In the centre, at the Speaker’s left hand, a pony-tail in her hair, is my daughter as she serves the Parliament of Canada as a Page. Wow! It’s really for real!
House of Commons Question Period
A screen capture from the CPAC website.
All posts in category Canada
That’s m’girl!
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on September 18, 2009
https://thereginamom.com/2009/09/18/thats-mgirl/
UDP: Saskatchewan’s biggest scam
Saskatchewan Premier, Brad Wall, is attempting to pull off the biggest scam in the province’s history. He called together a cabal of his cronies, an all-male group posing as a panel of experts, and named them the Uranium Development Partnership. Their report, “Capturing the full potential of the uranium value chain in Saskatchewan” is, quite simply, a propaganda piece on behalf of the nuclear industry. It tries to sell the idea that “nuclear industry is enjoying a global renaissance” when, in fact, it is dying. According to The Nation,
The fact is, nuclear power has not recovered from the crisis that hit it three decades ago with the reactor fire at Browns Ferry, Alabama, in 1975 and the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. Then came what seemed to be the coup de grâce: Chernobyl in 1986. The last nuclear power plant ordered by a US utility, the TVA’s Watts Bar 1, began construction in 1973 and took twenty-three years to complete. Nuclear power has been in steady decline worldwide since 1984, with almost as many plants canceled as completed since then.
Wall Street will not invest in the nuke industry. Forbes magazine says it’s a “managerial disaster.” Still, Wall’s 12 Disciples of the UDP say we need a nuclear reactor in Saskatchewan.
We can Go Green, they say, even though nukes are definitely far from green.
We can Make Money, sell the power to the USA, they say, even though nukes always cost more than expected.and the USA may not buy “dirty energy.”
We can make medical isotopes and Save Lives, they say, even though there are alternatives to the nukey isotopes.
So why the hard-sell for a nuclear reactor? What are little Bradley Wall and his buddy Billy Boyd really up to?
Most agree that it’s all about fueling the Tar Sands, the most destructive project on Earth. The tar sands have prompted Alberta writer, Andrew Nikiforuk, to write the award-winning, Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of a Continent, in which he declares a political emergency:
A business-as-usual case for the tar sands will change Canada forever. It will enrich a few powerful companies, hollow out the economy, destroy the world’s third-largest watershed, industrialize nearly one-quarter of Alberta’s landscape, consume the last of the nation’s natural gas supplies, and erode Canadian sovereignty.
A coalition of Saskatchewan residents and organizations has taken up the call. The Coalition for a Clean Green Saskatchewan (CGS) has worked hard to bring the real issues to the public eye and, if participation in Wall’s so-called “consultation process” is any indication, CGS has been very successful! In all, almost 2,000 concerned citizens turned out to the consultation meetings across the province.
I was not one of them. I could not bring myself to legitimate this scam by participating in it, though I did participate in the Elm Dance outside the Regina meeting location. Call me what you will; I can take it. But I have to live with myself when this is all said and done. Thank goodness for those who were able to move beyond the illegitimacy of the UDP and make their views known. I suppose this post is my meagre contribution to that.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on July 21, 2009
https://thereginamom.com/2009/07/21/udp-saskatchewans-biggest-scam/
Criticism of Israel is legitimate. Michael Ignatieff told me so.
Apparently both the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star refused to publish the following statement. I’m joining other bloggers who don’t think that should be allowed to stand.
Over 150 Jewish Canadians signed a statement expressing their concerns about the campaign to suppress criticism of Israel that is being carried on within Canada. The signatories include many prominent Canadians, including Ursula Franklin O.C., Anton Kuerti O.C., Naomi Klein, Dr. Gabor Mate, and professors Meyer Brownstone (recipient of Pearson Peace Medal), Natalie Zemon Davis, Michael Neumann, and Judy Rebick.
The signatories are particularly concerned that unfounded accusations of anti-Semitism deflect attention from Israel’s accountability for what many have called war crimes in Gaza. They state that B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have led campaigns to silence criticism of Israel on university campuses, in labor unions and in other groups. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff unquestioningly echo the views of these particular Jewish organizations.
