Ezra On Pankiw: A Quick Fisking

Ezra's views on the Jim Pankiw case are unsurprising. I will just note one of the howlers in his Natty Post column today:

Pankiw can be prosecuted for spreading "discrimination," every MP is at risk. Not a day goes by when MPs don't offend one group or another. We allow it; we expect it; in fact, we give MPs more freedom than any other Canadians, even exempting their debates from defamation law, on the liberal theory that all ideas should be heard, and in the clash of views, the truth will emerge and the country will be better off. It's called parliamentary privilege, and it goes back centuries. It's one of our ancient civil rights, designed to protect the people's representatives from political interference from the King.

Whether or not Pankiw "wins" his trial is irrelevant. He's already lost, and so have we. The message is loud and clear: The CHRC has ended parliamentary immunity.

Mr. Pankiw has already attempted to play the parliamentary immunity card, to which CHRT chairperson Grant Sinclair responded as follows:

[14] Nor does it appear to us that the PSA, and s. 52.6 in particular, extends the scope of any privilege or immunity from which Members may benefit. Parliamentary privilege provides Members with an absolute immunity from civil or criminal prosecution when speaking in the House of Commons or engaged in a proceeding in Parliament (see J.P.J. Maingot, Parliamentary Privilege in Canada, 2d ed). Over the years, the assertion of parliamentary privilege has varied in its scope and extent. But as the Supreme Court of Canada noted in Vaid (at para. 23), a narrower concept of privilege has developed in more recent times. The Court referred to a 1971 ruling of the Speaker of the House, who stated that parliamentary privilege "does not go much beyond the right of free speech in the House of Commons and the right of a Member to discharge his duties in the House as a member of the House of Commons".

Since Mr. Pankiw is not being charged of reading the content of his householders (pamphlets) from the floor of the HOC, parliamentary immunity does not apply to him.

This, by the way, is the same line of reasoning behind Harper's law-suit against the LPoC. And I'm sure the Ez knows just how far privilege extends. He wrote back in February:

Being called a law-breaker is about the worst defamation you could say about someone, especially a lawyer like me. It's a complete fabrication, factually inaccurate and completely unfair. But, because it was uttered in the House of Commons, it is protected by "absolute privilege". Ms. [Raymonde]Folco is immune to a lawsuit.

Today my lawyers fired off this letter to her. And, until she repeats her accusations outside of Parliament, the letter is all that can be done, legally.

And, just as an aside, Ezra writes:

The suit against Pankiw is clearly unconstitutional. In 1990, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that human rights commissions could only pursue "hate" cases against Canadians whose messages were pure evil -- they were explicitly forbidden from touching political speech.

Here he is referring to CHRC vs. Taylor, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 892. But, of course, as I pointed out yesterday, this case referred exclusively to the constitutionality of Section 13(1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act. Pankiw is being charged with violating sections sections 5, 12, and 14. So while Levant's argument may be relevant to some other case, it is not relevant to this one.

I Didn't Know This Kind Of Stuff Still Worked

Kevin Taft, Leader of the Opposition:

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. This government can’t control the price of oil, but it could have controlled the rampant increases in costs by simply managing growth. Will the Premier admit that by ignoring industry requests, requests from former Premier Lougheed, and just about everyone else to manage growth, this government has made a serious mistake?

Premier Ed Stelmach:

Obviously, now we see the true colour of the Leader of the Opposition. He sure as heck isn’t a capitalist, talking about managing growth through the government. Sounds more like what they were doing in the former Soviet Russia.

That was said on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008. I especially like how Stelmach employed the folksy "heck" to show that he is a man of the people. That was a nice touch.

Color Me Skeptical...

(A quick note, since the article linked doesn't make it clear for a couple of paragraphs: the gal above is supposed to be a McCain volunteer, the backwards "B" is supposed to stand for "Barack")

But if this incident happened yesterday at about 9 pm Pittsburgh time--not even 24 hours ago-- and the backwards B was carved with a knife (as the story suggests), then that wound has healed up awfully nice.

So, maybe I'll feel dumb tomorrow, but right now I'm not buying it.

Rob Breakenridge: His Speech Is Free, His Math Sub-Standard

Here's Rob Breakenridge on Jim Pankiw's Human Rights case before the CHRT:

Some further thoughts on yesterday's post and specifically a point raised by Ezra Levant - one that demands some further attention. Ezra writes:

The CHRC has long ago abandoned the legal limits set out by the Supreme Court in its 1990 Taylor case, that prohibited "hate" prosecutions of political views. They are violating the constitution.

Ezra's specifically referring to the landmark Supreme Court ruling which narrowly upheld Section 13 - under which a John Ross Taylor was charged and under which former MP Jim Pankiw has been charged. You can read the full decision here.


Of the argument which follows, I can only say that I was impressed by it and hope Mr. Breakenridge one day finds a context to which it is appropriate.

However, Mr. Pankiw is not being charged under Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. He is being charged under sections 5, 12, and 14. While 12 deals with Publication of discriminatory notices, etc. , 5 and 14 refer to the discrimination and harassment in the provision of services. As householders, Pankiw's pamphlets are a public good/service provided by an MP to his constituents and whoever else receives them. In this case, the publications were used to harass and discriminate against a sub-set of these constituents. That, at least, is the argument.

The fact that the service provided was a pamphlet, a vehicle of communication, is tangential, and therefore so are the implications of this case for the current debate over section 13. Certainly, a repeal of section 13 would not have had any effect of this case going forward whatsoever.

Breakenridge provides a link to the original pamphlets.

Gawd You're Sexy, Part II

Meet Epidexipteryx hui, a new dinosaur from Inner Mongolia, China. The four ribbon-like tail feathers likely helped the creature balance on tree branches. The feathers are described as lacking that main shaft down the middle, and are just a really long collection of very long, filamentous-like structures.

Smile, baby, you're beautiful.

Non Un-Defeat Has A Million Fathers

Not content with claiming they took down Edmonton-Strathcona MP Rahim Jaffer, the George Soros' funded group Avaaz are saying they stopped a Tory Majority!

Dear friends,

A few weeks ago, Stephen Harper was headed for a majority government and 4 years of unchallenged control over our country and our environmental policies. Coming together like never before, 63% of Canadian voters stopped him. And that's just the beginning. It was close, so every bit of effort mattered. In just the 2 weeks before election day, Avaaz members rallied to run full page newspaper ads and hundreds of radio ads across the country, raised over $135,000 in a few days, produced a song from top Canadian artists that played on radio stations across the country, helped get over 400,000 Canadians to receive voting guidance from voteforEnvironment.ca, and took over 15000 pledges to vote strategically in close races.

Not sure I would give them that much credit, but Avaaz did inspire a nasty news release from the John Baird campaign. Way to go folks, you made 'em look!

Bill Casey A Tory Again?

So they're saying at FreeD.

Earlier this week, Kady hosted an interesting discussion on the make-up of parliamentary committees given the number of MPs from each party in the HOC. I wonder if Casey's return (assuming that he is returning) will give the Tories their long-sought committee Majority?

Update for NN readers:

Recapping Kadey's math

143 MPS + Casey = 144 MPS= 46.7% of House Seats.

12 (standard committee size) x 0.467 = 5.6 members per committee, if these are allocated in proportion to HOC seats.

5.6 rounded up gives 6 seats per committee. Where the committee is chaired a Member of an opposition party, that is a limited majority.

Richard Warman Pot Pourri

Richard Warman bags another wing-nut:

An Edmonton man has been ordered to pay $50,000 in damages to anti-hate crusader Richard Warman, who was targeted for death in a series of vile Internet postings.

