Stephen Harper has spent $1,335,342.37 of your money to keep Omar Khadr out of Canada

Stephen Harper's Conservative Government has spent over $1 Million of tax-payer money to keep a Canadian who was arrested at the age of 15 in Guantanamo Bay.

The Toronto Star reported on October 28th that pictures from 2002 of Khadr that appear to exonerate him of the charges that he killed an American solider.They were submitted as part of an 18-page submission presented earlier this year by Khadr's former military defence team to an Obama administration task force investigating Guantanamo.

"U.S. Special Forces shot Khadr twice in the back during his capture, and he was brought to the American-operated prison in Bagram, Afghanistan, in critical condition. During the three months before his transfer to Guantanamo, he was interrogated more than 40 times for up to eight hours a day. His chief interrogator, Joshua Claus, was later court-martialled in connection with the death of an Afghan taxi driver at Bagram. Khadr claims that during his questioning he was threatened with dogs, hung by his wrists or put in stress positions, despite his injuries. He also alleges he had a hood placed over his head and then soaked with water until he began to suffocate, and had LED lights shone into his eyes, injured by shrapnel."

Omar Khadr was born in Toronto, he is Canadian. He was arrested when he was 15 years old and tortured. Stephen Harper has spent over $1 Million to bar him from our country. Advocates for Omar Khadr don't want to bring him here in first class and let him go without punishment, we just want him to face justice away from a prison infamous for the inhuman acts that occurred there.

There are currently 2.8 million Canadians living abroad. What message does it send them that Prime Minister Harper is willing to spend $1,335,342.37 fighting against their right to return home.
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Michael Ignatieff Supports Doubling Arts Funding

A Liberal government would double the current $180 million parliamentary funding to the Canada Council for the Arts as part of an increased commitment to support culture, says party leader Michael Ignatieff. Mr. Ignatieff has also pledged to provide more stable funding to the CBC (which needs it after purchasing all of those new monitors, especially since Peter Mansbridge's attempt to use the "Home Renovation Tax Credit" to pay for the new set was rejected) and more travel grants to artist.

The Arts are a great example of a public good, they are non-excludable and non-rivalrous, consumption wise. When the government funds the Arts all Canadians can benefit, especially when Canadian artists are given the chance to spread Canadian culture abroad.

For some reasons Conservatives hate funding the Arts. Prime Minister Harper has moved Arts funding into sports, on top of other arts and culture cuts. I do not believe that Arts and Sports should compete against each other in a mercantilist-like system, both should be well funded as they contribute greatly to the whole of Canadian society. Unfortunately, Stephen Harper and his Conservative Government believe that Arts funding shouldn't be a priority. In 2008 Prime Minister Harper said:

"I think when ordinary working people come home, turn on the TV and see a gala of a bunch of people at, you know, a rich gala all subsidized by taxpayers claiming their subsidies aren't high enough, when they know those subsidies have actually gone up – I'm not sure that's something that resonates with ordinary people."

The Prime Minister has said that it is a minority of "Ivory-tower Liberal" who care about the Arts, not "real Canadian."* It is refreshing to see Michael Ignatieff stand up for good policies that have been Liberal Party mainstays like supporting Canadian culture, progressive environmental policy and a national day care plan.

PM Harper can play as many Beatles songs as he wants but he can't change the fact that you'd have to be a fool on the hill looking through a glass onion to ignore the fact that the Harper government doesn't support the Arts in Canada. Thankfully the Liberal Party and Michael Ignatieff does.

* The Prime Minister seems to be channeling former half-term Governor Sarah Palin.
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Pope Benedict Makes It Easier For Anglicans To “Swim The Tiber”

Here is my article from the most recent issue of The Mike:

On October 20th, Pope Benedict XVI made an astonishing announcement that will usher in a new era within the Holy Roman Catholic Church and will have far reaching implications throughout the whole Christian world. During a Vatican briefing, Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, announced that Pope Benedict has approved, within the Apostolic Constitution, a canonical structure that provides for Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of distinctive Anglican spiritual patrimony. This decision will also allow Anglicans who want to return to the Catholic Church to do so while retaining the Anglo-Christian traditions such as their liturgical style. The Vatican also made concessions for married Anglican priests to convert and remain married (though bishops still have to be celibate) and, in the future, on a case-by-case basis, married laymen will be considered for ordination. The phrase that the English Press has been using and that the Vatican has been avoiding is “Church within a church.” Returning to the Catholic Church does require that Anglican converts recognize the authority of the Pope and acceptance of Catholic doctrine. There is still a lot of work to be done by the Vatican, as the announcement signals the Holy See’s intention of amending canon law so the details still need to be fleshed out.
Since the announcement is so open-ended, there has been a lot of speculation as to the size and scope of the Apostolic Constitution’s effects. Some have estimated that several thousand priests along with up to 400 000 laypeople will “Swim the Tiber.” However, conversion is very much a two-way street and though there are Anglican conversions to Catholicism every year there are still a percentage of Catholics who leave the Church for the Church of England, especially in Africa and the United States. The idea of a “Church within a Church” is not that the Catholic Church has been reunited with 22-Eastern Rites (members of the Byzantine Orthodox that returned to Rome) for many years.
Thankfully, the television show “The Tudors” has filled us all in on the history of the English Reformation. In the 16th Century, King Henry VIII of England split with the Catholic Church because he wanted to get a divorce from his wife who would not bear him an heir. The Pope, however, would not grant him the divorce. Unlike other Protestant churches, the Anglican Church remained very similar in practice to the RCC in terms of the liturgy and some doctrine. However, modern day Anglicanism is very diverse and ranges from extremely liberal to more conservative with pockets that are very close to Catholicism in all but recognition of the Pope’s authority.
Today, the Anglican Church has 80 million members all over the world, including 2.2 million in the United States. Like the RCC, the Church of England is a big-tent but without the centrality of the Papacy (the C of E is lead by the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Dr. Rowan Williams, but he is known as “first among equals” and not a supreme authority). Anglicans lack unity. In 2003, a large group of so-called “Conservative/Traditionalist” Anglican Bishops met in Texas to discuss the ordination of a Homosexual Episcopalian (American-Anglican) Bishop. The C of E also ordains women into the priesthood which, along with many other issues, has lead to different factions emerging within the Church of England.
This announcement was only made possible by over 40 years of ecumenical dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Church of England, which was itself enabled by the Second Vatican Council held from 1962- 1965. It has also been revealed by the British Newspaper The Sunday Telegraph that the Vatican has been in secret talks with senior Anglican Bishops since 2006, without the head of the Church of England being aware. Dr. Williams was present on October 20th when the announcement was made but he was not briefed beforehand. The Archbishop of Canterbury stated publicly that he does not believe that Pope Benedict/the Vatican is “fishing” for converts, although he did send an e-mail to his bishops clarifying and apologizing for the fact he was taken by surprise. Other reactions have varied from within the Church of England. While the Rt Rev John Hind, the Bishop of Chichester, has announced he is considering becoming a Roman Catholic, others have said that this will disrupt ecumenical dialogue between the two churches. The Roman Catholic Church’s position on ecumenism is impeachable. It is understandable that one observing from the outside would not be able to reconcile the Holy See’s decision to open its doors to disaffected Anglicans while still engaging the Church of England as an equal.
Every day, millions of Anglicans and Catholics Recite the same words as part of our Creed: “We believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church.” Pope Benedict’s announcement is a leap of faith with this utopian vision of a world united in Christ as its goal.
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Invictus: The movie that was designed to win Oscars

