decima research, I asked the question,
What percentage of voters really think of the environment as their number one issue. The answer was nineteen percent. That means fewer than one in five. How does that small ratio get turned into the story that it is the country's most important issue.

Indeed.


Also, another Kyoto reality-check from Peter Worthington here.

Brilliant solution to the Kyoto problem here!

And if you were ever in doubt as to how much the PPG manipulates the message, check this out!

Tom Brodbeck weighs in - Give Global Warming Skeptics Their Say. Great rant against MSM. Quite refreshing!

Brodbeck again - Hysteria Blocks Debate.

More Kyotology

The Blogging Tories have done a great job today highlighting the articles in MSM that are poking holes at Kyoto.

One of my favourites is the Post's front page exposé on the religious fervour of Kyoto. I had noted this myself several weeks ago:

...The second reason why I believe this is such a hot topic today is that there is a huge spiritual void that the worship of the environment and earth serves to fill; especially by those who have abandoned traditional religion.

Today Joseph Brean of the Post discusses Davil Orrell's new book 'Apollo's Arrow', which exposes the "religious nature of modern environmentalism." David Suzuki and Al Gore are likened to saints or prophets. As PTBC notes, the article is well worth the read.

Contrast this with a Second Opinion piece in today's Record, which was written in response to the Record's anti-Kyoto stand from a few days ago. The writer cites Gore right on cue. The whole piece is written as a Churchhillesque call to environmental arms:

Let us remember what previous generations did when collectively they turned the impossible into the possible.

Another convert for Kyotology.

* * * *

Semi-related tidbit: From the Star - Is Susan Delacourt now becoming a Dion denier?

This is totally awesome!!! (H/T Neo Conservative in comments).

This is really funny!!!

Kyoto Kops

From Canadian Press - "The legislation forces the government to submit its plan for perusal within 60 days by the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy.

The government would also need to set annual emissions targets, publish an annual climate-change progress report, and establish jail sentences or fines for people and business that break the law."


Meanwhile, the National Post is savaging Liberal MP Pablo Rodriguez ("The Folly of Kyoto"):

Mr. Rodriguez's bill is naive in the extreme. It would consign us all to freezing together in the unemployed darkness. And despite all this sacrifice, it wouldn't even do any good against global warming...

The Liberals were in charge of the Kyoto file for over eight years. During that time, our greenhouse gas emissions went from 12% above 1990 levels to more than 30% above. From 1998 onward, the Liberals spent over $6-billion on environmental initiatives. But as former environment commissioner Johanne Gelinas said in her final report last fall, much of that money could not be accounted for, and none of the spending produced any measurable improvement in Canada's emissions. The Liberals -- including then-environment minister Stephane Dion -- could never figure out a way to reduce emissions, or even slow their growth...

Now for crass political gain, the opposition parties seem set to saddle the Tories with Pablo Rodriguez's pie-in-the-sky bill, and perhaps start a recession in the process. When the next election comes, voters should remember who set Canada down this road.

Sorry about the 'cut-and-paste' post today, but I'd sure love to hear your reaction to these two items.

So-Cons Need Not Apply

After criticizing Stephane Dion for excluding men in some Liberal riding nominations, in all fairness I should mention this article from Lifesite.

Heather Stilwell was apparently rejected on the basis of a 'technicality'.

I find it disturbing, yet I can see the political strategy behind it. In any case, it is a very sad sign of our times. I wonder what would have happened if she had been a visible minority?

* * * *

Update: Actually, I just had a brainstorm! Heather Stilwell should try running as a Liberal. Lots of So-cons there (Szabo, Wappel, McTeague, Steckle...)

Make Stephane Dion put his campaign money where his PC mouth is!

* * * *

Update: Heather is back! Good. Let the people decide. The CPC needs more women anyway.

Tail wagging the dog all the way to the polls

Today in the headlines of the National Post, we see the inherent problem with minority governments (Kyoto Bill May Force Election).

All three opposition parties are planning to support the imminent passage of a Liberal private member's bill which would "legally require the Conservative government to abide by the Kyoto protocol's short-term targets". Bill C-288 "calls on Canada to meet its Kyoto commitment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 6% below 1990 levels by 2012."

Constitutional experts say the implications of passing the bill could see Prime Minister Stephen Harper forced to choose between implementing measures to meet Kyoto targets he has called unrealistic or calling a general election.

(...)