The threats posted by William Grosvenor, a middle-aged stamp dealer, were 'vicious, profane and extreme,' Ontario Superior Court Judge Lynn Ratushny concluded in a ruling released this week.

The full judgement is here. My favorite bit, from Botiuk vs. Toronto Free Press Publications Ltd., is this definition of a defamatory publication: Note how similar the language is to section 13 of the Human Rights Act:

(13).1 It is a discriminatory practice for a person or a group of persons acting in concert to communicate telephonically or to cause to be so communicated, repeatedly, in whole or in part by means of the facilities of a telecommunication undertaking within the legislative authority of Parliament, any matter that is likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt by reason of the fact that that person or those persons are identifiable on the basis of a prohibited ground of discrimination.

This makes sense if you consider hate speech (and I have heard it described this way) as defamation against groups. But, since a number of people have made the argument that the language of (13).1 is hopelessly vague, it also begs the question: how is that vague if the concept of defamation is clear? Speechys?...Anyone??

Also, got my first look at Shaidle's The Tyranny of Nice. A review may follow eventually but, at a mere 98 pages, it very much looks like a publication some lawyer took a pair of garden shears too (severely clipped, in other words). Most of defamatory material on Lucy and Warman and Kinsella is missing. There's nothing, for example, re Kinsella's alleged superfluous 3rd nipple. In fact, I can't find any reference to Warren at all (although I have admittedly only glanced at my new E-book). And nothing about me! That really hurts. Anyway, what is left seems a boring cut-and paste of bowdlerized versions of blog posts you've probably already read. Like porn with the screw scenes marked over with red ink.

I Bet They Had Their Fingers Crossed

OTTAWA– Michael Ignatieff and Bob Rae have struck an informal non-aggression pact in a bid to avoid turning the coming Liberal leadership contest into another divisive showdown between the two perceived front-runners.

Rae said today the two men have reached an understanding that the race must be kept civil and respectful.

Yeah, and Rae has already sent supporter Ray Heard out to trash-talk Iggy on Conservative news sites.

The last leadership race was fun. This one already looks to become an embarrassment, but I'm sure it will achieve its own form of trashy glory before all is said and done. Hair will get pulled, spectacles get broken. Iggy will step on a rake. Twice. And accidentally set his own tie on fire. And randomly accuse the Latverians of war-crimes.

Liberals Stuck With One Last Delegated Convention?

Gerry asks in the comments:

Surely the National Executive could make an executive decision on behalf of the membership to implement one-member, one-vote now.

Campbell Clark says surely not:

This point comes up every time there's a leadership race, and lots of people, Liberals and otherwise, agree with you. It's too late to change it this time because it is written into the Liberal Party constitution. (Although some argue they cannot really afford it.)

He also has this bit of good news:

The Liberals are not swimming in cash, but their debt is not debilitating either. They'll be able to finance reasonably ordinary operations and pay for the next election campaign

Kyoto Lawsuit Against Harper Government Fails

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- The Canadian government won't have to face three suits accusing it of failing to draft a plan to meet pollution-reduction goals, with a federal judge saying he couldn't issue a meaningful order for the government to follow.

Two environmental advocacy groups, Friends of the Earth and Ecojustice Canada, sued the government in September and asked the judge to order the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper to comply with a June law requiring it to prepare a plan to meet the emissions targets of the Kyoto Protocol. The law passed with the support of opposition parties, which had a majority of the votes in Canada's parliament.

Such an order would be so devoid of meaningful content and the nature of any response to it so legally intangible that the exercise would be meaningless,'' Judge Robert Barnes said in a 40-page ruling issued today.

Pity, but there you go.

At this moment environmentalists should be looking to make sure the Tories implement the plan they have already offered. It is in fact a series of regulations that set intensity targets for polluters, and then gives them several offset-buying alternatives should they fail to meet these targets. It sucks, but it's there. Should a new government come in, raze the regulatory mechanism that the Tories are building, and start from scratch--well, this counts as another form of delay, doesn't it? Instead, our hypothesized new government should toughen up whatever regulations the Tories leave behind (assuming they are serious about implementing any sort of green plan).

Update: Ruling is here.

On Liberal Party Problems

Radwanski writes:

If they were serious about avoiding another few years of leadership-related infighting, the Liberals would revise their process - either with one of the more drastic steps I suggested last week, or by switching to a one-member, one-vote system. But in their frantic rush to replace Dion, it seems there's not enough time to ensure they don't elect another version of him.

Pretty common sense thus far. One reason I've never actually joined the Liberal party is because signing up is really just the first step in acquiring a say in the direction of the party--in, for example, getting an opportunity to help choose a leader. The second step is brown-nosing your way into the favor of some local riding poo-bah and getting selected as a delegate. And, even once you get to the convention, bizarre and archaic rules "bind" you to a candidate you may not personally support for a long stretch of voting.

And, oh yes, at every step the party wants to suck money out of you.

With the Tories, it was a 10$ charge and I was in (back in the 1990s). I am given to understand that the NDP process is also quite a bit less baroque. If the Libs want more money out of their Members then, paradoxically, they are going to have to treat them as something more than cash cows.

But what Radwanski doesn't seem to understand is that, at the 2006 Montreal convention the Party rejected one-member one-vote and decided to keep instead that three ring monkey show, that combination of bacchanal and smoke filled rooms, known as a delegated convention. So, as far as I can determine, another one more of these at least is unavoidable.

What should happen now, then, is that they should get the damn thing out of the way. And both a new leader and a series of party reforms--recommitting the Liberals to their grass roots and ditching the convention format--should emerge from the May meeting in Vancouver.

I would like something to be done sooner, but I don't see how that is possible.

Dion, Interim Leader

Given that events were going to unfold the way they did, this was I think the best way for it to happen. At least now there won't be Iggy vs. Rae surrogates fighting for the "interim" position in an unseemly fashion.

The main event is going to be ugly enough. Why be forced to endure the warm-ups?

Update: Count me as being one of these guys:

Some Liberals privately suspect Dion decided to stay until his successor is chosen in part because he wanted to avoid a power struggle between the Rae and Ignatieff camps over who would be interim leader.

Unknown Group of Seven Piece Surfaces: Its Just More Rocks!

Man, I saw enough of these guys at the National Gallery. Apparently, between the 7 of them they painted every tree in Canada: Green trees, sure, but red and yellow trees, blue trees, and trees leaning out over bodies of waters.

They also were heavily into rocks, and painted rocks up the yin-yan. This small oil (12 x 15 inches), by Lawren Harris, entitled "Greenland", is definitely from their "rocks" period, with a bit of snow thrown in for good measure.

(PS. Barnett Newman sucks as well)

Cap And Trade In NY Times

A story about "Reggy" (RGGI), the regional cap and trade program set to go into effect in the American North East (participating states include New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and all six New England states — Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont).

An interesting twist: during the last several years emissions in the participant states have gone down instead of up, due to the current economic slowdown, mild weather, and a gradual shift to natural gas.

Roger Pielke Jr. thinks this tells against the whole idea of Carbon Trading because, from their current level

...emissions will have to grow by more than 1% per year for the RGGI to even have any effect on business as usual. And even a growth rate of 2% would result in a reduction in emissions from 2008 of less than 4%. So for RGGI to actually make a difference on emissions trajectory for these 10 states will require a stark departure from emissions trends over the past 9 years. Energy prices, fuel switching, and the push for alternative energy all work against this for this region. Champions of cap and trade will find themselves in the awkward position of cheering for rapid emissions growth for RGGI to show any teeth. Otherwise, it is just business as usual.

