Iggy Gets It Wrong

From canada.com:

"I just can't answer the question honestly," he said. "I respect the decision taken by Mr. Chretien in 2003. He did it in the interests of all Canadians. He did it because he understands that every decision to commit troops overseas in our nation's history has been a national-unity question."

Support for Iraq war dogs Ignatieff

If Michael Ignatieff is saying here that Chretien kept Canadian troops out of the Iraq War because he was afraid it might exacerbate national unity issues, then Iggy does not understand the country he wishes to rule. There was never majority support for joining the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, either in Quebec or the ROC. Chretien kept the country out of the war because it was desperately obvious that the war was a bad idea.

This is not Iggy's first time making drop dead stupid statements. As others have noted, his recent Prospect Magazine article, still available at http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=7374, makes the following claim:

While some abuse and outright torture can be attributed to individual sadism, poor supervision and so on, it must be the case that other acts of torture occur because interrogators believe, in good faith, that torture is the only way to extract information in a timely fashion. It must also be the case that if experienced interrogators come to this conclusion, they do so on the basis of experience. The argument that torture and coercion do not work is contradicted by the dire frequency with which both practices occur.

The argument here, in short: torture must work because torturers swear by it.

CPT "Rescue" Update: Ex-Hostage Thinks a Ransom was Paid

From CTV:

Canadian Harmeet Singh Sooden, who was held hostage in Iraq for close to four months, says he believes it's "highly likely" that his rescue last week was the result of a ransom being paid.

In his first interview since his release, the 33-year-old told Reuters that it was "highly unusual" for his captors to be absent, especially on the day of the rescue.

CTV.ca Rescued hostage Sooden believes ransom was paid

This would explain the apparent lack of gratitude of the Christian Peacemakers towards the Coalition forces who "rescued" their representatives in Iraq. The CPT paid for the release of these people; it wasn't the result of detective work on the part of "special forces" or the Mounties or anyone else.

Not Even a Pair of Boots

From Today's Globe:

CANCUN, MEXICO — Stephen Harper and George W. Bush ushered in their newly minted relationship yesterday with orders to their staffs to find ways to kick-start talks aimed at resolving the softwood lumber controversy.

globeandmail.com : PM, Bush eager to resolve softwood dispute

Attempts at partisan spin aside, it is clear that Stephen Harper got nothing of substance from George W. re. the softwood lumber dispute during their Cancun meeting. Apparently, you have to actually take your nation to war with George W. before he'll give you your own pair of cow-boy boots. But the American President has solemnly pledged that if Canadian casualties reach triple-digits in Afghanistan, he will strike a task-force to re-examine the issue.

What does this abject failure of diplomacy tell us about Stephen Harper, George W., and the state of Canadian/U.S. relations? Well, it tells you that the "new, more mature" relationship
between Conservative and Republican administrations has yielded no more than the "old, abrasive, dissonant" relationship between Harper's Liberal predecessors and the same Republican government. This isn't really surprising; on issues like softwood lumber, political stances are detemined by a summing of the various domestic pressures on the government in question, and "personalities", whether congenial or not, account for almost nothing.

But, on the other hand, flip this around. It tells us how little Canada's defiance of the United States on issues like Gulf War II and the Missile Defense System (Star Wars II) have actually "cost" the country in terms of lost trade or lost influence in Washington. This too should not be surprising; in economies as intertwined as those of Canada and the U.S., retaliating for a diplomatic slight is like shooting yourself in the foot. The only serious attempt I am aware of was a bill in the House of Representatives that recommendedd renaming Branta canadensis "Freedom Geese", and this bill died in the Senate.

So of course the lesson is exactly opposite the one that the current federal government and the Canadian business establishment would have you believe: it really is possible to stand up for Canadian values, and if necessary stand against our Southern neighbor, if they are for example engaged in illegal wars or attempts to weaponize space.

We can afford it. We can afford to remain Canadian.

