Another Liberal Drops out of the Leadership Race (No, Not Tobin)

Another Liberal has now officially dropped out of the leadership race, making people wonder if anyone is going to bother running at all? Last week John Manley announced he won't make a run, then yesterday the percieved front runner, Frank McKenna, dropped out as well. Then today we hear the news that fromer Cabinet Minister and Premier of Newfoundland (and Labrador -Ed.) Brian Tobin has announced that HE will not run as well. As if that wasn't enough now another Liberal has announced he won't be running for the leadership of the Federal Liberal party. This man is a man of vision, a man of principal and courage. This man would have been not only the best leader of the Liberal party ever, but also the greatest Prime Minister ever when the next election was called. Who am I talking about?

Myself.

Yes friends I'm sorry to dissapoint you but I, Robert Simms, will not be running for the Leadership of the Federal Liberal party at this time.

Hehe, well it seemed like everyone else was bowing out. :D

Harper's New Nickname

I saw this post over at Red Tory. Now I'm not trying to start a blogger war here, God knows I have more than my share of enemies in the blogsphere, but here's my suggestion for Harper's new Nickname:

How about "Prime Minister" ?

Hey, I dislike the guy's policies as much as anyone, but I hated it when people called Martin "Dithers" Because I felt it was disrespectful to the office he held. If you don't like the person holding the office, fine but lets show some class that our Conservative Friends didn't, otherwise we're no better than them.

Prime Minister Harper Suffers Asthma Attack

Story

As much as I dislike the man's policies I know what it's like to have breathing problems, although I don't have asthma I have had dust related breathing attacks before, and I know what it's like to not know if your going to be able to breathe again. For anyone that hasn't experienced it the only way I can describe it is Truly Terrifying. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. From what the article said he's ok now, and I hope he stays that way. Asthma is a horrbile disorder.

I Can't Decide What to Call This Article

I've got two choices:
Conservative Misinformation Campaign Already Afoot

-or-

Conservatives Already Employing "Fuzzy Math"

So I'll post both and you decide, please remember both articles are "tounge in cheek"

Conservative Misinformation Campaign Already Afoot

Ok, so maybe it isn't dictatorship style propaganda, but the Ottawa Sun has already started their post far right victory parade with a little fact fudging, I suspect just to test the waters before the real blitz begins. If you'll notice the picture at the bottom of this post (click to enlarge) They have referred to Harper as the "26th" Prime Minister when, in fact he is the 22nd. This is no doubt a thinly veiled attempt to make Harper look like a better leader by increaing his rank. Everyone knows bigger is percieved to be better.

Conservatives Already Employing "Fuzzy Math"

It seems that Conservatives are already well on their way to destroying the country's finances, cultivated so much by the outgoing Liberal Government. I have discovered however that it may not be that they don't care about the economy, but just that they don't bother to study numbers before they do work with them.

I've noticed in an article by the ultra far right Ottawa Sun (see picture below, click to enlarge) they refer to Harper as the "26th" Prime Minister, when in fact he is the 22nd. Place that same 26 somewhere in the budget instead of a 22 and we could go from a four billion dollar surplus to a four billion dollar deficit just like that. Be afraid my fiscally sound friends, be very afraid.

Liberal For Life Adds a "Tip Line"

You may notice I've added a "Tip Line" on the left side of my blog, if you have a tip you'd like to share about the Harper Regime: something stupid they said, something they've done wrong, please share it.

Please note I may not use all tips, but all are greatly appreciated.

Liberal For Life Endorses McKenna

I'd just like to announce that I'll be endorsing Frank McKenna to succeed Prime Minister Martin as leader of the Liberal party, and to soon become the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada.

Also however, I would like to state that I want our leadership race to be a great one without smears and divisions. Now is the time to heal our party and to take back power so that we can start fixing any of the mistakes Stephen Harper makes.

Let's Get to Work

The Canadian people have spoken. I totally and vehemently disagree with what they've said, and think they were very unwise to say it, but nonetheless they have spoken.

I know how you feel my friends, and I know giving up on Canada is what you feel like doing right now, but we can't do that. There is work to be done: Today is day one of the opposition to Stephen Harper's far right regime, and I need all of you to join with me in this goal. Luckily for us they've only been handed a minority government, so they won't be able to do as much damage as they would like on social issues, but with them and the Bloc holding enough seats to ram through legislation there is much damage they can do to national unity and to the economy.

It is our job to bring every single mistake they make (and they will make many -Ed.) to the light of day. In this campaign many things didn't go our way, one of the reasons was we couldn't get our message out, another was we didn't explain why our policies were so much better than the Conservatives. That is our mission now.

Let's get to work.

Martin Resigns

Paul Martin, the 21st Prime Minister of Canada, has announced his resignation as leader.

I hope "Liberals" like CalgaryGrit, Warren Kinsella, and this idiot Mole in our war room are happy.

Sites That are Breaking the Results Ban

I would like to say I fully support any site that is going to break the results ban, which I view as an infringement on freedom of speech.

Therefore I am posting links to sites that are looking like they will break the ban, if anyone else has a link to a site breaking the ban please feel free to contact me and I'll edit this post.

Believe me if I had $1000 to spare I'd be breaking it too, the ban is totally ridiculous in a supposedly free (Well, at least until Stephen Harper is sworn in -Ed.) country.

http://www.theinfozone.net/
http://www.urbanrefugee.ca/
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/
http://somenamedia.blogspot.com

My Hopes for Tonight

All of my hopes are in no particular order, hopes I don't realistically think will happen are denoted with a *

- I hope we can keep my riding (Dartmouth-Cole Harbour) from the Orange Menace.
- I hope we don't lose Scott Brison.
- I hope Siobahn Coady wins.*
- I hope PEI stays solid Red. (At least we'll have one sane province)
- I hope the Conservatives are held to 3 seats in Quebec.
- I hope we don't lose Belinda.ca.*
- I hope we don't lose Tony Valeri.*
- I hope Alexa McDonough loses.*
- I hope we win Hamilton Mountain. (The Liberal Candidate really impressed me)
- I hope Olivia Chow loses.*
- I hope Helena Guergis loses.*
- I hope Michael Ignatief wins. (Just because I want his seat)*
- I hope we don't lose Landslide Annie.*
- I hope Judy WL loses.*
- I hope SES was right on their last day's poll.*
- I hope we can pull off a miracle and win.*

But most of all, I hope we can hold these far righters to a minority, because if we don't Canada is finished.

