Listeria victim's family angry over Ritz jokes

CBC / CP coverage of reaction to Conservative Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz's jokes about the listeriosis epidemic. In this clip, Dennis Schroh, son of a listeriosis victim, called Ritz's statements "ruthless and disrespectful." (September 19, 2008)

Conservatives to kill meat inspection in Manitoba: Ag Union

Agriculture Union media release:

Conservatives to kill meat inspection in Manitoba

WINNIPEG, Sept. 18 /CNW Telbec/ - If elected, a federal Conservative government plans to stop delivering provincial meat inspection programs in Manitoba leaving local consumers exposed to the risk of unsafe meat. The plan is revealed in a secret Treasury Board of Canada decision record, dated May 6, 2008, documenting the acceptance of a proposal concerning "Provincial Meat Slaughter Establishments (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, British Columbia)" which calls for the "elimination of federal delivery of provincial meat inspection programs."

"Meat produced in provincially registered facilities in Manitoba would not be inspected by anyone under this plan," says Bob Kingston, President of the Agriculture Union - Public Service Alliance of Canada, which has launched www.foodsafetyfirst.ca, a tool for voters to email their local candidates during the federal election to urge them to make a commitment to food safety. The campaign is being organized jointly with the Professional Institute of the Public Service Canada.

The Treasury Board decision record says that following approval of a detailed implementation plan, "including risk mitigation and communications strategies," the cuts will come into force.

In Manitoba, the federal government delivers provincial meat inspection programs ensuring provincially registered slaughter facilities meet sanitation and other safety regulations. There are more than 30 provincially registered meat establishments in Manitoba that produce everything from beef to bison, ostrich to turkey and whose products cannot be shipped outside the province. "As we've seen during recent weeks, the federal government should be increasing food inspection, not cutting it," Kingston says.

The government of Stephen Harper has steadily cut funding for food safety programs and shifted responsibility for safety assurance to the food companies themselves.

According to current Treasury Board of Canada forecasts, funding for food safety programs will have declined by almost 30% from $359 million in 2006/07 to $254 million in 2010/11 under Mr. Harper's watch.

Meanwhile, the government plans to expand industry self-policing of safety. The same Treasury Board record also reveals plans to: "shift from full-time Canadian Food Inspection Agency meat inspection presence to an oversight role, allowing industry to implement food safety control programs and to manage key risks."

The Food Safety First campaign is urging federal candidates to endorse a four-point commitment to food safety:

1. Hire 1000 additional inspectors and veterinarians to improve industry compliance with safety regulations.
2. Place a moratorium on industry self-policing.
3. Remove obstacles that prevent CFIA inspectors and vets from taking immediate action when they encounter potential public health risks in the plants they inspect.
4. Restore the system of public audit reports which were cancelled under pressure from the meat industry.

"Voters can visit www.foodsafetyfirst.ca to send a message asking their candidates to make a commitment to food safety. When the candidates are asking voters for their support, there's no better time to ask the candidates to make this commitment," Kingston said.

The Agriculture Union - PSAC represents federal food inspectors and its President Bob Kingston is an Inspection Supervisor on leave from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Before going on a leave of absence to serve as an elected union officer, Kingston spent 25 years as a CFIA and Agriculture Canada inspector, including 15 years as a multi-commodity supervisor, a senior level inspector position.

For further information: Jim Thompson, (613) 447-9592

Source: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2008/18/c5823.html

h/t T. Thwim

Gerry Ritz - "stupid and insensitive remarks"

CTV coverage of Conservative Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz making "stupid and insensitive remarks" about the listeriosis epidemic. Roger Smith and Bob Fife talking to Mike Duffy. Note the exchange between Duffy and Fife around 3:00.



Some commenters over at Maclean's blogs think the controversy about Ritz's jokes is being over-blown. I don't agree.

It's worth noting that the minister in charge of the safety of the country’s food supply thinks that the deaths of people due to unsafe food is a joking matter. There were about 30 people on that conference call, it wasn’t a private aside, he knew a lot of people were listening and he thought it was fine to joke about people dying.

Family members of people who died don’t think it was funny. The daughter of one victim called the comments “hurtful” and “disrespectful”: http://watch.ctv.ca/news/election-2008/ritz-under-fire/#clip93578

This is what the phrase “adding insult to injury” means.

Coming on the same day as the CMAJ editorial that puts the responsibility for the listeriosis deaths squarely in the lap of the federal government, it is legitimately big news.