Bush and Harper Meet: Nothing Happens

Bush "hopes" some progress can be made on the softwood lumber issue. BigCityLib's prediction: the two emerge from behind closed doors, babble a bit and say nothing substantive on the issue. Was just watching Bush's interview on CTV. His body-language said "expect zero".

CTV.ca Bush 'hopes' lumber issue can be resolved

That Didn't Last Long

From the Globe:

OTTAWA — Two Conservative staffers have already left jobs working for cabinet ministers to lobby the federal government, despite Prime Minister Stephen Harper's pledge to bar former ministerial staffers from lobbying for five years.

The two, Kevin Macintosh and David Salvatore, left their government jobs this month and started signing up private clients, but the Tories say they broke no rules because they worked as parliamentary aides, rather than ministerial aides, for cabinet members Rob Nicholson and Monte Solberg.

globeandmail.com : Ex-Tory staffers lobby despite Harper's vow

Though Harper promised "to enact strict ethics rules, including a five-year cooling-off period before ministers, ministerial staffers and senior officials can start lobbying the government", this does not apparently apply "to the staff working in a minister's parliamentary office rather than at the department the minister leads."

No word on whether Harper intends to close this loophole.

We Were All Illegal Once

As the Tory crackdown on undocumented workers continues, TorontoSun.com - Toronto And GTA - Illegal workers go into hiding, it occurs to me to write that this country was built on the backs of illegals.

I'm not just talking about our current situation where, for example, in Toronto the local construction industry is powered by a large underground labor force. I mean the situation that has always been.

For the average Canadian, if they look at their parents, or their parents parents, they will eventually find someone that came here "on the dodge" or with the their papers "not entirely in order" or under suspicious circumstances of one kind of another.

For example, there was my great-grandfather on my mother's side.

I heard his story from my grandmother, when my mom's family (originally Pushenko) decided to hold a Reunion on Granny's farm outside of Yorkton, Saskatchewan. That was sometime in the mid-70s, and I was about twelve or thirteen years old years old.

Grandma's farm was a hoot for a townie kid my age. Two big red farmhouses stood in a field of grain the size Lake Ontario. As dad drove us up the road to the place, I could see several bitterns

at the edge of the field to our right, standing stock still with their long necks pointed sky-ward as they attempted to hide from our vehicle by acting like wheat.

We parked in a big grass cul de sac at the center of a cluster of houses and storage buildings. Through the open doors of Grandma's barn I spotted the biggest, ugliest motor craft I had ever seen. It was like a small square shack plopped down on wheels, with a rolling-pin strapped to the front of it.

Mom said: "When your grandfather was alive he used to drive that old combine up and down the fields to harvest the wheat."

Dad said: "Harvest some of those birds too. They stiffen up when they hear the combine engine coming." (His family were also farmers originally, but from down the road in Alberta).

Mom said: "Some of the wealthier farmers have little tvs inside the cab, and a bunk-bed, and even a shower in some cases. They don't go very fast, and on a big farm you can just point them straight and relax until a timer goes off that tells you to turn around."

Wow! I saw myself cruising across the wheat ocean in one of these things, watching tv and taking showers whenever I wanted!
But Uncle Fred, who drove the combine and did most of the serious farming now that my grand-dad had passed away, wouldn't be on site until the rest of the Pushenko's began showing up this weekend. I had to be content to sneak inside the cab of the old combine at night when everyone else had gone to sleep and run my hands over the controls, dreaming of traveling...

But this story isn't about an old combine.

What happened was, as the week passed and my brother and I settled into our quarters in the guest house (which we had to ourselves!), Grandma walked us around the farm and showed us the highlights. One cool place was, in the midst of the flat yellow wheatfields, a small wood that bordered a pond with perch. There was a path through this, and a tree that I could climb near the water. I saw myself going up and sitting on the sturdy branch that over-hung the pond, casting a line into the water.

So on Thursday, when the rest of the family went into Yorkton to shop for the upcoming reunion, Grandma found me an old fishing rod and I dug up some worms and ran off into the wood to catch some perch.

