Jack's Persona Is Improving?

Jack Layton is Canada’s Barney Frank
Today in Power Play, Jack Layton said that a reasonable credit card rate is needed for low income Canadians. Jack Layton is dead wrong. Good credit card rates are given to people who have a history of paying their cards off. Bad credit card rates are how banks and lending institutes pay for cards that people default on. So why is Jack Layton our version of Barney Frank? In 1999, Democrat ......
OfficiallyScrewed.com

Are These The High Paid Jobs That Bussin Promised...

...when she, and the other NIMBYs, were opposing a WalMart.
Shop law questioned
By BRYN WEESE, SUN MEDIA
A Toronto councillor and a prominent business group are vowing to push for changes to the city's shopping laws after merchants in the Beaches opened illegally on Easter Sunday

Reasons Left Wing Pacifists Don't Want Harper

we don't want another harper government because...

Remember HMS Peterson

Ontario voters became disenchanted with the Ontario Liberals under David Peterson and we saw the same thing happen.......

NDP gaining support, poll suggests

...and now we see the same thing happening federally.Voters have to ask themselves how many of the ndp promises did Bob Rae keep and what condition was the province in when he was turfed out. Similar conditions were in place then as they are now....the economy is teetering.

BTW; what is Bob Rae doing these days?

NDP as Official Opposition? No I don't think so

Lots of people are saying the NDP might jump over the Liberals and form the Official Opposition in the next Parliament.

I'm not buying it.

First off, even with a dud like Stephane Dion leading them, the Liberals still have a strong brand name and deep roots in many parts of the country, meaning coming hell or high water they will hang onto their core support which is enough to guarantee them second place.

Second off, the NDP has little room to grow vote-wise. Simply put, their policies are designed to appeal to union bosses, tweedy professors and left-wing special interest groups.

And such policies -- higher taxes, class warfare, pro-big union measures--just don't resonate with the Middle Class.

In fact, the more Canadians learn about the NDP's socialist agenda, the more nervous they will get.

So, the Liberals can relax -- they will get destroyed on election day, but at least they will keep the keys to Stornoway.

I Have Never Heard Of Guy Earle.......

.....but I don't have any more right to interfere with his making a living than I do with a doctor in an operating room. That is basically what hecklers are doing and they have to accept the consequences.

Human rights complaint over comic's lesbian remarks

Updated Thu. Jun. 26 2008 5:23 PM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

A Toronto comedian facing a B.C. Human Rights Tribunal hearing says rude comments he made to two Vancouver lesbians were only an attempt to stop them from heckling.

"I don't hate anybody based on their sexual orientation, or whatever, but I do hate hecklers and sometimes I get a little vehement," Guy Earle says in a radio interview posted on YouTube.

Earle said he was hosting a weekly open-mic night in a restaurant on March 22, 2007 when the moved up to the front of the audience and began swearing at him.

Earle said he asked them to stop and be quiet, but they refused. That's when he responded.

"I said, 'Come on, you're fat and ugly -- you're not even lesbian,'" the comedian said, adding he then made some remarks that had to do with oral sex and the use of a sex toy.

"If anybody has seen my comedy, don't heckle me -- I get rude," Earle says in the interview.

The comedian says his comments were simply jokes, but most of the audience members left and started booing him.

Earle said when he got off the stage and walked past the women, one of them splashed a drink in his face.

He got back up on stage later to say goodnight, he said. Then when he walked past their table a second time, the same woman splashed another drink in his face and then stood in front of him as if she wanted to fight.

"I lost it for two seconds, and this is the part I do apologize for ... I pulled her sunglasses off her head, and right in front of her face, I broke them in half," says Earle, who admits he was "half-drunk" on vodka.

The comedian said when he showed up at the usual time the following week, there were picketers outside the restaurant, some holding signs that read, "Hate speech, not free speech."

Earle says Canadians are too politically correct.

"They pissed me off so I said some rude things. Does that mean I should go to court because ... they were based on some kind of minority or discrimination or something-something?"