On December 11th 2009 the movie "Invictus" will arrive in threatres. The trailer has won me over but I have notice that this movie hits all of the stereotypical "Oscar-Winning Movie" tropes.* Here is a list:

1. "Invictus"is partially a bio-pic (as Morgan Freeman is playing Nelson Mandela.)

2. Morgan Freeman is starring.

3. Matt Damon is staring.

4. One of the plots is a sports team triumphing over adversity.

5. One of the plots is about triumphing over racism.

6. Clint Eastwood is directing and he was totally robbed on Gran Torino.

7. South African accents.

8. Many of the other roles are played by South African indi-actors.


This movie could only be nominated for more Academy Awards if it included:
- A gay subplot.
- A woman succeeding in an occupation dominated by men where she faces sexism.
- Randy Newman/James Taylor/John Williams did the score.
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Endorsement: Jessica Walsh for St. Michael’s College’s UTSU Rep.

One of the SMC positions on the University of Toronto Student’s Union is vacant and therefore after a whirlwind campaign of two days voting will take place on October 28th and 29th at Alumni Hall and Sid Smith. Whoever wins this bi-election will represent St. Michael’s College on the UTSU but there is a lot more to the position than that. The SMC UTSU Representative must attend UTSU meetings and SMCSU meetings, they are a full member of both councils. The representative must put St. Mike’s first in everything they do. As a member of SMCSU they will help with events, and work towards making St. Mike’s more than just a university. At UTSU meetings the representative must stand up for St. Michael’s College’s interests and work to bridge the disconnect between the University of Toronto Student’s Union and SMC.

If you know me, you know that I love SMC and the University of Toronto and that I follow student politics closely.

As I have been writing for the Mike I was going to stay out of the electoral fray this time around but certain circumstances (the brevity of the campaign period and the esoteric location of the polling stations which will certainly lead to a low voter turnout) have made it necessary for me to endorse a candidate.

Jessica Walsh is one of two fine candidates for the position and on Wednesday, my birthday, I will be voting for her. I met her last year when I was deciding to spend one more year at university while planning an event for my SMCSU Commission and imagining my next year of school, one where I would not be on SMCSU. Jessica is refreshingly approachable and has gone out of her way to make St. Mike's a better place. Meeting her reminded me that no matter what, year after year, there will be fantastic students who step up to the challenge of running events, making SMC more inclusive and keeping St. Michael's College an environment where everyone can come to work, learn and (occasionally) play. Jessica has being doing this without holding an elected office and while commuting to campus every day, which is impressive to me.

Over the summer Ms. Walsh was SMCSU's Speaker. This means she chaired the St. Michael's College Student's Union's meetings for several months. She has contributed to the college in many ways but her experience as speaker is vital as Jessica will be able to hit the ground running without a period of acclimatization to how SMCSU functions.

Jessica Walsh is intelligent and sincere and I know she will do a great job representing St. Mike's on UTSU. Having talked to Ms. Walsh about why she is running, my faith in her abilities was confirmed. SMCSU is very much an apolitical, service-based student's union. Jessica is committed to improving the services the University of Toronto Student's Union offers while ensuring that St. Mike's is not ignored.

I do not seek to take away any SMC student's agency. I do not believe my endorsement will/should decide your vote for you. With only two days to campaign it will be hard for Jessica to meet all of the students she wants to represent. What I want to do by endorsing Jessica Walsh is make students aware of the election on Wednesday/Thursday and encourage everyone to meet Jessica. I respect Jessica Walsh's intelligence and sincerity and believe that if you meet her you will also choose her as your St. Michael's College University of Toronto Student's Union representative.

Vote Jessica Walsh for SMC's UTSU Rep.

Voting Locations: Alumni Hall and Sidney Smith.
Wednesday October 28th and Thursday October 29th

Note: I haven't talked to Jessica about me recommending her as a candidate nor did she ask me to write this.
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DIGG The Equivocator!

If you are a regular reader of this blog (and there has to be at least one, the law of large numbers and all) then please feel free to add me as a friend on Digg.com. My profile is:
http://digg.com/users/theequivocator
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The NDP Oppose a Free-Trade Agreement with Colombia to the detriment of both nations

The NDP are proud protectionists. Though Mercantilism has long been out of style no party holds on to failed policies tighter than the NDP.* Recently the NDP (36 nobodies elected by a portion of the population) have been attempting to filibuster a Free-Trade bill with Colombia. The reasons they give are false and foolishly idealistic. They claim that human rights concerns should prevent Canada from trading with Colombia. Though Colombia is far from perfect there are many reasons why the NDP are wrong to oppose this Free-Trade agreement.

Colombia does have problems with Left-wing guerrilla fighters and right wing Para-military troops terrorizing its citizens. It is also a terrible place to be a journalist. Thankfully, President Alvaro Uribe has taken a tough stance against left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitaries alike. Under his presidency, the murder rate and the incidence of kidnapping have fallen. Colombia was not adversely affected by the recession and it growing slowly and steadily. This resilience stems from continued foreign investment and President Uribe is keen for international mediation to continue mediating the violence in his country. Colombia is a staunch American ally and has not aligned itself with Hugo Chavez, largely because of President Uribe's leadership. Chavez has supported the FARCs in Colombia and has cut off trade with his neighbour and is trying to get other countries in the region to join him. Bilateral trade between Venezuela and Colombia totaled $7.2 billion last year, of which $6 billion consisted of Colombian exports, mainly of food, live animals, clothing and cars.

