Bracing!

Now there's a word I love.

Bracing.

Picture yourself on the bridge of a ship. No, not the Titanic. 

A Canadian Navy frigate. The wind slams you, its icy gusts laden with frozen droplets of fog.

Political humour here at DJ! is caustic, sharp and bracing.

Let my new favourite comic Tony Baker describe another form of *bracing*.

Oui. It's just a different take on the brilliant Molly Ivins' view of how to weaponize humour. In her words:

"There are two kinds of humor. One kind that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity. The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule — that's what I do. Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful."

Twelve years ago on this day, Fernhill and I gave birth. DAMMIT JANET! sprang forth, as Athena did. What joy and naughty merriment she has brought.

Democracy Needs YOU!

Watch this trailer (3 minutes of your life).





Voting rights are the essential fuel of democracy. If we can't trust that our electoral system is fair and properly overseen, we're screwed.

This is a non-partisan issue. And should concern everyone who gives a damn about the power of the people to scare this hell out of the elites.

Sensible people from across the political spectrum understand that bad laws and corrupted institutions can and will be exploited by ANY party.

The makers of this documentary have been busting their butts to get this done and distributed in time to inform Canadians what's at stake in the upcoming election.

Here's the blurb from the gofundme site.

Help us get this doc on the road before the election!

In a few weeks Canadians will head back to the polls without any clear assurance the last federal election delivered the results they voted for.

Documentary filmmaker Peter Smoczynski has just completed a 42 day road trip across Canada from Guelph to Whitehorse interviewing and filming recipients of the harassment, live and robo calls which took place in 234 out of 308 ridings in the 2011 federal election.

MPs, journalists, scholars, court challenge litigants, and experts on the Fair Elections Act, voter micro-targetting and professional voter suppression techniques imported from the U.S. also lend their voices and expertise to the film.

When the writ drops, Peter plans to have an abbreviated version of the full length film ready to tour across the country from church basements and libraries to movie houses.

This is where you come in.

The film is running on fumes here. 

We urgently need your help with post-production and editing expenses to get this doc out into the public eye before the upcoming election.

Please check back for details of our progress and information on future tour dates. 

Producer's overview of the film can be viewed here .

Thank you for your time.

PETER SMOCZYNSKI
The Script & Film Co.
Producer/Director/Writer
Documentary Filmmaker
Peter's profile.

People give dough to the damnedest things. But this project seems not to have the "right" kind of appeal.

Beats the shit out of me why not.

Please consider contributing. And/or pass the info around your networks.

Donate.

At the moment, $855 of the goal of $10,000 has been raised by 16 people in 15 hours.


UPDATE: Sunday, August 2, 8:30 a.m.: $1515 raised.

Harper's Record: He's Running on It -- UPDATED

On the weekend I participated in a tweet-em-up with the tag #HarpersRecord. Check it out here.

Here is the blog post (by new blog-roll addition The Cailleach: Another Blogging Ginger) I (mostly) don't have to write now.

It was remarkable, as that blogger said, for its range of tweeters, subject matter, links, and photos.

And I too was struck by the nearly total absence of anyone trying to defend Harper's record. I also wondered if it was because it happened on the weekend while paid CPC and PMO trolls were not on the clock.

Here's a bit of background to it.

I asked who started it and when. It was Norlaine Thomas, who said she'd heard that Harper was planning to run on his record and thought to self: "All righty then." (I paraphrase.)

She said she hadn't thought about weekend timing.

@fernhilldammit @LuvLaffen @trapdinawrpool I announced it Friday afternoon on CRUSH and here. Launched 1 pm yesterday (Saturday)

— Norlaine Thomas (@Norlaine) January 4, 2015

So much good information was gathered -- and so little fun troll-smacking -- that a reprise is planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, January 6, 1 p.m. MST.

@lynnerdutton @smell3roses @YouTube Be ready tomorrow. #HarpersRecord tweetstorm. Be set to air your grievances.

— Norlaine Thomas (@Norlaine) January 3, 2015

#HarpersRecord 1PM Mountain Time. Be there. #cdnpoli

— Norlaine Thomas (@Norlaine) January 3, 2015

Be there.


