maplesyrup

Second dogfight underway between incumbent Liberal MPs for single riding http://www.canada.com/news/national/story....2E-93D452A32918 'Steve Mahoney, a former Jean Chretien cabinet minister, says he wants to run in the same Toronto-area riding as Carolyn Parrish, a firebrand Martin supporter. During an interview Wednesday, Mahoney said Parrish has "embarrassed" the Liberal party'

Japan seems to be much further ahead than North America at least in tracking animals. They are going to have a system in effect this coming year, whereby consumers will be able to look up data on the animals, on the Internet, based on a label code, on the beef, in the stores. I don't know what they would do though, if the ear tag falls off and gets lost. 'Tech lasso for mad cows' http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...tory/Technology ---- The rumours about the rendering plant is growing in leaps and bounds, and now there appears that there will be a delay in obtaining the DNA results, which should help to pinpoint the location of the origin of the diseased cow. 'Birthplace of BSE cow won't be known until next week' http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/31/dna_delay031231

'Alberta rendering plant under investigation' http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/ This appears to be an informative and up-to-date (published at 5:03 PM EST today) article, about the BSE situation. It includes the devastating impact on cattle prices that has occured: 'Live-cattle futures prices fell in Chicago for the fifth straight session Wednesday by its maximum limit. Futures for February delivery fell 2.65 cents (U.S.) to 73.525 cents a pound on the exchange. Since the United States discovered mad-cow disease in Washington state, cattle prices have plunged 23 per cent on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.'

From Neil F's post of Dec31, 2003; 1:20 PM

-from the Vancouver Sun 'Questions linger as top Liberals stay out of picture' http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id...0a-e0bff3856de7 '"The B.C. wing of the federal Liberal party could well be the first casualty," he said. "They have great hopes of making inroads in B.C."'

Police raids on government offices iin Canada s no minor event, and could have an impact on both the next federal and provincial election. 'Raids: How Big a Scandal?' http://www.thetyee.ca/News/current/Raids+H...g+a+Scandal.htm 'Extraordinary powers invoked The process of both obtaining a search warrant for offices in the legislative buildings and dealing with the potential evidence obtained in the raid is not only complex, but also almost unique in Canada. In fewer than a handful of cases have police ever moved to obtain a search warrant for materials located within the parliament buildings in Ottawa or any of the provinces.' 'Drug raids highlight B.C. political links' http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/...Story/National/ 'Lengthy drug probe preceded B.C. office raids' 'Provincial legislature: Special prosecutor assigned to case' http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpos...2b-f78840d02f76 Seeing Bill Cunningham, the president of the BC federal Liberals trying to mislead Canadians into thinking that the people of interest involved in the RCMP raid on the BC legislature were not involved with the Paul Martin Liberals, made me want to laugh, if it wasn't so sad. Is this what the new Liberal team in Ottawa represents? After reading former federal Liberal party executive Greg Wilson's comments, I would suggest that someone like Stephen Owen be asked to clean up the mess, including making recommendations to Canada's chief electoral officer, to ensure that we do not have a continuation of this type of behaviour.

OK here it comes. -from the Montreal Gazette Good news for Martin in withdrawal of N.B.'s Lord' "If Lord had run, Martin would have faced a left-right squeeze on the centre, which would be particularly dangerous in vote-rich Ontario." http://www.canada.com/montreal/montrealgaz...A0-AC15FA529DF6 I believe that the best person for leader is Chuck Strahl. Let's get in the real world here. Canada would be fortunate if the Liberals could be held to a minority government in the next election. So Mr Strahl has 4 or 5 years to perfect his French, leading up to an opportunity to become prime minister, two elections from now. Oh, well, at least the Canadian dollar is going up (up 20% in the past year), that's good news isn't it, at least if you want to visit the US? And the soldiers in Alghanistan might be happy today, there's a rumour going around that Governor General Clarkson is going to buy them a round.

-from the National Post today http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=F5...D5-5A527B899789 'So far, the leadership race has one official candidate: Calgary lawyer Jim Prentice. Harper has said he will officially declare his candidacy Jan. 12. Meanwhile, former Progressive Conservative leader Peter MacKay is expected to enter the contest now that Lord is out of the picture. MacKay, a Nova Scotia MP, was worried about challenging Lord because the two politicians draw much of their support from Atlantic Canada. The leadership vote will be held March 21. Party sources said Tuesday they are still trying to draft other candidates, including longtime party strategist Hugh Segal and Toronto corporate titan Belinda Stronach. Stronach helped broker the merger between the Alliance and the Tories earlier this year.'