If family is everything, why not show some respect for the families who have lost loved ones? And why not some respect for families who have to feed their kids, their elders, family members with other medical conditions who are particularly vulnerable to listeriosis?

And how can the country have confidence in a minister who takes no responsibility for and doesn’t understand the seriousness of one of his core files - food safety?

Disbarred & jailed - how much more qualified can you get?

It must be Friday:

Bruce Carson was named this week as the first executive director of the new Alberta-based Canada School of Energy and the Environment.

The institute recently got $15 million from the Tory government.

Carson, who was disbarred and jailed in the early 1980s for defrauding law clients, will split his time between the Prime Minister's office and his new post until after the next federal election. http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/479507

Obviously his alleged background "defrauding law clients" will be excellent experience in selling the Conservative ecoFraud policies.

Canadians can be proud that individuals of his stature are selflessly prepared to serve their country, putting the public interest before their own.

Daily dose of double-talk - video of the Cadman case in QP, March 4, 2008

Highlights from today's Question Period on the allegations regarding Chuck Cadman.

Stéphane Dion: "Mr. Speaker, we all heard the tape. First question: can the prime minister tell Canadians - Is it really his voice on the tape? Yes or no?"


Ken Dryden:



Ruby Dhalla:

Questions in the House - Cadman allegations, March 3

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion & Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff question the government on the allegations regarding Independent MP Chuck Cadman. Question Period, March 3, 2008. (EN/FR)

Liberal MP Ken Dryden questions the government on allegations regarding Independent MP Chuck Cadman. Question Period, March 3, 2008.

Stéphane Dion takes media questions about the Cadman allegations and the threatened libel suit. (March 3, 2008. EN/FR)

Liberal MPs question government on Cadman allegations, Feb. 29, 2008 (video from QP)

Liberal MPs Ralph Goodale, Raymond Simard, Marcel Proulx and Garth Turner continue questioning the government about allegations that the Conservatives attempted to bribe Independent MP Chuck Cadman in May 2005. (Question Period, February 29, 2008.)

Video 1 - Ralph Goodale & Raymond Simard [EN/FR 5:25]


Video 2 - Marcel Proulx & Garth Turner [FR/EN 6:03]

Liberals question government on Cadman allegations (video coverage)

Liberal leader Stéphane Dion, Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff and several Liberal MPs questioned the government during Question Period today about allegations that Conservatives tried to bribe Independent MP Chuck Cadman. Here are videos of Dion, Ignatieff, Karen Redman, Dominic LeBlanc, Sukh Dhaliwal, Todd Russell, Raymonde Folco and Sue Barnes pressing the government for straight answers:

One mile wide and one inch deep

Stéphane Dion's response to the federal budget, February 26, 2008: "A budget that is one mile wide and one inch deep." (EN/FR)

More on the Liberal response to the budget at http://www.liberal.ca/story_13624_e.aspx (EN) or http://www.liberal.ca/story_13624_f.aspx (FR).

And today's Question Period (EN/FR) -
Stéphane Dion asks the prime minister to bring back Bill C-30, the revised Clean Air Act, supported by all three opposition parties and dropped when Parliament was prorogued in the fall of 2007. Dion notes that the Conservative plan is so weak that polluters won't pay, they'll get paid. That would be by you and me, the taxpayers. Paying polluters to pollute - now that's getting things done!

Hallucinating about the Afghan mission

The Irrational Post strikes again with a hallucinatory editorial about Dion's position on the end of the Afghanistan mission.

Dion has said for a year (since February 2007) that the combat mission must end in February 2009, and that Canadian troops could have other roles in Kandahar, including providing security, training and help with development projects.

He has explained many times that a "combat mission" is defined as "proactively seeking out" the enemy, whereas security is more defensive in nature.

Are the people at the Irrational Post too stupid to understand that, or are they perhaps a little less than objective?

On February 12, 2008, Joan Bryden of the Canadian Press was interviewed about Stéphane Dion's Afghanistan position. Bryden said:

Stéphane Dion has actually been pretty clear for about a year now about the Liberal position, which is, 'the end of the combat mission in February 2009.' He has been unequivocal and categorical about that point for a long time... It's been a good spin job by the Conservatives to put all the onus on the Liberals. The Conservatives are the ones who have actually changed their position.

Dion reiterated his long-standing position on Thursday (February 21, 2008) during an interview in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan:

The Conservatives owe a big debt of gratitude to their friends at the Irrational Post for their help in spinning the story.