Those Who Don't Learn From History....

....Are Doomed to Repeat it.

Say hello to American North everyone. According to all accounts this is the last day Canada won't be ruled by a regressive, ultra far right party. It's times like these that I'm torn, on the one hand I feel terrible for all the minorities who are about to have to endure endless persecution. And at the same time I also have a feeling that Canadians will get the government they deserve tonight. It's like Harry Truman once said: "How many times do you have to get hit on the head before you figure out who's hittin you?"

It just shows that Canadians, like their American counterparts, are easily fooled. I, like most Canadians, always thought we were smarter than our neighbors to the South; but how can that be true if all a horrible man like Harper has to do to get elected is hijack a party, steal their name, and shut up all of the people who actually know what he's going to do?

It also makes me wonder why we as Liberals keep bothering to clean up Canada if the Canadian people are just going to let these idiots in so they can destroy it again. Isn't the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

A lot of the ways the Conservatives will destroy Canada in the months and *gulp* possibly years ahead we'll be able to fix, but stuff like fixed election dates, and decentralization we probably won't be able to fix.

I just hope the PQ doesn't win the next Quebec Referendum, if it does you can kiss Canada goodbye, with this ultra weak Federal government the Harper regime will institute we won't have a prayer of fighting them off.

So Canada, you have one last chance today to avoid making the mistakes your American counterparts made in 2000, and your own countrymen made in 1984. I hope you take it, but somehow I feel you won't. This is one of those times I'd love to be proven wrong.

On This, The Day Before Armageddon

I still think we have a chance to win, but it'd take a lot of things going right for us.

Best to hope for a weak Connie minority.

On a brighter side I did something tonight I didn't think I'd be able to do on the eve of the destruction of our country: Laugh. Thanks to "On The Left Side" for making me do so.

My Idea of Electoral Reform

I like the idea of a ranking system, however I'd like it to be more of a points system where it'd be like this:

Candidate A - 1st Rank = 2 points
Candidate B - 2nd Rank = 1 points
Candidate C - 3rd Rank = 0 points

or

Candidate A - 1st Rank = 3 points
Candidate B - 2nd Rank = 2 points
Candidate C - 3rd Rank = 1 point
Candidate D - 4th Rank = 0 points

and so on depending on how many candidates there are.

And at the end whoever has the most points wins. Ties could be broken by using 1st place votes, then 2nd, and so on. This way people could give the party they like the most the most points and the party they like the least none. This would eliminate the need for strategic voting, but also at the same time preserve our method of voting directly for our MP.

Majority Oppression

I wasn't at all surprised at Conservative mouthpiece Jason Kenny's comments about abortion, as discovered by my friend Mark at Nottawa here.

The thing that a lot of people don't seem to understand about issues such as abortion and same sex marriage is that it is entirely possible that the majority of Canadians, and by proxy their parliamentarians, may support the Conservative views on these issues. But the problem with that is it doesn't make them right.

This is an admittedly unrealistic example but it will illustrate my point:

If there were 1,000 people in a town, and 999 of them thought it was OK to rape people would that make the 1 person who didn't think it was Ok wrong?

Of course not.

One of the principals of Liberalism that I admire is this notion, this notion of defending what is right even if the majority disagrees; the way the Conservatives want to do it would mean the Majority in this country would be oppressing the minority. Say, for example if all the white people in the country felt that black people shouldn't be allowed to marry. How is that any different from heterosexual people telling homosexual people they can't get married? It's not, and anyone who thinks it is needs to wake up and get their head out of the sand.

That's what the Conservative agenda is all about. Conservatives just can't seem to stop themselves from telling other people what to do with their lives. They claim that the Liberals interfere with the lives of Canadians too much, but it is they who are trying to legislate their beliefs on to us. In my view all of the founding principals of Conservatism are hypocrisies such as these. Conservatives can't leave other people to their own business, they don't like same sex marriage, so instead of just doing like I do and not paying attention to it they make it their mission to exterminate it from around them.

That is what I'm fighting against, I can live with the reckless tax cuts and the idiotic foreign policy, but they will change the social fabric of this country, and promote the hatred we should all be working at trying to destroy forver.

VOTING EYES WIDE OPEN

I recieved an email with a contribution from a member (WHOOPS, sorry about that I said before it was the webmaster. that was incorrect it is just a member named FurGaia.) I found it very interesting, so I'll share it with you here:

VOTING EYES WIDE OPEN

Lately I have been posting reading material to my blog entry at Vive le Canada. I have found the links provided by other bloggers very instructive. I have therefore provided them in my blog entry so that those who may have missed them could read them. Not being a neocon or neoliberal or libertarian or any of those things, obviously the links that I chose were mostly critical of Mr. Harper and his team. [I am not affiliated to any party but, in this election, I am voting for the Liberal Party.]

I have found the following links instructive.

A new friend for George Bush
The Conservative Platform and a follow-up.
Think Twice on January 23
"Good Bye Budget Surplus, We Hardly Knew Ya"
Who is helping "The Conservative Cause"
Conservative platform would reshape nation
unacceptable.

"The Conservatives' plan for a 'Choice in Child Care Allowance' is seriously flawed"
Think Twice Canada!
Checks and balances!
"Some people are in for a rude shock after January 23rd"!.

We now have come to the final stretch.
A sober summary on this final weekend.

There are lots of particular issues that still require more debates, for example, the Equalization issue.

Then there is the fact that those doubts just won't go away.
Last but not least, one MUST ask oneself if what Mr. Harper is offering Canadians is so good for us, why then is he muzzling local candidates ... and why on earth does he feel that his agenda needs to be kept in check!!!

In the end, each will vote according to his or her conscience but we will all have to live with the consequences, not just the day after and the year after, but most probably for years to come. Not just us but the next generation as well. Indeed, the whole World will be affected by the way that we will cast our vote.

Insofar as that it is worthwhile to explore the links between the Canadian neoconservatives and the American neoconservatives, then perhaps the following may prove helpful. For having failed to identify the threat of the conservative movement in time, the Americans are paying a terrible price today. This piece by Jerome illustrate most poignantly the despair. The campaign strategist David Sirota will soon publish his book about the the hostile takeover of America , this is almost six years after George Monbiot Captive State - The Corporate Takeover of Britain! Once the Neocons have become entrenched, the fight to reclaim our government is long and hard!