The Conservatives fought the bill as it proceeded through successive readings, claiming that if it were passed it would require new spending, something a private member's bill cannot initiate. However, [Liberal] Speaker of the House Peter Milliken ruled yesterday that the bill does not constitute spending for a new and distinct purpose and can proceed to final reading.

So now the Government's hand may be forced. If it attempts to meet these targets, the economy could be seriously affected; a possibility that even Liberal buddy Buzz Hargrove cautions against:

"If somebody were to come out tomorrow and say you have to reach the objective that was laid out initially immediately, you'd almost have to shut down every major industry in the country from oil and gas to the airlines to the auto industry and that just doesn't make sense," he said.

And it makes even less sense in light of the recent bad news from Daimler Chrysler.

The Post cites Patrick Monahan, dean of Osgoode Hall Law School as warning that "the bill, if passed, would legally bind the government to meet its Kyoto obligations."

Therefore, since the government cannot realistically achieve these goals, it may be forced to call an election over the issue.


Personally, I think the opposition will have a lot of 'plainin' to do about why they forced the government's hand on such a contentious and confusing issue that is replete with so-called expert opinion on both sides.

The NDP is likely less than enthusiastic about this charade, since polls suggest that they are losing support to the Greens and Liberals. However, on an ideological basis, they have no choice but to back the bill.

It's clear that the opposition parties are playing a game of political blackmail on the backs of the Canadian taxpayers.



But here is the most telling line of all from the Post article:

Mr. Rodriguez said he is not suggesting how the Conservatives should meet the Kyoto targets. "They are in power. They wanted to run the country, so they have to take the responsibility," he said.

In other words, 'we three opposition parties will dictate to the government what to do, and then when they fail, the Natural Governing Party will be back in power.'

Thus, we see the fatal flaw of a minority government. I hope that Canadians see through the ruse and reward Stephen Harper with a strong majority government which he so rightly deserves.

Then perhaps we can finally get something of significance done in Ottawa, instead of all this political posturing.

* * * *

Updates: Here's the view from the other side of the fence.

-Just listening to QP now. Igghead is asking questions like why is the government scaring Canadians about the economic effects of Kyoto? Perhaps he should ask pal Buzz that question.


-Great letter in today's Post:

It was an interesting week in Canadian politics as the majority of federal MPs voted to continue support for the universally acknowledged to be unachievable Kyoto accord, which remains supported by the majority of Canadians, though the contents of the accord are understood by almost no one...a perfect combination of the dishonesty and opportunism of opposition MPs, and the intellectual apathy and indifference of the Canadian people.

Very well said, Iain G. Foulds of Spruce Grove, Alberta.

Great post by Olaf here, with an interesting debate in comments.

Gender Discrimination?

There are hints that Stephane Dion may bar men from running as candidates in some ridings in order to ensure that at least a third of the candidates in the election are female.

I'm sure there is a clause somewhere in this oft-quoted document about gender discrimination being verboten. Very strange indeed.

I wonder if he's planning any other quota targets.


Monday Update: Phantom Observer - The Libranos "No Boys Allowed" Handicap.

New Leader; Same Old Story

This deserves a much higher profile than it's been getting in MSM.

Good work, Mulder!

Stephane, you are in such trouble

The local Liberal-leaning Torstar spawn has finally seen through the smoke and mirrors.

Glad I didn't cancel my subscription.

Sublime Irony

Lifesite had something posted last Friday that I missed. It seems that Gay-only hotels are up in arms about some upcoming British legislation that could force them to have to accept heterosexual customers.

The UK’s 'Sexual Orientation Regulations' will "forbid anyone who provides goods or services from refusing customers on grounds of sexuality."

A gay proprietor says:

“At the end of the day, this is our home and as a landlord we have the right to refuse entry to anyone without giving a reason.”

Seems that when the shoe's on the other foot, it can be somewhat restrictive...

* * * *

BBC - Gay Rights Bill 'threatens hotel'.

The Newest HypoGrit

Check out Lorne Gunter's column in today's Post (For Garth, it's always about Garth).

Going Grit will be a huge stretch for him. To his credit, he has been the Commons' No. 1 champion of income-splitting for married couples. Not only do the Liberals oppose this move (which would save middle-class families $3,000 to $6,000 a year in income taxes), they banned it explicitly in their 1999 budget; and last fall they voted against a Conservative motion to permit seniors to income-split more of their pensions.

