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Shame on Stephen Harper! Shame on the Tories What a shame today for Canada and Canadians! The Idiot we call our Prime Minister did what has never happened in the history of Canadian politics. We have always know Stephen Harper to be Racist and anti visible minorities as shown by his quote on my blog headline, but today he put the Canadian Parliament into shame. http://www.vijaysappani.com/myblog/?p=488 Steve has no decency, no shame, no humanity and his minions aren't much better. Time for voters to shovel in that Harper conservative gutter and erase this blithe from Canada.

Sorry the hardest word for PM, Goodale Last Updated: Friday, February 16, 2007 | 8:55 PM CT CBC News Prime Minister Stephen Harper has refused to apologize to Liberal MP Ralph Goodale over the income trust scandal..... "They were deliberately intending to have a political impact … but more importantly to damage reputations, to besmirch the good name of various people, including me," Goodale said. "If you're not a bully, the decent thing to do is say, 'We were wrong.'" http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/stor...per-income.html

So even the Blogging Torys agreed that Steve didn't care about Aids victims. Quote By PETER WORTHINGTON: Dr. Wainberg and others feel Harper should have been there for the opening of the conference, at which they acknowledge he’d have been roundly booed — as Brian Mulroney was booed at an international AIDS conference in Montreal in 1989. Why should Harper subject himself to this, especially when there is no gain for him, his party, or Canada? Perhaps Harper was showing taste and sensitivity by ducking the conference. At least he’s not a hypocrite, and not sympathetic with the homosexual or same-sex marriage crowd who some feel are more susceptible to AIDS than the rest of us. Give him some credit for that. He may even feel he stands to gain more votes by not attending than he would by attending and smiling like Pluto when he felt the opposite. -end quote Quote from blogger: What benefit does this have in the big picture? The PM shows up, gives his half-hearted speech and then leaves, amid boos from the likes of proponents of same-sex marriage, who likely wouldn't support him or the Conservative Party if those were the last choices on the ballot. http://toryblue.blogspot.com/ Very telling

Was it only last week that Prime Minister Stephen Harper congratulated his Conservatives for "rebuilding public trust" in Ottawa, as they marked their first anniversary of taking office? For "doing the right thing" and for embracing "the values and aspirations of Canadians"? Fine sentiments, to be sure. But they are more than a little undercut by the Conservative party's sleazy pre-election attack television ads on Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion and his team. It's hard to recall such a nasty campaign, outside the overheated climate of a federal election race. While Harper took office promising "good, clean government," there is nothing good or clean about lashing out from the gutter to claw down the opposition even before the election writ is dropped. One of the most notorious was Kim Campbell's Conservative ad in the 1993 campaign mocking Chrétien's appearance, and suggesting that he would embarrass the nation on the world stage. Chrétien's face was partially paralyzed by a childhood illness. The ad was pulled after a firestorm of controversy. And Paul Martin's Liberals overdid things in last year's campaign with an ad that suggested Harper wanted to plant troops on every street corner in the nation. It was pulled before it aired. All parties have critical issues to debate in the next election, including climate change, poverty, urban renewal, Afghanistan, health, welfare and higher education. Canadians want fresh, positive thinking on these files. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/article/182780 Not to even mention the total lack of decency in this current PM during Question Period today. Even calling Steve PM makes me want to vomit. But I sure noticed how beady his eyes are as he stood and spewed forth with his lies and innuendo's.

Kinda looks good on them. The Steve mask is slipping.

Jean Chretien the MP phoned the Business Bank to procure a loan for his friend. Not the right thing for a PM to do. So is that any different than a PM giving tax breaks to tobacco processor in a politically vulnerable region of Southern Ontario? One tobacco processor that should benefit from the tax change -- Simcoe Leaf Tobacco Co. Ltd. -- is in Ms. Finley's riding of Haldimand-Norfolk. It was unclear whether any firms outside her riding would benefit. One industry expert said Simcoe Leaf appears to be the only company that would be eligible for the tax break. Steve scandal? Not so different from schawinigate.

Anyone ever hear of MPs allowed free speech, MPs allowed free votes? This concept is not a reflection of poor leadership. Rather "real" leaders are not afraid of difference of opinions.

