Canadian Progressive Voices . . . .

Thanks to pale @ A Creative Revolution for taking up the banner for Canadian progressive bloggers.

 

It's not like pale's got nuthin' else to do, ya' know . . . .

Ralph Nader Speaks . . . .

On the Canadian election, U.S. politics, the "security perimeter" and proportional representation.

All in less than 8 minutes.



Concentrated, rational analysis . . . .

Too Bad It's a Holiday and Hockey Playoff Season . . . .

or more people might have tuned in to Dawna Friesen's "One on One" interview with stevie this evening.

Basically, she ripped him a new one and he didn't look at all comfortable about it. Note how he says "The platform we're not running on is real" at the 4:15 mark.

Since Kevin Newman left "Global National" I had been withholding judgment on Ms. Friesen's creds, but she outdid her MSM colleagues on this one.

Good job . . . .

Sorry, I couldn't locate a non-commercial-included copy of the video.

s*%tharperdid . . . .

The definitive record of stevie in one place.

Spread the word . . . .


H/T "drf"

Barney & Gomer Coming to Your Neighbourhood Soon . . . .

As soon as harperco "improves" their citizen's arrest legislation, we can all live like we were in Mayberry, North Carolina.



Yee haw . . . .

Coming to Canada Soon ? ? ? ?

Welcome to Crazytown . . . .



H/T: drf

Is There a Chiropractor in the House ? ? ? ?

This vs this.

It appears the current government's spending priorities need a fiscal adjustment . . . .

Canadian Coup de RCMP . . . .

*Updated link due to the Lady Alison's astute discovery. (Thanks, Alison!) Apparently the story disappeared off the web 'til it reappeared this morning at the updated link to the Montreal Gazette below . . . .


As "drf" exclaimed when he pointed this* out to me: "WTF?!?"

What the hell has harperco wrought now ? ? ? ?

RCMP warn against threat of coup d’etat

By Ian MacLeod, Postmedia NewsSeptember 12, 2010

OTTAWA — RCMP officials have identified a new threat to national security: a coup d’etat.

The reference to a violent overthrow of the federal government is contained in the RCMP’s plans and priorities report to government for 2010-11. It lists national security as one of five operational priorities for the year.

The document then cites four specific security concerns:

• Espionage and sabotage.

• Foreign-influenced criminal activities detrimental to the interests of Canada.

• Terrorism.

• And . . . “activities aimed at overthrowing, by violence, the Government of Canada.” (Ed: emphasis mine)

RCMP officials were not immediately available Friday to explain the reference, but such language has not appeared in previous RCMP reports.

Just keeps gettin' curiouser and curiouser . . . .


H/T "drf" & the Lady Alison

Go . . . .

Check out pale.

A picture really is worth a thousand words . . . .

Someone's Happy 'Bout the Results in BC . . . .

Per The Tyee:

Campbell and cabinet win third term
By Monte Paulsen May 12, 2009 11:08 pm

VANCOUVER – Premier Gordon Campbell and his entire B.C. Liberal Party cabinet have been re-elected, giving the Vancouver native who led the centre-right party from opposition to government an historic third term in office.

The Liberals had won 45 seats to the NDP’s 32 as of 11 p.m., with an additional eight ridings remaining too close to call. Among those re-elected were John van Dongen, the solicitor general who resigned in the wake of several speeding tickets, John Les, the former solicitor general who resigned over suspicious land deal, and Attorney General Wally Oppal, who ducked questions about the BC Rail sale controversy throughout the campaign.

Campbell bound triumphantly up the stairs of the gleaming new Vancouver Convention Centre – itself a controversial legacy of his party’s profligate spending in advance of the 2010 Winter Games – and pressed through an adoring crowd waiting in a glass-walled conference room.

Well, I guess Iggy's happy . . . .


(Normally, photo images are included in my posts. I could not bring myself to post one of gordo. Sorry.)

BC LINO's: "People With No Loyalty to a Territory . . . ."

At my good friend RossK's urging, listen to Corky, please.



The most informative 6 minutes you'll spend prior to the May 12th election.

Spread the word . . . .

One More Reason to Dislike iggy . . . .

If BC Voters need yet another reason to dislike/distrust iggy, check out this morning's "Early Edition" with Rick Cluff at the 2:11:30 mark.* (Requires Real Player, which I took pains to download, but that's a whole 'nuther story.)

If you don't want to bother, here's the verbatim transcript as per moi:

Pluffmaster: "Do you support the BC Liberal's carbon tax idea?"

iggy: "I'm not gonna wade into provincial politics. That's for the BC voter to decide."

Pluffmaster: "Aw, come on. It's just you and me." (chuckling)

iggy: "Look, I don't think it's any secret that a federal Liberal wants Gordon Campbell to win re-election. I think I can go that far, but I won't be drawn further."