They strongly state that they are against all expressions of racism. While firmly committed to resisting any form of prejudice against Jewish people, their statement explicitly states that these spurious allegations of anti-Semitism bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind. The statement underlines the immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people due to the severe poverty, daily humiliations, and military invasions inflicted by the State of Israel.
Statement: Jewish Canadians Concerned about Suppression of Criticism of Israel
We are Jewish Canadians concerned about all expressions of racism, anti-Semitism, and social injustice. We believe that the Holocaust legacy “Never again” means never again for all peoples. It is a tragic turn of history that the State of Israel, with its ideals of democracy and its dream of being a safe haven for Jewish people, causes immeasurable suffering and injustice to the Palestinian people.
We are appalled by recent attempts of prominent Jewish organizations and leading Canadian politicians to silence protest against the State of Israel. We are alarmed by the escalation of fear tactics. Charges that those organizing Israel Apartheid Week or supporting an academic boycott of Israel are anti-Semites promoting hatred bring the anti-Communist terror of the 1950s vividly to mind. We believe this serves to deflect attention from Israel’s flagrant violations of international humanitarian law.
B’nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress have pressured university presidents and administrations to silence debate and discussion specifically regarding Palestine/Israel. In a full-page ad in a national newspaper, B’nai Brith urged donors to withhold funds from universities because “anti-Semitic hate fests” were being allowed on campuses. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney and Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff have echoed these arguments. While university administrators have resisted demands to shut down Israel Apartheid week, some Ontario university presidents have bowed to this disinformation campaign by suspending and fining students, confiscating posters, and infringing on free speech.
We do not believe that Israel acts in self-defense. Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid, receiving $3 million/day. It has the fourth strongest army in the world. Before the invasion of Gaza on 27 December 2008, Israel’s siege had already created a humanitarian catastrophe there, with severe impoverishment, malnutrition, and destroyed infrastructure. It is crucial that forums for discussion of Israel’s accountability to the international community for what many have called war crimes be allowed to proceed unrestricted by specious claims of anti-Semitism.
We recognize that anti-Semitism is a reality in Canada as elsewhere, and we are fully committed to resisting any act of hatred against Jews. At the same time, we condemn false charges of anti-Semitism against student organizations, unions, and other groups and people exercising their democratic right to freedom of speech and association regarding legitimate criticism of the State of Israel.
Signatories:
Abigail Bakan
Adam Balsam
Sharon Baltman
Julia Barnett
Lainie Basman
Jody Berland
Sam Blatt
Geri Blinik
Anita Block
Elizabeth Block
Sheila Block
Hannah Briemberg
Mark Brill
Stephen Brot
Meyer Brownstone
Eliza Burroughs
Smadar Carmon
Gyda Chud
Charles P. Cohen
Nathalie Cohen
David Copeland
Natalie Zemon Davis
Eliza Deutsch
James Deutsch
Judith Deutsch
Abbe Edelson
Jack Etkin
Elle Flanders
Danielle Frank
Ursula Franklin
Dan Freeman-Maloy
Miriam Garfinkle
Alisa Gayle
Jack Gegenberg
Mark Golden
Brenda Goldstein
Sue Goldstein
Cy Gonick
Marnina Gonick
Rachel Gotthilf
Amy Gottleib
Kevin A. Gould
Daina Green
Lisa Frances Greenspoon
Ricardo Grinspun
Cathy Gulkin
Rachel Gurofsky
Deboran Guterman
Yesse Gutman
Freda Guttman
Judy Haiven
Michael Hanna-Fein
Jean Hanson
Jan Heynen
Maria Heynen
Adam Hofmann
Jake Javanshir
Jeannie Kamins
Marylin Kanee
Howard S. Kaplan
Gilda Katz
Maxine Kaufman-Lacusta
Mira Khazzam
Bonnie Sher Klein
Mark Klein
Martin Klein
Naomi Klein
Joshua Katz-Rosene
Ryan Katz-Rosene
Judy Koch
Anton Kuerti
Jason Kunin
Aaron Lakoff
Michael Lambek
Natalie LaRoche
Richard Borshay Lee
Andy Lehrer
Gabriel Levin
Gabriel Levine
Joel Lexchin
