Kill the Wegistry!

This Montreal Gazette political cartoon is the perfect counterpart to the tortuous train of thought that left the cavernous terminus of MPty-suit Contempt Party flunky Maxime Bernier:

[...] the Quebec Conservative MP for Beauce riding, offered little hope his party would bend when he trotted out to plug the party line Thursday.

"I'm here to reiterate the position of our government that has always been very clear - that we will abolish the long-gun registry because we believe it unfairly targets hunters and farmers, rather than real criminals,"he said.

"When we said we would destroy the registry, the registry is comprised of data ... and that data is what we're going to destroy because it is the registry."

Your choo-choo train of *reasoning* is going around in circles, Maxime.

This is another order of Contempt: "prendre le monde pour une valise".

Inspired by gloatessa's tweet.

Pile-on Backlash (update)

Go read Rusty Idols: Pile-on Backlash.

The tide may have turned on Con attack jobs, even those facilitated by the so-called *liberal* media.

When the targets of scurrilous smears are regular, ordinary working class Canadians who don't ressemble Maxime *Empty Suit* Bernier, a shining example of an entitled and privileged member of the Contempt Party, people do get angry. For real.

As for the hacks doing the Cons' dirty work under the guise of balanced reporting, go fuck yourselves with splintery gardening implements.

In response to Beijing York's question, I found this:

An analysis by The Canadian Press of sponsored travel reports shows 172 MPs have taken 336 free trips over the last four years totalling $1.9 million. And that's on top of trips taken on government business.[...]

Two destinations topped the list: Taiwan and Israel, each with 68 sponsored trips.

The Taiwan trips were paid for by the Chinese International Economic Co-operation Association, a business and trade lobby organization.

The Canada-Israel Committee paid for the Israel trips. The group is active on Parliament Hill. Public filings with the lobbyist registry show 122 entries under the Canada-Israel Committee's name. Many of those meetings were with MPs who went on the group's junkets.

Did Con candidate go rogue?

According to the Contempt Party's sycophant-in-chief and BT herder

Stephen Taylor, candidate Maxime Bernier's campaign slogan is "A guy from Beauce who does politics differently". Um, yeah. And unlike what happened to his former colleague Helena Guergis, Bernier was not shamed, blamed and thrown to the wolves excluded from the Con caucus.

He left unsecured classified NATO documents in a private residence, not his own. And he has proclaimed a number of personal & political opinions that may or may not have been vetted by the PMO's politburo, at his blog, and in public.

It seems that Bernier's MASSIVE ego is tailor-made to match his designer suits (or vice-versa). This guy from Beauce is clearly gunning for leadership of the Contempt Party and he displays all the obfuscating skills required for the job.

Who's the Weaseliest of Them All?

Tony (Cashmere) Clement.

Rosemary Barton has the goods.

There has been a lot of talk in recent days about Industry Minister Tony Clement suggesting that one person, one Canadian complaining about the scrapping of the mandatory long-form census is a enough to convince the government to change policy.

The minister doesn't agree that's what he said.

In fact, just yesterday the minister tried to defend his statement by saying this, "Let me interpret what I said, because the question was more of a general question."

For the record, I was the reporter asking the questions in this case and I thought it might be worthwhile to transcribe the entire exchange and let you decide what the Minister actually said and interpret it for yourself.

The transcript follows, ending with this:

Barton: "Sure, but we don't change public policy for one person do we?"

Clement: "Why not? If they're right."

Barton: "We change public policy for one person?"

Clement: "If they're right."

Seems pretty clear to me.

And for more fun, the bozo from the Beauce, as Montreal Simon styles him is in a spot of bother today too over the census.

Why so grumpy?

Cat got your tongue, Stevie? Didn't you like the "surprise" your Québec MPs pulled on you, dressing up in Les Nordiques hockey sweaters?

Gosh, there's just no pleasing you these days. The brown-nosers and yes-men in the PMO (aka Stevie's mini-politburo) are indulging your every whim, and yet you're still peevish?

Perhaps this response to that purportedly "favourable" Ernst and Young report is rattling you a wee bit?

I was not at all impressed by the Ernst & Young study, which concluded that the project would be “profitable” – but only on the assumption that governments provide full funding for the construction as well as the repairs and renovations that will be necessary over the next 40 years. That’s a deceptive way of putting it. The conclusion should rather be that the project is simply not profitable and will constitute a financial burden for taxpayers for decades to come, even in the best scenario. That’s why not a single private player has been found to invest in it.

