Liberal leader Stephane Dion misunderstands a complicated question and the Conservatives trot out leader Stephen Harper to declare it the definitive proof this Liberal leader is unfit to serve as prime minister.
What, wondered CTV’s Steve Murphy in a Thursday interview, would Dion do differently to help the economy if he was prime minister today?
Mr. Dion is clearly having as much trouble grasping the concept of him being prime minister as the rest of the country, so he sought clarification. Did that mean being elected in 2006, now, or on Oct 14?, he wondered. Two more times the question was put before Dion sputtered the pat answer about how he’d launch a 30-day economic consultation, etc.
But the reaction was almost more telling about this campaign and its characters than the incident itself.
This is obviously very embarassing for Stéphane Dion — the guy looks confused, dull-witted, old. The Liberals are trying to play it as if the whole thing was about Dion's hearing problems. But that doesn't make sense — given that Dion looked and sounded just as confused after one of his own people patiently explained the rather simple question beign asked of him. Not his finest hour — although it's still not as bad as this.
p.s. Good for CTV for airing this footage.
p.p.s. Obviously, not everyone agrees.
The question was not really that hard to understand. Sure, it was bit more complicated than "What's your favourite colour?" or "What's the average air speed of an African swallow?"
But really, it was an important question. In fact, it was the most important question you could ask Stephane Dion under the circumstances.
What would you have done differently?
And Stephane Dion couldn't answer it. He couldn't even understand it. All he could do was bob his head and grin.
It was painful and embarrassing and thank CTV we could all see it before a terrible mistake was made.
Read more...| The fear factor |
 The Economist: Why Stephen Harper does not deserve to be dumped. IT IS not easy to be a successful Conservative in Canada. Perhaps it is the effect of living next to the United States. MORE...
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I've just received word that war resister Patrick Hart, his spouse Jill and their son Rian have been ordered to be deported from Canada on October 30.
Tomorrow we will find out about war resister Matt Lowell, who lives in London.
If you are in London, Toronto, Vancouver or Ottawa, come out tomorrow to raise your voice against this unjust and inhumane decision.
The Harper Government is doing the US's bidding, punishing people who resist the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We want a Canada that reflects the will of the Canadian people! Let Them Stay!
Aug 13th, 2008 by Backseat Blogger
This is good news and doesn’t come soon enough. The sooner all these shmucks are sent back, the better.
They knew what they were getting in for when they volunteered. To run away when the going gets tough is just disingenuous on their part.
If declaring the TTC an essential service inevitably leads to higher wages, as the mayor claims and presents as a major reason for rejecting the idea, why are the workers and the union opposed to it? Lindsay Luby asked.
A few muffled responses failed to dull the moment of lucidity from the Etobicoke councillor. But, never mind. The David Miller regime is not about to allow any intrusion into the rights of transit workers to strike at will and throw the city into chaos. So the upcoming debate at city council on whether or not to declare the TTC an essential service is merely an exercise in futility, much like the vote at executive committee Monday.
The vote was 8-1 against asking the province to declare the TTC an essential service. Apparently, a TTC strike costs the city as much as $50 million a day. And the C.D. Howe Institute says government workers classed as essential labour invariably end up getting more pay, a premium that could cost the TTC $25 million over a three-year contract. Who to believe?
One thing to consider about all those opinion polls floating around are what the pollsters are asking.
posted by Gerry Nicholls @ 9:49 AM 4 comments 
Posted on 08 October 2008 by Jack
Last month, Stephane Dion called the upcoming federal election “among the most important in the history of our country.” He may be right. Next week’s vote will determine whether Canada’s tax system is overhauled through the imposition of a massive levy on carbon-based fuels; the nature of our continuing presence in Afghanistan; and how our government will respond to the historic meltdown unfolding in financial markets. Faced with these high stakes, we believe, Canada would be best served if Stephen Harper’s Conservative government were to receive a second mandate, this time in majority form.