Kim Linekin
Abby Lippman
Lee Lorch
Martin Lukacs
Audrey Macklin
Elise Maltin
Richard Marcuse
Wayne Mark
Gabor Mate
Arthur Milner
Anna Miransky
Dorit Naaman
Joanne Naiman
Neil Naiman
Michael Neumann
David-Marc Newman
David Noble
Clare O’Connor
Robin Ostow
Andre W. Payant
Jenny Peto
Simone Powell
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein
Fabienne Presentey
Yacov Rabkin
Diana Ralph
Naomi Rankin
Judy Rebick
Ester Reiter
Jillian Rogin
Richard Roman
Joseph Rosen
Herman Rosenfeld
Martha Roth
Marty Roth
Ruben Roth
E.Natalie Rothman
B. Sack
Ben Saifer
Miriam Sampaio
Jacob Scheir
Fred Schloessinger
Alan Sears
Shlomit Segal
Edward H. Shaffer
Noa Shaindlinger
Ray Shankman
Eva Sharell
Elliot Shek
Sid Shniad
Max Silverman
Samuel Singer
Elizabeth Solloway
Susan Starkman
Greg Starr
Jonathan Sterne
Jeremy Stolow
Rhonda Sussman
Vera Szoke
Joe Tannenbaum
Howard Tessler
Marion Traub-Werner
Ceyda Turan
Sandra Tychsen
Cheryl Wagner
Jon McPhedran Waitzer
David Wall
Naomi Binder Wall
Kathy Wazana
Karen Weisberg
Barry Weisleder
Paul Weinberg
Judith Weisman
Suzanne Weiss
Abraham Weizfeld
Ernie Yacub
B.H. Yael
Yedida Zalik
Melvin Zimmerman
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on March 15, 2009
https://thereginamom.com/2009/03/15/criticism-of-israel-is-legitimate-michael-ignatieff-told-me-so/
Iggy the Idiot, Part I
When my daughter was young, she watched a CBC-TV show called Under the Umbrella Tree which featured Holly and her three puppet roomies, Gloria Gopher, Jacob Bluejay and Iggy Iguana.
Perhaps our own Iggy the Liberal leader watched too much of that show. Or maybe it’s just part of the attributes that attach to that name but the iguana Iggy was characterized as “thinking too highly of himself and unwillingly making mistakes.”
Iggy the Liberal has certainly been thinking too highly of himself and too little of others.
His support for Harper’s budget bill is a slap in the face to Canadian women. Of course we shouldn’t be too surprised at this given the Liberal Party’s record with women. Wasn’t it Paul Martin as Finance Minister who began the federal attack on women’s organizations funded through Status of Women Canada? So, to see Iggy and his ilk support an attack on pay equity and infrastructure solutions that exclude women while still denying Canadian women a national childcare plan is really to be expected.
But Canadians have some kind of sick idea that the Liberals are better than the Cons. Not me. Liberal or Tory, it’s the same old story. Tommy Douglas was right about that in his story of Mouseland. Not that the NDP or any partisan organization will be the savior of Canada or Canadian women, for that matter. But at least the NDP get it when it comes to women’s issues. Mind you, it’s not quite to the extent that the Bloc Quebecois get it, but it’s good.
About Iggy the Liberal unwillingly making mistakes, well, I’m not sure. It’s looking to me like he’s willfully making mistakes at the expense of Canadian women and children.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on March 5, 2009
https://thereginamom.com/2009/03/05/iggy-the-idiot-part-i/
Building a wedge
Already, there are splits in Iggy’s Liberal caucus. Two Newfoundland and Labrador Members of Parliament are threatening to oppose the federal budget unless there are amendments. This is a result of constituent action.
If women are a constituency, then it makes sense that Canadian women contact the Liberal critic responsible for the status of women, Anita Neville, because the budget fails women in a huge way:
– continues the attack on pay equity in the civil service
– provides no support to the working poor or those living in poverty
– does nothing to provide desperately-needed childcare supports
– provides stimulus to male-dominated areas of the economy, further ghettoizing the “pink ghetto”
Mention any and all of these (& more) in your communications with the Liberal MP, Hon. Anita Neville (Winnipeg South Centre):
Parliament Hill Office
House of Commons
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0A6
Telephone: (613) 992-9475
Fax: (613) 992-9586
EMail: Neville.A@parl.gc.ca
Web Site:* www.anitaneville.ca/
Preferred Language: English
Constituency Offices
Unit D – 729 Corydon Avenue,
Winnipeg, Manitoba
R3M 0W4
Telephone: (204) 983-1355
Fax: (204) 984-3979
I mean, really, what century is this, anyway?