Sandra Buckler & the sound of screaming

It's up to PM whether to fire spokeswoman over Afghan comment, says Tory MP
(Canadian Press, January 26, 2008, 6:20 pm)

. . . But one telephone receiver was shaking with the sound of screaming as a livid Department of National Defence official vented his fury at the Prime Minister's Office.

The military official said his colleagues are incensed by the insinuation that they would be incompetent enough to withhold key details on a politically charged file from their civilian bosses.

He said the Canadian Forces should be receiving plaudits for having signed a detainee-transfer deal when Foreign Affairs failed to do so in 2005, and for having then immediately halted transfers when proof of torture was uncovered in November.

"Instead we've been wearing this," the military official said, shouting loudly enough to shake the phone receiver. He described the mood at DND as "outraged and frustrated." . . .

Harper government indifferent to homelessness and poverty

Stéphane Dion reiterated his commitment to reducing poverty and homelessness in Victoria yesterday.

At a roundtable on homelessness, Dion learned that about 1,200 people in Victoria are "homeless or at risk." Dion said that the federal government should be involved in Victoria Mayor Alan Lowe's plan to find 1,550 housing units for the homeless in the next five years.

A Liberal government led by Stéphane Dion would work with other levels of government to find solutions to poverty and related social problems.

Dion confirmed that "The Liberals also plan to honour promises in the Kelowna Accord -- an agreement between the Liberal government of Paul Martin and aboriginal leaders two years ago -- to help aboriginal people living in poverty."

The Times-Colonist reported that "Dion also yesterday restated his party's support for supervised-injection sites as part of the fight against poverty and addiction. Dion said research shows the sites save lives and prevent the spread of disease."

Read the full story:

Dion endorses city strategy to fight homelessness
Lindsay Kines, Times Colonist (Victoria, BC)
Published: Friday, November 16, 2007

Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion yesterday endorsed Victoria's strategy to fight homelessness and vowed that a government under his leadership would be a partner in the battle.

Dion, who held a morning round-table discussion on homelessness with civic leaders at the Victoria Foundation, admitted surprise that an estimated 1,200 people are homeless or at risk in Victoria.

"Incredible," he said.

But Dion said he was impressed to see the community united behind Mayor Alan Lowe's task force, which intends to find 1,550 housing units for the homeless over the next five years.

"When you have a plan, like the mayor has a plan ... the federal government must be part of the plan," he told the Times Colonist editorial board.

Dion criticized the current Conservative government for "doing nothing" about homelessness and poverty for the past two years. "The current government is indifferent," he said.

By contrast, he said, his party released a plan last week that would reduce the number of Canadians living below the poverty line by at least 30 per cent during the first five years of a federal Liberal government. The number of children in poverty would be cut in half, he said.

Under the plan, the Liberals would expand the child tax benefit, increase the guaranteed-income supplement for seniors, and change the tax rules so people aren't penalized when they move off welfare into the workforce.

The Liberals also plan to honour promises in the Kelowna Accord -- an agreement between the Liberal government of Paul Martin and aboriginal leaders two years ago -- to help aboriginal people living in poverty.

"Keep our feet to the fire, because we have made a commitment," Dion said. "It's not a commitment of decades; it's a commitment of five years. A mandate. If Canadians are giving us the mandate, they will be able to be part of this unprecedented effort to decrease poverty by a third."

Dion said the Liberals will reveal the cost of the plan during the next election campaign. "It's affordable," he said. "We don't need to raises taxes for that. It's a matter of political will. And when I see how much the communities are ready to act -- as the one that we see today in Victoria -- I'm very confident that we will succeed."

Dion also yesterday restated his party's support for supervised-injection sites as part of the fight against poverty and addiction. Dion said research shows the sites save lives and prevent the spread of disease.

Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca Liberal MP Keith Martin told reporters Victoria's integrated plan to deal with mental health, housing, detox and medical issues could be a model for other cities.

"We're utterly confident that here in Victoria, we will be able to build a plan that deals with downtown core urban issues that are affecting cities across our country," he said.
(Source: http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/story.html?id=7a742e55-6ee3-4e1d-b137-eeab897a7c54&k=77917)

Accountability and transparency - not

Dion wants answers over Mulroney affair
Toronto Star, Nov 11, 2007 07:02 PM
Jim Brown, THE CANADIAN PRESS

OTTAWA - Liberal Leader Stephane Dion says he's finding it "very hard to believe" that Stephen Harper only found out last week about details of the controversial business dealings between Brian Mulroney and German-Canadian businessman Karlheinz Schreiber.

