Twinning The Vote

Political Animal 32 Comments

Jack Layton’s offer to “twin” the vote, (an abstaintion of a member his party to accomodate ailing Conservative Darrel Stinson’s departure for cancer treatment) brings reaction from Angry In The Great White North, who has a similar conclusion as “Ferret” at at Conservative Life – Layton sees the writing on the wall;

[T]hey know the Conservatives will probably form the next government, and it will probably be a minority. If they work with the Conservatives now, and repair some of the damage from the budget deal by helping out sick Conservative MPs who won’t be able to vote, the NDP can expect a sympathetic hearing concerning their governing priorities, and can expect to get some of those priorities into the next Throne Speech.

Yesterday, the outraged indignation at Stephen Harper over accusing the Liberals of stalling so that the health of 2 ailing members might deteriorate, is backfiring badly. With news that Stinson has surgery scheduled next week, the question is no longer hypothetical, and the result is a very unflattering backdrop for the Liberal demand to hold off a week before the budget vote.
There’s no question that Layton picked up on the bad optics, and has chosen to put some distance between his “compassionate” party and Paul Martin’s circling buzzards. He looked good tonight on CTV – accomodating and reasonable, and so did Stephen Harper in readily considering the fig leaf.
Martin looks like a deer in the headlights.

Elections BC To “Regulate” Blogs?

Radioactive 29 Comments

Elections B.C. is having a hard time keeping up with a boom of bloggers who are publishing partisan messages during the current election campaign. They’re supposed to register themselves as advertising sponsors if they post a partisan position on a candidate, party, or referendum question.
“Under the Election Act, it will fall within the definition of election advertising, and we would ask them to register,” says Jennifer Miller, of Elections B.C. Miller says the volume of sites is overwhelming, and doesn’t rule out asking for a change to the Election Act.
“If we feel certain parts of the act can be amended to make it more effective and efficient, we will definitely make that recommendation,” she says.
That’s not sitting well with bloggers like Mike Culpepper of Nelson, whose website advocates the “no” side of the referendum on the single transferable vote. He says Elections B.C.’s definition of blogs as advertising is akin to calling a letter to the editor advertising. And he says that going after bloggers sends a chill over the right to free speech. “If you start looking on each person as an advertiser, then you begin to suppress political debate.”
In the meantime, Culpepper says other bloggers who have asked Elections B.C. for guidelines are being told to register as advertisers – so he’s decided not to ask.

Hey, Culpepper, why didn’t you say something earlier?
Here is Miller’s contact info at Elections BC. Email is electionsbc@elections.bc.ca.
A few hundred blog posts coming in from across Canada and the US submtted for “review” to Ms. Miller, might help get the point across.

Translator Wanted

The Libranos 14 Comments

MK Braaten is looking for someone who can translate French to English, to get at some Gomery testimony that seems unusually slow making it out of French only mode.
update He’s run it through an online translator, but I imagine he’d still appreciate a second opinion. Odd Corbeil testimony – you should go read it, anyway.

Sask Party Calls For Investigation

Gopher News 3 Comments

Sask Party News Release;

Saskatchewan Party MLA Ben Heppner has asked Saskatchewan’s Chief Electoral Officer to investigate $92,833 in anonymous donations that went from the Liberal Party of Canada to the provincial Karwacki Liberals.
Heppner said anonymous donations are a violation of The Election Act.
Click here to read a copy of the letter from Mr. Heppner to the Chief Electoral Officer. Click here for a copy of the page from the Saskatchewan Liberal’s annual fiscal return outlining the anonymous donation.
“The Act allows a federal party to donate to a provincial party, but the provincial party must disclose the names of the original donors,” Heppner said. “The Karwacki Liberals have failed to do so on nearly $93,000 in donations they received from the federal Liberals in 2004.”

The Saskatchewan Liberals just filed their 2004 return. It indicates the Liberal Party of Canada donated over $200,000 to the provincial party.

Heppner noted that the status of the provincial Liberal Party is already under review for missing the May 2 filing deadline for their annual fiscal return, according to a news release issued yesterday by the Chief Electoral Officer. Heppner said the Chief Electoral Officer told his office that he will be referring that violation to the Department of Justice to consider prosecution.

Hello CBC!