UPDATE: As Beijing York suggests below, it wouldn’t hurt to also email the leaders of the opposition parties. Duceppe. Layton. Ignatieff.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on January 30, 2009
https://thereginamom.com/2009/01/30/building-a-wedge/
An anti-woman rampage
As published in Regina’s Prairie Dog and Saskatoon’s Planet S.
AN ANTI-WOMAN RAMPAGE
Intentional or not, Prime Minister Stephen Harper delivered another bitchslap to Canadian women in the economic and fiscal update his finance minister, Jim Flaherty, delivered on Nov. 27.
Sure, he took swipes at political parties and unions and promised to sell off public assets, too. And he also attacked women’s right to equal pay for work of equal value within the federal civil service.
Harper apparently hates anything to do with equal rights for women. As a result, women don’t vote for him. Maybe that’s why instead of wooing us, he takes extreme measures to further punish us.
Just look what he’s done in the past: he smacked down a national child care plan, killed off the Court Challenges program, attacked women’s reproductive freedom by supporting Bill C-484, axed jobs at Status of Women Canada (SWC) and eliminated the word “equality” from its mandate, silenced advocacy groups, shut down community-based women’s organizations and stripped money from women’s agencies and programs.
And the list goes on.
Now, he spins a pay-out of “over $4 billion in pay equity settlements” as an extraneous expense for government? Hello? That’s money stolen from women! Women who performed work equivalent to men in the federal civil service were paid less simply because they were women. It’s money they earned. The Canadian Human Rights Commission said so in 1984. That was 24 years ago! In 1999, after 15 years of legal wrangling, the Federal Court of Canada agreed women had been short-changed and ordered the government to cough up.
Some women have died waiting for their fair share. But Harper’s revenge would see those payments slow down. And their right to pay equity subjected to contract negotiations.
And their right to strike eliminated.
Gilles Duceppe was the first to stand up to Harper, accusing him of using the economic crisis as an excuse to attack women’s rights. “[The government] has decided to attack women’s rights by submitting their right to pay equity to negotiation,” he said. “Since when are rights negotiable?”
Since when, indeed! Some women I know want Gilles as PM. Others, including the Ad Hoc Coalition for Women’s Equality and Human Rights, say that “the prospect of a coalition government means that things are definitely looking up for women.”
No kidding! What would be worse for women than another day of Stephen Harper as PM? /Bernadette Wagner
Cross-posted at rabble.ca
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on December 24, 2008
https://thereginamom.com/2008/12/24/an-anti-woman-rampage/
Harper continues to ignore will of Parliament
And I’m not referring to the prorogation perogative he was granted in order to avoid a motion of nonconfidence in Parliament.
No, I’m talking about the resolution Parliament passed in June, 2008, the one that says, “conscientious objectors to wars not sanctioned by the Security Council of the United Nations” should not be deported from Canada. An Angus Reid poll conducted in June 2008 showed that 63 percent of Canadians (that number again!) agreed with allowing war resisters to stay in Canada. That’s likely because they know the US invasion of Iraq was not sanctioned by the Security Council of the United Nations and is, therefore, an illegal war. Refresh your memory here.
Harper, however, doesn’t have to listen to Parliament, eh? Cuz he’s the Supreme Being, apparently; he is above the law and certainly above the whims of a majority of Parliament, or so it seems.
Needless to say, I was a little miffed when this landed in my inbox today. (Note: There is an action item at the bottom of this post.)