In an interview Sunday on CTV's Question Period, Dion noted that government officials are now acknowledging Schreiber wrote a letter addressed to the prime minister in March outlining his past contacts with Mulroney.

Aides to Harper insist, however, that the letter never got beyond the Privy Council Office, which failed to pass it on to the prime minister last spring.

"There is a cover-up somewhere," Dion maintained. "I cannot believe it is the Privy Council Office, the most important authority of the civil service...

"The prime minister has to explain: What did he know, when did he know it?"

Harper announced on Friday he would appoint an independent third party to review issues raised by the affair and recommend whether further steps, such as a full-fledged public inquiry, are needed.

The move came after Schreiber filed an affidavit in Ontario Superior Court adding new allegations to an old dispute over $300,000 in cash paid to Mulroney after he stepped down as prime minister.

Schreiber now claims the deal was struck in June 1993, while Mulroney was still prime minister. He also claims a Mulroney adviser asked him at one point to transfer money related to the purchase of Airbus jets by Air Canada to a Swiss lawyer who represented Mulroney.

None of the allegations have been proven in court, and some of them contradict testimony Schreiber has previously given. He is currently embroiled in a civil suit with Mulroney, as well as fighting extradition to Germany on fraud and tax evasion charges.

Schreiber claimed as well, in his latest affidavit, that Mulroney was supposed to deliver a letter from him to Harper and discuss their business arrangements in the summer of 2006.

Harper has confirmed he met Mulroney that summer, but says he didn't get any letter and there was no talk of Schreiber during the get-together.

New questions surfaced on the weekend, when the Globe and Mail reported Schreiber had also written directly to Harper in March of this year. It was that letter Dion seized upon, demanding to know whether Harper had been aware of the brewing storm but kept quiet about it for seven months.

Sandra Buckler, the communications director for Harper, denied that was the case.

"Mr. Schreiber's letter was processed by the Privy Council Office and was not forwarded to the Prime Minister's Office," she said in an email Sunday.

She offered no further explanation except to say that PCO routinely handles all incoming mail for the prime minister.

Dion, for his part, urged Harper to call a full public inquiry now rather than wait for the matter to be reviewed by a third party.

"We need to know exactly what happened," the Liberal leader told CTV. "We are speaking about something that in a democracy should not happen – the possibility of a former prime minister receiving cash money from obscure services given by a business person who was in trouble with the justice system."

Mulroney has never publicly explained the nature of the business dealings that earned him $300,000 from Schreiber. Spokesmen for the former prime minister have insisted it had nothing to do with Airbus and related to other commercial ventures including a pasta business Schreiber was trying to start with Mulroney's help.

The RCMP and the federal Justice Department named Mulroney in a letter to Swiss authorities in 1995, suggesting he may have been involved in kickbacks arising from the Airbus transactions with Air Canada.

Mulroney sued for libel when the letter became public and won an apology and a $2.1 million settlement from the Liberal government of Jean Chrétien.

In a brief written statement last week, the former prime minister promised to co-operate with the third-party review announced by Harper but offered no further comment.
(Source: http://www.thestar.com/News/article/275533)

Liberals have to fight back positively

Kinder, gentler Dion preferable to nasty Harper
Winnipeg Free Press, Wed Oct 24 2007
View from the West and Beyond - Frances Russell

TEN months ago, the Conservatives brought a quick end to newly elected Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion's political honeymoon with a brutal attack ad culminating in a stentorian voice proclaiming "Stéphane Dion is not a leader."

Last Saturday at a town hall meeting in Winnipeg, Dion used the ad to showcase himself as a person and a politician who couldn't be more different from Prime Minister Stephen Harper. An audience member urged Dion to go as negative and hard against Harper as Harper has against him.

"I try to imagine myself as a very negative person and to have attack ads like 'Stephen Harper is not a leader'" (and here he mimicked the announcer's doomsday tone, to applause and laughter.) "It's not me.

"I don't want ads that are personal," Dion continued. "Instead, I want ads where you contrast what they are doing and what we would do -- on the environment, on women's rights, on fighting poverty... I am confident in the big heart, the good sense and the judgment of the Canadian people."

Liberals have to fight back positively, the Liberal leader continued. "I don't mind to mention the Conservative record and where I think Mr. Harper is making mistakes. But it will not be his personal character that I will attack. It is what he's doing to this country."

