Gerry Nicholls;

When it comes to politics I have a general rule of thumb: If the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois agree about an issue, then you know it’s bad for Canada.
Case in point is Bill C – 257, which the Bloc Quebecois is pushing through the House of Commons. It’s a bad bill, which if enacted, would deny freedom of choice to unionized employees and drive away investment from Canada.
So what is Bill C – 257?
Well essentially it would make it illegal for federally-regulated companies to hire replacement workers during labour disputes.
And the bill’s definition of “replacement workers” includes unionized employees who may wish to defy their union bosses and cross a picket line during a strike.

“A key role, uh, in how much money will fix, and how much jobs will make in a sustainable way.”

Columnist Greg Weston sets aside the English-to-English translator the rest of media have been using to cover for Stephane Dion’s mangled English;

In the same interview, Dion was recounting a conversation he once had with the Swedish environment minister, recalling he once asked her “why there are so much, uh, so good to combine a strong economy and environmental success.
“They pretend they will be able to be zero emissions for 2020. I’m not sure they will succeed, but in doing so they will not kill the economy.”

Though his points are valid, I disagree with Weston that Dion’s reference to “killing the milk cow” was simply an ill-chosen metaphor for the Albertan economy. I think it exposes a much deeper issue for the LIberal leader. Efforts to improve pronunciation will do nothing to broaden his understanding of Western Canada’s historically troubled relationship with – and hostility towards – federal politicians whose fortunes are tied to the interests of Ontario and Quebec.
As badly as he speaks English, that’s not the primary problem for Dion’s prospects in the West – it’s what we’re learning in the translation.

Last evening’s Global news coverage of the Liberal leader’s stop in Regina described Ralph Goodale’s actions around Stephane Dion as akin to that of a “campaign manager”. That was a nice way of putting it. I noticed something else – as Dion begin to take one reporter’s question, Ralph quickly inserted himself between the Liberal leader and the microphones and answered it for him. (If anyone can find a clip of that, let me know).
What was Dion saying, and why was Ralph in such a hurry to shut him up?
The Global segment ended with Goodale at the speaker’s podium with Dion standing behind him looking on.
Meanwhile, we have ourselves another “independent farmer” sighting! Check out this passage from the Canadian Press version carried in CTV’s online report of the Regina stop;

Dion said he believes there is the capacity to mandate a 10-per-cent biofuel content in gasoline by 2010 rather than the five per cent the Conservatives are currently proposing.
“I think the strong reaction has been yes, it is possible to deliver it,” Dion said.
That won favour with Lonny McKague, an farmer from Ogema, Sask., who said he considers himself a Liberal supporter.

Well, credit Tim Cook of CP for at least asking. The farmer from Ogema, Sask. was also interviewed in both the CTV and Global televised reports, but with no mention of his political leanings.
“Liberal supporter”, indeed. Lonny McKague ran as the Liberal candidate in the federal riding of Souris–Moose Mountain in 2006.
JAN 17 UPDATE: CP responds to a reader’s complaint.

Listening to Adler right now, there’s a story that new Alberta premier Ed Stelmach may have refused a photo-op with new Sustnabul Develpmunt leader Stephane Dion on his swing through Alberta. Stay tuned….
More – via reader “Sammy”, who points to this Edmonton Sun column by Neil Waugh;

“We need to be a bit like Norway,” Dion scolded. Then he tore a strip off young guys heading for the oilsands.
“All these workers living too fast for the easy money in the north,” the prime minister-wannabe blasted as Liberal-appointed senators Tommy Banks and Grant Mitchell looked on. “It’s not good for the economy.”
[…]
Then he outlined his plan to make oilsands developers toe the line, imposing what sounds like massive taxes by basing the fed’s capital cost allowance on how much process water they use and how much carbon dioxide goes up the stacks.
“You say to industry, and the oilsands industry especially, if you decrease the use of water you will have this capital cost allowance,” Dion warned. “If you don’t, you will not have it.” Same with greenhouse gas, he said.
Dion is also a big believer in the dubious carbon trading market – where companies buy and sell hot air to meet their government-imposed emissions targets.He predicted it will be “bigger than the wheat and coffee markets together.” He promised that Canadians will make “mega tonnes of money around the world”.
“It’s not at all a carbon tax,” Dion insisted, preferring to call his proposed revenue grab “environmental tax reform.” Dion rejected the next phase of Stephen Harper’s GST rollbacks. Instead, he prefers to bring in a wonkydoodle set of rebates based on the energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction of household appliances and automobiles.
As the battle against global warming was going on inside the cosy university meeting room the weather guy on the radio was reporting minus 23. Meanwhile, back in Quebec, Liberal Premier Jean Charest was announcing his sinister plan to commit environmental vandalism on a vast tract of northern wildland, reverse the flow of the Rupert River system and flood thousands of hectares of carbon absorbing forests at an alleged price tag of $5 billion.
All to produce 900 megawatts of power – which is about what a decent sized Alberta coal-fired plant kicks out. Strangely, the Liberal’s green PM-to-be didn’t say boo about that outrage.