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal will decide whether Earle's comments, which the complainant Lorna Pardy claims were "homophobic," violated the Human Rights Code.

A preliminary decision released this week says both parties are far apart in their recollections of the incident and the amount of alcohol involved.

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Please Add Comments(9)

GK
It's all part of the risk you take when you scream out loud at a comedian. If you don't like what their saying, it's easier to leave. When you confront someone you should at least somewhat expect a response and chances are if it's a comedian at a night club, you won't like what they're going to say. Freedom of speech. Whatever happened to it, especially for a comedian whose job is to mostly make fun of and "rib" others.

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Downey
Canadians are becoming worse and worse!!! Bring a comedian to course for being offensive! Come on! These people REALLY need to get a life and stop trying to ruin others. Shameful! I really hope this is not considered by the Human Rights Tribunal. It will make them an even bigger joke.

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js
this is crazy. if you go to any comedy show and you heckle the comedians, expect the comedian to say something back and most will be rude remards. the canadian human rights should stay out of this. it happened at a club. i can if it was at work. what happened to free speech? so he called them names. big deal!! canadians have no sense of humour and run to the courts for any little thing. pathetic.

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Vince M
The things we waste money on for people with hurt feelings.

Time to shut these wasteful witchhunts down for good.

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KD
They better not waste any tax dollars on this.

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Brock
This is rediculous. If you're going to heckle, then expect the comic to say something rude in return. I've been to many comedy clubs and none of the patrons who were picked on by the comic complained. They just went along with it and laughed. These women should grow up and the Human Rights should stay out of this.

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RM
Here we go again with the Human Rights complaints. When are we going to rein in these commissions and stop punishing thought crimes.

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Jj
"...Canadians are too politically correct."

Please. Canadians are not "too politically correct". Most of us are simply about not lower themselves through using below-the-belt-type comments just because someone angers them.

It's one thing to insult in general or to scream at a person. It is, however, an entirely different thing to draw out someone's sexual orientation and insult it.

Truth be told, there isn't a topic in the world that cannot be talked about and laughed at. But real comedians know how to deal with them. Earle needs to learn from the pros.

This is like Michael Richards redux.

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Wayne
These human rights tribunals are turning into some sort of orwellian thought police and I for one think we should start getting rid of them as we have a criminal code let's start using it instead and if there is no crime involved well guess what folks there is no crime involved. Outlawing hate sppech is ridiculous I hate Human Rights Tribunals = is this legal?

ALight Glimpse Into The NDP

The NDP non-apology offered to David Oliver reveals a serious problemTuesday, December 11, 2007 at 11:08 AM Comments: 15
The NDP has delivered a fake apology for smearing Liberal candidate David Oliver during the 2006 election. I call it a fake apology because it doesn't actually name who is responsible for the decision to hide an Elections Canada letter that would have exonerated Oliver before voting day. The Liberals dropped Oliver as a candidate, and Paul Martin has personally apologized for that decision, a decision that he was responsible for.

The NDP has not identified who is responsible. That person's culpability remains hidden behind an apology that says that the "NDP" was sorry. I can only assume that the NDP wants to protect this person from any fallout that might come from being directly named as the person who hid the letter.

And that makes me think that the person is still an important, and possibly a senior, member of the NDP. Why else would the NDP care to protect him? Since we don't know who that person is, we can't be certain that he is being held to account, or or certain that the NDP can keep a promise that this sort of thing won't happen again.

It would be helpful to hear this person promise not to do this sort of thing again.

Read more...

NDP overshoots with racial profiling billThursday, December 13, 2007 at 12:16 PM Comments: 1
The NDP is tabling a bill to ban racial and religious profiling. It is aimed at law enforcement agencies. The NDP is particularly proud that the bill includes CSIS, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.

The problem is that CSIS is not a law enforcement agency.

Read more...

Mark Your Calender

We know Jack will pontificate on how he will save the world.....

