What's Happening to John McCain

In the past week, we have witnessed the start of what is likely to become a full-blown implosion of John McCain's presidential campaign. The media has begun its revolt against the McCain campaign's refusal to allow Sarah Palin to answer media questions, as if they believe that since she is a woman, she can't handle the pressure. If they truly believed, as they continually suggest, that Gov. Palin is ready to take on global challenges, then she should be able to handle the media. Since September 15th, when the economy finally buckled under all the pressure it has faced, the same day that Sen. McCain said that "the fundamentals of the economy are strong", the GOP campaign has lost anywhere between 4 and 7 percentage points in the national polls, depending on who you ask. His convention bounce is gone, and his running mate's popularity numbers are falling steadily.

Today, Senator McCain announced the suspension of his presidential campaign, ostensibly to turn his full attention to the ongoing market and housing crisis. Sorry Johnny, but all I can say is that your excuse is a load of bullshit. A lot of people will fault me for shrugging him off, and accuse me of being partisan. But look at the reality. This crisis broke a week ago, and for all of last week, Senator McCain tried his best to make partisan hay out of it. Even many of his Republican supporters found his actions to be more than a bit crass. Moving on from last week, Senator McCain and his running mate have spent the first half of this week chatting up world leaders to bolster Gov. Palin's foreign policy credentials. Now, on the eve of the first debate, McCain is asking for an extension. He has had a week and a half to wake up to this one, but he chose to wait until the last minute.

I certainly hope that his request for an extension is denied. The timing of his announcement, given how much time he has had to make it, smacks of nothing less than pure political opportunism, and he ought to be exposed for it.

Ritz Redux

This update is a short one. Contrary to what Mr. Harper would like to see, the public isn't going to sit down and shut up over the disgraceful comments made by Gerry Ritz. It's telling that when, last month, Minister Ritz was told that another person had died from the listeria outbreak, the very first words out of his mouth were not condolences, concern for the family, or worries about the safety of the food supply that he's responsible for. No, the first thing Mr. Ritz said was "Please tell me it's [Liberal Agriculture Critic] Wayne Easter." It's one thing to do your job, and then crack some bad jokes to blow off some steam. I've been in positions of responsibility before, and I've done that, and so do a lot of people, politicians included. I'm not suggesting for a moment that we fire them all. But when that dark humor comes first, when it comes before concern, when it comes before doing your job, it reveals how seriously you take you job, and Gerry Ritz doesn't take his seriously at all.

Now, a family member of one of the victims of this terrible tragedy has come forward. He very rightly expressed his outrage at Mr. Ritz's conduct, and I'm quite sure he's not alone in those sentiments. The union representing CFIA scientists has also weighed in, calling for his ouster. They say that he has "repeatedly disappointed" them in his handling of the crisis. Well, to the members of that union, let me tell them that they're not alone. Mr. Ritz has disappointed and disgusted all of us in the way that he has handled this crisis. His repeated efforts to undermine the CFIA have severely hampered its ability to keep our food supply safe, and worse still, Mr. Ritz still won't change course. How many more people will have to die before something is done?

How Stupid Does Harper Think You Are?

I'll tell you how stupid he thinks you are: he thinks you're a blithering idiot with a very short memory. How do I know that he thinks this? Well, let's look at Mr. Harper's latest attack line: that the Liberals will drive the country into deficit. First of all, that's impossible, because by all accounts, Mr. Harper has already put us there. First quarter fiscal statements for this budgetary year confirm that. Now, perhaps things will rally and we might squeak through this year in decent shape, but it's been a long time since that was even a concern at all.

Let me remind Stephen Harper of a thing or two: it was the hard work of a LIBERAL Government that wiped out Brian Mulroney's massive deficits. It was a LIBERAL government that took the heat, but did it because it was right, and it was Tories who whined and griped about it back then. Oh, and while that heavy lifting was going on, Stéphane Dion was at the Cabinet table, helping to make those tough decisions.

