Take that ‘stupid’ voters…

Apparently even a former Liberal finance minister know what a bald-face lie looks like when she sees it

“This particular tax takes the tax off businesses – it takes $1.8-billion off of businesses – and puts it on consumers,” Ms. Taylor told a CTV News panel last week. “But I think the bigger issue is that [Premier Gordon Campbell] promised that they would not – they would not – do the harmonization of the sales tax. And then right after the election, decided to do it.”…@

I suppose though that not even she could remain silent any longer considering how blatant the lies & double-talk of her former boss Gordon Campbell have become.

Ms. Taylor’s statements will definitly help the NDP, not that the NDP really needs it…

Seeing as  the B.C  Liberal Fiberal’s  support/popularity was already in free fall,that said  sadly not much of that drop can be credited to anything the NDP might have done. Truth be told the NDP’s performance through out Campbell’s two terms has been pretty lackluster if not confusing at times.

Indeed the NDP’s  inability to capitalize on Liberal ineptness, in a more effective manner,  is definitly a head-scratcher.

Particularly when one considers just how many times the B.C Liberals have screwed-up  & or out right lied -two terms worth at that- literally serving  the NDP political ammo on a silver platter.

That said though, why quibble…  in politics a win’s a win, even if it comes about despite one’s self.

Keep up the good work King Gordo.

And the moral of the story is,that it’s possible to win an election without having to do much of anything,other than turning up that is.

H/T The Gazetteer

The tortoise and the hare

Usually I do not pay much attention to poll-iticing.

That said the latest poll is interesting…

“In my memory, I can never recall both major political parties being under 30 per cent of the popular vote — ever. To me, that’s the stunning part,” the veteran pollster told The Canadian Press….@

Who knows perhaps the NDP’s turn at the big brass ring is just around the corner.

The NDP  has always been a patient & principled party,slowly but surely  building support. Once won to their side  supporters tend to be loyal & life long . And unlike the Liberals the NDP understands the importance of being consistent & principled. Or to put it another way  the NDP does not trade in the currency of political expediency for short term electoral gains…most of the time

Slow & steady  wins the race…

With Jack Layton at the helm   the NDP continues to go from strength to strength. Particularly since the NDP adopted the strategy of positioning themselves as the only real alternative to the Tory’s.

Indeed  the Liberals and Conservatives are & always have been but  two sides of the same coin.

On a side note the NDP’s strategy of playing for keeps rather than playing second fiddle seems to have instilled a new found confidence  in the party.

All of which explains why, backed up by  a number of polls, Jack Layton of all the party leader’s,  is hands-down the most trusted and respected.

Hell Jack has even inspired me to do what I normally don’t do,that is vote.

The art of double-speak; Liberals & the Gun Registry

One has to wonder why the Liberals continue  to flog the   long-gun registry.

A few days ago  they announced that  from now on, all Liberal MP’s will be “whipped”  to vote against a  Conservative MP’s private member’s bill that would see the long-gun registry consigned to the rubbish bin.

Last November, Ignatieff decided not to “whip” a vote on a Conservative MP’s private member’s bill to scrap the long-gun registry. As a result, eight Liberal MPs (along with a dozen dissident New Democrats) voted with Conservatives to give second reading to the bill. The vote was a betrayal of principle by the Liberals, who set up the gun registry when they were in office in 1990s (in the wake of the Montreal massacre, where the killer’s weapon was a long gun).

Now, however, Ignatieff says he will require all Liberal MPs to vote against the bill when it comes back to the Commons for third reading, probably in June…@

As part of  their new strategy, aimed at building support for the long-gun registry,the Liberals have fired off an e-mail to supporters asking for donations in order to fund an ad-campaign .

A few things jump out …

First …

Police across the country tell us that they rely on the gun registry. I believe them. Law abiding gun owners tell us the gun registry has problems in its current form and I believe them too. [...]

Basically the Liberals are admitting that there are/were problems with the long-gun registry(a Liberal baby). Which  suggest that the critics of the registry were  generally speaking on the mark,indeed were not just a bunch of right-wing,pro-gun nut-bars and or mere partisan Conservatives as they were often portrayed ,that’s not saying that some were not all that & or  more.

So in fact the out cry -in general- that led to a second reading was not only valid but has led to the Liberal’s  admitting as much ,albeit not intentionally or due to any self held principle or virtue,e.g the ability to admit error. Notice,in the above quote, how Iggy gets around saying that he/the Liberals “might” have been wrong about the gun-registry as it was then proposed.

In hindsight perhaps detractors & critics should be thanking Micheal Ignatieff  for not “whipping” the vote back in November 09.      indeed at least 8 of the 77  Liberal MP’s had the stones to vote their conscious.

