Wow, A Reporter Doing His Job

Imagine, a reporter who actually fact checks the Prime Minister's speech on crime. If this catches on, we may actually have a functioning press again.

Recommend this Post

World O' Incoherence

Who can point it out better than Wells?

Recommend this Post

A Government In Disarray

The ongoing saga over the treatment of prisoners handed over by Canadian Forces has taken a turn for the absurd. The government's new line is if the opposition can't give them specific names of prisoners who claim to have been abused, then no abuse has taken place and no investigation is required. The fact that the names of some of the complainants were in fact published in the Globe and Mail is meaningless:

A Globe investigation, based on 30 face-to-face interviews with men recently captured in Kandahar province, uncovered a range of horrific stories and a clear pattern of abuse by Afghan authorities who work closely with Canadian troops.

Some of the allegations were made by four men, whose names were published, and who were originally detained by Canadian forces.

Reality has not stopped our intrepid government from trying to brazen their way out of a losing position. The more they try this tactic however, the more foolish they look and the more it looks like they are really trying to hide something. Some adult supervision is required for the Tories and soon. Otherwise, this is just going to get worse and worse for them. If they want proof of the poisonous affect of stonewalling, all they have to look at is the popularity numbers of their ideological cousins to the south.

Recommend this Post

Give 'Em What They Want

I think I have a handle on Stephen Harper's Quebec policy. Give them all the money and power (taken from other parts of Canada) the elites want, with no questions asked. Let Quebec become independent in all but name and finance this fantasy through the bounty of the Canadian taxpayer. What is not yet clear to me is whether the rest of the country is willing to go along with the madness.

Almost Instant Update: You would think too, that with the week Harper had, he would have stopped his election campaign for just one day and, you know, govern the country. For a guy who is supposedly a policy wonk who hates politicking, Harper sure spends more time on the latter.

Recommend this Post

Come On Opposition

Layton has opened the door. Will you walk through it? How much do you really want to stop this governments disasterous anti-Kyoto policy? Let's bring them down.

Update: I listened to NDP environment critic, Nathan Cullen on "The House" this morning. After hearing him, I agree with his strategy. To bring down the government would mean another year of delays. I agree we should get the other oppostion parties together and force the government to choose between C-30 and their plan in parliament. Public pressure will force the Tories to yield or they will bring their own government down. Either way, the NDP will have done what it could.

Recommend this Post

Gut Check Time

I agree with Chantal Hebert. It is time for the opposition to pull this rotten government down.

Recommend this Post

Gee, I Wonder How The Liberals Will Vote On This One?

The NDP put forward its own motion on Afghanistan today:

(1) all Members of this House, whatever their disagreements about the mission in Afghanistan, support the courageous men and women of the Canadian Forces; (2) the government has admitted that the situation in Afghanistan can not be won militarily; (3) the current counter-insurgency mission is not the right mission for Canada; (4) the government has neither defined what ‘victory’ would be, nor developed an exit strategy from this counter-insurgency mission; therefore this House condemns this government and calls for it to immediately notify NATO of our intention to begin withdrawing Canadian Forces now in a safe and secure manner from the counter-insurgency mission in Afghanistan; and calls for Canada to focus its efforts to assist the people of Afghanistan on a diplomatic solution, and re-double its commitment to reconstruction and development.

My guess is, the Liberals will stick with the government's 2009 date, until either a) an election is called, or b) the NDP's numbers go up. At that point they will claim it was really their motion (but they had to vote against it because all the cool kids told them they would laugh at them if they didn't) and that all progressives should flock to them "for the good of the country".

Recommend this Post