Oddly enough, 'Mad Man' Max didn't show up for the hockey sweater photo opportunity - did he?


Just keep looking over your shoulder, Stevie. Maxime may be on your team, but it could be that he's playing a different game strategy.

Contrast Bernier's attitude with Vic Toews'.

Is Bernier being played by the PMO?

This headline at the top of Full Comment at the Natsy Post gave me pause.

Maxime Bernier: The Nordiques must stand on their own two skates

Though I'm not an admirer of Bernier, this phrasing - which doesn't appear at his own blogpost btw and thus was provided by a NP flunky - smacks of that 1950s vintage joke told about the strapping young Quebecois hockey player who was drafted by Toronto. He spoke no English so one of his new team-mates offered to teach him basic expressions, such as: "Me, I be strong like bull, smart like street-car" that would be useful when reporters spoke to him.

When the Cons got blow-back as a result of their bizarre decision to slash, trash and burn the census long-form questionaire, Bernier was sent out to defend it. It wasn't a stretch for him, since he had expressed a similar view when he was minister for Industry.

But now that Bernier has come out against the funding of arenas for professional (for-profit) organizations and he is advancing substantial arguments, it's likely Stevie's Politburo is deploying damage control to discredit his view and make him appear like a Beauce Goober.

Because it's what Stevie and his bullies do, even to their own ReformaTory team members.

Bernier regurgitates Con speaking points about long-form census. (more and more)

Today on Radio-Canada the putative dauphin to the ReformaTory leadership Maxime Bernier mouthed PMO speaking points, 'splaining why the Stats Canada practice of compelling citizens who receive the census long form to fill out the questionnaire is EVIL. (Note: Bernier was Minister of Industry when he first joined Harper's cabinet.)

1. It is a blatant and intrusive invasion of privacy. (The interviewer said that only 3 complaints were filed with the Privacy Commissioner in the last decade. Bernier did not respond to this fact.)

2. There are too many questions, people don't want to fill it out and Harper's New©™ Government gives the people what it wants. Power to the sheeple!!!

3. There are thousands of people (not just with the long form, though) who have said that their spiritual beliefs are informed by the religion of Star Wars. Heathens!!! Why do they hate Canada?

Bernier churlishly added that critics - municipalities, academics, and other "special interest" groups can damn well pay for the research, studies and data they need.

Opposition to yet another ill-advised and capricious Stevie Spiteful decision, here.

Update. Tony Clement's communiqué - which desperately attempts to justify the abolition of the mandatory long-form census - is, as Hill Queeries observes: "full of half-truths, red herrings, misdirection, scaremongering, and a straw man or two".

As for census data users - a wide range of federal, provincial and territorial governments departments, municipalities, non-profit organizations, community groups, academia, private industry (which includes licensed distributors and the media) - their needs were conveyed to Stats Canada during a scheduled consultative process. There's a report here.

Has anyone suggested this may be a Con attempt to undermine Stats Canada and to privatize data collection? Data users could be forced to pay twice and three times as much as Stats Canada charges now (read BCL on that issue) for less consistent/reliable information from profiteers.

It was almost 2 years ago that a MASSIVE poll was run by KLR Vu Research for an anti-abortion group. Perhaps Stevie and his bullies are cancelling our national, exemplary and internationally respected data collection service for the benefit of push-polling outfits owned by ReformaTory benefactors.

More delicious insider info, at Impolitical.

From the Toronto Star:

“Harper does not like StatsCan, that’s what we kept hearing,” according to a longtime employee of the agency. “In particular, he does not like the analytical work we’ve done for years.” The Prime Minister thinks of it as fodder for critics.

Sure enough, it’s the analytical work that he has been decimating. Gone, truncated or privatized are surveys that kept track of pensions and benefits at our places of work; the proportion of our incomes going to housing, vacation, medical expenses to see how well or badly we all were doing; the level of inequality among Canadians; the economic integration of immigrants; and how people with physical and mental disabilities were coping.

“When these surveys were being cut back, the concerned federal departments were told not to comment on how that might muck up their work,” said the source. “They were told to shut up. The message had come from the top.”

Will Harper reverse his decision? Will glass be shattered and furniture smashed, will rugs be chewed and holes gouged in the walls, and will the temp help have to coaxed out from underneath the desks again? Stay tuned.