Media 39 Comments

Right now, I have a CBC cameraman in my studio, doing an piece on blogging.
So, this is a demonstration.
cameraman.jpg
I probably should have changed out of my work clothes. Actually, we were dressed rather alike, come to think of it.
Question (inspired by the comments): If you take a CBC cameraman hostage, does that make you a “militant”?
Just asking.

Right To Bear Arms

What He Said 4 Comments

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, recalling how her father took up arms to defend fellow blacks from racist whites in the segregated South, said Wednesday the constitutional right of Americans to own guns is as important as their rights to free speech and religion.
In an interview on CNN’s “Larry King Live,” Rice said she came to that view from personal experience. She said her father, a black minister, and his friends armed themselves to defend the black community in Birmingham, Ala., against the White Knight Riders in 1962 and 1963. She said if local authorities had had lists of registered weapons, she did not think her father and other blacks would have been able to defend themselves.
[…]
Rice said the Founding Fathers understood “there might be circumstances that people like my father experienced in Birmingham, Ala., when, in fact, the police weren’t going to protect you.”
“I also don’t think we get to pick and choose from the Constitution,” she said in the interview, which was taped for airing Wednesday night. “The Second Amendment is as important as the First Amendment.”

Via Instapundit

Live Blogging Goodale

The Libranos 10 Comments

First an intro with Rawlco Radio (650 Saskatoon) host John Gormley, in which the issue of the confidence motions was raised. He gives the party line – “a majority” of experts back the government interpretation that they lost procedural votes only. (Would this be like the “expert” Liberal-friendly Ernst & Young audit selective review performed on Liberal Party books?)
Callers:
Dallas: On the spending spree – you’ve had 12 years to bring this, and you seem like pranksters – the guy with the 100 bill on the end of the fishing line, jerking the line away at the last minute. …throwing money around into the day care money pit.
Goodale: defending daycare, “can’t put that in the category of last minute”
Gormley points out most of the announcements have been last minute..
Goodale: They were already referred to in budget.
Gormley: So why reannounce them?
Goodale: just defining them… Pine beetles… extra assistance for mad cow… one thing that is new – arrangement with NDP, as I said before 3 principles that had to be adhered to.. a) no deficit b) debt reduction had to continue c) any spending would have to fit within the flexibility that we’ve got and on priorities preiviously identified. ed, health, foreign aid, environment. …. just changed the “profile” of spending.
Stephanie: Is Calvert getting an energy accord?
Goodale: We had good discussions, details to be worked out, not there yet. constructive point of view, he has a panel that will decide about the formula for future. Can work on eduction and environment in the meantime. We’ll keep working.
Stephanie: “That sounds like a no.”
Goodale: Issues are complex… you can’t scribble down a number on the back of an envelope… or you can get “serious:….
(Did he just say that? Back of an envelope? That’s going to come back to bite him.)
Gormley – Can Calvert get that now?
Goodale: “there’s work to be done… made progress… we’ve made terrific progress… $710 million in extra equalization.. ”
(Looks like we have to take flags down.)
Gormley – he doesn’t have an equalization deal yet.
Goodale throws decision making authority back to “the panel” and says he’ll will work on other things.
Joyce: “Government coffers must be already empty by now. How are you going to get the money back from that Liberal “take away”?”
Goodale is talking about surplus provisions worked into budget plan.. which isn’t what she was asking about… finally gets to Gomery.. two things: started proceedings to recover funds from wrongdoers. 19 legal actions to recover money. some given back voluntarily. (That would be the PQ, Ralph, not the Liberals).
New safeguards built into the system? (Who is he kidding? With the tightening of freedom of information and watering down of whistleblower legislation?) reporting of every contract on internet. (So what? Where is the cash filled envelope, judgeship reward program tracking system?)
Larry: Going back to opening remarks about the conduct in parliament – defending the Conservatives “hissy fit” – points out that they are entitled to be angry about corruption and government refusal to step down…. throws the “back of envelope” remark in his face – “Liberals use envelopes full of cash”..
Asks if Martin has been found to be wrongdoing, what happens then?
Goodale: Martin is clean. (Did anyone else mention he was specific about Gomery?)
Caller: “How many million in a billion.” He tells her 1,000. ” How many billions of taxpayer money to buy Librano votes? ” … She doesn’t want any political doublespeak … “All I want is a number.”
Heh.
Goodale: “incremental” amount just over 9 billion.
Cindy: “When you were minister of natural resources, were you aware of sponsorship program?”
(This sounds like a set-up …)
Goodale: No… Well, everyone knew the program existed. Didn’t know the wrongdoing.
(…. and it is.)
Cindy: “So why would an ad agency in Vancouver be responsible for sending a $50,000 advertising contract in Saskatoon.
Goodale: Well, this was the problem with the program… he began to investigate when he was in Public works. He suspended program, fired those ad agences.. etc… blah blah blah.
Gay Nor[?] – “See on SPAC we are now giving 170 million to Darfur. Where was Canada a month ago? You’re raping and torture these people all over again for one vote – for David Kilgour’s vote. Just to keep yourself in power.”
(These people are playing hardball.)
Goodale: lowers voice… serious now, relying on Romeo Dallaire.. Clearly this plan for Darfour was not devised in the last week or two.
(Clearly he’s full of shit.)
That’s it, and he’s gone. Next time he’ll learn to stretch out his answers even further than he did today. Stammering eats up valuable seconds. He’s not as good at it as Paul Martin, but he had his moments.
Gormley: and there were callers even “meaner than those ones waiting in the wings.” (Like me.)
Nice job, Saskatchewan!
( correction – Aaron Braaten tells me the Ernst & Young reference is in error – it was Deloitte & Touche and Price Waterhouse Coopers)
update – TZ also live blogged the interview.