Jack Layton's announcement Monday, October 22, 2007 at 10:49 PM

Comments: 11

Tomorrow morning. Nine sharp. NDP leader Jack Layton to speak to his caucus and to the national media.

Feel free to post what you think the announcement will be.

Read more...

Let me start the wild speculation. Someone is switching parties. Someone from the Liberal left, fed up with the abandonment of Kyoto by Stephane Dion, has moved to the NDP.

Posted by: Steve Janke at October 22, 2007 10:53 PM

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The merger of...the NDP and Liberal parties? No wait, it would be a joint announcement with whats his name.

I say Jack'll be making a request to be the official opposition since Dion won't do it.

Posted by: Paul M at October 22, 2007 11:03 PM

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My fellow NDPers:

I have brought you here together today to inform you that I have joined with Stephane Dion and agreed to merge the NDP and Liberal parties to Stop Harper and his scary Conservative agenda.

Yesterday I met with top Liberal executives and supporters like Paul Desmarais, who I think you all know,and they made me an offer I couldn't refuse.

I have concluded that the only way to remove Harper from government is to unite the centre-left and then vote non-confidence asap so the Harper government will resign and try to have another election Canadians do not want.

With the Liberal 96 seats and our 30 seats, totalling 126 seats, we will tell the GG that we are prepared to form a government, and thus avoid an election Canadians do not want.

I know you will all greet this news with great enthusiasm and expectation, because most everybody in our NDP caucus will get cabinet positions in a Dion government, and I will be Minister of Finance.

So let's get out there and whip Stephen Harper's butt outa government and let's look forward to running this country as it should be run. BTW .. Canadian troops will be staying in Afghanistan until February 2009 as a matter of commitments made to the UN.

In order to maintain a united party solidarity, please do not say anything confusing to the MSM, because the less said the better it is. All communication with the MSM should be made through our new leader Dion and myself as Minister of Finance.

This is a great great day for Canada, and I know you will all be pleased as punch that we will soon be the government of Canada .. and then watch out ..!!!!

Posted by: Observer at October 22, 2007 11:06 PM

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Nicely done Observer.

Posted by: Paul M at October 22, 2007 11:08 PM

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I think Jack may want to grandstand on the United nations report on "homelessness" which just came out.

Posted by: Lorraine at October 22, 2007 11:15 PM

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Svend stole the ring for Dumbeldor.

Posted by: Larry at October 23, 2007 12:31 AM

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Larry = hehe

Two annoucements, Jack will annouce that he is the official opposition and that he will seek that recognition from the GG with the blessings of all non-Liberal members of the house.

Secondly, he will explain his freakishly small hands...

Posted by: northbaytrapper at October 23, 2007 12:39 AM

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btw, Steve, in regards to your idea, if a Lib was to jump ship for the Dippers, it would be catastrophic to the Liberal Party. Throw in a brand name MP and you can close the book on Dion.

Maybe it's Belinda? No, that would mean that she was sleeping with Michael Ignatief and that's just disgusting.

Posted by: northbaytrapper at October 23, 2007 12:42 AM

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Well, my first thought was that a prominent Quebecer would announce their bid to run for the NDP in the next election. However, Jack wouldn't make that announcement in Ottawa, I don't think.

Then something occurred to me. What if a BLOC member, or even two or three, decided to jump ship to the NDP?

Liberals and NDPers generally don't like one another. The same isn't true of the Bloc and the NDP, especially for soft Quebec nationalists.

I still doubt the announcement will be any kind of big deal like this, in part because there's usually more buzz leading up to it than there is now, but since we are speculating ;)....

Posted by: Dennis (Second Thots) at October 23, 2007 01:07 AM

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Does the NDP accept floor crossers? I thought they tried to introduce legislation to ban it.

Posted by: Brendan Kane at October 23, 2007 02:23 AM

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Here's what I just found in an article from the Winnipeg Sun:

In a bid to exploit what he characterizes as a leadership vacuum in the Liberal party, NDP Leader Jack Layton is trying to portray his party as the real opposition to the Harper government.