But if "business as usual" is a downward trend, what is the problem other than the set-up costs involved in RGGI look somewhat ill-spent? But then the system is there should, upon an economic recovery, the necessary technological advances not have emerged to ensure a permanent reduction in emissions.

More ominous, perhaps:

This fact is compounded by the fact that leftover credits from one auction will rollover to the next, which means it is possible that 2009's extra 20 million tons will roll over to 2010, whose extra 40 million will roll over to 2011 and etc. This effectively means that the "market signal" which will demonstrate the time to pour money into clean energy industries and technology will never arrive.

...which point is perhaps met by noting that the total allowances available can be adjusted up or down as required.

(Note: you can see, though, how the application and adjustment of a simple carbon tax could meet all of these challenges much more quickly and efficiently)

Apparently, Everyone Brought Down Rahim Jaffer

The man behind the AnyonebutHarper.ca website says he lined up 88 vote swaps to help push Duncan to victory.

Mat Savelli, who operated the site, said the swaps, combined with another 20 at another site he was monitoring, would have accounted for about 23 per cent of Duncan's 463 validated vote margin of victory. "I won't pretend to take credit for it, but it definitely made a difference," said the 28-year-old Canadian who is attending school at Oxford University in England. "If you can say vote swapping delivered a quarter of those votes and maybe strategic voting delivered a quarter to a half, it made a difference, but there's no way to measure it."

This goes with Michael Geist's claim that his anti Bill C-61 FaceBook Site was the real culprit in Jaffer's defeat.

In any case, a whole lotta of activism for not much of a result.

When Beer Is The Solution, What Is The Problem?

Was up at friend's cottage outside of Buckhorn, drinking much beer and losing at cards. Am now tired and head hurts.

D'you know you can buy personal explosives (fireworks) on the First Nations reserve up there any time of the year? Lotta stuff got blown up.

Anyway, must sleep now.

Flying Fish!

This fin-fish blimp is from an entry to an airship competition in Germany.

Coolest thing I've seen all week.

The Enormous Dick Pound

Enormous Dick on Canada's First Nations:

We must not forget that 400 years ago, Canada was a land of savages, with scarcely 10,000 inhabitants of European origin, while in China, we're talking about a 5,000-year-old civilization.'

Note: Image above refers to what Dick is. Not what Dick's pounding.

h/t Stoat.

Disgruntled Greens Call For E. May's Head

...then disappear rebel website!

h/t Jago, who seems to have suddenly forgotten google cache.

Oh and I told you this would happen!

KLRvu Research: How'd They Do?

From Alan Bruinooge's gang; the first test of their methodology, 5 days out from election day:

WINNIPEG, Oct. 9 /CNW/ - In another Klrvu Research sponsored poll done on
October 8th, it turns out Gloria Kovach Conservative Candidate has reversed the trendline seen in a poll done by the same company taken in August, immediately before the by-election was supposed to happen.

Kovach is now at 29.94% support with the Liberal Frank Valeriote coming in at 27.63% - which is a significant shift from previous support levels which pegged Kovach trailing by roughly 10%.

'I would suggest that the by-election was able to take on a life of its own in the dog days of summer and allowed the Liberals to run a strong local campaign that seemingly kept their numbers at historic levels. As we have seen in the past, a federal election can usurp the issues that may have been influencing a by-election. I would suggest Gloria has benefited from running a better second campaign, the national campaign simply occurring, and from the growth of the Green party. The Green and NDP have risen considerably and taken support directly from Valeriote,' said Allan Bruinooge.

What happened:

Not too shabby, though not quite right.

Note that, as Buckets pointed out in the comments to my last post on these guys, they pretty much tagged the Green Party's impressive and unlikely performance in the riding.

Requiem For A Green Plan: The Green Shift As Policy

Up front, lets admit that the skeptics were right; no matter what its advantages as policy, the Green Shift was a tax shift, and a tax shift contains the word "tax", and as such the whole idea was not saleable to too large a proportion of the Canadian electorate.

(As an aside, note that in the post above Kinsella writes:

Sifting through the entrails leaked out to the media, was I wrong to oppose a carbon tax right now? No way. I'm for punishing polluters, not consumers. Cap-and-trade; not this.


Warren knows that's all bullshit. You raise prices on polluters and they raise prices on the consumer that purchases their polluting service. Same person pays in the end. A C&T system is just a slightly more dishonest way of going about the process.

But whatever.)


And lets admit up front that the Tories quite thoroughly mis-represented the GS .


Lets just consider it as policy.

As policy (and I say this as someone who loyally supported the GS while occasionally bringing up caveats), it was flawed in several respects.

For example, the idea that the GS was a wealth redistribution scheme contained an element of truth. Don't ask me; just ask (now ex-) Liberal MP Ken Boshcoff, who wrote that:


The Liberal Party’s Green Shift announced on June 19th marked the most aggressive anti-poverty program in 40 years. The ‘shift’ will transfer wealth from rich to poor, from the oil patch to the rest of the country, and from the coffers of big business to the pockets of low-income Canadians.

Now, Mr. Boshcoff didn't come out and actually say that the GS would send Alberta money East, but we all know where the "oil patch" is, don't we?

And as much I wouldn't mind seeing Alberta screwed out of its oily dough, for other reasons it always bothered me that the GS was not a purely environmental initiative. Environmental concerns were being used as an excuse to scare up funds for the broader Liberal platform, about which I personally had far more ambiguous feelings. I mean, my days as a compassionate Lefty are way past gone. I am far more worried these days about saving the bunnies than helping single-moms or the homeless. And I don't care who knows it. Animals are innocent; people are assholes. But whatever.


Similarly, it bothered me that the only sense in which the GS was "revenue neutral" was in the broader metaphoric sense, in that the Government would spend 1$ for each dollar the GS collected.

And the last thing that bothered me was the general laziness with which the plan was introduced. For example, I cheered when, in September, Dion tweaked the GS so as to assuage certain rural concerns over fuel, heating and other costs. But the fact (and I think Paul Wells pointed this out somewhere) that a Carbon Tax would effect certain regions of Canada more than others should have been obvious at the outset. Anyone with a slightest knowledge of the issue should have realized this. So the Dion Liberals offered a hugely complex green plan without having thought it all though, that none of their MPs ever really understood or could explain in detail, and then they went and changed it. The whole thing would have been a bit more bullet proof if these attempts at amelioration had been in the original version.

Personally, I was reminded of the whole Dion/Suzuki thing, where Dion, before he became Lib Leader even, produced a green policy document that contained cut-and-paste material from "The Air We Breathe" put out by the David Suzuki Foundation. For the Libs Enviro Guy, Dion has been pretty sloppy about assembling and presenting his whole political/environmental philosophy.

In any case, I wouldn't want to over-accentuate the negative. In fact the GS, if fully implemented by a Dion government, would have had minuscule negative economic effects. And, in fact, a Cap and Trade system simply = a Carbon tax with twice the bureaucracy. But, beyond the Tory disinformation campaign, there were plenty of aspects of the GS that lent themselves to legitimate criticism. I don't know if it is entirely impossible to run on a tax, but the Libs made it particularly difficult to run on this one.

CanWest Stocks Now Worth Less Than Their Weight In Toilet Paper

Bourrie has the news. $1.30 per.

I'm going over to their building on Don Mills to throw dimes at the windows. See if anyone comes out to fetch them.

Did Copyright Law Bring Down Rahim Jaffer And Insure A Tory Minority?

Michael Geist thinks maybe:

“I identified that area [Edmonton-Strathcona] as a potential copyright riding, which includes the University of Alberta, last January,” Geist said. “The separation between the two candidates was only a few hundred votes, so it’s certainly within the realm of possibility that a few hundred people voted the way they did because of the copyright bill.