He returned to the theme when asked about proportional representation. He prefers the preferential ballot, which allows voters to rank parties in descending order of choice.

"I like this system, because the information you receive from every voter is richer. It's not just your first choice, it's all choices," Dion said. "The other thing that is good is that there is an obligation to be more civilized in the debate."

Parties will be more respectful of one another because they will be wooing each others' partisans for their second or third choices. "If I insult them and I come out with attack ads, they will not want to vote for me. It will be good for Canada because there will be a more civilized debate."

Dion's plea for civility folded in neatly with his views on the close links between economic growth, social justice and environmental sustainability -- what he called the Liberals' "virtuous circle."

"The Conservatives, they have difficulty in seeing social programs otherwise than as a burden on the economy. We Liberals, we think that social programs that are well-designed will help people be better trained, better-educated, healthier, more confident in life and because of that, they will be better equipped to be competitive in the market... And then the market economy will be stronger and provide more room for social programs."

Dion's positive and inclusive message in Winnipeg stands in stark contrast to the nasty confrontational climate in Ottawa.

Last week, the Liberal leader was savaged in the right-wing media for dodging an election over the throne speech, although Harper and NDP Leader Jack Layton both also ducked non-confidence motions during the short-lived Paul Martin minority. Dion Needs A New Dog, screamed one headline. Master of Disaster, blared another.

Also last week, Canadians learned -- and some voters reacted angrily -- to news that Harper's office had compiled a mailing list of Jewish Canadians and had issued an "outreach" strategy to Conservative candidates on how to target and recruit minority Canadians into the Conservative party that uses the word "ethnic" no less than 85 times. On Monday, the Conservative party followed Harper's earlier decision to turf Nova Scotia MP Bill Casey out of caucus for refusing to toe the line on off-shore resources by firing his entire Conservative riding association for daring to re-nominate him.

These actions recall and amplify Harper's recent "fish or cut bait" ultimatum to opposition parties and last spring's leaked 200-page manual showing Conservative MPs how to manipulate parliamentary committees even though the Conservatives lack a majority on them as they do in the Commons itself.

Among other things, Conservative committee chairs were told how to select party-friendly witnesses, how to obstruct debate and, if all else fails, to simply storm out, shutting committees down. Those MPs who tried to proceed through all-party consensus were severely reprimanded by party whip Jay Hill.

Finally, there's the new Tom Flanagan book proving that all the dark and duplicitous arts of the American Republican political culture have moved north. In Harper's Team, Flanagan, Harper's close friend, political strategist and former campaign
manager, quotes himself in one memorable passage on how to fund raise:

"...(M)ake people angry and afraid and set up an opponent for them to give against."

What happened to Harper's promises of grassroots democracy, respect for voters and for Parliament and ironclad guarantees of free votes on just about everything? Of course, Dion could disappoint just like Harper.

But as it stands now, the next election will offer one of the starkest choices in Canadian history: between openness and inclusion on the one hand and control and manipulation on the other. Source: http://winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/westview/story/4063366p-4666792c.html

Quotes from the Gas Station Theatre talk
(Winnipeg, Oct. 20, 2007)

Q: What will Liberals do with the Canadian Wheat Board?
A: Dion said Canada needs to protect the wheat board and let members of the board decide their future in a fair process.

Q: How will he address child poverty?
A: Dion vowed to make child care and early childhood development programs a priority, along with investing in families. "The Liberal agenda will have the biggest fight on poverty this country ever had. We need to give every child a chance."

Q: What is his response to Tory attack ads?
A: Dion said he's a positive person and doesn't want to make personal attacks against Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
"We need to fight back, but we'd like to fight back positively."

Q: Does he support making Pierre Trudeau Day a national holiday?
A: "National day, certainly; national holiday, we need to talk."

Q: How will he improve the lives of Canada's First Nations?
A: "Education, education, education."

Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4061782p-4665540c.html

After a brief speech, Dion spent 90 minutes fielding questions from audience members, who asked about everything from the cleanup of Lake Winnipeg to gun control. Dion criticized the Harper government for not taking a tougher stance on greenhouse gas emissions and investing just $7 million on the cleanup of Lake Winnipeg.

"This is wrong -- $7 million is a lot in your pocket but for a lake like this one it's nothing," he said. "We need to have a major investment in Lake Winnipeg based on science and good choices."