One of the first things Stephen Harper did when he came to power was to roll back the tax cuts on people in the lowest income brackets, while at the same time giving out massive handouts to all kinds of corporate entities, as well as the oil and gas industry, which is making a killing and doesn't need a subsidy from me. We are in the middle of an era that will see a massive transfer of wealth within Canada, where those at the very top will be awash in cash, while the rest of us struggle to make ends meet. The slash and burn policies of Mr. Harper and Mr. Flaherty have pushed us into another age of deficits, handing off more debt to our children, and their children, to pay for.

So let me remind the Prime Minister of something: Liberals won't put this country into a deficit; Liberals will bring this country back out of the fiscal hole dug for us by Mr. Harper. This Prime Minister is no more capable of managing the economy than McCain-Bush, and it's about time that Canadians woke up, saw the writing on the wall, and realized that. Stephen Harper thinks that you're too dumb to figure it out though. He thinks you're too big an idiot to see through the wool he's pulled over your eyes. It's time to prove him wrong.

Fire Gerry Ritz

What the hell is wrong with Stephen Harper? Does he just not give a damn? How fucking arrogant is this asshole? His Agriculture Minister, Gerry Ritz, apparently doesn't take his job very seriously. The Department of Agriculture is also responsible for Agri-foods, and is the department that oversees the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. For anybody who hasn't noticed, a Listeria outbreak has swept through Canada, due to tainted meats from a Maple Leaf Foods facility. In the midst of this mess, we have Conservatives preaching the ludicrous idea that the best course of action is less Government supervision. For a government so big on law and order, they have to be smoking something pretty potent to make that position seem even remotely logical, and I'm pretty sure that whatever it is, it's not legal.

In the middle of this outbreak, while the body count has been rising, Gerry Ritz, the Minister who bears responsibility for this pathetic failure on the part of Government to protect the public, decided that doing nothing was just not an option. So, he cracked a joke and said that this whole situation was a death by a thousand cuts. Then he corrected himself and said "cold cuts." People are DYING, and Mr. Ritz's course of action was to crack a joke? The only joke here is the fact that he was appointed in the first place.

It begs a question though: what is going on with Stephen Harper's leadership? Let's look at his Cabinet choices: David Emerson, defector, and second biggest asshole in Canada (a very close second to the Prime Minister). Then we have Josee Verner, who on a trip to Mexico, in the middle of the Brenda Martin mess, decided to skip out on visiting this wrongfully imprisoned Canadian citizen who was on suicide watch, so that she could attend a party. Maxime Bernier, the man whose girlfriend had ties to the mafia and biker gangs, and placed her on a list that would have entitled her, should she have asked, to receive a diplomatic passport. Oh, and let's not forget that apparently the RCMP raised red flags about her, but nobody in the government gave a damn, because M. Bernier was Harper's golden boy in Quebec. We had Gordon O'Connor, the defense lobbyist who didn't understand that the job of the Minister of Defense is to run the Department, not to be a General, and interfering in command decisions. Joining the club now is Gerry Ritz. Is the Tory bench so lacking in depth that Harper can't fire these idiots and hire people who aren't national embarrassments? There should have been no question here: Gerry Ritz should have tendered his resignation, and if he wasn't going to, the Prime Minister should have demanded it. The fact that he didn't proves one thing: that Stephen Harper doesn't care about the victims of this outbreak. He has proved it by trying to further weaken the CFIA in spite of this catastrophe. He has further proved it by refusing to fire the point man for this disaster, even after that Minister made callous jokes before some of the dead have even been buried. Shameful.

What the Hell is Going On?

So, being a student of the basics of campaigning, and seeing where Stephen Harper is in the polls, I had this entire campaign figured out. At the start of the campaign, the Opposition parties, led by the Liberals, would begin a relentless attack on Stephen Harper's record of lies, broken promises, and scare tactics. They'd say that his record was shameful, that he was destroying our economy, pushing us into deficit, handing out massive giveaways to the people at the top, while giving nothing to those lower on the ladder. It would all get laid out there, in a multimedia attack campaign that would occupy the first third or so of the campaign. After all, the only way to debate an incumbent on equal terms is to pull him down into the mud with you. It may not be pretty, and I'm fully aware that Canadians SAY that sort of thing doesn't work with them, but study after study has proven the precise opposite. Negative advertising works, and it works well.

