Politics-Federal

EcoTrust Is A Made In Canada Approach To The Environment

Mulder

In the past week, Stephen Harper has gone on a cross country tour making several announcements pertaining to the EcoTrust spending that is a “Made In Canada” approach to reducing green house gases, while at the same time working towards providing cleaner energy.

Coal fired plants to be taken offline in Ontario via Hydroelectricity piped in from Manitoba. Cleaner mass transit to the outskirts of Toronto. Hydrogen power programs in B.C.

The Liberals are claiming these programs were their ideas and that they were ready to fund them or they had indeed earmarked money to fund them. The Liberals are even stating they were going to give more to these environmental programs.

What’s funny is Stephen Harper did not have to “earmark” money for these, or even do any serious number crunching or increase taxes to accommodate these “Made In Canada” programs.

All he had to do was turn off the Kyoto payments to China and divert the funds. Something the Liberals were not ready to do. Of course, the Liberals were going to put an extra $3 to $5 Billion into the environment. They just don’t tell you that this was going to Maurice Strong’s China via a dog of a program named Kyoto. (on that note, I have to plug a friend’s blog, A Dog Named Kyoto. The name is quite fitting.)

How simple was this solution for the Conservatives? How awesome was this solution for Canadians? We get our cake (programs) and we get to eat it too (no higher taxes to do it).

First slice goes to Rona Ambrose for holding the fort.

OS Bookshelf – Right Side Up: The Fall Of Paul Martin And The Rise Of Stephen Harper's New Conservativism by Paul Wells

Mulder

Paul Wells’ first book was an especially good read for someone like me who was a political junkie at my worst during the past two elections.

This book, Right Side Up: The Fall of Paul Martin and the Rise of Stephen Harper’s New Conservativism was a good read for filling in all the little details of the 18 months between the 2004 and 2006 elections. It outlines much of the activity within the Liberal Party and within Paul Martin’s election war room.

The writing style Paul Wells’ displays is very appealing in that it flows easily for political and non political alike. His years writing for newspapers and magazines clearly shows through.

I would highly recommend this read for someone who may not have been up on what was going on in the last election or someone new to politics who would like to know how we got where we are today after the reign of Chretien.

7 out of 10 screws.
Mini ScrewMini ScrewMini ScrewMini ScrewMini ScrewMini ScrewMini Screw

Garth Turner The Pot Calls Kettle Black

Mulder

Chucker Canuck has found the post Garth Turner removed from his blog and has reposted it as it was originally put online. In this post, Garth calls Stephen Harper a political whore.

The transformation is now complete. Harper is a political whore. And he joins a long list who have gone before him, using his office and the treasury of tax dollars it brings to reward his own people, and then try to buy off the rest of the country.

(remember those bolded words)

But that’s not the only part that gets my goat. Garth also says the following:

But Kellie Leitch, chair of pediatric surgery at the University Hospital in London, where she deservedly earns four times more than the average family, does not need more money.

Now correct me if I am wrong, but does Garth Turner not have millions tucked away from all his business dealings? Did he not make more than 4x what the average family did when he was in the private sector?

So let’s break this down. It’s not ok for Kellie Leitch, but it’s fine for Garth.

So let’s look at this from another perspective. Why did Garth join the Liberal Party? He tries to say that he found people with similar political views to his, but we all know Garth has been a conservative, right leaning politico all his life and that has not changed.

The only real reason Garth joined the Liberals was so he could fund raise and give out nice cushy 75% tax receipts in the next election, whenever that is. Due to his previous independent status, this was not a luxury he had. This way he, himself, can start “using his office and the treasury of tax dollars it brings to reward his own people.” i.e. his financial supporters.

So instead of using his own funds as he thinks Kellie Leitch should, Garth sold out his political views and joined the Liberals so he could give out tax receipts which, in turn, meant that he could get more money for campaigning.

So who’s the political whore?

The Big Amazing Mole Survivor Election Race – Fiction By Me

Mulder

When I read that bloggers like Liberal Jason Cherniak are talking about a mole running rampant in the Liberal party or I see that even Paul Wells thinks someone at Liberal HQ is smoking crack for divulging to the Mop and Pail all the good info on advertising plans that the Liberals have, I sit back and smile.

And everytime I think about the possibility of a mole, I think about all those defectors. Scott Brison, Belinda Stronach and now Garth Turner.

I wonder to myself… could any of them have had the following conversation with Stephen Harper at some point in time.

(MP enters Harper’s office)

MP: Yes boss? I heard you wanted to see me?