According to internal government documents, had the Conservatives not scrapped Project Green, Canada would have met 80 per cent of its Kyoto targets two years before the deadline. So if Canada has to spend $10 billion to buy credits, it's Steve's fault. His ignorant arrogance is destroying Canada.

Forget the debt that Liberals inherited from Mulroney. It was the $40 BILLION deficit that had Canada on the verge of bankruptcy and was the reason for the cut-backs to the provinces and all programs. Necessary cut-backs to balance the budget that the Reform party praised while they called for deeper cuts. Touting his attack on the Canadian deficit “come hell or high water” with a flaunting confidence, Martin pulled funding out of almost all federal programs but military spending. Martin's third budget, announced on March 6th, 1996 calls for the Department of National Defence (DND) to spend a total of $10.963-billion in 1996-97, down around $1 billion. There were more cuts but still military spending remained roughly 2 per cent higher than DND's 1980-81 budget. Martin started to increase the military budgets in 1999. 2004, Martin spent $7 billion for new equipment, supplies and tax relief for Canadian military personnel. Martin said he would fast track a $1.3 billion plan to buy new, fixed-wing aircraft for search and rescue operations, a $3 billion plan to replace Canada's aging sea king fleet of helicopters for the Air Force, a $700 million purchase of new tanks called Strykers–an eight-wheel armoured vehicle that will replace the Leopard tanks. There was $2.158-billion announced in the 2005 Liberal budget for 2006-07 and 2007-08 with a total of $12.7 billion over the following five years. Steve is just continuing Liberal programs and equipment procurements that Paul Martin budgeted for. So yes, Rick Hillier is Steve's prop. Hillier also promised Paul Martin that he would have 800 soldiers for Sudan. Guess there is no glory in just helping starving people that Bush is not interested in.

Keep on babbling, Steve. Your mask is slipping.

I remember that day when Ralph Goodale's office announced that he would be making an announcement on IT later. This was then discussed on blogs and discussion groups such as 55 Plus and everyone said that it would be a good report with the Liberal government not taxing IT especially with an election imminent. People who play the stock market instinctively know when a good deal is coming and those who are use to knowing gambled and bought stock. What is so hard to understand about that? It is not because of leaks from Goodale or any politician that IT stocks were traded. Brison's email to his friend only said that it would be good news. Did his friend then buy IT stocks? Apparently not or he would be charged with insider trading. But everybody use to stocks, investments, political watchers knew that it would be good news because Liberals were not going to cut their own throat in public and then call an election. Everything else is slimy vilifying of Goodale and questionably ethical of Steve's conservatives to insist this was a Liberal scandal. Really, the public is not all that stupid and people who are paying attention know the RCMP exonerated Goodale and ALL politicians with only a civil servant charged. Credibility is lost by prolonging a scandal that had nothing to do with the Liberal Party. Ralph Goodale said, "The investigation has indicated no involvement in this matter by me, my staff or any other political person." What is questionable here is only did the RCMP inappropriately send a fax to the NDP confirming the IT investigation, they then waited a couple days, noticed no mention of it in the papers (the fax was sitting in an empty constituency office over the holidays) and then inappropriately PHONED the NDP to say, "Hey we're investigating.....we sent you a fax" The public has lost faith in the RCMP, especially after the Arar affair, their handling of Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara's case, their willingness to confirm to an NDP Member of Parliament that there was an investigation --- in the middle of an election campaign no less, not to mention Commissioner Zack having convenient memory loss. By getting on Steve's band wagon, Judy Wasylycia-Leis is diminishing herself in the public. It would be interesting to know what her constituents think of her continuing to perpetrate a lie. But hey..... keep on parroting the same lines.... Liberal scandal, Goodale scandal. Credibility is gone. p.s. Quebec voters are not stupid and we will have a PQ government there in March.

The founders of Confederation gave the Senate the important role of protecting regional, provincial and minority interests. They assigned each region the same number of seats in order to guarantee that they had an equal voice in the Senate. Seats were added as new provinces and territories entered Confederation. The Senate has done good work. And there needs to be a check on the Lower House.

