Kate:

As usual, you nailed it. Now that the election is over, when do you think your stuff will disappear?
Would the CBC consider continuing the forum under a different title?
If not, you should at least add all your CBC "Forum" commentary to the "Best of SDA".

They tell us it''ll be archived, so I'll provide a link then. I've saved the code on several of the better posts, just in case.

Well done, Kate. We now have the un-enviable task of reversing 30 years of socialist/liberal destruction on our country. The world is watching. When was the last time a Canuck election garnered this much attention in the States and the world?

Oh. One other point. The CBC needs to be completely cut-off from the government tit. Only dictatorships run media outlets under the guise of "identity" or "nationalism" or "values"

Kate, if you were a leftie you would be running the CBC by now, or Governor General (or both). Instead you just run the best Blog in Canada. I just hope more Canadians will hear more from you in the future. Great election coverage! Thanks.

Brilliant insight. I agree whole-heartedly with your comments about the media, the CRTC and the CBC.

Also I would like to extend a public thank you to Kate for all she has done in the name of freedom of speech and the ability of the "common folk" to be heard.

Actually, we want to keep the CBC. It is an intact distribution channel that just needs to be "re-calibrated" to represent a different messaage set.

New management, fresh reporters and get it the hell out of Toronto. Toronto should be a regional office only . .

I also will second that motion. Did anyone see a 200 plus itemized list of the Libranos scams and frauds in the MSM?

Several such lists are posted on many blogsites.

Without any summary lists, the voting public is allowed to assume there is only a scam here or a theft there.

Many may have no concept of the string of rip - offs stretching in a string from 1993. TG

more advice for PMSH . . listen to the FARM GIRLS

Kate . . did you know she has a motorcycle ??

that should give teh RCMP handlers a few "moments"

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20060124/HARPERFAM24/National/Idx

You nailed it again kate, thanks for all the fun here during the election. Keep up the great work...

Who is this other Fred anyway?

I have a cheap suggestion:

Since the Federal bureaucracy can be presumed to be, let's say, less than thrilled with the conservatives. They quietly? loathed Brian M. and I presume will be waiting with the flensing knives for the new ministers.

I have a suggestion. There are 30 or so ministries. Somehow a large country to our south, that shall remain nameless, manages with 12 or so cabinet level positions.

Announce that there will be 10 cabinet positions henceforth in Ottawa: Watch as the upper levels of the civil service murder one another, rather than the government, as all those deputy assitant whoseits realize that they will be redundant and start to brown nose.

Ok, that was a Good SWTE(whatever that means).

I'm still disappointed with SDA's election coverage in general. I'm surely the only one...

Excellent post.

The control of the MSM by 3 Liberal friendly businesses, as well as the Liberal controlled CBC means that the majority of Canadians were woefully uninformed on the issues. In the last week of the election, I just got tired of Liberals voting for "Canadian Values" and "Right to Choose" without any idea of what the issues in this election actually were. Most had no idea of:

the Valeri house flip;
the packing of Liberal contributors in the judiciary and the senate;
the lobbying contracts given to Liberal organizers;
the out and out Liberal flip flops on EVERY policy issue;
the laughing stock that Canada has become in foreign policy circles.

Nothing made a dent in the uninformed voter demographic. Apparently ignorance is the most important "Canadian Value". The MSM played their part as usual.

Kate - I started reading this blog during the American elections and have not missed a day since. Thanks for the education on my neighbors to the north. Your insight, and that of your commentators, has been amazing.

Good luck to the new government, they certainly have their work cut out for them.

God Bless Canada!

The latest from Beryl Wajsman from Montreal:

“Paul Martin claimed during the campaign that Stephen Harper would change the face of Canada as we knew it. Canadians were finally ready for that change. It could only be for the better. For in this campaign the true face of Paul Martin’s Canada was unmasked. And it proved to be nothing more than a debased and degraded portrait of privilege and preference having perverted the public trust.”

~

The Natural Governing Party finally stopped being able to fool all the people all the time.

Canadians finally got tired of being bamboozled. The first kink in the Liberal armor actually resulted from what Martin thought would protect him. The narrow mandate of the Gomery Inquiry. Nobody bought into his “exoneration”. In the face of $167,000,000 in contracts to CSL and the off-shore tax havens and the mound of evidence that Martin operatives asked for sponsorship money, Canadians finally got it. If Martin knew nothing, then he had planned to know nothing. He planned his own “credible” deniability. He planned to push the RCMP aside because it was getting too close to his centre. He planned guilt by innuendo and insinuation against the Chrétien wing of the party to save his own skin. Canadians finally saw the Gomery Inquiry for the transparent deflection from Martin’s own conflicts of interest and party settling of accounts that it was. Martin’s earnest false piety just didn’t sell anymore.