Mr. Turner has passionately defended the Tories GST cut, their elimination of the national daycare strategy in favour of child care payments directly to families, boosting the basic personal tax exemption to $10,000 a year, cuts to corporate tax rates, elimination of the corporate surtax and the rearming of our military, of which he said "hallelujah!" On all of these issues, he stands four-square against the Liberals.

So clearly, there are some fundamental ideological differences.


The advantages for Garth are obvious:

• -Campaign donations will be easier to obtain with the accompanying tax receipts which are not an option for Indies.
• -Garth will now be allowed to sit on parliamentary committees.
• -His riding nomination is ensured.

There are likely many more.

But what would have motivated Stephane Dion to throw a lifeline to this loose cannon, beyond the obvious extra vote?

Is Stephane more calculating than we had previously thought? Or simply more incompetent?

* * * *

Jack's NewsWatch has included this post, plus a very interesting one of his own ("What's Garth up to Now?").

Also check out Olaf's great post, "Floor Crossers Beware..."

Turner's first Liberal caucus meeting - such a class act.

Update: Great catch here. Garth not only spills the caucus beans, but in effect says, 'Stephane, we didn't get it done!'

Garth the Grit

So Garth is turning red instead of green.

This should be fascinating to watch, because Income Splitting is not very high up there on the Liberal list of priorities (if they have any). Will he still champion the cause?

Stay tuned.


Update: This is interesting. Via Political Staples, a link from a post by Repo Creepo on Jan. 22 - "Recent Rumblings". I had forgotten about the fundraising issues that Garth was having. Now it all starts to make sense.

It's the money, Stupid! So he actually is still interested in the colour green.

* * * *

Stephen Taylor has a good post on this. In fact National Newswatch picked it up, under the top story.

Blogging, thy day has come.

More great stuff at Calgary Grit and Jason Cherniak. You will be shocked.

And straight from the horse's mouth - GARTH TURNER UNEDITED!

Wednesday Update: Macleans has a great analysis here. (H/T BBS)

More MSM watching blogger reaction here.

Blogging Tory Caveat

Note to all Blogging Tories - Any attempt at humour by contrasting the extremely cold weather with the current global warming hysteria must be immediately followed by a disclaimer that you are just trying to be funny. Otherwise, you risk attracting comments such as the following:

"A GW prayer to “fix” your local weather?

[sigh] What a surprise, another science iliterate christian.
—A Quantum Liberal "

(From Porno Christian's Can I Get a Little Global Warming Over Here?)

"And the -21 reference is a silly one, if thats what you're trying to use to promote the Fraser Institute's (er, Exxon) line that Global warming doesn't exist. There will always be days like this where it feels like winter should.. but it took 2 months to get to it; December and January temps were way above normal for most of the country, and we've had a long cycle going many years back now where temperatures continue to rise and unpredictable weather increases..."

(From Stephen Taylor's Liberal vs. Conservative Narratives.)


And right here in comments, I jokingly made a reference to the plus side of global warming on a day when going outdoors forced me to cover up so much of my face, that they would have banned me for life from Herouxville. The response at 11:59:00 AM was:

"Global warming is a concept that applies to the AVERAGE increase (not day-to-day increase) in global temperatures around the world."

For anyone who is actually confused on this point, the very knowledgeable Lorrie Goldstein gives us the straight goods in today's column, It's the Weather, Stupid!

The unusually mild temperatures we were experiencing a few weeks ago were no more indicative of "global warming" (contrary to many hysterical media reports at the time) than the recent cold snap is evidence of "global cooling."

In fact, these are both examples of "the weather" -- not "climate change." Climate change is not about day-to-day, month-to-month or even year-to-year weather events, no single one of which can be blamed conclusively or exclusively on man-made global warming.

Rather, it is about long-term changes in the earth's climate, brought about by both natural and (it is now believed) man-made phenomenon, spanning decades, centuries, millennia, even millions of years.

Thank you, Lorrie.

Most Blogging Tories are aware of the important distinction, but the Environiks do not tolerate any kind of humour or irreverence directed at this very serious crisis. In fact, we should probably refrain from using any levity at all or else we may be inviting a Global- Warming Jihad. We risk having George Bush and Stephen Harper burned lockstep in effigy by dry ice.

Obviously, this issue is far too volatile for humour or sarcasm.


Thank you. Now, back to your regularly scheduled blogging.