'Canadian food safety investigators have established a tentative link between an Edmonton rendering plant and North America's two cases of mad cow disease, The Journal has learned.' http://canada.com/national/story.asp?id=AC...C0-BC4C217BCDF9 Canadian investigators may have found a link, connected with the feed, although it is too soon to be definite. DNA results expected by end of this week. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/31/madcowlink031231 Canada's point of view http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/es.es-12-31-0007.html

Seeing as 2003 is about to end, why don't we submit our choices of Canadians, with a brief explanation why we chose them, which we feel have made significant positive contributions to our society this year. Here's a couple: 1 - Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, for his cool and professional manner, in responding to the many questions, while, at the same time, conducting a thoroughly scientific investigation, relating to the current BSE related crisis. 2 - Ms Beckie Scott, cross-country skier, who eventually won a Salt Lake City Olympic gold medal, after the initial silver and gold medal winners were disqualified for using drugs. Scott's win is a triumph for every athlete who believes in fair play and drug free sport, and shows an ongoing committment to the Olympic values." Happy New Year! Bonne annee!

Canada's Agriculture Minister, Bob Speller, at a press conference in Leduc, Alberta, has just stated that Canada, although obviously co-operating with the Americans to help find the food source that might have contributed to this situation, during the investigation of this particular isolated BSE incident, has no confirmation that Canada is involved, at this point in time, and that the investigation is ongoing. Canada is conducting its own investigation, including its own DNA testing, and is awaiting the results of its own DNA tests. The US Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman just announced that the US is putting in sweeping reforms including some based on Canada's expertise. This article from the CBC is quite informative and easy to read. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/30/madco...w_veneman031230 The tone from both sides has changed quite drastically, stressing co-operation rather than blame, and I believe Ralph Klein, among others, has contributed to that.

Liberals finally get their own think tank according to this article in the October 23, 2003 edition of the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?p...ct22¬Found=true It is called: 'Centre for American Progress' and its website is: http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.as...JRJ8OVF&b=11034 And in today's issue of USA Today there is a story entitled "Freewheeling 'bloggers' are rewriting rules of journalism" http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2003-12-...ging-usat_x.htm From the article: Quote Bloggers were in large part responsible for a change of leadership in the Senate last year. When Majority Leader Lott, a Mississippi Republican, remarked at a birthday party for retiring Republican Sen. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina that the nation might have been better off had Thurmond won his segregationist campaign for president in 1948, the major media largely ignored it. But bloggers stirred up enough outrage on the Internet that the story eventually landed on newspaper front pages and Lott was forced to resign his post. Members of the nation's political-media establishment are taking notice. Unquote I believe these are some additional areas that are going to impact on future elections, and politicians who ignore them, do so at their peril. I'd be curious to know what other folks who post messages here think, particularly about the impact of bloggers, or other internet discussion groups such as Mapleleafweb, on future elections, or on other political events.

New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord will not be running for the leadership, CTV has learned. Lord will be making a statement later today. http://www.ctv.com/ This is absolutely devastating news for the Conservatives,. Now, in the eyes of the Canadian public, the merger will appear to be an absolute takeover by the Alliance party. Too bad.

'The NDP Secret weapon' is the title of an article in yesterday's Globe and Mail, Canada's most wide-read newspaper. It is written by MADELAINE DROHAN and is on page A19: http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/Articl...O29//?query=ndp The NDP party may actually turn out to be the surprise of the next federal election. To comprehend why I am suggesting this, difficult to grasp idea, please read the above analysis in the Globe and Mail. Also please review the report 'The New Balance Sheet: Corporate Profits and Responsibility in the 21st Century' at the Canadian Democracy and Corporate Accountability Commission website: http://www.corporate-accountability.ca. which is alluded to in the Globe and mail article. I remember when Ed Broadbent was announcing his candidacy for the NDP in the riding of Ottawa Centre, and a reporter mentioned that he was 2 years older than Prime Minister Paul Martin. Mr Broadbent's response was yes, he was 2 years older in age, and twenty years younger in ideas. After reading the above article and report I think Mr broadbent has a point.