Layton will host an "opposition school" today, flying in NDP staff from across the country to advise MPs on procedural rules and tactics to keep the government on its toes.

http://winnipegsun.com/News/Canada/2007/10/23/4597713-sun.html

Posted by: Brendan Kane at October 23, 2007 03:09 AM

VOTE NO TO MMP

UNLESS YOU ARE IN FAVOR OF PAYING A BUNCH OF LOSERS FROM THE PUBLIC PURSE......

Big names and not so big enlisted for battle over ballot

No sign of regular petitioners Atwood, Mercer

Mary Vallis

National Post

Friday, September 14, 2007

An organization that wants voters to back plans for a new voting system has released a list of "prominent Ontario residents" supporting its cause -- though few come close to the kind of name recognition usually associated with public campaigns.

Avvy Go, Smokey Thomas and Erna Paris are three of the Ontarians Vote for MMPs points to as favouring the plan to overhaul Ontario's voting system.

Ms. Paris is an author with six books and a number of literary awards to her credit. Mr. Thomas is president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union; and Ms. Go is director of the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic.

Also on the 39-name pro-MMP list are a few better-known figures such as Michael Bryant, Ontario's Attorney-General; singer Stompin' Tom Connors; Bob Rae, a former premier; and Stephen Lewis, a former ambassador to the United Nations.

No sign of Margaret Atwood, Rick Mercer or the Barenaked Ladies -- regular signees to worthy causes.

"We want to show that as more Ontario voters learn about the system, the more they like MMP," said Bill Gillies of Vote for MMP. "These are people who have looked at the system, looked at the proposal, and say this is the direction we should be heading in."

The list also includes Jim Harris -- the former leader of the federal Green party and a member of Vote for MMP's own campaign committee -- and Paul Hellyer, the founder of the Canadian Action Party and UFO believer.

The list does not impress opponents of the new voting system, which will be put to a provincial referendum next month at the same time as Ontario elects a new government.

"They have their list, we have our list," said Joseph Angolano, whose group -- No MMP -- favours the current first-past-the-post method of electing politicians. Unfortunately, No MMP's list is, if anything, even less awe-inspiring, populated almost entirely by politicians or former politicians.

One of the most recognizable names is Sheila Copps, former Liberal deputy prime minister.

"It [MMP] institutionalizes a system of party favours and extremism," Ms. Copps said yesterday by e-mail.

"Do we really want a parliament where the balance of power can be held by a party that secured 3% of the vote?"

The 'No' list also includes Ray Bonin, MP for Nickel Belt; Charles Harnick, former Conservative MPP and attorney-general; MPP Norm Sterling and Dwight Duncan, the Liberal Minister of Energy.

Mr. Angolano hinted the group will soon release the name of a "very, very prominent" politician who will be voting against MMP.

Mr. Gillespie says Vote for MMP will also be rolling out the names of more supporters as referendum day nears, until the list reaches 100.

© National Post 2007

Let's Keep Things In Perspective

* Not everyone living in a trailer is a "redneck."
* This is not the trailer park where Ricky, Julian and Bubbles live although the level of law enforcement seems to be at about the same level.

Jonathan Kay on a West Virginia mobile home you certainly do not want to visit

There is a terrible story out of West Virginia this week: A family/gang of West Virginians near the town of Logan is accused of kidnapping a local black woman and keeping her imprisoned in a mobile home for a week while they raped and tortured her. The fact that two of the accused are mother and son, and another two are father and daughter, make the whole thing even more sick. One local cop said it was the worst thing he'd seen in more than 30 years on the job. What makes the story even crazier is a detail buried until the 14th paragraph of the New York Times story about the case: This very same mobile home where the alleged assaults took place has been the site of numerous horrific crimes in the past. In one case, Bobby Brewster — who is now 24 and lives in the mobile home — killed his stepfather there when he was 12. A year earlier, his mom ("Frankie Lee" is her name — you can't make this up) shot and killed an 84-year-old woman who was in her care. In 2005, two men got into a fight outside the trailer and one of them stabbed the other to death. Just seven months ago, the cops were called to the trailer again because a man in the trailer (unidentified in the Times story) had been slashed in the abdomen. Reading the story, one is struck simultaneously by pity for the victim, contempt for the accused, shock at how so much violence could take place at one white-trash mobile home, and an ironic awareness that the whole thing seems to resemble the worst redneck nightmare any South Park or Beavis 'n Butthead social satirist could ever imagine. All in all, quite a way to start the newspaper-reading day.