The e-mail then goes on…

That’s why it’s critical that we respond with a targeted ad campaign of our own. Canadians need accurate information about the changes we’ve proposed [...]

Here’s the rub if you miss it, immediately after stating that Canadians need accurate information the e-mail then goes on to use inaccurate information…

The attacks began as Conservative spokesman and Saskatchewan MP Gerry Breitkreuz compared Canada’s police chiefs to “members of a cult” who “should be ashamed of themselves” for defending the gun registry – a tool police officers use over 11,000 times each day in their work protecting public safety [...]

In fact the police do not use the tool 11,000 a days …

Chief Armand LaBarge, president of the Ontario Association of Police Chiefs, stated that police officers across the country search the registry about 18 times per day. (Instead of the misled 9,400 a day where any personal information search is count as a hit) However, most of those 5,000 queries are generated automatically when other queries are submitted to the CPIC system such as during routine traffic stops…@

Ummm,a billion +(that could have been spent on worthwhile programs e.g poverty ,unemployment & health issues) to provide police with a data-base that they might use a dozen or so times a day,well that “settles” it then,lol.

This suggest ,and the fact just because the police say so does not mean it is so, that the long-gun registry serves no definable purpose and it’s cost,  a billion+ and counting,can not be justified no matter how one sees this issue. This should not come as any huge surprise after all the proposal was a purely emotional and political reaction to the tragedy in Montreal (Dec 1989) which saw  a mentally deranged Marc Lepine gun down 14 women using a rifle/unrestricted firearm.

Surely nobody is seriously suggesting, or would ,that somehow a long-gun registry would have prevented Marc Lepine from doing what he did ?

Some times you have to know when to fold and when to hold.

A lesson that Liberals seem intent on ignoring in their misguided zeal to milk this “issue” for what ever its worth. Seeing as there are no definable need or provable rationale  for the existence of a  long-gun registry,particularly one that costs taxpayers  hundreds upon hundreds of millions ,the reasons for Liberal actions can only be political ones,omg you don’t say.

All said one still has to wonder why the Liberals are so intent on  saving the registry,given it’s cost and dubious worth.

The best thing to do would be to allow (as back in November) individual MP’s to vote their conscious and put this “issue” to bed rather than dragging it on & on. Given the very real possibility inevitability that Liberal actions will  provide the  Conservatives with yet more opportunities to point out Liberal inconsistencies and back peddling.

The Conservatives will come out unscathed no matter what happens to the Bill not so the Liberals.

This is not the “issue” that’s going to rebuild Liberal electoral  fortunes.Which begs the question why are they hanging so much of their political credibility on this non-issue.

There’s a time to hold and there’s a time to fold-Poker 101.

Read Liberal Party e-mail in full here

Please don’t Jake Layton…

That is follow Michael Ignatieff’s lead folly…

It took almost six months, but Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is finally exercising leadership in the (long) gun registry debate.

Wtf, ‘leadership’ you say ? the NDP should do likewise ?

If Jack Layton and the New Democrats now follow Ignatieff’s lead, the registry should survive the upcoming third reading vote…@ T.Star

The long-gun registry is a boondoggle of epic proportions,we’re talking hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars here,and for what …

I hate to use the old cliche ,’guns don’t kill people, people do’, but there is a kind of truth in the saying. Lets face it those intent on using guns for criminal purpose can get guns & they do not register their guns. Further more the registry would make criminals of  normally law-abiding citizens, who for what ever reason do not register their long-guns.

And how can we forget the public ‘safety’ arguments (or should that be political arguments)  for the  retention of the registry,which are  just as dubious & weak.

Few issues , have united ordinary people & MP’s in opposition to the registry, quite like this one…whether of the “left”,”right” or “center”.

No wonder it’s facing a third reading,it stinks…

Iggy might be a smart guy,in the acdemic sense,but when it comes to real life it’s fairly obvious that he did/does not get out enough.

Of all the issues facing Canadians,this is not the issue to hang one’s hat on. Rather the slogan should be,’wither on the vine & the sooner the better’ .

Senior Canadian diplomat speaks to truth ;’Antisemitism’ be damned

I have to say I was pleasantly surprised to hear Robert Fowler-former Canadian ambassador to the U.N and former deputy minister of defence- speak some hard truths  at Michael Ignatieff’s “Canada at 150″ Conference in Montreal this weekend.

True to form & Liberal propensities that favour political expediency over principles. It did not take long for Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff   to attempt to put distance between himself and  Robert Fowler.