Finance Minister Goodale’s mishandling of the income trust file spotlighted Martin’s own arrogant culture of “entitlement”. Canadians finally saw that Martinites talked to only some of the people, some of the time. The release by the RCMP of the letter to NDP MP Judy Wasylieca-Leis confirming a criminal investigation, was payback for Jean Lapierre’s bullying of them before the last election when he used it as an agency of the party demanding that charges be laid quickly to help the Liberals in the campaign and then pushed them aside to protect the Martin centre.

Stephen Harper did a great job focusing Canadians minds on the fact that a man who made retroactive changes to tax-haven rules as Finance Minister, and benefited from them to the tune of $300,000,000 in avoided Canadian taxes, had no business dictating Canadian “values”. It was Harry Truman 1948 resonating through the decades. “One per cent of the population has the means to reach an elected representative. The job of a chief executive of a nation is to represent the 99% who can’t.”

The blowback against the Liberals from the disastrous attack ads was bad enough. But it was made all the worse through Paul Martin’s pushing the hysteria button in the last week of the campaign charging Harper with everything short of the Lizzie Borden murders.

Martin claimed the mantle of champion of Canadian federalism saying a vote for Harper would weaken Ottawa’s powers and aid Quebec sovereignists. But the nearly flawless Tory campaign made it clear to voters that it was Martin who signed an unconditional health-care accord with the provinces allowing them to spend federal health-care dollars as they wished with no accountability. That it was Martin who brought Bloc Québecois co-founder Jean Lapierre into the federal Liberals and made him his Québec lieutenant. And the Tories got even more ammunition when Martin’s new-found buddy, CAW President Buzz Hargrove, told voters that the separatists were a preferable option in Quebec than the Tories at the same time that the Liberal candidate in Jonquière was conceding to defeat and urging supporters to vote for Conservative Jean-Pierre Blackburn and deny the Bloc another seat. Canadians saw all that and more.

Martin claimed that Harper was a regressive social conservative who would compromise anti-abortion laws, prejudice Charter rights and politicize the judiciary.

Yet Harper had been clear on abortion. His government would not touch existing laws. In fact the only MP in the past ten years who had called for legislation rolling back a woman’s right to choose was Liberal junior defense Minister Albina Guarnieri. The Tories drove that message home too.

On Charter rights Harper succeeded in making the Tory image resonate. He successfully portrayed the new Tories for what they were. Populists who want to roll back big government and protect the sovereignty of individual choice and privacy. And he reminded voters that it was Martin who had pushed through several pieces of legislation, just before this election, that would overturn the presumption of innocence in certain cases; allow for random search and seizure of private property without probable cause; demand that personal e-mail and internet telephony records be handed over to state security authorities on simple demand; and mark uncharged and unindicted individuals as enemies of the state subject to “preventive control measures” such as electronic security anklets on simple Ministerial dictate. He succeeded in making Canadians see that this was business as usual for an administration that ordered the ransacking of reporter Juliet O’Neill’s home when she refused to give up a source.

Martin attacked Harper for a statement of the obvious, that the Canadian judiciary is overwhelmingly filled with Liberal appointees. He claimed that this statement was evidence that Harper would politicize the courts in order to get “absolute power”. Harper’s calm and reasoned response was that the only administration in twenty years that had appointed judges to the Supreme Court of the land for a political purpose was Martin’s when he brought Justices Abella and Charron to the bench to assure success in the same-sex marriage reference. Canadians were listening.

Martin tried to be all things to all people as usual. But at the same time that he was calling on all “progressives” to rally to his banner, he agreed with Harper on a free debate on same-sex marriage in the House. What could he have been thinking? He was fighting the last election because he had no real vision, agenda or focus.

Martin droned on about “good government and accountability”. But Canadians were finally beginning to “get it”. Thanks to a media elite that stopped being the Liberal party at prayer, they finally learned that during his tenure as Finance Minister, 90% of the tax cuts he made benefited the top 7% of the population. They saw the placards of organized labour condemning Martin for ripping the UIC surpluses out of the hands of working men and women and into the general accounts. They heard that Democracy Watch filed dozens of ethics complaints involving his PMO’s breaches of the Ethics Code and its incestuous interference with the Office of the Ethics Commissioner. They listened to that same Ethics Commissioner, appointed by Martin, openly admitting that he either would not, or could not, apply the Ethics Code to elected officials. So much for “good government and accountability.”

