Ontario And Quebec: Capping and Trading

From The Eco Libertarian (by day, Ottawa Citizen writer and editor David Reevely), the full text of the McGuinty/Charest cap-and-trade deal. As Mr Reevely notes, it is a fairly substantive document:

...the commitment to absolute rather than intensity-based targets is significant, and so’s the commitment to link up with other carbon trading systems, which should lead to money finding its way to the most economically efficient emissions cuts, over time.

Reevely has this esp. nice bit on Harper's rather desperate flailing over the issue:

Prime Minister Stephen Harper criticized the plan for not establishing a regulatory mechanism and suggested the new Montreal Climate Exchange will have to fill that void.
[...]
They’re going to leave the details to a privately operated market and that’s a problem? Remind me — who are the conservatives, again?

Eat Bugs, Save Planet

As with all things environmental, I am way ahead of the curve on this. Although, if I were to do it again, I would probably not choose to eat a scorpion. The graphic above shows a number of particularly tasty species.

PS. My dad says he's eaten a number of these insects. I don't know if this was from culinary curiosity, or whether he was in a North Korean POW camp at the time.

The Rise of The Canadian Religious Right

Another good piece by ex-NDP MP Dennis Gruending. He contests the notion that there is no Canadian counterpart to the U.S. movement, and sees

...growing cooperation among conservative Christians, particularly in evangelical and Catholic churches, based on a shared agenda anchored in opposition to same-sex marriage, abortion, publicly funded childcare and other social programs. Derek Rogusky heads the socially conservative Ottawa-based Institute of Marriage and the Family Canada. The group has been deeply involved in research, messaging and lobbying on a number of political issues, most notably the same sex marriage legislation. Rogusky says, “We’re seeing a real coalescing of between evangelicals and conservative Catholics. We’re starting to see them engage in issues much more than they did 10 years ago.

Other indications are "the expanding network of advocacy and lobby groups aimed at influencing public policy ", and increasing access to "the halls of power". His most controversial claim is that "the vote of evangelical Christians and Catholics who attend church weekly was a decisive factor in the election of a Conservative minority government".

Not terribly surprising, all in all, but a good thing to keep in mind if you're wondering why the Tories keep pushing micro-legislation like Bill C-484. This bill is an attempt to convey solidarity with religious right voters without being substantial enough to wake the mainstream from its slumber.

The paper on which Mr. Gruending's latest is based can be found here.

The Blog Post They Are So Proud Of

Andrew Coyne's coverage of Macleans appearance before the BHRC, for the first day and a half astoundingly non-newsy, takes off a bit in yesterday's afternoon coverage, in which he chronicles the cross-examination of complainant Kurrum Awan by Macleans' lawyer Julian Porter. Porter seems to poke several significant holes in Awan's account of his attempted negotiations with Macleans.

In fact, the magazine looks to be halfway in the clear, which means, oddly enough, that they lose--Coyne has admitted that he would rather see this thing appealed to the Supreme Court.

But what I am interested in at the moment is this brief passage from yesterday's morning session:

11:45 AM The hearing now turns to readings from various blogs I’ve never heard of: The Brussels Journal, some Catholic blog and… oh, the late Western Standard! Not obscure, just obsolete! (The mag, I mean — the website is still in business.) The Western Standard reference: a blog post by Ezra Levant, the defunct magazine’s former publisher, dated Dec. 2 2007. This is slightly surreal: he’s sitting in front of me as I write this, laptop in hand, writing about being spoken about with reference to something he’d written about … this case. This is getting so meta I’m losing track…"

Both Ezra and the Western Standard were thrilled to get a mention at the hearing. This is bizarre, and perhaps a little history lesson will explain why.

The blog post in question is entitled Elmasry vs. Steyn, and was composed by Ezra Levant on December 2, 2007. It was in fact the last blog post Ezra wrote for the Standard before he fled the flaming wreckage of its paper incarnation. By December 5 it had attracted a comment advocating Muslim genocide:

There is no such thing as innocent Muslims. They must all be killed. All of them.