'Nuff said, ya'll** ? ? ? ?


*Note to RossK: See, I wasn't listening to the Goodship Watercarrier and his "Illegible Boys" - were you?
**sorry, my Southern roots slipped out.

R.I.P. Coalition . . . .

Quelle surprise!

The liberal leader ignatieff caves to harper and puts stevie's nail gun to The Coalition, per 24 Hours. Time to remove the logo from the sidebar, unfortunately.

It appears his plan is to let stevie wallow through the next couple of years and take the blame for the crappy economic situation. After he garners strength and name recognition he can "ride to the rescue" of Canada.

Never mind that he is obviously putting political positioning above the welfare of the Canadian people.

A pox on all their houses . . . .

Can You Say "Photo Op" ? ? ? ?

"Every Picture Tells a Story" - apologies to Rod Stewart.

Talk about your cheesy photo ops to promote your home renovation tax break:

Photo Credit: Reuters

Too bad it's not the last nail in the coffin of his government that stevie's workin' on there.

Feel free to enter your captions . . . .


UPDATE: Rex Murphy's take on "Tool Time" . . . .

'Ya Just Can't Believe steve . . . .

Others more informed and educated than I on Canadian politics will no doubt give excellent commentary and analysis on harper's Senate appointments today.

To point out one glaring untruth in the press release from the Prime Minister's Office, however, check this out:

Harper said in the news release that the vacancies had to be filled “in order for the Senate to transact legitimate government business.”

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Senate an integral part of Parliament? And, with the Parliament prorogued at stevie's request, just what the hell is the "legitimate government business" stevie's referring to?

Question for those more educated on Canadian government than I: Can the Governor General refuse to confirm harper's nominations based on the fact that Parliament is prorogued ? ? ? ?

Vancouver Centre Results Disappointing for Moi . . . .

Well, you probably were aware that I was doing some campaign volunteering for our local Vancouver Centre NDP candidate, Michael Byers. Unfortunately, my efforts and the efforts of a strong crew of volunteers weren't enough to unseat Hedy Fry from her 15 year grasp on our riding. Hey, at least the con candidate, aka, Lorne "Freak Out at the Queer Debate" didn't make it in! The Tyee has the results here. (This link marks my initial goal of only linking to independent news sources when available. We need to reduce the corporate media's influence whenever we can.)

On a lighter note, Jon Stewart of "The Daily Show" did a short recap of our recent federal election. Pay particular attention to his characterization of the Canadian conservative party.

Enjoy . . . .

Gay conservative Loses Cool . . . .

Ricky at Queer Thoughts posted our local Vancouver Centre's conservative candidate's melt-down at the queer debate last week.

Watch the video.

Attending it as I did, it was an uncomfortable portion of the debate. Speaking to other gay constituents later, the feeling was common. We were embarrassed for his actions and confused as to why any self-respecting homosexual could support a conservative government, much less run as a candidate for that party . . . . .

Positive Poll Portends Possible Party Potential . . . .

On CTV's local noon news show yesterday they had a segment on "Battleground BC" that featured local competitive ridings in the federal election. (Apologies to Dana as this bit of info was gleaned from CTV here in Vancouver before his decision.)

I was able to snatch the following two graphics off the clip as I found them both very interesting.

The first shows the period of time from September 22 through October 8 and the rise and fall of all four parties. Bear in mind, these polls are reflective on polling BC residents only, hence the name "Battleground BC."




The reporter, Jim Beatty in Victoria, then produced the next graphic showing the incredible correlation between the fall of the conservative's poll numbers to the fall in the Toronto Stock Exchange during the same period.





Looks like stevie's timing in calling an election could use some work.

Kind of makes one wonder if the rest of the country might have a similar correlation?

Just askin' . . . .

Faithful Leaders . . . .

The typical Sunday morning consists of sleeping a bit late, some kind of egg dish breakfast, catching up on local newspaper reading and watching "Driving Television" with Zack Spencer . Even though since moving to Vancouver we have been able to shed our vehicle (YAY!!!), I still enjoy keeping up on the current "in" vehicles.

This morning I left the television on after the show and "Listen Up" was broadcast. Not being aware that this was a "christian-oriented" broadcast I didn't immediately turn it off. Their featured segment was an "exclusive" on what the federal Party Leaders feel about their faith and how it has influenced their political careers. View video here.

It was actually quite revealing in many ways. Elizabeth May had I feel the best response, but the very end of the clip is the most interesting in so many ways.

Your thoughts ? ? ? ?

Good Time Harper . . . .

In honour of tonight's English language debate:





WARNING: You won't be able to get the tune out of your head . . . .


H/T Aunty Bertha and Garth Turner's original post.