By signing a Free-Trade agreement with Colombia Canada will help create jobs in both countries. This will lift Colombians out of poverty which leads to better education and less violence. Bilateral agreements strengthen President Uribe which allows him to effectively combat the left/right wing terrorists in his country while Colombia's economy grows which combats the route of violence. The United States Congress has a similar Free-Trade bill in the works. Free-Trade helps strengthen democracy and give the impoverished opportunities.

The NDP's obstruction hurts the Canadian and Colombian economies and strengthens the guerrillas and paramilitary forces there. If the NDP really cared about human rights they would work to ensure the Free-Trade agreement with Colombia was passed, instead they do what the NDP do best: talk, talk talk.

* The CPC and Bloc are tied for second.
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Stephen Harper Doesn't Watch Canadian News

Stephen Harper hasn't held a real job. He went from university to lobbyist to party leader to opposition leader to Prime Minister. Our Prime Minister has been in an echo chamber for his whole adult life. It comes as no surprise then that he recently admitted that he doesn't watch Canadian news.

Prime Minister Harper can't take criticism. He doesn't listen to other MPs, the Opposition or the Canadian people. Why are people shocked that Mr. Harper can't take criticism about his horrible mishandling of the economy or the isotope shortage he created coming from his television set? This does however explain why Prime Minister Harper barely does any interviews unless they are on FOX News, he wont watch them later so why bother?

Stephen Harper likes the United States of America, that is why he is emulating all of their 43rd President's policies.

If Michael Ignatieff said the same thing the CPC and the media would be all over it. There would be headlines questioning his patriotism and commitment to Canada.
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Ross Rebagliati should come out of the Cannabis Closet

The fact that Mr. Rebagliati has announced his candidacy in a riding where it has been extremely difficult to recruit candidates with a pulse (see Whitby-Oshawa) is another example of Michael Ignatieff's success in the Liberal leadership. Taking on a cabinet minister is gutsy but Ross Rebagliati's decision is far less Quixotic than Elizabeth May's riding shopping has been. Stockwell Day may be the only Conservative I actually like. Minister Day is arguably the only competent member of Stephen Harper's government. Unfortunately, like Gilles Duceppe, Mr. Day is in the wrong party.

It is a popular assumption that incumbency, especially Cabinet-member incumbency, leads to automatic victory. That is not the case as the riding may vote for a candidate out of habit and if a fresh face runs for an opposing party and the government fails as badly as Stephen Harper's has, is and will continue to, then no one is safe. Mr. Day will also spend a portion of the next election out of the riding campaigning with Stephen Harper which gives the Liberal Olympian additional strength. I stand but my assertion that the LPC can learn a lot from David and Goliath.

Ross Rebagliati won a Gold Medal in Snowboarding in the 1998 Winter Olympics held in Nagano, Japan. Rebagliati had his medal taken away from him when trace amounts of THC were found in his system, then it was given back after his appeal and the Olympic Committee's declaration that marijuana was not a performance-enhancing drug. He maintains to this day that the THC came from second-hand cannabis smoke. When asked about the marijuana issue, Rebagliati said that he wants to get through the nomination process before he wades into any debates. He added: "I don't want to become the 'one issue' guy."

It is perfectly alright for Ross Rebagliati to avoid the issue of Cannabis Legalization until after securing the Liberal nomination but he cannot and should not refrain for discussing marijuana in the very near future. Ross Rebagliati won in the name of this awesome country; he is a hero. He also apparently has no problem with other people smoking cannabis. As a celebrity entering politics he has the perfect platform to advocate for legalization. The Conservative Party of Canada has made it shameful in this country to argue a perfectly reasonable policy position. Ross Rebagliati can make the issue mainstream. This would give the Liberals an advantage on the issue of crime as the Liberal Party's policies are sensible but the debate is dominated by lies and accepted truths.

Ross Rebagliati won a Goal Medal with all the world watching, he's now entering politics and taking on a politician with a record of electoral success in the riding, what does he have to fear?
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The War on Drugs: Like Squeezing A Balloon

Article references: Dealing a Major Blow to Mexico's Masters of Meth

Meth is one of only a syringeful of drugs I don't think should be legalized. The United States has been moderately successful at combating Meth at home. This week the DEA led a campaign that saw the arrests of more than 300 alleged meth traffickers in the U.S., all allegedly tied to La Familia. Since the war on drugs is based on flawed premises and uses techniques that are counter-factual this progress is superficial. When the USA squeezed the meth producers within its borders Mexico picked up the slack. 'When the U.S. Congress enacted the Combat Methamphetamine Epidemic Act four years ago, it created a lucrative trafficking niche for La Familia.' While some La Familia bosses were arrested in Mexico this week, most if not all those captured in the 15-state roundup in the U.S. were lower-level traffickers and enforcers (just like in Batman when Harvey Dent arrests all of the low-level criminals in Gotham City.)

The illegal drug problem is a transnational issue. The United States' solution has been the same since the Nixon administration and since President Nixon production and consumption of all most every variety of drugs has gone up year after year.

One solution to this problem is legalization of marijuana. You can roll your eyes but the Narcos in Mexico get a lot of their money from marijuana sales. If the United States, Canada and Mexico legalized cannabis all three of our governments would make billions off of sales taxes, the gangs wouldn't lose a majority of their funding, crime in Canada/the US would go down, the police would have extra resources to pursue real criminals and everyone would benefit.

A few weeks ago Mexico decriminalized many different drugs. This is a good first step but international problems need international solutions. Canada/Mexico/the US have been fighting the failed War on Drugs together for years. The problems of coordination and efficiency should be solved by the harmonization of policy between the countries. Unfortunately the very premise that drugs can be "fought" (one built upon the fallacious lies that cannabis is bad and imprisonment deters crime) has been proven false.

This small victory against those who make Meth will squeeze the balloon once again causing a bulge in another part of the world.
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The Star's Travers compares the CPC's Cheque Scandal(s) to the Quebec sponsorship scandal

In the article "PM may be wise to force election" the author uses the image of a bomb with two fuses to illustrate how Prime Minister Harper's Government's incompetence and corruption in favouring Conservative held ridings with stimulus money and the PM's lying about his knowledge of torture in Afghanistan prisons will eventually topple the Conservative Government. James Travers' suggests that the Prime Minister should force an election now while the Canadian population is focused on the bad economy the Conservative Government created while the CPC's smoke and mirrors campaign is still distracting Canadians from the man behind the curtain. Implicit in the author's argument is the assumption that the Conservative Party would win a majority government. The fantastic website threehundredeight.blogspot.com sees Stephen Harper's Reform-Conservatives getting elected in 137 ridings, 18 seats less than the 155 needed for a majority and 6 fewer seats than they currently hold.

