Lorne Gunter surveys the new old Conservative cabinet. (Related – welcome back, Max!!)
60 Replies to “The Good, The Bad, And The Flaherty”
Lots to smile about, but after LGR and a few other goodies, I really enjoyed: “Moving John Baird to Foreign Affairs means … that troublesome diplomats and bureaucrats who have obstructed the government’s initiatives for the past five years will soon find themselves in charge of federal office supplies north of the Arctic Circle.”
Will Black Mamba and the rest of us be able to handle all that Schadenfreude?
Minister of natural resources from Toronto?
It was both amusing and sickening to watch LG try to spin a cabinet that is bigger than it has been in many years and includes dumb-on-crime tool Nicholson and continued wasted effort and money on Afghanistan and the F35 soon-to-be-debacle. It’s almost cute that Lorne takes the fact that we will see NO reduction in government spending and turns it around as “oh well, it’s okay because TEAM BLUE is in charge”. LG really isn’t that good a columnist.
Ahhhh I needed a good laugh . . thanks for supplying the chuckles libertariansaresmarter.
Lucky for us normal people that you drop in and deliver a couple of good one liners.
Keep it up and maybe we can get you a gig writing jokes for Rick Mercer over yonder at CBC.
Does the laughter come after denial or is it a part of it?
The budget will be balanced before the next election no matter what or the Tories are toast.
Afcrapistan is ending this year.
F-35’s kick ass and we SHOULD buy’em.
Dumb on crime? You don’t have to be smart on crime to know that big bastard jails, filled to the brim with bad guys means they’re not in my bedroom or breaking into my car.
Maxine Bernier in cabinet again? Awesome.
Baird charging around in foreign affairs? Awesome.
Bev “Not” Oda back for more de-funding? Awesome.
The next 4 years are going to be a sweet ride.
Hopefully the cabinet’s size proves justifiable in the same way that massed pre-assault troop concentrations are. I won’t hold my breath, but there’s still hope. The biggest hope-killing indicator for me would be an unscathed federal civil service a year or so from now. With the timing perfect to downsize via attrition, if it doesn’t happen now there’s no chance it will ever happen under Harper.
THIS Cabinet doesn’t much matter no matter how good or bad they are; the next 18 months is just the pre-season.
The NEXT Cabinet will have about 12+ months to play / manage the ‘regular season’.
The THIRD Cabinet shuffle will be the one that really matters … ONLY true All-Stars from those previous two Cabinets will get to play in final Cabinet leading up to the “Playoffs” of the NEXT federal election.
By the time of the next federal election NOBODY will recall or care much about any buffoonery in the first two ‘test drive’ Cabinets.
Jeff
I completely missed in the coverage I saw that Oda was still in the same spot. I love that she’ll be able to tell all those little NGOs that think they are entitled to taxpayer dollars that they are ^”NOT” for the next couple years.
Beautiful – that just made my day.
Judging by the heads exploding on twitter looks like the PM made the right choices. I’d say chances of a fall shuffle with a smaller cabinet is very likely.
tough being everything to everybody.
it’s like the minister of state list;
economic diversification of ______
appease the locals…..with a gravy train
F-35’s kick ass and we SHOULD buy’em.
BIG SHINY EXPLOSIONS ARE FUN for you at least so why don’t you buy them? Dumb on crime? You don’t have to be smart on crime to know that big bastard jails, filled to the brim with bad guys means they’re not in my bedroom or breaking into my car.
The policy of ever-lengthening prison sentences has been a disaster in American and is being abandoned out of fiscal sanity. Even some conservatives have abandoned it and formed the Right on Crime group. BTW Harper isn’t talking so much about jailing real criminal rather it’s about MJ growers.
Great, just what our country needs. A bloated over loaded, top heavy, vote buying cabinet. Sheesh, what a disaster.
Austerity is obviously not a Conservative value.