The facts are: *When comparable figures are used, pollution in Canada in 2002 actually decreased 13 per cent from 1998 levels. *Emissions of sulphur oxides, which cause acid rain and smog decreased by 50 per cent. *Emissions from toxic substances lead, mercury, cadmium and dioxins and furans dropped by 65 to 75 per cent from 1990 to 2003. *In the chemical sector, annual releases of toxic substances have been reduced by two thirds since 1992, down to 1,100 tonnes from 3,400 tonnes. *Since the 1970s Canada has reduced its mercury release by 90 per cent and more reductions are expected. According to internal government documents, had the Conservatives not scrapped Project Green, Canada would have met 80 per cent of its Kyoto targets two years before the deadline. Last May, 2006 at the UN Conference on Climate Change in Bonn, leaked documents revealed the Conservatives had instructed Canadian officials to deliberately undermine the current Kyoto regime and stall any progress beyond 2012, reversing Canada’s Kyoto position in favour of the Bush Administration’s position of voluntary, non-binding targets. Now Canada ranks dead last among members of the G8 industrialized countries when it comes to keeping a pledge made last year to fight climate change by reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, according to a report prepared by researchers at the University of Toronto. Canada has "no plan" to cut its emissions in the short or long term, and could have rising output of the gases blamed for global warming under the Conservatives' Clean Air Act because the legislation doesn't cap releases, the report said. Steve Harper, you didn't get it done.

DENNIS BUECKERT Wed Feb 14, 6:58 PM ET OTTAWA (CP) - The Harper government may be in for a Stern lecture. Nicholas Stern, the renowned British economist whose massive report on climate change made headlines around the world last fall, is coming to Canada - and it's not at the invitation of the Conservative government. ADVERTISEMENT Stern has compared the potential costs of climate change to those of the world wars and the Great Depression. He has a packed schedule in Toronto on Monday, including a joint news conference with David Suzuki, an outspoken critic of the Tories' climate policies. Stern, a former chief economist at the World Bank, has become an unlikely celebrity since his 700-page report, the Stern Review, was tabled in October. Stern's report contradicts the Conservatives' arguments on almost every major point. He says cutting greenhouse emissions to acceptable levels will cost a mere one per cent of global GDP by 2050, while failing to do so could cost up to 20 per cent - which would amount to trillions of dollars. Stern says rich countries must take the lead in addressing a climate problem they have largely created, so as to ensure a sense of fairness and bring developing countries into the process gradually. "What we're being told by the government is we're going to go bankrupt if we do this (fulfil the Kyoto targets)," said Emily Moorhouse of the Sierra Club. "But Stern's report says the opposite - we're going to go bankrupt if we don't." http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20070214/ca...ies_kyoto_stern So is Steve going to cut and run (like missing the vote today on the Kyoto bill of Pablo Rodriguez) and let his mouth do all the yapping?

Jim Brown Canadian press OTTAWA — Steven Harper is frankly admitting that he’s looking for judges who will back his law-and-order agenda — and provoking cries from his opponents that he’s trying to subvert the judiciary for political ends. “We are bringing forward laws to make sure that we crack down on crime — that we make our streets and communities safer,” the prime minister declared in the Commons on Wednesday. “We want to make sure our selection of judges is in correspondence with those objectives.” Harper quickly retreated from those blunt remarks, delivered during the third straight day of heated debate over Conservative views on the judiciary, the courts and the Charter of Rights. For the rest of the daily question period, he deflected opposition barbs by insisting that he believes in an independent judiciary and merit-based appointments to the bench. It was too late, however, to still the wrath of his critics in both the political and legal spheres. http://www.thestar.com/News/article/181890 Harper's hubris could soon backfire By James Travers Toronto Star Ottawa (Feb 15, 2007) Something strange and troubling is happening in the national capital. A minority government behaving like a majority is creating an alternate universe where weak is strong and the will of Parliament is merely a suggestion. What's more worrying than the government's environmental sincerity is its default character. It's so cock-sure, so blinded-by the beauty of its convictions, that it bowls over anything in its way. Woven through its declared willingness to ride-roughshod over Parliament is the same single-minded determination that's driving its attempts to add partisanship and ideology to the appointment of judges. Both are risky steps in the wrong direction. Administrations don't necessarily abide by the spirit let alone the letter of every bit of legislation, particularly when not considered as a test of confidence in the government. But diminishing elected MPs to advisers only slows overdue democratic reform even as it accelerates the already high-speed concentration of power at the political centre. Reversing the trend away from a politicized appointment process by loading the screening committee is as damaging as what it's doing to Parliament. Along with raising the U.S. spectre of mixing personal beliefs with legal competence, it erodes public confidence in an independent judiciary. http://tinyurl.com/278yh5 Harper admits he's picking judges to advance Tory law-and-order aims OTTAWA (CP) - Steven Harper is frankly admitting that he's looking for judges who will back his law-and-order agenda - and provoking cries from his opponents that he's trying to subvert the judiciary for political ends. "We are bringing forward laws to make sure that we crack down on crime - that we make our streets and communities safer," the prime minister declared in the Commons on Wednesday. "We want to make sure our selection of judges is in correspondence with those objectives." http://news.yahoo.com/s/cpress/20070215/ca...c_harper_judges So today we had a peek at what the "scary" is about. Steve dropped his mask for a moment and let his true intention with judges show. Who is going to kick Steve's butt? His MPs and Caucus are kool-aid drinkers so it is left to the voter to tell this dictator what Canadians think of anyone trying to dismantle our country and changing it in his own image. Canada is not Bush country and our government is not a republic. We are not a neo-con country.