The author assumes that the next election will be more like the 2004 election than the 2006. In 2004 Paul Martin was fairly successful at ensuring the media's attention was focused on Stephen Harper's lack of policy/hidden agenda along with his own perceived corruption. Harper would want the election to be like this which is why his government works 24/7 to attack Michael Ignatieff.* The 2006 did the opposite of 2004, Canadians were playing attention, because that's what we do during elections, and the media ensured that it was sponsorship, sponsorship, sponsorship, all day all night. Currently not all Canadians are paying attention to political reality (which is why the Conservatives are in a medium-strength holding pattern in the polls.) I contend that an election would expose the fact that Stephen Harper's Conservative government has been a complete failure in every portfolio (environment, finance, energy, crime, transparency, reform, health-care, immigration) and this would quicken Prime Minister Harper's demise.

* 2004 Stephen Harper is not that similar to 2009 Ignatieff. With the release of the "Pink Book" Ignatieff/the Liberal Party has released to the public policy relating to women, the environment, the economy, energy, innovation, and foreign policy. Stephen Harper had no policy during the 2004 campaign, 2006 campaign, 2008 campaign and has governed for 4 years on a day-to-day hyper-partisan basis.
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St. Michael's College Student Union 2009 By-Election Results:

Here are the results:

1. James Finlay 276 votes
2. Francesca Turco 254 votes
3. Amir Torabi 228 votes
4. Kavinda Senanayake 187 votes
5. Dylan Duvall ** 168 votes

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6. Saba Usmani 180 votes
7. Frank Fisico 131 votes
8. Alexander Zappone 106 votes
9. Christopher Sivry 105 votes
10. John Silva 102 votes

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VOTING TOTALS:
RESIDENTS: 156
COMMUTERS: 198
UNIDENTIFIED: 94
TOTAL BALLOTS CAST: 448
SPOILED BALLOTS: 0

**Dylan Duvall gets elected as first-year representative as he has the most votes among the first-year students.
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Adorable Children > Yo-yo Ma

As there is a West Wing quote for everything: "Let Ignatieff be Ignatieff."
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Michael Ignatieff Now Has More Facebook Supporters Than Stephen Harper

Michael Ignatieff: 28 820

Stephen Harper: 28 807
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This may seem trivial (as Michael Ignatieff is only up by 13 supporters) but PM Harper has been owning Michael Ignatieff on facebook* for a long time. Stephen Harper has also been Prime Minister for 4 years and after his performance at an Elitist Art Gala there should logically be a facebook surge.

Recently, Michael Ignatieff engaged the grass roots on Clean-energy (ironically on the same day that the G77 countries walked out on Environment Minister Prentice when he spoke of gutting the new Copenhagen agreement) by posting the Liberal Party's Clean-energy platform on a Facebook note and asking for input. So far there are 79 responses. President Obama (another Harvard Professor turned Politician) had strong grass-roots support especially among young voters. The MSM has ignored speech, after speech, after speech, after speech, after speech, after speech, after speech, after speech (not to mention the plethora of speeches Michael Ignatieff delivered over the summer that got no coverage at all.) Hopefully social-media will allow Mr. Ignatieff and the Liberal Party to deliver their message directly to Canadians instead of through the media who have been playing interference for the Stephen Harper/Conservatives for four long, failure filled years.

* Facebook = reality.
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Marc Emery: Canada’s Marijuana Martyr (My article From The October 14th Edition of 'The Mike.')

Marc Emery: Canada’s Marijuana Martyr

Marc Emery is the model Canadian citizen. He is a small business owner who has openly and transparently paid $580 000 in taxes to the Canada Revenue Agency from 1995-2005. Mr. Emery has contributed to numerous charities over the years and has even started a political party in British Columbia. The Canadian Medical Association has recommended Mr. Emery’s business to people all over Canada and he has sent his publications to every member of Canada’s Parliament. Marc Emery loves his job but it is his job that has got him into trouble. Marc Emery sells marijuana seeds over the internet. Or he did, until he was arrested on July 29, 2005 in Nova Scotia by the USA’s Drug Enforcement Administration officials.

The facts:

In 1985 Canada and the United States signed a treaty with the goal of coordinating American/Canadian crime fighting efforts. Canada also has “The Extradition Act” to governor if/how/why Canadians can be sent to the United States to stand trial. In Canada selling marijuana seeds is technically illegal. However the law hasn’t really been enforced since 1998 when Marc Emery was arrested for this “crime” and punished with a $2000 fine. When a law isn’t enforced for more than 10 years it stops being a law (the legal term is “Dead Letter”) for example Springfield had an old, never-enforced law requiring ducks to wear long pants on The Simpsons. This means that though selling marijuana seeds violates sections 841 and 846 of the United States Criminal code and American’s are regularly arrested under this law, what Marc Emery has been doing for years is no longer a crime in Canada. Emery who was arrested in Nova Scotia shipped a large portion of the seeds he sold over the internet to the United States. Though he has never been to Washington State, Emery plead guilty to the “crime” there in order to ensure two of his associates would have lenient sentences and that he would not face a 50-year prison sentence which the DEA would have sought if he plead not guilty. Emery plead guilty on September 21th, 2009 and now is waiting for the 30 day pre-extradition period to end.

The political motivations behind Marc Emery’s arrest:

Karen Tandy, the DEA administrator at the time of Emery’s arrest issued the following press release at the time of Mr. Emery’s 2005 arrest:

"Today's DEA arrest of Marc Scott Emery, publisher of Cannabis Culture Magazine, and the founder of a marijuana legalization group -- is a significant blow not only to the marijuana trafficking trade in the U.S. and Canada, but also to the marijuana legalization movement. His marijuana trade and propagandist marijuana magazine have generated nearly $5 million a year in profits that bolstered his trafficking efforts, but those have gone up in smoke today. Emery and his organization had been designated as one of the Attorney General's most wanted international drug trafficking organizational targets -- one of only 46 in the world and the only one from Canada. Hundreds of thousands of dollars of Emery's illicit profits are known to have been channeled to marijuana legalization groups active in the United States and Canada. Drug legalization lobbyists now have one less pot of money to rely on."