Just took a boo over at the US Government’s department list and noticed that their 15 dispense almost $4 trillion. I submit that those 15 capture the essence of what a Federal government should be doing i.e., State, Interior, Commerce, Defence, etc.
Do we really need 39?
@ PhilM – Do we really need 39?
Of course not. You could cut it in half and still have too many. The problem is that you have to pander to every bloody region, province, and city, plus you have to get your best people in there. The two are usually mutually exclusive.
It also makes brokerage politics, like the Torys are copying from the Liberals, much easier to practice when every possible rent-seeking constituency has a mouth at the table.
What’s that funny smell . . . . ahhhh, must be the abundance of trolls.
It is one thing to come out from under the bridge but the stench is really bad when they climb out of the sewer.
No sense feeding them anymore.
It is a big cabinet but it all depends why they are there. Some are to gain experience some are regional and if you want to cut costs you need people that can root around and find it. Not someone that spends an hour on it in a meeting.
Lets see, 39 ministers, 39 under secretaries
must be at least 10 committees that’s 10 chairpersons
and 4 members for a total of 128. Enough jobs for everyone.
RE: libertariansaresmarter at May 18, 2011 1:54 PM
Would anyone care to complete the sentence: libertarians are smarter than ……..
Do you really nead to pander to different regions in forming a cabinet. I am from Ontario. I do not give a d@#$ if all, or non of the cabinet ministers are from Ontario. I want competent ministers. Why would it matter to me as a citizen whether or not my MP is a cabinet minister?
Of course Layron is whining thaat there are not enough women in tha cabinet. Seriously, other than rent seakers and professional victims who cares?
Is it the end of Trudeau’s liberal Quebecophonie nightmare or is it Joe Clark redux? Any bets?
Libertarians are smarter than;
a) a puppy (remember they are trainable)
b) a pet rock (knows how to “Stay” and does not jump on guests)
c) a toaster (almost always ejects toast before it gets burnt)
d) none of the above
I can think of one recent poster who will probably get this wrong.
Sorry Kate, sometimes feeding a troll can be fun.
“is it Joe Clark redux? Any bets?”
Joke Lark never had a majority government so it can’t be a ‘redux’.
What were you planning on betting?
I bet some snotty snivel servants at Foreign affairs is weeping rather loudly today, oh the irony. I’m glad Bev is still a cabnet minister, I really admire her moxie.
A couple of questions,
Re: pandering to every groups and region – Is there actually 39 distinct sub-groups of Canadians that need to be represented? Seems pretty bloated for a government that is proposing to cut costs and gain efficiency.
Second questions – Were journalists this angry during the Mulroney years or does Harper have a special gift?
Davenport, my only thought in regards to the senate is that it probably needs to be stacked in order to get any reform of it passed. I’ll give the PM a little slack and see what he does first,
d
Now that the Conservative Party has the majority in the Senate, it can go about being chosen by the people.
That’s no hidden agenda. Harper has always wanted an elected senate. Now, it’s possible to make it a more democratic institution.
@dwo: the specific answer is ‘conservatives’, but ‘everybody else’ is also acceptable.
@Speedy: nobody needs ‘experience’ to find the costs of government. If it’s not defense or anti-crime (including certain environmental regulations), then it’s 100% cuttable. What are they going to get experience in aside from learning how to game the system?
The next four years will make one look back and yearn for the brevity of the Joe Clark period.
@davenport:
(c) casually supported
You might want to shop around for volume discounts on antidepressants.
@libertariansaresmarter
Your arrogance is pervasive amongst those on the left.
Intelligent discourse with ANYONE (never mind a libertarian) who thinks they are smarter than ‘everyone’ is an oxymoron.
Out of respect for Kate and those wishing to have an intelligent exchange of ideas, this will be MY last post on this subject.
dwo, don’t feed that troll. He/she is about libertarian as Pierre Trudeau.