Hey everyone... this discussion was not about candidates in a riding but about Steve appointing immigration judges without the normal appointments process, which includes a 15-page initial application form, a three-part written exam with both multiple choice and essays, in-depth reference checks and an intricate process of behavioural interviews. Steve just says.... you're it. It is an abuse of the trust that the Tories promised so fervently to restore during the last election campaign. And it makes a mockery of the normal appointments process. Steve is a worse crook than those he vilifies.

When the Liberal government was signing Kyoto, meeting with industry and trying to come up with a plan to lower greenhouse gases, the NDP was not interested. As to the NDP commitment, it was bought by Steve releasing money to the BC rainforest that I am sure Steve had no intention of spending, even though this was another part of the Liberal budget monies that Steve silently canceled. The only reason the NDP is willing to work with the CPC on the environment is so they can say they wrote the government environment platform just as they pip about writing Paul Martin's budget. The CPC Clean Air Act was so bad it should have been shot. But Jack saw a way to make politics so now he's making politics, not policy. Cause the policy already exists on the books under other acts. According to the polls, the party with bona fide green credentials is the Green Party. Next is Liberal. The NDP are becoming irrelevant in the debate and they will not be able to ask liberals to "borrow" their vote this next time. Jack is becoming a joke. He is now a "conservative" whereas he use to "liberal" Bob Rae should run against Jack. LOL

Quote: Call a halt, Albertans Peter Lougheed is urging a moratorium on oil sands projects while the province's residents are asked what kind of development they want, and at what pace It's unwise, Mr. Lougheed argues, to use natural gas, a relatively clean fuel, to produce the heat needed to extract relatively dirty oil from the bitumen. That gas should be used for other purposes, including perhaps building up a petrochemical industry. It's too valuable and clean to be used for the oil sands. It was wrong, he thinks, to have allowed so many projects to proceed at once. The mad rush overheated the provincial economy, especially in the oil sands areas. The cost of labour and materials skyrocketed. Many projects are running over budget. The infrastructure of Fort McMurray and other communities can't cope. They need schools, sidewalks, hospitals, accommodation, parks. The provincial royalty scheme cheats Albertans, he insists. The taxpayers get very little up front -- a 1 per cent royalty -- until the capital costs of the projects are paid when the royalty rises to 25 per cent. Albertans own the resources, he argues, and they should get more faster. Now comes the really radical part. Mr. Lougheed thinks a moratorium should be declared on oil sands projects. Public hearings should be held during the moratorium. Albertans should be asked what kind of development they want, and at what pace. -end quote http://thestar.workopolis.com/servlet/Cont...?section=Energy http://www.pembina.org/media/op-ed.php?id=1217 So Mark Holland is saying the exact same as Peter Lougheed. And it makes perfect sense to put some breaks on the giving away of Alberta's NON-renewable resources. It is Steve who said that he would regulate emissions which includes Alberta. Quote: "The government does intend to regulate emissions across all sectors including the automobile sector,'' Harper said in an exclusive interview with The Canadian Press.