I’ll bet that had them just eatin’ out of his hand.

Julie Van Dusen – meeting the Kyoto challenge through the recycling of stories! A reader writes;

Almost a year to the day, the same SOW funded daycare group Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada (that you exposed a year ago) is slamming the Conservatives.

You can catch it on last night’s the National. (cue to 17:00)

The Conservative government has not produced any new child-care spaces despite promising before the election a year ago to create 25,000 spots within 12 months, critics say.
In a report to be released Thursday, the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada calls on the government to abandon its plan, which it describes as piecemeal. The non-profit group demands the government come up with a more comprehensive strategy. [blah blah blah].

“Non-profit group”. Now, there’s a euphanism.
On Jan.7 last year that I wrote about whose interests the Child Care Advocacy Association of Canada represents. Their own. I’m still waiting for a reply to my email asking for the “financial statements available on request”.
Speaking of government funded political activists – after seeing the Rick Mercer Report for the first (and only) time this week, I found myself asking why doesn’t this half hour of shilling for the Liberals fall under political contribution guidelines? I’d been led to believe he did comedy.

It’s not often you spot a photoshop spoof …

And then realize it’s the real thing.

The Sandy Berger document theft report is out.

“My staff’s investigation reveals that President Clinton’s former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger compromised national security much more than originally disclosed,”
Davis said. “It is now also clear that Mr. Berger was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to compromise national security, apparently for his own convenience. “The 9/11 Commission relied on incomplete and misleading information regarding its access to documents Mr. Berger reviewed. No one ever told the Commission that Mr. Berger had access to original documents that he could have taken without detection.
“We now know that Mr. Berger left stolen highly classified documents at a construction site to avoid detection. We know that Mr. Berger insisted on privacy at times to allow him to conceal documents that he stole. One witness with a very high security clearance believed he saw Berger concealing documents in his socks.

Jules Crittenden;

Keep clicking on that link. I’m pretty sure there is a Democratic War Plan, and that you’ll be able to find it there. If you don’t, try clicking here. Or here. Wait a minute. I think it’s here.

Plus – they promise “A New Direction For America”

Goes horribly wrong.
Update – it appears the elf is still angry! The signatures of a good many people appear to have been “line voided”. Good thing I saved the source code (most of it, anyway) for posterity!
Page 1
Page 2
Page 3
My favourite was from page 4;
“120. Jean Chretien Quebec Jason Cherniak? Are you trying for a Senate position so soon in your young life. Goood for you.”

Stephen Harper has just announced that Khan has joined the Conservative caucus.
Showing razor sharp political instincts…

Update… Fierce eyed elfin types are angry, angry, angry! Angry enough to protest a car dealership!
Upperdate … “Wajid Khan Must Resign!” petition hits ground running!
screenshot
Upperestdate … AIRBRUSHING AT CBC – After getting it wrong – twice – a followup CBC news item has been “cleansed” of any mention of Stephen Taylor.

UPDATE
Stephen Taylor is breaking that Wajid Khan will cross to the Conservatives tomorrow.

I am now reporting that Wajid Khan will join the Conservative ranks tomorrow as a backbench MP. Doing so protects Khan from cynicism of the press and opposition of making such a political move for career advancement, or for monetary considerations. Khan joins the Tories without taking a position in either cabinet or as a Parliamentary secretary.
This move has been a long time coming and I expected to report on this just after the Liberal leadership convention as such a move would have been wise political strategy to deflate the post-convention bounce in the polls that would benefit the Liberal party.
Khan is expected to make a formal announcement tomorrow and will likely describe that he is switching parties because of the “values” that the Prime Minister represents.

h/t Eugene in the comments.

A Christmas greeting.

