Diagnosing Harper-RKD. As the title implies, we only have ourselves to blame for our current ultra-corrupt majority government. They have stolen our government and our democracy right out from under our very noses. The Robo-call scandal is only the latest in a long line of scams, misdeeds, frauds and outright illegal and anti-democratic behaviour. Consider the following: -The Reform Party of Canada was formed by the Evangelical Preston Manning in 1987 (yes THE Preston Manning of the Manning Centre who just recently had the reporter who broke the Robo-call story turfed out of his soiree).
Another Evangelical, "Steve" Harper joined this bizarre collection of extremists in 1988 and became it's Chief Policy Officer. But these Western-Centric radicals could gain no credibility east of Manitoba and the Reform Party was rife with unprofessional, partisan and unethical behaviour. . - We watched as the "Reform/Conservatives" Prorogued Parliament not once, but twice. Be very afraid: Stephen Harper is inventing a new Canada. Stephen Harper first became Prime Minister in 2006 and has already dramatically transformed the old Canada.
But with no election due for four more years, we ain’t seen nothing yet. It’s in the nature of true believers and ideologues to believe that any means to their sacred ends are justified. This makes them extremely dangerous people. It’s also typical of such people that they’re often motivated by unfathomable resentment and anger, a compulsion not just to better but to destroy their adversaries.
These are good descriptions of Stephen Harper and those closest to him. There was never a Trudeauland or Mulroneyland or Chrétienland, but as The Globe’s Lawrence Martin has made us understand, there is already a Harperland whose nature is quite apparent. Like the American conservatives whom the Harperites so envy, our government has concocted a new reality of its own that it is systematically imposing on the Canadian people.
But lying is the very mother’s milk of Harperland morality. Conservatives trying to 'whitewash' Public Accounts Committee report on F-35s, say opposition MPs. ITK's 'A Taste of the Arctic' shindig on April 7, Ottawa, photographs by Cynthia Münster April 14, 2014 The Hill Times photograph by Cynthia Münster A happy crowd at ITK's 'Taste of Arctic' at the NAC gathers for a picture. The annual event, held in Ottawa by the Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, is meant showcase Inuit culture. Some 350 attend the party, including a number of MPs, Senators, Cabinet minister, lobbyists and journalists.
National Inuit Leader and ITK President Terry Audla shows off his seal vest to Employment Minister Jason Kenney. Environics' Meredith Taylor and Greg MacEachern with ITK's Stephen Hendrie. Justice Minister Peter MacKay, his son Kian, and ITK president Terry Audla. ITK president Terry Audla and Abbas Rana, assistant deputy editor at The Hill Times and Party Central columnist. Labour Minister Kellie Leitch, ITK President Terry Audla, Laureen Harper, and local Ottawa photographer Michelle Valberg. ITK President Terry Audla and Labour Minister Kellie Leitch. Bill C-377: The Conservatives’ Private Members Bill on Union Transparency | Leg. Attack on Unions. There’s a Private Members Bill working its way through the legislative machinery in Ottawa filed by a Tory MP that would require unions to prepare and file dozens of forms listing receipts and expenses paid during a year.
Anyone that does business with a union for an amount greater than $5000, including presumably the union’s lawyers, will find their names and bills posted on line for the world to inspect. The reports must also state “the percentage of time dedicated to political activities”, whatever that means. I have serious doubts about whether the Federal taxing jurisdiction can be stretched so far into the private employment relationship between a union and its employees, since the regulation of employment and labour falls within provincial jurisdiction. But I’ll leave that one to the division of powers folks. The Bill Here is Bill C-377. Critics and Proponents of the Bill Not surprisingly, union leaders are unhappy with the Bill. The Vast Expanse of this Transparency Bill. Manitoba reporter fired from her job for "biased" reporting on federal politics speaks out.
On a rainy afternoon in October, Jill Winzoski, a 38 year old reporter at The Selkirk Record, walked into her boss' small office and took a deep breath. That morning, Winzoski's editor had told her over the phone that she'd received an email from a Member of Parliament with harsh words about Winzoski's "biased" reporting. James Bezan, the Conservative MP for Selkirk-Interlake, included as proof part of an email petition about a China-Canada investment treaty Winzoski had sent him the day before. Her editor said that Brett Mitchell—one of the owners of the The Selkirk Record, and Winzoski's boss—had gotten the email as well. Mitchell told Winzoski that she would no longer be employed at The Record.