But we do not have to go there! We can still fight this! We can still say no!

Getting to know The Free Market Al-Qaeda - Do circulate!

I Pity the Fool Who Don't Vote Liberal

I've tried reasoning with the Canadian people, now I'm going to try humor!

I PITY THE FOOL WHO DON'T VOTE LIBERAL!



VOTE LIBERAL OR BE ETERNALLY PITYED BY THE GREATEST PITYER OF THEM ALL!!!

But, in the case you'd like actual reason to vote Liberal, check out this post by my good friend Jason Cherniak and choose one for yourself.

Plebiscite Pondering

In the 2004 U.S. Presidential election one of the keys to victory for George W. Bush was the use of ballot questions on issues, such as gay marriage, designed to drive the Republican base to the polls in key battleground states. This turned out to be wildly effective, especially in what turned out to be the biggest battleground of them all, Ohio. Until yesterday I had never made a connection between that tactic and Canadian politics. But with the seemingly unavoidable prospect of electing a U.S. Tied, far right government here in Canada in two days my mind has focused on the U.S. again, as a blueprint for what the Conservatives would like to do here.

If you will recall, back when he was leader of the Canadian Alliance, Stockwell Day advocated the use of Plebiscites to decide key issues. This led to the now famous Rick Mercer "Doris Day" incident, in which Mercer created a petition to get Mr. Day to change his first name to Doris. Beyond the comedy involved however, there is something deeper; something that illustrates a possible link between the Far right in this country, and their heroes in the United States.

Could it be the then Canadian Alliance had gotten this idea from Republicans who intended to use it in a future election? With Same Sex marriage bursting on the scene in Canada can we expect the Harper regime to institute this as one of their many Republican thought up weapons? If that is so can we expect other Republican tricks, designed solely to keep themselves in power, to be used?

Am I the ONLY One That Wonders About This?

For a while now we've heard stories about Stephen Harper hiding his candidates from the public because he knows that some of them will tell the truth about what the Conservatives would really do if given government. I'm just wondering: Am I the ONLY one who is disturbed to his very core about this?!? And what's more disturbing is people don't seem to mind. They just seem to have turned a blind eye to it all. Harper has whisked all his ultra far right candidates off to some undisclosed location so the Canadian people can't hear what they have to say and people aren't terrified about that?

Wonderful site that illustrates Stephen Harper's US Friends.

http://www.harperstiestousa.org/ I think this is great, whoever created it deserves a medal. Anyone out there if you are reading this and you are a "red tory" or similarly inclined you need to check out this site and seriously re think your position. Make absolutely no mistake, if you vote for Stephen Harper you will be voting for a more George W. Bush style Canada. The Conservative bloggers and supporters will all accuse us of fear mongering, but it is the truth and if you read this site and search your heart you will know that as well.

Why do people love Ed Broadbent so much?

Is it because he's old? That's the only reason I can think of. Anyone who watched his hate filled final farewell press confrence and didn't see a tired, angry, bitter old man needs their eyes checked.

He's trying to do the same thing he did back in the 80s: Sabotage the Liberal campaign and allow a Conservative Prime Minister to obtain a majority.

This man doesn't care about Canada, he's a partisan hack. I'm happy to see him go and I hope he never returns.

I Knew Stephen Taylor Had a Big Mouth But......

I think this is hilarious, it's one of the times when strange coincidence can lead to humor.

I wanted to get some biographical info on Blogging Whories CEO Founder Stephen Taylor so I checked Wikipedia.

This is what I found. (Click to enlarge)

Nice Catch By a Fellow Blogger

Major Hat Tip to Peace, Order and Good Government for this nugget on the idiocy of Strategic Counsel's polls. Hmmm, perhaps FRAUD would be a better word than idiocy. Hmm, I suppose I can use them both.......

http://www.pogge.ca/archives/000958.shtml

Help me Ontario Kenobi, you're my only hope

I've seen some polls now that say the Liberals are 18 points behind the Conservatives. I just wonder why people don't seem to remember what things we like before 1993. The Progressive Conservatives, who this current Conservative party isn't even as good as, nearly bankrupted this country back then. Large corporations flourished and actual People were forgotten and forced to suffer so that the rich could get richer.

I just read a very moving piece by EchoMouse that drives this point home. For me, I was only 14 in 1993 so I was lucky enough to not really have to be at an age where I understood the horrible things the Conservatives were doing to my country, but EchoMouse is 41 and she saw it first hand, and I have a T.V. and I've seen what has happened down in the U.S. Where the current regime focuses not on the people but on making more money for themselves and their friends. Two of most important examples of this being Hurricane Katrina and the Iraq War. In both of these instances the Conservative heart showed little or no remorse for the victims. The only reason Bush acted at all on Katrina was because of public outcry, you need to think about if you want this kind of person leading our country. You need to think "Do I want the type of person who would stay on vacation for three days while his fellow citizens suffered when he had the power to do something about it?"

Now, I know the Liberals have faults, unlike most Conservative supporters I've encountered I can admit the problems with my party. I'm often called a hack by these people and they can't seem to understand why I support them. I support the Liberal party because I hold it's ideals true to my heart. I believe that all people should only be treated differently if their actions warrant it and not because of their gender or the color of their skin or their sexual orientation. I believe that people are more important than profits, I believe that we are stronger when we are together than we are when we are apart.

A lot of Conservatives think that people like me don't care about some of the things they care about. That is totally untrue, I'm deeply concerned about Western alienation, I'm concerned about agriculture because I realize those people produce the food I eat. But the difference is I care about all of these matters, and Conservatives only care about those that matter to them.

I would like to ask you all, to look past yourself for a moment. To see the 98 year old woman who'll be forced out of her old age home under a Harper government; to see all the children that won't get a chance to recieve early learning and get a head start on their education under a Harper government; to see the gays and lesbians who's only wish in the entire world is to be able to declare their love for each other without being persecuted; and to see their own children who'll be forced to deal with the massive debt load that will once again be created by a Conservative government. I would hope you'd look at these things and see what I see, that the Liberal party although it has faults, is the best choice for Canada.