War Resister Cliff Cornell Told to Leave Canada by Christmas Eve
Rivera Family to Get Decision on January 7
Toronto — In the latest of a series of deportation orders, Citizenship and
Immigration Canada has told war resister Cliff Cornell, of Nanaimo, BC, that
he must leave Canada by December 24, or face removal by force. Cliff,
originally from Arkansas, arrived in Canada in January 2005. He currently
works as an Assistant Manager of a retail store near Nanaimo, where he has
an excellent work record.Cliff’s deportation order comes after similar orders for war resisters Corey
Glass, Jeremy Hinzman and his family, Patrick Hart and his family, Matt
Lowell and Dean Walcott. Like them, Cliff has begun to build a peaceful and
productive life in Canada and hopes to stay in his new country.War resister Kim Rivera will receive a decision on January 7. Kim served in
the US Army in Iraq. She came to Canada with her husband, Mario, and their
two children, Christian (6) and Rebecca (4) in early 2007. Kim had a new
Canadian-born baby, Katie, on November 23, 2008.The War Resisters Support Campaign continues to call upon the Harper
government to implement the will of Parliament, as expressed in a House of
Commons motion adopted on June 3, 2008. The motion recommended that
“…conscientious objectors to wars not sanctioned by the Security Council of
the United Nations,” such as the Iraq War, be allowed to remain in Canada
and apply for permanent resident status. It was adopted by a vote of 137-110
and also directed the Government of Canada to stop deportation proceedings
against all of the war resisters here.
I was further miffed when I called the office of the Minister Responsible to voice my concerns about this and the receptionist would not refer me to anyone who could speak about the issue to me. She had been ordered to not refer telephone calls on this issue to anyone except the call centre.
I am not the only one concerned about this matter. Sandra Finley, former leader of the Green Party of Saskatchewan, a woman who is going to court for her refusal to fill out a census form that would be processed by Lockheed Martin, an arms manufacturer, had an earlier conversation with a Kenney Executive Assistant who claimed to know nothing about the Parliamentary resolution,
I spoke with Ministerial Assistant to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney,:
Essentially I was talking with someone who knows very little about something
he should know a lot about.It is disconcerting, to know that people in the Minister’s office, in the
Canadian Dept of Immigration, where this has been an on-going issue for a
long time, do not know the most basic of information.I won’t go into all the details. Some of the back-and-forth:
Lyntner: – no, I am not aware of anything passed by the House of Commons
(that would prohibit the deportations).(I supplied the date and nature of the motion passed, and mentioned that
the deportees are people who resisted an illegal war.)Lyntner: – who says it was illegal?
Me: – I don’t believe you would challenge the fact that the Bush
Administration used lies as the basis for dropping bombs on Iraq? There
were no weapons of mass destruction, as claimed. And I don’t think you
would challenge the fact that the U. N Security Council refused to sanction
the war? … okay. There are international laws that prohibit a state from
just dropping bombs on other countries.Lyntner: – at some point in all this he says “well, that’s your OPINION
that the war was illegal”.Me: – International Humanitarian Law, also known as the Law on Wars
makes it illegal. It is not my opinion. It is IN FACT an illegal war.Lyntner: – well who passed that law? A country has to sign these laws
before they are binding.Me: – The United Nations passed the various conventions that make up
International Humanitarian Law and Canada is signatory to those treaties.
Google “International Humanitarian Law” or “Law of War” – you can find it
all.Lyntner: – There are many different agencies (how can it be “international”
or “UN”).Me: I am aware that there are many different agencies. But they all fall
under the rubric of the UN. There are International Laws that clearly make
the War on Iraq an illegal war.
Harper doesn’t care about anyone but himself and his own power. We, as compassionate Canadians do and are taking action:
Contact Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney and ask him to:
• STOP deportation proceedings against U.S. Iraq war resisters, including
Cliff Cornell and Kim Rivera and her family; and
• IMPLEMENT the motion adopted by Canada’s Parliament to allow U.S. Iraq war
resisters to apply for permanent resident status.
Here are the numbers to call:
Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Jason Kenney
Call 613.954.1064
MP Jason Kenney’s Parliamentary office:
613.992.2235
Or email him at:
minister@cic.gc.ca
or
Kenney.j@parl.gc.ca
Please cc the opposition party critics if you email Jason Kenney:
Liberal party immigration critic Borys Wrzesnewskyj:
wrzesnewskyj.b@parl.gc.ca
NDP immigration critic Olivia Chow: chow.o@parl.gc.ca
Bloc Québécois immigration critic Thierry St-Cyr: st-cyr.t@parl.gc.ca.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on December 17, 2008
https://thereginamom.com/2008/12/17/harper-continues-to-ignore-will-of-parliament/
It’s an anger-making day!