There Are People Out There That Thrive On Having Their Earlobes Pulled

And no matter how much proof you present they will vote for left wing con men like McGinty.

Dalton fibs again

By Lorrie Goldstein

Today, I shall prove a Dalton McGuinty election promise is not worth the paper it's printed on. Even when McGuinty writes the paper.

Among the 71 new promises he made yesterday -- down from 231 in 2003 -- Premier McGuinty promised to "hire 9,000 more nurses" and "meet our goal to have 70% of nurses working full-time."

Presumably, these are in addition to the 8,000 new nurses McGuinty promised to hire in 2003 in what was then election promise #133. It read: "We will hire 8,000 new nurses" and "our goal is to have 70% of registered nurses working full-time."

So, clearly, McGuinty hasn't reached his 2003 "goal" of having 70% of registered nurses working full-time, since he's promised it again.

But did he succeed in hiring 8,000 more nurses? Depends on which McGuinty you believe.

Go to McGuinty's website, dalton.ca. (If you don't have a computer, I'll quote all the relevant stuff here.)

Couldn't Resist

Do You Enjoy 3-Ring Circuses

If you don't then make sure to vote in the provincial election in October and more important than the party that is elected, although sanity is returning with Tory as Premier, is the referendum on the election process. GET INFORMED

Cast a smart vote on election reform

Aug. 06, 2007
When voters go to the polls on Oct. 10, they will make two crucial decisions. First, they will be choosing the next Ontario government and, second, they will be passing judgment on the voting process itself.

1

Another Friggin $tudy

TTC touts the wetter way TheStar.com - News - TTC touts the wetter way

Speedy east-west ferries would service downtown, but boats and docks will carry a hefty price tag

July 05, 2007

Jen Gerson
STAFF REPORTER

Before the era of planes, trains and automobiles, water ruled the way we moved. It may again.

If a proposal by the TTC worms its way into reality, Lake Ontario could become a rapid transit corridor.

At the TTC's July 13 meeting, the commission is to request a study into a ferry serving downtown from Etobicoke and Scarborough. TTC chair Adam Giambrone, who is proposing the study, expects two boats and docking facilities would cost $20 million to $25 million.

"The technology in boats has advanced to the point where it is cost-effective to buy boats that go 30 to 40 knots (55 to 74 km/h)," he said.

In comparison, the 204 low-floor, accessible streetcars the TTC wants to buy will each cost $4 million to $5 million.

Giambrone said there are about 1,000 parking spots at the Scarborough Bluffs and more than 400 close to Humber Bay in Etobicoke, near where a ferry could dock.

But the TTC must evaluate whether there would be a demand for a ferry service and whether it would be cost-effective, he said.

Not A Truck Or Speed Limiter In Sight

Tailgating drivers cause 401pileup TheStar.com - GTA - Tailgating drivers cause 401pileup

July 04, 2007

Nick Kyonka
Staff Reporter

Drivers following too closely on the highway caused a seven-vehicle accident this morning that sent three people to hospital and had traffic backed up halfway across the city.

The chain-reaction crash started shortly after 8 a.m. when two vehicles collided in the Highway 401 eastbound express lanes, directly under the Allen Rd. overpass.

Before long, five other cars had plowed into the first two cars. Emergency crews arriving on scene closed off the express lanes, leaving traffic backed up all the way out to Highway 427, said OPP Const. Julia McCuaig.

“It caused a little bit of a chain reaction,” McCuaig said. “There’s no other reason, they were just travelling too closely together.”