This comment was left to fester for about two weeks, until Levant adversary Syed Soharwardy discovered it. He threatened a complaint to the AHRCC, and to organize a protest against the magazine outside of Calgary city-hall. He also called in the police. As a result, the Standard's new editor, Matthew Johnston, issued an apology, and has since been making an effort to weed out the crazies that occasionally still post to the WS Shotgun Blog. Mr. Soharwardy withdrew his threatened complaint, and the comment author was traced to Ontario, presumably with the assistance of the WS technical staff.

In any case, hardly the kind of thing to be proud of.

In Stressful Times, Calming Voices Are Good To Have Around

During the SARS epidemic of 2003, Sheela Basrur was that calming voice, and in the end the closest thing to a hero that the crisis produced. Unfortunately, Ms. Basrur has lost her battle with Cancer, and the City of Toronto has lost one of its most stalwart defenders. A sad day.

On Pranking Newt Gingrich

Newt's latest brainchild is "American Solutions", a

...unique non-partisan organization designed to rise above traditional gridlocked partisanship, to provide real, significant solutions to the most important issues facing our country.

And one of American Solutions latest projects is the "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less" on-line petition, which asks that the U.S. government

...act immediately to lower gasoline prices by authorizing the exploration of proven energy reserves to reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources from unstable countries.

Drill in Alaska and "off America's coasts", in other words. As of this moment, the petition has collected 305,781 signatures.

Now, as you many know, I have a conflicted relationship with petitions. However, I do have a friend who is not above such things. I told him about this one, and last night my friend received the following email from American Solutions Executive Director Dave Ryan:

Dear Galactus,

The Boxer-Warner-Lieberman Gas Tax Hike bill is being debated in the Senate.

If adopted, this bill will lead to an increase in gas prices by as much as $3.00 per gallon in the next two decades.

Call the Senate switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and urge your Senators to vote against the Boxer-Warner-Lieberman Gas Tax Hike. Tell them that gas prices are high enough and we need real solutions, not more taxes.

Well, the big G, Eater Of Worlds, read this and he's pissed! He's flown off to Washington, not only to "urge" his Senators to vote against Boxer-Warner-Lieberman, but to disintegrate them down to their constituent molecules if they cast a Yea vote! Go G!

Fuck The Polar Bears!!

Municipalities Say No To C-10

The FCM (Federation of Canadian Municipalities) has gone out against the Tories amendments regarding fiscal incentives applicable to Canadian films. Not too surprising. Towns like Toronto and Vancouver (and Montreal and Halifax) get a fair bit of revenue from hosting film crews.

FCMs news release also contains the best short explanation of whats wrong with the bill that I have read:

The amendments proposed provide the Minister of Heritage Canada with the discretionary power to withdraw, once the film is completed, the tax credits already agreed upon for the film.

A film-maker who plays by all the rules can still lose funding at the whim of the minister, in other words.

h/t to Western Standard, who are reporting news these days rather than serving as on-line club-house for Ezra's band of thuggies:

The Conservative strategy behind Bill C-10 had nothing to do with making government smaller or reducing the role of the state; it had everything to do with appeasing the social conservative base of the party.

True enough, if a bit obvious. Less obvious is the WS contention that these amendments will eventually pass. My money is on them eventually disappearing into a mound of unfinished business this fall when Harper Prorogues the HOC. Harper wouldn't really damage our cities' economies just to throw red meat to the goobers, would he?

Would he?

To Whom Did CTV Cave?

Nice that John Baird has taken up Jim Flaherty's role as Ontario-Basher in chief. Making statements like "only Alberta is forcing the big polluters to cut their emissions" will surely endear the Harper Tories to us Central Canadian folk.


But what's most interesting is how CTV castrated its own story during the course of Sunday afternoon. The origonal title, "Baird sneers at Ontario-Quebec carbon trading plan", was later amended to "Baird dismisses Ontario-Quebec carbon trading plan". You can see both in the screen-cap above.

