Canadian Politics 2006 – Page 2

Friday Chat, Bad Day Chat

I can hear them even now – whiff, whiff, whiff. The sound of my new back to school cords, junior high late 70s. Crisp now, they would weigh me down in that cold October rain waiting for the bus, absorbing like a new sponge technology. This is the first bad day in the calendar since February. Mellow fruitfulness? HAH!

Here’s a bit of what I lost when I was taken to school as a kid. My access to Uncle Bobby and his ilk. I always thought that Bibmo the Birthday clown was freakish and the Mars landing quality picture of him under that link does nothing to help his cause.
Remember when Scotland always won at soccer? And by the way, that blown catch at Fenway by Rios the Blue Jay last night was the funniest thing I have seen in months.
I now like the Foo Fighters even more because it what you want to listen to when you are down under down under:

The men were stuck in a Tasmanian mine when it collapsed in May, and passed the time listening to the Foo Fighters on MP3 players handed to them. Grohl said he would meet the two when the band tour Australia in November. “I’m not just having one beer with those dudes – we’re going for it,” he told the country’s ABC radio. “This is going to be a big night.”

I have always thought that the mining disaster survivior population would be a nautral fit for rock star adoration.
Big doings with our forces in Afganistan who are going to take a province, Panjwaii, back soon. It is an example of how the Taliban are not terrorists or really even insurgents if this quote is correct:

One Afghan leader from the area said NATO is in for a tough fight that won’t end once troops move in. He said the alliance should attempt some form of reconciliation with local militants. Haji Agha Lalai, the chief Panjwaii district elder who was chased out of his village by Taliban, said the insurgents have infiltrated every aspect of life there. “They own shops, they own homes there, they will not retreat,” Mr. Lalai predicted. “There are many types of Taliban, but these are the warriors. They have been told to fight and they will fight.”

Whatever they are, they are nasty pieces of work and as will be actually capturing a large area from them and holding it. This is the area where Canadian troops killed 72 Taliban soldiers a few weeks ago after they ambushed an ambush.
Interesting to note that King for a bit more Ralph admits the Alberta boom was in fact unexpected, unprepared for, caused by a shift in a natural resource and is causing economic problems like local inflation and the inability to get projects off the ground due to shortgages. Interesting given those who say it was through hard work and conservative economic principles even though the same hardwork and conservative economic principles applies and have applied to most of the rest of the country for the last decade and a half.
I have been spending an inordinate amount of time at the Cooperstown Ballcap Co. . Their research prowess is phenomenal. Check out the cap for “BANANA WORKERS, 1935”.

So there you are. Enjoy the last real day of summer. A prize to the first person who spots some one else at work and an extra prize if that person is actually conscious.

Good News For Freedom

Good to read this news out of the Supreme Court of Canada this morning:

HUMAN RIGHTS: “POLITICAL BELIEF” DISCRIMINATION

The Respondents were a group of occasional provincial government employees and members of the Provincial Liberal Party, who were either not recalled to work or had their hours of work reduced after the Provincial Conservatives came into power in P.E.I. in 1996. They filed complaints with the Human Rights Commission alleging “political belief” discrimination. While the cases were pending, the Conservative government amended the Human Rights Act , limiting the amount the employees could recover, and preventing them from seeking other remedies available to complaints brought on other grounds of discrimination. The Respondents alleged that the amendments violated ss. 15(1), 2(b) and 2(d) of the Charter. The Prince Edward Island Supreme Court declared the statutory limitation on the available remedies for “political belief” discrimination and the compensation formula prescribed by ss. 28.4(2) to (5) of the P.E.I. Human Rights Act contrary to ss. 15(1), 2(b) and 2(d) of the Charter , and not saved by s. 1. The Appeal Division unanimously upheld the trial judge’s decision with respect to s. 2(d) of the Charter. The Appeal Division did not address the issues of ss. 15(1) or 2(b). Government of Prince Edward Island v. Merrill Condon, et al. (P.E.I. C.A., February 16, 2006)(31416) “with costs”

As I have noted here before and provided more background to the related rulings under the “political rights” heading, I was involved in the original level of this matter before I left private practice. The only thing that diminishes the ruling today and its implication that there is no argument to be made in favour of imposing unconstitutionality upon our political freedom in Canada, is that I was really hoping to get to sit in on a hearing, watching at the back in the cheap seats in the biggest of the courts of the land.