Adscam: More On The Judgeships

The Libranos 3 Comments

Angry In TO notices a detail that doesn’t seem to have been reported in the English language press about the appointment of lawyers to the bench in Quebec.

Benoit Corbeil, former general manager of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec, affirms that a member of the selection committee of the judges telephoned to him with some questions to know if a lawyer had militated well for the party.
“He asked to me whether such or such lawyer had devoted much time to the party,” Mr. Corbeil during a discussion with la Presse indicated, this week. “When it was the case, I answered by the affirmative. A few weeks later, I noted that the lawyer in question had been appointed judge.”

Another Bad Day For Galloway

Uncategorized 2 Comments

I told you that British MP (and Saddam Hussein apologist) George Galloway was was in for a world of hurt. A more deserving chap I can’t think of, either.

The Iraqi dictator gave him vouchers so he could buy and profit from the oil, says the Senate probe. It also claims the former Labour MP, who has consistently denied the allegations, appeared to use a childrens’ leukaemia charity to conceal payments from oil transactions. The report says an Iraqi Ministry document indicates Galloway was allocated vouchers for millions of barrels. These could be sold on to oil firms for three to 30 cents commission each. That could have earned him between �300,000 and �3million.

Galloway’s name first popped up on what has become known as the al-Mada list – which was released last year by the Iraqi independent daily Al-Mada to wide skepticism.
update – “Daniel” is going to appear Norm Coleman’s “lions den”. Slurp.

Sask Wheat Pool: Outraged I Tell You!

Gopher News 1 Comment

“Take that back right now!”

The Canadian Wheat Board is demanding a retraction from Saskatchewan MP David Anderson for comments he made in the House of Commons.
Last Friday, Conservative MP David Anderson stood in the House of Commons and accused the Wheat Board of illegal and corrupt practices in respect to a sale by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool into Iraq’s oil-for-food program.
“This directly affects Canadians because 30 per cent of the value of the contract disappeared through shipping delays and what are referred to as transfers to other buyers, whatever they are. That sounds like even more corruption,” Anderson said. “How did the Wheat Board and its exporters manage to lose $8 million out of a $23 million illegal deal with Iraq?”
Wheat Board spokeswoman Louise Waldman says there is no basis to the allegations, which Anderson has declined to repeat outside the House of Commons. By law, MPs cannot be sued for anything they say inside Parliament.
The Wheat Board has asked Anderson to retract the comments. Waldman says as a marketing agency, the board has two things going for it: its product and its reputation.
“We have an extremely high-quality product, and we also have an extremely good reputation,” she says. “We’re viewed as having a lot of integrity in the international grain business, and our salespeople are extremely well-respected. So we felt that Mr. Anderson’s comments threatened or damaged, could have damaged, this reputation.”
A spokesperson for Anderson says the MP has not seen the Wheat Board’s news release and will not be commenting on it. However, Waldman says Anderson is aware of the board’s concerns.
“Our CEO phoned him yesterday to speak to him personally on this and we will be following this up with a letter to him this week,” she says. Anderson has not indicated whether he will retract his comments. Waldman says if Anderson refuses to make a retraction, the Wheat Board will publish the letter it sent to him.