It didn't take me five minutes to cast a hook into the back of my head, though. I have no manual skills whatsoever. Luckily, when I fell out of the tree I landed in the pond itself, which was about six feet deep at this end. I struggled out of the water with the hook stuck in my skull, and the hooked worm kicking against my left ear.

Grandma, who was in her kitchen making perogies, fixed me up in no time, and stuck a bandaid over the puncture mark. Then for some reason she decided to share a little secret: "Come with me," she said, and led me to her bedroom on the third floor of the main house. Once there, she opened a chest and pulled an old framed picture from inside of it.

"This is your great grandfather Jan, as he was when he left the old country."

There were two men in the picture, dressed in old world peasant dresses, with white shirts underneath and laces down the front.

"Which one is Jan?"

"The dark dress, with the hat. The other man was his friend Petr, who settled North of the city."

Now, my great grandfather Jan Poshenko and his friend Petr were Ukrainian, big fat Hunkies, so they were built like two cubes made of meat, about five and a half feet across in any direction. It is difficult to describe their appearance in female garb. I might start by saying that they both looked like Gertrude Stein. And although the term "Big Bull Dyke" had not been invented when they boarded the boat out of Odessa in 1905, it fit pretty well. They had carefully stuffed something down their dress tops to simulate the female shape, and the results were impressive, if not erotic.

"Jan and Petr left the old country after the first wave of Ukranians had already landed in Montreal and taken the train out West to the plots of land given to them by the Federal government," Grandma explained. "Most of the first ones out here were men, but then the government began looking for single women to ship out after them, so they would have something to marry and settle down with."

"And when you got down to the docks, the process was not scientific. You held your papers up and a little Canadian man in a bowtie picked you from the crowd, or didn't. He would say "You, you, and you...not you," and your fate was settled. Jan and Petr understood that they had a better chance to make the crossing as women than as men, so they "borrowed" clothing from Petr's sister. Ukrainian women and Ukrainian men come to look very similar after they reach a certain age, especially if they've spent their lives on the farm."

"Your Great Grandfather's ship was kept in port two days by a storm in the Eastern Mediterranean, and he knew that if he was seen dressed as a man (he carried the proper clothes in his suitcase) he would be set ashore, so he remained in this dress and tried not to come above deck where the light was bright and people could see his whiskers."

"All said, he wore this dress for six days, until the boat was far enough into the Atlantic that they could not think to turn it around."

I said: "Was this picture taken in the Ukraine?"

Grandma replied: "No, Jan and Petr kept their dresses in their suitcases as they came West on the train. They were let off outside of Yorkton, pointed in the direction of the empty quarter that was to become their farm, and told to start walking. A few years later, when they had become established a little, they took the two dresses from where they had hidden them, washed them, and posed in them one more time for this photo. just so they should never forget what they had done to come to this great land of Canada."

Grandma died in 1995, and I never did see or even hear of that picture again. But the memory has always stayed with me: my great grandfather, aboard the boat out of Odessa, come to build Canada in a dress.

David Orchard For Liberal Leader?

According to CTV, Saskatchewan farmer and two-time Tory leadership hopeful David Orchard is thinking about leaping into the Liberal race.

Ahh! David Orchard and I go way back. When was it? About 1997 or so, when the Tories were selling Memberships to anyone would would cut them a cheque for $10? This allowed David Orchard supporters to join up en masse, which garnered him just enough votes (about 18%) to deny good old Joe Clark his majority win. Because of this, the Tories had to go to a runoff, which made them look stupid as hell and cost the party millions.

And a couple of months before the leadership convention an idea started going around some of the Lefty mailing lists. Why not fork out ten dollars to the Tories and crash the party? That is, join up and vote for Orchard's insurgent campaign? Your own BigCityLib just did that, and helped set back the Conservative cause for nearly a decade!

Mind you, in so doing I became familiar with Orchard's ideas and beliefs and came to a certain admiration for the man. Certainly, he represented a wing of the Conservative Party (somewhat left, proudly Nationalist) that had fallen by the wayside, and probably doesn't exist at all anymore.