Three people were taken to hospital with minor injuries.

An Insight Into Michael Moore

This nation, at least in Canada, seems to be made up of the same people who bash Bush and the United States in general; support Taliban Jack;
think Al Gore & Sushi are the Messiah and that everyone owes them a living.












A NATION OF SICKO FANCIERS

By Jordan Michael Smith Should I stay or should I go? That 1982 Clash song describes my sentiments upon the release of Michael Moore's new movie, Sicko. Let me be blunt. I despise Michael Moore. I hate his love for tyrannies. I hate his laxity with the facts. And, most of all, I hate his fake populism. Moore has based his reputation on being an ordinary guy, an "of the people" man. But you can't be of the people when you hate the people. Here is what he told a British newspaper about his fellow Americans: "They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet ... We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing." On Sept. 12, 2001, he wrote, "if someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who didn't vote for him," implying that had the hijackers slaughtered Republican civilians, they might have been more justified. Roused rabble None of this is to say that a rich individual cannot be populist or left-wing. FDR roused the rabble and would go back to swim at his fancy Warm Springs facility, and there was never a contradiction between the two. But an FDR, Moore is not. Despite Moore's phoniness, Sicko chooses a wise target. The film is about America's health care system, or lack of one, more precisely. Forty-five million Americans go without health care insurance, which essentially means they go without health care. In addition to that staggering number, millions go underinsured, and increasing restrictions on coverage affect those most in need: The disabled, the elderly, diabetics, and the like. The individuals living these statistics could make for a devastating documentary, but this being Michael Moore, he goes beyond where the facts lead into where the tyrannies begin. In Sicko, in search of better care than America gives, Moore goes to ... Cuba? Fidel Castro's Cuba? The last communist dictatorship in the Western hemisphere? Sigh. He had to do it. In Fahrenheit 9/11, Moore's previous film, he portrayed Saddam Hussein's Iraq as a kite-flying paradise. In his bestselling book Stupid White Men, he wrote an open letter to the late terrorist Yasser Arafat, apologizing to him on behalf of America. So perhaps it's no surprise that he finds another tyrant to look up to. But it's still disappointing. Achievements of Cuba's health care system appear to be real: They are some of the few achievements the communist regime can boast of. But in Sicko, Moore goes to Cuba to get health care for ailing 9/11 Ground Zero responders. He succeeds. But in real life, visitors to Cuba have to pay a massive amount if they get ill. Moore doesn't need Cuba to make his point. America's high-priced, low-quality system speaks for itself. It's difficult to conclude anything other than that the man just has a fondness for anyone who hates America. Best audience And when one sees a Moore film, one is contributing to the Moore empire. As Rich Lowry, White House correspondent for National Review, revealed in his 2005 book, The Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy, Canada is Moore's best audience. Without us, Fahrenheit 9/11 would have made significantly less than it did. Fueling Moore's love for dictatorships and terrorists? Or fueling an overdue examination of America's sad health care system? If I stay, it could be trouble. If I go, it could be double. www.jordanmichaelsmith.com

Comrade Miller And Politboro Smoke & Mirrors

GUESS WHOSE ADOPTED DAUGHTER THIS IS.......

Advocates of gay adoption must be sooooo delighted...

Rosie O'Donnell dress her daughter up as a suicide bomber.

No, this is not some rightwing theocratic homophobic hoax to discredit Rosie's "speak truth to power"-osity.

It's a real photo from her blog, and even some of her flaky fans aren't impressed -- they also inadvertently provide an argument for repealing the 19th Amendment. If you are allergic to estrogen, exercise caution while reading their comments...

Posted by KShaidle at 3:28 PM | Comments (16)

Comment: This is a real kick in the face for those gays/lesbians who would make good "parents" for thousands of kids out their that need help. My personal feelings about the lifestyle are less important than giving kids a roof over their head, food on the table, etc.

They Are Going To Penalize Your At Timmy Drive Thru

because you have wait because some old fart, gender neutral, ahead of you can't decide what they want to order and/or is looking for the exact change.......