So who strong-armed 'em? Or was it an honest reconsideration? I didn't see "Question Period", where Baird made his remarks. Was he sneering? He sneers alot. Can anyone tell me, did he give 'em one of these:











Or was he merely dismissive:

The stuff of conspiracy, this is.

Ezra And The Blind Man

Trevor Jones wanted to buy a townhouse in Vancouver. But they had a restriction against pets exceeding 15 kg. That ruled out Jones's Labrador retriever, Chloe.

Jones claimed that he was going blind, and that the condo board was discriminating against him. He took the condo board to the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal. They agreed with him.

Trouble is, Chloe isn't a seeing eye dog.

So what, said the BCHRT. Ka-ching -- $12,000 for Jones's hurt feelings.

Sometimes you have to figure that Ezra Levant thinks his audience is too stupid to click through a link. The Vancouver Sun story he refs is far less distorted than his own retelling of the tale. But if you want the long version, the BCHRT file is here, from which we discover a number of interesting facts. Firstly, not only did Jones claim to be going blind...he was going blind!!! Secondly, not only were Mr. Jones feelings hurt, but he was forced to move into a less suitable strata unit (what they call condos out there) than the one he wanted, and has taken a few serious falls in the time since (Chloe has unfortunately passed away). Thirdly, while Chloe was not registered as a seeing eye dog, Mr. Jones had obtained a letter from his doctor testifying to the dog's role in helping Mr. Jones get around.

Conclusion? A Strata corporation tried to fuck over a blind guy and got tagged for it. Now it looks like Ezra is trying to do the same thing in print.

High Gas Prices: The Natural Carbon Tax?

Latest data from the U.S. Department of Transportation Highway Administration page:

Americans Driving At Historic Lows
Eleven Billion Fewer Vehicle Miles Traveled in March 2008 Over Previous March

The graph is from here. Please let me know where similar Canadian data can be found. The answer does not seem to be "Stats-Canada" or "Transport Canada". (And excuse my ineptitude with Paint. The graph looks better when you click on it.)

Macleans Magazine As Corporate Welfare Bum, Part III

Terrence Watson has a nice post on the Western Standard's Shotgun Blog here, which refers to several earlier posts of mine on the topic of Maclean's Magazine and its $3,000,000 per year subsidy from the Canadian Heritage Publications Assistance Program(PAP), which offset[s] the mailing costs of Canadian content magazines and non-daily newspapers mailed within Canada. This is just a rewrite of a comment I made on the WS blog:

Part of what I wanted to communicate in these earlier posts (esp. to people who might be pissed off with MaCleans etc. for publishing allegedly offensive material like Steyn's) is that there are other, less controversial and maybe more effective ways of expressing your displeasure than via HRC complaints. Comparisons to C-10 aside, we should all agree that, if we ever figure out what "offensive" means, we should be able to call a magazine like Macleans for being offensive if they're doing it on the government dime.

More generally, there ought to be at least a set of methods of protest which both Right And Left can agree are legitimate. So for example: boycotts. If pro-lifers can actually convince Disney to be less Gay-centric by refusing to visit Disneyland, and thus causing Disney to hemorage profits, more power to them. Same with picketing: If Mo Elasmry's bunch could dig up forty Muslims to wave placards in front of the Rogers building, they would get far more positive coverage for their cause, and far less media hassles, than channeling their aggression through HRCs.

When such methods are employed, the whole argument that "you are trying to silence debate" becomes irrelevant. OF COURSE I AM TRYING TO SILENCE DEBATE. I personally would have Macleans sack Steyn and hire someone that finished highschool (I, for example, am available). But the point is: there ought to be some common ground on which means are legitimate for accomplishing this end.

Cutting MacLeans PAP funding seems to me to be one of these legitimate means.