And finally it was the Liberals who blundered in the waning moments of this election. Unlike the Tory Randy White debacle of 2004, the last ten days of this campaign saw dirty tricks by Liberal candidates that smacked of what Nixon’s White House Counsel Charles Colson once called “rat-fucking”. From attempting to bribe an NDP candidate to pull out of a race in B.C.; to false charges of sexual aggression against a Tory candidate in Saskatchewan; to rigging voters’ lists in Alberta, the Liberals spent the last week of the campaign apologizing and backtracking again and again. The rats were finally fucking themselves.

Paul Martin claimed during the campaign that Stephen Harper would change the face of Canada as we knew it. Canadians were finally ready for that change. It could only be for the better. For in this campaign the true face of Paul Martin’s Canada was unmasked. And it proved to be nothing more than a debased and degraded portrait of privilege and preference having perverted the public trust.

Beryl P. Wajsman

President

Institute for Public Affairs of Montreal

www.iapm.ca

You are the only disappointed one as far as I know, KBR.
Brilliant commentary Kate! Up to your usual high quality :) Errr.... so when will YOU run for office? You know the headhunters will be 'round soon ;)

Face the facts.....
The press moved to the tories this time because they need fresh fodder for their edutainment machine.
A small scandal was blown up by Martin thinking he could join with the Montreal elite (of any party) and quash a country bumpkin who is a true hero,
The Martin liberals governed abysmally and campainged worse
Then ...
The united right got .... 36% of the vote - the rest went to center and leftie parties.
That is what you are celebrating today????

Oh ya .... Harper disguised himself as a centrist too... 36% he he he

Hans...TY for posting that!! WOW!

yep... celebrating getting a foot in the door to hopefully let the rest see the damage done by the "culture of entitlement". Read the post put up by Hans.I think many if not most people have just given up hope of change. The most common comment I hear on the street is: "does it matter??? they're all the same, they're all F*cking thieves!" Sound like someone who has run out of hope? If you keep telling someone something long enough, the intended target will start to believe it. If you don't believe me, just ask a formerly abused spouse, or someone who has been brainwashed. The MSM has been hammering the message into people's ears for far too many years. You bet yer *ss it worked... but hopefully not for much longer! Divide and conquer. Keep the west out, but take their wealth, keep the Maritimes happy, and look after the main powerbase, making sure they get their daily ration of propaganda and treats. Right now, I think I can really understand how many in Quebec must feel, or have felt for a long time. FRUSTRATED!

"Who is this other Fred anyway? "

I am the "40 below conservative Fred"

Where is Bananada Fred?

"Oh ya .... Harper disguised himself as a centrist too... 36% he he he
Posted by Leftie at January 24, 2006 04:41 PM "

that and a new address . . 24 Sussex Drive.

tee hee tee hee tee hee tee hee

Enjoy life in the wilderness Leftie.

Thanks, Kate, for all your CBC posts - but especially for this one. As a social conservative, I can say the one thing I most desire changed in Canada is the ability to fight for what I believe in, to not have the machinations of government quash ordinary Canadians trying to improve their country. A level playing field is all we ask for - if we can't effect change through suasion, then our issues really aren't that relevant. If the other side cannot uphold its views without the force of power, then they are just as irrelevant.

The Tories have to hold themselves to a high ethical standard now, they have raised the bar during the election and it is up to them to reach and surpass it. Mr. Harper has to ensure that this happens, because actions will speak louder than words come next election.

Shame on the CBC for its unrelenting left wing socialist pinko propaganda broadcasts that turned Alberta into a federal Liberal stronghold.

Given the results of a minority Conservative government we now move from an 8 week election campaign to somewhere between an 80 to 120 week campaign. Kate's insight underscores the critical and pivotal nature of the msm beast. I doubt there will be time to reverse those cultural and structural issues berfore this government falls.

Continuing and increased vigilence from the Blogosphere may be all we can hope for.

Please keep up the excellent work!

Kate: Outstanding column!
And SO important to all Canadians,particularly our new government.
Glad to see you mention that Canada has no voice such as Fox News or the likes of a Rush Limbaugh.
And it is high time we did!

The national newspaper, The Goble and Mail, endorsed the Tories. My local paper, the Regina Leader Post is pro-Conservative. Our provincial radio prime time talk show is hosted by a former Tory MP, who is unapologetic in his right wing views.

The CPC is getting more than its fair share of favourable media in Saskatchewan.

Rush Limbaugh??? What a horrible thing to wish on any country. If we're so in need of someone to spout pure BS why not Anne Coulter.

Mary, be damn thankful that I am not the voice of reason.

You may just end up jumping into the sea via Bella Coola.

Correction: You might, not you may.