No one in Canada wanted Mr. Emery to be arrested and 55% of Canadians believe that marijuana should be legalized. It was not that Mr. Emery was breaking United States law that drove the DEA to arrest him but that Marc Emery has spent the vast majority of his seed-selling profits supporting anti-prohibition groups in Canada, the United Sates and around the world. The United States had to use a technicality to arrest Emery with no regard for Canadian sovereignty. The DEA arrested a Canadian citizen for political purposes and our government is doing nothing to stop this.

The Canadian Government can and should step in:

The Extradition Act requires “Dual Criminality” in both countries which, as mentioned, earlier doesn’t apply in Emery’s case, as this law is Dead Letter in Canada. If we decided to say the law is not dead letter it still doesn’t fulfill the dual criminality requirement, as the crime must be punishable by a minimum of two years incarceration, which it is not in Canada. Justice Minister Rob Nicholson could have stopped the extradition process at any time from 2005 to today. The Extradition Act has a huge loophole where the Canadian Justice Minister can refuse to extradite it “would be unjust or oppressive having regard to all the relevant circumstance.” The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 9 protects against “arbitrary detainment or imprisonment.” As there are dozens of marijuana seed-sellers across Canada and the people arresting him admitted that it was politics not law that lead to his arrest, Marc Emery’s detainment and imprisonment seems the epitome of arbitrary.

Negative ramifications:

Marijuana is no worse for you than alcohol and the majority of Canadians realize this. The United States of America has decided that cutting off funds from anti-prohibition groups supercedes Canadian sovereignty. Prime Minister Harper and the Conservative Government agree with the United States’ regressive drug policies so they have allowed Marc Emery to be sacrificed and Minister Nicholson is refusing to prevent the extradition. This sets a dangerous precedent: that the United States can enforce its laws in Canada without any governmental opposition.
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Rory Sutherland: Life lessons from an ad man

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South Africa and Other G77 Nations Walk Out On Jim Prentice

The Conservative Government is continuing its Bush-era policy of trying to convince the world that Kyoto should be abandoned and that nothing should be done to combat/prevent Climate Change. Delegates from 180 nations met in Bangkok to shape a successor to Kyoto before its first phase expires in just over two years. The United Nations hopes to broker a draft deal in time for a meeting in Copenhagen this December. Jim Prentice came to this meeting representing Canada's government, in Thailand he repeatedly pushed for discarding important provisions of the Kyoto Protocol. After one such statement dozens of countries from the G77, lead by South Africa, walked out on Minister Prentice like he was an Iranian President speaking at the United Nations. With the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States, Canada is now the only Western Country actively working to thwart effective International Climate Change Regimes. Canada has lost much of its prestige thanks to Stephen Harper and this walk out is embarrassing for the whole country, not just Prime Minister Harper and Jim Prentice.

The Toronto Star's article on the Walk-out was entitled: "Canada's Kyoto view triggers a walkout." This title is an unfortunate misnomer. Canadians want their government to take action on Climate Change and the Environment but the Conservative Government has done nothing. It is not "Canada's Kyoto view" it is Prime Minister Harper and his regressive Conservative/Reform Government's Anti-Kyoto views that have embarrassed Canada on the World Stage.

Today, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff gave a great address to the Vancouver Board of Trade where he mapped out the Liberal Party's vision of a Canadian Government that actually invests in Clean-Energy and the Environment. The juxtaposition between the Liberals and Stephen Harper on the environment was made quite clear today. Michael Ignatieff is the only Canadian political leader standing up for Canadian jobs while protecting the environment, Stephen Harper has walked out on jobless Canadians and has been out of the room for four years when everyone else was acting on the environment.
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The Ottawa Sun Owns Prime Minister Harper/Justice Minister Rob Nicholson

Stephen Harper knows that facts have a Liberal bias which is why he/his government has been ignoring them when formulating their crime policies over the last four years. Here is a great article by Greg Weston writing in the Ottawa Sun.

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CSI: Parliament Hill

Ordinary folk listening to federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson railing at critics of the latest Conservative ad-ready crime legislation might be excused for thinking the country is being overrun by killers and crooks.

Once again, at the risk of letting facts get in the way of political propaganda, we offer a sample of common misperceptions of crime and punishment in Canada (as reflected in our daily mail), and some interesting statistics supplied by Nicholson's own government.

Claim: Something urgently needs to be done to deal with soaring rates of both violent and property crimes.

Fact: Something always needs to be done to thwart crime, but reality is our streets are safer today than 20 years ago. Violent crime has been generally dropping for years, and was lower in 2007 than at any time in two decades. Ditto for property crimes -- the recent rate is more than 40% below a peak in 1991.

Claim: The criminal population is made up of mainly of murderers, rapists and drug dealers.

Fact: While those groups of criminals are the ones most people naturally worry about, the most common charges of all -- about 24% of the criminal court traffic -- are for breach of court orders and probation conditions. Those are followed by impaired driving (8.9%); common assault (7.9%); and theft (7.5%). Charges for drug trafficking represented about 2.5% of the total last year; sex offences just over 1%; and homicide barely 0.04% of the total.

Claim: The majority of crimes is being committed by blacks, Asians and Muslims.

Fact: The vast majority of the federal prison population -- 67.5% -- is white Caucasian, and 60% are either Catholic or Protestant. Blacks represent about 6%, and Muslims half that number.

Claim: The streets are particularly unsafe for Canada's seniors who are being targeted by violent criminals.

Fact: One crime against a senior is too many. That said, almost 55% of all victims of violent crimes reported in 2007 were under the age of 30, an age group that represents just over a third of the Canadian population. By comparison, seniors over 65 account for about 14% of the population, but represented only 1.9% of all victims of violent crime.

Cesspools

Claim: Ontario and Quebec are the country's cesspools of crime.

Fact: Crime rates are highest in the West and the North. Ontario has the lowest, followed by Quebec. That trend has remained generally unchanged over many years.

Claim: Canada needs to throw more criminals in prison longer.

Fact: The rate of people being locked up in this country is higher than most European countries, and slightly below Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. is in a league of its own -- several times higher than Canada -- although its love of incarceration is not reflected in lower crime rates. It may also be worth mentioning that 11% of the entire federal prison population today were certified mental patients at the time they were tossed in the slammer.

Finally, here's a little something for Canadian taxpayers to chew on.

The average annual cost of keeping a federal inmate behind bars last year was $93,030.

There are currently 13,581 inmates costing more than $1 billion.