An interesting tidbit from the Shotgun Comments section:

In the final days of the Citizens Centre Report (the final incarnation of Alberta/BC/Western Report), the decision was made to reject this funding. The magazine went out of business just a few months later.The rejection didn't put the magazine under, but it didn't help. The argument for accepting the funds had long been that the magazine would put itself at a competitive disadvantage by ripping up the cheque. That is, if all other magazines were accepting the money (as they did), we would be tying a millstone around our necks by not accepting the money too.As well, it could also be argued that, in light of the fact the government took large amounts of money from us in the form of taxes, accepting the Heritage money was simply a matter of getting back some of the money that was ours to start with.

The Western Standard, by the way, accepted the grant money: $132,000 in 2006-07, for example. See: http://www.pch.gc.ca/progs/ac-ca/progs/pap/pubs/report-rapport/annualreport2007/7_e.cfm

Terry O'Neill

You mean Über Capitalist Ezra Levant accepted government funds? Oh My!

Climate Anomaly Caused By Buckets Of Water!

Just a quicky on what will probably become a fairly large story:

A difference in the way British and American ships measured the temperature of the ocean during the 1940s may explain why the world appeared to undergo a period of sudden cooling immediately after the Second World War.
[...]
The scientists point out that the British measurements were taken by throwing canvas buckets over the side and hauling water up to the deck for temperatures to be measured by immersing a thermometer for several minutes, which would result in a slightly cooler record because of evaporation from the bucket.

This finding actually makes the AGW story go more smoothly:


Professor Jones said that the study lends support to the idea that a period of global cooling occurred later during the mid-twentieth century as a result of sulphate aerosols being released during the 1950s with the rise of industrial output. These sulphates tended to cut sunlight, counteracting global warming caused by rising carbon dioxide.

"This finding supports the sulphates argument, because it was bit hard to explain how they could cause the period of cooling from 1945, when industrial production was still relatively low," Professor Jones said.

Although its perhaps a bit of an embarrassment.

And the weird thing is, Steve McIntyre seems to have got to this one first. Too bad Steve grinds out blog posts rather than writing up a real paper now and again.

Go through the links for details. The James Annan post ( through "a bit of...") is especially good.

What, No F*cking?

I was at the special Hill pre-screening of Young People Fucking - yes, the notorious Canadian film that has caused such consternation at the C-10 hearings before the Senate banking committee. The verdict? Absurdly wholesome, and really very sweet. The kind of movie that sucks you in when you’re flipping through the channels on a Sunday afternoon.

I knew it was going to be a loser.

So I guess that means the next movie my wife drags me off to see will be "Sex In The City". Apparently, there were no guys at the London Premiere, except a few that looked too hot to be straight. I'm thinking of going disguised in a wig and a dress so people who see me in the lineup won't think I'm gay. I'll probably shave first.

Do any cars blow up? Is there any machine gun fire? A villain with weird hair and a cool scar? Somebody help me.

What I'll Be Up Against!

Whatcott Triumphant!

Despite what you might have heard, the folks at FreeD booted me off their forum last year for writing about "Wild" Bill Whatcott, whose anti-abortion activism has earned him several arrests over the years and a brief stint in an Ontario prison. In 2002, Bill protested outside of a Planned Parenthood clinic in Saskatchewan. As a result The Saskatchewan Association of Licensed Practical Nurses found him guilty of professional misconduct, suspended him as a nurse, and ordered him to pay $15,000 in legal costs.

Bill fought back, and his case has been wending its way through the court system ever since. Well, yesterday Bill tasted of sweet vindication. The Supreme Court of Canada chose not to hear an appeal of a lower court decision that found that Bill not guilty of these charges:

Mr. Whatcott argued that he had been demonstrating in his free time and that his protest was simply a case of free speech. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association had also weighed in on the debate, saying that while it favored abortion rights it was concerned over attempts to squelch debate.

Congratulations, Bill!

And a very important point: do this kind of stuff outside of office hours, and you are usually in the clear ;)

You know, FreeD turfed Bill from the forum around the same time they turfed me, blaming him for bringing the HRCs down on their head. Wonder if they'll let them start posting again.