Defining Dion

My recent post asking if Dion is Prime Minister material ended up being a long aggregate of scathing MSM criticism against him. Perhaps the most damning of all was that of the Ottawa Citizen's Randall Denley.

Everything about Dion seems soft, from his handshake to his policies. His appearance at the Citizen editorial board Friday confirmed the fears I had when the Liberals chose him as their leader. Dion is a verbose, mild-mannered academic with a shaky grasp of English who seems unfit to chair a university department, much less lead a country.

That seems a bit harsh, but I think Dion failed to define himself at a critical time after the leadership convention. The CPC was only too happy to do that for him with the recent ad campaign.

Jean Lapierre, recently released from the bondage of caucus, suggests the same:

While the new leader has his party united solidly behind him, Mr. Lapierre cautions that Mr. Dion missed an early opportunity to sell himself across Canada and notes with some alarm that making the environment the critical theme of the campaign could fail.

"The mistake the Liberals are making on the environment is to say Harper is doing everything the Liberals were going to do. I don't understand why they're taking credit for what he's done. Where's the wedge to win votes?"

Some might suggest that the CPC party is running scared; that the ad campaign is evidence of desperation. I think it is brilliant strategy that will crystallize for the Canadian public what MSM already suspects - Stephane Dion defines the Peter Principle.

As an environment minister, his performance was uninspiring at best. Now as accidental leader of the LPC, he is attempting to attach every issue to his devotion to Mother Earth. He may sincerely believe this, but it almost approaches a religious fervour. With the CPC becoming born-again environmentalists, his one trick-pony approach has been usurped. John Baird is emerging as the new Guardian of Gaia, thereby freeing up Harper to deal with Canada's other pressing concerns.

Stephane Dion is still wearing his academic rose-coloured glasses, while Harper's reality vision is crystal clear. Being a Prime Minister requires an ability to juggle various complex files and concerns at the same time. The position demands someone who can think on their feet; speak clearly without stumbling either in content or delivery. An effective Prime Minister must be able to inspire confidence and competence.

And when a traditionally liberal-biased media can no longer hide the truth, even the LPC must be starting to realize that their sparkling new firecracker of a leader is actually a disappointing dud.

* * * *

Update: I need your help. I just finished reading an article in the Record by Geoffrey Stevens, who teaches political science at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Guelph. His op-ed, "Conservative attacks ads are a sign of fear", gives his very partisan POV why the ads are a mistake. Here is the part that bothers me though:

On the face of it, it seems absurd to spend good money (most of it taxpayers' in this age of public subsidies to parties and tax credits for contributors) to attack the opposition in political peacetime. There is no election in progress and none on the horizon, although accidents can always happen.

Is that true? Is most of the ad campaign really financed by the taxpayer? Because that seems to be what he is saying. Does anyone have the facts here? I would love to call him up on it if he's wrong. Thanks.

* * * *

Update: So Dion's little motion passed (that sounds somewhat vulgar..) So what does that mean? Why did Parliament waste time on this, since it is not binding?

Liberals a Little Late to Kyoto Party (H/T National Newswatch):

...To see Dion attack the Harper Conservatives over Kyoto is to witness hypocrisy practised at an advanced level. He knows that the Conservatives are vulnerable on this file, that public concern about climate change may be at an all-time high and that, if he wants to be prime minister, the Liberals must outflank the Greens and NDP in verbalizing the type of environmental outrage that can translate into votes...

And the Vancouver Sun has something to say about Dion's lust for power...

The 'Question Refuser' Witch-hunt

The Toronto Sun's Lorrie Goldstein has discovered a new phenomenon in our current hysterical global warming fixation (Laughing at Global Warming):

I'm sorry. I know global warming is a serious subject, particularly with the release of the latest report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

But at some point in many big stories, mass hysteria takes over and the subject, no matter how serious, "jumps the shark" as they say on TV.

For me, that moment happened last week while reading a story in the Globe and Mail and coming across this hilarious nugget.

"As Conservative MPs emerged from their weekly caucus meeting in Ottawa, reporters asked whether they believe that increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are causing global warming. Most refused to answer the question directly."

Good gawd! Has it come to this? Are not just global warming "deniers," as Stephane Dion calls them, but mere global warming "refusers to answer the question directly" to be hunted down, as we once did witches?

He then goes on to imagine himself as an MP being questioned by the pressing media. The result is not only brilliant, but also extremely informative and well-balanced.