And for note, that was a stab against me. :)

Very good post. Good enough to cause this usual reader and lurker to post a comment as this is something that hits close to home for me. I am a french canadian living in Montreal originally from Quebec City and i'm moving back there in 3 months, i'll be happy to live in the conservative part of Quebec.

The good news about the subject of reforms for the CRTC is that it was actually promised by Harper and the conservatives. The event that caused this promise to be made is the CRTC order to close down CHOI, the number one radio station in Quebec City, this is currently awaiting a supreme court decision on if they will hear their case and the conservatives promised to do everything they could to reverse that decision. I believe that this whole mess with the CRTC is what helped cause the huge wins in the region. 8 of the conservative elected in Quebec are in areas covered by that radio station, they even defeated Richard Marceau one of the big pillars of the bloc. The support that the bloc gave to the CRTC because it was a very anti-syndicalist , federalist and right of center radio station, sealed their fate there.

And since this is one of the major issue that made the conservatives win in Quebec, they will need to act on their promise or lose this support during the next election. Most of those who voted for them are now watching them very closely and I don't think they will be re-elected if they go back on this promise.

Anyway I hope so, since it's the only right of center voice left broadcasting in the province, and a damn good radio station too. At least the last voice that was silenced by the CRTC, Andre Arthur, is now the token Independant of this new canadian governement, he should be interesting to watch.

Kate is right about the punditry describing this victory as a failure. Glenn Clark-ite Penny Priddy on CTV was among those who kept reiterating ad nauseum -- "and again, I can't say it strongly enough" -- that Harper is really going to be tested, that it's going to be really hard, that he's really got his work cut out for him, that he doesn't have a blank check, blah blah blah. Their point is well taken, but their refusal to put it away came across as an sideways assertion that Canadians as a whole don't like Conservatives, and will continue to hound them.

In a side note to the coverage, when someone on CBC referred to Stockwell Day as a possible Foreign Affairs Minister, the studio, including Mansbridge, erupted into barking laughter, as if the very consideration was a joke. It was really offensive. Day has been a superb and effective critic of foreign policy. It would take twelve Bill Grahams to equal one Stockwell day. Maybe the panel thought it was 1998.

Please don't ever run for politics Kate. I wouldn't be able to handle seeing or hearing people attack you as they surely would.

I think you can do more good from the outside.

Although, it would be nice to see you get some dough from somewhere. Your time has great value. It's not fair in that respect.

You are fast becoming a Canadian treasure.

Duke

Kate you have proved yourself to be an excellent writer and communicator.
It wouldn't surprise me if the MSM came knocking at your door with offers of a weekly column.

I have become quite a fan of yours good luck with any future endeavours.

Note to Knight of the Blue Revolution
SWTE = Sleeping With The Enemy

Sailor Republica, is there a sea on the planet you're from?

A delicious argument. It's hard to get through to the MSM that they are biased - I've tried but they are in denial. Kate's article elegantly proves it.

Nice piece by Beryl, but he gives too much credit to voters. I think Harper will justify their trust, but there's no denying much of this was a protest vote. Puffmeister just discussed Harper's decision to open up SSM to reach into the ethnic communities, for whom this is apparently a very divisive issue. Guess what? Those same communities still parked with the Liberals, according to CTV ?polls/data whatever it was they used. And that's why the Tories were shut out of the major cities yet again. It's the Tories one and only time to shine within the next 2 years. God willing, Belinda Stronach will be heading the Liberals by then, so there will be no contest. Next time, it'll be a Tory majority.

One of your best entries for the Roundtable crowd! Thank you.

It is the ***pith*** of what happened in the last week or so - lies told were not properly challenged.

In fact, the media headlines played off what Martin said about Harper, not the truth of what Harper said.

Challenging the CRTC to allow actual freedom of speech, and viewing, sounds like a good energy booster.

Through the blogs like this one, we now have a voice and a means to collect data on the 'other guys'.

Our guard is not let down now, but rather, it has been heightened.

We have a lot of slow steady work ahead of us and I bet we are up to it;)

Talking To Canadians. Or perhaps, Talking To Torontonians

Step one, bring up the subject of abortion.
Step two, ask them if the laws should be changed.
Step three, ask them if they actually know what the laws are, and what partial birth abortion is.
Step four, make a funny face for the camera.

Thanks. Good job.

Yes, Mary, there is.

And I'm a Crawling Amphibian in that sea. Don't believe me? Go see my blog, left side, bottom.

And to think...I'm gonna be coming up there soon. Mwahahahaha.