“No doubt this little tidbit — “PM rewards three defeated Conservatives with Senate seats” — will be (a) casually dismissed or (b) outright ignored by most everyone here”
No. The provinces had plenty of time to elect their next senators. They chose not to, so no reason for PM Harper to not appoint who he wanted. Serves them right.
All you bitches complaining about the cabinet being so big need to remember that the budget hasn’t passed yet and it’s almost JUNE. This is a continuation of the last government until the fall. No changes because guess what there isn’t time to organize a whole new agenda and make massive changes in few weeks after an election. That’s what will occur over summer recess.
As for the senate appointments, well someone had to be appointed and those guys are party faithful. Who cares it’s a rubber stamping exercise at this point. Hopefully it will be reformed.
Anyone who lusts for Joe Clark (redux or original) is stark raving nuts, be they liberal, conservative or new democrat. He was Canada’s answer to Jimmy Carter. Who will be Canada’s answer to Barack Obama? E-Jack-U-Layton is too old, Justin Trudeau too young, Bob Rae too uncouth.
“Now, it’s possible to make it a more democratic institution.”
~set you free
Unless you’re suggesting that PMSH should make the same mistake of opening up the Constitution as Brian Mulroney did then it isn’t any more possible to change the senate now than it was before the election.
The process that Stephen Harper was hoping for was that the First Ministers(Provincial Premiers) would voluntarily follow Alberta’s lead and have senate elections concurrent with provincial elections and then the PMSM could appoint those senator-elects thus creating a democratic tradition of electing senators.
The hope was that the citizens of other provinces would want greater democracy and demand their own senate elections.(that takes care of 1 ‘E’, Elected)
The second ‘E’, effective, naturally follows from being elected.
Elected senators would have greater moral authority than unelected ones and, of course, citizens in provinces where the government wasn’t supporting senate elections would demand that their senators have greater moral authority too.(that takes care of 2 ‘E’s, Effective)
Finally, and remember after these 2 preceding ‘E’s take on the weight of tradition over time, the final ‘E’ Equal will probably take opening up the Constitution to become law.(we’ll burn that bridge when we get there)
To date, most provincial governments have shown no interest(probably because these governments are Lib/NDP) in greater democracy by putting senate candidates on the ballot during provincial elections.
Opening up the Constitution was a bad thing when Mulroney did it because every identity group or interest group wanted to have their ‘gimmees’ permanently enshrined in the Constitution.
That has to be avoided somehow.
I notice there’s no Minister of Indian Affairs anymore, and Minister of Multiculturalism has been gone for two election cycles.
And the trolls are upset and trying to get some traction. Y’all LOST you sorry sons@b1tches, so suck it up while the big kids get on with business.
Having Mad Max back in the cabinet is a breath of fresh air.
Gerry Ritz is going to toast the CWB – about time.
Exactly Oz…..spending years sitting around tables while everyone jockey’s for position just to change some legaleez on a piece of paper written by a bunch of french laywers in the 80’s is a waste of everyone’s time.
The unofficial “tradition” needs to start. It’s tough though. In Alberta Stelmach won’t allow Senate elections because he’s afraid people will vote for Wildrose candidates.
Phantom, you write, @ 7:27 p.m.: “I notice there’s no Minister of Indian Affairs anymore, and Minister of Multiculturalism has been gone for two election cycles.” Would that that were so.
The Hon. Jason Kenney is actually the “Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism”.
Too bad—in more ways than one.
oldfart: “Joe Clark … was Canada’s answer to Jimmy Carter.”
For the record, Clark did manage to sneak more American hostages out of Iran than Carter.
The Phantom: “I notice there’s no Minister of Indian Affairs anymore…”
No, though there’s now a Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
Plus ça change…
For the most part its a good cabinet.
No one can deny Harper lead us through the worst recessionn in years. His economic performancee was an A+.
What worries me is the Censorship debacle he’s creating by condoning the Kangaroo courts (CHRC’s) by giving them even more power. Free speech is non negotiablele IMO.