We have no illusions that Mr. Harper’s government has been perfect. It’s decision to tax income trusts, in particular, stands as a bald-faced betrayal of its earlier promise on the issue. Moreover, Mr. Harper did not make any serious attempt to clean up some of the more appalling residue left behind by previous governments — the gun registry, the gag law, Section 13 of the Human Rights Act. We also have been disillusioned by the Conservatives’ continual spending increases, Mr. Harper’s flouting of his own fixed election date, and the petty, partisan spirit that often has pervaded Parliament under the Tories’ watch.
But given the huge range of other activities undertaken in the course of leading Canada, it must be said that Mr. Harper has governed the country well overall. He has stuck by Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, provided sound stewardship for the economy (notwithstanding the inevitable buffeting we are now taking thanks to Wall Street’s meltdown), managed the Quebec file well, returned Canada-U. S. relations to their normal level of amity, lowered taxes, and implemented a number of welcome tweaks to our criminal justice system.
"A Church of England priest has been ordered to remove comments from his blog calling for gay men to have their backsides tattooed with a warning about sodomy.
Reverend Peter Mullen wrote: "Let us make it obligatory for homosexuals to have their backsides tattooed with the slogan SODOMY CAN SERIOUSLY DAMAGE YOUR HEALTH and their chins with FELLATIO KILLS."
The clergyman, who ministers to parishes in the City of London financial district, was yesterday ordered to remove the comments by the Diocese of London, which said his comments were "highly offensive" and did not reflect its views.
But Mullen, 66, insisted his remarks were "light-hearted jokes" and "satirical".
Source
Margaret Atwood recently published a forceful, passionate and eloquent essay denouncing the Harper government’s plan to trim three arts programs worth $45-million from the $3-billion-plus annual budget of the Department of Canadian Heritage.
A good part of this piece was devoted to the creative urge in individual human beings, in many of its manifestations and to the value of culture in the life of a nation. Who can argue with someone of such queen-sized talent and extraordinary accomplishments?
The Conservative government increased funding for the arts during its time in office, and now it wants to cut them by 2%. Those that don’t have enough talent to sell their work on their own are shrieking about it. In this difficult economy, to have artistes howling for handouts is insulting not only to the government and its punditry, but to average working Canadians. The Atwood is a gazillionaire - why can’t she cough up a dime or two to those she deems worthy of patronage, and leave the government to provide social safety nets only to those who really need them: the disabled and the old?
Oct. 7
I thought this Notebook item was a bit of a joke.
Howard Moscoe wants the TTC to stop drivers from leaving their buses idling while they run in and have a coffee.
Mr. Moscoe thinks the TTC should "install" a buzzer or a flashing light to "remind" drivers to turn off the bus. What?
How about the driver turning the key to off before going for a coffee? Installing a reminder to do that? You've gotta be kidding.
Peggy Porter, Toronto
You'd think by the reaction to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cutting back individual arts grants by some $45 million, that both the stability and possibly the existence of Canada were threatened.
Harper surely knew there'd be an uproar by the cultural class that gets these grants, but it's unlikely he anticipated the intensity and diversity of disapproval.
Someone on his staff should have warned him Margaret Atwood would be at the forefront of protests -- assuming he knows she's our most famous novelist, long overdue for a Nobel prize in literature. It's doubtful he's read any of her books.
Harper might have expected her to write an angry letter to the Globe and Mail, but it's unlikely he expected cutting funding for artists would be seen as his way of installing a dictatorship.
"Every budding dictatorship begins by muzzling the artists because they are a mouthy lot and they don't line up and salute very easily," Atwood wrote. "Individual voices must be silenced because there shall be only One Voice: Our Master's Voice. Maybe that's why Mr. Harper began by shutting down funding for our artists abroad."
Updated: Tue Oct. 07 2008 8:40:30 PM
ctvtoronto.ca
City budget chief Shelley Carroll warns that taxes may have to go up in line with inflation to continue delivering services to Toronto residents.
"We don't want to cut a service that residents rely on and we also don't want to needlessly be cutting jobs," she said Tuesday.
Mayor David Miller has said it's likely that property taxes will likely rise between two and four per cent.
The city says high fuel bills have driven up costs this year, and union negotiations with civic workers could be costly. The city is also waiting for provincial funding dollars to arrive.
The city is looking for about $175 million in savings.