UPDATE (Jan. 12/15): #HarpersRecord is still going strong and providing an excellent compendium of what ordinary Canadians find particularly loathsome about Harper and his criminal minions. It would be a terrific resource for the Fucking Useless Opposition® for their attack ads. If they gave a shit about ordinary Canadians and Canada, and not just their own electoral chances, that is.

Weirdly, or perhaps not given the sheer volume of tweets on the matter, there have been NO CON-troll attempts to defend #HarpersRecord. Perhaps they've been told to stay clear.

NOTE TO DEFENDERS: If Twitter is intimidating to you, comment here at this wee blog.

Also, as another example of outstanding grassroots involvement, here is a video produced by @KevinBourassa, Election Fraud II.



Please share widely.

Barbara Frum on How to get women elected.

In the October 1971 issue of _Chatelaine_ Barbara Frum wrote a short piece in her characteristic irreverent, droll style.  It was titled: "Insiders' tips on how to get women elected."

The last paragraph:

Marry a man who's already there and become his widowA third of all the women who've ever been in Parliament got there on the sympathy vote, as widows.  One hard-eyed pro, who dismisses the ability of women to get into politics on their own and has been cynically successful running widows on the black-crepe ticket, says: "The only way you'll ever see a hundred women in the House is to provide a hundred rifles to the wives of sitting members, and then teach them how to shoot."

Huh.  Imagine publishing that, nowadays...?

On the other hand, jerks like Peter MacKay should be very, very afraid.

Grand merci to mon copain, who spotted the vintage _Chatelaine_ on my bookshelf and perused it, much to our shared amusement.

Dear Opposition Leaders: COOPERATE

I'm at my wits' end. Stephen Harper's government is making me literally sick.

Our leaders and betters are crapping out. It's up to us. We've gotta do what we can.

So, here's my first petition ever.

Canadian Federal Opposition Leaders: Cooperate to resist Government's anti-democratic/anti-environmental laws

While the Conservatives have a majority, there is little to be done to stop their more determined anti-Canadian laws and regulations. But what Opposition Leaders can do is act together to show Canadians voters that someone cares about big issues like the environment and democracy. Opposition Leaders can reassure Canadians that Stephen Harper will NOT change Canada beyond recognition. That our old respected and hopeful Canada is within reach again.

Please sign this petition to convince Opposition Leaders that a majority of Canadians want them to act together for a better government for all the people.

Please Tweet, blog, post on Facebook, or other social media.

Let's see what we can do.

The Issue Is ELECTION FRAUD

Dan Gardner has an excellent question:

Somebody using the ruling party's database tried to subvert an election. Why isn't the country on fire about this? huffingtonpost.ca/2013/05/28/rob…

— Dan Gardner (@dgardner) May 30, 2013

Let's turn our tiny, distractible minds away from the Senate train-wreck and the escalating Ford fuck-up.

The Contempt Party of Canada cheated to win its 'strong, stable majority'.

And doesn't seem the least bit concerned that their own database was used to commit fraud.

Asked about the database breach, Conservative Party spokesman Fred DeLorey said: “We take security very seriously.”

He refused, however, to elaborate on the CIMS’ safeguards. Sources have told HuffPost, however, that the CIMS’ safeguards include passwords for need-to-know access and tracking of individual accounts.

Chris Selley:

The Federal Court refused to overturn any election results from 2011 because the onus of proof was on the plaintiffs to prove that an actual outcome was altered. And the plaintiffs, quite honestly, did a sorry job of this. But the court did affirm that election fraud had taken place, fraud almost certainly perpetrated by someone having access to the Conservative CIMS (Constituent Information Management System) database. Moreover, Justice Richard Mosley castigated the Conservative MPs defending the suit for attempting to “block these proceedings by any means” and making “transparent attempts to derail this case.” He actually used the phrase “trench warfare” to characterize their attitude.

The Tories don’t seem too worried that CIMS has been compromised, which would be their single worst election-readiness nightmare not involving an alien attack or dirty bombs. They are not even pretending to tell us how they intend to guarantee that this sort of election fraud will never happen again. The general attitude of their defenders outside caucus seems to be, “Ha ha, we introduced a horrifying dirty-tricks virus into Canadian politics and got away with it.” But, sure: ain’t that Senate terrible?

