Stand Your Ground Mayor O'Brien. The People Are Behind You In The Hunt For "Zero Means Zero"

Mulder

In the past 7 to 14 days, the airwaves in Ottawa have been filled with talk about how the newly elected Mayor, Larry O’Brien, and the city councilors are at odds over how to operate the city.

But herein lies the problem. Every sitting councilor who ran again, won their seat. Yet there was a change at the top in the Mayor’s seat.

What does this mean? Well not much, unless you take two points into consideration.

a) Ottawa had a record number of voters turn out in the last election to bring in a new Mayor because citizens want change.

and

b) Many citizens who do not typically vote municipally will more often than not vote in the incumbent because they do not pay enough attention to know anyone else’s name or position.

What kind of record numbers you ask? Click the image below for a larger version.

With Ottawa forming two new ridings, it is not easy to map every Ward to a new version, but many do map pretty clearly. To account for increased elector numbers, the figures below are based on voter percentage increases.

Ward 1 Orleans has ~76% increase in voter turnout
Ward 2 Innes has ~39% increase in voter turnout
Wards 3, 6 and 21 (now broken into Wards 3, 6, 21, and 22) had ~54% increase in voter turnout
Ward 4 Kanata (now broken into Wards 4 and 23) had ~52% increase in voter turnout
Ward 5 West Carleton has ~38% increase in voter turnout
Ward 7 Bay has ~50% increase in voter turnout
Ward 8 Baseline (now College) has ~84% increase in voter turnout
Ward 9 Knoxdale-Merivale has ~69% increase in voter turnout
Ward 10 Gloucester-Southgate has ~63% increase in voter turnout
Ward 11 Beacon Hill-Cyrville has ~60% increase in voter turnout
Ward 12 Rideau-Vanier has ~66% increase in voter turnout
Ward 13 Rideau-Rockcliffe has ~75% increase in voter turnout
Ward 14 Somerset has a whopping 101% increase in voter turnout
Ward 15 Kitchissippi has ~46% increase in voter turnout
Ward 16 River has ~73% increase in voter turnout
Ward 17 Capital has a whopping 94% increase in voter turnout
Ward 18 Alta Vista has ~80% increase in voter turnout
Ward 19 Cumberland has ~74% increase in voter turnout
Ward 20 Osgoode has a whopping 87% increase in voter turnout

And as a whole the city had an astounding 62% increase as the voter turnout went from 185107 voters in 2003 to 300129 in 2006.

When this many more people turnout to vote, it is clearly a sign that the city wants change and that they expect their councilors to stand behind O’Brien and make the changes necessary to hold the line on taxes (or perhaps even cut them).

Time To Get Back In The Game

Mulder

I have sat by too long watching as bleeding hearts rip our nation to shreds for the sake of personal gain.

*Axe hit*

I have listened to far too many lefties spread propaganda about issues that favour their own agendas of make work programs

*Axe hit*

I have watched too many City of Ottawa vehicles get first class treatment at the high end carwash in this city on my tax dollar.

*Axe hit*

I have listened to No Balls McShifty attempt to buy my Provincial vote this coming Ontario election with my own money after doing nothing with the extra money he took from me after he got elected last time around.

*Axe hit*

I think I have been officiallyscrewed too many times and I am losing my sense of being a hard working Canadian.

Heeeeeeereeeeeeee’s Mulder……

The Shining

The Mounties Always Get Their Man – Dudley DooRight Catches Bob Fife

Mulder

Whenever someone slams the CBC for being left leaning, the comeback always seems to be that the CTV is the exact opposite and a strong supporter of the Conservative Party. I am quickly seeing that this is also a complete load of hogwash.

My personal friend “Dudley Dooright” pointed this information out to me and I thought it was important enough for me to share with my readers.

This is to bring to your attention an urgent matter concerning the Minister of National Defence, the Honourable Gordon O’Connor.

There have been recent reports that Minister O’Connor will be removed from his current post of Minister of National Defence during the week of August 13. What follows are some details regarding the background, and how you could express your support for Minister O’Connor if you choose to do so.