Except that he jumped very badly wrong in regards to the Kosovo conflict. He was peddling the whole pro-Serb line (like Lewis MacKenzie, I might add) where the Serbs weren't really cutting anybody's throat, and that people were doing equally bad things on both sides of the conflict, and that Kosovians were ethnically cleansing themselves, and so on. I lost a certain amount of respect for him over that.

But we shall see. If he does decide to run, he will be worth a good look at least. He has an impressive seriousness, though sometimes seems to be more like the head of a cult than a politician.


CTV.ca David Orchard mulls run at Liberal leadership

More on Tory Immigration Crackdown

The Conservative Government crackdown on (mostly European) immigrants who have overstayed their legal time in Canada continues apace, despite the fact that it will involve forcing Canadian citizens (the Canadian-born children of deported illegals) to leave the country as well.

Here is some information gleaned from the Portuguese Canadian National Congress submission to the "Cross-Canada Hearings on Citizenship and Immigration", which took place in March of 2005. Because of the skill sets possessed by Portuguese illegals (building and costruction skills), the current crackdown has particular relevance to that community, but I imagine a fair bit of the information applies to undocumented workers of other nationalities as well.

* The typical undocumented migrant from Portugal is a male between 20 and 45, likely to be unmarried with some secondary education. Because they tend not to have a post-secondary education, they are not considered "ideal immigrants". In fact, however, they tend to assimilate fairly quickly, gaining employment in line with their existing skill sets (often in the construction or home-building industry). This is something which is not as often the case with "high quality immigrants". Think of all the Indian doctors you've met driving cabs.

* The GTA has a population of about 5,000 to 9,000 undocumented construction workers (Portuguese and otherwise).

Imagine removing 5,000 to 9,000 hands from the local construction labor force. This is what the effect of the Tory crackdown will have on the GTA alone. The results are predictable: higher housing costs passed onto the consumer. Tories, being Tories, want to appear "tough" on illegal immigrants. But are they cutting off their nose to spite their face?

The full submission appears at the Portuguese Canadian National Congress. Enter the site and scrowl down about a half dozen items to "Federal government called to act...":

Portuguese Canadian National Congress


I'm not sure what political games Immigration Minister Monte Solberg is playing here. Officially, the amnesty for illegals contemplated by his Liberal predecessors is off the table and the whole issue is a "low" priority. I wonder however, if the Tories consider this a cheap gift to their political base. After all, while Portuguese aren't Arab and aren't terrorists, they are certainly more than a little swarthy, and maybe the goobers back in the farm belt can't tell the difference. Furthermore, most of them live and work in the Toronto area and so, from a Western Conservative POV, who gives a shit?

This whole situation reminds me of a joke overheard on Letterman back in 2003: the government can't catch Osama; Saddam is still running loose (which was true at the time); but they have managed to have Martha Stewart arrested.

How Can You Tell Iggy's Running for the Libs?

Because now he's definitely against torture. The money passage from Prospect Magazine:


We cannot torture, in other words, because of who we are. This is the best I can do, but those of us who believe this had better admit that many of our fellow citizens are bound to disagree. It is in the nature of democracy itself that fellow citizens will define their identity in ways that privilege security over liberty and thus reluctantly endorse torture in their name. If we are against torture, we are committed to arguing with our fellow citizens, not treating those who defend torture as moral monsters. Those of us who oppose torture should also be honest enough to admit that we may have to pay a price for our own convictions. Ex ante, of course, I cannot tell how high this price might be. Ex post—following another terrorist attack that might have been prevented through the exercise of coercive interrogation—the price of my scruple might simply seem too high. This is a risk I am prepared to take, but frankly, a majority of fellow citizens is unlikely to concur.

Essays: 'If torture works�' by Michael Ignatieff Prospect Magazine April 2006 issue 121


Let's be blunt: if the Liberals elect a guy who spends his political breath ruminating on torture, and having to continually explain with fine distinctions why he does not support torture, they are doomed.