Friday Chat On The Run

Woke up way too late and had to deal with my friend Manual Spammo. What poor
lives these saps must lead to have to cut and past their way now through the
handy dandy “are you human” quiz before each comment is posted. Looks like it
took longer to post than delete. That is a gain. Anyway:

Notice: SayNay must email me at genx40@gmail.com today to answer certain questions today if he/she is not to have every comment deleted upon posting.

Update on great radio: NCPR played an interview this
morning of one WWII vet including reflections on the misappropriation of
patriotism and heroism. To my mind it is no different than the appropriation of
the word “Christian” by the ecumenically-resistent North American protestant
evangelical right.
Consider these considerations: blogging is like bottled water, the web is
another mass medium, most people had niche based lives before web 2.0, blogging
derives from early 90s cocooning, there may be way more than 57 channels but
there is still nothing on.
It would appear that the
Government is not amused by the suggestion in the Globe yesterday
that the PMO was trying to keep 40,000 in the war zone of Lebanon under
wraps.
Municipal wi-fi
for Toronto – who knew? Is this good?
The Red Sox have recovered from their all-star week jitters, relying
yesterday on a 87 year old Grampy Curt Schilling if the photo on this
article is anything to go by. Nice to see the
Jays imploding…yet beating the Yankees and the
blame going to last year’s player of the year. Am I dreaming?

Gotta
run.

Things I Love About Canada

Wow. I am sure glad that my folks got to this place. And not just cause Europe (and Grannie, too!) turned out to be socialists! But because Canada is really great as our celebrations on July 1st…celebrate. Here is my list about what I really like about Canada – you add yours:

Paddle to the Sea. I hadn’t thought about this NFB movie from the 60s for decades and, voom, there is it as the absolute paradigm of the nation’s soul.
Wacky idealistic politicians who turn out to stand for exactly the opposite of what they pledged to the benefit of us all. Trudeau claimed logic and was nutty enough to put us on the world stage through doing all sorts of things largely since undone. Mulroney pretended he was fiscally prudent but never finishing the job, acting like he was under Washington’s wing but helped leverage the end of apartheid. Chretien being a nutjob yet getting finally getting 30 or 40 years of deficit financing in line while making us love him for choaking a citizen.
Comedians who leave for the US market. They are the good ones and you can tell because the CBC rejects them. SCTV is a perfect example. And did you know Saturday Night Live was turned down as a project by the dullards?
Maple products. We eat the blood of trees. What is neater than that?
Federalism and how it divides us. Think about it. You have a mobile population, largely made up of immigrants over the last couple of generations, drop them into ten jurisdictions and – whammo – they learn to dislike each other and hold on to what they have and try to keep it from others. Overlapping redundant bureaucracies foster these jealousies.
The neediness. From the whole flag on the backpack in Europe and how much that makes tourism operators their love us so much to the hand wringing about how we should be doing this or that on the world stage. The best is the argument over what Canada stands for. What does Belgium stand for? No one cares. We are a nation of whining twelve year olds and we don’t see it.
Trees. Both Kingston and Halifax, my two favorite home cities, still sit in the woods and are full of the damn things. That is why downtown Toronto feels so weird. You can’t see the trees. We love them so much we have provincial and Federal parks that we hardly every use but are great when you do. Ontario‘s park system is particularly amazing.
The flags. We have the weirdest flags. The national one has a bit of a tree on it. And look at New Brunswick’s – who the hell ever picked that yellow? British Columbia looks like it was designed for a space traveller worship cult. Alberta’s politicians lobbied hard to further reduce the size of the crest and add even more blue.
Events like today’s England v Portugal create some small but telling discomfort between immigrant groups of different generations based on their understanding of what this country stands for even though they are compatible visions.

