Friends of the CBC are fighting back on the Harper Regime's political interference with a very clever ad, which also serves as a quick summary of this government's crimes against democracy.
While the group has the dough to pay for broadcast, the CBC won't air them.
A new ad campaign to “Free the CBC” from political interference will not air on the public broadcaster’s programs, say representatives from the non-profit media watchdog group that created the commercials.
“I’m a little surprised and disappointed that they wouldn’t take our money for the ads,” said Friends of Canadian Broadcasting spokesperson Ian Morrison. “It proves our point a little bit about the nature of the problem.”
I'd agree with Mr Morrison there.
Or, as William Burroughs put it: 'A functioning police state needs no police.'
Canadians don't want to see the government meddle with our CBC either.
Morrison adds that results from a recent Nanos poll – also released Monday – show that Canadians care about the CBC and its independence from government. In an online survey of 1,000 Canadians, respondents were asked about their views on government’s intentions to “take direct control of the wages and working conditions of all CBC employees.” The majority — 81 per cent — said the CBC should remain independent from government while 12 per cent said they agreed with the government’s intentions. The remaining respondents were unsure where they stood on the issue.
Substantial House of Commons financial, material and human resources are supporting Woodworth's exploratory shot at dismantling Canadian women's hard-won reproductive and procreative rights.
Here is an overview of two groups and their resources gathered to fight Woodworth's attempt to recriminalize abortion.
Starting today, all bloggers who support a woman's right to choose can and should blog fiercely about this CONservative, regressive attack on women's right to choose.
Tell a personal story about a family member who died from an illegal kitchen-table abortion.
Use your wits, your intelligence, your verve to expose Wankworth's motion for what it is: not only anti-choice but against religious freedom.
The right to government - in policies and practices that doesn't favour one religious belief system - is implicit in the Charter of rights.
Re-criminalizing a medical intervention will enforce the ideological dogma of fundamentalist religions, in particular those of the Vatican Taliban.
My parents grew up in the period of La grande noirceur, an unholy alliance of political and religious authorities. It seems to me that the Harper Regime is morphing into le Duplessis Nouveau.
Well fuck that, we're not going to let that MASSIVE obliteration of women's rights happen again. No christofascist sharia in Canada.
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.
“You can see in him some change. He’s no longer scary. He no longer has a hidden agenda, and I think we all* believe that now,” said Frank Atkins, a friend of Harper and adviser on his master’s thesis, which examined whether incumbent governments spent money to buy votes as elections neared**.
This video was shot in September 2009. A year and a half ago.
One thing this election has made abundantly clear -- progressives can't or won't work together.
And Jack Layton is delusional if he really thinks he can work with the Harper Regime.
So I was thinking. From DJ!'s ongoing efforts to divide the right, an odd thing became apparent. There are quite a few issues that left and right can agree on.
I want an open government where cabinet ministers have the latitude to run their departments. I want a Prime Minister’s Office that doesn’t hold caucus and cabinet in such a vice grip that no one dares speak or propose policy without first asking permission. I want transparency and an atmosphere where high-ranking civil servants offer counsel without fear of cabinet ministers hanging them out to dry. I want to know what major policy initiatives are going to cost.
Mostly I want fiscal conservatism. Is that too much to ask?
The Conservatives have spent five years pandering to pocket constituencies with conniving tax breaks and cash handouts. It’s not the government’s job to favour tradesmen over managers or to subsidize hockey and piano lessons. Rationalize spending, simplify the tax code and let individuals decide where to spend the extra money in their pockets.
Stimulus spending was necessary to cushion the economic plunge, but when you take out a mortgage you don’t blow it on bandstands and jungle gyms. Major spending must always be on the kind of legacy projects that benefit the future generations that will pay for them. If there are to be large cash layouts in the coming four years it should be for necessary and justifiable initiatives, not photo opportunities.
