Unreported Crime #1: Stephen Harper appointing Stockwell Day as a cabinet minister
Does Stockwell Day actually believe we need more prisons to house people who’ve committed unreported crimes?
http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100803/stockwell-day-crime-100803/
At the very least, he thinks Canadian’s are stupid enough to be fooled by his reasoning. Does the Conservative government plan to fill these new prisons by suspending habeas corpus and locking up anyone who looks like they may have committed an unreported crime?
*Blog title blatantly stolen from Tyler Kinch’s Facebook status.
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Ok, let’s try it Jack’s way…
It seems the Conservative government now concedes Jack Layton was on to something when he suggested we open a line of communication with the Taliban to end the decade-long war in Afghanistan. Of course, you won’t hear the Conservatives telling it that way.
Lawrence Cannon, Canada’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, quietly announced this week that our government wants to engage the Taliban and others in a “reconciliation process that is inclusive of all Afghans, no matter their ethnicity.”
I’m not sure I agree that this will be an effective tactic, I don’t agree with Layton on a lot of things when it comes to Afghanistan, but I’m glad our government has finally acknowledged that it’s worthy of consideration instead of dismissing it with childish name calling like they did four years ago when Jack suggested it.
Via: John Moore.
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Torchbearer positions sold to sponsors?
It seems Olympic torchbearer positions are being given out in the same manner as tickets to Olympic events. Priority is being given to high ranking sponsors.
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Canadians think politicians get little done, Harper proves them right.
A recent Ipsos Reid poll shows that 72% of those surveyed said they disagreed with the statement “Politicians in Ottawa got a lot done this year.” Meanwhile, Stephen Harper is boasting about all his government has done. Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament, and the Governor General’s moronic decision to allow it, show that 72% to be correct. Harper’s decision to shut down parliament this way for the second time in two years cancels thirty-something bills that Harper had previously said were important. He slammed the Liberals for threatening to force an election because they would cancel these same “important” bills. The truth is Harper is a power hungry asshole who has proven time and again that he will do whatever it takes to cling to power and avoid being held accountable for his actions.
Stephen Harper doesn’t give a shit about what’s best for our country. It’s time to toss him out on his ass!
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Federal Liberals will support HST
Michael Ignatieff says federal Liberals will support legislation to implement a harmonized sales tax in Ontario and British Columbia, despite previously bashing it as a job-killing “Harper sales tax.”
Liberal, Tory, same old story.
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Harper’s Conservatives Silence Desent Again.
Once again, a government official speaks his opinion and gets canned because the Conservatives don’t agree with him. This time it’s the chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
OTTAWA – The watchdog over the RCMP won’t be invited back for another term, prompting critics to accuse the government of muzzling him.
The government says it’s not renewing the appointment of Paul Kennedy, chairman of the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP.
Kennedy, who assumed the job four years ago, has harshly criticized the RCMP’s use of Tasers and recently sparred with the government over his budget.
In a statement Friday, the government thanked Kennedy for his service, but gave no reason for not extending his term.
Don Davies, the NDP public safety critic, said Kennedy’s departure is the latest example of the Conservative government’s inability to withstand negative comments.
“I think it’s wrong and I think it’s unfortunate,” he said.
“It smacks of political partisanship. I don’t think they like to be criticized and I think they like to put their own people in.”
Davies noted others have been marginalized for saying things the government doesn’t like, citing parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page, author of unflattering reports about federal spending, diplomat Richard Colvin, who raised alarms over the treatment of Afghan detainees, and Military Police Complaints Commission chair Peter Tinsley, who is conducting a probe of the detainee file.
Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland was travelling and unavailable for an interview. Through his assistant, he expressed disappointment – though not surprise – with the government’s decision.
Holland said the government has consistently done everything in its power to stifle independent oversight.
Kennedy is preparing to release a report on RCMP actions in the high-profile case of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, who died at the Vancouver airport in October 2007 after being Tasered by the Mounties.
A Public Safety official called Kennedy last week to tell him he won’t be renewed.
Kennedy’s term expires at the end of December and a replacement has yet to be named.
He declined comment Friday.
Kennedy, a veteran public servant, is a trained lawyer who spent 25 years with the federal Justice Department before joining the then-solicitor general’s portfolio, now Public Safety, where he retired in May 2005 as a senior assistant deputy minister.
The government has been working on a long-awaited modernization of RCMP oversight. But it has outlined no timetable for making changes.
Kennedy has taken a keen interest in the process, arguing his office doesn’t have enough powers to properly oversee the RCMP.
Public Safety Minister Peter Van Loan says he is waiting for the report of a federal commission into the 1985 Air India bombing before moving ahead.
But critics have pointed out that a 2006 commission of inquiry report into the Maher Arar affair has already produced a detailed blueprint for keeping an eye on security and intelligence agencies like the RCMP.