Councillor Denzil Minnan Wong said city council should be looking for more ways to cut costs.
"A lot of families are going to be looking at their budgets. We've got to look at ours," he said. "We've got to assess what our priorities are and get back to basics before spending money on frills."
A few people questioned by CTV Toronto expressed concern the city would be considering raising taxes with economic heavy water on the horizon.
"It's exactly the wrong time to be putting new costs on individuals, families and businesses," said Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. "It sends the wrong message. Instead, governments should be leading by example and demonstrating fiscal restraint instead of asking for more money."
Other people expressed discomfort with the idea of another tax hike.
Even Premier Dalton McGuinty said cities should be cautious about raising taxes at this time.
Miller has argued that Toronto's taxes are among the lowest in the GTA. He has asked city departments to scale back spending by about two per cent to accommodate anticipated wage settlements and to keep operating spending in 2009 in line with this year's spending.
The city will unveil its capital budget on Oct. 30, with a vote scheduled for December. Talks about the operating budget won't begin until early in 2009.
Robert Fife of CTV news reports on the discovery of a voting block in Canada that is frightened at the thought of a Conservative government, and are throwing their support to the Liberals.
Try as they might, it is not likely that the Conservatives can win these guys over.
Read more...| I will bet that the left, liberals, ndp, et al will try to make it an issue. Julie Couillard’s account of her affair with Maxime Bernier is now on bookshelves. Who do you sympathize with? | |
| Bernier | 16% |
| Couillard | 12% |
| Neither | 73% |
But a new report, the annual checkup of Toronto's social, economic and environmental health called Vital Signs, suggests that those who arrived here in the past decade face more intransigent barriers than ever before, just at the time when many other countries are clamouring for the dwindling workforce this group represents.
The combination of global demand and a less-than-hospitable local climate for newcomers is potentially crippling for the Toronto region. And the Vital Signs report should serve as an early warning.
MoreI am appalled at the recent attacks on Liberal supporters in my riding of St. Paul's. If I wasn't sure before, I know now that I absolutely will vote for Dr. Caroline Bennett. Thank you for solidifying my vote.
Martha Brayley, Toronto
......those on the left will probably quote this, at best, satirical comment:
Kudos to the Star for exposing yet another obvious Stephen Harper- ordered dirty trick. The cutting of brake lines on Liberal supporters' cars in the Toronto St. Paul's riding is typical neocon behaviour. Stay on this story, or better yet, get Bob Rae and his investigative team on it. Between the two groups, I'm positive you will find a link between this callous threat to Liberals' lives and the Harper Conservatives, even if you have to make it up. Everybody knows how mean the Tories are.
Kirk Cederberg, Streetsville
Toronto property taxes are likely to increase by between 2 and 4 per cent next year, Mayor David Miller says.
....maybe they do so because they know that 30-40% of the people don't care and don't show up at the polling station, maybe because they know there is a segment of the voters that who don't want to make waves fearing they will lose their place at the trough and then there are those who, like Maple Leaf fans, hope they might win but in their hearts accept minor victories.Our politicians can't think much of our intelligence -- they give us the same crap every election
Much has been made of the growing contempt for politicians that voters display during federal elections.
Less discussed, but more significant, is their growing contempt for us.
What else is it but contempt when the dumbed-down message of every party leader in every election campaign these days, regardless of their ideology, is essentially this:
"Vote for me because I'm a leader and they're not. Because my party is good and the others are bad. Because I know what I'm doing and they don't. Because I care about you and they won't. Because I tell you the truth and they lie. Because if you elect me, things will be good, but if you elect them, things will be bad."
Seriously ... who believes this crap?
Who believes any leader is infallible, any one party all-knowing or immune to mistakes, arrogance, greed or corruption?
Indeed, based on the record of past federal Conservative and Liberal governments, and of provincial NDP regimes, there's no reason to think any political philosophy is exempt.
And yet in every election, voters are asked to put their reason on hold and to go through the same ritual, to pretend the world does not actually operate in the way we all know it does.
Who believes any of our political leaders when they insist that this time, unlike all the other times when they promised to do it and failed, native land claims will finally be settled, poverty eliminated, medical wait times slashed?