Not all intellectuals are like Trudeau, Libs! Some are just pointless Nerds, like this guy! Big thumbs down from BigCityLib!

Conspiracy Confirmed?

From the U.K. Telegraph:

A deal had been struck with a man detained the previous night who was one of the leaders of the kidnappers. He was allowed a telephone call to warn his henchmen to leave the kidnap house. When the troops moved in and found the prisoners alive, they also let him go as promised.

Telegraph News Released hostages 'refuse to help their rescuers'

So the kidnappers were allowed to get away. What would you call this, then? A rescue? A release? Definitely a deal was done.

Update: It occurs to me that if the deal went down as described by the U.K. Telegraph, then coalition forces let go one of the men who was reponsible for the death of Tom Fox after it was clear that the hostages had been "rescued". Thats quite bizarre when you think of it. Coalition Forces are pissed that the CPTers "aren't cooperating" in their investigation, but they released one of the "leaders" of the kidnappers. No, something still stinks here.

Garth Turner Slams Tory Spending, Hints at Ditching GST Cut

When old BigCityLib used to live in the Eglinton/Laird area, he used to see Garth Turner (who at the time was an ex-Tory MP for the Mulroney government) all the time at the local liquor store. Who knew that this man, who the LCBO clerks used to refer to as "the scowling midget", would become the conscience of the new Harper government?

Recently, he has been pointing out some of the holes in the Tory election platform:

"The total (cost of the platform) - $75 billion - is a huge amount," said Garth Turner, MP for the Toronto-area riding of Halton.

"I'm basically saying we should not proceed with some of this. I don't think we can afford it."

Furthermore, it looks like old Garth is hinting that the GST cut is one of the promises that should be sacrificed on the alter of common sense:

Asked if he'd shelve the GST promise, Turner said, "I'm not going to confirm that that's it."

See the full story here:

edmontonsun.com - Canada - Turner slams Tory spending

All common sense. Can we really afford a deep water port in the far North to protect our nationhood if we cut our sales tax to the benefit of every middle man standing between the maker and the consumer, but not the consumer themselves? Probably not. Will Stephen Harper listen? Probably not.

Probably Garth Turner, who has the shittiest office on Parliament Hill, will be working out of a tent by month's end.

Keeping Conspiracy Alive

Some suggestive words from The TO Star concerning the alleged "rescue" of CPTers in Iraq:

But questions remain about how the rescue unfolded and the level of Canada's involvement. The fact no kidnappers were there when the rescuers arrived gave rise to speculation the men were released as part of a pre-arranged agreement.

[...]

Harper said he had seen no evidence a ransom was paid to secure the hostages' freedom.

"I certainly haven't been told that and everything that has been told to me would suggest the answer is no," he said.

But the Washington-based SITE Institute, which monitors extremists' websites, noticed a posting yesterday on an Arabic website that claimed the Christian Peacemaker Teams had paid a ransom for the release. The group vehemently denied the claim.

TheStar.com - `We caught a very lucky break': Hostages

We shall see over the next couple of days/weeks whether there is any truth to these speculations. I suspect we will have another "Jessica Lynch" moment as it is revealed that the Christian Peacemakers were "released" as much as "rescued".

Update: 7:00 am More material from The San Francisco (?) Mercury News:

The statements left many unanswered questions. It was unclear whether the kidnappers -- who claimed to belong to a little-known group called Swords of Righteousness Brigade -- had been tipped off about the raid, had been paid to leave or simply left the men unguarded. The group had accused the men of being Western spies and had threatened to kill them unless all Iraqi prisoners were released.

British officials refused to answer questions about the raid. It could not be learned whether any of the abductors was arrested or whether a ransom was paid.

Pritchard said he did not know whether the freeing of the men came after any negotiations.

CPTers Released

My favorite bit from the Christian Peacemakers news release concerning the release of Harmeet Singh Sooden, Jim Loney and Norman Kember, and the death of Tom Fox:


Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.