Holland said Friday the government continues to find excuses for not implementing the important changes.
Earlier this year it appeared the government wouldn’t replenish millions in special funding that Kennedy’s office received to carry out in-depth studies.
The complaints commission said the cutback would endanger research about how police deal with mentally ill suspects, and how forces often end up investigating themselves when officers get into trouble.
In the end, the commission got $3.1 million of the $3.7 million it hoped to receive for the research.
This from the party that, as opposition, slammed the Liberals for their partisanship.
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Child Poverty in Canada
Tuesday was the 20th anniversary of Canada’s parliament passing a resolution to end child poverty by the year 2000. All members of parliament at the time voted in favour of the resolution, but here we are twenty years later and the goal was not achieved. In fact, successive governments (and opposition MPs too) have done pathetically little to end child poverty. What seemed like a great idea at the time has become an embarrassing failure. I think the problem lies in parlamentarians’ failure to do something very simple that was once told to me: “Plan your work. Work your plan.” Parliamentarians certainly had a great goal, and gave themselves a reasonable time-frame, but they didn’t have a plan to follow. It’s time for Canada to accept its failure and start looking at how we can succeed on this issue. We should be looking at what other nations have done to eliminate child poverty and devising our own plan using what worked best for those nations.
Ed Broadbent, the man who came up with the end child poverty resolution in the first place, has an idea. It sounds good to me. At the very least, it would be a good start.
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It’s time for a raise!
Eight years is far too long for the lowest paid workers to wait for a raise. Good for Carole James for pushing this issue. Minimum wage should be at or above the poverty line!
New Democrats join British Columbians to mark eighth anniversary of BC’s minimum wage freeze
British Columbians believe hard work should be rewarded. It’s a core value that we all share.
That’s why the anniversary we marked this week was such a sad statement on the BC Liberals’ priorities.
Eight years ago this month, BC’s lowest paid workers got their last raise. Eight years ago.
In that time, costs have risen for all of life’s essentials.
And the new HST will make life even more expensive.
British Columbia now has the lowest minimum wage in the country.
And that means for tens of thousands of British Columbians getting up and going to work just doesn’t pay.
That has got to change.
To grow our economy and secure our future, every British Columbian who works hard, pays taxes, and contributes to their community should share in the benefits of BC’s economy.
But under the BC Liberals more and more British Columbians are falling behind.
BC has the highest child poverty rate in the country.
The gap between the rich and poor is growing.
And the middle-class is getting squeezed by rising costs and stagnant wages.
New Democrats believe it’s time to give minimum wage workers their first raise in eight years.
And it’s time to invest in the fundamentals to support a growing economy, a strong middle-class, and healthy communities.
Sincerely,
Carole
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Conservative Candidate Silenced
Once again, Stephen Harper has slapped the PMO muzzle onto a fellow Conservative. This time it was the Conservative candidate in the New Westminster-Coquitlam by-election. I guess it’s ok to share Harper’s views on destroying Canada’s medical care system, you’re just not supposed to talk about them in public. He’s saving that descussion for when he gets his majority.
Reality check: Harper scrambling to hide candidate’s support for health privatization
Fri 06 Nov 2009With only days until voters make their choice in the New Westminster-Coquitlam by-election, Stephen Harper is trying to hide his candidate’s comments in favour of private health care.
Speaking on local radio, Diana Dilworth expressed her willingness to allow more private medical care as an option for health reform:
“There’s a lot of different things that we could consider. And certainly private medical care is one of those options.” – Conservative candidate Diana Dilworth, CKNW’s “The Christy Clark Show,” 26 October 2009
Since she made her statement, Dilworth has all but disappeared.
“Over the next few days, I learned that with the exception of a tightly structured appearance on CKNW’s Christy Clark Show, Dilworth has yet to participate in any all-candidates’ debate. A New Westminster community group called Tenth to the Fraser abandoned plans for a debate after Dilworth declined to participate.” – The Tyee.ca, “The Curious Case of the Missing Tory,” 5 November 2009
If Stephen Harper disagrees with his candidate on private health care, why doesn’t he just say so instead of hiding her from voters?
Perhaps it’s because he doesn’t.
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Political favours influencing H1N1 vaccine
Stephen Harper has long campaigned on a promise to end Liberal political patronage in Ottawa. That’s why many Canadians were surprised when he appointed 18 CPC friendly senators at a time when he didn’t have the confidence of the House of Commons. It’s now been revealed that senators are costing taxpayers almost 220 per cent more for expenses while working less and less.
And as if political patronage when it comes to the Senate wasn’t disturbing enough, it turns out political patronage has played a role in the distribution, or lack thereof, of lifesaving H1N1 vaccines.
Stephen Harper proves once again: Liberal, Tory, same old story.
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