No mention of whether any letters have been sent to the US Congressional Committee investigating oil-for-food that flagged over $23 million in payments to the Wheat Pool channeled improperly through third parties or their banks.

Gomery Witness: Life Threatened

The Libranos 37 Comments
Coyne;

“I only caught the last part of the interview, so perhaps they’d been talking about it incessantly beforehand. But at no time after Lawand let slip this thunderbolt did I hear Hanomansing say, “What?” or “WHAT” or “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST SAY?” It just seemed to pass without comment. Oh, of course “The former director-general of the Liberal Party of Canada in Quebec testified under oath that his life had been threatened.”
“Did I mishear? Am I crazy? Doesn’t anyone else think this is huge?”

Apparently not. If buring it deep in the article means anything, the Canadian Press considers physical violence to be just another day at the office for the Libranos.

Dezainde’s appearance at the inquiry also took a dramatic turn when he broke down in tears after mentioning an alleged threat by an associate of then-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano during a spat over underground party fundraising.
The witness lost his composure after explaining how the party finances at Montreal headquarters had been “taken hostage” by Gagliano associates, including aide Joe Morselli. Dezainde said Morselli blew a gasket in July 2001 after Dezainde refused to rehire a fundraiser fired days earlier for lobbying government departments, in writing, on party letterhead.
Dezainde said Morselli confronted him in the canteen of the Montreal office and pointed a finger centimetres from his face.
“He said, ‘From here on in, I declare war against you,”’ recalled Dezainde.
He said he immediately reported the incident to Gagliano, who blamed the incident on Morselli’s bad temper and promised to have words with his confidant.
Dezainde broke down as he recalled telling friends and family about the tense moment. Presiding judge John Gomery, just before ordering a break in the proceedings, asked him: “You considered this to be a threat of physical violence?”
Dezainde replied: “Yes.”

Now, go read this, too. Apparently, it is not permissible to mention that money was dropped off in Chretien’s riding, because it’s outside of Gomery’s mandate.
What was that kerfuffle, again, about we “tin-foil hatters” making too far too much out of Paragraph K?

All Hell Breaking Loose

Political Animal 7 Comments

Via Captain’s Quarters – “…the Tories have upped the ante by refusing to allow for an adjournment, and immediately moved a new no-confidence motion”:

Conservative Leader Stephen Harper moved what he deemed a no- confidence motion in the government, the second such move made by the Tories in two days. …
Mr. Harper said the government has “lost the moral authority and democratic legitimacy to govern this country. Madame Speaker, today is one of those more difficult days where it falls to the Leader of the Oppostion to tell the… government that they cannot carry on,” Mr. Harper said in a speech to the House Wednesday afternoon.
It appears to be part of an opposition tactic to continue to push for a confidence motion to be recognized in the House.
His motion came minutes after the Liberals tried to adjourn the House for the day but lost a vote on that motion.
The motion, “that the debate be now adjourned,” put forward by New Brunswick backbencher Dominic LeBlanc and Ontario MP Judi Longfield, was defeated 153 to 147.

Al-Zarqawi Dead?

Radioactive 3 Comments

Let’s hope this is true;

An Italian news site reports that Iraqi forces have claimed to have either killed or seriously wounded terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi during Operation Matador. While this is not the first time such a rumor has been floated, it would come as no surprise that Coalition forces hope to capture or kill the al-Qaeda leader.

The Power Of Blogs

Blogging 9 Comments

For a time last night, my post on Paul Martin’s “Rogue Government” at Outside The Beltway was the number one Google News hit for “Paul Martin”. This morning, it’s still holding at #3, right behind stories at CTV and the Washington Post.
Remember those days of writing a letter to the editor, in hopes your (edited) views might see publication?
They’re over, baby.

Where Have We Heard This Before?

The Libranos 5 Comments

David Warren has a column in the National Post today that sounds like.. well, like he’s been reading blogs.
Where else would you find questions on why the Canadian media isn’t covering the Martin connections to Oil-For-Food, a mention of his company Cordex Petroleum, that none of the Canadian tsunami aid has arrived in Sri Lanka, and a reminder that Adscam is only a tightly contained tip of a huge Liberal government corruption iceberg?
Good on him, though. It’s nice to see someone is big media is paying attention.
Via Neale.

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