What is it but contempt for the voters to promise the same things over and over again, but never to deliver?
How can politicians who can't sit across the aisle from each other for five minutes without hurling partisan insults, propose with a straight face plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2020, by 2050, by 2080, proposals which would, given four-year election cycles, require decades of bipartisan co-operation of which none has been capable for 72 minutes in Parliament, let alone 72 years? How stupid do they think we are?
GROUPS AND NICKNAMES
What does it show but contempt for voters when the Conservative war room in the last election boasted about slicing and dicing Canadians into various target groups of identifiable voters, each with their own cute little nicknames?
As reported by the National Post, these included, "Steve and Heather" -- in their 40s, Protestant, married with three children and thus likely to vote Conservative, as opposed to "Rick and Brenda" -- common-law partners in the working-class, unlikely to do so.
Quick quiz: How many Conservative attack ads have you seen over the past few months ridiculing Liberal Leader Stephane Dion, as opposed to Stephen Harper giving us his reasons why he would be the best prime minister? Now ask yourself in what job in the real world would an employer -- and we are Harper's employers -- tolerate a job applicant whose strategy to be rehired at the end of his first contract was not to explain his qualifications, but to tear down someone else's?
What is it but contempt for voters when Dion pledges to help the millions of Canadians who can't find a family doctor, as if this problem suddenly arrived out of nowhere?
If Dion wants to know why millions of Canadians can't find a family doctor, let him talk to fellow Liberal Paul Martin, who slashed health care payments to the provinces in the 1990s.
IGNORED WARNINGS
Let him talk to fellow Liberal Bob Rae, who, when he was the NDP premier of Ontario in the early 1990s, slashed enrolments to medical school, as did governments across Canada, despite warnings from medical experts who rightly predicted today's doctor shortage.
At the time, Rae's government and others, were too busy waging class warfare against doctors, appealing to the politics of envy and scapegoating physicians, their salaries and the tests they ordered, as the main culprits in rising health care costs.
And yet today, 15 years later, many of the politicians who helped to create this mess in the first place, are now back assuring us they can fix it.
And if asking us to believe that isn't the height of holding us in contempt, what is?
Miller's budget wonderland It's as if the mayor thinks the economic gloom and doom is happening on another planet
Mayor David Miller must have been feeling particularly imaginative when he cobbled together his budget priorities for 2009 during last week's festivities dedicated to creativity and the "ahts."
There's no doubt his three-page memo -- written Oct. 1 -- takes great artistic license with the facts concerning the city's fiscal state and the public's view of his mandate.
Dropped on yesterday's executive committee at the 11th hour and as item 27 (with no opportunity for debate) the mayor's memo contains so many nosestretchers I don't have the space to reiterate them.
He maintains -- and thankfully I read the memo before lunch -- that he and his minions have "carefully managed spending and debt" and improved Toronto's AA credit rating.
Oops. Guess the mayor forgot the fact that the city's net debt has jumped $1.2 billion since he came into office and now tops $2.8 billion. Or that on the very same executive committee agenda there's a report pointing out that the city's employee benefits liabilities are expected to grow to $2.1 billion this year, with a mere 10% of that amount squirreled away in a reserve fund to cover them.
"The major credit rating agencies have identified the unfunded portion of employee benefits liabilities as a negative ratings factor," the report notes.
His Blondness also boasts -- quite cheekily I might add -- that his regime has produced "world-leading plans," from climate change to economic development.
There's no stopping King David. But I guess he has to justify all his swanning around the world as chairman of the C40 group of cities fighting climate change and the $55,000(!) in taxpayer money he dropped down the drain hosting the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities conference last July.
The memo also proves, in my view, how out-of-touch and arrogantly dismissive the Miller regime has grown in response to the constituents who put the socialists in their cozy council seats.
For one thing, I counted at least four mentions of "my mandate" -- as if at least half of council and the real basic priorities of their constituents are a non-starter.
For another, it's as if all the talk of economic gloom and doom is happening on quite another planet than in the city overseen by the man who likes to proudly tout his Harvard economics degree.