Farmers will profit with a weak CWB. Its nice to see REAL immigrantsnts, not colonists (we know who you are) get a say.
Constituents should badger him for tax breaks. Enough of over taxation that kills incentive to work.
That deprives families from growing.
I expect he will have some education reforms as well in the future.
Bloated entitled Government must be trimmed as well. That will take some doing, since the players won’t leave.
Unlike Liberals most of us true Conservatives will be watching this dance.
As for the Jets, doesn’t, any one remember the debacle Crietien ausd by canceling the badly needed helicopters, not to mention deaths.Thanhow we paid threw the nose for nothing, by that political blow hard? Than buying rotten subs.
Get our Forces equiped while its still a cheap market. For those shy of this, havent noticed the rest of the World ain’t doing that great & its a fire house sale these days.
JMO
http://news.ca.msn.com/photogallery.aspx?cp-documentid=28773941
39 seats includes 10 women
No Muslim member
we need to have at least one Muslim in HOUSE
to stop all Wilders stupid voice get stopped
Do we need that much people who pay for their salary
they must do lots of job
may be need even more to hire
are they qualify for job they have now?
Still spinning Davenport. Try lowering your air pressure, maybe you can find some grip. But I doubt it.
Its a Christian country R. We need a Muslim MP… why again?
You idiots -lost- dude. Geert Wilders is once more a free man visiting a free country. No more shutting people up that you don’t like.
r is new = ignore.
I stand corrected gellen. I’m not going to feed that one.
Whatever our agreements or disagreements, I would just say this — Harper and Nicholson need to be told by the conservative base, coast to coast, no ifs ands or buts, we want FREEDOM OF SPEECH and FREE INTERNET DISCUSSION to be maintained and strengthened, not torn apart in the omnibus crime bill or the continued pandering to the CHRC crowd.
And this must be a non-negotiable position of fundamental CONSERVATIVE values. Anything else is a slide towards fascism.
Lots to smile about, but after LGR and a few other goodies, I really enjoyed: “Moving John Baird to Foreign Affairs means … that troublesome diplomats and bureaucrats who have obstructed the government’s initiatives for the past five years will soon find themselves in charge of federal office supplies north of the Arctic Circle.”
Will Black Mamba and the rest of us be able to handle all that Schadenfreude?
Minister of natural resources from Toronto?
It was both amusing and sickening to watch LG try to spin a cabinet that is bigger than it has been in many years and includes dumb-on-crime tool Nicholson and continued wasted effort and money on Afghanistan and the F35 soon-to-be-debacle. It’s almost cute that Lorne takes the fact that we will see NO reduction in government spending and turns it around as “oh well, it’s okay because TEAM BLUE is in charge”. LG really isn’t that good a columnist.
Ahhhh I needed a good laugh . . thanks for supplying the chuckles libertariansaresmarter.
Lucky for us normal people that you drop in and deliver a couple of good one liners.
Keep it up and maybe we can get you a gig writing jokes for Rick Mercer over yonder at CBC.
Does the laughter come after denial or is it a part of it?
The budget will be balanced before the next election no matter what or the Tories are toast.
Afcrapistan is ending this year.
F-35’s kick ass and we SHOULD buy’em.
Dumb on crime? You don’t have to be smart on crime to know that big bastard jails, filled to the brim with bad guys means they’re not in my bedroom or breaking into my car.
Maxine Bernier in cabinet again? Awesome.
Baird charging around in foreign affairs? Awesome.
Bev “Not” Oda back for more de-funding? Awesome.
The next 4 years are going to be a sweet ride.
Hopefully the cabinet’s size proves justifiable in the same way that massed pre-assault troop concentrations are. I won’t hold my breath, but there’s still hope. The biggest hope-killing indicator for me would be an unscathed federal civil service a year or so from now. With the timing perfect to downsize via attrition, if it doesn’t happen now there’s no chance it will ever happen under Harper.