Throughout these difficult months, we have been heartened by messages of concern for our four colleagues from all over the world. We have been especially moved by the gracious outpouring of support from Muslim brothers and sisters in the Middle East, Europe, and North America. That support continues to come to us day after day. We pray that Christians throughout the world will, in the same spirit, call for justice and for respect for the human rights of the thousands of Iraqis who are being detained illegally by the U.S. and British forces occupying Iraq.

During these past months, we have tasted of the pain that has been the daily bread of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. Why have our loved ones been taken? Where are they being held? Under what conditions? How are they? Will they be released? When?

With Tom’s death, we felt the grief of losing a beloved friend. Today, we rejoice in the release of our friends Harmeet, Jim and Norman. We continue to pray for a swift and joyful homecoming for the many Iraqis and internationals who long to be reunited with their families. We renew our commitment to work for an end to the war and the occupation of Iraq as a way to continue the witness of Tom Fox. We trust in God’s compassionate love to show us the way.

CPTers Released

Gutsy words. The conservative blogosphere will likely go nuts over this. No mention of allied troops involved in the "rescue"; reference to detainees held illegally by the Coalition. Come fellow Liberals, there is much smiting to be done!


Update: 9:10 am. And its already started. Drudge is reporting the "snub" of Coalition forces by "peace activist group".

Update: 10:57 am. My best guess is that the kidnappers planned the release and made a phone-call giving the location. According to reports, they were long gone when the "rescue team" showed up. Watch the pro-war camp try to spin this "rescue" into a great triumph over the insurgents. Don't be fooled.

Update: 6:37 pm. My conspiracy theory is till in play. Some discrepancy between the words of British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, who claimed the "rescue" involved "weeks and weeks of very careful work by military and coalition personnel in Iraq and many civilians as well", and U.S. military spokesman Rick Lynch, who said the whole job was done up in three hours.

More on Deporting Portuguese Construction Workers

Some of the Biggies in the Ontario development industry are stepping forward, and asking that the Feds reconsider their plan to deport several thousand illegal Portuguese immigrants. They are worried about the adverse effects this move may have on the GTA labor market for construction workers. From Today's TO Star:

A prominent GTA developer has condemned the federal government for wanting to toss "honest, hard-working" illegal immigrants from Portugal and other countries out of Canada.

"There is definitely a shortage of workers in the construction industry right now, and it doesn't matter-- from road building to plumber to bricklayers-- there is a shortage," Silvio De Gasperis told the Toronto Star yesterday.

"This process should be stopped until they get a chance to review and assess the entire situation," said De Gasperis, one of the country's largest private developers. "Maybe if they did they would realize that the good families, the honest people, should be staying and working."

It has been estimated that there are between 10,000 and 15,000 illegal immigrants working in southern Ontario's construction and hospitality industries; some estimates put the number of undocumented workers across the country as high as 300,000.

Neither the federal immigration department nor Immigration Minister Monte Solberg's office would comment yesterday on whether the government would consider any kind of regularization program. On Monday, Solberg called it "a low priority."

A Star report this week expressed concerns by immigration lawyers and consultants that illegal workers were being deported as the Conservatives abandon Liberal moves toward an amnesty plan.

The deportations threaten to rock Canada's booming construction industry. Construction represents 9.5 per cent of Canada's total Gross Domestic Product and 7.5 per cent of Ontario's alone, according to figures from the Greater Toronto Home Builders' Association.

TheStar.com - Don't deport `honest' workers: Builder

I agree with M. DeGasperis on this issue with regards to delaying the process, mostly for purely economic reasons. The GTA construction/housing industry is in something just short of a Boom at the moment. Labor costs are going up and removing several thousand hands from the mix will makes things that much worse. The economic stakes are fairly high.

And I wonder if this is a problem anywhere else than in Toronto/Ontario? Specifically, are there large pockets of illegal Portuguese construction workers in other large urban areas that may also be affected? And, therefore, will this be a story in other cities? I have seen no coverage other than in the TO Dailies.