Like immediately  after the conference…

Sigh,I suppose that’s just what politicians do though. Indeed truth & objectivity(particularly in matters that involves Israel & it’s blatant in your face  oppression of Palestinians) are the first causalities as they scrabble for votes,in this case the Jewish.

It would be nice if  just once a sitting politician, of some stature, would  stand up and say what many people know to be the truth. Rather than playing politics/wearisome word-games, over & over.

Watch Robert Fowler’s speech…”MPs Chasing Jewish Vote destroying Cnd foreign policy”

But that’s not all Fowler had to say …

“I believe Liberals seem prepared to embrace an infinite array of special interests in order to shill for votes rather than forging a broad-based principled alliance founded in deep liberal traditions, one with a distinct social contract and an independent Canadian character which would protect, project and defend core liberal values at home and abroad.”ouch

Lest I forget Fowler also reiterated [I am taking a bit of license here but what the hell]…‘the Afghan situation is a cluster-fuck ,the war is not winnable’. Now there’s a “surprise”. In fact I believe many knowledgeable people, including many with intimate & first-hand in-country experience , have been saying  pretty much the same thing since day one…i.e for the past   7 or 8 years.

Follow link (pdf) to read text of Fowler’s speech.

PM Harper,Threat to Canadian Democracy….

No not really, despite the  Coy-ne talk about Canadian democracy spiraling down the drain , and the King and Queen analogies.

Yes it might be maddening to the opposition(the elected opposition, together whom constitute the majority of seats) & to many ordinary Canadians,remember them the voters ? Many of whom also want answers,and rightfully so, on some rather important & troubling issues.

But when it’s all said and done, serving up a ‘pirogi’  or two, violates none of the rules or protocols of Parliament. In fact it’s just  politics as usual…

Indeed we have all been here before…

When the going gets tough, and or some hard & uncomfortable question  need answering, the ‘tough’ get proroguing.  Next thing ya know, its a different day month & folk’s are talking about different shit.

All said, it is fun watching Liberals get all bent out of shape, on this occasion of  Harper’s  proroguing of Parliament,only his second…

Particularly when these same forgetaboutit Liberals had nothing to say when King PM Chretien served up four, during his ‘reign’ as King PM.

1. February 5, 1996  2. September 18, 1999  3. September 16, 2002   4. November 12, 2003.

That’s how you  do proroguing, the Liberal way,Liberally…

Peas of a pod,them Conservatives & Liberals.

Apathy anyone,perhaps a nap…

Ignatieff is the best damn thing to have happened to the Liberals

Definitely not the star Liberals thought or hoped he would be. Sure he wrote some interesting books and is probably a darn good debater and smart to boot,albeit in a bookish way.

His poor performance since  becoming interim leader (Dec/08) and then leader (May/09) ,should come as no big surprise. After all  the academic world is a very different animal from that of the political,never mind the every-day-world of real people.

He’s  gonna have to do more,than just write a book, about how Canadian he supposedly is,lol.

But all’s good.

Iggy’s inability to find his footing,or a personality for that matter, illustrates just how irrelevant & out-of-touch the Liberals really are. Indeed the only real alternative to the Conservatives is and always has been the NDP.

All though I am not a big fan of polls as a very reliable indicator of the popular will over the long term,they do seem fairly reliable over the short term.

And on that front the NDP’s star,unlike some others, seems to be on the rise. Taken together with the NDP’s good showing in the last election & in the 4 recent by-elections things are definitly going the NDP’s way.

Slow and steady wins the race ,that,principles and an articulate leader like Jack Layton,not infallible for sure but of all the party leaders he is by far the better,who hammers away on the  issues that matter to ordinary/working folk & small/family run business.

The federal New Democratic Party has vaulted to levels of voter approval not seen since before the last federal election, as Canada’s two major parties struggle to hold support, suggest findings of a poll released Friday.

The NDP surged six percentage points to 19 per cent support nationally, according to results of an Ipsos Reid poll, commissioned by Canwest News Service and Global National.

Yeah baby…

Liberal la,la land…

I have always had difficulty in figuring out exactly what Liberals stand for due to their propensity for double speak and fuzzy logic

Check out the photo installed in the sidebar of Lib blogger Steve V (Far and Wide),entitled…’Was this Prophecy’

Does this guy live in in  la,la land, how the hell does one even arrive at such a ridiculous conclusion ? Particularly given the actual reality…i.e, it wasn’t the NDP  propping up Harper & his Con’s. I believe that “honor” goes to the Liberal Party,hands-down.

Indeed again and again and again…

I guess Steve ,a very typical Liberal, is counting on that cynical Liberal notion strategy that the electorate are stupid or have short memories ,therefore one can take license with the truth and spin it any way one chooses.

Facts and nuances be damned,hey Steve.

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