Yo! Fucking Useless Opposition®! THIS is the issue.

And FFS, stop calling it Robocall.

Surprise! Canadians Do Want the Opposition to Cooperate!

The poll I helped pay for has been released.

And guess what? All those pundits saying Canadians don't want cooperation among the Fucking Useless Opposition® are wrong.

Canadians support electoral reform, would vote for cooperation candidates – new national poll

April 4 – Toronto –  A new national Environics poll shows that Canadians think our democratic system is broken, overwhelmingly favour proportional representation, and are willing vote for cooperation candidates to defeat Conservative MPs in the next federal election.

The telephone poll, which sampled 1,004 voters, comes just days before voting in the Liberal leadership race is set to begin. Cooperation and electoral reform have been major topics of debate between the two top candidates, Joyce Murray and Justin Trudeau.

Poll Findings
1. Canadians more likely to say our democratic system is broken than effective. When asked if our democratic system is broken and needed to be fixed, or effective and works well – 45% said broken and 33% said it works well.

2. Seven in ten Canadians support move to proportional representation. When asked if they would support a move to proportional representation – 70% of Canadians would support, with Liberal supporters at 77%, NDP supporters at 82%, Green supporters at 93%, and Conservative supporters at 62%.

3. Canadians would vote for cooperation candidates to defeat Conservative MPs.When asked if they would vote for a candidate that was jointly fielded by the Liberals/NDP/Greens to defeat a Conservative – 37% would vote for the joint candidate, 25% would vote for the Conservative candidate, 18% are undecided and 18% would not vote (this number is comparable to the number of people in this poll who said they did not vote in the last election.) Notably, over 70% of Liberal and NDP supporters would vote for the joint candidate while less than 7% would vote Conservative.

4. Disenfranchised Canadians would be more likely to vote. People who did not vote in 2011 were asked if this idea would make them more or less likely to vote in the next election – 22% said more likely, 10% said less likely, and 66% said it would have no effect.

The poll was funded by 692 Canadians who donated online through Leadnow.ca. Leadnow.ca supports cooperation for electoral reform. Interviewing for this Environics National Telephone Survey was conducted between March 18th – 24th, 2013, among a national random sample of 1,004 adults comprising 502 males and 502 females 18 years of age and older, living in Canada. The margin of error for a sample of this size is +/- 3.10%, 19 times out of 20.

PDF at link.

And it is just so cool that 692 Canadians paid for this.

I've signed up as a LPC supporter. I got my ID and PIN number yesterday. I'm going to vote for Joyce Murray. It won't stop the coronation, but if she gets enough votes, it may make rabid partisans think again.

I've also written to my NDP MP to report this. I've heard nothing back. Maybe I'll try again.

CON omertà

kirbycairo's definitive post about the Flanagan plummet cuts through the superfluous noise about "moral panic".  

At the heart of Flanagan's discourse was the legal question of the efficacy, expedience, and import of prosecuting people who consume illegal material verses those who are actually involved in the production of illegality. It is not unlike the question of dealing with those who consume an illegal product like, say, heroin versus dealing with those who produce it and distribute it. Now, no matter how sensitive an issue is one might need to address this basic legal question, particularly in circumstances of limited legal resources. But it would be impossible for someone as glib and impertinent as Flanagan to actually discuss such an issue. Rather, Flanagan always has a knee-jerk, extremist reaction to any issue. Flanagan never actually wants to discuss an issue, rather he just wants to pontificate as loud as he can to anyone who will listen.

In other words Flanagan doesn't know when to properly tailor his discourse or just keep his mouth shut. And in the end this is why Flanagan split with Harper. If Harper learned anything during his time in public life it is to say as little as possible and even if one has controversial (some might say offensive) opinions, keep them on the DL. And this is why Harper has always jettisoned political allies who he can't control, and also why his government is a grand exercise in keeping everyone around him quiet. And even those close to Harper who are regularly in the media spotlight are continually coached and controlled concerning government message.

Flanagan fell from grace because he is a man full of deeply offensive opinions who is convinced he is a scholar and a genius. It was inevitable that he would shoot his mouth off in a way that would undermine any authority he may have had. Other Harper allies like Brazeau and Duffy are similarly obsessed with their own perceived wisdom and authority. Meanwhile, other allies are just headed to jail.