Here we go again. 'Orchard files suit to block merger, reduce Conservative Party funding' according to today's Globe and Mail. http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/Articl.../?query=orchard Follow the money here, folks. and on December 22, 2003 we had: 'Sinclair Stevens headed to court in hopes of reversing Conservative merger' according to canadaeast.com http://canadaeast.com/apps/pbcs.dll/articl...22/CPN/21400022 Orchard's appeal is the the second court case in the past two weeks against the merger. It sure seems very quiet out there from the proponents of this merger. We had that blip about New Brunswick Premier Bernard Lord entered the race, but since then things have kind of petered out. It appears that Stephen Harper is the man to beat. At this rate why even bother with a leadership race (no offence to Jim Prentice but...)?

European Mars orbiter repositioned successfully. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/12/.../299966-ap.html

‘Target of raids had ties to Martin’ according to today’s Globe and Mail, Canada’s most wide-read newspaper http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/sto...Story/National/ On Sunday, December 28, 2003, RCMP and the Victoria police raided the British Columbia Legislature’s offices of Gary Collins, Finance Minister, and Judith Reid, Transportation Minister, in the BC Liberal Government. Police had warrants, and were looking for records pertaining to 2 ministerial assistants, David Basi and Bob Virk (no elected officials were targeted). Fallout so far is that Basi has been fired, and Virk has been suspended. But the big news is the connection to Canada’s New Prime Minister Paul Martin, which is detailed in the article. Basi is a key organizer for Prime Minister Paul Martin, and was closely involved in his successful leadership campaign. 'Education minister draged into legislature investigation' 'It wasn't Clark they were interested in; rather, her husband Mark Marissen, a key federal Liberal and prominent Paul Martin supporter' according to CKNW News yesterday. http://www.cknw.com/news/localnews_detail....?item=43318&c=1 'Police raids in B.C. linked to drug investigation.' 'Potentially scandulous explosion' according to CBC News yesterday. http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/29/bcleg031229 What will surface today I wonder? - more to come. Where is Martin these days anyway, with Canada's meat industry under the gun, and so much in the news?

Here we go again. Police raid offices of 2 senior cabinet ministers in the BC government. What has been reported so far? RCMP and Victoria police yesterday, raided the legislative offices of Gary Collins, Finance Mnister, and Judith Reid, Transportation Minister. The BC NDP has called for Collins and Reid to step down until the investigation is completed by the police. David Basi, ministerial assistant to Finance Minister Gary Collins, has reportedly been fired. Bob Virk, ministerial assistant to Transportation Minister Judiyh Reid, has reportedly been suspended with pay. A Victoria police officer, has reportedly been suspended with pay on Dec. 15 (indirect link). David Basi is a Prime Minister Paul Martin organizer in BC (this may be the big story here): http://www.creativeresistance.ca/awareness...a-straight.html The Christmas holiday season doesn't seem to be a good time for the BC Liberals. Remember what happened last year in Hawaii with Gordon Campbell and his DUI. What is it with BC politics?

The above quotes are from today's Toronto Star. I can't imagine how anyone could be happy about this situation. The Brisih probably have the most expertise with BSE, as they are they ones that have had the biggest problems with the disease. What is important however, is to focus on the facts, and once we know the details, to work together to ensure that the BSE problem gets resolved. Let's not not lose track of what we need to find out according to Dr Evans: 1 determine where the cow came from by verifying information through several sources. 2 use DNA testing to confirm lineage. 3 verify feed sources for the animal. Where the animal came by itself does not necessarily resolve the issue. I'm not suggesting anything, but what if the animal in question did come from Canada, and was healthy when it left Canada, and its feed was contaminated after it left Canada? It seems there are a lot of possibilities to be eleiminated before we have concrete answers. That's why I'm asking: Have some people rushed to judgement here, eh? Canadians and Americans need to be working together, as I'm sure they are, to resolve this serious problem.