The Conservatives have grown rather than shrunk government. Each year spending has gone up beyond the rate of inflation and GDP growth. The Tories have spent more on polls, focus groups, advertizing, travel and outside consultants than the Liberals ever did. Rein it in. Health-care spending wouldn’t be a looming crisis if money wasn’t being bilge-pumped out of the treasury. Jim Flaherty rivals Paul Martin in the mastery he brings to the Finance Department. It’s time he was allowed to bring in a budget dictated by national need, not political canniness.
On every front, the time has come for the Conservatives to plot a course for Canada and not just for their electoral aspirations. Conceive of a crime strategy that addresses public safety, not fear. Embrace the family values of newcomers without tacitly nurturing the sexism and homophobia that may go hand in hand. Chart a foreign policy that does not first involve data mining the nation’s ethnic communities. Show respect for the institutions that create the framework for the privilege you now hold. Respect for Parliament should be a core Conservative value.
Yes, I know. But disregarding that fantasy about Deficit Jim Flaherty, I can agree with much of the rest of it. For reasons other than fiscal conservatism, of course.
Throughout his reign as Slime Minister, Stevie Peevie has faced a Fucking Useless Opposition®. Arguably, the new opposition will be even more fucking useless.
Third, it is fiendishly difficult to challenge a government in power when it is supported and endorsed by 90% of the media. The reasons for the media’s complacence vary: rich corporate owners favour low-tax Conservative governments, and lazy journalists favour cheap and easy stories based on press releases and innuendo rather than genuine but time-consuming investigative journalism. But the polls show conclusively that 90% of the media only speak for about one-quarter of Canadians. That’s a problem, and it’s a problem that we can do something about. I’m going to return to that in a moment.
He says we need credible new media.
I can’t do much about the above at the moment, but I do want to return to the third problem. We’re reaching a point where the mainstream corporate media is so unvaryingly compromised and corrupt that it is mostly useless. They opposed the NDP by reflex, they endorsed the Conservatives because they were pro-business, and we can count on them to do the same for the next four years. The majority of people in this country are not politically active outside of election campaigns and are mostly trusting of the media, mostly because there are no trustworthy alternatives and because finding those alternatives would take effort.
He goes on to lay out the challenges and advantages the blogosphere faces in trying to fill the gap.
The problem we have is coordinating our efforts and getting people to notice. Those are big problems, but not as big as the problem the Internet solved for us in the first place.
Internet freedom is going to change, too, as the result of the death of Internet neutrality. But we have an unprecedented window, and while it is closing, for the moment it’s still open. And I continue to believe that a large majority of Canadians do care about democracy, about healthcare, about the health of the planet, even if they’ve been temporarily dazzled by tax breaks and bamboozled by scaremongering about separatist coalitions. I have to believe that. There is no other choice. I refuse to believe that this country has raised multiple generations who are ignorant enough, selfish enough, and narrow-minded enough (not to mention in brazen denial enough) to genuinely support the government they just voted for.
How do we go about seizing this opportunity? Haven’t a clue. But we have four years to find out, and now’s a good time to start.
I too believe that a majority of Canadians -- from right across the political spectrum -- care about democracy, accountability, transparency, fiscal responsibility, and rational policy-making.
It's up to us to hold this government to account through a Citizens' Loyal Opposition.
When I was researching this post about Con candidates Larry 'Touchdown' Smith and Agop Evereklian, I found a series of investigative journalism that Rue Frontenac had published with regard to connections between Tony Accurso, ex-PMO politburo mouthpiece Dimitri Soudas and Sen. Leo Housakos.
Radio-Canada and the Globe & Mail have also been looking into other *interests* those three may have in common.
A case of behind-the-scenes political interference involving Harper's PMO, the City of Montreal and businessmen in the construction industry has resurfaced. An investigation by the CBC and the Globe and Mail revealed that part of the showdown was played around the appointment of the CEO of the Port of Montreal in 2007. Former minister and Senator Michael Fortier broke the silence surrounding a campaign of persuasion, pressure and threats on specific board members.