Harper: Yes,come in. Sit down. Have an M&M. I’ve been watching you over the years and I have come to the conclusion that you have always been a true conservative.

MP: I try boss.

Harper: How would you like to make the ultimate sacrifice? A sacrifice worthy of song…A sacrifice that may just give us the advantage that brings Canada back from the brink.. a sacrifice no bard will ever sing about, no Canadian will ever know, and one that will only work if you have a thick skin, a truly conservative heart and the patience of Job.

MP: I appreciate the compliments and I think that I have those qualities.

Harper: Good, because I want you to defect and be my mole inside the Liberal Caucus/Party.

MP: I’d be honoured boss. When do I start?

Harper: OK, this is the plan …

It’s at this point that I allways break into an evil cackling laughter that makes even my dog think I have gone crazy.

And I think to myself … nahhhh … those Liberals are just blabber mouths. This is why the MSM got so ticked at Harper. He can keep a secret and Liberals can’t.

Marlene Jennings Contracts Foot In Mouth Disease

Mulder

First she attacked partisan government appointments…

…and then we found out her own husband received such an appointment.

Then she attacked the way the C-17 contract was tendered…

…when her own party used this same method of tender 3264 times in A SINGLE YEAR!!

And now Liberal Marlene Jennings is attacking the RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass for his comments following the Liberal support to let the anti-terror legislation sunset clause expiry.

Liberal justice critic Marlene Jennings is lashing out at B.C’s top Mountie for criticizing a move by Canada’s opposition parties not to extend controversial anti-terror powers for police.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Gary Bass says an investigation into the 1985 Air India bombing has been harmed by the expiry of investigative hearings. Such hearings allow authorities to compel potential witnesses in a suspected terror case to testify in front of a judge.

Now that we are spending millions to investigate this tragedy again, the Liberals have taken away the tools the RCMP needed. Marlene Jennings and her Liberal partners should hang their heads in shame for how they have let down the families of every victim of the Air India tragedy down. Her dress down of a ranking RCMP officer is deplorable.

Liberals Practicing Reverse Psychology On Canadians

Mulder

If you have ever tried to find a lost receipt in a garbage bag full of coffee grounds, banana peels and loaded diapers, then you know how hard it was to find this quote from the mouth of Mark Holland:

Liberals Denis Coderre and Mark Holland came to Dion’s defence, and blasted Harper and the Tories for spending millions of dollars on personal attack ads to force an election Canadians don’t want.

“I think that the Prime Minister wants the election soon,” said Holland, Dion’s natural resources critic. “Canadians don’t, and certainly we don’t. I think that Canadians want a minority government. They wanted it to work. What instead we have is somebody who has a crass political agenda and sort of shoves everything else aside.”

H/T to Jarrett Plonka.

But the story doesn’t end there.

This morning on CTV Newsnet, there was a news clip with Liberal Jim Karygiannis from Scarborough, taking his campaign signs out of storage for the pending election and Jimmy K. was harping about how an election was coming and blamed the reasoning on Harper’s desire to go to election.

“I think the Prime Minister is certainly misleading the Canadian public. He’s eager to go, he’s rarin’ to go, and I think within 4 to 8 weeks he’s going to pull the plug on us.”

But why would Jimmy move signs out of the garage of his mansion and put them in a
minivan? Where could he possibly be taking them? I think it’s clear who is rarin’ to go and it’s Jimmy K.

JimmyK Signs 1

JimmyK Signs 2

JimmyK Signs 3

So what we have here is three Liberals starting the campaign to make it look like they did NOT call the election. The way this works is they scatter the press with images of themselves preparing for an election and blaming it on the Tories, and then they take the government down on the budget and anyone who decides to not pay attention in two weeks will think the Tories called the election.

Nice smoke and mirrors. Watch the press over this two week March break to see how many more Liberals prepare for an election call and then deflect the blame to the Tories. All I have to say is that if Jimmy K has a sign up on his own lawn and is taking signs out of his garage and posting them

But the truth is, the Liberals are itching. They have an ineffective leader. They are losing more and more ground to the Tories daily, and they are in desperate need to find a reason to boot Stephane Dion out of power so they can find a more capable leader.

FIFA Human Rights Violation … My (Gr)ass

Mulder

One organization says some must wear the hijab for religious reasons, while some may not.

One organization says they must not wear the hijab for safety reasons and it applies to EVERYONE.

Now whom do YOU think the human rights complaint will be filed against?