Of those, 130 are over the age of 70.
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Wisdom

Wis 7:7-11

I prayed, and prudence was given me;
I pleaded, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.
I preferred her to scepter and throne,
and deemed riches nothing in comparison with her,
nor did I liken any priceless gem to her;
because all gold, in view of her, is a little sand,
and before her, silver is to be accounted mire.
Beyond health and comeliness I loved her,
and I chose to have her rather than the light,
because the splendor of her never yields to sleep.
Yet all good things together came to me in her company,
and countless riches at her hands.
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I LOVE THE ("LIBERAL DOMINATED") SENATE!

"We have no alternative but to accept the checks; they're part of our system." - Stephen Harper 2006.

Bill C-15 is an abomination. That bill (and the Conservative Party of Canada with Stephen Harper as their leader) fails in its policy objectives while perpetuating a lie to the Canadian people. The premise of the bill is quite flawed. Not only is cannabis less harmful than alcohol but the Conservative Party of Canada have been acting for years as if Canada is in a state of anarchy and that all our "crime problems" could be solved by passing this bill and blaming the Liberal Party. Punishing young Canadians who have a couple of marijuana plants in their house doesn't solve the effects of hard-drugs like meth. Mandatory minimums do not deter, they just tie judges hands. The War on drugs has failed, Stephen Harper's policies help gangs while filling prisons. But I have said all this before (here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here.)

Canada's Senate can and should pay close attention to the bills Parliament passes. The Senate should have members from every political party (including the NDP, Green Party and the Bloc) but it should also be above politics, working towards ensuring the legislation passed was not hasty, ill-advised or (in the case of C-15) a complete load of crap.

"Conservative Senator Pierre Claude Nolin, an expert in drug policy, warned Nicholson that the Senate legal and constitutional affairs committee intends to put his bill — a centrepiece of the government's law-and-order agenda — through "rigorous" scrutiny."

Prime Minister Harper has been hyper-aware over the last 4 years that he does not head a majority government. 36.27% of the 13,834,294 Canadians who voted supported his party in 2008. The Prime Minister needs to stop complaining and accept that he does not have absolute power. Even if Stephen Harper did have a majority government the Senate would still have the right to and be obligated to reject or amend C-15. Not even a majority of 100% would make Mr. Harper's crime policy the right one for Canada, or any country for that matter.

Today I am quite thankful for Canada's Senate, that 51 of its 105 seats are held by Liberals and that Stephen Harper does not have a majority.

"I get high with a little help from my friends." - Stephen Harper 2009.

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Conservatives Say "No" To Checks and Balances

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson has been publicly complaining that Liberal Senators have "gutted" one of the Conservative Government's stupid/regressive crime bill's in the Senate.

Cathy McLeod, MP for Kamloops—Thompson—Cariboo, tweeted the following earlier today: "Unacceptable that un elected Liberal senators would gut Bill C-25 (end 2:1 ratio for time served in pre trial custody)."

Blogger "The Raging Tory" has said of the Senate: "This isn't an independent chamber. Its a bunch of appointed dictators.

Conservatives have apparently forgotten than in 2008 their party received 167,494 less votes than in 2006 and Prime Minister Harper has a minority government, not a majority. Stephen Harper has railed against the Senate and Judges when they are just doing their job. It is the Senate's job to review legislation just as the Conservatives have made it their job to pass regressive/unacceptable crime-bills. If the Liberals were in government the Conservatives would kill for a majority in the Senate or for judges to side with them (though, unfortunately for them justice does have a liberal bias.) The Governor General, the Senate and the courts are all checks on the Prime Ministers power (as is the opposition in a minority parliament setting.)

Unfortunately for Conservatives they can't take this message back. Conservative believe that whoever is PM should pass whatever legislation they want saying whatever they want. Remember their speeches, tweets and blogs when the Liberals are back in power.
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Marc Garneau vs. Stephen Harper's Conservative Government

Marc Garneau was recently made the Liberal Party of Canada's "Representative" in Quebec. This comes after the 25th anniversary of Mr. Garneau becoming the first Canadian in Space. In honour of this, here is a 5 point comparison of the Westmount-Ville-Marie MP to the PM Harper's Conservative Government:

1. Money:
Stephen Harper/Conservative Gov't: Responsible for a structural deficit of over $50 billion.
Marc Garneau: Has seen Earth from orbit.
Winner: Mr. Garneau.

2. Environment:
Stephen Harper/Conservative Gov't: Has done absolutely nothing to help the environment/reduce CO2 emissions.
Marc Garneau: Has been in zero gravity.
Winner: Mr. Garneau.

3. Foreign policy:
Stephen Harper/Conservative Gov't: Has abandoned Canadians abroad, has no Afghanistan
strategy and skipped an important UN meeting.
Marc Garneau: Knows how to fly a spaceship.
Winner: Mr. Garneau.

4. Crime:
Stephen Harper/Conservative Gov't: Implements regressive policies that benefit gangs.
Marc Garneau: Can converse comfortable with William Shatner and Roberta Bondar.
Winner: Mr. Garneau.

5. Going into space:
Stephen Harper/Conservative Gov't: Nope.
Marc Garneau: You better believe it!
Winner: Mr. Garneau.

Overall Winner: Marc Garneau (5 to 0)

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TTAG: Cheese

Cheese

Cheese has so many forms, textures, smells and flavours that it is absolutely impossible to not like at least one kind of cheese. Cheese can be soft, gooey, pungent, crumbly, hard, subtle in flavour, creamy, it comes in many colours and can contain spices/herbs to give it a totally different flavour. Cheese is global and local at the same time. Rich people like cheese, poor people like cheese and even vegetarians eat it instead of delicious, delicious meat. The protean cheese provides is an excellent byproduct as you can eat cheese only for its taste as it is so scrumptious. What other food can be made from the coagulation of liquid produced by the cows, sheep, goats or buffalo? The cheese can stand completely alone and satisfy but it can also be melted, shredded, baked, sliced and stuffed into other foods to make them better. Cheese is as comforting as mother's love with only thrice the fat.

Cheese is GREAT!

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Michael Ignatieff/The Liberals Must Get Smart On Crime Now!

Note: BCer in Toronto and the National Post respond to the Conservative Party/Stephen Harper's "random Breathalyzer" policy better than the article below.

The Conservative Party of Canada favours regressive Crime policies. This is there thing. Stephen Harper wants to fill our prisons and teach 19 year-olds with one cannabis plant a "lesson.*" The mandatory minimums the Conservative Government supports are good for gangs and tough on civil liberties.