Liberals Fuel Rebate Comes at the Right Time for Families

This week my family, and many other families across the country, will $125 or $250 depending on their situation to help them with Gas or Heating oil costs. This was a promise our government, our Liberal government, made to the people of Canada and they delivered. We're in the dead of winter right now and every little bit helps.

$125 is enough to heat the average home for a week, $250 obviously for 2 weeks. This is just another example of Liberals looking out for average Canadians, something the Conservatives if they are elected won't do.

I Just Heard The Funniest Thing In My Life

No word of a lie, when I heard this on CBC Newsworld I literally busted out laughing:

Stephen Harper: "We have not run a campaign of fear and smear, making it up as we go along...."

ROFL!

Conservatives Already Fudging Numbers

You could knock me over with a feather right now, I’m serious! (He isn’t really –Ed.) The Conservatives haven’t even been elected yet and already they’re lying about their fiscal framework, or lack thereof.

A prominent economist commissioned by the Conservatives to assess the financial soundness of their election platform says major items were omitted from the version he was given...Darby says the version of the platform he was given to vet didn't include a Conservative party health-care guarantee which states patients will be transported to another jurisdiction if they can't get timely care at home. It also omitted a Tory platform promise to redress the so-called "fiscal imbalance" between Ottawa and the provinces.

I’m left wondering if there is some sort of neurological disorder that makes Federal Conservatives genetically unable to balance the books. We Liberals have known for a while now the Conservative spending spree would lead to deficit and now it looks like we’re getting the first proof of that. Luckily for the Canadian people we’re getting it before the election. Here’s hoping the Liberal machine nails them on this blatant lie, and here’s hoping the media suspends its smear campaign long enough to expose this hypocrisy.

Untainted Liberal Discussion

I'm going to try this again, and keep trying it until I get some people as interested as I am.

With all the Conservative trolls just ruining all the political message boards I would like to have a place where just us Liberals can get together and talk about issues that matter. Not a circle jerk board like freedominion or anything, but a place where we can discuss our ideas and concerns without Conservative trolls. I've created such a place here. What you can do is join up and start discussing the Liberal party. Once I feel that you are a Liberal you'll be granted access to the private Liberal area, of course this access can be revoked instantly at any time so any opposition trolls who feel like causing a disturbance won't last long.

If you are interested please join up, and tell any other Liberals you know about it as well.

I Voted Yesterday

Can you guess who I voted for? :D

Seriously though, normally I perfer to vote on the actual Election Day. I don't know why, it just feels different and special to me somehow. But because the opposition forced a Winter election I decided that it would be smarter to vote early to make sure I got a chance to. The last thing I'd want is to have their be a snowstorm on January 23rd and I wouldn't be able to go vote.

Also my Father voted today as well. He's been disabled ever since he had a stroke in February of 2003 and can't get around so well. Last time he didn't vote because I waited until the last day and he wasn't feeling well enough to go out, thank God it didn't come down to a single vote. I wasn't going to let that happen this time. They have a mobile poll service where you just call up your returning officer and they'll send someone out and you can vote right in your home if you can't get to the polls. If any of you have a friend or a family who is a Liberal supporter who would like to vote but can't get to the polls call your returning officer's office and ask about it.


My brother has said he won't vote Liberal because of the corruption, so I'm going to try to convince him by explaining that it was only a handful and then going through all that Paul Martin did to be accountable to the Canadian people. He doesn't really care about politics so I asked him as a family favor to not vote NDP or Tory, so he said he'd vote for the Marxist-Leninist party. LOL Hopefully I can convince him to go with another Red party instead. :D

Am I a Good Speechwriter or What?

I play a Virtual Parliament game called Politics Canada, in which I play rookie Liberal MP Jordan Dent. The Prime Minister resigned and thus we're holding a leadership campaign and I was chosen as the interim leader so I'm giving the opening address.

I figured I'd share this "pleasant fiction" with you, to help lift the spirits of my Liberal bretheren in this time of unprecedented crisis for our country.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a privilege and a profound honor to speak to you tonight as the current, and soon to be deposed…. *laughter* leader of the greatest party in the history of mankind. I’d like to talk about a vision tonight, and to bridge the gap that now lies before our great party between our glorious past and our limitless future.

I only had the pleasure of serving under Prime Minister Leto for a short time, but in that time the greatness of the man touched me, as I’m sure it touched all of you. When I heard of his resignation I thought that our peak had been reached for this generation. I thought that no one could carry his legacy in to the future. But my friends, I was wrong. I underestimated our great party; I underestimated the talent that lies within. And I declare to you, and for the entire world to hear, my firm belief that never before have three finer candidates been put forth in any leadership convention, for any party, anywhere, ever. *applause*

My friends I spoke to you of a vision; a vision that I have for the future of our party under our new leader; I would like to share this vision with you now.

The vision I speak of is of a country with no borders or boundaries, of a country that capitalizes on a future that has no limits, and of a country led through the 21st century and beyond, by a party that recognizes that we are so much stronger when we are together than we are when we are apart. The Party of King and Trudeau will lead Canadians in to the future! The party of Laurier and Pearson will take us there! To the place in my vision, to that of which I dream of every single night and that I know you dream of as well. *applause*

Friends, my vision is a Liberal vision, it is a common vision that we all share. It is not just my vision, but your vision as well! It is your family’s vision, your children’s vision! It belongs to all the people in our great land and we must help those who can not see it to find it for themselves. It is the vision of peace and equality, of freedom and love, of diversity and opportunity; and I have given this vision a name my friends. I call this vision Canada. *applause*

Over the course of today and tomorrow we will democratically choose the leader that will best fulfill this vision for us, and I am supremely confident that whomever we choose will be the best person for the job. I know this because with the talent we have before us we simply can not fail.

I welcome you all to this Leadership convention, and ask that you not only concern yourselves with work, but that you enjoy the company of your compatriots as well. I ask that you feed off of each others love for this great country, and off the Liberal vision we all share. And once we are finished our task we shall take leave of this place. And with a rejuvenated soul take our message of the vision we share back to our ridings, our cities, our towns, and our communities.

Thank you very much! Long live the Liberal party, and long live Canada!