This is one of those cases when we just need to stop and slap ourselves.

“I think this is something that needs to be taken up with the United Nations in terms of human rights violations,” Anisa Ali of the United Muslim Women of Canada told CTV Newsnet on Saturday. “We, as Muslim women, have a right to participate in sporting activities just like non-Muslim women.”

Her group will be taking action “ASAP,” she said.

I think what any human rights group’s response to this type of complaint should be that Muslim women are not being prevented from playing soccer, but instead it should be viewed that ALL humans are being prevented from playing soccer with a headscarf.

Since EVERYONE is affected by the no headscarves rule, the only possible human rights violation would be the requirement that all Muslim women HAVE to wear a headscarf when Muslim men are exempt.

Aye, there’s the rub…

Carbon Offsetters Fooling Themselves And Us

Mulder

When the Tories released their Clean Air act, the biggest shot across the bow that the other parties made had to do with the reduction of green house gases with targets going out to 2050.

Well Lorrie Goldstein has done a bit of very smart math that may make people like Elizabeth May head for a washcloth to wipe the egg off their faces.

“Green” celebrities often claim to reduce their carbon imprint to zero when flying around the world by buying “carbon offsets”. One popular way of doing this is by planting trees.

Let’s do the math. It takes 15 trees 40 to 50 years to absorb five tons of carbon.

A return flight from Toronto to Vancouver injects 5.4 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per passenger. Carbon dioxide takes 50 to 200 years to dissipate naturally.

Therefore, to absorb most of the carbon dioxide caused by one passenger taking one domestic round-trip flight across Canada in 2007, requires planting 15 trees today that won’t complete the job until, assuming none is destroyed by fire, disease or insects. If they are, they’ll release their carbon back into the atmosphere.

(bolded emphasis mine)

This is one of those tidy little facts you keep in your pocket for when an environmentalist complains about the Tory play taking 45 years to reach fruition.

And if you happen to be one of those who believes that offsetting is a good plan then I highly urge you save your soul by taking part in my very own OfficiallyScrewed Offsetting Program.

Yet Another Liberal Flip Flop – Tenth Time Is The Charm On Anti-Scab Legislation

Mulder

Say No To Bill 267Bill C-257, which gave me waking nightmares, appears to be more than just a private member’s bill designed to cripple the Canadian economy. It is another example of Liberal’s flip flopping and another example of just how far left Stephane Dion really is.

He has moved so far left that centrists don’t even recognize him. But why?

First of all we have the Conservatives showing they are truly a modern party and not the extremist, right wing, scary Party the Liberals have painted them to be for a decade. This has given the Tories growth towards the Liberal center.

Then we have the NDP, who showed a bit of strength when they held up Martin’s minority government the way an emphysema sufferer is held up by a green oxygen tank outside the hospital doors. Lend Jack your vote and he would chomp a bit of the left leaning Liberals over to the NDP.

So Dion steps in stuck between a Rock and a somewhat hard place. Where is he going to get his votes? Does he fight the right in a battle of wits with a seasoned warrior like Harper who is pummeling him in Question Period day after day after day? Or does he look for the low hanging fruit, and try to steal back the NDP voters who do not want Harper in government no matter what?

My guess is the latter.

This is why the Liberals have flip-flopped again and chosen to support anti-scab legislation.

At first, few took the bill seriously.

The handiwork of Bloc Quebecois MP Richard Nadeau, the proposed legislation was introduced as a so-called private-member’s bill, one of dozens of draft laws floated by backbench MPs that go nowhere, quietly dying on the Commons order paper.

Nadeau’s bill was also the tenth attempt by an opposition MP to introduce anti-scab legislation in recent years, all of which failed to materialize under previous Liberal governments.

But a funny thing happened on the Grits’ way to the opposition benches.

When the bill came to preliminary votes in the Commons, it was suddenly backed by the Liberals, along with the Bloc, New Democrats and even a few Conservative MPs from Quebec (who have since recanted) — more than enough to pass through the minority parliament.

I guess the TENTH time is the charm.

So after nine failed attempts at having anti-scab legislation go through the house under the Liberals watch (with support from the Tories to stop it each time), Dion has chosen to forsake the Canadian economy, the way he would by shutting down industry to meet Kyoto, and support the tenth attempt at getting anti-scab legislation through.

Stop Bill C-267. Write your MP. If he/she is a Liberal, write him/her and get a few friends to do the same. This legislation is just plain wrong and a Liberal flip flop on this needs to be addressed.