With Prime Minister Harper's past policies in mind his proposal for the police to "randomly" breathalyze Canadian citizens comes as no surprise. Though many NDP voters are against this, Jack Layton's embrace of the idea is also not surprising. Jack Layton picks policies based on what he believes will win votes, though more recently his policies reflect "what will stop the NDP from losing their seats." The CPC and the NDP don't care about the Character of Rights and Freedoms** and they don't have to. Stephen Harper/the Conservative Party have succeeded in framing the crime debate. After years of "tough-on-crime" slogans/lies repeated ad nauseum Canadians now believe what the Conservatives believe:

"Marijuana is a hard-drug."
"Criminals are deterred by harsh sentencing."
"Judges don't punish criminals."
"The War on drugs is a good thing."
"It is o.k. for the police to do whatever they want as it is in the best interest of Canadians."

All of this has non basis in facts/reality yet the Conservative Party of Canada have these beliefs steering their policies and voters take everything the Prime Minister says as a given.

Unfortunately, since 2004, instead of saying:

"The War on drugs is a waste of money."
"Marijuana is actually no worse than alcohol."
"Treatment is more effective in reducing drug-use than jail time."
"Police should not be able to arbitrarily use force."

The Liberals and the NDP went along with the Conservative Parties' lies and let them cement their false beliefs in the minds of Canadians.

What does this have to do with the Random Breathalyzer Tests?

Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Party now have a chance to stand up to a bad policy and change the debate. The Liberals should be saying: "The police should be given the resources to enforce the laws that currently exist. Giving the police more power isn't a real solution, it is only posturing. If Canada has a problem with many Canadians drinking and driving you need to attack the source of the problem not just the symptom. The Canadian government should get smart on crime."

Michael Ignatieff showed us that he isn't afraid to give passionate, detailed and intelligent speeches with his economic and "No Confidence" speeches. Canadians are smart enough to listen to reasonable arguments and change their minds on an issue. The MSM has been putting forth the, false, idea that "all Canadian political parties are the same." Michael Ignatieff could change the Canadian crime debate, earn a lot of free press and woo NDP/Conservative/Bloc/Green voters who want the government to be progressive on crime if he gave a strong/coherent speech arguing against this measure. It's not only good politics, standing up for Canadians and their rights is good policy.***

*Presumably a different lesson than the one he wants to teach women, and both of these would be separate from the lesson he wants to teach judges.
** Prime Minister Harper has said that he hated Pierre Trudeau and everything he accomplished. Stephen Harper's contempt for the Charter flows from this.
*** WWTD: What Would Trudeau Do?
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On Rudeness: My Article in "The Mike"

Here is a piece I wrote for "The Mike" (St. Michael's College's Student Newspaper.) I did some editing here:

Serena Williams, Kanye West and Con. Joe Wilson are all synonymous with rudeness. For those of you in a cave on Mars from September 9th to September 13th Mrs. Williams told a lie judge she would shove a ball down his throat (explicative removed) at the US Open Final, Congressmen Wilson yelled “You Lie” at President Obama during his address to the US Congress on Health-Care and I will finish this list but Kanye West may just be the rudest person in the world for upstaging Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards. Three very uncivil incidents involving three famous people with three different occupations (Tennis player, Congressmen and whatever Kanye does) would hardly have been hardly worth noting but the short time lapse between the first and last of these occurrences (4 days) multiplied the public’s interest. People who don’t watch tennis, didn’t watch the VMAs and skipped President Obama’s speech (ex. Me) saw the video clips of all three events thanks to the interweb.

As Canadians it is tempting to say: “Look at those bad-mannered Americans acting like Americans.” Canadian politics is a place where the tactless rise to the top. This year, for the first time in Canadian history, a Canadian political party, the Conservative party of Canada, released an attack ad vilifying a rival Political Leader, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff, even though there is no election. Infrastructure Minister John Baird is famous for yelling and being obnoxious during Parliamentary Question Period and this is seen as a good thing (he is often called an “Attack Dog.”)

Even more familiar, to those of us upper years, is the March 2008 “Simcoe Hall Sit In” where a group loudly protested and screamed at members of the U of T Administration with the pretence of protesting a fee increase at New College.

Yes, rudeness is a problem that transcends country, class and level of education. The unfortunate thing is that not enough people believe it is a problem. There any many times and places where acting rude has been deemed acceptable. This can be a good thing as everyone needs to vent some frustration (I empathize with Serena Williams and her tempter.) The trouble is that friendly rivalry at a sporting event, or yelling at a person driving through a red light or frustration at a politicians pliable relationship with the truth has been so compounded upon with the global economic recession that everyone needs to vent all the time and our Western Values that teach individuals/subjectivity have lead to Mrs. Williams receiving a small fine, Mr. West not getting punished at all and Congressmen Wilson has actually raised $1 million from his offensive outburst.

Famous people may lack accountability but rudeness with impunity was really displayed during Frosh Week 2009. Since my frosh week, 4 years ago, St. Mike’s has grown in many ways. That year we were a small college; we were put down by the other Colleges/Faculties with anti-Catholic insults that were as unfunny as they were outdated. In the last four years our college has gained prestige with a Student Union getting stronger each year, the Book and Media Studies is one of the fastest growing programs at U of T, the Concurrent Education Program is new and flashy and more and more students ask to join St. Mike’s. St. Michael’s College has always been awesome but now we have weight to throw around. As a detached observe I saw each colleges frosh week and one thing I noticed was a focus on negative cheers over positive ones. It is very easy to yell obscenities when you are in a large crowd and you belong to a great institution but that doesn’t make it a good thing. Frosh week is the week where rudeness is normalized at U of T. For some reason I really disliked students at other colleges during frosh (four years ago) then I realized I had classes with these people every day and that many of their women were comparable in attractiveness to St. Mike’s girls (also I realized that arbitrary anger is silly.)

Serena Williams, Kanye West and Con. Joe Wilson are all silly. They paid their price in match-up videos, late night tv jokes, references at the Emmys and many other sentences doled out by the Judges of the Court of Public Opinion. The week rudeness (Sept. 9 to 13) established the precedent that public rudeness is not o.k.

Unfortunately, jackass behaviour is still o.k if you are a Canadian politician or a student just about to start classes.

(Note: I realize that I am rude frequently and I acknowledge my hypocrisy. Also I don’t have anyone specific in mind when I consider Frosh.)
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Platty needs to "Walk the Walk"

In the comment section of my last post the Conservative blogger "Plattytalk" wrote the following comment:

"Ruins a Beatles song

Thank you for showing us all just how petty the left can be.