His imaginary press gallery encounter makes the point that MP's shouldn't allow themselves to be intimidated and goaded into making rash statements regarding this very complex issue.

However, the latest IPCC report does indeed seem to be inducing a kind of paranoia among those zealots in the Church of Kyotology.

And as Lorrie suggested, they may have finally jumped the shark in terms of credibility.

* * * *

Update: Is it just me, or does this report send chills up and down your spine too?

PARIS -- Fear of runaway global warming pushed 46 countries to line up Saturday behind France's bid for a new environmental body that could single out - and perhaps police - nations that abuse the Earth.

Notice the capital on the word "Earth"? And the word "police"?

One world environmental socialism is coming, folks. Open your eyes.


And with another reality check, Rex Murphy's 'inconvenient' comment from the other night is now available here.

* * * *

The great Mark Steyn has also nailed it today. (H/T to The Strong Conservative)

Canadian Blue Lemons: Goldstein on Global Warming.

* * * *

Monday Update: This is worth a read - A Prospectus for Big Government by Lorne Gunter. (The tail is wagging the dog)

Also, Canadian Blue Lemons re: Fraser Institute Report.

A Voice of Sanity at the Globe

I was going to tack this onto end of the 'Sky is Falling' post, but I think it deserves a spotlight of its own - Margaret Wente in an on-line Q & A about global warming.

H/T SDA and Halls of Macadamia. I have a warning from Blogger about a scheduled outage soon, so perhaps we can discuss this later.

* * * *

BIG UPDATE: Another voice of sanity at the Globe!! Yikes. Are they all Kyoto-deniers there?

Is Stephane Dion 'Prime Minister' material?

There are several voices emerging from MSM that question Stephane Dion's ability to lead the country.

A few days ago John Ivison remarked:

The Liberals issued a news release yesterday accusing Stephen Harper of being a climate change denier, accompanied by a number of the Prime Minister's own quotes. Many suggest that he was -- and likely still is -- unconvinced about the science of global warming. Yet with one quote, he hit the nail on the head: "As economic policy, the Kyoto accord is a disaster."

Either Mr. Dion knows this and is being duplicitous for political gain or, worse, he doesn't and has been duped by the environmental lobby. Neither explanation inspires much confidence in him as a future prime minister.

Then the Globe's Jeffrey Simpson took Dion to task (H/T Dr. Roy):

Polls show that most Canadians want us to fulfill our Kyoto commitments. In their minds, Kyoto equals concern about climate change. Presumably, such an equation led Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion to propose an opposition day motion calling on the government to "honour the principles and targets of the Kyoto Protocol in their entirety."

Great, except for one incontrovertible fact: There is no conceivable way that Canada can meet its Kyoto targets "in their entirety."

If Mr. Dion or the opposition MPs who agreed with him don't know this, they should be sent to a special cram school on Kyoto. If they do know this -- and chances are, they do -- they are being political disingenuous or intellectually dishonest or, worse, both.

Today we have Michael Coren going out on another politically-incorrect limb. (Michael, haven't they arrested you yet?) He dares to criticize Dion's English!

The most obvious problem about the leader of the Liberal party is that his English is appalling and he is often entirely unintelligible.

There. That which we are not supposed to mention. It's okay to lambaste English-Canadian politicians for their lack of French, even if they represent completely English-speaking ridings, but never point out that a man who wants to rule Canada and speak to and for 20 million Anglophones has an often-impenetrable accent and a bewildering vocabulary.

Of course, if that was Stephane's only fault, it could probably be forgiven. Chretien's English was somewhat grating on the nerves as well.

But Coren goes on to highlight Dion's foot-in-mouth disease and incredible flip-flops on such supposedly irrevocable values such as his French citizenship. (It was a gift from his maman, but he'll give it up if it means more votes...)

Is this a man who is qualified to govern a country as great and diverse as Canada? The question is rhetorical and the answer is obvious in any language.

Even the Globe's Brian Laghi is voicing some concerns!!! Here he questions Dion's tactical savvy:

As an aside, Mr. Dion probably did himself no favours this week when he moved a clearly political motion asking that the Tories reaffirm their support for the Kyoto environmental accord despite the fact that an increasing number of experts are skeptical that the agreement's provisions can be met.

In the Dec. 18/06 issue of Maclean's, Peter C. Newman wrote an illuminating article on Iggy's leadership loss to Dion ("Fearing the Man who would be King").