THIS Cabinet doesn’t much matter no matter how good or bad they are; the next 18 months is just the pre-season.
The NEXT Cabinet will have about 12+ months to play / manage the ‘regular season’.
The THIRD Cabinet shuffle will be the one that really matters … ONLY true All-Stars from those previous two Cabinets will get to play in final Cabinet leading up to the “Playoffs” of the NEXT federal election.
By the time of the next federal election NOBODY will recall or care much about any buffoonery in the first two ‘test drive’ Cabinets.
Jeff
I completely missed in the coverage I saw that Oda was still in the same spot. I love that she’ll be able to tell all those little NGOs that think they are entitled to taxpayer dollars that they are ^”NOT” for the next couple years.
Beautiful – that just made my day.
Judging by the heads exploding on twitter looks like the PM made the right choices. I’d say chances of a fall shuffle with a smaller cabinet is very likely.
tough being everything to everybody.
it’s like the minister of state list;
economic diversification of ______
appease the locals…..with a gravy train
F-35’s kick ass and we SHOULD buy’em.
BIG SHINY EXPLOSIONS ARE FUN for you at least so why don’t you buy them?
Dumb on crime? You don’t have to be smart on crime to know that big bastard jails, filled to the brim with bad guys means they’re not in my bedroom or breaking into my car.
The policy of ever-lengthening prison sentences has been a disaster in American and is being abandoned out of fiscal sanity. Even some conservatives have abandoned it and formed the Right on Crime group. BTW Harper isn’t talking so much about jailing real criminal rather it’s about MJ growers.
Great, just what our country needs. A bloated over loaded, top heavy, vote buying cabinet. Sheesh, what a disaster.
Austerity is obviously not a Conservative value.
Just took a boo over at the US Government’s department list and noticed that their 15 dispense almost $4 trillion. I submit that those 15 capture the essence of what a Federal government should be doing i.e., State, Interior, Commerce, Defence, etc.
Do we really need 39?
@ PhilM – Do we really need 39?
Of course not. You could cut it in half and still have too many. The problem is that you have to pander to every bloody region, province, and city, plus you have to get your best people in there. The two are usually mutually exclusive.
It also makes brokerage politics, like the Torys are copying from the Liberals, much easier to practice when every possible rent-seeking constituency has a mouth at the table.
What’s that funny smell . . . . ahhhh, must be the abundance of trolls.
It is one thing to come out from under the bridge but the stench is really bad when they climb out of the sewer.
No sense feeding them anymore.
It is a big cabinet but it all depends why they are there. Some are to gain experience some are regional and if you want to cut costs you need people that can root around and find it. Not someone that spends an hour on it in a meeting.
Lets see, 39 ministers, 39 under secretaries
must be at least 10 committees that’s 10 chairpersons
and 4 members for a total of 128. Enough jobs for everyone.
RE: libertariansaresmarter at May 18, 2011 1:54 PM
Would anyone care to complete the sentence: libertarians are smarter than ……..
Do you really nead to pander to different regions in forming a cabinet. I am from Ontario. I do not give a d@#$ if all, or non of the cabinet ministers are from Ontario. I want competent ministers. Why would it matter to me as a citizen whether or not my MP is a cabinet minister?
Of course Layron is whining thaat there are not enough women in tha cabinet. Seriously, other than rent seakers and professional victims who cares?
Is it the end of Trudeau’s liberal Quebecophonie nightmare or is it Joe Clark redux? Any bets?
Libertarians are smarter than;
a) a puppy (remember they are trainable)
b) a pet rock (knows how to “Stay” and does not jump on guests)
c) a toaster (almost always ejects toast before it gets burnt)
d) none of the above
I can think of one recent poster who will probably get this wrong.
Sorry Kate, sometimes feeding a troll can be fun.
“is it Joe Clark redux? Any bets?”
Joke Lark never had a majority government so it can’t be a ‘redux’.