Dissecting what happened to a man that the CPC and its numerous wingnut-welfare-funded mouthpieces - the Manning Centre for example - once described as "a major intellectual figure in conservative circles", the blogpost zeroes in on the operating mode of Harper's party and his government.

We have written much here at DJ! about the MASSIVE publicly-funded millions Harper has invested in the daily production of Con spin and propaganda, to portray himself and his oligarchy in the most media-savvy frame of reference.  We've dubbed his PMO the Politburo.  Interestingly enough, many CPC websites have been scoured clean of texts and photos that involve Flanagan.

Our Twitter buddy Fuzzy Wuzzy responds to a videorecording of the basic neo-conservative approach to interacting with the media with a different version of its rightwing omerta.  Hilarious!

First, from Alheli Picazo - a literal observance of "no comment": 

Then:

Duckette later said that he had been instructed by the office of Alberta Premier Stelmach not to make any comments. 

So. It's not only scientists that are muzzled by Cons.

Welcome Progressive Canadians!

The essential bit in the word 'progressive' is 'progress'.

Moving ahead.

A group of committedly progressive Canadian bloggers has moved on to Canadian Progressive Voices.

Brand-spanking new and evolving into we're-not-quite-sure-what yet.

There's no litmus/purity test. Just read this:

We are bloggers who advocate for social, economic and labour justice, for human rights, sexual freedom and reproductive choice, for non-violence, the protection of the commons, including universal healthcare, public broadcasting and Canadian culture in an independent Canada dedicated to true representative democracy, the well-being of our environment and the betterment of all in the world.

Sound OK to you?

Then come on in.

ADDED: We are still figuring things out. Please be patient with us. ;-)

Thoughts from an Unhappy Post-Partisan

A few thoughts on the NDP leadership.

First, Aaron Wherry offers us an opportunity to compare and contrast.

From Bob Rae:

“I want to offer my warm congratulations to Thomas Mulcair on winning the leadership contest in the New Democratic Party.  I know Mr. Mulcair well and look forward to working with him to ensure Parliament acts on behalf of all Canadians.

“I also want to congratulate the NDP for a successful leadership convention, particularly in opening up the selection process to Canadians across the country.

“I also want to salute Mme Nycole Turmel for the integrity she showed as Interim Leader of the NDP. Her grace was apparent as she courageously carried out her duties admirably in the wake of the tragic passing of Jack Layton.”

From the Contempt Party:

Today in Toronto, the NDP have chosen Thomas Mulcair to push their agenda of high taxes, high spending and less economic growth. Thomas Mulcair is an opportunist whose high tax agenda, blind ambition, and divisive personality would put Canadian families and their jobs at risk. Mulcair has said he would bring back a risky, job-killing carbon tax which would raise the price of everything – even though Canadians overwhelmingly rejected carbon taxes. Canadians can’t afford Mulcair’s dangerous economic experiments.

Also, Thomas Mulcair has vowed to bring back the wasteful and ineffective long gun registry, and his soft on crime positions would take Canada back to policies that put the rights of criminals ahead of those of victims. 

Canadians gave our government a strong mandate to create jobs and economic growth. For hard-working Canadian families looking for a government that will put them first, it is clear that the only choice is Stephen Harper’s Conservative government.

I am not a Dipper, but of all the contenders, I have to say Mulcair was my last choice.

Consider his position on marijuana.

Earlier in the campaign:

I also support the party’s existing policy on further decriminalising the possession of marijuana for any use with the goal to eliminate the influence of organised crime on the production and distribution of marijuana.

Later, asked again about decriminalization:

No. I think that that would be a mistake because the information we have right now is that the marijuana that’s on the market is extremely potent and can actually cause mental illness.

Mental illness? Seriously?

On the environment.

[Dewar] would also ban bulk water exports and took Thomas Mulcair to task on the issue for comments he made in support of such exports in 2004 as a Quebec Liberal environment minister.

OK, he may have changed his mind about that, but I'd like to hear him say so.

Now a really troublesome matter. Israel.