I’m angry today.
It’s -28 degrees Celsius here right now. And with a 40+ km/h wind coming in from the north, it makes for a wind chill factor of about -45. It’s the first day of real winter here on the prairies.
But that’s not what’s making me miserable. I’ve lived in Saskatchewan all my life. Cold, I can handle.
It’s abuse of power that has my blood boiling. Earlier today, in a PS to his Journamalism post, pogge sent me to Paul Wells’ blog at Macleans.ca. Paul strings together the true story of our Prime Minister’s disdain for Parliament, then summarizes his opinion:
In short, he’s been a bit of a twit, has our dear leader. It does us no good to have a Prime Minister who flies to Winnipeg and Peru singing Kumbaya if he can’t set foot in Parliament without bringing a blowtorch. He clearly cannot stand the place. That’s a problem because at some point, he’s going to need a functioning Parliament to get anything done.
Well, that’s a problem if he actually wants to do something. Turns out that’s a big “if.” It’s becoming more and more obvious that the impasse in the House of Commons is an expression of the Prime Minister’s own conflicted feelings about the place. He showed on the Afghanistan war that when he wants to he can lead a government that bends and concedes in pursuit of its goals. But that was about soldiers. He cares about soldiers. He has never convinced me he cares about the economy, or believes any government can do anything to affect its course. Build roads? Bail out car companies? Take advice from Jack Layton? He’d sooner cut off the opposition’s allowance, then hit the road to tell more fibs about Stéphane Dion.
From a springtime of committee chaos to a summer of ultimatums to a fall election, a December crisis, a tasty prorogue-y holiday feast, and the near certainty of another New Year psychodrama. I could swear there was a pattern in there.
There, in the comments section, I found a link from Robert, to this Toronto Star story. Apparently, Mr. Harper does not need Parliament to get things done:
OTTAWA–The Conservative minority government is letting people take advantage of some tax measures in its fall economic statement, despite the fact the Tory fiscal plan hasn’t been passed by Parliament.
Ottawa issued a news release yesterday announcing that Canadians can take advantage of a proposal to reduce the minimum withdrawal from their registered retirement income funds by 25 per cent for 2008.
The Canada Revenue Agency has advised financial institutions that it can administer the proposed change before the law is passed, the release says. It also says if the proposal does not get passed by Parliament, the agency would not apply penalties to anyone who follows the proposal.
It’s a blatant abuse of the rule of law. Apparently, Steve the Sweater Guy is above that. I mean, we know that, don’t we? Certainly, we witnessed it quite clearly when he broke his own fixed date elections law.
This action seems to fit well with what James Laxer has identified as Harper’s “paranoid style” of political maneuvering. Though the corporate media and the CBC praise Harper’s political acumen, Laxer cuts through the spin to the real deal:
By paranoid style, I mean, that Harper belongs to the resentful right, whose adherents understand the world in simplistic, binary terms, and depict those who disagree with them as the agents of endless conspiracies against the forces of righteousness. (A telling example of the paranoid style is the way Conservatives have taken to labeling the Liberal-NDP coalition as “un-Canadian”. This ludicrous term is lifted from “un-American”, an unsavory epithet that was much employed by McCarthyites during the 1950s who believed they had a corner on what it was to be American. Until the Harperites appeared, no politicians in Canada were so certain of their monopoly of virtue as to label their foes “un-Canadian.) [Go read the full post.]
Stephen Harper is absolutely paranoid that he may lose his reign on power and he will do anything to hold onto it. He knows that since he has not produced a majority government for his right wing alliance after three elections his leadership will be under review. It’s likely he would be replaced. And there are already rumours about who might do that.
He is paranoid and my guess is he will hold desperately onto every power Parliament affords him right now and use it to undermine his opposition. He will continue with more questionable acts, such as rule by Order-in-Council and edict, over the next few weeks. It’s a trick Grant Devine used in Saskatchewan and other rightwingers have used elsewhere and one I’ve been expecting.