“No Bill C-61 and perhaps those votes don’t even turn up,” he added.

Geist also seems to think some version of the Tory copyright legislation will be on the agenda this time around as well. The more it looks like C-61, the less likely it is to pass.

The Only Reformed Senate Is A Dead Senate

Any of the changes to the upper chamber proposed by Stephen Harper thus far amount to an attempt to shift power from Central Canada to the West without having to shift the requisite bodies out West to force a redistribution of power in the HOC, which is based more or less on rep. by pop.

On the political level, an NEP in reverse, in other words.

Ontario and Quebec MPs of all stripes should oppose any such changs. Abolition should be the only reform acceptable to Central Canada.

(But of course talk of Senate reform at this point is simply a slice of red meat waved before the Tory base. It isn't like Harper is serious about pushing Senate reform in the face of a looming recession and looming deficits. But if he ever got serious about it, that's what I would say.)

Keep Dion

Very little has changed, popular vote wise, though the seat totals have (although not so much to affect the basic situation--three parties must band together to defeat Tories in a Commons vote but they still dominate the committees).

A new leadership race now means no effective opposition for another year, means the new Lib leader has to abstain as often as the old, means the party remains broke and divided. Do people really want to go through this all again just to feed Iggy and Rae's voracious ego?

And, Iggy, if there is a leadership race and you choose to run in it, I will hound you to the gates of Hell.

Stupid Election Laws

...entail that out here in B.C. I have to find out that certain female party leaders whose names rhyme with "Day"and lead relatively verdant parties have given their concession speeches via illegal means. (H/T FleaDee, and I mean it this time)

(PS. East Coast networks are now declaring that the new government will be the party whose name rhymes with "Dory" and that the form of their government will be that signified by a word that rhymes more or less with "Binority" (if that is a word).

See You On The Other Side

I am predicting another Tory minority, but won't bother going into seat counts.

I am predicting that the Liberal Party wakes up tomorrow and, having avoided disaster and realizing that another election could come at any time, decides this is no time to go switching horses. Dion gets a 2nd chance; Count Iggy returns to his coffin.

For this reason, the Tory strategy of making every damn thing a confidence motion no longer serves. Who knows how long the next parliament will last, but I wouldn't be surprised if it staggers along for a good while, passing budgets but otherwise harmless.

I am predicting that The Green Shift becomes history and the Libs quickly embrace a cap and trade system along the lines of the Conservative/NDP proposals. The Carbon Tax was an unfortunate attempt at being honest with the voters, and it didn't work. Bye bye! Cap and Trade has exactly the same effect, even regionally, but it is more cumbersome and doesn't have the word "tax" in it. Give the people what they want!

Of all the party leaders, Elizabeth May will have the hardest time of things post-election. The Greens might get more votes than the Bloc, and yet acquire zero seats in reward. Further, while advocating strategic voting to prevent a Conservative Majority is good and noble, it is not the kind of thing that serves the long-term interest of your own party. I don't know what will happen to her, but I expect some bitterness from the Green grassroots. (And, oh yes, running against MacKay was the single stupidest strategic decision by a politician in the last two years. There were other seats she could have won. Expect some second guessing over that.)

So I may have a wrap-up post for tomorrow morning, or not, but by the time you read it I will be on a plane back to TO. See you on the other side!

Solar Cycle 24 Seems To Be Underway

Oh My! Note the black speckle top left. Predictions of global cooling based on a lack of sunspot activity area seem about to go out the window.

Apparently, the real scientists who predicted that this quiet period was not unprecedented got it right after all.

Layton Trying To Throw One To The Tories?

What's with the Jack Layton NDP signs in Durham? Isaac Ransom drives along Highway 2 in the riding east of Toronto and counts 30 or more election signs touting Layton and his Toronto team. That's only one stretch of a main road, and Ransom argues there are more signs in the riding. He thinks they'll bring out voters on Tuesday for the New Democrats. Ransom's problem is the NDP candidate in Durham, Andrew McKeever, was forced to resign over a week ago over anti-Semitic comments posted at his Facebook site. In the uproar that followed, other ugly comnents came to light (which don't deserve an airing). Ransom, manager for his father Brian's run for the LIberals in Durham, says the campaign filed a complaint with Elections Canada, but hasn't heard back yet.

This could be a close riding. Last time, Conservative Bev Oda, international cooperation minister, won over the Liberals by 10,000 votes. The NDP pulled down close to 10,000. Without the NDP this time, Ransom argues it's a horserace between Oda and his father. Because McKeever resigned after the withdrawal deadline, his name still appears on the ballot and the Liberal party's understanding is that votes cast for him will still count in calculating the party's federal stipend after the election. Most important for the Liberal campaign, it could bleed votes away from Ransom in a part of battleground southern Ontario where every vote counts.

NDP still campaigning for a disgraced and withdrawn candidate...and doing it, in part at least for money, possibly in violation of Election Canada regulations? I guess they are ready to govern.

Just a note: McKeever's comments were not anti-Semitic, just jerk-like, threatening, and sexist.

HT Ms. Kraus.

Khan't Let Go

As The Wunderbabe notes, Wiji's last minute leaflet drop appears to be using paperstock leftover from his Lib Party days.

Maybe he's seen the polls and is trying to switch back...

...And The Group He Founded Hates Morgentaler

OTTAWA — A Conservative candidate’s suggestion that a private clinic be used as a model for health delivery across Canada prompted opposition charges that Prime Minister Stephen Harper wants to expand for-profit health care outside the public system.

Peter Kent made the comment during a recent campaign debate in Toronto’s Thornhill riding.

Buckets and myself have been trying to figure out why the group Peter Kent founded, the CCD, whose mandate says nothing about Canada's abortion laws (or lack thereof), appears on a list of organizations supporting the Canada Family Action Coalition complaint to the Judicial Council (.pdf here) re Henry Morgentaler's receiving the Order of Canada. In fact all I've got for my troubles in this direction are some vague legal-sounding threats from the CCD's President Al Gordon .

Nevertheless, they DO appear on this list, and nobody will say why.

BCL Interviewed In The Thunderbird

...the student publication of UBC's Graduate School of Journalism, along with Jared Gallinger and Robert (the smart Tory) Jago. Not too self-congratulatory on the part of us interviewees, and Ms. Allen has written up a good piece on the nuts and bolts on-line politics, esp. the oppo "research" that's been a hall-mark of this campaign. My favorite bit:

Akins agrees that despite the blogosphere’s importance, it is not a replacement for traditional news. “No Canadian MSM [Mainstream Media] outlet has the resources to do that kind of digging on the 1,500 plus candidates…but smart MSM reporters will keep an eye on smart bloggers who do have the time to keep a special eye out in their part of the world.”

The bloggers accept the limitations of newsrooms, but their charity doesn’t extend to the war rooms. Gallinger thinks that parties must alter their views on candidates’ freedom of expression. “Otherwise, I don’t know how they’re ever going to find any competent candidates in ten years time.”

Murphy disagrees. He thinks the parties simply did a bad job of vetting. “The reporters are saying that they don’t have enough time, but I don’t buy that with the parties.” He attributes their oversight to underestimating the average citizen’s facility with the web.

Murphy expects the parties to become stricter with their candidate selection, not more relaxed.

“The next election won’t be nearly as fun,” he says.

