Ballad of Fake Lake

Of all the bad poetry generated by the upcoming G-8/G-20 summit, Jimbobby's is the baddest. Here's a sample, sung to the tune of The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald:

With a Muskoka chairs and canoes in the air
The fake lake was meant to thrill writers
A pleasant surprise, there ain't no blackflies,
No mosquitoes or other skin biters.

Fake Lake was the pride of the Conservative side
With fake loon songs and JumboTron pictures
Of real lakes and woods and handcrafted goods
And all the outdoors you could wish for.

All together now...

Kory Teneycke Retreats To Mordor

Conservative pundit Kory Teneycke has quit CBC after they demanded that he get a rabies shot. Now he's "vice-president of development" at Quebecor, owner of the Toronto Sun and other tabloids. Given the state of the Sun and other papers in the chain, it probably means he gets to fire people...or perhaps club them to death with live baby seals.

Things move forward, as they must: the Right self-immolates; Gaia heals his big gay self.

More Summit Madness? $1,000s For Wooden Fence

Greg Weston writes:

Down the hall from Loonie Lake in the Toronto media centre, taxpayers are being hit up yet again, this time for something called “The Living Wall.”

Summit organizers are contracting a massive wall of pre-cultivated plants that come with their own irrigation system.

This, we are told in government documents, will be the G20 summit’s “signature environmental project.”

“Leaving an environmental legacy is an important component of the overall environmental strategy for the G20 summit.”

(Speaking of legacy, Toronto taxpayers will have to take care of this vertical flowerbed for the next century).

How much The Living Wall will end up costing Canadian taxpayers is anyone’s guess.

With two weeks to go before the structure has to be in full bloom, the summit management office sent us a note saying it still had no cost estimates for the project.

Likely translation: The bill for this thing is too outrageous for publication.

Actually, Living Wall is a T.O.based company. That's a picture of one of their product at the top of the post (there' a wood frame under the foliage). And while the "pricing" section of their website says "coming soon...", we can find preliminary cost info in one of the company brochures:

Don't know how long this fence is supposed to be, and I'm a bit unsure as whether Living Wall is is actually building the living wall (the project was put out to tender), but we can safely put its cost well into the $10,000s, I think.

I will leave it to my readers to decide whether the cost is worth it.

Toronto Mayor's Race

...latest poll from Environics, which I have not seen reported upon elsewhere:

Bad news for Rocco Rossi. People I know who've met him always come away impressed, but he's got to raise his profile somehow. And those commercials on the Q just aren't doing it.

For news on T.O. mayor and council races, this place looks like the gold standard.

Fake Lake Fucks Tories!

Actually, the new Nanos poll looks like random drift to me. But feel free to overinterpret away. Personally, if forced to, I would say that half the 1.6% Tory decline is due to the G-8/G-20 boondoggle, half due to the their Opus Dei friendly maternal health care initiative.

Bill C-391 Stalled?

Looks like it. You can read the story through the link for a sense of the whole procedural song and dance, but bottom line is that Mark Holland's motion seems to have thrown a spanner into the works:

If Holland's motion is defeated, the bill is referred to report stage and then amendments can be introduced. After that, the bill goes on to third reading.

"Everything hinges on this concurrence motion," [Tory MP] Dave MacKenzie said. "Nothing can happen until that vote occurs."

And MacKenzie said it's unlikely the vote will occur before summer recess.

Go Mark Holland.

Although, if this rumor is true and we are heading for a government-triggered fall election, it would make sense for the Tories to stall their own bill so as to run on it again.

Why Not Call It "Big Fake Lake"

Toronto- The Council of Canadians has applied to the Geographical Names Board of Canada to have an artificial lake currently under construction at the Direct Media Centre in Toronto named after Prime Minister Stephen Harper. At a reported cost of $1.9 million, the lake is intended to resemble those found in the Muskoka region with a fake dock, fake canoes and a Jumbotron display showing cottage country photos to the international media in Toronto for the G20.

"We have sent an official request to the Geographical Names Board of Canada to have Canada's newest lake named "Harper's Folly" in honour of the Prime Minister" said Mark Calzavara, the Ontario/Quebec Organizer for the Council of Canadians. "We believe that all Canadians-regardless of their political views- will agree that the only thing more outrageous than spending $1.1 billion on a three day meeting is thinking that an indoor lake next to a big television could possibly compare to the spectacular beauty of cottage country."

Info on how to support the to CoC campaign lies through the link.

PS. As for this whole spending scandal, I suggest we start referring to it as Fake Watergate.

Coalition Math

As whomped up by some guy on the Blogging Tories forum and not checked by me. But in line with other estimates I've re the performance of a merged NDP/Liberal political entity. I've bolded the caveats.

Using Elections Data from the last elections and my rudimentary Excel skills, it seems like even a merged Liberal/NDP entity, running a single slate of candidates, cannot get to a majority, although a Liberal+NDP+Green combination potentially could.

The usual caveats apply, namely a 1:1 transfer of votes from the legacy parties to the merged party and no changes in voter turnout.