Politically, this will mushroom if the development community as a whole raises a stink. Furthermore, Canadians will get a chance to see the (more or less) white faces of crying Portuguese children as they are hauled aboard the plane bound for Lisbon, and will decide that this is hardly the place to begin any crackdown on illegal immigration.

Tories Should Stop Mass Deporation of Portuguese!

You should probably file this under the heading of "Stinkbombs Left By The Libs For the Incoming Government", but it is possible that up to 15,000 Portuguese construction workers working in and around Toronto will be sent home in the next couple of weeks because they have overstayed their papers and an amnesty deal worked out by the Martin government has been allowed to die. From the TO Star:

Illegal workers in Toronto's underground economy are being deported as the new Conservative government abandons a Liberal amnesty plan, immigration lawyers and consultants say.
Some families who have been in Canada five years or more are being given less than two weeks to pack up and leave.

Toronto's Portuguese community-- with up to 15,000 undocumented members, working mainly in the booming construction industry --is especially concerned.

Early last year, then-Immigration Minister Joe Volpe said he would try to find a way to get legal status for undocumented workers.

"They are here already and have proven themselves to be integrated," Volpe said at the time.

Last May, he said he had signed off on a final draft and the plan was set to go to cabinet. But nothing was done during the following six months before the Liberals were defeated.

Immigration officials now say they will continue to enforce the existing policy, with increased resources.

TheStar.com - Tories begin deporting illegal workers

This has potential to do real damage to the Toronto New Housing Market and broader economy. The past ten years of so have been boom years for the TO New Home Market, but nevertheless prices have remained pretty reasonable, going up about five to ten per cent every year, which is beyond inflation but still within range of people trying to get into the market.

Remove 10,000 to 15,000 construction workers from the picture, and this situation changes pretty fast.

Again, this is probably a Liberal sin that the Tories are paying the price for, but now its their problem and they have to fix it. Some kind of amnesty program should restored here real quick.

PS. I'm not really up to this tonight. Will attempt to post something more reasoned within the next 24 hours or so.

Is Western Seperatism an Ethnic Problem?

Catherine Ford is a national columnist with the Calgary Herald. In early 2003 she produced, for Opinion Canada, an excellent analysis of the phenomenon of Western Seperatism. She points to a factor that is seldom mentioned in the usual discussions of the issue:


Sarcasm and ridicule aside, there is a serious aspect to the recurrence of separation talk in the West. Much of it centres on both geography and invisible ethnicity and our geographical north-south orientation and our population of ex-patriate Americans, drawn by Alberta's oil industry and Calgary's head offices. They feel right at home here, as they should. Americans have always easily drifted north, from the first cattle drives to an escape from racism; from explorers to draft dodgers. They have always felt comfortable in Calgary where American values are prominent.

It can be argued whether those values-- including, but not exclusively, such traits as self-reliance, market forces, trickle-down economics, pull-up-the-bootstraps attitudes, family values --developed because of early American immigration into Alberta.

Nonetheless, they dominate the thinking of the politically powerful and thus, the voices most heard.

Many in Alberta want the rest of the country to share such values--in effect, to become more American. Not that this is such a bad thing, in and of itself, but the rest of Canada's reluctance leads to outbreaks of separatist thinking.

Opinion Canada

I never realized the extent to which the Western Seperatist movement was driven by ethnic American immigrants trying to force Canada into the ideological mould of the United Stats.

But we do tell old Mohammed with the turban that he's going to put away the old values when he comes to Canada. Why isn't it appropriate to tell Bubba with the cowboy hat the same thing?

Do None Dare Call Them Traitors?

A quick post on Mark Norris, who is running to replace Ralph Klein as Leader of the Alberta Conservative Party. Mark Norris is a Western Seperatist, or at least one of his slogans is "Separation if necessary, but not necessarily separation." Mr. Norris apparently believes that the ROC is jealous of Alberta, and that if Ottawa passes lets say a carbon tax to combat Global Warming, Alberta should "take steps to secede".