Just to elaborate on the disagreement Jared and I seem to have. There's an old saying: if the mountain won't come to Mohammed, Mohammed must go to the mountain. Propounding 9/11 truther doctrine, uttering threats, will not become acceptable behavior just because these things are done via a blog or other on-line forum. What I think will be the much more likely result of the blogging shenanigans of the 2008 campaign is that the parties will raise the standard on even their 3rd string candidates for fear of them embarrassing the national campaign. And any bloggers who see themselves as potential candidates one day will take care to moderate their online opinions, or at least the expression of their online opinions.

People like me and Jared and Jago and Buckets and so forth will have to find other ways of making ourselves annoying.

The Price Of Being A Big Tent Party

LIFESITENEWS: And what are the more positive things that you have seen in the election campaign?
DOUGLAS: Without going riding by riding, there are a fair number of candidates out there who are taking a strong stand for life. So, I'm hoping that when the election is over on Tuesday we'll find that we have a good contingent of pro-lifers in the main parties that we can work with.

LIFESITENEWS: I presume those would be only Conservatives and Liberals. Is that correct?

DOUGLAS: Yes.

Clearly, earlier reports of Anti-Abortion Green and NDP candidates were incorrect.

PS. Sorry if the posts are getting a bit cryptic. The family has arrived and we are all doing the Thanksgiving thing.

Wouldn't It Be Funny If...

...both the Liberals and Tories came out with a vote %, and hence a seat count, down from their 2006 total, as a number of polls suggest.

What would happen to Dion? His conditions of victory have generally been seen to be: more seats with respect to the Tories and he stays, fewer and the knives come out. This 3rd options doesn't seem to have been considered.

What would happen to Harper? Would he want to stay on after having been denied a majority twice?

Mark Steyn and Macleans Acquitted

...and the best part of this is, I win my bet with Mark Bourrie. I'm a bit confused as to the amount, but I think my favorite journalism prof owes me $5 and $20. Booyah!

Update from the "Speechys are bone-heads" department.

Mrs. [Kari ] Simpson’s plan is simple—and audacious. She plans to file a human rights complaint against the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal.

To whom will she present the complaint?

To the tribunal itself!

“Of course, they can’t really hear a case against themselves,” she said, “so my complaint would automatically be passed on to the British Columbia Supreme Court for judicial review. But even if they were arrogant enough to hear the case, the rules say that any Human Rights Tribunal decision automatically comes up for judicial review. So one way or another, my case will be heard.

[...]

Her complaint is based on seven years’ worth of complaints to the tribunal, all made by Christians alleging religious bias against them—and all dismissed without a hearing. During this same time, the tribunal accepted many complaints against Christians, filed by homosexual activists, many of those complaints legally baseless, or even frivolous.

The tribunal may not be able to hear a case against themselves, but since the BCHRT "rules of practice and procedure" state that

A person must file a complaint:

a.within 6 months of the alleged contravention of the Code; or

b.if a continuing contravention of the Code is alleged, within 6 months of the last alleged instance of the contravention.

...Mrs. Simpson's detailing alleged offenses back to the early part of the century will get her nowhere. So, sorry ma'am, I suspect your complaint is bound for the waste-paper basket.

By the way, Kari Simpson is the lady who sued Rafi Mair for calling her a Nazi, and lost.

Ht FD.

KLR VU's Latest (from Guelph)

WINNIPEG, Oct. 9 /CNW/ - In another Klrvu Research sponsored poll done on October 8th, it turns out Gloria Kovach Conservative Candidate has reversed the trendline seen in a poll done by the same company taken in August, immediately before the by-election was supposed to happen.

Given the rough start these folks got off to, and their unique polling methodology, I'd be interested in seeing how they do. They may be the future of polling (or not).

Stephen Harper In Shit In Quebec

My free-style French translation of this headline from La Presse. I'm not really sweating the whole accuracy thing too much. And, as Philippe Gohier notes, a small sample size, and who the heck is Segma? But still it shows a huge (11%) decline in Tory support within Quebec.

MSM Picks Up Ed Sieb Story

This is a transcript from a CJOH News Ottawa story on Ed Sieb of the Elie Salibi campaign. His FreeDominion connection, his anti-Muslim and anti-Gay remarks, were first noted here.

I have the audio-file and if anyone know how to post such a thing to blogger, please let me know in the comments.

Also, as you see below Mr. Sieb denies that he was the man behind the remarks. If this turns out to be true I will offer Mr. Sieb and Mr. Salibi a most fulsome apology. But I think the connection has been pretty firmly established.

Anchor: There are calls tonight for a Conservative Party official to be removed, after anti-Islamic comments surfaced on-line. As CTV's John Hua reports, leaders of Ottawa's Muslim community are outraged.

Unidentified speaker: This is nonsense.

Reporter: It was a post on a right wing website, this woman says defeats years of working for understanding.

Unidentified speaker: It's hate mongering, and Muslims have been at the -- under attack since 2001, 9/11, 2001. And for the past seven years, we have worked so hard to build a good image of ourselves.

Reporter: The comments were found on freedominion.com, a self proclaimed voice of principled conservatism. On the site, a user by the name Ed S. from Ottawa wrote "Ottawa is filled with hijabs, burquas and full veils, like it was a village in Pakistan, appalling." Another online site, Big City Lib credited the comments to Conservative member Ed Sieb, a worker on the Ottawa-South campaign.

Unidentified speaker: Freedom of expression stops when it attacks me or my rights. It attacks me or anybody from my community as -- as he has projected us.

Reporter: CTV News contacted Ed Sieb for his reaction, and over the phone, he told us that he is a member of the Conservative Party, and is connected with the candidate in Ottawa South. But when it comes to the website www.freedominion.com, he says he frequents the sites ones or twice every month but is not the user Ed S. and has nothing to do with the hateful remarks. When CTV went to hear Sieb's side of the story at a agreed place and time, no one was home.

Unidentified speaker: Because we are reacting, he's denying. He's in denial. Why would somebody else use his name and post such a hateful message on it, and especially if he's working for the Conservative Party.

Reporter: She says the Ottawa Muslim community also deserves an apology from the Prime Minister.

John Hua, CTV News.

Time To Sack Puffy

Fat Boy Goes Whoring for his Order of Canada.

PS. Adam Radwanksi has a nice bit on how inappropriate it is for Harper to sling his own mud on issues like this, legitimate or not. Something I've written about a couple of times.

Stay Cold Part II

Stephen Harper on his "no strategy for cities" strategy:

"I don't want to say that we go around the country having a different program in every province or every region. We're a national government. We have to govern for the interests of the country," he said.

Actually, Mr . Harper, you do go around doing having different programs for every province and every region. For example, your youth crime policy, which says jail 'em at 14 everywhere but in Quebec. What you don't do is offer anything specifically tailored to the cities and their needs. Hence the result you see: no love, no votes.

Coyne To Harper: Stay Cold, Brother!

One can only hope the Tories heed Mr. Coyne's words, because you can do worse than taking advice on empathy from a guy that dresses like an undertaker. And frankly, this hauling Mrs. Harper around the way Harper has been doing is starting to remind me of Norman Bates. Put Mother away, Mr. Harper, and starting calling people that don't agree with you pedophiles again. Its your way.

Oh, and by the way, snowed under by the macro-lousy economic news of the last couple of weeks was this smaller piece of lousy news: Toronto resale home prices last month fell from the same month in the previous year for the first time in ten years. Previously, they had been going up at about the rate of inflation or a little less, even while sales themselves were off 15% or so from 2007. That probably indicates a significant change in buyer/seller psychology. You might continue to price you house higher if you feel that the market will turn around in the short term. When you start cutting the asking figure, that can mean the market consensus is that things will suck for awhile.

Speechys Rise Up!