Independent Jewish Voices (Canada) has launched a video to challenge Thomas Mulcair's positions on Israel and Palestine. According to IJV, Mr. Mulcair's leadership campaign represents an electoral coalition with Canada's Israel Lobby.

Lorne Nystrom, the national co-chair of Mr. Mulcair's leadership campaign and a former long-time NDP MP, is likely familiar to many who follow federal politics. However, many NDP members may not be aware that Nystrom currently sits on the board of this country's major pro-Israel lobby group, which actively campaigns in support of the Israeli government's inhumane and repressive policies towards Palestinian and other non-Jewish citizens.

Finally, on cooperating with other parties to beat the fucking CONs:

One thing Mulcair is clear on is that he’ll go after Liberal supporters, but won’t work with the rival party.

“N.O.,” he told HuffPost. The NDP tried to form a coalition with the Liberals in 2008 and then the Grits “lifted their noses up on it,” Mulcair said.

The coalition experience taught Mulcair everything he needs to know about the Liberals. They’re untrustworthy and he said he’ll never work with them again, whether in a formal or informal coalition.

“The no is categorical, absolute, irrefutable and non-negotiable. It’s no. End of story. Full stop,” he said.

End of story? CON majorities for the foreseeable future.

As I say, I am not a Dipper. So that's it from me. For now.

Hell-O kitty!

Go read Creekside: Outsource This! Boeing and Lockheed Martin war bling 'full of fake Chinese parts'.

Adieu, Jack.

« Si le rire sacrilège et blasphématoire que les bigots de toutes les chapelles taxent de vulgarité et de mauvais goût, si ce rire-là peut parfois désacraliser la bêtise, exorciser les chagrins véritables et fustiger les angoisses mortelles, alors oui on peut rire de tout, on doit rire de tout : de la guerre, de la misère et de la mort!

Au reste, est-ce qu'elle se gêne la mort, elle, pour se rire de nous ? Est-ce qu'elle ne pratique pas l'humour noir, elle, la mort ? Regardons s'agiter ces malheureux dans les usines, regardons gigoter ces hommes puissants, boursoufflés de leur importance qui vivent à 100 à l'heure. Alors ils se battent, ils courent, ils caracolent derrière leur vie, et tout d'un coup, cela s'arrête, sans plus de raisons que ça n'avait commencé...

Alors le militant de base, le pompeux PDG, la princesse d'opérette, l'enfant qui joue à la marelle dans les caniveaux de Beyrouth, toi aussi à qui je pense et qui a cru en Dieu jusqu'au bout de ton cancer... Tous nous sommes fauchés un jour par le croche-pied rigolard de la mort imbécile, et les droits de l'homme s'effacent devant les droits de l'asticot. »

Pierre Desproges, dans Le Tribunal des flagrants délires réquisitoire contre Jean-Marie Le Pen (28 septembre 1982)

"If the sacrilegious and blasphemous laughter that bigots of all religious dogma claim to be vulgar and in bad taste, if that laughter might desecrate stupidity, exorcise genuine grief and castigate mortal anguish, then yes: one can, one should laugh at everything: war, misery and death!

After all, does Death hesitate to laugh at us? Is Death not a practitioner of black humour? Look at those unfortunate people stirring in the factories, look at men of power swollen with their importance who scramble to live at full throttle. So they fight, they run, they prance behind their lives, and all of a sudden, it stops, with no more reason than it had started ...

So it is for the activist, the pompous CEO, the princess of operetta, the child playing hopscotch in the gutters of Beirut, and you too who believed in God until the end of your cancer ... All are mowed down eventually by death's imbecility, and the rights of men give way to the rights of the maggot."

Someone on Radio-Canada observed that Jack Layton was a ferocious negociator. Who knows what deals people make when they learn that insidious, merciless cancer is raging within them? When my sister fought ovarian cancer, she confided in me that she *asked* for two years. And she lived, in the time left, to the fullest.

From Joan Baez:

"You don't get to choose how you're going to die. Or when. You can only decide how you're going to live. Now."

Is This Thing On?

As a wandering commentor and grateful reader of informative sites showing the progressive side of Canada, I'd like to thank the DJ! crew for allowing me to sit on the team bench and yell encouragement to the big hitters.