Me and mine? We are off for a ballgame in the US and some pie. Hey – there’s a double header today.

NS Election Notes

Though I am many years past when I lievd in Nova Scotia, I call myself a Bluenoser and love elections there. Yesterday’s was a classic and a good-ish outcome, though the numbers might be reversed:

Last night, the Conservatives were elected or leading in 23 seats, four short of the 27 needed to form a majority. The New Democrats won 20 and the Liberals trailed with nine seats. Liberal Leader Francis MacKenzie announced he was quitting politics after failing to win his own riding. With little debate to spice the campaign, it came down to whom voters trusted to lead the province. NDP Leader Darrell Dexter, a former journalist and lawyer, was the most experienced of the three political leaders and he gave Mr. MacDonald a tough fight. Polls showed the two running neck and neck until the last two weeks of the campaign, when the Conservatives pulled ahead. Despite their loss, the New Democrats improved their standing in the legislature. Their 20 seats represent a record high. Mr. Dexter told supporters he took some consolation in depriving the Conservatives of a majority. “But they did get re-elected,” he said, promising to continue the party’s tradition of co-operating with the governing Conservatives.

Darrell ran the bar at Kings when I was in undergrad and is supported by Graham Steele, one of my fellow Largs diasporans. Both are inordinately clever guys. These robust minorities and the co-operation they cause are a great model for all Parliaments and Parliamentarians. I said it before but given my druthers I’d outlaw majorities.

Jetsicles In The News

Imagine my surprise at seeing a jetsicle take such an important place in a moment in Canadian political history. Sadly, NB Premier Mr. Lord did not reference it in his press conference statement:

Mr. Lord warned that “when you put an obstacle like the passport between Canada and the United States, and you start thickening the border between Canada and the United States, you’re hurting our prosperity.”

These are the times in which we need to call on our jetsicle legacy. More on Canada’s jetsicle heritage here.

The Senate

Do you want to talk about the Senate? I don’t really want to talk about the Senate. But we may end up talking about the Senate soon. I am all for abolishing the thing myself. Any move to give it more power is a move away from popular representative democracy to something like a council of elders. Why bother?

And why open up a constitutional debate? I’d rather go through testing for matters of prostate – which I have by the way and which you all should have. You all do not need a council of elders but you all should have a reasonable sense of the state of your nether regions. Say it. Your bum. There. Said it. That is clear enough.

Friday Post-Spam Clean-Up Chat

Nothing like waking to a manual spammer who has left 47 identical comments on 47 separate posts. The decent spammers, the ones you would kick in the shin rather than higher if you had the chance, post a bunch of comments on one post so they are easy to delete. But no, the Romanian spam sweatshop has a new keener and he wants to comment on separate posts. Anyway, eleven minutes of my life gone but at least the place is clear and tidy again. That is what they say about me: he sure keeps a tidy blog.

I will not see The Di Vinci Code and not because it is trendier not to that to go. I really see no movies, considering such evenings an opportunity to go to pubs or practice lawn bowls. But this is weird:

The 23-year-old University of Guelph graduate is one of a hundred or so Campus Crusade for Christ volunteers who’ll be visiting theatres across the country trying to get moviegoers to listen to a “Christian response” to Dan Brown’s bestselling book and the blockbuster movie it has spawned. “We’re not out to protest the movie at all,” Mr. Bellingham says. “We think this movie gives us a great opportunity to talk about Jesus Christ.”