Imagine my surprise when I saw virtually NO television ad buys from the Liberals. All of a sudden, I'm seeing polls suggesting that the LPC could be reduced to as few as four seats in BC. In the darkest hours of the sponsorship fiasco, the Liberals managed to increase their seat count in BC, but things look far worse now. Finally, the other night, I saw what appeared to be a ray of light. The ad talked about Harper's so-called strong leadership, and then pointed out how under that strong leadership, people were out of work, kids were living in poverty, and we were destroying the environment. "Finally," I thought to myself, "the Liberals have woken up and have realized that it's time to start throwing some punches." Imagine my surprise then when Jack Layton popped on screen at the end of the ad preaching his vision.

I know that the Liberal Party is short on funds. I know that they have to pick their battles. But here's the reality: not getting out there and hitting Stephen Harper will be the biggest mistake they make. It's not enough to take a few potshots at him in Leader's Tour events. It's time for some serious national ad buys to brand this Prime Minister for what he is. It's time for the Liberal party to start throwing some punches instead of just taking them all the time. If that doesn't happen, the Liberal Party could end up in Third Party status in a Harper majority. You can't undo a majority government.

Sarah Palin is a liar (she should meet David Emerson)

Ok, so I've been seething about Sarah Palin since the moment she was named by John McCain as his running mate. Well, maybe not since that exact moment. As I recall, when I flipped to CNN that fateful Friday morning and heard the news, I believe my initial reaction was "who the fuck is she?" But I digress, although it is important to note that until John McCain plucked this woman from relative obscurity as the Governor of the third-smallest state (by population) in the union, almost nobody had heard of her.

Sarah Palin has touted herself as a maverick. She's not. A maverick breaks with popular opinion to do what's right. Sarah Palin has a history of doing one thing, and then reversing herself anytime it was politically expedient to do so. And just in case that's not enough, she throws in a bit of historical revisionism to make her pitiful record look better than it really is. In almost every speech we've heard, Sarah Palin goes on about how she was against the infamous "Bridge to Nowhere" (for those of you who don't know about this, the Bridge to Nowhere was a much derided project linking Ketchikan with a small neighbouring island that's home to the local airport, and very few people. It was sponsored through a pork-barrel earmark by powerful Alaska Republican Senator Ted Stevens, now the subject of a number of corruption charges). Anyhow, as it happens, when Sarah Palin was running for Governor of Alaska, she supported that Bridge to Nowhere. She oversaw the beginning of construction on roads to feed that very bridge. Then, public opinion changed, and so she followed up by canceling the project, seemingly in defense of taxpayer money, right? Well, that might have made sense, other than the fact that she didn't return a single dime.

Oh yes, that's right. The next story we hear about is the luxury jet purchased by her predecessor. In her speech, Palin notes that she put the jet on eBay, and John McCain went so far as to say that she did that, and sold it for a profit. Well, as it happens, Palin did put the jet on eBay, at which point nobody bought it. The Alaska Legislature went ahead and hired a broker to sell the jet, which the state purchased for 2.7 million dollars. The jet sold for 2.1 million dollars, not to mention the fees paid out to the broker, and an additional 50 thousand dollar bill thanks to unexpected maintenance issues. So she didn't sell that jet for a profit. In fact, she failed to sell it at all. Good job there Sarah.

Of course, we move on to Gov. Palin's teenage daughter Bristol. I agree with Barack Obama, and every other politician who says that Bristol Palin's pregnancy is a family matter that is off limits. I'm not going to ridicule her for not practicing her mother's abstinence-only policies. I'm not going to ridicule her for getting pregnant out of wedlock. Bristol Palin, after all, is not responsible for her mother's stupid policy stances. But I am going to hold Sarah Palin to account, because she noted that Bristol Palin had done the right thing. She said that her oldest daughter had chosen to keep the baby, certainly a laudable decision. But here's the thing: that was a choice that she allowed her daughter to make, all the while running on a campaign platform promising to take that same choice away from every other American woman should she ever be in a position to do so. Like I said, I won't ridicule Bristol Palin. I will, however, ridicule her mother's blatant hypocrisy.