DEFICIT NOT AVAILABLE
City manager Joe Pennachetti also told me a deficit figure for next year won't be available for a couple of months as they need to wait to see what funding will come from the province (if and when it uploads social services).
Nevertheless, the mayor claims next year his budget will include "targeted investments" (i.e., more spending) on "successful city-building" initiatives like Transit City and his "world-leading" climate change plan; on staffing Toronto's "first" Civic Engagement Office; on working to fully implement the Toronto Bike Plan and on providing cost-of-living to the hundreds of professional grant-getters benefitting from the city's largesse.
Miller indicates he also intends to provide the "necessary resources" to enhance socialist black holes like his "successful" homeless/panhandling program and the hug-a-thug initiatives contained in the community safety plan.
A target is deliberately not set for union wage hikes and with good reason -- Miller already gave away the candy store to the firefighters. I'm sure we'll hear any day now TTC employees have been handed the same, and on and on.
Doug Holyday winced when he read the memo, stating quite decidedly the mayor is "out of touch with reality.
"It's business as usual, spend what you need and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow," he said, predicting ever more tax increases to fund the mayor's mandate. "It's going down a path to destruction."
Adds Coun. Mike Del Grande: "It's I, I, I and my, my, my ... his (the mayor's) big thing is to be the next Kennedy of Canada with respect to green."
---
Arrivederci Signor Miller: Speaking of green, the mayor is off on another jaunt to Milan tomorrow to participate in a two-day OECD plenary on cities and climate change. As if to justify his jet-setting I was told yesterday he'll also be meeting with senior government officials while there. Hmmm, and what happened to all of his deputy mayor's trips to his Italian homeland? In fact, I've lost count how many times Joe Pantalone has travelled to Italy on the taxpayers' tab in the past few years.
I need a chuckle. Don’t you?
Team McCain points out that in his quest to pose as Ordinary Joe, Beltway Insider Joe Biden rattled off the Main Street places he like to hang out:
“Can I respond? Look, all you have to do is go down Union Street with me in Wilmington or go to Katie’s Restaurant or walk into Home Depot with me where I spend a lot of time and you ask anybody in there whether or not the economic and foreign policy of this administration has made them better off in the last eight years.” — Joe Biden
His local paper snorted:
“During the debate, Joe Biden gave several Delaware shout-outs, including Wilmington’s Union Street… Maybe, I heard this wrong, or misunderstood, but I think he mentioned Katie’s restaurant…… Wilmington used to have a Katie’s restaurant - way back in the day - and it was in Little Italy, as is Union Street, but I’m almost positive Katie’s wasn’t on Union Street. And it hasn’t been Katie’s in, well, years. Maybe he said Kozy’s - as in Kozy Korner?” — The News Journal
My friends at American Elephants snorted, too — and sent a pefect photoshop of Home Depot Joe:
He’s just like you and me…except he’s not.
The 48-year-old presenter made the embarrassing gaffe while interviewing the Ugly Betty star on This Morning, which he hosts once a week with his partner Ruth Langsford.
The Belfast native was obviously struggling to understand Hayek's Mexican accent and thought she had 'come out' when he misheard her describing her Lebanese background.
| Arts matter, but does Big Brother have to pay the tab every time? |
| Christie Blatchford: It would be ridiculous if Stephen Harper was so inarticulate or so misunderstood that those of us who like him were left to interpret what he means. MORE... |
“Hopefully you filled your gas tank yesterday, because today the gas tax in Minnesota went up for the third time this year. A gallon of gas in our state now has 25.5 cents of tax added to it. And if it were up to Senator Coleman’s opponent Al Franken, the increases wouldn’t end there. Franken has been a strong advocate of raising gas taxes and has said he favors as much as a 10-cent increase claiming, “I don’t think people would notice it so much.” That’s the kind of thinking Minnesotans can DEFINITELY do without!”
(From a Norm Coleman newsletter)
We would ordinarily welcome Ontario Municipal Affairs Minister Jim Watson's latest forecast that a deal to relieve cities of the burden of downloading will be forthcoming within a month, except for one detail: He made the same prediction in August and failed to deliver.