Brilliantly stated, classy, and the best possible choice of topic for your final post. Of course, as a fan of The Mighty Ottawa Senators - elected Senators - I'm used to such seeing such displays of talent and class on a regular basis, but it's still always a pleasure to see... ;-)

Well said Kate. The lack of any sort of debate on these issues is a key element of the "democratic deficit".

Greenmamba,

That's exactly the same here in the US. And, from my too-many-hours-per-day of reading the MSM in the whole global Anglosphere, media left-wing bias is prevalent in all the English-speaking democracies.

But to comment on your remark on the MSM's denial of it's bias: Part and parcel of the mindset of Leftists (from the UK to North America all the way to Australia) is a subconscious assumption of intellectual and moral superiority. "We get it."

They really, truly believe their rigid orthdoxy of thought is the norm, the reality of the world. Anyone not seeing that oh-so-obvious "truth" is therefore, by definition, intellectually and morally inferior.

(And "diversity" is another leffty phony-baloney fallacy. They laud superficial diversity-gender, race, sexual orientation, etc. BUT, real diversity, diversity of thought, is forbidden under their secular dogma. To be a leftist, one must be in 100% lock-step with their secular dogma.

Just look at the hysteria prompted whenever any politician brings up abortion. (Or doesn't bring it up in Harper's case. The Left brings it up anyway and creates a shrill argument from a non-argument.)

I didn't mean to ramble on here...Like you and a lot of people I get REALLY tired of the MSM's BS protestations of objectivity and non-bias when in fact they are Ministries of Propaganda for leftist collectivism.

Re:Glenn Clark-ite Penny Priddy on CTV

If memory serves me, Ms. Priddy served as Health Minister in a previous NDP BC government.

She will be the heir to "Screechin Annie"

As they say in Texas..."big hat no cows"...

Looking forward to your visit, Sailor Republica.

Rent a couple of jet-skis and wet suits and bring Stockwell Day with you.

Visit? Bah! I'm coming to LIVE!

And I'm coming to torture Liberals.

yes, penny was health minister out here. she's a joy to watch because she gets all pink and outraged and jowly when she gets upset. ujjal and penny, two shining lefties from b.c.'s stellar roster of pinko lunatics, a party they both had a hand in decimating when they were in power here. let's hope their records hold.

Notice To Our Customers In The Central Ottawa Area

We have been experiencing unusual power demands over the last 24 hours. But we are working diligently to minimize the occurrence of brown outs.

Our apologies for last night's interruption of service.

It was caused by a young gal, in the Ministry of Human Resources and Skills Development.
She jammed the department's industrial paper shredder when she tried to feed it her computer monitor.

Gus Horton
Customer Service Representative
Ontario Hydro

Kate

from St.Brieux, Sask

I have never gone to a blog site before but I really enjoyed your issues.. thanks and keep up the good work

Bravo! Excellent article Kate. It's high time that the MSM/Liberal/NDP partnership was challenged on their demonizing of anyone who questions Canada's total lack of abortion laws.

I've just read through the pile of adoration for you, Kate. All deserved. You've provided like-minded community. But, what about your libertarianism? How far has it progressed? How would you describe it? Should I be concerned?

Sailor Republica

Wherever you end up make it a complete relocation this time. Don't show up just from the neck down.

BTW, Why just threaten Liberals? Can't you bore NDPers to tears as well?

Kate - Wow - great and true words of wisdom - everytime I watched the MSM asking Harper questions that were made up by the Liberals and not challenging Liberals I would actually end up yelling at the TV (Politics can drive one nuts!). You put my feelings and frustrations into words - Unfortunately I don't know if they will ever change. Thanks for the great article and the great blog. I am having election withdrawal tonight - nothing to watch on TV - no pundits to yell at - nothing to get upset at - no polls to anticipate.

Awesome entry! Absolutely make sure that you have it saved along with all your other keepers.

Maybe you should send a copy to the Conservative Party, keep them thinking ahead and on their feet.

Congratulations on a job well done.

I am not the mary who has posted on this site. In the US, abortion is the issue re Judge Alito. Why is it whenever the left is losing it brings up this issue. There is no law in Canada re abortion, so how could Harper change it. It appears the msm is not going to give Harper a chance, according to all reports today. I think this government can last 2 yrs, as libs will be in a leadership race. If sitting members run, will they be absent from the HoC like Martin was. As for TO, you were warned you would not be at the table. Guess you thought, well someone else will elect a Tory. Lets hope BS wins, so she can be anilated in the rest of Canada worse that Kim was. In reality the libs & ndp between them lost 21 seats. Seems many cdns don't share those Lib values. But the msm is not mentioning this. That is the message I take from yesterday. I wonder how those living in cities other than TO, Vancouver and Montreal, like being told they don't count and are not important. Ont Premier saying today, WE WAMT IN. I also notice that Martin has disappeard today, and last election the press was all over Harper for doing the same thing. Where is Martin. Where is Scott beer & popcorn Reid, where is Susan Murray. All out sending resumes.