What jumps out from this sordid tale is that Dimitri Soudas is a big-time prevaricator and small-time fixer.
This is likely only the tip of an iceberg, hopefully one that will further sink the Contempt Party.
A Twitter message by the Conservative incumbent for Kitchener Centre set off a flurry of negative online responses on Saturday night, before his Twitter account was deactivated Sunday. Stephen Woodworth, who has been an active Twitter user with nearly 850 followers on the social media service, quoted a joke on his @WoodworthCPC Twitter account at 8:36 p.m. on Saturday. “Cop says to falling down man outside tavern ‘You’re drunk’ Man replies ‘Thank goodness’ Cop asks ‘Why?’ Drunk: ‘I thought I was crippled!’”
And also, more about mythical Con accountability and ethics:
Stephen Harper's claim Canadians don't care his government was charged with contempt of Parliament is a clear indication of his ethics and his opinion of Canadians' ethics. Contempt for Parliament equates to contempt for the people it represents. Harper also has lessened Parliament with his importation of divisive American style "attack politics." Voters have found out Harper's 2006 election plank of a new honesty/openness in government and a tough on crime agenda wasn't meant to apply to the Conservative party. A smorgasbord of scandals include "in and out" financing, Bev Oda's creative writing, and RCMP investigations into Harper's close adviser Bruce Carson for influence peddling.
The question I raised on Twitter this morning: does the Governor General have the legal authority to request the release of the Auditor-General's - rumoured brutal - report about the misuse, by the Harper Regime, of $1 Billion of Canadian citizens' money?
How long can brave, brave *Sir* SHithead hide from real tough questions about his government's record?
Further update as CBC news caught Contemptible truthiness from the Harper Regime:
The Conservative's report [...] quoted the auditor general as saying: “We found that the processes and controls around that were very good, and that the monies were spent as they were intended to be spent.”
But in a scathing letter addressed to members of a Commons committee on Friday, which was received by the clerk and members on Monday, Fraser said the quote had nothing to do with the summits. Instead, she said, the Conservatives inserted an 2010 comment she made during a CBC News interview on security spending by a previous Liberal government after the Sept. 11 attacks a decade ago.
“The comments attributed to me in the [Conservative] report are completely unrelated to G8/G20 spending,” Fraser writes in her letter. “I would appreciate it if the report could be modified as it is clearly erroneous.”
Radio-Canada and The Toronto Star report the Con candidate running in Algoma-Manitoulin-Kapuskasing is still employed by CFN Consultants, a company that lobbied the Harper Regime on behalf of Lockheed Martin. Lobbyists from CFN Consultants represent a large number of manufacturers of military equipment.
It was Conservative Leader Stephen Harper’s party that initially cracked down on the cozy relationship between federal politicians and lobbyists. When first elected, the Tories legislated a five-year ban on lobbying by former politicians and political staffers.
The Harper Regime was *negociating* with U.S. company Lockheed Martin for the purchase of 65 stealth fighters F-35 Lightning II. It estimated the total cost of ownership, maintenance and updating of equipment to be $16 billion.
But Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page presented information that the cost could actually exceed $29 billion because of many uncertainties. The Opposition also questioned the veracity of industrial benefits that will be generated by the project, valued to be worth $12 billion by Industry Canada, though this claim cannot be substantiated.
- except they're really into Conservatives. ROTFL!
Found this at impolitical. In answer to the rhetorical question she posed re: The Rant - there is never enough Rick Mercer. He leaves us gasping with laughter and asking for more.
are vicious when they are forced into a corner. And that is exactly what the Opposition has done to Stevie Spiteful and his cabal of Cons in the Harper Regime. If the minority Conservative government falls as a result of losing a confidence vote in the House of Commons, an election will follow.