He also guaranteed Parliament would look a lot different with the Liberals in power by promising that one-third of candidates in the next election would be women.
Dion also criticized Harper's cosy relationship with U.S. politicians. He said Canada needs to work to develop multilateral relationships with countries around the world, but also has to be clear about its role abroad.

"For us, the U.S. is our ally and our friend, it's the biggest trade partnership in the world," he said. "But at the same time they are them and we are us and this is a distinction that is not made by Mr. Harper."
Dion travels to Saskatoon today. (Source: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/local/story/4061864p-4665314c.html)

Canadians give the green light to real action on climate change: Poll

Sixty-eight percent of Canadians report that they have personally experienced climate change, and they expect their federal government to get with the program and do something about it.

A poll published in late September says "Canadians Tell Harper: Stand with EU, Not Bush on Climate Change."

The Harris/Decima poll, conducted by Allan Gregg for ClimateforChange.ca, found that "fully 61% of Canadians believe that Canada should be aligned on the international stage with European countries and other nations committed to establishing further Kyoto-like targets. Only 25% of those surveyed believed that Canada should continue the Harper policy of joining nations like the United States and Australia who oppose setting future Kyoto-like targets.“

“Canadians want our Prime Minister to quit running with the wrong crowd when it comes to international efforts to combat climate change,” said John Bennett, Executive Director, ClimateforChange.ca.

Furthermore, 81% of respondents said that "Difficulty in achieving targets is no reason not to try" (p. 22).

And 67% of respondents want any shortfall from the first Kyoto period (2008-2012) added to our post-2012 targets.

Findings demonstrate a widespread dissatisfaction with the Harper Conservatives’ climate change agenda despite a year of persistent effort by the government to rebrand itself on the issue and to undermine support for the Kyoto Protocol. The Canadian public continues to hold a strong belief that Canada should remain part of the Kyoto Protocol. Recognizes that the government has failed to regulate industry and is abandoning Kyoto.

Significantly, 68% of respondents feel that the "motivation of federal Conservative government for environmental changes and announcements" is "Trying to win votes."

And "87% of Canadians rank ‘protecting the environment’ as either an important or very important issue when it comes to how they intend to cast their vote in the next federal election."

Poll highlights:

• p. 3 - The environment is "the most important issue facing Canada today" by a huge margin.
• p. 5 - 87% rate "Protecting the environment" as very important/important in voting decision (tied for first place with improving healthcare)
• p. 8, 11 - 68% report that they have personally experienced climate change and that the effects of climate change are occurring now.
• p. 9 - 50% say that climate change is caused primarily by human and industrial activity; another 37% say human and industrial activity plus natural forces. Only 9% say primarily natural forces.
  
• p. 13 - 76% think the oil & gas industry should take responsibility for reducing carbon emissions; 70%/federal government; 70% big business
  
• p. 19 - Perceived motivation of federal Conservative government for environmental changes and announcements - 68% say "Trying to win votes"
• p. 21 - 58% say 2020 is too late to achieve reduction targets
  
• p. 22 - 81% say "Difficulty in achieving targets is no reason not to try" and 90% say"even if we can't meet targets, we should not be giving up" (p.27)
  
• p. 23 - 67% say "Any previous shortfall [reaching Kyoto targets] should be added to our post 2012 commitments"
• p. 24 - 61% say "Canada should be siding with European countries who want to further Kyoto-like targets"
• p. 25 - 92% say "we owe it to future generations to tackle climate crisis now"
  
• p. 25 - 89% say "morally wrong for Canada not to show leadership and reduce emissions"
• p. 25 - 88% say "the Canada I would like is an international leader not a big polluter"
  

Source: http://climateforchange.ca/?q=MR-09-24-2007

(Poll conducted August 15-21, 2007. Sample size=1,000. Margin of error = +/-3.2%)

Action from Liberals, hypocrisy from Harper

The Liberals have been trying for over a year to get several pieces of crime legislation passed quickly. The Conservative government has been doing everything in its power to block its own legislation so they can turn around and say it's the fault of the Liberals. This strategy is so ludicrous that the Conservatives themselves laugh at it.

Official Opposition Moves to Prevent Government from Stalling Crime Legislation

October 21, 2007

OTTAWA – While the Conservative government is focused exclusively on exploiting criminal justice issues for partisan gain, the Liberal Party is again renewing its efforts to actually pass legislation that would protect Canadian communities as quickly as possible, said Liberal Justice Critic Marlene Jennings today.