Letter From a Mom

I received this letter in my email the other day:

“I told my daughter soon as the credit for 25 dollars a week came out we were goners, all the younger families and also low income with grandchildren would vote for this. That is a lot of money to a poor person with say three or four kids. What they don’t know is that it is taxable and therefore it will affect their child tax credit as that is based on taxable income. Harper says it would not affect that credit but how can it not? Thanks for listening, Just my thoughts. –GreatGranny.

I love it when regular voters, who don’t pay attention to politics as much as I do, email me their thoughts. It really gives me insight in to an aspect of our electoral system I otherwise wouldn’t have.

GreatGranny you are quite right, and your realization was even noted in a Liberal campaign ad. So you can rest assured that this issue is being communicated, as it should be, to the Canadian people. Hopefully enough of them will realize this and switch their vote back to the Liberals, who will put forth a policy of fiscally prudent tax cuts that may hurt us a little now, but will ensure that one day we will live in a country that is debt free. And that our children won’t have to bear the burden of our legacy.

I’ve always said I don’t mind paying taxes as long as they go towards programs and services that help myself and my fellow Canadians. Conservatives only seem to care about themselves in this regard, their feelings seem to be “If a program isn’t going to help me directly I don’t want to pay for it.” That is one of their main problems, they have a lack of vision. They don’t see that helping everyone in turn helps them. For example if we make a child care space affordable for a mother who otherwise would be forced to live on welfare because she has no one to look after her baby that mother will get a job and pay taxes. She will pay back over time the service she used, and her tax dollars will also go towards programs that do help others.

Fun With Conservative Logic

The entire Conservative Party is corrupt.

“How can you say that?” you ask? Simple, one of their candidates in the current election has been charged with Smuggling. “But, how does that make them all corrupt?” There my friends lies the paradox. The Conservatives have been screaming at the top of their lungs for 2 years now that every single Liberal is guilty of fraud in the Sponsorship program; however Mr. Justice Gomery found that in actuality only a handful of Liberals were in fact guilty. So if the Conservatives can say that every Liberal is guilty based only on the actions of a few, I can say they are all guilty of Smuggling based only on the actions of one.

Sorry fellas, but you can’t have it both ways. Stephen Fletcher called Japanese Canadians “Jap Bastards” so by Conservative’s own logic that must mean that they all think the Japanese are a bunch of Jap Bastards. If that’s not true, and they don’t all believe that, and they aren’t all smugglers, then that must mean not every Liberal is guilty. Any reasonable Human being, even Conservatives should agree with that statement.

However, I’m not holding my breath.

Journey to the Dark Recesses of the Conservative Mind

My good friend Jason Cherniak has stumbled upon a bombshell. He has posted an article in which he shows that Stephen Harper has raised funds for a group that refers to Paul Martin as a Nazi, and Reg Alcock as a Racist.

It’s an interesting read to say the least, and I’m pleased that finally the Conservatives are starting to show their true colors to the Canadian people, I’ve always said I support their right to have their views as horrible as they are, I just don’t like how they lie to the Canadian people about them.

"Here I Come To Save The Day!" -Belinda.ca

Belinda Stronach has come out and reported that one of the reasons she left the Conservative caucus was their secret plan to introduce abortion legislation if they form government:

"When we form a government, we can be rest assured that there will be a private member's bill on this," – Don Plett, Conservative Party President.

This has also been Confirmed in the Globe and Mail. I don’t find it surprising at all, I’ve been saying for a long time now that the Conservative Party is just the Reform/Canadian Alliance in disguise. Hopefully this will make some voters think about the kind of party they’re supporting, and give them pause. I have no problem with them having a position. I don’t agree with it, but I think they are entitled to have it. What I have a problem with is they are lying to the Canadian people about their agenda, and that constitutes no less than electoral fraud.

Oh What a Night!

As I mentioned before, there was a get together at Mike Savage’s campaign headquarters and Scott Brison was there, Brison is my favorite Cabinet Minister. However, I had no idea 2 of my other favorite Liberals would be there as well.

Dr. Jim Smith, long time MLA for my riding until he retired in 2003 was there. He’s a great man, his campaign was the first I ever worked on and I was constantly in awe of him. He thanked me for all I did for him back then and I thanked him for all he did for the Province, but always the modest one he replied “Oh I didn’t do that much.”

And another of my favorite Liberals, former Provincial Leader Danny Graham was there, I admired Graham in the 2003 campaign, but I admired him even more when he left the leadership to care for and be with his ailing wife who had been diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer. I got to shake his hand.

And finally, I not only got to meet Scott Brison, I also got to talk politics with him a bit, which thrilled the heck out of me. I figured it would just be like when I met Prime Minister Chrétien just a handshake and a hello but nope, we talked about the Conservative ads and how for the most part they are lying in their ads and we’re telling the truth. Of course there is nothing new about that. I also heard him use the word “malfeasance” which I guess must be his favorite word because I’ve heard him use it in Question Period so many times. :D

But the highlight of the night were the speeches given by the guests of honor (Mike Savage, Brison, Graham, and Smith) especially Brison’s. He made me realize that no matter what happens on January 23^rd there is something the Conservatives can’t take away from me. I am a Liberal, and I will always be a Liberal; and no matter how much they destroy Canada we will always be there to rebuild it. It was also pointed out that things are looking good for Savage in my riding, so I’m cautiously optimistic that even if we do get a Conservative government I’ll at least be in one of the smart ridings in the country, and a riding that will stand up for what is right.

 

Culture of Enlightenment

There is a "Culture" in the Liberal party currently, but it's not a Culture of Entitlement, it's a Culture of Enlightenment. We're the party that wants to keep rights in Canada, not take them away. We are moving forward with our social policy, the Conservatives are moving backward.

On January 23rd, vote Liberal and vote for the Future.

Harper's Freudian Slip

I'm not sure if anyone else noticed this or not, but I picked up on it right away when I was watching the debate and went back and recorded it when I was done watching. If you care to watch the whole thing in context it happens at 1 hour and 8 minutes in to the debate.

The moderator asks Harper about if he could co-operate with Layton on a budget and in Harper's answer he says:

We're obviously seeking a mandate from the Canadian people to pursue our priorities.

Notice he doesn't say "their" (The Canadian People's) priorities. He says "our" (The Conservative Party's) priorities.