Harper's rightwing party which had the hubris to campaign on a platform of accountability, ethics and transparence has surpassed its predecessors in evasion, corruption and opacity.
These folks have never taken the high road; they are dedicated followers of Rovian tactics and their leader is the nouveau Tricky Dick.
The cornered Con rats will deploy every nasty strategy and parrot any vile lie to win; their political operatives function as though an election campaign is a blood sport.
When grading is complete, the Ottawa-based Conference Board said Thursday, Canada will slip to 10th on a list of 17 peer countries in 2010 from sixth in 2009. The Conference Board’s advance rankings have Canada in ninth place in 2011.
Maybe you shouldn't have spent all that dough on gazebos, fake lakes, overtime for useless and/or brutal G20 G8 cops, and your religious cronies.
"Wycliffe Bible Translators slurped up a hefty $495,600 of your money and mine. But that was dwarfed by the $3.2 million awarded to an outfit called Youth For Christ--and, while children living in poverty on a reserve in Attawapiskat have been denied a new school for years, Edmonton's Newman Theological College was recently awarded $4.2 million of Harper's largesse."
Maybe you should have spent stimulus money -- that you didn't want to spend at all -- wisely as other countries did, like on green job creating strategies.
Environmental researchers say the Harper government could have created three times as many jobs if it had invested stimulus funding in climate projects rather than in traditional infrastructure.
An analysis by the Pembina Institute shows that climate-friendly projects tend to be more labour intensive.
It suggests the $16 billion Ottawa spent on building roads, arenas and the like during the recession could have created or maintained almost 240,000 green jobs — instead of the 84,000 the government boasts of.
The study was funded by the British High Commission and relied on Ontario government research into how effective environmental spending is on job creation.
The Conservative government put just eight per cent of its stimulus funding into climate projects — much lower than in other countries.
Yo! Liberals! NDP! The Harper Regime wants to run an election on the economy? Bring it on!!!!!!
News item after news item uncover dodgy, unethical and potentially corrupt tactics involving Con flunkies, political operatives, advisors and ministers. It seems the Harper Regime was built on quicksand and the shiftiness of its *principles* will bring it down.
Now's the moment for us to strike quickly and efficiently, and yet the word that blazes from headlines is HOOKER.
While it's important to constantly challenge the *Family Values* pseudo-morality card the ReformaTory party plays whenever it's Con-veeenient - and to remind voters of its patent hypocrisy - snickering salaciously like frat boys about this information can derail an urgent hard punch to the Harper Regime's soft belly.
It's difficult to surpass impolitical's deft touch when it comes to handling activated explosive devices, but could we try to be strategic on this one? Taking the high road is critical for progressives; the credibility of our analysis of the Conservative's systemic, pervasive, and putrid practices could be be undermined by cheap shots.
Let's steer clear of the howling hyenas and jackals. We don't want to lose this battle.
The ideologically-laden term *christian* is ∧NOT∧ the opposite of the weasel-word *barbaric*.
There's a colloquial expression - s'enfarger dans les fleurs du tapis - that perfectly describes the LPC blunder with regard to criticism of the Harper Regime's revised immigration & citizenship guide. From here:
Liberal MP Justin Trudeau said the government should not call honour killings "barbaric" in a study guide for would-be Canadian citizens.
This is the contentious section: "Canada's openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, 'honour killings,' female genital mutilation, forced marriage or other gender-based violence. Those guilty of these crimes are severely punished under Canada's criminal laws."
Many fundamentalist gynophobes justify traditions of violence against women and girls by using religious tirades inspired by man-made exegetic ideology, which is based on old testament, gospel or qu'ran texts.
It would be more precise to state in the citizenship guide that crimes against women will be prosecuted and none can be justified by using religious beliefs.
But that might be offensive to the ReformaTory evangelical supporters so MinJKenney pre-emptively charges all newcomers' foreign "cultural practices" by comparing them to the *barbaric* carnage perpetrated by Crusaders and Inquisitors in medieval Europe.