What were you planning on betting?
No doubt this little tidbit — “PM rewards three defeated Conservatives with Senate seats” — will be (a) casually dismissed or (b) outright ignored by most everyone here.
I bet some snotty snivel servants at Foreign affairs is weeping rather loudly today, oh the irony. I’m glad Bev is still a cabnet minister, I really admire her moxie.
A couple of questions,
Re: pandering to every groups and region – Is there actually 39 distinct sub-groups of Canadians that need to be represented? Seems pretty bloated for a government that is proposing to cut costs and gain efficiency.
Second questions – Were journalists this angry during the Mulroney years or does Harper have a special gift?
Davenport, my only thought in regards to the senate is that it probably needs to be stacked in order to get any reform of it passed. I’ll give the PM a little slack and see what he does first,
d
Now that the Conservative Party has the majority in the Senate, it can go about being chosen by the people.
That’s no hidden agenda. Harper has always wanted an elected senate. Now, it’s possible to make it a more democratic institution.
@dwo: the specific answer is ‘conservatives’, but ‘everybody else’ is also acceptable.
@Speedy: nobody needs ‘experience’ to find the costs of government. If it’s not defense or anti-crime (including certain environmental regulations), then it’s 100% cuttable. What are they going to get experience in aside from learning how to game the system?
The next four years will make one look back and yearn for the brevity of the Joe Clark period.
@davenport:
(c) casually supported
You might want to shop around for volume discounts on antidepressants.
@libertariansaresmarter
Your arrogance is pervasive amongst those on the left.
Intelligent discourse with ANYONE (never mind a libertarian) who thinks they are smarter than ‘everyone’ is an oxymoron.
Out of respect for Kate and those wishing to have an intelligent exchange of ideas, this will be MY last post on this subject.
dwo, don’t feed that troll. He/she is about libertarian as Pierre Trudeau.
“No doubt this little tidbit — “PM rewards three defeated Conservatives with Senate seats” — will be (a) casually dismissed or (b) outright ignored by most everyone here”
No. The provinces had plenty of time to elect their next senators. They chose not to, so no reason for PM Harper to not appoint who he wanted. Serves them right.
All you bitches complaining about the cabinet being so big need to remember that the budget hasn’t passed yet and it’s almost JUNE. This is a continuation of the last government until the fall. No changes because guess what there isn’t time to organize a whole new agenda and make massive changes in few weeks after an election. That’s what will occur over summer recess.
As for the senate appointments, well someone had to be appointed and those guys are party faithful. Who cares it’s a rubber stamping exercise at this point. Hopefully it will be reformed.
Anyone who lusts for Joe Clark (redux or original) is stark raving nuts, be they liberal, conservative or new democrat. He was Canada’s answer to Jimmy Carter. Who will be Canada’s answer to Barack Obama? E-Jack-U-Layton is too old, Justin Trudeau too young, Bob Rae too uncouth.
“Now, it’s possible to make it a more democratic institution.”
~set you free
Unless you’re suggesting that PMSH should make the same mistake of opening up the Constitution as Brian Mulroney did then it isn’t any more possible to change the senate now than it was before the election.
The process that Stephen Harper was hoping for was that the First Ministers(Provincial Premiers) would voluntarily follow Alberta’s lead and have senate elections concurrent with provincial elections and then the PMSM could appoint those senator-elects thus creating a democratic tradition of electing senators.
The hope was that the citizens of other provinces would want greater democracy and demand their own senate elections.(that takes care of 1 ‘E’, Elected)
The second ‘E’, effective, naturally follows from being elected.
Elected senators would have greater moral authority than unelected ones and, of course, citizens in provinces where the government wasn’t supporting senate elections would demand that their senators have greater moral authority too.(that takes care of 2 ‘E’s, Effective)
Finally, and remember after these 2 preceding ‘E’s take on the weight of tradition over time, the final ‘E’ Equal will probably take opening up the Constitution to become law.(we’ll burn that bridge when we get there)
To date, most provincial governments have shown no interest(probably because these governments are Lib/NDP) in greater democracy by putting senate candidates on the ballot during provincial elections.