You are truly pathetic..."

There were two others comments that called me curse-words but those were left by cowards who prefer to lower this civil discourse under the clock of "anonymous." This comment by Platty is itself quite petty but it is the improper uses of ellipsis that I find more offensive than the spam/comment itself. I took the liberty of reading every single one of Platty's blog posts and found out that Platty is unfortunately a huge hypocrite.

Until recently Mr. P has denounced spam comments, people he considers liars, hypocrisy, and negative comments on his own blog posts. He even has one post attacking those who don't "Practice what they preach." All of these posts, and this one, have a common theme. Platty believes that bloggers should work together to raise the level of civil discourse. It is a shame that he doesn't take his own advice.

Platty wrote a post in 2006 that summarizes how I feel:

Thursday, January 26, 2006
If the blogosphere is going to make a difference in the political landscape, we should look at how it is evolving. It seems to me that the attitude of everyone involved in this political process needs a tune up. Watching the blogs over the last few days the comments, both Tory and Liberal, ranged from angry to some that probably should have been blocked. This open forum is something that is needed and helps to grow ideas and opinions regarding the direction this country should be headed, however, if the comment sections are simply going to be used for " My dad can beat your dad", I can't see much in the way of productive dialogue getting through. I've heard the word progressive a lot in the last two weeks, maybe we should all try and be just that while we are expressing our viewpoints. There will always be the needle and jab when sparring with the opposition and that's great if there's a point at the end of it, if not, it's just chest thumping.

Conclusion:

Don't spam my blog in response to a tongue-and-cheek post about the PM after spending years telling others not too. Doing that would be...truly pathetic.

Stephen Harper Ruins A Beatles Song (Video)

"I get high with a little help from my friends." - Stephen Harper.

Does this mean the Prime Minister has changed his position on cannabis prohibition?

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Michael Ignatieff Rocks the House (of Commons)

You can find the text of the speech: here.

Some Thoughts on Michael Ignatieff's speech:

- The Conservative party has normalized failure and hypocrisy. Michael Ignatieff is 100% correct when he shines light on the Conservative Party's "Starve the Beast" strategy.

-"This is a serious step and we owe an explanation both to this House and to the Canadian people of our grounds for doing so." It was surprising to me that Mr. Ignatieff was able to list the majority of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's failures in a mere 15 minutes. This speech was very important as the Conservative Government has failed on so many fronts and is not governing Canada properly.

A Partial List of Stephen Harper's Government's Failures:
- The Deficit (denial of, their incompetent job handling and inability to transparently account for.)
- The Government has claimed that 90% of the stimulus money is out the door when in reality barely any projects have been started.
- The money that is being spent on stimulus overwhelmingly famous Conservative ridings.
- The government has spent more on pro-government ads than educating Canadians about the H1N1 Virus.
- The Conservative Government has no plan to combat the H1N1 virus.
- The Conservatives fired the Nuclear watchdog and we now have a Nuclear Isotope shortage.
- Stephen Harper has not defended Canada's excellent health-care system in the United States where it is under attack.
- "The government has been in office for nearly four years and the litany of great Canadian companies that have gone under, been bought and traded away is getting longer and longer: Nortel, Inco, Falconbridge, Stelco, Alcan. There has been no attempt to defend Canadian jobs and Canadian technologies."
- Canada is falling behind in investing in innovation as our Government has done nothing for four years.
- There is a long list of Canadians abandoned abroad (with Mark Emery recently added to this list.)
- The Prime Minister didn't go to the Beijing Olympics, or the UN General Assembly, or to India...
- 4 Years of absence from the Conservative Government on Climate Change.

- "A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian!" When Mr. Ignatieff said this I could hear the empathy in his voice. The Liberal Leader has experience the ignorant scorn the Conservative Party of Canada has for Canadian who have lived outside of Canada.

- Sunday September 27th's Gospel Reading:

Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

At that time, John said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,
and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us."
Jesus replied, "Do not prevent him.
There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name
who can at the same time speak ill of me.
For whoever is not against us is for us.
Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink
because you belong to Christ,
amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

"Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,
it would be better for him if a great millstone
were put around his neck
and he were thrown into the sea.
If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.
It is better for you to enter into life maimed
than with two hands to go into Gehenna,
into the unquenchable fire.
And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off.
It is better for you to enter into life crippled
than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.
And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.
Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye
than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,
where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.' "

- The Canadian Media spent the summer ignoring Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Party. If they were paying attention they would have seen that Mr. Ignatieff traveled the country listening to Canadians, giving speeches while the Prime Minister spent the summer in a sound-chamber becoming more partisan, snarling and ignorant. Michael Igantieff has given an economic speech and now this great speech critiquing the government. This is 100000 times more policy that Stephen Harper put forward when he was leading the Conservatives in the 2006 election.

- "The Prime Minister of Canada lives in an eternal present when he cannot remember what he promised to Canadians the day before and cannot remember what he will promise the day after. Income trusts, “I can't remember I ever made that promise”. Appointment of senators, “I can't remember I ever promised to reform the institution”, and no tax increases." Michael Ignatieff is even more handsome when he is angry. There is a lot to be angry about and it is refreshing to see the Opposition Leader logically and righteously critique a Government that has been a complete failure for four years straight.

- We live in an extremely fast-paced and impatient country/world. The reason Mr. Harper's government is so incompetent is that they govern for day to day bereft of any real vision.* The media has bought 100% of what Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada has been selling. This has made every Canadian just as impatient and visionless. The Liberal Party needs to put in the work day after day. We cannot expect Canadians to wake up and realize the Government is terrible suddenly one day just as we cannot expect the polls to change rapidly. If you follow how badly the Conservative Party of Canada is failing as a government it is completely natural/sane to demand an election right now. Prime Minister Harper's only success was forcing so many elections that an illusion has been created that it is better to keep him in office then go to the polls. This speech is a great start. The media isn't challenging Stephen Harper's narrative, they are defending it. Therefore it is every Liberal's job to break the taboo that says "The Government is doing fine" or "Don't say anything bad about the government during a crisis." Politics effects all Canadians yet we don't talk about what is going on with our government on a daily basis (unless you're a blogger.)

Stephen Harper's Government has a long list of failures. Mr. Ignatieff has done a great job shining light on this.

* Also the Prime Minister is a petulant child, his cabinet is full of loud/angry people, they have no policies, they hate 70% of Canadians, and the PM never left Canada before becoming PM.
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