Those who know Sarah Palin have consistently said that she is not a gracious person. Anybody who disagrees with her becomes public enemy number one. Said one former colleague "she takes it personally." Remind you of anyone? Perhaps the current "uniter, not a divider" President. This is precisely the LAST thing that America, and the rest of the world needs right now. Sarah Palin needs to be honest about her pitiful record, and stop relying on her not-quite-good-enough-to-be-Miss Alaska looks to get her places.

Bullshit

Today, a consortium of the major media networks decided to exclude Elizabeth May from the Leader's debates, seemingly because even though the Greens finally have an MP, three party leaders threw a hissy fit. That's right: Stephen Harper said it just wasn't fair. Apparently that's the "strong leadership" that we're all better off with. What a pile of crap. And evidently the Prime Minister wasn't alone in proving this pathetic lack of leadership. Jack Layton and Gilles Duceppe threatened not to attend if Ms. May were permitted to join in. This sounds like some sort of playground spat at an elementary school. These people are supposed to be trying to earn our votes, and prove that they are worthy of our trust. Instead, Stephen Harper, Jack Layton, and Gilles Duceppe have stomped their feet and bullied the networks into depriving the Canadian people of a fair choice this election. This combination of immaturity and arrogance is not befitting of anybody seeking political power.

Shame on the networks, and on the Conservatives, NDP, and Bloc Quebecois for their extortion tactics. What a bunch of bullshit. Time to grow up, gentlemen.

Bush-McCain: Northern Edition?

In this election, the economy is shaping up to be a major issue. Given our proximity to the United States, their economic woes have affected us, but it would hardly be accurate to suggest that our economic situation is entirely the result of theirs. In fact, in many ways, our situation is worse. A CBC story published today confirms this. Canada's economic growth, a model for the industrialized world just a few short years ago, is in the toilet thanks to Stephen Harper's ridiculous economic policies. OECD number indicate that our expected growth for the year has fallen to 0.8 percent, second worst in the G7 only to Italy. This is a drop from the 3.1 percent rate left to Harper by the previous Liberal government.

In spite of this, and in spite of the fact that more and more Canadians are having to try and do more with less, Harper is now dishing the same line as John McCain and George W. Bush. He's telling us that our fundamentals are strong, and that in these risky times, he's the one best suited to manage this economy. Numbers don't lie, even though he does. The past couple years of his Government are proof that he is the LAST person to be managing this economy. Look at what Jim Flaherty did to Ontario. Look at what they have already done in relatively good economic times. Are these truly the people that we want managing our economy as things appear to be worsening? Even if M. Dion is a "risky choice" as Mr. Harper likes to put it, I would sooner roll the dice on him than take a sure disaster with Mr. Harper continuing to mismanage this economy.

An Election Based on a Broken Promise

The first day of the campaign is now over, and it's worthwhile to take a moment to reflect on where we are at the start of this campaign, as well as how we got here. For a Prime Minister who ran on a platform of honesty and trust, there is much to be ashamed of. Let's turn back the clock for a moment. Opposition Leader Stephen Harper promised, in the wake of Belinda Stronach's defection, never to romance an MP to cross the aisle. He promised that any Senate appointment made would be the result of an election to fill the position. He promised to be accountable. That was Opposition Leader Stephen Harper. Prime Minister Harper, on his very first day in office, broke all three of those promises. He lured David Emerson across the floor by waving a Cabinet post at him. He appointed Michael Fortier to the Senate, without election or consultation, and gave him a Cabinet position. Mr. Fortier was named Minister of Public Works, a massive department responsible for a great deal of Government spending, and by virtue of his position in the Senate, there was no accountability.

I bring up Mr. Fortier for a very specific reason. When the Prime Minister appointed Mr. Fortier to the Senate, it was made clear that the appointment was made because Mr. Fortier just couldn't be bothered to run in that election. We were promised that at the time of this election, Mr. Fortier would step down, and stand for election to the House of Commons. Now it is true that Mr. Fortier is a candidate in this election. He is the Conservative candidate for Vaudreuil-Soulanges. However, Mr. Fortier has not resigned his Senate seat. Indeed, the Senate website lists his retirement date as January 10, 2037. The only message that can be taken from this is that if Mr. Fortier loses this election, which is highly likely, given that it is a strong Bloc Quebecois seat, he will continue to sit as a Senator, unelected and unaccountable. Mr. Fortier should do the right thing, and resign his Senate seat at once, and he should go a step further and promise that if he loses, he will accept defeat and move on.