Opening up the Constitution was a bad thing when Mulroney did it because every identity group or interest group wanted to have their ‘gimmees’ permanently enshrined in the Constitution.
That has to be avoided somehow.
I notice there’s no Minister of Indian Affairs anymore, and Minister of Multiculturalism has been gone for two election cycles.
And the trolls are upset and trying to get some traction. Y’all LOST you sorry sons@b1tches, so suck it up while the big kids get on with business.
Having Mad Max back in the cabinet is a breath of fresh air.
Gerry Ritz is going to toast the CWB – about time.
Exactly Oz…..spending years sitting around tables while everyone jockey’s for position just to change some legaleez on a piece of paper written by a bunch of french laywers in the 80’s is a waste of everyone’s time.
The unofficial “tradition” needs to start. It’s tough though. In Alberta Stelmach won’t allow Senate elections because he’s afraid people will vote for Wildrose candidates.
Phantom, you write, @ 7:27 p.m.: “I notice there’s no Minister of Indian Affairs anymore, and Minister of Multiculturalism has been gone for two election cycles.” Would that that were so.
The Hon. Jason Kenney is actually the “Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism”.
Too bad—in more ways than one.
oldfart: “Joe Clark … was Canada’s answer to Jimmy Carter.”
For the record, Clark did manage to sneak more American hostages out of Iran than Carter.
The Phantom: “I notice there’s no Minister of Indian Affairs anymore…”
No, though there’s now a Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
Plus ça change…
For the most part its a good cabinet.
No one can deny Harper lead us through the worst recessionn in years. His economic performancee was an A+.
What worries me is the Censorship debacle he’s creating by condoning the Kangaroo courts (CHRC’s) by giving them even more power. Free speech is non negotiablele IMO.
Farmers will profit with a weak CWB. Its nice to see REAL immigrantsnts, not colonists (we know who you are) get a say.
Constituents should badger him for tax breaks. Enough of over taxation that kills incentive to work.
That deprives families from growing.
I expect he will have some education reforms as well in the future.
Bloated entitled Government must be trimmed as well. That will take some doing, since the players won’t leave.
Unlike Liberals most of us true Conservatives will be watching this dance.
As for the Jets, doesn’t, any one remember the debacle Crietien ausd by canceling the badly needed helicopters, not to mention deaths.Thanhow we paid threw the nose for nothing, by that political blow hard? Than buying rotten subs.
Get our Forces equiped while its still a cheap market. For those shy of this, havent noticed the rest of the World ain’t doing that great & its a fire house sale these days.
JMO
http://news.ca.msn.com/photogallery.aspx?cp-documentid=28773941
39 seats includes 10 women
No Muslim member
we need to have at least one Muslim in HOUSE
to stop all Wilders stupid voice get stopped
Do we need that much people who pay for their salary
they must do lots of job
may be need even more to hire
are they qualify for job they have now?
Still spinning Davenport. Try lowering your air pressure, maybe you can find some grip. But I doubt it.
Its a Christian country R. We need a Muslim MP… why again?
You idiots -lost- dude. Geert Wilders is once more a free man visiting a free country. No more shutting people up that you don’t like.
r is new = ignore.
I stand corrected gellen. I’m not going to feed that one.
Whatever our agreements or disagreements, I would just say this — Harper and Nicholson need to be told by the conservative base, coast to coast, no ifs ands or buts, we want FREEDOM OF SPEECH and FREE INTERNET DISCUSSION to be maintained and strengthened, not torn apart in the omnibus crime bill or the continued pandering to the CHRC crowd.
And this must be a non-negotiable position of fundamental CONSERVATIVE values. Anything else is a slide towards fascism.