PS. My darling CF, I have received your secret missive. Paris sounds lovely, but what will we do about him?

Jurassic Stork Dined On Deano!

If there was a Nobel Prize for Cool, then paleontologist Darren Naish and Paleo-Artist Mark Witton would be awarded it 7-fold. I know Darren best, as a long-time contributor to the dinosaur mailing list, then an intrepid paelo-blogger with a taste for crypto-zoology (who wrote, for example, on "The Monster of Base Naden"), and now as the co-author of an astounding new paper on Azhdarchid Paleobiology.

Azhdarchid's were pterosaurs. In fact they include the largest pterosaurs--standing 2.5 meters tall and with a wing-span of 10 meters. (See picture above left, of Azhdarchid eyeing soft, pathetic human.) To date, however, reconstructing their lifestyle has been difficult:

While azhdarchids have been imagined as vulture-like scavengers, sediment probers, swimmers, waders, aerial predators, or stork-like generalists, most recent authors have regarded them as skim-feeders, trawling their lower jaws through water during flight and seizing aquatic prey from the water's surface.

However, Darren and Mark think that this last, most recent theory is incorrect:

We argue that azhdarchids were stork- or ground hornbill-like generalists, foraging in diverse environments for small animals and carrion.

What kind of "small animals", you ask? Well, as Mr. Witton's image below suggests...

...among their prey were hatchling sauropods! Now, for some scale here, the "babies" in the picture would probably be the size of a Great Dane, and our pterosaurs look to be sucking 'em back like oysters! Slurp! One gulp and gone, no need to even chew! (I think these particular pterosaurs were toothless anyway!)

And the best part? Although Azhdarchids made a living as ground hunters, Darren writes:

Even weighing 250 kg, azhdarchids were capable flyers as demonstrated by estimated wing musculature and planform. There is no reason to assume flightlessness.

Damn! Starts to make this guy sound prophetic! (If you know what I'm talking about, then you are truly a connoisseur of Canadian SciFi.)

Young, Huffed, And Muslim...?

... pissed off at the crap Macleans Magazine has been slinging your way, but maybe tired of the whole "take 'em to the HRC" routine?

Well, you might consider demanding that the magazine pay for its own stamps! As I wrote in an earlier post:

As it turns out, Macleans Magazine gets a cool $3,000,000-plus from the Canadian Heritage Publications Assistance Program (PAP), which offset[s] the mailing costs of Canadian content magazines and non-daily newspapers mailed within Canada.

In fact of all the magazines supported it is the single largest recipient of such assistance...

Except that there are rules, see? PAP is not supposed to fund magazine publishing "offensive" material. And, to find out how one might raise a complaint against Macleans on this basis, I emailed Heritage Canada. Yesterday, I received their response:

Good morning... [BigCityLib]:

This is in reply to your e-mail of May 12, 2008, regarding your concerns and comments about the article entitled "The future belongs to Islam" published in Maclean’s magazine October 2006.

The Publications Assistance Program – Applicant’s Guide, page 6, states the following:

magazines are not eligible for postal subsidy if they are: that in the view of Canadian Heritage, contain material considered to be hate propaganda, sexual exploitation, excessive or gratuitous violence, denigration of an identifiable group or an any other way offensive.

If you would like to register a complaint under these guidelines, you may write to the Minister of Canadian Heritage at the following address: House of Commons, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0A6. You may also contact the Minister through our departmental Web site at http://www.pch.gc.ca/pc-ch/min/verner/contact/index_e.cfm. We also suggest you consider writing to the Ontario Press Council, as this organization has media accountability mechanisms in place. Furthermore, you may wish to consider writing to Maclean’s magazine to communicate your concerns directly.

Should you have further questions, please contact Céline Boucher at 819-997-5249 or at 819-997-9221.