But back to broken promises, let's have a look at Stephen Harper's record. He promised to eliminate the GST entirely if the cost of gasoline crept above 85 cents per litre. Promise broken. On income trusts, the platform that the Conservatives ran on said that "A Conservative government will...stop the Liberal attack on retirement savings and preserve income trusts by not imposing any new taxes on them." Promise broken...on a dark, dark Tuesday, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty broke that promise, and wiped billions of dollars in retirement savings out of existence. The list goes on and on and on.

This brings us to where we are now. On Sunday morning, the Prime Minister visited Governor-General Michaelle Jean, and dissolved Parliament, with an election to be held October 14th. The broken promise here is quite obvious. Stephen Harper passed fixed election date law, promising the Canadian people that the next election would be held next year. When the bill passed, the Prime Minister said "Fixed election dates prevent government from calling snap elections for short-term political advantage. They level the playing field for all parties and the rules are clear for everybody." Harper went on to say that "fixed election dates stop leaders from trying to manipulate the calendar simply for partisan political advantage." Promise broken. Riding high in the polls, the Prime Minister cooked up a lame excuse, while Parliament was not even sitting, to suggest that it was not functional, and plunged the country into its third election in a four year period.

The Prime Minister made one more promise. He said that he would not go negative on other party leaders, even though he said he fully expected them to go negative on him. Time will tell how long it takes before he breaks that promise.

UPDATE: At the time of publishing this article, Mr. Fortier had not yet resigned. As of this morning however, he finally resigned his Senate seat, although he certainly waited until the very last moment to do so, given that this election was the worst kept secret in the country. I continue to wonder why Mr. Fortier did not avail himself of the numerous by-election opportunities that he had over the past session, but that aside, assuming he loses, I hope he takes it with grace.

David Emerson is Still an Asshole (and a liar)

So, a few days ago, we the people heard from David Emerson. Yes, that's right. David Emerson who ran in Vancouver-Kingsway as a Liberal, and then crossed the floor to Stephen "I don't romance MP's to cross the aisle" Harper, after being bribed with a Cabinet post. The very same David Emerson to whom I referred as an asshole at the time. David Emerson, as you will all remember, swore up and down that he would not resign and run in a by-election, but that his constituents would have an opportunity to pass judgment on his record come the next election. Strangely enough though, while everybody else was filing their nomination papers, Mr. Emerson was not. Then we heard the other day that three Tory Cabinet Ministers would not be running for re-election. Their names? Fisheries Minister Loyola Hearn (actually a nice guy, and retiring after a long career), Human Resources Minister Monte Solberg (kind of competent), and, of course, Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson (asshole). So here's a challenge to Stephen Harper. Emerson promised his constituents their chance to judge his asshole-ish ways. So, put his name on the ballot anyhow. Let the people pass their judgment on this monument to hubris, and see what happens. If he's as popular as he seems to think he is, then maybe we're all in for a surprise.

Election 2008

So the Prime Minister has asked the Governor General to dissolve a Parliament that he said was dysfunctional. If it was as dysfunctional as he claims, he might want to examine his own party first and foremost. After all, when the Opposition offered to fast-track the bulk of his crime legislation, it was the Prime Minister and his Conservative lapdogs who said no, and then tried to blame the opposition for it. It is this Prime Minister who has run the most secretive and unaccountable government, second only to the White House since George W. Bush moved in. Let's face it, this is the Government that actually wrote a handbook on how to obstruct the business of Parliament, so I'm not entirely sure how an election will change anything, unless the Canadian people wake up and get rid of all the Tories who have run roughshod over Parliament since day one.