According to [No One is Illegal] "Approximately 25 of us, including many recent immigrants, came to protest and challenge this repressive Minister of Censorship and Deportation. It is clear that he only wanted a photo-op as part of his so-called ethnic media strategy. He hid out the whole time while we waited and surrounded the door in anticipation of his arrival. Instead, he had over ten police officers violently remove us and two people were repeatedly threatened with arrest. Apparently we have the right to protest outside but not to actually challenge and question him to his face"[...].
After the ceremony, MP Kenney described No One Is Illegal as a "bunch of extremists who don't think we should deport criminals from Canada."
I'm thinking of starting a series, 'Your Morning Piss-Off'. I know, I know, there will be no shortage of material under the Harper Regime, and, in fact, today there are two Morning Piss-Offs.
1. Nothing says 'nineteenth-century war' like puppets and south-east Asian music, right? (I've fixed Ibbitson's error in the first line.)
The Conservative Harper government is planning a $100-million national celebration to mark the bicentennial of the War of 1812 next year.
It is understood that the current plans for the commemoration include re-enactments of famous battles, the repair of monuments and plaques, a new visitor centre at Fort York in Toronto, a documentary, a national essay-writing competition and a dedicated website. Dean Del Mastro, the parliamentary secretary for Canadian Heritage, confirmed the government is keen to make the bicentennial a major event. He said the Prime Minister and Heritage Minister James Moore are intent on making sure the significance of the anniversary isn't missed.
This regime can really spend major dough on minor crap, can't it?
But where, you ask, do the puppets come in? Because of the ignerant immigrants, of course.
One of the challenges identified by some event organizers is how to interest recent immigrants to Canada. Ms. Shaul [project manager for the City of Toronto's bicentennial commemorations] said one proposal is to tell the story of 1812 using puppets accompanied by south-east Asian music.
This year, Ottawa and the provinces will dispense $4.7-billion to more than 20,000 Canadian companies under one of the richest R&D tax regimes in the world. But a third or more of that cash is being wasted and paid to consultants as a result of hazy rules on what’s legitimate R&D and limited government auditing resources, according to dozens of interviews with consultants, claimants and government officials.
Here's how it works. In Canada, unlike civilized places, the Harper regime does not directly fund R&D, it hands out tax breaks. But the rules are fuzzy and the paperwork is daunting, so greedy companies hire 'consultants', often the very wonks who created the program, to apply for the dough. The lack of clarity, oversight, and serious penalties promote lotsa bogus claims, which nonetheless get approved.
The program is so wildly popular that bureaucrats are vetting proposals on an 'eeny-meeny-miney-mo' basis.
And it has very little economic benefit.
At a time when experts worry Canada is falling badly behind in the global innovation race, Ottawa often touts its Scientific Research and Experimental Development program as a key part of the answer – a powerful lure to get companies to invest here and generate wealth. In fact, the government’s own studies have found the program generates almost no economic benefits. And the low risk of getting caught means too much of the money winds up in the hands of people who do little or no R&D, including small manufacturers, consultants and lenders.
The dilemma is that many claims may meet the agency’s minimum filing guidelines, and yet constitute highly dubious R&D. The result, experts said, is that Canadian taxpayers are spending billions on a program that too often delivers little or no new R&D.
Senior Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) officials exposed the growing scourge of bogus claims at a series of recent meetings with industry consultants and accountants, The Globe and Mail has learned. At one of the gatherings, a CRA executive complained about unscrupulous consultants “carpet bombing” entire area codes and then flooding the agency with claims for many companies that do little or no R&D.
Money is often paid out to decidedly low-tech and routine manufacturing, such as baking gluten-free cake, making injection-moulded auto parts or growing potted roses. Carefully documented and presented as scientific investigation, this kind of work is worth millions in government cash. . . . Exploiting grey areas in the law has become big business for consultants. Some even brag about pitching SR&ED to businesses who don’t do conventional R&D, such as restaurants and bakeries.