Hey... quit twisting the truth. Liberals were NOT found to have misappropriated any funds... not even one dollar or one red cent. Nada. And that was by Gomery and TWO official audits of the Liberal party's books. What happened was that the Liberal party found that they had received donations of $1.4 million from the perps that helped themselves to sponsorship money.... you know the Boss guy, Tory Chuck Guite and his crew. The Liberal party promptly paid back those monies to the taxpayers when in fact they really were legal donations. Chretien also changed the rules to ban corporate funding to political parties and only $1000 to candidates. Individual donations were limited to $5000. Chretien also limited cash donations to $25. Liberals misappropriated absolutely nothing. So please watch how you phrase your accusations. Just stick to the truth.

clear enough for you? No. Soldiers automatically are armed so you may delete armed. The ad did not include "armed" It said soldiers with guns, in our cities. And that is exactly what is happening. So again we have the Tory machine vilifying Paul Martin and the Liberals and then doing exactly what they said they wouldn't do.... put soldiers in our streets, soldiers with guns.

The Tories' evasion of the screening rules For all their preaching about ethics, the federal Conservatives have let expediency trump accountability in their quest for electoral success. As the Commons committee on citizenship and immigration learned this week, the Tories ignored the normal selection process in appointing their former candidate Raminder Gill as a citizenship judge last October. That arrangement conveniently cleared the way for Liberal-turned-Conservative Wajid Khan to run as the Tory candidate (supplanting Mr. Gill) in his Toronto-area riding in the next election. It is an abuse of the trust that the Tories promised so fervently to restore during the last election campaign. And it makes a mockery of the normal appointments process, which includes a 15-page initial application form, a three-part written exam with both multiple choice and essays, in-depth reference checks and an intricate process of behavioural interviews. Instead, as Michel Simard, the senior judge who heads the Citizenship Commission, confirmed, the Tories simply issued order-in-council appointments to plunk Mr. Gill and three other candidates on the tribunals last Halloween without screening. Prime Minister Stephen Harper turned accountability into a campaign centrepiece in January of 2006. As the Conservatives proclaimed, "Canadians' faith in the institutions and practices of government has been eroded" during the Liberal tenure. They vowed to do far better. -end quote I can still hear the ranting and raving, foaming of the mouth, beating of the chest against "those scandaled Liberals" and how the saintly Tories would be more accountable. So what have we here? The Accountability Act has given Steve more power to do what he wants without being accountable to Canadians. Steve changes any rules that get in his way of doing what he feel like doing.... in this case, making way for Khan to cross the floor by getting his competition out of the way by giving Gill a judgeship without going through the screening process set up by the Liberals in 2004 where appointments would be on merit and not patronage. Steve is turning out to be a worse crook than those whom he vilifies.

So now we know that Jimmie lied or is just incompetent. Flaherty contradicted by his own department on trust tax-leakage methodology Quote; The confusion arose after Dennis Bruce, vice president of economics consulting firm HDR/HLB Decision Economics, testified to the house of Commons Standing Committee on Finance that the department's tax-leakage estimates were “sharply overstated.” His company's analysis, which he said used the same basic methodology as the finance department, found that 2006 federal tax leakage from trusts was about $164-million, not $500-million. Further, as a result of other legislated taxation changes for future years, the leakage in the future would be only $32-million annually. -end quote Wonder if Jimmie figured in the taxes that Telus would not be paying if they became an IT? Especially since Telus hasn't paid taxes for the past six years and is now restructuring so they don't have to pay any taxes now or in the future. Jimmie was incompetent in Ontario and he is still incompetent.

Patrolling? You added patrolling?

Hey, if Steve is implementing all those Liberal programs cause he cares so much for Canada and the environment........ great. So why are "sources" saying the funding to the rain forest was released cause it was a bribe for Jacko's support? And the Liberals could not have implemented the recommendations in the report that "they asked" for cause it wasn't delivered to the government until last March. Steve already was the "new" government. Repeating the mantra that Liberals did nothing about the environment (KYOTO) does not make it true. Project Green Reviews a Year of Environmental Progress The Climate Change conference in Montreal Why Dion's plan would have reached the Kyoto targets if Steve did not cancel all programs. That is a whole lot of nothings. Nothings that Steve is now tweaking and implementing as his own using different names, but eliminating any monies to help lower income Canadians refit their homes. Good that Dion did all the heavy lifting so Steve could look good.

So after all the games, self-righteous rantings, insults and denials, Steve will implement the rest of Dion's Project Green and the Kyoto targets. And the Tories try to say that Dion is not a leader. Heck, they are all out of breath trying to keep up to Dion's lead. LOL