Like Clark, who assumed the Tory leadership in 1976, Dion won because he had the smallest number of enemies in the hall. Also like "Joe Who?", the newly branded "Stéphane Who?" brought little glory and less charisma to the job. The Clark comparison is apt, because both leaders share great intentions and have demonstrated commendable courage, but possess only a tiny dollop of star power.

Watching Dion perform at the convention, I noticed that like a developing Polaroid photo, his features materialize slowly, without much definition and no aura. His platform manner suffers from the fact that he is a mouth-breather. (His lips don't move, which makes his face expressionless, while his body language, feeble at best, shuts down when he rises to speak.) A gutsy Quebec federalist, the new Liberal leader infuses his public discourse with neither wit nor passion. Like Clark, he will only set the world on fire by accident.

Stephane Dion is quite likely very passionate about what he believes in, but he appears unable to communicate it on so many levels. The same, of course, was said about Harper, but the difference is that Harper has learned a lot along the way; both in terms of language fluency and strategy.

It's doubtful that Dion could evolve in a similar fashion fast enough to become an effective leader of our country - which is great for the CPC.

* * * *

Update: Oh good grief! I just came across this pathetic op-ed in today's Post by the man of the hour himself. I just don't know where to start to pick this apart, but the ending is so melodramatic and pretentious:

Most importantly, I call on the Prime Minister to do all this in a way that strengthens the Canadian economy, providing better jobs and a higher standard of living for our children.

Climate change is the single most pressing ecological threat facing our country and our planet. It is clear that Mr. Harper has neither the courage nor the conviction to meet our Kyoto obligations, and that we need a new government to do so.

In the meantime, I call on the Prime Minister to implement these initiatives. This country cannot wait, this planet cannot wait and the Official Opposition will not wait.

The man truly is living in a dream world.

On the plus side however, his pronunciation is not nearly as annoying in print.

* * * *

Upperdate: I feel quite honoured that Jack included this post in his Newswatch today.

Please read Don Martin - The blunt talk that got MP next job. Jean Lapierre unplugged!

Sunday Update: BBS - Not Ready for Prime Time Politics. (no kidding!)

Progressive Conservative - Some Liberals Don't Like Dion Either. (so much for unity)

MOST IMPORTANT UPDATE!!! Thanks to Mainstream Canadians, we now have the FULL article by Randall Denley. Read it and weep, Stephane. You're done.

Election year

Secret meetings. Time to buy out the Caledonia residents. Maybe they'll all get a Blackberry.

* * * *

BTW, I'm still waiting to hear McGuinty's response to this - Feds Say Six Nations Land Claim is Invalid.


And here's another election cynic on the topic of health care.

If you're a Conservative and planning to buy a Blackberry...

You might be interested in this.

(Note - Link no longer available. Highlights below).
Record Feb. 2/07 -
RIM execs among top donors to Liberals

...For 2004 to 2006, Liberal organizations have disclosed $28,623.06 in donations from RIM, while the PCs have only reported $2,301.99 in financial support from the company. Riding-association records from 2005 and 2006 are still incomplete.

Lazaridis' financial support for the provincial Liberals shows up the same year he served as chair of the party's annual Heritage Dinner, an $800-a-plate gala that raises more than $1 million.

(...)

Lazaridis sat at the head table with Premier Dalton McGuinty at last March's dinner.

Eighteen days later, McGuinty announced the government would provide $50 million in funding for each of two of Lazaridis' pet projects: the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics and the University of Waterloo Institute for Quantum Computing.

The sky has 'very likely' already fallen

I find it fascinating that the IPCC's much-awaited epic tome on climate change released today was mainly held up due to having to reach a consensus about semantics.

All this science, yet the salient issue was whether to say that global warming is 'very likely' (90% probability) caused by man, or perhaps use the more frightening term 'virtually certain' (99%).

Yet they feel they "have this nailed", according to top U.S. climate scientist Jerry Mahlman, who originated the percentage system.

One of the study's many co-authors, Andrew Weaver of the University of Victoria said that the report was "based on science that is rock-solid, peer-reviewed and consensus."

"It's very conservative. Scientists by their nature are skeptics.''

What's that? You can be a "conservative skeptic" and still have environmental credibility? Someone should tell those jokers in Question Period.