Jesus would be pleased. As He was pleased by the swarming to Mel’s movie as some sort of authorized version. Would the time not be better spent shoeing the children and feeing the poor and doing justice as the actual directions given might suggest? Harass movie goers…which letter of the apostles was that in exactly?
Coffee going. What else is going on? The Globe’s Harper kissy-kissy didn’t last long. I think the guy’s is getting a raw deal. Seeing as he campaigned on the “Government of One” slogan, we should not now be saying that the one desk in the PMO running everything is bad. Here, however, is what I think is going to happen. Sooner or later at question period, questions directed at anyone other than the PM will have the tag line at the end “sure you do not want to check with your boss?” Sooner or later his own backbench and cabinet will stop liking being treated like children. But that will be rude buecause there was that slogan…right?
Dang spammers. I hate being behind on Friday mornings. What else is going on? Here is a somewhat Canadian headline, though perhaps sharable with Norwegians and Wisconsinianians:

Beware of moose, mayhem on holiday drive

More than a million vehicles will hit Highway 400 alone this weekend in one of the busiest — and deadliest — weekends of the year, police say…

I tend to beware of moose every weekend. But this is the holiday weekend that does start off the whole summer thing. We have no access to cottages but will be going to Ottawa to ~~praise our rural overlords in the streets~~ check out the trains at the Museum of Science and Technology. I have never understood why in a country so many thousands of miles across all the Federal museums are in one spot but there you have it. I can see the big trains so I will see the big trains. I will also have to find a statue of Queen Victoria and leave a few nickles at the base. I strongly highly urge you to do likewise just in case.
Mr. Lovery is apparently going to stay at Arsenal for the next four years, years of his prime, which is good. I missed the Champions’ League final this week in which we was robbed but as Morton has missed that game once again my expectation of disappointment has long been commonplace.
This is good breaking news but I wish we had Taleban and Al Queda packs o’ cards like we did for Saddammy and his pals back in 2003. It was a great PR piece as well as informational and wonderfully foreshadowed the growth of poker as a TV spectator sport. So can the power of the internet tell me who Mullah Dadullah is and what he did? This clip from the front page of the Google search is almost bad James Bond rip-off:

Two of the council members, Akhtar Mohammad Usmani, a confidante of Mullah Omar and the one-legged former intelligence chief Mullah Dadullah, are also names…

He is also former two-legged. Anyway, nice to see him in a tiny cage.

That is it for today. Dang spammers. Get me on the nerves.

Wednesday…Thursday…Chatday…

Tra la! It’s May, the lusty month of May!
That lovely month when ev’ryone goes blissfully astray
Tra la! It’s here, that shocking time of year!
When tons of wicked little thoughts merrily appear.

It’s May! It’s May, that gorgeous holiday
When ev’ry maiden prays that her lad will be a cad!
It’s mad! It’s gay, a libelous display
Those dreary vows that ev’ryone takes, ev’ryone breaks
Ev’ryone makes divine mistakes
The lusty month of May!

A little something for the Broadway set amongst you.

Time is flying, is it not? A few short moments ago I was in winter’s grip and now the weather is all July in Halifax – mid-20s and sunshine. Fabulous. You know all those people who say October is the best time of year? They are nuts. May is. Pre-bug, pre-smog, pre-heat, pre-kids-at-home-every-day-with-nothing-to-do. It’s been a busy week following on a couple of busy weeks but at least it is May:

I have been contacted by the Asparagus Growers of America to remind you to eat asparagus. Asparagus is one of the two foods that kids won’t want to eat until they find out that it makes your pee change colour and then they can’t get enough. My trick? A little orange juice in the steamer.
In other public service news, send your kind thoughts for portland who is waylayed by a unshakable nasty bug these days. And one for the Junk Store Cowgirl, Linda, who has been in radio silence for almost a month now. You will recall her good lad received a shipment of Marmite from the office workers here.
Nice to see that radio is confirming the lack of practical support for podcasting:

Commercial FM radio has reached the billion-dollar revenue milestone in Canada, at a time when they are also preparing to sing the blues in Ottawa this month. Industry data released Thursday show Canada’s commercial FM stations collectively pulled in $1.03-billion in revenue last year, with pretax profits of $247-million. Those numbers are up substantially from 2004, and when combined with earnings from AM stations, helped drive commercial radio to an unprecedented $1.33-billion in revenue. Pretax profits also soared 24 per cent to more than $255-million.