Here’s hoping the coalition has the courage to see these treacherous acts for what they are and bring down this would-be dictator come budget day.
Addendum: The Jurist over at Accidental Deliberations has also added to this.
But it seems clear that Harper would rather govern illegitimately by fiat rather than not at all. And every step the Cons take to evade the need for Parliament to pass Canada’s laws moves us further from anything that could possibly be described as democracy.
Bonus for making it this far: Bruce.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on December 13, 2008
https://thereginamom.com/2008/12/13/its-an-anger-making-day/
In memoriam
Today we pause to mourn the loss of 14 women who, because they were women, were massacred.
Gunman massacres 14 women
Broadcast Date: Dec. 6, 1989
A gunman confronts 60 engineering students during their class at l’École Polytechnique in Montreal on Dec. 6, 1989. He separates the men from the women and tells the men to leave the classroom, threatening them with his .22-calibre rifle. The enraged man begins a shooting rampage that spreads to three floors and several classrooms, jumping from desk to desk while female students cower below. He roams the corridors yelling, “I want women.”
Before opening fire in the engineering class, he calls the women “une gang de féministes” and says “J’haïs les féministes [I hate feminists].” One person pleads that they are not feminists, just students taking engineering. But the gunman doesn’t listen. He shoots the women and then kills himself. Parents of the Polytechnique students wait outside the school crying and wonder if their daughters are among the 14 dead tonight.
The 14 dead were: Anne St-Arneault, 23; Geneviève Bergeron, 21; Hélène Colgan, 23; Nathalie Croteau, 23; Barbara Daigneault, 22; Anne-Marie Edward, 21; Maud Haviernick, 29; Barbara Klueznick, 31; Maryse Laganière, 25; Maryse Leclair, 23; Anne-Marie Lemay, 22; Sonia Pelletier, 23; Michèle Richard, 21; and Annie Turcotte, 21.
December 6, 1989. Sylvie Gagnon was attending her last day of classes at Ecole Polytechnique when a gunman opened fire on women students, yelling “you’re all a bunch of feminists.” Sylvie survived a bullet wound to the head while fourteen other women were murdered. This clip shows testimony from Sylvie Gagnon about what the massacre means to her.
Today is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women. Today we mourn. Tomorrow, we organize.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on December 6, 2008
https://thereginamom.com/2008/12/06/in-memoriam/
Is something actually sticking to the Teflon PM?
It’s starting to look like maybe our Teflon PM has fallen on tough times. It seems that the business suits’ love affair with Prime Minister Stephen Harper is beginning to wane. Maybe he should’ve kept the sweater vests. From the Report on Business:
C-suite survey
Executives pan PM’s plan as lacking punch
Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have won the skirmish that gives him time to come up with a budget providing economic stimulus, but he’ll be under intense pressure to get it right because close to half of business executives think his moves to date were deficient.
Even in Saskatchewan, where Team Teflon took 13 of 14 seats last election, the love just isn’t what it once was. From the Regina Leader-Post:
Harper the barrier to ending this mess
And, as if that isn’t bad enough for the poor Hair Harper, that dastardly social democrat, Red Ed, dared to tell it like it is! From The Globe and Mail:
A CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE: A PRIME MINISTER’S BETRAYAL
Fanning the fires of national disunity
Since first being elected to the House of Commons in 1968, at a time of great national unity, I have never witnessed a Canadian prime minister consciously decide to disunite the nation. Until now.
…
Now, for the first time in our history, we have a prime minister prepared to set a fire that we may not be able to put out, for the paltry purpose of saving himself from a confidence vote on Monday. In almost every sentence, paragraph and page coming from Mr. Harper, his ministers and Conservative MPs, we’re getting distortions intended to delegitimize a democratically formed coalition, proposed in accordance with normal parliamentary practices, between the Liberals and the NDP.
…
The Conservatives have tried to link the coalition with a demonized Bloc Québécois and Quebec. Mr. Harper wants to buy time in order to stir up support from a majority in English Canada. He is turning a serious constitutional and legal issue, on which he knows he cannot win a confidence vote, into a political battle of national unity, calculating that the numbers are on his side.