Sincerely, Céline Boucher
Chief, Policy and Program Development /
Chef, Administration et politique de programme
Publications Assistance Program /
Programme d'aide aux publications
Canadian Heritage /
Patrimoine canadien
114-4, 15 Eddy, Hull, Québec, K1A 0M5
Telephone /Téléphone 819-997-5249
Fax Télécopieur 819-997-4995
www.canadianheritage.gc.ca/pap
www.patrimoinecanadien.gc.ca/pap

Now, I'm not saying "take this route". But its probably something not thought-of much previously. And I would argue that, while we may disagree over the limits of Free Speech, we can certainly, all of us, Conservative or Liberal, agree that publications spreading general offensiveness ought to be forking out for their own postage. Its just so Capitalist. Make Kenneth Whyte and Paul Wells and Andrew Coyne lick their own goddamn stamps!

PS. Other things you might try include approaching the Ontario Press Council (although I thought I read somewhere that Macleans, as well as the Natty Post, don't recognize such Councils as authoritative). Or you might just try and scare up enough like-minded Muslims to picket the Rogers building. Picketing can work just fine. Witness how Soharwardy extracted a grovelling apology from the Western Standard.

PPS. Retire Mo Elmasry. He's muddying your message.

At Least He Won't Go Blind

OTTAWA–A provocative movie about the sex lives of young people is too hot for some Conservatives to handle – and a parliamentary staffer has been fired for ordering tickets to a special screening.

Word is, all staff exposure to issues re sexuality will be funneled exclusively through sanctioned Conservative Party sources, which is to say Maxine Bernier's new duties will now include teaching Tory MPs and aides about the dangerous world that lies beneath a woman's petticoats. No word on whether he will demonstrate "The Venus Butterfly".





Bernier Explains His
Technique

The Fruits Of Scandal

As I argued several months back, The Cadman Scandal in and of itself was likely to precipitate the death of several controversial Tory initiatives that might be used as election triggers, one of these being bill C-46, which would have ended the Canadian Wheat Board's barley monopoly . Well, with Cadmania history but several other scandals unfolding, this prediction seems to be coming true.

There's "no way" the Conservative government can pass Bill C-46 before the House of Commons breaks for summer in mid-June, according to NDP MP Pat Martin.

Basically, the Tories have placed their bill so low on the parliamentary agenda that it will never reach the debate stage. Furthermore, earlier threats to make C-46 a confidence measure appear to have evaporated:

Martin said he would not rule out the possibility of seeing C-46 turned into a confidence motion, meaning failure to pass the bill in Parliament would bring down the government and trigger a federal election.

[A] Conservative spokesperson declined to comment on the whether or not that is something the government is considering.

Compare that to this bit of bluster in March from agriculture minister Gerry Ritz and you can see how far the Tories have fallen.

My advice to the opposition parties? Follow the ways of the noble Komodo Dragon, which bites its prey once, and then may pursue it for days while it slowly weakens and bleeds to death. Patience, brothers and sisters, patience!

Why Do The French Have All The Best Scandals?

...while in the ROC we get crap about falsely billed election expenses. A bug in her bed? Next on the agenda can only be a sex tape. Be especially embarrassing if in it former foreign minister Maxime Bernier is...alone!

Rally In Ottawa For Net Neutrality, And Will Bernier's Resignation Stall Copyright Reform?

Today, on Parliament Hill, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Speakers include Charlie Angus - NDP MP, and Mauril Bélanger - Liberal MP.

I know I haven't done much about this issue, but back in the early days of Napster I used to occasionally write for these guys.

And interestingly enough, they are reporting that:

Late tonight comes reports that Maxime Bernier, now former minister of international affairs and the minister who previously took charge in the copyright reform bill has now resigned. The political fallout may put copyright reform on hold while the governing party swings into further damage control.
[...]
If the Conservative party hoped for an opportunity to slip copyright reform into government in the future, it is unlikely that the moment is now.

Not an unlikely theory, and I certainly hope its true. Thanks Julie!