Dave 6:55

Where is the headline - Canada elects first ever Prime Minister born and raised in Toronto!!! Who is that ??? Stephen Harper...don't you think the GTA should be rightly proud of their very own home boy?

The media was pro conservative?

Actually no. They somewhat truthfully reported on Liberal waste and corruption. The aslo kept a keen eye on Harper, making sure he wasn't, well, conservative.

Imagine, just the notion of having a debate on abortion was veiwed as radical, even dangerous. So much so that Harper had to run as fast as he could from the issue.

I'd venture to guess that most Canadians actually oppose late term abortions. But the topic can't even be raised.

That's the level of discourse our society is at. Liberal topics only please.

you went out with a big BANG congratulations Kate and all the Blogging Tories for a job very well done! Remember it took 1000 years to kill the Roman Empire so 3 elections within 20 years should aught to do it to the good ship Librano.

Well what can I add? Your various thoughts on a host of topics during the election has definitely given the conservative cause some balance at the roundtable. This latest one is no exception. I hope you have cashed the cheque for I am sure some CBC slapheads are squirming. The next election started today. The wedge is in and we need to consildate some remarkable gains. Conservatives can claim to be a truely federal party, unlike some others. There are still many "scared" 416's here in Ontario. They, amongst other urban ridings across the country, need a test drive.

my advice to Stephan -

"what ever you must do , do quickly"

The Libs will try to take you out as soon as possible. Canada will be outraged by an Easter election

Derek Burney, who is heading the CPC transition team, is a former CEO of CAE Inc. and is an executive member of both the CCCE and the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada, which lobby to get Canada to sign onto George W. Bush’s Ballistic Missile Defence program.

New government...new lobbyists/masters and bills to pay.

Excellent work on the Roundtable Kate.

It was funny to see how the liberal and the bloc reps really brought the knives out when the tories got rolling.

After watching the media allow PMPM to say whatever the hell he wanted, and then plastering it on radio/TV/web/newspapers I am relieved that they managed to at least get 124 seats under that sort of attack.

I also was amazed at the fact that no matter how many times you tell someone that women can still get an abortion with a conservative gov't, they did not listen in the slightest.

WHEN DID ABORTION BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN CANADA ??????? I always thought that that was something to be decided between a woman and her doctor - so stay out of it.

I am almost thinking today that they should enshrine those rights somehow in law so that the bloody media and the liberals/ndp can not use it as a weapon ever again.

Sorry, maybe that is too far to the extreme right.

I concur Sid

..all in favour say aye

Lottsa yuks on CBC radio this evening.

" Well religion is back in Canadian politics. Last night Stephen Harper concluded his victory speech with, Allah praise Canada and a lot of Canadians woke up this morning and said Frickin Mohamed!"

No, no, just kidding.

" Well religion is back in Canadian politics. Last night Stephen Harper concluded his victory speech with God Bless Canada and a lot of Canadians woke up this morning and said Jesus Christ!"

Really.
I'm not making this up.

Yes you are.

Please tell us you are making that up, Cal.

Super article, Kate. BTW, what's 'SWTE'?

Outstanding post Kate. Since becoming a neo-con literally (a new conservative - I used to vote Liberal or NDP and was on the left of every issue before 9/11) I can testify that conservative thoughts are totally foreign to liberals. They never hear them. That is why I think they freak out about Fox news - they have actually never heard conservatives talking out loud before. when you are a liberal you do not ever think that the CBC or other MSM is left leaning - it is just "conventional wisdom" - Fox News is right wing, but somehow CBC is just neutral.
To the person who said Rush just spouts BS - have you ever listened to him actually for a full 3 hour show? or read his books? He gives a rational presentation of the pitfalls of liberalism - it is not BS, it is just a different view than yours. You are just not used to hearing conservatives talk out loud.
I used to be brainwashed by the CBC and the Toronto Star that Stockwell Day was a crazy neanderthal - these two outlets are still pushing this tripe. Have they ever paid attention to what Mr. Day has said as foreign affairs critic? He has urged Canada to take a harder stand against Iran after it murdered one of our citizens. He has called out the liberal gov. for their moral equivalence in UN voting record. The Star and the CBC should be ashamed of themselves for smearing this man and literally brainwashing people about him - I know - I used to drink their koolaid.