I think this is very telling of what I've been saying all along. The Conservatives want to obtain power so they can mould Canada in their image. They want Canada's priorities to be their priorities, they want to legislate things such as abortion and same sex marriage so that people will be forced, BY LAW to agree with what they think. Obviously I think this is dangerous thinking.

To watch the video of this click here. (Requires Real Player)

Conservative Bloggers Already Planning How They'll Reshape Canada in Their Perverted Image

Yikes

Every Liberal Blogger Should Have a Link to This Site

No, Not my site. Although that'd be nice.

This site:
http://www.harperwatch.ca

If I'm Dreaming DON'T WAKE ME UP!

Our prayers have been answered! Stephen Harper muses about a majority government!!!!!

A Wave of Ignorance

I frequent a couple of political message boards, but it's getting harder and harder for anyone to talk about issues because the Conservative supporters keep starting idiotic thread after idiotic thread. I swear on one of the boards they started 30 different Liberal attack ads, yesterday. There's no need of that! And it's not like it's 10 or so different people it's only 4!

It's typical Conservative tactics, just keep yelling and screaming at the top of their lungs until no one else is able to speak. God forbid we actually have an intelligent conversation. Babble is a good place to go, except for the Dippers, but I don't like the layout of their board. No avatars, etc.

I wish there was a place Liberal supporters could go and have intelligent conversations with each other, and not have to worry about Tory trolls. I tried to start such a place, the forums on here, but it didn't take. Perhaps I'll try again when I'm not so busy with the election.

Holy New Ads Batman!

The Liberals have released 10 new ads, although most of them are aimed either at British Columbia, Manitoba, or Saskatchewan there are a few National ones.

Obviously I'm biased but I liked them all. They were positive, even the negative ones felt positive, and well produced. The regional ones have candidates from that region standing in front of the camera speaking about what they'll do for their region. I laugh because the Connie supporters at Nodice's forums are in a buzz because they're all negative ads. Really? I saw 3 that were out of 10. Of course Connie math has never been strong, so I guess that explains it.

The "Negative" child care ad is great, and the hook at the end is brilliant: "Instead he'll give you $25 a week......and then he'll tax it. Leaving just one question: How do you improve Child Care in Canada by reducing it?"

Liberals Being Attacked for Defending Canada?!?

Now I’ve seen it all, I really have. This Options Canada smear campaign is part of an opposition that is out of control. Let me get this strait, we’re being attacked, because the Separatists were breaking every rule in the book in order to secure a Yes vote, including destroying ballot boxes in known pro federalist areas, and we’re the bad guys because our party allegedly gave a few million to an organization trying to keep Canada together? Give me a break! What would you have us do? Follow the rules and lose Canada?

 

Tell me if Canada had split, how much more do you think would have been lost on the stock markets? BILLIONS, EASY!!!!!!!

 

So if the opposition wants to keep attacking us for trying to save Canada let them, they’ll simply be confirming what I already knew: They are TOTALLY and DANGEROUSLY out of touch with Canadians.

Conservatives Confirm They Will RAISE TAXES ON LOW INCOME EARNERS

Original Story: (commentary added by me in parenthesis) CBC News

 

A Tory plan to raise personal income taxes on low income earners is part of an overall tax strategy that will result in more tax relief for (rich) Canadians, Tory MP Jason Kenney said Friday.

 

Kenney was reacting to a CBC News story that revealed part of the Tory tax plan if they take power is to reverse a Liberal tax cut introduced before the election.

 

"Our priority is (to give rich people huge tax breaks, and give them) broader and deeper tax relief than what the Liberals are willing to offer," Kenney told CBC News Online.

 

Last November, before calling the election, the Liberals cut personal income taxes – a one per cent reduction to the lowest tax bracket, from 16 to 15 per cent, and an increase of $500 to the basic personal exemption.

 

The cuts will mean a tax rebate for 2005, as less tax is being knocked off Canadians' paycheques for 2006.

 

The Conservatives voted against those tax cuts in November, but they became law. Late last year, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper's staff told CBC Online the Conservatives would let the tax cuts stand if they win the election. (Can you say flip-flop boys and girls?)

 

But the Conservatives called CBC this week to say that while they would allow the Liberal tax cut to stand for last year, meaning Canadians will still get that tax rebate, they intend to immediately raise personal income taxes if they are elected later this month.

 

The Conservatives say a Stephen Harper government would (be terrifying to all concerned) raise the rate on the lowest tax bracket back from 15 per cent back to 16 per cent in their first budget, probably in April. As well, the basic exemption, income on which no tax is charged, would be dropped by $400 in the same budget.

 

A Tory official acknowledged to CBC News that would likely mean taking back the money taxpayers are saving on their paycheques for the first four months of this year.

 

The Tories refused to be interviewed on camera for the story. (Can’t imagine why) But Kenney later told CBC News Online Friday that this information is not new and referred to Harper's Dec. 1 news release regarding the GST cut.

 

"We would suspend [the Liberals] future measures in order to deliver broad-based and responsible tax relief (To all rich people), which will ultimately save (rich) Canadians more in their taxes and will be (totally not) affordable in terms of the delivery of federal services," the release said.

 

"The immediate result of cutting the GST will be $4.5 billion back in the pockets of ordinary Canadians. (except for the fact that most of the things low income earners buy such as food and rent doesn’t have GST on it.) When the GST cut is fully implemented, the total benefit (to rich people) will be much greater," the release said.

 

Kenney said they voted against the Liberal tax cuts because they disagreed with their fiscal priorities (namely cutting taxes to obscenely high income earners), adding they would have "spent smarter and cut taxes deeper." (Which is what they said they would do last time they were in office, and we all remember how well that worked out.)

 

The Tories have also said that their own tax package has not yet been fully announced.

 

 

Yet Another Attempt By the U.S. to Interfere in Our Election

Surprise, Surprise the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is going to investigate the Income Trust affair. Because the Conservatives knew that the RCMP would confirm the Liberal’s innocence they called up their lose personal friend George W. Bush and had him make a few calls. God forbid the Canadian people get the truth. I'm sure this investigation will drag on all the way through the election, when the investigator is run by the government who's ideals are simular to your own could you expect anything less?

It makes me sick that anyone would consider voting for a party like the Conservatives, who are so anxious to sell Canada brick by brick to the Americans.