In fact, a deal between the province and the municipalities was initially expected in early 2008. It was put off until the spring, then the summer. Just before the annual conference of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario at the end of August, Watson said he was confident an agreement would be reached "within three to four weeks." Now we are in October, and there is still no deal.
Pressed for an explanation, Watson said this week he was confident an agreement would finally be in hand by Oct. 31. To quote Yogi Berra, this is "like déjà vu all over again."
At issue is the downloading of $4 billion in provincial programs, including welfare and social housing, by the previous Conservative government onto municipalities. Premier Dalton McGuinty has promised to "upload" the programs back to the province, sooner or later.
To be fair, a consensus is required, and that's not easy with so many players at the table and an economic downturn restricting the province's ability to act. The talks are obviously challenging.
But both the province and the municipalities must soon start work on next year's budgets, so they need an answer one way or the other. Or, as Watson also noted this week, "this thing can't go on forever."
Stompin' Tom Connors' The Hockey Song has been re-recorded for his new album, The Ballad Of Stompin' Tom, and it's in stores on Oct. 28.
And the 72-year country music singer told the Sun Thursday night during an intimate album listening party at his southern Ontario home that he has no idea why the CBC never approached him about using the beloved hockey anthem as their new Hockey Night In Canada theme for the 2008/09 season.
He'd certainly be open to it.
"Nobody's ever asked me," he said drawing on a cigarette and a beer while seated at his kitchen table wearing his trademark black hat.
"I'm open to anything if somebody would ask me. Nobody's said, 'Hey Tom, we've heard of this song before, what do you think?' The arenas throughout North America have been playing it (after games) and it just amazes me that CBC wouldn't say, 'Well, hey, we haven't got this other song anymore and you've got a song,' and the kids are singing it, and everybody's singing it across Canada, everybody knows all the words. But no, CBC has never asked. I can't understand it. I draw a blank on that."
The CBC, who lost their iconic Hockey Night In Canada theme when CTV picked up the rights to it in June, has a contest underway to choose its replacement with five semi-finalists, out of nearly 15,000 submissions, unveiled this past week.
As for re-recording The Hockey Song, Connors said: "I think it was recorded in 1971-72 and the recording was kind of thin, I would call it, so I thought it needed more body and that kind of thing. "
A teen is stabbed nine times at Yonge and Gould. Not long after there was another stabbing, and a shooting.
(3) Organizers of Nuit Blanche are hoping to address problems with last year's event – long waits for the TTC and big lineups – to make the third annual ...
BY Jonathan Goldsbie September 30, 2008 17:09
What if I told you that you could kill a man — or a woman or a child — for the low cost of $110? No jail time. No criminal record. No other fines or fees. Quite a bargain, huh? And you may not even have to pay that much, if you successfully challenge the penalty in court. The offer is not gonna get any sweeter than this. I dare you, find a better deal. Kill a person, pay $110, move on with your life.
How, you might ask? Well, it's obvious. Just pick someone whom society willfully neglects, whose life is considered unimportant and whose death is no big whoop, an unfortunate but forgettable consequence of modern society. A little collateral damage at the margins. Nope, not homeless people. They're looking down on that now.
I'm talking about cyclists. Just open the door of your parked car into an oncoming cyclist and smack 'em into traffic. It might take several tries before you actually kill one, but keep at it. The police will be hesitant to charge you at first. And then other cyclists will get all uppity, and police will compromise with a $110 fine. Because that's how much a cyclist's life is worth.
Watch for signs as leaders reveal their true selves in TV debate
As scientific experts have noted, politicians inadvertently reveal much about themselves in high-pressure situations such as tonight's televised English-language leaders debate.
So it's important to listen and watch them closely for tell-tale signs of the true meaning of their words. Here are some things to look for:
- If Stephen Harper "has a toned-downed version of the porn actress look favoured by this decade's woman" it means Heather Mallick is writing about politics again.
- If Stephane Dion is speaking in French with simultaneous English translation, it means the Liberals have finally figured out a way to make Dion decipherable in English.
- If Gilles Duceppe says anything, it means we should ask ourselves how come the guy who's the SEPARATIST leader has appeared in more of these CANADIAN election debates than the four FEDERALIST leaders?