“On Thursday, the government proposed legislation to supposedly tackle violent crime, but, in effect, their new bill will actually delay implementation of these measures, since most of what is included in their bill has already passed through the House of Commons thanks to the efforts of the Official Opposition,” said Ms. Jennings.

To prevent another Conservative procedural roadblock, the Official Opposition will propose that all parties agree that the bill be deemed adopted at second reading so it can move immediately to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice. This is yet another in a long string of offers that the Liberal Party has made to advance the Conservative government’s justice legislation.

The new Tackling Violent Crime Bill (Bill C-2) is simply an amalgamation of five pieces of justice legislation that were introduced by the Conservatives in the last session. The five bills dealt with mandatory minimum sentences (C-10), the age of consent (C-22), the dangerous offender regime (C-27), impaired driving (C-32) and bail reform (C-35). All five of those bills have already passed second reading in the House of Commons.

“By re-introducing these rolled together as a new bill, they’re discarding the work already done, slowing down the process, and, worst of all, misleading Canadians who clearly want to see this legislation passed,” said Ms. Jennings.

“This isn’t the first time we’ve attempted to move on this file, contrary to the statements by the Minister of Justice. Our first offer was made over a year ago. Back in March, we proposed one of our own Opposition Days to pass the government’s bills, but were blocked by procedural tricks by this government,” said Ms. Jennings.

“This is further proof while the government makes threats, we make progress.”

(http://www.liberal.ca/story_13224_e.aspx)

Stephen Harper's Hypocritical "Election Deception"

If "this government is clean," why don't they come clean on election financing?

"Media reports over the last month revealed that Federal Court documents detail that the Conservatives allegedly funnelled over $1 million in national advertising expenditures through at least 66 of their candidates campaigns, which were also signed off by their official agents.

The implications of this scam are two-fold. If properly accounted for as part of the Conservative Party's national campaign, then the party that forms the current government exceeded the $18 million national spending limit and broke the law in getting itself elected. And, if that's not enough, we then have the spectacle of scores of Conservative candidates (click for list of names) having claimed reimbursement of 60 per cent of the money at issue, money that Elections Canada ruled them ineligible to receive. If these allegations are proven, this would amount to election fraud." http://www.liberal.ca/story_13156_e.aspx

Stephen Harper’s Election Deception

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are currently being investigated by Elections Canada for allegedly orchestrating an elaborate money-laundering scheme that allowed them to spend more on national advertising than the law permits during the last election while attempting to get rebates for monies the national party hid by funnelling through Conservative candidate campaigns.

If these allegations are proven true, they would amount to fraud and a gross breach of the public trust.

This shocking scheme appears to have been designed and administered by senior Conservative operatives to secretly exceed the legal spending limit by $1.3 million and gain an additional $780,000 in taxpayer-funded rebates to their Conservative candidates for expenses those campaigns did not incur and for advertising that was not at all local in nature or scope.

Worse still, this scheme appears to implicate the campaigns of 17 sitting Conservative MPs, including members of Stephen Harper’s Cabinet.

Liberals are demanding accountability and honesty from Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party.

Specifically, Liberals are demanding that Stephen Harper’s Conservatives:

• Provide a full list of candidates who participated in the scheme;
• Commit to refrain from using a similar scheme in the next federal election;
• Repay all rebate monies already received by the scheme; and,
• Drop their court case against Elections Canada, and instead, cooperate fully with its ongoing investigation into the Conservative Party.

These allegations should not be taken lightly: the Canada Elections Act sets out very serious penalties for any individual or political party found guilty of the allegations currently faced by Stephen Harper’s Conservatives. Exceeding election spending limits, colluding to exceed election spending limits, and knowingly filing fraudulent election expense claims all bring with them hefty fines and even jail time.

That’s why Liberals think it is time Stephen Harper’s Conservatives stop playing politics with this issue and start telling the truth.

Nothing is more important for the continued integrity of our elections than ensuring that all political parties contest them fairly and play by the rules. Canadians demand no less. (http://www.liberal.ca/issue_election_e.aspx)

Harper Must Come Clean on Deceptive Financing
October 18, 2007

Prime Minister Stephen Harper must stop playing politics and come clean on his alleged involvement in deceptive financing practices during the 2006 parliamentary election, the Liberal opposition demanded today.

“Elections Canada has said the Conservatives violated election financing rules to the tune of $1.2 million dollars,” said Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion. “The Prime Minister's closest advisors are implicated. How can he say to Canadians that he was not aware of this unethical and illegal behaviour?