Conservative Supporter Trying to Run His Own "Ad Scam"

I knew that one of Conservatives' favorite pass times was tossing out baseless and ridiculous accusations; I mean that became painfully obvious to all during Question Period, especially when the Gomery Commission was going on.

However, this one takes the cake. There is a Conservative supporter who is actually accusing the Liberals of “Running an Ad” for Research in Motion, because they have a picture of a Blackberry on their website.

We’re through the looking glass here people.

Setting aside for a moment the fact that the portion of the site in question doesn’t even mention RIM, or set a price for a Blackberry, or have a link to their website, the simple fact is the picture is to show that the author of the Liberal blog writes his blog on a Blackberry.

I just checked the Conservative website and they have a picture of Stephen Harper in a blue shirt and jacket, is that an ad for the clothing store he bought it off the rack from? There is a picture of the Liberal’s campaign plane, is that an ad for Boeing? And one of the Conservative ads takes place in a coffee shop, this is an obvious ad for Tim Hortons I mean how can anyone not see that? Almost every one of their ads has that sign with that highly ironic slogan “Stand up for Canada” (Ironic because to Stand Up for Canada you’d have to vote Liberal) you don’t think the sign makers are making a killing on those ads? I know a sign maker, he lives next door to me. When I tried to interview him about it he put his hand over the camera and kept saying “no comment.”

I guess since the Conservative talking points about how everyone who had ever even thought the word “Liberal” being involved in the first “Adscam” were shown to be complete and utter lies this guy decided he’d try to create his own “Ad scam.”

And I thought the Income Trust issue was ludicrous! It doesn’t hold a candle to this.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! WEEEEE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TIME FOR LOOOOOOOOOOOOOSERS CUZ WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Conservative Hacks Already Thinking Cabinet Choices

My close personal friend, whom I've never met before and hope I never do, "The Truth Hurts" has made an entry entitled "Conservative Majority Government?" that I hope every single Canadian voter reads. Why do I hope this? Because as soon as Canadians see any kind of Conservative government is possible they will flock to the Liberals.

Whether Conservatives like it or not the vast majority of this country is strongly opposed to them taking any kind of power. They are the last choice for a majority of Canadians, as opposed to the Liberals who are either the first or second choice for most. This isn't any kind of poll talking here, this is just common sense.

CONSERVATIVES RUN ILLEGAL AD

Major, MAJOR hat tip to Stop Harper for pointing this out.

As I'm sure we all know, all campaign ads are required to have the "authorized by the official agend of" blah blah blah on them, however the Conservative ad I captured in response to a request by my colleague Jason Cherniak doesn't have this message anywhere.

See for yourself (Requires Real Player)
http://z05.zupload.com/file.php?filepath=4207

I guess in all the excitement of going negative in the Connie camp they forgot to obey the law. I call for a full RCMP inquiry in to this, and I also call for Stephen Harper to do the honorable thing and step down while that inquiry takes place.

OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!

Of all the Liberal Cabinet Ministers Scott Brison is my favorite, I love the way he consistently smacks down the lying Conservatives (Are there any other kind? -Ed.) in Question Period and by proxy that idiot Peter Mackay. I've never got a chance ot meet him but today I recieved this in my inbox:

Dear Mike Savage Volunteer:

Please be advised there will be a volunteer reception at the Campaign Headquarters (63 Tacoma Drive) on Wednesday, January 11th from 6 to 8 pm. We are looking forward to seeing you there.

Mike is looking forward to having this opportunity to thank you for your support and assistance, and also to welcome Hon. Scott Brison, MP for Kings Hants, who will join us for this evening of lively discussion and refreshments.

Thank you for your efforts to date and we hope you can make it next Wednesday.

Richie Mann

Campaign Chair

This totally rocks, I was hoping since he's from Nova Scotia as well I'd get a chance to meet him and now it looks like I will. I've been a big fan of his since he stood up on principal and joined the Liberals, choosing not to sell his soul to the Devil (A.K.A. Stephen Harper -Ed.) like most of his colleagues did. I'm almost as excited as I was back in 2000 when I got to meet Prime Minister Chretien.

It just doesn't get any better than this

I first got in to politics around the time of the 1993 election, and the Jean Chretien facial ad I thought was bad. I didn't think the Conservatives could ever come up with an ad that even came close to being as bad as that one.

Until I saw this
(Please note, normally I would cut The Score's bar off the bottom, I've left it on there to prove the ad is not a fake. The video is in RealPlayer format.)

I particularly love the beat they got going on in the background, along with the samples of the Prime Minister and Justice Gomery, I think they must have hired Juan Atkins himself to lay down that track. I think they're going for the raver vote or something. BOOM CHIKKA BOOM CHIKKA BOOM CHIKKA!

"Hey dude, you got any Ecstacy?"

"No man, but I'm sure as hell not voting Liberal! Chris Sheppard just told me not to on one of his tracks!"

Bahahahahaha God, I can't stop laughing! This is BY FAR the worst ad of the campaign, I mean the last one I posted about; sure it was full of lies but at least the production quality was decent, but this one! Bahahahaha.

But the coup de gras, the thing that makes this better than I could have ever imagined, is that my good friend Mark over at nottawa post about this a while ago, and the ad is SO BAD Conservatives were accusing Liberals of doing a splice job on it. THEIR AD IS SO BAD SUPPORTERS OF THEIR OWN PARTY THOUGHT IT WAS A LIBERAL FAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's the proof: Click Here

BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Letter from an average voter

Last night I logged on to my gmail site to find a letter from Betty, a 60 year old mom from British Columbia, who until the Income Trust Witch Hunt was announced was a loyal NDP supporter. I asked and recieved her permission to share it with all of you. I hope you find it as enlightening as I did.

Hi ! I have only recently discovered your site and have been enjoying reading your essays. There is one subject I would like to have brought up on the net, but am way too chicken and uninformed about how to do it (I am a 60 year old Mom)(I also haven't figured out how to "post" on certain sites. Other than my quilting site).

I have been so angry over these last few days (I don't dare check my blood pressure) that I have to write to someone and get it off my chest. You seemed to be someone who would have the patience to read my rant.

I am absolutely furious with the hypocrisy and dirty politics shown by the NDP. First their finance critic abuses her power as a sitting MP to push the RCMP (they can not ignore a complaint from an MP) to launch a criminal investigation over he announcement made by Mr. Goodale. Second , she then calls a press conference to tell the media that the RCMP has called an investigation into the situation and says this is really serious (I am paraphrasing) because otherwise the police would not have gotten involved. I couldn't believe it when I heard this.