…
Instead of following constitutional precedent and allowing a democratic confidence vote to take place when it should, we have a power-hungry man who will be recorded as the first prime minister in Canada’s history to deliberately create a political crisis and set the fire of national disunity.
And, of course, the socialists had to open their mouths, too! From Global Research:
Harper’s Coup; Power grab in Ottawa
by Mike Whitney
Global Research, December 5, 2008
“We are in the worst crisis since 1929 and we have no government. How can this be good?” Stephen Jarislowsky, chairman of Montreal money manager Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended Canada’s parliament to avoid a challenge from opposition parties that were planning to oust him from power. The 3-party coalition–the Liberals, the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois—decided to remove Harper because of his strong opposition to a stimulus package that was designed to minimize the effects of the financial crisis. They also opposed his “proposed elimination of subsidies for political parties, a three-year ban on the right of civil servants to strike, and limits on the ability of women to sue for pay equity.” Governor General Michaelle Jean helped Harper to hang on by using her constitutional authority to close the legislature for seven weeks. Now the country is in a furor.
Harper is a far right conservative ideologue who served as president of the National Citizens Coalition (NCC), a conservative think-tank and advocacy group. The organization opposes national healthcare but supports privitization and tax cuts. It has 40,000 members but the names are kept confidential. It’s motto is “more freedom with less government.”
The Prime Minister has been a staunch supporter of George Bush and the US wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many of his critics accuse him of being a neoconservative allied to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) and the Bilderburger Group. He is alleged to be a proponent of plans for a North American Union, which is an elitist scheme to end US sovereignty by merging the three countries– Canada, the US, and Mexico–into one superstate. The plan coincides with Harper’s unwavering support for free trade.
Harper’s connection to extremist organizations may sound far fetched, until one one sees a video of him giving a speech that was also given by Australian PM John Howard prior to the war in Iraq. The speeches are identical–word for word–indicating that they must have been written by a third party somewhere in the bowels of the Pentagon or a nearby think tank. The video dispels any illusion that Karzai, Abbas, and Siniora are the only sock-puppets working for Washington.
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10491
Harper is also a trusted ally of Israel and has defended Israel’s 31 day invasion of Lebanon in 2006 that killed over 1,300 Lebanese civilians who were fleeing the south to escape Israeli bombing. According to Wikipedia: “the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish organizations presented Stephen Harper with its inaugural International Leadership Award for his support for Israel…the award was given to express the group’s appreciation for Canada’s “courageous stands” to boycott the Durban 2 Anti-Racism Conference.
On June, Harper was also awarded the Presidential Gold Medallion for Humanitarianism by B’nai B’rith International. He is the first Canadian to be awarded this medal.”
Harper is also a committed militarist who has circumvented Parliament and announced a plan that will greatly expand Canada’s armed forces. According to Linda McQuaig of the Toronto Star:
“Harper has already laid out an agenda that would fundamentally change this country – in ways most Canadians would oppose. While this agenda is not “secret,” my guess is few Canadians know about it… Sometime in the dark of night last June 20, the Harper government posted a plan on the Department of National Defence’s website – called Canada First Defence Strategy – to spend an eye-popping $490 billion over the next 20 years on the military.
It’s hard to imagine an agenda with more profound consequences for Canadians, beginning with a dramatic reordering of national priorities. Public health care? Child poverty? Fighting global warming?
While the election campaign focused on economic issues, the military and its combat role in Afghanistan have actually been the centrepieces of the Harper administration. Harper has tried to reshape the way Canadians think about Canada, weaning us off our fondness for peacekeeping (and medicare, for that matter), and getting us excited about being a war-making nation, able to swagger on the world stage in the footsteps of the Americans.” (Linda McQuaig, “Stephen Harper: Bulking up Pentagon North”, the Toronto Star)
Poor, poor, Steve! No one loves him.
Oh, but I am sure his mother must. Mom’s are kinda like that.
Posted by Bernadette Wagner on December 6, 2008
https://thereginamom.com/2008/12/06/is-something-actually-sticking-to-the-teflon-pm/
the regina mom 