Idling will cost you plenty

Under new city bylaw, simply waiting for fast food could add $50 to your bill

Carolyn Heiman

Times Colonist

Friday, June 22, 2007

It's no longer an idle threat.

The City of Victoria will be fining people for leaving their vehicles running when unnecessary.

Under the bylaw discussed at council yesterday, bus drivers caught running their engines unnecessarily for more than three minutes face fines of up to $200. Drivers of other vehicles will get $50 fines.

Offending drivers have a year to change their ways. At first they will get educational tips related to idling their vehicles, and later, warnings that tickets will be next.

Fines will come into effect a year after the bylaw is officially adopted, which is expected to happen next week. They'll be issued by parking officers who will target drivers who are "voluntarily idling" their vehicles.

Examples of such behaviour include waiting for passengers, driving through lanes of fast-food restaurants, stopping at railway crossings, waiting to park, running quick errands, waiting to refuel or wash a car, stopping to talk to someone and preparing to leave the house.

The Message Jack Layton Is Sending

If you elect an NDP government you will never have to worry about going to war.....just the fact that you made that decision will send a clear message that other countries can step all over you with impunity. Jack's problem is not Afganhistan but rather the need to send a message to the left wing around the world that he is anti-american.

Send message, Layton tells Outremont
Outremont voters should use the federal by-election in their riding to send a message to Ottawa that Canada should get out of the war in Afghanistan, New Democratic leader Jack Layton said yesterday.

Em & Ems

Miller and McGinty! What a pair. One screws us around with his "Listen Toronto" con job while the other earned his party the name FIBERALS. A pox on both their houses and I hope that John Tory will add a little more meat to his campaign platform. You have to wonder if McGinty giving Miller more powers was due to them being kindred spirits.

Slow down the green machine
By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN

Wait a minute. What did we miss?

How did Toronto Mayor David Miller get from "no road tolls" until we have a decent public transit system like New York or London, to "maybe road tolls" if we use them to build public transit?

This isn't the first time Miller has sent out mixed messages on tolls. He mentioned the possibility of them in the 2003 mayoral race, before quickly backing off.

Now, a city report released Thursday afternoon on lowering greenhouse gas emissions suggests Toronto investigate road tolls in co-operation with municipalities across the Greater Toronto Area.

Want to comment? Great!

Apparently, you get to do that at 4 p.m. tomorrow at the city's environment committee, before this recommendation and others like banning lawn mowers and leaf blowers goes before city executive on June 25 and council July 16.

Sure. We're with Coun. Michael Walker, who, although he supports banning leafblowers, rightly points out you don't spring stuff like this on the public late Thursday and expect them to comment Monday afternoon, when most people are working, before sending it off to a mid-summer council meeting.

That's not consulting. Heck, it's barely pretending to consult.

Plus, things are unfolding a little too quickly and conveniently here.

Consider: On Thursday, a city report recommends investigating road tolls for Toronto-area highways and using the money to build public transit.

The next day, Premier Dalton "I won't raise your taxes" McGuinty, makes an election promise to invest $17.5 billion over 12 years in public transit across the GTA.

How convenient. And when has McGuinty ever lied to us before -- other than throughout the 2003 election campaign? How can we trust him now, especially since his 12-year time frame means, even if he wins a Liberal majority government in October, the next two governments after that, whoever wins them and assuming they're both majorities, would have to finish what he started?

SURE, PREMIER.

Hey, why stop at $17.5 billion for transit over 12 years? Why not $35 billion over 24 years or $70 billion over 48?

In the real world, the only funding promise McGuinty can make that means anything -- if he intends to keep it -- is for four years, and only if he wins a majority. McGuinty also says he's against road tolls. Believe him?

So let's all slow down, and give these issues the attention they deserve.

And let's have city politicians stop using public concern over reducing greenhouse gases as a cover for hiking taxes (garbage pickup) and making people pay twice for things they've already bought through their taxes (like highways), by imposing road tolls.