Thus far the CLC has endorsed a couple of candidates in Winnipeg, one of them being Rod Bruinoodge, who has on other occasions written that:

Hello Gary:

I appreciate you taking the forward your concerns to my office. I would like to express that I and the Conservative government strongly believe that individual rights and freedom of speech are paramount in a free and democratic society.

I am sure we will see a roaring denunciation out of Rod soon over the silencing of these slightly less than 100% pure pro-lifers. Out of Shaidle, and De Vere, and Boisson and all those folks...I'm sure we'll see it real soon.

Market Meltdown As An 100% Capitalist Green Plan

Nobel Laureate Paul Crutzen has some harsh but logical words re the current economic crisis and global warming:

"It's a cruel thing to say ... but if we are looking at a slowdown in the economy, there will be less fossil fuels burning, so for the climate it could be an advantage," Crutzen told Reuters in an interview.

Recently a number of economists have argued that one means of cutting down on carbon emissions is via a "planned economic recession". Apparently, an unplanned one will work as well.

Ed Sieb, Bearer Of The CPoC Secret Agenda

As I mentioned yesterday, Ed is a big wheel in the campaign of Ottawa South Tory Candidate Elie Salibi. Back in '07, Ed engaged in some murder fantasies on the FreeDominion discussion board:

My fondest dream is assasinating Yvonne Ridley! That vile appologist for Islamofascism.

Whoo hoo! While Stephen Harper's been careful to give the 2008 version of CPoC a moderate face, its back-rooms seem packed with the crew of the old Reform Party crazy train.

This, by the way, is Yvonne Ridley. Not a particularly admirable person, but...

Stephen Harper Flop Sweat Time!

“If you are making up [policy] in response to the latest news, or the latest changes in the stock market, then it is obvious you really don't have a plan,” Mr. Harper told a Toronto business audience.

When the two biggest items in your election platform amount to climb-downs from earlier initiatives--in the case of cuts to arts funding an initiative announced what two weeks ago?--then you are clearly making up policy in response to the latest polls, and it is obvious you have redefined the term "plan" so that whatever it is you have amounts to one.

Questions For Ottawa South Tory Candidate Elie Salibi

Dear Mr. Salibi,

There's a fellow that posts on a Far Right Political Forum called FreeDominion using the moniker "EdS". He is an interesting guy. Here's something he wrote about Muslims:

Yeah... well... you ought to live here in Ottawa... hijabs, burkhas and full veils all over the place. Medieval nonsense, if you ask me. And the men!!! Wearing jalabas, and shalwar kameez, with sandals, and walking in the middle of the street, like it was a village in Pakistan. Appalling!!

When asked what happens when you hit a Muslim with a car, EdS responds:

Oh, G-d, don't do that! You'd be surrounded by hordes of Arabs in a moment, all demanding your death! It would be like a scene out of the aftermath of an Iraqi IED bombing - hordes of kids standing on top of the car, more hordes of ululating veiled women, men in jalabas and sandals milling around.

I purposely drive a wide berth around them, when I see them in the street. I know better!

Lovely stuff! And you can find more of EdS fascinating opinions on gays, for example, here.

Now, interestingly enough, EdS describes himself as a moderator on the Canada Divided website, which advocates Quebec separatism, among other things. When you check the Canada Divided member-list, it is obvious that the EdS from FreeDominion is one Ed Sieb. For example, Ed Sieb is the moderator of the "War on Anglos" forum, and posts several times here. Also, the link to his website goes back to FreeDominion.

Now, Mr. Salibi, here's the kicker. Ed Sieb seems to be working for you. He is listed as being the Electronic Newsletter Editor of the Ottawa South Conservative EDA. Further, I have heard but cannot confirm that he is currently your "policy co-chair", and he certainly appears to have been involved in your campaign as of early September. Is any of this information out of date? And, if not, are willing to stand behind Mr. Siebs view as expressed above? And, if not, why is he working for you?

Note: I haven't figured out a way to link to individual FreeD posts, so you might have to scroll down to see the material I am referencing.

Tory Reb Strikes Back...Again!

Charles Conn ran for the Reform Party in the riding of Mississauga West back in 1993, losing to Carolyn Parrish. More recently, he has been a persistent critic of the CPoC's lack of commitment to its party grass roots when it comes to the matter of nominating candidates. I have chronicled his complaints against the process that produced Melissa Bhaghat here, and produced Lisa Raitt, here.

Now Charles has a message for the Canadian people!

The history books are full of 'strong leaders' whose dictatorial, my-way-or-the-highway rigidity led to disastrous consequences for their people.

Perhaps it would be better for Canadians to keep the Harper-controlled Tories in check for a while longer by only electing enough of them to form another minority government.

Let's see if they can start to lead by the democratic policies the country so desperately needs instead of copying Liberal pandering.

Suggestion: unless your current MP has been an absolute trainwreck, re-elect him or her.

And whatever you do, whichever party is involved, shun like the plague every appointed parachute candidate who was shoved down the throats of members in so many constituencies. Just last fall, an impressive majority of Ontarians rejected MMP. Don't let the backroom party big shots in Ottawa sneak it in by stealth.

Charles W. Conn, Mississauga.
cwc@ceconn.com
http://www.ceconn.com

Take THAT, Ray Heard!!

The Leaders On Section 13

The Canadian Jewish Political Affairs Committee has managed to get statements from three of the five federal political leaders on a question that matters a great deal to Western Standard readers, and supporters of freedom of expression in general. Just what is their stance on section 13.1 of the Canadian Human Rights Act? It is this section of the CHRA that has led to tribunal hearings against Maclean's and our former publisher Ezra Levant.

The question was asked in French, and what follows is a Babelfish translation, which is far from perfect. You can read the original documents by following this link. If someone has a proper French translation, please send it to us.

What follows is pretty garbled, but it sounds like E. May, S. Dion, and G. Duceppe are pro-section 13. Dion may even be saying that he wants the provision strengthened, but I wouldn't swear to that.

It doesn't surprise me that Harper gives no response. Question: Whats the best way to tell your most fervent supporters to go fuck themselves? Answer: Don't tell them anything! Let them infer it from your silence!

And Why Not?

Adam Radwanski is correct, the Liberals and NDP may be battling it out for who comes in second place in the total vote on election but if the NDP eats enough Liberal support the result is not an NDP Official Opposition it is a BQ one. For the NDP to gain official opposition status they have to win big in the Liberal stronghold of Toronto and the Conservatives have to turn around their fortunes in rural Quebec. I doubt either of those are going to happen at this point.

So says the guy from Political Staples.

Okay. Forget that its a long shot, what would be so horrible about the Bloc as official opposition, given that their separatist aspirations are out the window and they have simply become another regional party like the old Reform Party? I've always seen them as the Que. version of the NDP, with slightly more xenophobia from their rural wing. Presuming a minority gov., how bad could they be?

Buckets Finds More Plagiarism

This a far more serious instance, involving an address on the Canada Wheat Board in which Harper cops material from an earlier speech by Craig Docksteader of The Prairie Policy Centre, a right-wing think tank. As Buckets notes, the material plagiarized is hardly "boilerplate". Even Harper's attempts at sarcasm are borrowed from his source text.

Well, I am off to the West Coast for nine days of fun in the autumn drizzle. I've got a few "robo-posts" coming up through the course of today, and then I will most likely resuming blogging at a somewhat slower pace up until election day.