I personally consider blogs to be heirs of the pamphleteers of previous centuries, a mix of passionate opinion and underheard intellect vying with sheer whackadoodle bravado for readers, and in the process, setting the drinkeries abuzz with argument, mockery and excitement. Perhaps, as in those times, they're even being monitored by the State as radicals.

I understand some people on the bleeding edge of the internets are debating whether blogs are becoming staledated when there is the immediacy of Twitter and other hotshot communications delivery methods now. Speaking as a less connected Canadian, I simply don't have timely access or visual acuity to keep on top of those immediate forms while I am on the move during the day. Some people can be brilliant and succinct off the top of their heads given 140 characters. Most of us? Me? 140 characters? I appreciate the chance to sit down and absorb the work of a number of interesting opinions and the references they offer.

Whether I can be an interesting opinion is a good question, one others will have to answer. DJ! has kindly given me keys to the printing room and I am happy to be one of the ink-stained wretches under its banner, daring the greatest truth and power of the internet, 'verba volant, scripta manent'. Words fly away but writing remains.

Youngest-Ever Dinosaur Elected Speaker

Meet the youngest-ever Speaker of the House, Andrew Scheer. Who is also a rabid fetus fetishist and homophobe.

He says he was excited to join the new [Reform] party, but even more excited to raise important issues. At the time, the same-sex “marriage” issue was headline news. He was also concerned about high taxes and their impact on family life. “I noticed the trend of people putting off marriage and child-bearing because they couldn’t afford it,” he said, explaining that many economic issues are social issues, too – and vice versa.

He is also unabashedly pro-life and has been rated “pro-life” by Campaign Life Coalition all three times he has run. In 2008, after the governor-general gave the Order of Canada to abortionist Henry Morgentaler, Scheer spoke out. He said, “I am greatly disappointed that Canada’s highest civilian honour has been politicized and debased by this appointment.”

When he ran in June 2004, he said the same-sex “marriage” issue was “front and centre” and that he unapologetically defended traditional marriage. He said the issue helped him, considering that both his Liberal and NDP opponents supported SSM and many constituents were either opposed or uncomfortable with changing the definition of marriage.

When the marriage debate took place the following year, Scheer said C-38, which redefined marriage to include homosexual couples, “is abhorrent to me … and to every member of every faith community” and he explained why he was voting against the bill.

As @danspeerin tweeted:

Our new #spkr41 is super pro-life and anti gay marriage - That's right the youngest speaker ever, somehow has the views of our grandparents

Good thing this little twerp won't be voting.

Are We Winning a Little?

An interesting and somewhat hopeful view of the election.

Since the economic crisis in 2008, Bay Street has craved a majority—either Liberal or Tory—to force through an austerity agenda, while ordinary people have wanted an alternative to Harper. These forces have ripped the Liberals apart: their right-wing base gave Harper his majority (endorsed by nearly every mainstream newspaper and media outlet in Canada), consolidating the corporate vote in one party, while those on the left ditched “strategic voting” and voted NDP.

Harper’s stronger regime in Parliament obscures the steady erosion of the combined Liberal/Tory vote as result of what has happened outside Parliament. In 2000, the combined corporate vote was 78 per cent. After the anti-capitalist mobilization against the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) in Quebec City in 2001, the G8 protests in Calgary in 2002, and the historic demonstrations against the war in Iraq in 2003, the combined corporate vote fell even more: to 66 per cent in 2004 and 2006.

With growing anger over the war and the start of the economic crisis, it slipped down to 64 per cent in 2008. Now, after three years of austerity and growing resistance—from Egypt to Wisconsin—the combined corporate vote has fallen to 58.5 per cent. Meanwhile, Parliament’s disconnect from ordinary people led many to continue voting with their feet: despite a higher turnout than last election, it was still the third lowest in Canadian history—another reason why Harper has a majority without a mandate.

It goes on to cite successful mass movements here and elsewhere. Predictably, it calls for more organizing and more activism.

Well, heck, it made me feel (a little) better.

Amateur Show

Sweet Babee Jay-Zeus!

It would appear that Afghanistan has officially become the 21st century's version of an African safari, providing a golden photo opportunity for hackneyed politicians and melagomanic circus performers to compensate for their shortcomings when required to get it up without the assistance of pharmaceuticals.