Winzoski was confused. Mitchell denied that it was her signing the petition. "To this day, I question James Bezan's ethics in forwarding that email to my employer," she said. "Perhaps it was a lack of good judgment on my part, but I wasn't aware of other newspaper policies. "
Harper v. Canada: 2011 election scandal brings scrutiny to PM's controversial past. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has, in recent years, branded himself as something of a super-patriot. He calls Canada "the best country in the world", describes the Conservative Party as a "party of patriotism" and has pushed for a new vision of Canadian pride tied to overseas battlefields, Arctic sovereignty and unparalleled resource extraction. It seems ironic, then, that Harper spent years mired in a court case titled "Harper v. Canada" to challenge the country's election regulations -- or that he described the US right as "a light and an inspiration to people in this country" when its leader was facing unprecedented ethics and tax charges.
Harper is currently facing renewed scrutiny over his resistance to the country's election finance laws amidst unprecedented irregularities alleged in last year's election as well as his Conservative party pleading guilty to illegal campaign spending last November. “Harper v. The series of lawsuits and appeals – officially titled “Harper v. Alberta job agency turns to U.S. veterans to fill vacancies. As Alberta faces a shortage of skilled labourers, an Edmonton team is taking its recruitment message south of the border – and to veterans. The Edmonton Economic Development Corporation, a city-run agency, is turning to the United States to try and ease an estimated shortage of 114,000 skilled workers over the next decade as Canadian talent pools dry up.
One pillar of the effort is posting on VetJobs, an online job board for veterans of the U.S. armed forces, as well as a recruiting session in Seattle and a website, OpportunityAwaits.com. The jobs are within Edmonton and across northern Alberta, including Fort McMurray, the heart of oil sands development. “We need workers across the entire northern half of the province,” said Mike Wo, the EEDC’s executive director of economic growth and development. “... Some of the occupations we’re looking for do align nicely with former military experience.”
The need for workers had eased over the past few years, but has since picked up again. Alberta job agency turns to U.S. veterans to fill vacancies. Halifax Live - You Won't Recognize Canada When I Get Through With It. The old cliché, 'be careful what you wish for, lest it come true' is suddenly becoming the mantra of many Canadians including some who actually voted Conservative in the last federal election. Thirty-six per cent of the people decided to give Stephen Harper a chance to prove himself and bestowed upon him a minority government. It was good-bye to Paul Martin and his damn dirty Liberal Cabinet and hello to Harper who triumphantly pranced up to Parliament Hill on his magnificent white steed, ready and eager to clean up the government. Not too many noticed the sneaky little half-smirk that Harper was having a difficult time trying to hide. And it's been downhill from there. The leader that Harper promised Canada he would be didn't turn up at the swearing-in ceremony but was replaced by a cold, calculating, rigid, micro-managing control freak who really is beguiled by all things American.
So let's take a trip down memory lane shall we? Indulge me as I repeat that last sentence. Mr. Canada ranked worst of G7 nations in fighting bribery, corruption. Canada has again been scolded on the international stage for its “lack of progress” in fighting bribery and corruption by a watchdog agency that ranks it among the worst of nearly 40 countries. Transparency International, a group that monitors global corruption, put Canada in the lowest category of countries with “little or no enforcement” when it comes to applying bribery standards set out by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
In a report to be released Tuesday, the group singled out Canada as the only G7 country that has been stuck at the bottom of bribery-fighting rankings since TI began issuing its reports in 2005. “Unless there is strong political will to take this on as an important issue, Canada and other countries that are laggards will remain behind,” said Huguette Labelle, the chair of Transparency International and a Canadian who served as a deputy minister in Ottawa for 19 years. “It is important for Canada’s reputation. But Mr. Ongoing cases 18 – Italy. Understanding Harper's Evangelical Mission. Any Canadian listening to the news these days might well conclude that the Republican extremists or some associated evangelical group has occupied Ottawa. And they'd be righter than Job, I believe.
Almost daily, more evidence surfaces that Canada's government is guided by tribalists averse to scientific reason in favour of Biblical fundamentalism -- or what some call "evangelical religious skepticism. " First came Canada's pull-out of the Kyoto agreement without any rational or achievable national plan to battle carbon pollution. Next came the hysterical and unprecedented letter by Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver, an investment banker. It branded local environmentalists and First Nations as foreign radicals because they dared to question the economic and environmental impacts of a Chinese-funded pipeline. At the same time federal security types declared Greenpeace, a civil organization originally started by Canadian journalists, to be a "multi-issue extremist group. " Harper's creed 1. 2.
PMO says Harper will not attend first ministers meeting - Politics. A spokesman in the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday that Stephen Harper wouldn't attend a first ministers meeting on the economy, derailing plans by the premiers to bring him back to the table. The provincial leaders joined together last week in calling on Harper to meet with them in Halifax in November to talk about the state of the world economy and its effects on Canadians. But Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall said in an email today that the prime minister wouldn't attend such a gathering.