Where's the proof? Dr. Brian Evans, chief veterinary officer of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says USDA comments are premature, with so many unanswered questions. Quote Evans said that his department is still helping the U.S. with the investigation on several points including: working to determine where the cow came from, verifying information through several sources using DNA testing to confirm lineage verifying feed sources for the animal Evans said he hopes the U.S. will submit to a full international peer review of its BSE investigation, as Canada did earlier this year with its lone case of mad cow, discovered on an Alberta farm back in the spring. "We expect the U.S. to hold to the same standards as we did in May of this year," Evans said. Unquote - from the CTV website Dec 28 This crisis has now even become part of the US presidential election race. The following is from a Howard Dean, Democratic presidential candidate, and former governor of Vermont, press conference, held last Friday. Quote The former governor, whose state has a large dairy cow population, said the Bush administration failed to aggressively set up a tracking system that would allow the government to quickly track the origins of the sick cow, quarantine other animals it came in contact with and assure the marketplace the rest of the meat supply is safe. Unquote - from Capital Hill Blue http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publ...icle_3796.shtml Less than 24 hours after Dean's attack on the president, concerning BSE, the USDA, stated they had received some new information late at night, held a press conference on Saturday morning, and suggested that this particular animal, with the mad cow disease, came from Canada. The USDA provided Dr Evans with so little advance notice of the press conference that he missed the first part of it. I'm sure anyone involved in the meat industry, in both Canada and the US, and across the planet for that matter, whether they be producer or consumer, is concerned. I like my American neighbours, but that is not the issue here. Are some of my American friends having a rush to judgement here, eh? And what do our Canadian governments say about all this? Here's hoping some good investigative reporters are digging into this!

Are we having a rush to judgment here? I don't know, and at his point, no one knows for sure about the origins of the diseased cow in Washington State. Where are our investigative journalists when we need them? They are out there and I hope they're on top of this pressing situation, which is quickly turning into a major crisis for Canada. What are the facts so far: 1 - We have a Nobel Prize winner in the US that has been worried for some time now about American inspections in their beef industry, and not being listened to by the USDA. 2- How did this story get going about where the infected cow came from? Who actually started it? Who reported it first? 3 - There is an apparent age difference, and a breed difference between the respective animals. What is this all about? 4 - If the USDA was really co-operating with their Canadian counterparts, why were they holding a press cconference before discussing the situation ahead of time with Brian Evans? 5 - Who is going to do the DNA testing? What is going to be compared to what? At which lab will the testing be done? How will the public be assured that the results won't be tampered with? Will there be international peer review of the BSE tests to ensure credibility? Some recent articles follow: http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2003/12/27/Evans271203 http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/28/weekinre...&partner=GOOGLE http://www.wisinfo.com/thereporter/news/ar..._13891777.shtml http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease....id=104-12242003 http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,1227...1113337,00.html http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/story/.../BNStory/Front/ http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...ol=968793972154 http://www.torontostar.com/NASApp/cs/Conte...d=1072526412637 http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/stor...?hub=TopStories http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...nm/madcow_dc_56 http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2003/12.../298203-cp.html http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...th_031227193124 http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/aploca...ad%20Cow%20Wash http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-a...afp/516706.html http://www.canada.com/national/story.asp?i...E6-486B47FBD496 It sounds quite convenient for a $175 billion industry in the US to find a scapegoat. Anything is possible. Follow the money, folks.

The National Post has a story today about the Mad Cow Crisis, and it is disturbing in the way in which it is presented: 'Cow came from Canada' (in large print and bold type) U.S. farmers: Community closes ranks: Suspicion will remain until cow's origin is determined Jim Farrell CanWest News Service http://www.canada.com/national/nationalpos...11-218b99ada4d7 What are the people at CanWest News Service trying to do here? The reason it is misleading is that there is no indication that the cow in question came from Canada. The following Reuters article explains why in a statement from Canada's chief veterinary officer Brian Evans: "Canada's mad cow was a Black Angus and the U.S. mad cow is believed to be a purebred Holstein and they are two distinct breeds' http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N23332422.htm

In a lot of ways our North American media is quite one-sided in their reporting of political issues: The British Guardian newspaper has an article today entitled: 'A Year of thwarted ambition' by Martin Jacques, who is a visiting fellow at the London School of Economics Asian Research Centre http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,276...1112920,00.html

The Liberals are going ahead with basically the same bill as before to decriminalize possession of small amounts. CBC has an informative web page all about it: http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/marijuana/ It appears that the majority of Canadians are supportive.

I don't know if anyone has checked the NDP website recently but they have made some changes: www.ndp.ca They have added a section on the environment, probably hoping to appeal to the Green supporters. Looks like a good strategic move on their part. The NDP seem to have a different kind of energy these days.