- If Jack Layton claims one more time that the NDP can tax "corporations" and "big polluters" without having them pass on those costs to consumers, it means I've probably put my foot through the television set.
- If Elizabeth May is levitating, it means Harper is explaining the Conservative plan to fight global warming.
- If Harper mentions former Australian prime minister John Howard, it means Howard is due for another royalty cheque.
- If Dion appears nervous and sweaty, it means he's spotted Bob Rae blowing kisses to him from off-camera -- stark naked and with Rick Mercer.
- If Duceppe is debating Harper about what something means for Quebec, it means this would probably be a good time to go to the bathroom.
- If May keeps looking at her watch, it means she has a train to catch.
- If Harper gets mean and nasty, it means the Tory war room will be hauling his blue sweater out of mothballs so he can wear it for his first campaign appearance tomorrow morning.
- If Dion speaks fondly of Kyoto, it means someone will have to ask him whether he's referring to the United Nations climate change treaty, or his dog.
- If Duceppe is complaining about the Canadian government, it means someone should tell him to put his money where his mouth is for once and announce he's throwing his hat into the ring to lead the Parti Quebecois and take Quebec out of Canada ... for more than a day, this time.
- If May doesn't criticize Dion at all during the debate, while constantly going for Harper's jugular, it means we shouldn't really be surprised, now should we?
- If a vicious fight breaks out among the five party leaders over federal-provincial transfer payments, it means who, other than a few editorial writers, really !#@$@?!! cares?
SHELTER
- If any of the five leaders claims he or she has a plan to shelter Canada from the looming U.S. recession, and if you believe them, it means I have a bridge in Brooklyn I'd love to sell you.
- If any of the five leaders credits an opponent with actually having had a pretty good idea every once in a while, it means half the television audience will have a coronary.
- If, after the debate, one of those omnipresent and insufferable party spin doctors admits: "You know, actually my leader didn't do all that well" -- so will the other half.
At least that's what the public thinks. Mayor Miller and his minions think otherwise
Downtown dweller Edwina Taborsky echoed my thoughts exactly yesterday when she articulated why the TTC should be declared an essential service.
Taborksy, who leaves her car regularly at home, choosing to take transit or walk, said the TTC is a public entity owned by Toronto taxpayers and subsidized by the commuting public and therefore should be accountable to them.
Instead, she said, the TTC's union members and the elected councillors (that is the socialist regime of Mayor David Miller) have shifted the TTC's focus to themselves.
"This sense of accountability and public ownership has slithered away and the focus has moved to some kind of power transaction between the union and councillors (the mayor and his minions)," said Taborsky, part of a Citizens' Advisory Group struck by councillors Cesar Palacio and Cliff Jenkins.
McGuinty doing little to keep Ontarians employed in their own province
"I would never discourage Ontarians from looking for work elsewhere in Canada"
-- Dalton McGuinty to reporters yesterday who were asking about Ontario's jobs free-fall-crisis
---
While it's true Pam Cross will be out of work at the end of the month, she won't be leaving the province she was born and raised in!
"This is my home," she said.
Her job at Kraft in Cobourg vanishes Oct. 31. After 17 years at the 89-year-old plant she'll be one of the tens of thousands of manufacturing workers looking for employment as Ontario wilts.
But that search will be in Ontario.
"My kids are here."
If Premier Dalton McGuinty is trying to say there's no future here for people like Cross, perhaps it is he who should start looking for work elsewhere?
If things are that bad, perhaps he should pass the baton to someone interested in trying to avoid economic chaos.
His smug "looking for work elsewhere" remark came after McGuinty was asked about Saskatchewan's premier in town recruiting talent from this have-not province to relocate to his have-province.
Perhaps McGuinty was suggesting Ontarians follow their jobs to China or Mexico, where they seem to be landing. Shockingly, the premier's comment came on the same day as 200 people were walked out the door at the historic Kraft processing plant and in a week where others closed as well.
A much ballyhooed program to retrain laid-off manufacturing workers has filled just 5.5% of available spots and may need to be changed, Premier Dalton McGuinty said yesterday.