WHEN DID ABORTION BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN CANADA ??????? I always thought that that was something to be decided between a woman and her doctor - so stay out of it.

Yeah, I'd be in favour of public mediscare staying out of it.

Further to media and the election

http://tinyurl.com/cbhro

Maybe one of your minions already pointed this out (it's not like I read these comments...too much gush and treacle...I get tooth-aches), but you really should look up the meaning of the word apparatchik.

...thank God this is your last post on the CBC. I am fed up with the poor quality of CBC content.

*snort*

Ti-Guy,

I don't have a secret decoder ring - any chance of re-posting something that makes sense?

Time to put your money where your mouth is-where you will have major impact.
Watch Pravda commercial supporters and boycott them. Don't forget to write directly to these sponsors and tell them you won't support them as long as they continue to run ads on Pravda.

Every time I've thought about the Conservatives winning an election, the "Oliver North Rule" pops into my head. The Oliver North Rule simply states that any man with a document shredder has something he really needs to hide. I've maintained for years that if you really want to clean up crime in this country, register every paper shredder in Ottawa, and make it mandatory to make a copy of any document about to get shredded. That'd 'bout make their heads pop off.

Oh Ti-guy, our old friend. We love you.

Sigh... Ti-Guy, why don't YOU look up the meaning of "apparatchik"?

Oh, have you already? Well, then, happy boy, I'm afraid you didn't understand the definition or misinterpreted it.

Besides, if you weren't one, you'd be able to understand. For apparatchiks don't understand, which is why they're apparatchiks.

Oh, you don't understand? Of course not, for you're, after all, an apparatchik... or were, since the iron-fisted state regime of which you were one is now gone.

BTW, this I'm sure will piss you off:

"WHEN DID ABORTION BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT ISSUE IN CANADA ?"

It became the most important issue in Canada since the passage of SSM, the lead-up during which it was then the most important issue facing Canada, according to the now-totally-disgraced extremist Paul Martin, who then made the other issue number one, rather than issues like national security, prosperity and health care, to name just a few candidates far more worthy than the two he foolishly chose, choices which did nothing to prevent his ultimate and richly deserved undoing.

Time to MOVE ON, Ti-Guy.

Get a life already...

Oh, just to be clear, abortion is NOT an important issue, certainly not compared to accountability, integrity, honesty, law, order and the enforcement thereof, national security and defense and war preparedness, the taking off of the hands of the state from the levers of the economy, getting all taxes down, debt repayment, the freeing-up of the press for competition and diversity in reporting approaches, etc., etc...

Above all, the restoration of strength, freedom and genuine pride in our nation are the ultimate goals which serious, successful attention to the above will facilitate.

The current state of abortion in Canada is just fine with me. It illustrates a good point that we do not need laws for everything. Doctors will self police themselves when it comes to the timing of an abortion ( IE no doctor is going to give an abortion to a 8 month pregnant woman )

To re-open the debate will simply play into the hands of all those who think us Western Conservatives are bible-thumping maniacs.

( With apologies to any bible-thumping maniacs )

One of the most poignant posts ever Kate. To avoid the point being lost in over analysis, here is where you nailed the bottom line:

"The trend has been reinforced for decades by a Liberal party reward system for pro-Liberal journalism, overtly (through diplomatic postings and Senate seat appointments) and financially"

This also explains how so-called conservative journalists in the Ottawa press gallery can be suspiciously uninquisitive and tolerant of rank spin just to keep their access to government media sources.

Time for an "accountability act" that reels in the media's tendancy to become an intolerant propaganda tool which can impede the public from making a fully informed democratic decision. I concur that the major corrupting force of the Canadian democratic system has been a politically coopted media. Lefty wants a separation of church and state....how about a separation of media and state? I find it to be a civil outrage that partisan hacks can spin their party line in widely distributed media but I can be fined for expressing my opinion....Canada has become a dystopian backet case under Liberal single party state monopolization of public discourse.

In lockstep with liberal dogma, the Canadian MSM love diversity in everything but opinion.

This is good thinking. At least, in the States it's a situation of "what you see is what you get". You know the left from the right and anticipate the ensuing biases. Here the media wants to appear non-partisan, but they are not. I go to the MSM for the top stories, but I form my opinions in the blogosphere.

I would suggest extending the scope of bringing balance to the media reporting to include bringing a better balance to the curricula of our highschools, colleges and universities. A greater stress should be put on teaching differing viewpoints and not just the viewpoint of the left.

Everyone please take note that Kate has publicly stated her leaning towards Libertarianism. Would you all please take the time to examine this fascinating ideology. You will then realize why I've said that Conservatism is no longer relevant and is dying a slow death.