HoC seat distribution as of June 2010: Conservatives = 144, Liberals = 77, NDP = 36, Bloc = 48, Ind = 2, Vacant = 1.

EDAs where Liberal+NDP+Green vote >55% = 135
EDAs where Liberal+NDP vote >55% = 97

EDAs where Liberal+NDP+Green vote >50% = 166
EDAs where Liberal+NDP vote >50% = 129

Potential Liberal+NDP+Green Wins = 62
Potential Liberal+NDP Wins = 39

Drop the first caveat, and the merged entity performs even worse. Who knows how much of the Green Party vote would swing Tory?

Iggy Shows Flashes Of Gloriousness Re Coalition

He's dead on, as far as I'm concerned:

...the right way to do it is to run your flag up, (opposing parties) run their flag up, you fight like crazy, you put your choices clearly to the Canadian people, they make their choices and then you play the cards that voters deal you.

And a point I hadn't thought of:

Liberal strategists don't want to give ammunition to Harper's Tories, who so successfully demonized the 2008 coalition attempt.

And they don't want to make it harder for Liberals to win enough seats to make a coalition, much less a majority, possible. Strategists reason that New Democrats who want to defeat Harper would have little incentive to vote Liberal if they felt the Liberals would inevitably invite the NDP to join a coalition.

There's more, including comments on to what extent a Liberal-led coalition could work with the BQ. Kind of sounds like compromise between the advice given by Rob Silver and Scott Reid.

Oilicane

My favorite web-comic on the oil spill. And for a serious discussion of the same topic, go here.

Israel As A Western Security Problem

“The depth of America’s moral commitment does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily make Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset,” Mr. [Anthony] Cordesman wrote, in commentary for the centrist Center for Strategic and International Studies, where he is the Arleigh A. Burke Chair in strategy. “It is time Israel realized that it has obligations to the United States, as well as the United States to Israel, and that it become far more careful about the extent to which it tests the limits of U.S. patience and exploits the support of American Jews.”

Same applies to Canada, writ small.

Someone should tell the Mr. Netanyahu that at some point stupidity itself becomes immoral.

More Merger Talk

You've probably already read this one, but Dan Arnold's plea for a LPoC/CPoC merger is probably the best and funniest thing written on the topic this week:

Believe me, I too see how bleak the future looks for the Liberals. After all, we have been out of power for four years, while Harper sits with a towering 34% in the polls. I cannot imagine a more hopeless situation.

My own opinion, similar to Dan's, is here. And another reason it ain't gonna happen (I mean a merger of Canadian progressive parties)--at least not before the next election--is: you can't go dancing without a partner, and I have not heard a single NDP blogger/politician in favour of a merger. And why should they be? How could the NDP faction within a Liberal-New Democrat coalition be anything but the juniorist of Jr. partners. Look what's happened to the old Progressive Conservatives within the new CPoC. Poof! Gone without a trace...except for a few brave souls up in the Senate!

So let's put aside the unseemly panic, shall we?

Update: X Sask. NDP Preem Roy Romanow is down with a coalition. Missed that previously. And a fairly authoritative figure too, in my book.

What Are The NDP Up To?

Lets see...on the foreign affairs front, they're rallying behind the cause of Bolivian fishermen...Oh no wait! It's Columbian miners. Meanwhile, back at home, Jack Layton has decided to stand with the gun nuts and kill the long-gun registry.

Quick, Jack! There's a cute little frog in Dominica that needs the NDP to come to its rescue. Because its sooo easy to be progressive over shit going on a 1,000 miles away, right?

Closer to home, there's one animal that will never go extinct as long as Jack and the gang are in the HOC:

Your Daily Nazi: Another FreeD Anony IDed

And guess what? He's a Neo-Nazi. A big wheel, too:

OdinPatrick (who also appears to post on Free Dominion as "Padriagh" and is one of the individuals named in the Warman defamation suit), is Dan Martin from Nanaimo, B.C. He is the senior Canadian moderator on Stormfront (a well-known hate site)....

Some background here. Have a nice day, "dangerous" Dan.

C-391 Voting Scenarios

Derek Firebrandt's crunched the numbers:
I met Derek, incidentally, during my 2nd appearance on the Coren show. Nice guy. Very artfully maintained hair. "Bottle blonde", I think is the term.

Monckton Gets Political

Swivel-eyed lunatic and AGW denier Viscount Monckton of Brenchley has been appointed joint deputy leader of UKIP (UK Independence Party). His immediate goals:

My first task will be to build on the Initiative Referendum Bill already tabled in the House of Lords by Lord Pearson and Lord Willoughby de Broke by drafting new, radically democratic constitutions for Britain and for Europe. After 1000 years of inexorable progress towards democracy, in the last 30 years pernicious peculation by Parliament’s political pygmies has thrown Britain’s democracy away.
From its wiki entry, UKIP sounds like a Conservative splinter party. Although their main goal is a U.K. withdrawal from European Union, they have a handful of seats in the Euro-Parliament, as well as two in the House of Lords. Note: Monckton will not add to their ranks in the latter chamber, despite the fact he datelines his writings "House of Lords". UKIP describes itself as "non-racist", but the 2010 election smoked out a few loons.