Just one of a series of cartoons dating from 1926 by Saskatoon’s Gib Potter, hosted by the Glenbow Museum. Well worth your time!
Credit – Jean Fremont, of Vancouver (Potter’s niece)

The following appears to be a hoax email. See update below

Four years ago, Jack Layton was elected with an agenda for change and new energy. He had great momentum, and we believed he can take us all the way to government. But sadly, his performance was below expectations. We now find ourselves in an uncomfortable position, with a spiritless leader and a rudderless party machine.
The party needs new energy, again. Dion’s recent election cemented the fact that leadership races ignite and inspire the public. That’s just the fix we can do with right now. And it’s time for new campaigns and issues. Something to electrify the membership once more.
There are many reasons for Jack to go right now:
Loss of credibility. Issues like the environment, child care and Afghanistan have all been supplanted by other party leaders or abandoned by Jack. There is now no issue where Jack Layton leads, and no emerging policy has resonated with the public from him, either.
Scripted Leadership. Unfortunately, Jack Layton has chosen a prepared, reviewed and impersonal style of speaking when addressing the public and the membership. His Leader’s Debate performance came off as flat and bland, though full of rhetoric.
No Lasting Campaigns. The recent Afghanistan campaign conducted by Jack Layton has largely been abandoned, as it has by the rest of the media. Jack Layton has not spoken publicly about Afghanistan in over a month.
Issue-less Elections. Fearing a bad response from the public, Jack Layton chose not to advance any issue in particular in the 2006 election. Aside from the strong argument that the NDP managed to get from the Liberals 1.6 billion in social spending, the general tone against Liberal corruption, a promise on child care, and some vague rhetoric employing the words “health care” and “environment” and who knows what other terms his pollsters approved of, the party stood for nothing.
Ineffective Opposition. Question Period is a time when great attention is paid to the words of the party leader, yet somehow, Layton has not managed to get on top of enough issues to make the evening newscasts and the morning papers. It is unfortunate, but the responsibility lies on Layton’s shoulders.
Uninvolved Membership. It is rare when the membership is asked to help the party, aside from donating to it or campaigning for its elections. A new leader may bring in a de-centralized structure, where movements and party activists can intertwine and campaigns built from the ground up.
New Leaders Emerging. Credible people like Stephen Lewis, Joe Comartin and Libby Davies stand in the wings Layton, and are in a position to mobilize the party. All three are passionate speakers and have what it takes to win the votes and the hearts of the public and beat the Conservatives and the Liberals in the next election.
Dion. The new election of Dion has pushed the Liberals greatly ahead of the Conservatives. At this point, both the Conservatives and the NDP want to wait until better times before they dissolve parliament. This means that we’ll have about a 5 months to elect a new leader, not an impossible timeframe. We don’t have time to wait another 4 years in the hopes that Jack will change. He’s had his chance and now it’s somebody else’s turn.
Centralized Management. The Jack Party spends far too much on unneeded expenses. According to the financial statement filed with Elections Canada, the party administration raised 5.2 million dollars from the party membership last year, but spent 10.09 million dollars on expenses like fundraising (telemarketing companies), as well as “polling” and “professional services” (other privatized, contracted-out work), and of course salaries, office expenses, and travel & hospitality. Under Jack, the party increased its debt by 5.4 million dollars in 2005 despite it not being an election year. From http://www.elections.ca/fin/rep/2005/ndp_2005.pdf
We are the party of Tommy Douglas and JS Woodworth, of unabashed determination and irreconcilable ideals, not of fleeting notions and abandoned goals. Jack, thank you for your work over these four years – but it’s time to move on. Please step down and support a new leadership contest. To write to Jack Layton, email laytoj@parl.gc.ca
To have new energy, we must have new leadership.
Jennifer Bernier, President
Abitibi-Témiscamingue NDP
jnrbernier@yahoo.ca

Critics often accuse me of offering only the viewpoints of conservatives in the Canadian political debate. I trust that this goes at least partway towards a new commitment at SDA to provide balance.

More from Greg Staples– “is [there] another reason why the NDP does not want anything to do with the Blogging Dippers. What could it be? Hmmm, what could it be?”
Plus – “I phone dead people”
UPDATE – Well, I’ve learned my lesson. I try to provide balance, and this is the thanks I get… – Commentors have advised that this email was a hoax. I’m so used to being misled by NDP governments, I’ve lost the ability to tell the real lies from the fake ones.

Olaf is holding a contest. I think he’s giving away a car.

G&M

Prime Minister Stephen Harper will introduce a bill calling for a plebiscite on the choice of Senate candidates on Wednesday.
He announced the plan at that morning’s Conservative caucus meeting, and said it will form the next plank in his bid to introduce more accountability to Parliament hill.
“This way the Senate will be more accountable, more credible and more democratic,” Mr. Harper said.
“After a century and-a-half, democracy will finally come to the Senate of Canada.”

Update – Someone please check on Jason Cherniak. I think he’s he’s having a stroke.

Via a reader who adds to speculation that “If true, more in keeping with Clinton ethics was that they were preparing for a Forstmann campaign against Hillary.“

Reader “John” writes;

People can disagree on the “dual citizen ” debate.
However the MSM is fronting the ideal that Mr. Dion received his French citizenship at birth.. The G&M editorial Dec 8/06 keeps this myth going. It is not possible. Mr Dion was born in Canada.
His French citizenship was applied for under a category for children of people who were born in France. It is a multiple step, non trivial process.