Don Cherry should go back to *only* shooting off his big fat ignorant mouth. Less likelihood of carnage and collateral damage.

Yo! Iggy! Want my vote?

Come right out and say: 'The electoral system in this country is deeply fucked. It enables deadlock, mindless partisanship, and endless games-playing. All to the detriment of cooperation, good governance, and sensible, fact-based policies. I pledge that the Liberal Party of Canada will propose legislation to address directly the democratic deficit by means of some form of proportional representation.'

There. Hear the scritching of millions of pencils making x's? You win.

And to Jack, Gilles, and Lizzie: feel free to jump on this bandwagon. It can do you nothing but good.

Partisanship at Pissed-Off PCO

I haven't seen this story blogged about by any of our esteemed colleagues at ProgBlogs.

It's quite amazing and important on two counts: first, people at the 'famously discreet' Privy Council Office have had enough to spill some beans, and second, it's published at CTV, aka, Conservative TV.

A partisan government advertising campaign paid for by taxpayers raised alarms from the outset among senior public servants who serve Prime Minister Stephen Harper, The Canadian Press has learned.

The Privy Council Office, the non-partisan bureaucratic arm of the Prime Minister's Office, has never been comfortable administering the website for the Economic Action Plan -- and informed Harper of its misgivings at the time of last January's federal budget.

Those misgivings were heard, but overruled.

While the story is being denied by both PCO and PMO, the extraordinary claim originates from several sources within the famously discreet Privy Council Office.

The fact the story is being aired at all -- even under the cloak of anonymity -- suggests just how far the Conservatives are stretching the traditional boundaries of partisan behaviour in Canada's professional bureaucracy.

(snip)

Dimitri Soudas, a spokesman for the prime minister, said the story was "entirely false."

"The site is legitimate and appropriate and we reject that characterization entirely."

The actionplan.gc.ca website, linked to by a massive advertising campaign that has cost at least $34 million, has been widely criticized as an exercise in Conservative propaganda on the taxpayers' dime.

In interviews with past and present government insiders, The Canadian Press was told the Tories are trampling the admittedly grey area between partisanship and policy.

More than one career bureaucrat said they've never seen anything so blatant as the current use of the office for self-promotion.

None would speak on the record, some for fear of reprisals, but many said it is a story that needs to be told.

"You have a political party that is not constrained by what conventionally would be perceived as overtly partisan actions," said one former insider.

"I can tell you every funding program across the government is being politicized," said another public servant.

"They do it for their own needs and they don't do it to help people. Welcome to Stephen Harper's world."

Go read the whole thing.

Here's the description of the PCO at its official website:

The Privy Council Office (PCO) provides essential advice and support to the Prime Minister and Cabinet. Our goal is to help the Government of Canada serve Canada and Canadians.

The Privy Council Office is committed to the highest standards of professionalism and public service.

Funny. Now, look at wiki:

In Canada the Privy Council Office (French: Bureau du Conseil privé) is the secretariat of the federal cabinet, providing officially non-partisan advice and support to the Prime Minister and leadership, coordination, and support to the departments and agencies of the government.

Can you see this difference? The government site replaces 'offically non-partisan' with 'essential'.

Who wrote that, we wonder?

Relentless partisan campaigning. On our dime. And yet again, diminishing a Canadian institution.


h/t CAPP Facebook

Harper, the Great Uniter?

I'm pissed. The leftie blogosphere is pissed. Even the Freaks are pissed.

Connie Fournier started the thread and said:

I don't care what anyone says, repeated prorogation of Parliament, as a political strategy, is an affront to democracy.

This guy is mad with power!

I snaffed that photo from a poster there named Narrow Back.

Hard(ly) News

Leaders of Canada's largest political parties pledged yesterday to increase the number of women in the House of Commons as a public opinion poll found Canadians want to see more women in Parliament.

The Environics poll, conducted for the group Equal Voice, found that 85% of respondents support efforts to increase the number of women elected to public office, compared to 11% who opposed those efforts. The poll also found 63% believe women are under-represented in the House of Commons.

Did this make the front page of any newspaper in Canada? Uh-uh. Didn't think so.

Update: Website for Equal Voice.