Please note that since the cabinet shuffle might take place as early as Monday August 13, it is important to voice your support before 5 PM on Friday August 10 when Prime Minister Harper’s office closes for the weekend.

On Saturday August 4, 2007 CTV news reported:

“Prime Minister Stephen Harper will demote embattled Defence Minister Gordon O’Connor in a cabinet shuffle expected in the week of August 13, senior government insiders told CTV News.”

Link To August 4th CTV news story

The same news report also stated:

“Sources say the Prime Minister decided he had to shift O’Connor out of Defence after he gave an interview on CTV’s Question Period two weeks ago, in which he suggested Quebec’s famed Van Doos would spend their six-month mission in Afghanistan training Afghan army troops rather than fighting the Taliban.

Families who lost loved ones in Afghanistan were deeply upset at O’Connor as were members of the Van Doos, government officials told CTV.”

The first sentence refers to another CTV report published Sun. Jul. 22 2007, but the assertion that Minister O’Connor suggested that the Van Doos would be engaged in “training Afghan army troops rather than fighting the Taliban” is incorrect. The linked video clip posted on the CTV website, records what Mr. O’Connor actually said: http://tinyurl.com/29og5e

CTV’s Graham Richardson: “Will the mission change or be tweaked in any way? Will there be fewer patrols given what Canadian forces are facing in the south?”

Minister O’Connor: “It was part of our plan to go through essentially a three stage transition. When we arrived in the south, because of the situation with the Taliban, and the situation with the Afghan army, there was very few of them, we had to take on the bulk of the fighting.

And in the last few months we took over sponsorship of one of the infantry battalions of the Afghan army. We’ve trained it to a very high level and it’s out there now conducting operations.

Over the next four or five months we’re going to be picking up four or five additional Afghan battalions to train and mentor and get them out into the field.

And were hoping that by the end of this rotation that’s going in now, the so-called Van Doos rotation, we’ll have about 3000 Afghan army operating within the Kandahar province.

As we train more and more of the Afghan army to carry out their own operations, we will continue to withdraw, train them, put more emphasis on training, and at some stage, basically be in reserve.

CTV’s Graham Richardson: “If all goes according to plan, Canadians will be doing less of a combat role in the south, correct?”

Minister O’Connor: “That’s correct.”

Link to July 22nd CTV news story

Mr. O’Connor was describing a transition plan that was already in progress before the Van Doos arrived, and he did not suggest that the Van Doos would be engaged exclusively in training of the Afghan army in Kandahar.

Yet, CTV reports anonymous “senior government insiders” stating that Mr. O’Connor will be shuffled out of his Minister of National Defence position for a suggestion he never made in that news report.

On Jul 12, 2007, General Rick Hillier seemed to agree with Minister O’Connor regarding the recent successes training the Afghan army battalion, and with the plan going forward.

“This battalion has actually come an incredible long ways. Our soldiers were telling me it’s like looking in a mirror and seeing their own tactics and drills and skills being implemented by these guys,”

“They’re very professional. … They’ve actually been very successful in most operations against the Taliban,”

“I believe that by spring … this organization will be very capable. It won’t be perfect. It won’t be stand-alone. But it will be ready to help play a huge role that essentially has not been played at all until now by themselves,” he said.

Link to July 12th, 2007 Toronto Star news story

During his tenure of some 18 months as Minister of National Defence, Gordon O’Connor has secured the reinvestment in Canadian Armed Forces’ equipment which was depleted by years of neglect by previous governments. Examples of orders secured include heavy lift aircraft, transport helicopters, tanks, and arctic patrol ships. The Canadian Forces are making a significant contribution to the security of Afghanistan, and their morale is reported to be high.

If you believe that Gordon O’Connor is doing a good job as Minister of National Defence and would like to show your support for him, below are a few ways to do so:

1. Phone the Prime Minister’s Office at 613-941-6888 to speak to an assistant to express your support for Minister O’Connor in his role as Minister of National Defence. Business hours for the Prime Minister’s office are 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM. If you phone after 5 PM, you will be transferred to a voice-mailbox in the Prime Minister’s office, where you could also leave a message.