Kate, HTML is not code but rather a set of browser instructions.

We need Kate to head up the CRTC and CBC.... selloff!

Great post , your best so far for Pravda!

If Mansbridge wins employee of the month again over you, I'll be shocked.

Could Pete ever bring gold like this ...
"the single most important change he can make to restore balance to Canadian democracy is to begin breaking down the stranglehold of government and the Liberal apparatchik on the communications industry by eliminating or radically restricting the authority of the CRTC, restoring political balance on the board of the CBC and moving the network to a model of market self-sufficiency, and closing the generous pasture land of government funded "think tanks" where deposed and unemployed Liberals retire to lobby the government at government expense - and inform Canadians of our "Canadian values."

Aaaamen, and thank you!

"Kate, HTML is not code but rather a set of browser instructions."

Yes, but the browser instructions are HTML code.

Web: I see no inconsistancy between libertarianism and regulating against monopolies...that is waht the MSM is a state sanctioned monopoly on opinion and information....the same mechanism existed in cold war era Russia.

FERKRISSAKR the media blow partisan spin out by the buckets during an election but the public is forbidden from similarly voicing a personal opinion....what the frik is that, if not soviet style truncation of free expression. Kate, and I and any libertarian have no problem with the MSM partisan hacks spewing their spin...as long as dissent or opposing opinion has the OPPORTUNITY to do the same.

Robert, I don't want to get into a big argument here but the computer program that places the browser on your screen is code and the HTML that tells it what to do is more instruction than code. A moot point but neverless a point.

WL, I agree with your comments.

Aha! See... there is a secret agenda. People are already talking in code. HTML code. Here. In cyberspace. I'm making this up. Honest. Swear to ... oooops, can't say that now can I.

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Texas, I was wondering when someone was going to clue into the code thing.

Secret agenda kinda like 'born agains' speaking in 'tongues'.

Gee, if we get rid of the CBC and CRTC, then we will get lots of that very informative and realistic "reality TV" from down South in it's place.

Sounds like a pretty lame trade to me.

If you don't like reality tv, turn the channel.

Unfortunately that doesn't work for the CBC, which continues to suck away at our taxdollars like the welfare case they are.

If the CBC were as relevant to Canadians as their supporters claim, they'd be self supporting. Period.

Still coming in with the anti-american stuff hey Glyn?? I haven't seen any tanks in my town yet, anyone else?

I agree with you Kate -- not because of the slant, but because I think the CBC is an institution that should be earning it's keep. I'm for even more radical steps than that. I'd like to see the entire broadcasting/publishing/music industry thrown wide open and not require any amount of Canadian content. For far too long, Canadian artists have been able to rely on these rules to deliver far too much crappy products that no one wants to hear. I still think talented artists would rise to the top but the mediocre crap that is passed off as entertainment would happily stop.

Glyn
"Sounds like a pretty lame trade to me"
That's because your knee jerk anti American default mode got the better of you!

Trade is the exchange of something for another.
We give up a hippie era socialist big government monopoly of thought control whilst letting the populace keep about 13 billion of it's money every year,... and what exactly would your reviled Americans give up?

You write of Reagan opening up discussion in the States to Conservative thought and opinion. Opinion I have seen a lot of, if you call the hog-like rooting of Limbaugh opinion, but "conservative thought"? What can that be. I have not seen anything like that, but it must be something that happens outside Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto. I wait for the word from the unpopulated zones of the Cons, as soon as they leave off shuffleboard.

If you call "anti-Reality TV" anti-American because it comes from there for the most part, then I guess so LOL...

Garhane: for conservative thought, please check out the following:
Victor Davis Hanson
Thomas Sowell
David Warren
David Horowitz
Mark Steyn
and yes, Rush Limbaugh

Glyn: why do we need protectionism? are we just not good enough? Couldn't we replace the CBC and CRTC protected programming with products that do well because people watch them?

okay got to get back to shuffleboard now

Actually, Glyn - in a newer post I've included a link to Imprimis. You can expose yourself to the best in conservative thought for free - published by Hillsdale College. The "right wing" educational institution was the first American college "to prohibit in its charter all discrimination based on race,religion, or sex."

In 1850.

i wish the "Conservative" wasn't a bad word in Canada and that PM Harper could actually govern from the right without getting lambasted by the media and without fear of reprecusion from the loud-mouth left.

RINSE and REPEAT
I'm amazed that after decades of the Liberial's and NDP building then the Consevatives walking in, saying there's too much, and start selling it off just to leave Ottawa, years later, owning more than they came with or made, ground back into round, real packaged, born again just to walk back in, rinse and repeat.

Read Harpoville Post