When asked if there would be a first ministers meeting in the fall, he said simply, "No. " MacDougall added that the prime minister meets regularly with the premiers on an individual basis, citing 74 such meetings since 2010. "The federal and provincial governments worked well together to deliver the stimulus programs to help secure our recovery," MacDougall said in an email. "Why would a prime minister not want to meet with us on this issue?
" Dexter is on vacation and unavailable for comment.
Understanding Harper's Evangelical Mission. Signs mount that Canada's government is beholden to a religious agenda averse to science and rational debate. Man of faith: PM Stephen Harper belongs to the Alliance Church which holds that non-believers are 'lost'. Any Canadian listening to the news these days might well conclude that the Republican extremists or some associated evangelical group has occupied Ottawa. And they'd be righter than Job, I believe. Almost daily, more evidence surfaces that Canada's government is guided by tribalists averse to scientific reason in favour of Biblical fundamentalism -- or what some call "evangelical religious skepticism. " First came Canada's pull-out of the Kyoto agreement without any rational or achievable national plan to battle carbon pollution. Next came the hysterical and unprecedented letter by Natural Resource Minister Joe Oliver, an investment banker.
Harper's creed "The Alliance Church is also tough on divorce and holds that Christians who have been adulterous do not have a right to remarry. Flaherty’s fiscal recklessness is hurting Canada's economy. Wednesday in these pages, federal finance minister Jim Flaherty took the opportunity to offer some fatherly advice to provincial and territorial premiers gathering in Halifax for the Council of the Federation, dispensing his thoughts on the virtues of balance budgets and fiscal responsibility (“Our long term goal: Balance Canada’s budgets,” July 25.
While the Harper government seems happy to offer advice through the media, it failed to send a single representative to meet with the premiers in Halifax. It seems the Harper Conservatives believe unilateral edicts handed down from Ottawa are now the most constructive approach to Canadian federalism. But before anyone considers taking Mr. Flaherty’s advice, let’s take a closer look at his government’s record.
After inheriting the largest budget surplus in federal government history when he first took office, the Conservative finance minister quickly squandered it on a series of short-sighted and unaffordable corporate tax cuts. Mr. Magnotta case and online surveillance bill linked in memos - Politics. The controversial online surveillance Bill C-30 would help police catch criminal suspects such as Luka Rocco Magnotta more quickly, according to briefing notes for Public Safety Minister Vic Toews prepared in the aftermath of the gruesome killing of Jun Lin.
The documents drawing a link with the Magnotta case and Bill C-30 were drafted and circulated by senior officials June 4 — the same day the suspect was arrested in Berlin and more than a week after the crime occurred. The arrest came after an international manhunt and a video of the crime in progress was posted to an online gore website. Under the heading: "Could Bill C-30 have helped locate [suspect] Luka Rocco Magnotta earlier? " two memorandums decline to comment on specifics of the investigation because it is continuing, but go on to say the bill "would provide police with tools that could prove useful in similar cases. " The documents, released to CBC News Network's Power & Politics under access to information, also say: Canadian politics: Time to flip. Snapshots from a parallel universe on Canada Day. Another Canada Day makes me recognize once again my gratitude to my family for choosing Canada while yet wondering why my country never lives up to its promise.
In fact, it seems to me the promise is actually receding, as the Stephen Harper government seems increasingly isolated in a parallel universe of its own creation. A few recent snapshots: The Prime Minister pursues his global goals and offers unsolicited instructions to Europe on what it must do to clean up its mess. The President of the European Commission is refreshingly candid in response: "Frankly, we are not coming here to receive lessons in terms of democracy and in terms of how to run an economy ...
" A series of UN agencies criticize Canada on various fronts, all of them issues that have long troubled many Canadians. Having humiliated the PM in his quest to win a rotating seat on Security Council, the UN is in fact persona non grata in Harperland. Have a good, safe Canada Day weekend. Photo » 15001 (CN: 446) Canada - Air Force Airbus CC-150 Polaris by Patrick Cardinal. Harper Government Rebranding: Taxpayers Spent Over $86,000 Helping Tories Rebrand Federal Government. Conservatives have campaigned and governed with no regard for democracy. Harper visits dishonour on Parliament.
Cpc_poster_gallery. Ministerial staff asked to develop blacklists in lead-up to shuffle: source. The federal Conservative party received donations from dozens of employees at three engineering firms now implicated in high-profile police investigations into Quebec' s construction industry. Robocalls: Tory MPs want $355K in damages from voters who took them to court over misleading calls | Canadian Politics. Warrior Nation and the War of 1812.