Under normal circumstances, I might not care very much whether the leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal opposition were a dual citizen of France. Or Poland. Or the United States of America. Under normal circumstances, I might look at the record before me and judge his loyalty to Canada on the merits of the individual’s record of public service.
But, these aren’t normal circumstances.
“Choose Your Canada”. That was the campaign slogan Paul Martin rode to a minority government in 2004. And with that, the natural governing party served notice. Those who were not prepared to vote Liberal were, by default, unCanadian. And that most unCanadian of all, Stephen Harper, was just a hairsbreadth from being an American himself, if not a covert agent for both the CIA and the National Rifle Association.
In 2005, the patriotism of Conservative supporters was again an election issue. A vote for Stephen Harper was no less than a vote for a sitting American president.

“Canada may elect the most pro-American leader in the Western world. Harper is pro-Iraq war, anti-Kyoto and socially conservative. Bush’s new best friend is the poster boy for his ideal foreign leader. A Harper victory will put a smile on George W. Bush’s face.’ Well, at least someone will be happy, eh?”

The Liberal Party of Canada spent the last decade deliberately painting the politics of envy in red, white, and blue. From Carolyn Parrish’s boot heel to Paul Martin’s missile defense flip flops, exploiting the cancer of anti-Americanism to forward their own political interests became the central feature of the Liberal brand.
Stephane Dion was among those who rode that lathered Hate America First pony right onto the stage at the leadership convention.

“Canada has a prime minister who thinks that the United States is not only our ally, but also our model,” Mr. Dion said, accusing Mr. Harper of “mirroring” U.S. President George W. Bush.

His political “father figure” hovered over him approvingly, hours after demeaning both himself and the office of Prime MInister with this lip-curling mockery, to the roaring applause of delegates;

“Can I call you Steve, like George W.?”

It does not matter to Mr. Dion and his party that their political expediency alienates a significant number of western Canadians, fans the flames of separatism on both sides of the French-English divide, and insults Canada’s most important trading partner and closest ally .
Those indignities pale when placed next to the personal one currently being suffered by our sensitive Stephane. He aspires to hold the most powerful office in the land, to take command of our armed forces, to represent Canada on the world stage.
To take his place in history beside MacDonald and Laurier.
But when it comes to setting aside his French citizenship – a nation that once sent its President to stand on a balcony in Montreal to declare “Vive le Québec libre!” – Stephane Dion must refuse. Out of respect for his mother, for his “multiple” identities. Because holding dual citizenship is a sign of the true, sophisticated Canadian in the finest internationalist tradition. And holding fast those principles – Canadian principles, Liberal principles – Dion will continue to refuse right up until the moment “it’s a liability for our winnability”.
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do to get elected.
To Mr. Dion – if you sting from suggestions that your loyalties are uncertain, that your open respect and admiration for another nation makes you “unCanadian”, if the public criticism you suffer feels like an attack on your patriotism, I have only this to say – welcome to the club.
So, time to suck it up, Mr. Dion. Time to “Choose Your Canada”.

Via The Politic;

Mr. Mark Holland (Ajax—Pickering, Lib.): … Today in committee the commissioner confirmed that he had to get permission from the minister before he could testify, that the commissioner needed the minister’s approval before he could “give evidence or speak”. However, on September 28 the minister denied any such involvement and any such interference.
Now we learn the minister was a gatekeeper. He chose what information could and could not be released. Why?
Hon. Stockwell Day (Minister of Public Safety, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I watched the member opposite in committee for a few minutes this morning. He posed that exact question and the question was answered very clearly. I had no involvement in terms of any instruction whatsoever to the commissioner. Right after that was said, the member acted as if nothing had been presented. I would suggest that he abandon his Perry Mason on steroids routine and just stick to the truth.

Update Read the comments, too. Apparently, Holland attempted to mislead Day during his appearance before the committee.
Zaccardelli resigns.

*
Little did I know….
Update – Showing keen political instincts right out of the gate….

He snapped when a reporter raised New Democrat MP Pat Martin’s opposing opinion on the matter: “He may keep his opinion to himself. I am proud of who I am, and I am fully loyal to my country. I think I have proven it, and no one will question it.
[…]
The issue appears to be an emotional one for Mr. Dion, who cut off further questions about the matter by repeating the phrase “end of the story” several times. During the media scrum yesterday, he told reporters to “move on” to other questions when it was repeatedly raised.

Well – that settles that! Bourque is all over this today.