2. Email The Right Hon. Stephen J. Harper, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada at pm@pm.gc.ca expressing your support for Minister O’Connor in his role as Minister of National Defence. You might also consider copying Minister O’Connor’s parliamentary office at oconng@parl.gc.ca .

3. Fax The Right Hon. J. Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P., Prime Minister of Canada at 613-941-6900 expressing your support for Minister O’Connor in his role as Minister of National Defence.

Cabinet Ministers have been ordered to be available to meet with the Prime Minister as of Monday August 13, 2007 so there is very little time to get messages of support for The Hon. Gordon O’Connor to the Prime Minister. If you decide to voice your support for Minister O’Connor, please do so before 5 PM on Friday August 10.

Thank you.

It seems the only thing Minister O’Connor is guilty of is letting the press play tricks with his words. If you feel like me and know that Minister O’Connor is doing a fine job, then I urge you to let the PMO know with one of the methods pointed out above.

I would like to add that under Prime Minister Harper and Minister O’Connor, I have regained a faith that Canada is once again becoming the True North, STRONG and free.

CTV Pulls A Fast One

Mulder

This morning the issue of the “support our troops” decals has become front and centre on a national level. The boycott of Toronto is growing. And in an effort to stifle the support for our troops, the CTV has made a mockery of the question as indicated by the image below which shows their poll today.

Troop Support Poll on CTV

The way this is poll is worded is quite misleading.

Troop Support Poll on CTV2

The issue today is not to question the use of decals on city vehicles for “causes” but for our troops. Our troops are NOT a cause.

The fact is that with such an ambiguous question, I myself would vote no. But if you change the word causes to troops, you can guarantee that the results would be far different.

Shame on you CTV.

David Miller Raises Rainbow Flag, Takes Down Support Our Troops Decals

Mulder

God Bless Lowell Green.

This morning he is raving mad and he has a right to be. The leftist mayor of Toronto, David Miller, is calling for Toronto’s firefighters, police, and ambulance services to remove the “We support our troops” magnetic decals off of the cities vehicles.

However, just a few short days ago, the mayor, himself, raised the rainbow flag to kick off Toronto’s Gay Pride parade.

Lowell Green is calling for an immediate boycott of Toronto and I, for one, am joining him.

What I find most ironic about the mayor’s stand is that it was the military that was called in to dig the Big Smoke out of a blizzard back in the days of mayor Lastman.

I encourage Canadians out there to join this boycott until mayor Miller comes to his senses and I encourage everyone to email the mayor at mayor_miller@toronto.ca and let them know that if they continue to insult our troops, we are giving up on this modern day Sodom and Gomorrah.

$80/Glass Cognac On Zaccardelli's Expenses

Mulder

Not only was the pension fund being mismanaged but now we have the ex-Commissioner of the RCMP blowing tax dollars on expensive alcohol.

At a modest 16% income tax rate, the average person would have to earn $500 to generate $80 of taxes so that Julian “Livin’ The High Life” Zaccardelli could expense that $80/Glass Cognac.

Just something to chew on if you want to get your blood pressure up.

Talk about getting OfficiallyScrewed!!

Cookie Earns Silver At Provincials

Mulder

I hope I am not boring too many of those who read this blog for the politics but I have to give some kudos to my daughter Cookie and her best friend Moogles for earning a silver medal today at the Ontario Provincial Rhythmic Gymnastics Championship held here in Ottawa at the gorgeous Ashbury College.

The two were pretty much flawless in their duo ball routine and both me, the better half and Moogles parents are very proud of these two.

Second in the province and first in our hearts.

Way to go you two.

T-Bone Takes A Bronze At Tae E. Lee Taekwondo Cup

Mulder

Stepping away from the political arena for a post and entering the taekwondo sparring circle, I had to congratulate T-Bone on his bronze medal in his weight/belt class in the sparring event at the Tae E. Lee cup which was held at Algonquin College last Sunday.

I am continually amazed at his progress in this sport. He is currently a red belt and testing this Sunday for his black stripe which is one level below black belt. I am sure he will do fine. I am especially looking forward to his board breaking with a spinning side kick which is part of the test.

Way to go T-Bone.