In any case, to borrow scientific language, I agree that it is 'very likely' that human beings have something to do with climate change - The question is how much and what can we realistically do about it? Ban human beings from the planet? Apparently the damage is already done to the extent that all we can do is hope to slow down the inevitable (CTV):

"This is just not something you can stop. We're just going to have to live with it," co-author Kevin Trenberth, director of climate analysis for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., told The Associated Press in an interview. "We're creating a different planet. If you were to come up back in 100 years time, we'll have a different climate."

Trenberth said scientists do worry that world leaders will take the message in the wrong way and throw up their hands. Instead, the scientists urged leaders to reduce emissions and also adapt to a warmer world with wilder weather.

Well, that much seems reasonable anyway.

Rex Murphy had an interesting commentary on the National last night (now available here), where he made some excellent points. One of the main ones was to question how much each individual is willing to give up in terms of living a less affluent lifestyle, rather than simply donning a green scarf.

What would you give up? Your job at your pollution-spewing factory? Your second or third car? Your vacations? Your high-tech toys that have environmentally-unfriendly components that can't be disposed of in landfills?

The other concern, as Rex Murphy pointed out in last Saturday's Globe, is do we trust politicians to handle the problem effectively?

If we believe global warming is as big a problem as the world's experts are telling us, we also have to believe the world's politicians are capable of fixing it. That's a leap of faith the record doesn't support.

Every tiny corner of this planet, big or small, is a record of some politician's failure. Check your street: How long have the potholes been there? How's traffic in your downtown? The VancouverEastside — how long has that been a blight? Darfur? Oil for Food? Now, we want to believe the politicians are going to fix the weather of the whole world.

The world wants its politicians to “do something” about global warming.

Most likely, alas, they will.

I suppose my biggest concern right now is that this report, along with current polls will cause some kind of bumbling, disingenuous knee-jerk reaction in Parliament as politicians fall all over themselves trying to be 'seen' to be be green.

But at the ballot box, that's all that counts.

* * * *

Update: There are some great posts coming up on Blogging Tories today.

Dark Blue Tory - "Very likely??"

SDA - Y2Kyoto - Dion Liberals would control oil sand development

PTBC - Liberal Hidden Agenda...

SDA - Y2Kyoto - The Purity Test

The Politic - Suzukified!

Dr. Roy - Jeffrey Simpson and I are sharing a laugh

Halls of Macadamia: A lot of hot air. Neo has linked to a very disturbing story about air pollution in China.

Officially Screwed - How Many Times Is the Earth "Officially" Warming? Lots of good links here. H/T to Vicki.

Dion on the Defensive

Poor Stephane! Not only does he have to endure being lambasted about the Liberal's poor environmental record in the House of Commons and in Tory television ads, but today he was dealt a brutal smack-down from the National Post's John Ivison.

Well, let's back up a bit. Yesterday, Ivison quoted Dion in his column yesterday, 'New' Clean Air Act is bad - for Dion:

"In 2008, I will be part of Kyoto but I will say to the world I don't think I will make it."

Stephane Dion responded in the Post's "Letter's to the Editor". (Didn't even make Letter of the Day, BTW). Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your POV) the letter is not available on-line at the moment. I sent them an inquiry about it and am still waiting. One can only assume that the online editor did not think it merited inclusion.

However, Mr. Dion attempts to clarify his position:

"What I said and wrote many times last summer - and I seem to be obligated to repeat again - is that the important part of my comment is in 2008".

(That sounded a tad whiny, Stephane.)

The fatal error here however, is that you should never take on a political pundit on their own turf. Ivison shot back with his column in today's paper "Duplicitous or duped?"

Ivison is basically suggesting that Dion is either deliberately misleading Canadians for political gain, or else he is just so naive he doesn't have a clue.

CCC has analyzed this in detail so I won't duplicate his efforts.

Here's what I want to know - Is Paul Russell going to enforce his two-week rule if Dion wants to file another rebuttal?

From the 15 Tips:

"- Know the two-week rule. In an effort to allow as many readers as possible to have their say on our pages, we aim to space out contributions by letter writers by at least two weeks."

I don't want to see any two-tier letter selection going on here, Paul.

Is Stephane Dion a Gay-Rights Denier?

It works both ways, Stephane.

Was the Leader of the Opposition misleading Canadians then, or is he misleading them now?

- Or maybe he is a 'tactic' denier.

* * * *

Meanwhile, the Toronto Sun has some excellent advice for Stephen Harper. Anyone who is truly concerned about the environment, rather than cheap political games should give this editorial some serious thought.

Heck, even the strategists could learn something from it.