Monckton himself is deeply, deeply crazy. Having once argued that AIDs victims should be segregated from the general population, he now claims to be working on a cure for the disease. And in February he suggested that NASA blew up one of its satellites so it wouldn't provide the hard data needed to disprove the great global warming hoax.

Good luck Mr. Monckton! Good luck UKIP!

Tories Limp On Crime

From the Young Liberals Of Canada, who've already given similar treatment to the NDP.

H/T

Helena Guergis: Tragedy Has Made Her Less Blonde

Pre-troubles:

Today:
A sad time for our nation.

A Billion Bucks Worth Of Fresh Paint...

H/T

Excerpts From Claude Nolin's Speech On Senate Reform

Here are my favorite bits from the rebel Tory Senator's speech opposing Bill S-8, the Harper government's latest attempt at an elected upper chamber:

An election identifies the people's choice. It is the culmination of a competition that produces the most popular candidate. This house should be made up, if possible, of popular people, but more importantly, of competent people. That is why the Fathers of Confederation devised a system in which the Prime Minister retains full responsibility for recommending to the Governor General the nominees best qualified to serve as senators.

Under the guise of bowing to popular democracy, Bill S-8 is contrary to what the Fathers of Confederation had in mind.

The popularity shown by an election is certainly something appropriate, but it should not be viewed as a fundamental consideration for determining whether or not an individual Canadian should be nominated to this place.

In recent history, this chamber has seen its work influenced by a number of senators. Senator Keon retired just a little while ago; a few years ago, it was Senator Beaudoin. I will name only these two, given the time I am allotted. I know Senator Beaudoin very well and I got to know Senator Keon. Senator Keon told us that he would never have run in an election because he did not feel the need to be popular in order to be efficient. He would have opposed the passage of Bill S-8.

We have here several French-speaking senators from outside Quebec, including Senator Mockler from New Brunswick. Do you think that the people of New Brunswick, most of whom are English-speaking, would have voted for Senator Mockler, an Acadian?

[...]

Why are there more Aboriginal senators than Aboriginal members of the other place? Because they are in the minority. All across Canada, except in the territories, Aboriginal Canadians from various reserves and of various origins are in the minority. Do you think that in a popularity contest, people would be willing to put the names of Aboriginal candidates and then vote for them? The answer is no. Should we have Aboriginal senators in this chamber? Yes!

[...]
I do not agree with giving up the "E" for effective for the sake of the "E" for elected. That is not what we are here for. We are not here to replace the House of Commons, but to complement it, to add effective second thought to the legislative process initiated in the other place. We are not here to replace the work of the members of Parliament, but to complete it.

Honourable senators, this much-sought-after effectiveness takes aim at the so called legitimacy that being elected could provide us, because electing senators does not guarantee effectiveness. The only thing "E" for elected will get us is popularity. Popularity is what they have in the House of Commons. We are not the House of Commons. The Senate of Canada offers Canadians effective work.

This effectiveness results from our individual and collective expression of the independence that the current process allows us. Any honourable senator may act in good conscience in the interest of Canadians, independently of pressure exerted by the House of Commons and of his or her political affiliations. Any independence resulting from electing candidates to the Senate is certainly not going to make the Senate more effective.

[...]

Senator Brown: Does the honourable senator know why the Canadian media unanimously have called this place illegitimate for over 100 years?

Senator Nolin: Senator Brown, we do not have much time so I will be brief.

First, I do not agree that all media and the entire population have said that. Recently, I saw numbers to indicate that the split is 50/50 between those who want an elected Senate and those who do not. The key question is not about legitimacy coming from an election. At the end of day, senators will be judged on their effectiveness, and not in terms of whether or not the media like the Senate. Effectiveness is the key word. Can senators be effective only when they are elected? I doubt it. Elected senators can be effective, but being elected should not be a prerequisite. Independence from the other place is the tool that provides efficiency and effectiveness to senators. What the media thinks, I do not really care.

[...]

Senator Segal: Honourable senators, I am fascinated by Senator Nolin's citation of the original intent of the Fathers of Confederation. I want to get a sense from the honourable senator of how far that original intent should constrain our ability in this chamber to try to improve the legislative framework which, at the present time, has one third of our national legislators unelected, Senator Brown notwithstanding.

Senator Nolin: Honourable senators, my answer will be brief. I am not saying that this is the last word or that it is the end of the world. I am only saying that it is there, and I do not think Bill S-8 adds to that.

The intent is sober second thought, as expressed by the framer Sir John A. Macdonald. I do not think being elected will add to the principle of sober second thought. Quite to the contrary, I think it would create havoc between this house and the other house because we would try to be more popular and more democratic.

That is not what the population in 1867 needed, and it is not what the population needs now. The population needs a second chamber that will add to the quality of the work of the first chamber by giving sober second thought to the work done by the first house, without concern for glamour, popularity or beauty contests. We have a job to do, and we are free and independent. We can do it without being pushed by the people in the other place. Let us use that. We are not using it. We must be independent; then we will be effective.

Here, on the other hand, is a link to John Baird shrieking. Which makes you feel more proud to be a Canadian?