"We've only had 1,100 folks sign on so far," McGuinty said of the Second Career jobs program, meant to accommodate up to 20,000 workers.
"Maybe we should be making some changes to make it more attractive."
"I think it's horrific, horrific, yeah," fumes Chrissy.
You might think she's talking about a terrible crime scene, or the financial crisis that's overtaking the United States.
But no - what Chrissy is reacting to is the thought that there might possibly be a Starbucks in Kensington Market.
The proposal has prompted angry reactions from other residents as well.
"The heart of Kensington would die," a local resident named Anthony exclaimed.
"It's THE store. It's up there with Home Depot, or Wal-Mart."
Critics claim the presence of a massive corporation will forever change the dynamic of the area, which is dominated by small, family-run businesses.
"This is a historic place," said Lucy Bove. She's worked at the Kensington Clothing Company for 22 years.
"It's different. [It would] be nice to keep it like that."
Yet most Starbucks locations aren't wanting for customers.
An outlet that recently opened at Queen and Bathurst caused a bit of a stir and a store in the increasingly trendy West Queen West area - at the corner of Dovercourt and Queen - inspired vehement responses from neighbours three years ago.
They're both still open.
But many believe allowing a Starbucks location in the heart of Kensington Market is crossing the line. The java giant is apparently eyeing a location in the area and the real estate agent in charge of a vacant former fruit market is reportedly in talks with the company.
Nothing has been confirmed.
Kensington locals have vowed to fight the chain from coming to their neighbourhood.
A petition against Starbucks is circulating in nearly every store Kensington Market. Residents and people who come into this neighbourhood are being asked to sign it to make their feelings known.
Community groups have attempted to fight major chains in other areas in the past - some tried to block a Wendy's from opening on the Danforth and Cabbagetown residents tried to block a Tim Horton's - but both attempts were unsuccessful.
Community members in Leslieville are currently trying to block a SmartCentre in their area.
The real estate agent overseeing the Kensington location told CityNews the controversy has been good for business and that nothing stays the same.
With the greatest of respect to Liberal Toronto Centre candidate Bob Rae, who raised this issue yesterday, I don't think it matters whether Harper's speechwriters plagiarized from former Australian prime minister John Howard's speechwriters in 2003.
I'd be surprised if Howard thinks it matters.
The speech itself is of historical interest largely because it is so wrong. In it, Harper – then Canadian Alliance chief – argued the case for Canada joining U.S. President George W. Bush's invasion of Iraq, saying that Saddam Hussein's possession of biological and chemical weapons made him a real threat to the world.
Harper's address to the Commons was in large part a word-for-word replay of a speech Howard had delivered to Australia's legislature two days earlier. Both argued that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction (he didn't) and that the U.S.-led invasion was justified under international law (it wasn't).
Yet it's worth remembering that Harper wasn't the only Canadian making that case at the time. Michael Ignatieff, now deputy Liberal leader and a Toronto candidate in this election, was also a strong defender of Bush's war five years ago.
Ignatieff eventually recanted. But in 2003, he and Harper were both cheerleaders for Bush.
Which brings us to the question of plagiarism.
| Plagiarism charge is a low blow |
L. IAN MACDONALD: Is this what public discourse has come to? War-room tactics and drive-by smears? Three weeks into the campaign, and only two weeks before the election.. MORE...
|
Don Martin: For intensely private Prime Minister Stephen Harper, it's not easy to introduce his own mother as damage control in a campaign that seemed an easy win for the Conservatives just three weeks ago. 
4 Comments:
I agree. When Canadians get to the polling booth on Tuesday, I have no doubt that the conservatives will win the day, and I'm not ruling out a majority.
You're 100% on the mark with your assessment Gerry.
I would also add, that the answer also depends on the questions that are asked just prior the "who you would vote for?".
I know Decima does this type of polling.
Think about it, if you ask something like "Do you agree that Harper should do more for the economy like the Liberal Party has said?" or something along those lines, it must have some affect when you finally get asked "who would you vote for?"
You're talking out of your arse, Gerry, and you know it.
Gerry,
All public polling in Canada is cooked by homosexual lobby that controlls that industry.
Their numbers hardly ever match reality.