WTF? Jack Would Make Punjabi Canada's 3rd Official Language

Toronto, Sep 29 (IANS) Canadian opposition leader Jack Layton has promised support for a new visa office in Mumbai and official status for the Punjabi language in Canada if he becomes prime minister after the Oct 14 polls.Jack, whose New Democratic Party (NDP) has fielded a record 14 Indian Canadian candidates to woo the million-strong community, said his party will also roll back a newly passed immigration bill that the community finds discriminatory.

Nothing against speakers of Punjabi, but frankly I am hoping something got lost in translation here.

Update: Just to provide some context, here is more of the origonal article:

“We tabled legislation to allow any citizen or landed immigrant to sponsor one family member from outside the family classification for immigration,” he pointed out.

Layton replied in the affirmative when asked whether he would support demands that Punjabi, which the latest census says is the fastest growing language in Canada, be given official status.

“We are aware of the growing number of Punjabi-speaking Canadians and appreciate their rich legacy to Canadian history. We are committed to having their valuable contribution recognized by Canada.

“This includes ensuring services in Punjabi, recognizing it as being the fourth most spoken language in Canada. Already, we have seen some cities and municipalities putting up street signs and store signs in Punjabi."

The election's nuttiest promise?

Another Update from Jenn in the comments:

A Punjabi speaking friend pointed out to me that there is a huge difference in Indian between the 'national languages' which are English and Hindi and the 'official languages' which are some 21 others.

The 'official languages' of Indian are recognized but do NOT have the status of English or French in Canada or in fact of English and Hindi in India.

So this is about providing some government services in Punjabi which is not unheard of already. We have government pamphlets in Mandarin and Cantonese and others. It seems to me that this is simply a reassurance that Punjabi will be part of the list of languages that get this kind of attention.

You know its funny, some guy named "Jay" left almost the same post on the WS blog. I suspect, however, that this is the correct answer.

However, as TiGuy points out in the comments, most of the language services Layton is promising to provide Punjabi speakers lie within the jurisdiction of the provinces and/or municipalities. So his promise is no longer nutty, just empty.

Not Yet FREEPED

From RealClimate:

Dennis Bray and Hans von Storch have been making surveys of climate scientists for a number of years with the reasonable aim of seeing what the community thinks (about IPCC, climate change, attribution etc). They have unfortunately not always been as successful as one might like - problems have ranged from deciding who is qualified to respond; questions that were not specific enough or that could be interpreted in very different ways; to losing control of who answered the questionnaire (one time the password and website were broadcast on a mailing list of climate 'sceptics').

I can say that, whatever other problems this survey may have, it has not yet been FREEPED by the folks on the Climate Sceptics mailing list. Bray and von Storch have made it more difficult for unqualified respondents to access the poll, or for anyone to respond on multiple occasions, and so far this extra security seems to have done the trick.

The climate sceptic people did get hold of a survey that these folks were in the process of conducting, but I was able to contact the fellow at Globescan who was running it and, hopefully, when the results come out they will have been cleaned up.

What surprised me is that anyone from a company (Globescan) purporting to conduct "global public opinion and stakeholder research" should appear to be unaware of the methods used to influence on-line surveys.

So here's the wiki definition of FREEPING. Think of it next time you hear about a poll that claims 90% of Canadians want to make abortion illegal.

Separated At Birth: Hot Babe Edition

Our gal is better because she's blonde.

Nah, The Tories Aren't Hiding Their Candidates

...you can always contact them through their websites.

Seems to be alot of interesting stuff on this guy, who has been dodging all-candidates the whole campaign.

Good job Jeff and the BC gang.

Things I've Ignored

...because I've been writing about our damn Federal election.

This is astounding. Almost a month after Hurricane Ike, and 300 people are still missing. Not only that, right until this Friday there have been persistent reports of gas shortages across the American SouthEast due to the summer's busy hurricane season. The Decline of the American Empire, indeed.

This too is astounding, but in a good kind of way. The next step in space exploration is the commercialization of space flight. The fact that a private company with only about 500 employees managed to successfully lob a rocket into orbit ought to be front page news. Too bad about all these silly elections and stupid economic meltdown.

Andrew McKeever Resigns

The Durham NDP candidate who called an anti-war activist a "fascist bitch" and other derogatory names has called it quits.

Late last night, the NDP issued a statement from Andrew McKeever pulling the plug on his candidacy.

"Because of the repetition of comments I made before becoming a candidate, comments that I have already apologized for and profoundly regret, I can no longer continue as a candidate," McKeever wrote. "This ceaseless repetition is damaging to everyone concerned including those I have hurt ... I cannot allow my candidacy to detract from the important decisions Canadians must make."

Whatever the genesis of this decision (whether initiated by the candidate or the party) it is the right thing to do. Now the last man standing among candidates who bared their hearts on little too thoroughly on-line is Ryan Warawa, Tory hopeful in Vancouver East, with his possible libel and pornographic ramblings. He too should go.

Steve V from the comments:

See, they are ready to govern. The NDP has already mastered the late Friday bad news dump. Very clever Jack.

Pinker And Chomsky Weigh In On Plagiarism Debate!

Well not really, but this observation, originally due to Chomsky, is quite apropos to the "does this amount to plagiarism" debate going on in Jerad's comments section.

...almost every sentence anybody voices is an original combination of words, never previously uttered, therefore a language cannot consist only of word combinations learned through repetition and conditioning; the brain must contain innate means of creating endless amounts of grammatical sentences from a limited vocabulary. This is precisely what Chomsky (1965) argues with his proposition of a Universal Grammar (UG)."

The idea that a close match like the one under consideration might be a coincidence is, from a linguistic sciences stand-point, extremely implausible.

CAFB Calls Out The Leaders

An open letter from the Canadian Association of Food Banks:

Hunger an unacceptable and solvable problem

In the run-up to the October 14 federal election, there has been little mention of one of Canada’s most unacceptable problems – hunger. Though the economy is near the top of the list of issues Canadians care about, no party leader has addressed the fact that more than 720,000 Canadians are assisted by food banks every month, or that 2.7 million Canadians live in households where hunger is a daily and distressing reality.

A recent CBC/Environics survey found that 37% of Canadians are worried about being able to make ends meet. They have good reason to worry. Downturns in Canada’s manufacturing and forestry sectors have kept food banks busy, particularly in hard-hit areas like Windsor, Thunder Bay, northern Quebec and western Alberta. According to recently-released Statistics Canada data, 247,000 manufacturing jobs were lost between 2004 and 2007. In the past year alone, employment in the forestry sector has plummeted by 15%. We are hearing that many former manufacturing and forestry workers are making do with part-time, temporary or seasonal employment, and find themselves unable to access Employment Insurance when they can’t find work – and thus look to food banks to help put food on their tables.

Hunger is not limited to households in regions that have seen economic downturns. Though we hear about the thriving energy and resource development sectors in our western provinces, many in the west are being left behind. Economic growth has brought with it rising costs of housing, gas, heating oil and food. It is too often the case that those who have moved west to find prosperity quickly discover that their most pressing need is to find a food bank.

After several years of economic growth, it is now crystal clear that a rising tide does not lift all boats. On a daily basis, Canadians struggle with hunger. This problem has been plaguing our country for almost three decades. To properly address it, we need federal party leaders to provide visionary leadership, focused into a realistic and actionable national poverty reduction strategy. Though it touches many, hunger is too often a problem that goes unvoiced. Our leaders must face up to the problem and join the search for solutions.

For more information, please contact:

Shawn Pegg
Manager, Policy and Research
Canadian Association of Food Banks
(416) 203-9241, ext. 31

The Canadian Association of Food Banks (CAFB) is a national charitable organization representing the food bank community across Canada. Over 720,000 people access food banks each month - 39% are children. CAFB conducts research, engages in public education and advocates for public policy change to eliminate the causes of hunger in Canada. In 2007, the CAFB acquired and shared 8 million pounds of food industry donations through its National Food Sharing System for hungry Canadians.