Why won't the media point out that this is simply a dirty political trick Mr. Goodale's mistake was to announce the day before that he would be making an announcement about the Income Trust watchjamacallit(excuse the technical jargon), he should have just made the announcement with no advance notice. Anyone who could walk and chew gum would have known that it was positive news for the Income Trust guys. The so-called experts that are trying to say that the activity in the Stock Market was unusual are either lying or incompetent. I have followed the Chicken Littles in the Stock Market for many years (no money invested, this is just my favorite Soap Opera) and know that they're not telling the truth.

What they did was wrong. It was not ethical. It is politics at its dirtiest. They don't have the courage to challenge their opponent on fair ground. They have resorted to character assassination and have involved the police in their dirty works. They have destroyed the reputation of an honourable man , Mr. Goodale, with trumped up charges purely for political gain. This whole thing has Ed Broadbents fingerprints all over it,(remember John Turner ? I am still angry at Ed Broadbent for how he smeared him and gave us the Mulroney years).How
dare that man have the gall to talk about ethics in politics, he doesn't even know the meaning of words like morals and ethics. Not only that, but these.....stupid......stupid....stupid...stupid people have also complained to the guys in charge of the New York Stock exchange. I was horrified when I heard that. Have they no idea what they have done by doing this ? Are they so incompetant or so uncaring about the consequences of such a serious action. They obviously have put political gain (why do they want the Conservatives to win?)above all else.

They are a bunch of self righteous, finger pointing, hypocrites as far as I am concerned. Now don't get me started on Sven. I have supported the NDP for many many years, I have worked as a volunteer in several elections. I will still support the NDP provincially, but I will never..never..support them Federally again.

I may be going off the deep end over something that others may say is "just politcs as usual" , but I still think it was wrong and hypocritical of them. You can not do something like that and then try to put yourself on the pedestal as the arbitrator of what is moral and ethical.

I had to write this tonight as tomorrow I will be packing my computer away and flying out to Quebec for a couple months stay with our daughter . Thank you for reading my rant and my best wishes for the New Year.

Yours truly,
Betty

This is one of the many arguments I've been trying to make all along. Neither the Conservatives nor the NDP are interested in telling the truth about anything, all they want is to smear the Liberals so that they can gain more power. I know the Liberals aren't perfect and I've said as much on numerous occasions, but they are by far the best party we have in Canada. I hope this letter from a die hard NDP supporter will help some of the current NDP supporters see the light and vote Liberal.

I wonder if the Conservatives ever get tired of spreading lies

I’m sure all of us by now have seen the Conservative ad that chastises the Liberals for planning a negative campaign. Well low and behold before the Liberals have even gone negative there’s a new Conservative attack ad out that tells some rather interesting lies about the Sponsorship Scandal. I find it funny that the Conservatives are complaining that we’re going to go negative and that they go negative first. I don’t find it surprising however; those of you who have read my blog from the beginning know that one of the running themes on this site has been exposing Conservative hypocrisy.

Anyway, here is what is said in the ad, followed by the truth in parenthesis ()

“When Paul Martin allowed over three hundred and thirty million to be spent on the sponsorship program…”

(Actually, sorry to rain on your parade there creepy voiceover guy but it was Prime Minister Chrétien, as evidenced by the Gomery report, who was the ring leader as far as the Sponsorship program went. Technically the money would have had to have come from the Finance department of which Prime Minister Martin was the head but as was shown in the Gomery report he was fully exonerated from any knowledge of seedy activity. So that’d be like me being accused of giving you money because you used the money to go out and buy a gun and kill people. How is that my fault again? Exactly.)

“When a hundred and forty seven million went to Liberal friendly ad agencies … And when millions of sponsorship dollars made their way back to the Liberals…”

(…they were paid back to the Canadian people and then the very few people responsible were named in a GOVERNMENT INQUIRY, whose report was subsequently handed over to the RCMP for use in any criminal investigation they saw fit to run. Oh wait that wasn’t what the Conservative ad says? But why wouldn’t the Conservatives tell the truth? Because the truth doesn’t get them any more votes. In fact if all Canadians took the time to sit down and find out the truth for themselves instead of just going on second and third hand information and 20 second news clips I suspect we’d see a plummet in Conservative support.)

Virtual Parliament!

Oh I've been looking for something like this for a long time, and thanks to a member of a forum I frequent I've found it.

http://www.politicscanada.net/

It's a forum based virtual parliament! I just joined as The Honorable Jordan Dent (Lib) Of Course, the member for Tobique Mactaquac (Cuz Dartmouth Cole Harbor was taken, lousy Dipper). As I see the standings right now we Liberals have a razor thin 3 seat minority parliament.

I hope to see all you Liberals there, Conservative supporters go somewhere else. :D

The accolades keep coming in!

WOW! First I win the Erik Sorenson award for my Layton Moustache post and now I've managed to draw the ire of Angry in the Great White North! If only smalldeadanimals would openly deride me I'd have the far Ultra Far Right hate tri-fecta® locked up!

Normally, I ignore the sort of non-thinking exhibited by Liberal for Life. But the announcement of an RCMP investigation is yet another blow to the Liberal campaign, and perhaps the biggest one so far. It's hard to imagine it getting any worse.

How does something like this affect the "true believer"? Someone who is an uncritical supporter, utterly unable to imagine the Liberal Party doing anything wrong, without it being a setup or a conspiracy, or blown out of proportion, or already fixed and thus a distraction from the "important" issues.

Well, we've just seen an example. It's not pretty.

Hey Angry thanks for the support and especially the incoming link buddy! I appreciate your efforts to help out my pagerank.

My motto is: The more Ultra Far Right Wingers (such as yourself) that hate me the better I'm doing! And with that post I'm doing very well.

And as for not being able to admit wrong doing, if the RCMP finds Minister Goodale guilty I will support his removal from office. However, I don't buy in to this "If something is suspected in a department it's Minister should step down" B.S. whether it be Liberal, Connie, Dipper or anyone else. I go for that whole "innocent until proven guilty" vibe, call me crazy.

I also got a tip for you guys, if you dunk Goodale in water and he drowns it means he's not a witch.