With this election, Canadians have an opportunity to open the windows of this country and let in some fresh air. To do this, however, they will have to take the opportunity to inform themselves beyond the soundbytes and attack ads that will undoubtedly be hurled about by all the political parties. They might need to try and understand that Stéphane Dion is not the wimp that he's been made out to be. After all, this is the man who told the separatists to get bent. That said, his political strategy has been severely lacking to the point of being pathetic, and if he doesn't learn how to throw a punch at the Prime Minister, this election will be a disaster.

A Quick Update

So the Conservative Party of Canada, awash with cash as an incumbent government tends to be (just look at how much money the Grits had to spend when they were in power) have put out these fluff ads, because anything they spend now doesn't count as election spending. The new ads are so cheesy that they're truly enough to make anybody's stomach turn more than a bit. The ads feature Stephen Harper sitting in a room at the Prime Minister's summer home at Harrington Lake, talking about warm fuzzies like family and our veterans, as if to say that he and his ilk are the only ones who value them.

I know what the Tories are doing. Let's face it, a large chunk of the country looks at Stephen Harper and realizes that he is even less charismatic than his cardboard cutouts. They put out these ads to make Canadians think that he's just a regular guy, like anybody else. He spends time with his kids, plays the piano, honours our veterans, and as a result Canada is, in the eyes of the Tories, just better off with him in charge.

Frankly, Harper could use an image makeover, but it'll take more than a few ads. The reality is that if Stephen Harper wants to cultivate a more human image with the Canadian people, he should try to actually act like a human being, show some compassion, and stop being such an arrogant idiot. This is the man who took such pleasure in blasting the Liberals for being arrogant. At least they (until Paul Martin) had won majority governments. Harper is twice as arrogant, with half the accomplishments. If he really wants Canadians to start trusting him, maybe he should try something new, like being trustworthy. More to come.

We're Back

After a long hiatus, the Canadian Post is back, and not a moment too soon. In recent weeks and months, the Harper Government has continued its cold-hearted campaign of trampling over the rights of Canadians, and breaking promises and laws wherever it has seen fit. A Government that was elected on a promise to end dishonesty and corruption in Ottawa has instead broken Canada's campaign financing laws, attempted to bribe a dying MP to bring down Paul Martin's minority Government, attacked the ethics of the 80 percent of Canadian doctors who approve Insite, the safe injection site in Vancouver, broken promise after promise, broken its own policy on accountability and transparency with respect to appointments to the Supreme Court of Canada, and this Sunday is expected to break its own fixed election date legislation.

Never in Canada's history have we seen a Government launch an attack on the impartial institutions of state that the Conservatives have under Stephen Harper. This is the first time that I can remember that a Government has actually had the moxie to try and smear Elections Canada, which has been the gold standard in terms of impartiality for Canadians. But calling out the Prime Minister for what basically amounts to electoral fraud was too much for him. Just as happens to anybody else that criticizes Canada's naked emperor, Elections Canada is now receiving the full force of Harper's vengeance. It doesn't stop there though. Sheila Fraser, Canada's auditor-general is a target as well. Yes, remember her? She's the one who Harper heaped praise on for blowing the whistle on the sponsorship scandal. As an officer of Parliament, she doesn't take orders from political figures. She does her job, and goes where the numbers and evidence lead her. Stephen Harper went after her too. He and his thugs tried to force her to vet all of her public comments through the PMO. She kindly told him where to go and how to get there, and for good reason. She doesn't work for him. Sheila Fraser is an officer of Parliament. She works for us, and thankfully, she told him to go to hell, and then called him on it publicly. The list goes on and on, and Canadians still seem willing to tolerate this crap.

Elements in this Government still think that the jury is out on matters such as evolution and climate change. On minority rights, reproductive rights, and gay rights, they favour turning back the clock. At every turn we have seen how out of touch this Government has been, and if it weren't for the fact that they are in a minority situation, they would have transformed our laws to a point where we would not recognize this country.

This weekend, an election will be called, and Conservatives across the country will look you in the eye and lie to you in a blatant attempt to dupe you into voting for them. They will attempt to suppress the voices of those who disagree with them, including the Green Party of Canada. For those whose voices they can't suppress, they will launch an all-out campaign of distortion, because it is the only way to hide from Canadians just how out of touch they are. Throughout the upcoming campaign, this publication will hold their propaganda to the harsh light of the truth.