If not an issue in this election, it will certainly be one during the next given the direction of the American economy (down, way down). If nobody is building houses or buying cars down South, auto and forestry workers up here pay the price.

Harper Channels Harris: More Examples Of Tory Plagiarism?

It looks like Jerad Gallinger has struck again, discovering some rather striking similarities between a 2003 speech by then Canadian Alliance Leader Stephen Harper in response to the 2003 Federal budget and Ontario Premier Mike Harris' December 2002 address to the Montreal Economic Institute. Read it all by clicking through the link above, but here I would like to raise a couple of points.

1) It is no less surprising that Harper should be channeling Mike Harris on the domestic front than he should be channeling Coalition of the Willing partner John Howard on international issues. Watch any Tory Majority to be the Mike Harris government gone national. Expect the three Ds: divisiveness, Deficit, and Debt, as he runs the nation into the ground while setting region against region, class against class, and transferring the nation's wealth up the social scale and out of the cities.

2) On several occasions, Harper's Canadian Alliance gang plagiarized material from other Conservative figures. Both of the examples noted so far come from 2003. Can both be traced to the hand of speechwriter Owen Lippert, who so conveniently fell on his sword over the first incident, or was the practice more widespread? Remember, before these two recent discoveries, Harper insisted to the press that he was always deeply involved in the writing of his own speeches.

Krystalline Kraus Won't Take NDP Shit No More!

Krystalline was willing to issue a joint statement with Andrew McKeever basically forgiving his boorish online behavior for the sake of the NDP campaign and the greater good. And it was this joint statment that Jack Layton quoted in defending his decision to let McKeever keep his position as NDP candidate for Durham. Now Ms. Kraus is having second thoughts:

I'm tired of being expected to take bullets for the NDP and stay quiet when I'm screaming inside to speak. I don't like being silenced or manipulated by anyone in my life. This McKeever -- NDP Durham candidate -- is not my fault and I won't be treated like this is my fault. I had asked for Mr. McKeever to resign and/or be removed by Layton but it was made clear to me that that would just not happen.

I cannot force the NDP to do anything.

Regardless of Mr. Layton's decision regarding Mr. McKeever, I still think he should finally stand up and speak about this issue by condemning Mr. McKeever's comment -- to speak against misogynist comments and violence.

Make that statment. Other candidates got the condemnation and correction of their party's leaders for what they said. Other parties -- whether they kept their candidates or not in the end -- made public statement to show they do not condone offensive, vulgar or insulting comments.

I can't do this with them anymore. I have given them nothing but kindness and generosity in this situation and they have ignored me and betrayed me in return.

I’m a good journalist and a strong, smart person. I can speak for myself.

krystalline kraus

Jack Layton, you want your party to be taken seriously as a governing party/official opposition. Fielding yahoos and dopers won't help you in this quest. You still have a chance to do the right thing and at least take Ms. Kraus advice. In fact, I would suggest you go further and remove Mr. McKeever.

Note: I haven't figured out how to link to individual rabble.ca posts, but this is towards the end of a very long thread. Scroll towards the bottom (post Oct 2, 2: 07 pm, by statica) to see original.

The Catholics Are Attacking!

Canada’s national Catholic news magazine, Catholic Insight, which I have written about on several occasions, has issued a call for the "defeat and removal" of Stephen Harper in his Calgary Southwest riding:

“For Mr. Harper to state that he would not personally support a law limiting abortion is one thing,” said de Valk. “But to go so far as to strong arm his own MPs from supporting the right to life and even, as his spokesperson suggested, whip his cabinet on the matter, is unconscionable.”

Yeah, good luck with that. But nevertheless more evidence that all is not well with Stephen Harper's Conservative base. who are seeing their issues (abortion, HRCs) frozen out of the debate this election cycle. It will be interesting to observe the practical effect of a SoCon revolt, esp. if the election tightens up. Could these guys casting protest votes swing the result in, for example, Ontario exurban swing ridings?

Dion Must Have Struck A Nerve

Didn't watch the debate last night, but I notice that Dion's "30 day Plan" seems to be getting a fair bit of play in the morning papers. I'm not the only one to notice, either; the CPoC is practicing a little damage control. From their website:

Dion’s gimmicky promise to address global economic uncertainty with a magic 30-day plan to have a bunch of meetings is already being panned as a failed and shallow publicity stunt. Oh, and also nowhere to be found in his platform released just last week.

Of course, with Tory initiatives it is impossible to say whether they are in the Harper platform, or not in the Harper platform, as there is no platform to be part of.

And this is what happens when you run your campaign as a series of disconnected announcements and disparate photo ops; the guys with the plan get the headlines, the guys without issue defensive press releases.

Questions For The English Language Debate

For Stephane Dion:

WTF did you just say? Was it supposed to be in English?

For Gilles Duceppe:

Do you know Celine Dion? Can you make her stop?

For Jack Layton:

Yo Homey! Do you deal in grams or do I need to buy quantity?

For Stephen Harper:

Is it true that behind your jaws there lies another set of jaws like the creature in Alien and that, even now when your mouth is closed, they sit their grinning hideously?

For Elizabeth May:

Do you have a sister that's cute?

Gruending's got more questions.

NDP Stupidness: This Time Its Provincial

Cheri DiNovo has fired her three Queen’s Park staffers. The Parkdale-High Park MPP zapped them with late night e-mails – sent out on Labour Day, of all days of the year. The next morning she tried to un-fire them, blaming her managerial zeal on drinking too heavily and being affronted when none of them showed at her community BBQ. This was actually the second time that all of DiNovo’s staffers had been canned electronically, and rather than go back to await a third deletion the Parkdale Three have grieved their firings under the very strong caucus collective agreement.

I would remind everyone that I defended this lady against Cherniak and Kinsella and whoever was running the Lib War-Room in that by-election. So apparently I called one wrong. It happens.

But someone should ask Jack Layton: Yo Jack! Is there anyone in the NDP that doesn't abuse substances? And if not, how are you set for dime bags this week?

America Will Green Our Tar Sands

...hopefully:

U.S. environmentalists have declared another victory in their efforts to protect legislation that threatens Canada's booming oil sands, but oil sands advocates say there is no triumph to celebrate.

The legislation in question bans the U.S. government and its agencies from buying alternative fuels that produce more greenhouse gases than conventional fuels.

Environmentalists have argued vociferously that this includes fuel refined from oil from the oil sands, or tar sands, as they call them.

Just another quicky post while my brain gets unfried from sitting in a smelly room for three days with alot of smelly jurors. In the end I was not chosen to serve, so wound up reading every object in the vicinity with print on it. Eventually, I got down to the women's magazines with their (unillustrated) stories about breast care. These were totally non-arousing.

Anyway, while Ottawa is afraid of Alberta, the Washington is not, and frankly our best hopes for getting a handle on tar-sands' emissions lies there. Pity we have to get the Yanks to do our work for us.

Don't Mention Kyrgyzstan!

Julie Coullliard's book has been released to a couple of journalists. Verdict: Maxine Bernier really is a moron.

[He] frequently had problems giving speeches in English and asked Foreign Affairs to replace complicated words in his address to the United Nations...

Sorry for the short, relatively content-free posts. Today is my last day in the jury pool, so things should get better. I will try to take down a Tory cabinet minister by the weekend.

Also Watch Theyr Speling

I can't believe that this story has been up since yesterday and nobody has made the change. Journalism is truly dead.