And apparently, Mr. Norris isn't the only one running for the Alberta Conservative Party leadership that holds such views. Calgary MLS Ted Morton is also ready to threaten separation if Alberta doesn't recieve "the kind of respect and deference Quebec has received".

In other words, two would-be leaders of the richest province in Canada are willing to threaten secession if Alberta doesn't get more federal handouts.

Two comments:

First a minor point: I know of hardly any Canadians outside of Alberta that are "jealous" or "envious" of Alberta. In fact, in Toronto, most people don't really care what goes on North of Steeles. What happens in the outer suburbs is entirely off the radar screen.

Secondly, I'd like to know if is there anyone on the Right of the political spectrum, like newly minted PM Stephen Harper for example, who is willing to brand these two pricks as they traitors that they are.

Because as an Ontarion I have always been urged by my Western brothers to take a hard line against Quebec Seperatists, but I wonder if I have been held to a double standard? Now suddenly it's Western Conservatives that are ready to split up the country. They weren't conquered and don't have "humiliation" issues, but if Ottawa raises gas taxes a penny to save the seals and the Inuit, they're ready to bolt!

These people are a revolting disgrace, and it is incumbent upon our new government (which despite its Western roots is supposed to govern for all of Canada) to denounce them!

I'd hate to see tanks around the Saddledome as much as anyone, but maybe that's what it will take to save the country from the likes of Mark Norris and Ted Morton.

Full story is in Licia Corbella's Calgary Sun column, "Norris Ready to Play Hardball", at:

http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Corbella_Licia/2006/03/19/1495405.html

Mixed Feelings

From this morning's Globe:

Senator's comments bring unease to Liberals

Ottawa -- The federal Liberals are distancing themselves from a senator's harsh criticism of the United States in a letter defending the Canadian seal hunt.

Senator Céline Hervieux-Payette replied recently to a letter from a U.S. family calling the hunt "horrible" and "inhumane."

Ms. Hervieux-Payette responded that what she found horrible is "the daily massacre of innocent people in Iraq, the execution of prisoners -- mainly blacks -- in American prisons, the massive sale of handguns to Americans, the destabilization of the entire world by the American government's aggressive foreign policy, etc."

globeandmail.com : Senator's comments bring unease to Liberals


Bit torn about this incident. My general attitude to bashing Americans is expressed by the old Russian proverb that says if you meet a Bulgarian in the street, hit them. They'll know why. (Replace "Bulgarian" with "American" here, obviously. Bulgarians haven't invaded any third-world countries recently).

But on the other hand, the seal hunt is essentially a blood-bath designed to provide soft fur gloves and boots to women with too much money. Furthermore, launching a consumer boycott against the hunt (which is what the American family are suggesting they are prepared to do) is a perfectly legitimate vehicle for expressing opposition to it.

So I am conflicted.

And the Issue Is?

[An] Ipsos-Reid survey published Thursday found Canadians between 40 and 64 years old dedicate an average of just 15 minutes a day to sex and romance.

But, the protagonists of the 1960s sexual revolution said they spent about four or five hours per day watching television or surfing the Internet, more than 30 hours per week in total.

BREITBART.COM - Canadian baby boomers prefer television over sex: poll

You know, if I was spending fifteen minutes a day on sex, that would mean I was having sex about 20 times per week. What problem exactly is being addressed here?

Holy Fucking Shit! Sense from the TO Sun!

TO Sun Editorial page evolves on the issue of a vote on the extension of Canada's Afghanistan Mission. They correctly note that our forces are committed for the next twelve months or so, and say:

"We believe the time for a full debate on this issue will come a year from now, when the present phase of our Kandahar mission ends and Canadians will effectively have to decide if we want to commit our soldiers over the long haul -- say, 10 years."

http://www.torontosun.com/Comment/Commentary/2006/03/16/1490508.html

Excellent! Get Harper to explicitly agree today to a full debate and vote one year from now and he can close the book on this issue. Maybe it will help bump us his anemic poll numbers (37% would vote for the Tories today).