Radio really is the miracle medium, providing all your wireless needs for a wee $7.99 transistor rig from Radio Shack. If I were you , I’d think about a career in radio.
It has been a week when I have re-evaluated Mr. Harper to a degree. His budget was not a bad budget, keeping in mind that I disagree with both the Tory child bonus voter attraction scheme and the murky Grit shadow plan that really never was. If I was a booster of the military more than I am I might be a little offended by something of a gap between word and deed but otherwise it was pretty middle of the road and is not going to undermine the tidy little boom we are enjoying. The most troublesome part of it is the continued de-Federalization of the nation that really has been tripping along since Joe Clark fist uttered “community of communities” back in ’79. Where will it all end? Who gets the “D” in Canada when it is utterly disassembled?
BLork is a wizard but more so a person of intestinal fortitude as I have had such jars but dipped into said jars.
This bit from a memo obtained under access to information is a tad odd:

The percentage of Canadians who hold a valid passport has steadily risen — to 36 per cent in 2004-05 from less than 28 per cent in 2000-01 — in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States. The passport office expects the figure to reach 48 per cent of Canadians by 2008-09. “Since 9/11, passports are being seen as secure identity documents rather than just travel documents,” the notes say. “Passport Canada is now as much a security agency as a service agency, in keeping with the new international norm.”

Does my government think I need a secure identity document other than for travel? I certainly do not. My me-ness is mine wherever I am and I don’t need no state papers to prove that. Sounds more like Passport Canada just bigging itself up. Silly puffery as I’d like to think, generally, that I am much more in keeping with the new international norm.
Update: Why the heck is a company in PEI importing workers from Russia? Even with a 1.5% unemployment drop from March to April, there is still 10.5% unemployed in the province.

Friday?…what do I do on Fridays?…hmmm

Friday. The last Friday of April as a matter of fact. I always run into May
with as much surprise as despiration as when March arrives. The magnolias are
coming into bloom here. Saw “mag-noooo-lias” like one of those Bugs Bunny
southern-gent-in-white-suit characters. Can’t do that in March. No sir.

Bye bye aggregation. Last summer, I was getting around 92% of visits through
RSS. Now it is down to 76%. Comment spam is to blame I figure. Plus who the hell
wants to read 250 feeds a day. I got an email from a pal asking me about the
spam torrent on my comments but I had to tell him I never noticed as this blog’s
format hides them from the front page pretty well automatically except that they
show up on RSS. So for you aggregation readers, sorry. But there’s not much you
can do given aggregation is going the way of usenet.

Update: should this
come to pass, kiss email goodbye, too.
Baseball is a game of failure and the Red Soxs are doing a good job the last
week or so of proving that. Having the bazillion channel package just makes the
down times worse – leaving me clicking back to find out that is it 0-6, 2-9,
2-15…Good
Lord. But it brings perspective to my hollow shell of an inner life, right?
That is why I follow them. Must be.
I am thinking of throwing my hat into the ring for the Liberal leadership
race. Every single person in the country appears to be doing it so why not me?
It is a largely uninspiring bunch. I am still backing Iggy from a distance but
really only because I can call him Iggy. El Tigre makes a fairly good
point about the vision-ettes
of the Dryden and Kennedy candidacies but I think Harper harkening to
anything other than devolution is a bit off. No, it is all about planning the
new social engineering of one localizing sort or another these days. Really, it
is all about blandification as far as I see as so much as been shifted away from
the Feds that they really have a small amount of effect on day to day life. You
can’t harken back to the pre-60s without planning to reinstate the massive
Federal presence as we were then a proud nation of the post office and the train
system, bureaucracies like Health and Welfare Canada and the St. Lawrence
Seaway. We always have been a nation of inspectors and the inspected. There has
been and will be no great Canadian vision without the “national project” of one
sort or another. Unless someone comes up with one, don’t expect any undoing of
Grant’s Lament for A
Nation otherwise.
Chiz is my pal. Reading this, I feel very badly
for Chiz as Chiz is a really good guy.

Beware of moose, mayhem on holiday drive