“I’m asking Mr. Harper, both as the leader of the Conservative Party and as Prime Minister, to tell us what he knew and when he knew it. Did the Prime Minister violate election laws?”

Despite several opportunities to absolve himself of any implication in the scandal, Mr. Harper refused to answer the opposition’s questions, choosing instead to hide behind Conservative House Leader Peter Van Loan.

The Conservative Party is currently being investigated by Elections Canada for allegedly breaking campaign spending laws during the 2006 general election by funneling national advertising costs to regional candidates, who were then able to apply for taxpayer-funded rebates.

Deputy Leader Michael Ignatieff pointed out that Prime Minister Harper and his team are increasingly betraying the public’s trust.

“The government’s conduct has been called into question by independent organizations. It is under investigation not in one, not in two, but in three separate cases,” said Mr. Ignatieff. “Clearly the Conservatives want to sweep all of this under the rug so Canadians do not get the facts.”

For a party that boasts accountability, the Conservatives’ own practices seem nothing short of hypocritical. The Liberal opposition believes it is time for Mr. Harper and his party to start telling the truth. Canadians deserve an honest and accountable government. (Source: http://www.liberal.ca/story_13221_e.aspx)

Elgin/London West provincial all-candidates meeting

Went to an all-candidates-&-referendum-info meeting for Elgin-Middlesex-London and London West this evening, sponsored by "Women - Our Votes Count," among others.

The sitting MPPs for the two ridings are Steve Peters (Elgin - Labour Minister, formerly Agriculture Minister) and Chris Bentley (London West - Training, Colleges & University Minister, formerly Labour Minister).

Candidates from the PCs, NDP, Greens and Freedom Party were also there, as well as someone from the referendum education body who gave a 5-minute summary (which I'm not going to repeat here; you can get it all at yourbigdecision.ca).

Overall impressions of the candidates . . . I can't pretend to be objective or unbiased, but boy, I really don't like those PCs. The provincial ones are just as prone to revisionist history, fairy-tales and self-righteous finger-pointing as their federal cousins.

Allison Graham, for instance (PC candidate in London West) - decries poverty and homelessness and talks about her experience working with the Salvation Army. Yet it was a PC government under Mike Harris that cancelled affordable housing projects (the minute they got into office as I recall) and slashed welfare payments, putting thousands of people out on the streets because they could no longer afford housing. Ms. Graham didn't mention that part.

Ms. Graham's solution for poverty and homelessness? Entrepreneurism.

Both Ms. Graham and Bill Fehr (PC candidate in Elgin-Middlesex-London) talked a lot about clean air and water. So, ah, anybody remember what government it was that privatized water testing and degraded environmental lab services to an extent that the Walkerton scandal could happen? Oh right, it was the Mike Harris Progressive Conservative government.

Neither Conservative candidate acknowledged their party's responsibility for the messes that they're now blaming the Liberals for - in health, education, housing, poverty, the environment, downloading to municipalities. I don't think too many people in the audience were fooled though - our memories aren't that short.

It certainly doesn't say much for the PCs' devotion to principles of accountability and transparency.

OK, so I've vented about the PCs, I'll move onto the environment.

As my neighbour mentioned to me, we really wish that the provincial Liberals would borrow some of the NDP's and Green's environment policies, e.g. no more new nuclear plants, more renewables, more conservation etc. Or to put it differently, maybe the provincial Liberals could borrow some of the federal Liberals' environment policies! Dion's policies seem to me to be much more environmentally-friendly than the provincial Liberals.

Gary Brown, the London West Green candidate introduced an interesting idea. Not sure of the exact numbers but something like this - They would take the ???$40 billion??? earmarked for new nuclear power and give it to homeowners ($12,000 each) for renewable energy projects to take their homes right off the grid. I'm sure there are lots of bugs - e.g. getting enough solar panels etc. and trained technicians to actually implement this - but I like the direction. And it's great to get some innovative ideas out there for discussion. [Anybody who actually knows anything about this - feel free to set me straight on the details.]

Although I've converted to big-L Liberalism federally, I'm still partial to the provincial NDP and I was impressed with the Green candidate. But after listening to the PCs, I'm more determined than ever not to do anything that would help them win, so I'm leaning toward a strategic vote.

And I'm planning to vote in favour of MMP, hoping to see some Greens in the legislature eventually because they have a lot to offer.