Win-win-win for crooks.
Lose-lose-lose for taxpayers.
This is your Harper Regime, continuing to break government and hog-tie the next one with debt.
"Chicken butt mouth" is the loose translation for a term which means, en français, the grimace made by someone pinching their lips. This explains the hideous face depicted above.
Mona Eltahawy recently spoke as a panel member at this event organized by J Street last week.
She is a journalist that I've been following on Twitter - @monaeltahawy - since #SidiBouzid and #Jan25; she is an articulate, witty and effective communicator. J Street is a formidable presence in Washington DC, ensuring that accurate and factual information about the Middle East is available to counter the rhetoric of those who lobby in support of Israel's pro-war policies. There's no similar organization in Ottawa, which allows MP Irwin Cotler to promulgate his perspective as though it were the official position of Liberal Party of Canada - and gives the Harper Regime more opportunities to maintain its ideologically-informed policies, with regard to Israel.
Updated to add a link to Mona Eltahawy's blogpost about FGM written last year and is particularly moving, in honour of IWD tomorrow.
Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a political system where the state, usually under the control of a single political person, faction, or class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible.
Totalitarianism is generally characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where ordinary citizens have less significant share in state decision-making) and ideology (a pervasive scheme of values promulgated by institutional means to direct most if not all aspects of public and private life).
Totalitarian regimes or movements stay in political power through an all-encompassing propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of state terrorism.
"the state, under the control of a single political person, faction, or class, recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life wherever feasible ..." How many times now has Stevie Spiteful defied Parliament to subvert it his will? Prorogation: twice to date, once to avoid a challenge he would have lost over MPs' access to documents regarding government directives on Afghan detainees. How many specific private members' bills were presented by abortion-criminalizing MPs in an attempt to circumscribe and erode women's right to choose?How many competent public officials have been fired and incompetent Harper appointees installed? And what about the stacking of the Senate to his benefit?
"Totalitarianism is generally characterized by the coincidence of authoritarianism (where ordinary citizens have less significant share in state decision-making) and ideology (a pervasive scheme of values promulgated by institutional means to direct most if not all aspects of public and private life)." The significant erosion of members of the Opposition - a majority of elected officials - capacity to participate in, and influence the outcome of standing committees' work has been observed by a number of people. Much has been noted about the ideological shift.
"Totalitarian regimes [achieve] power through an all-encompassing propaganda disseminated through the state-controlled mass media, a single party that is often marked by personality cultism, control over the economy, regulation and restriction of speech, mass surveillance, and widespread use of state terrorism."
All-encompassing propaganda is disseminated by the PMO. Reporters have limited access to elected officials of the Conservative minority government unless sanctioned by the PMO and capable of faithful stenography *cough* Jane Taber *cough*. In the last five years, Stevie's Politburo has increased its budget, its power and its presence. CRTC support for any changes advanced by the ReformaTories has been ensured with the appointment of Tom Pentefountas. If Stevie gets his majority, the CBC will likely be dismantled and all journalists who have reported events or facts that appeared critical of his regime, dismissed.
The government is looking for ways to monitor online chatter about political issues and correct what it perceives as misinformation. The move started recently with a pilot project on the East Coast seal hunt. A Toronto-based company called Social Media Group has been hired to help counter some information put forward by the anti-sealing movement. The Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade has paid the firm $75,000 "to monitor social activity and help identify ... areas where misinformation is being presented and repeated as fact," [...] The seal hunt pilot project was set up in part "to establish foundations and recommendations for future programs and campaigns to use social media as another way to listen to, inform and engage with Canadians" [...]
And of course, there are the minions who labour for love or money under the tutelage of BloggingTories founder Stephen Taylor.
From the CBC video clip posted above:
Treasury Board President Stockwell Day, shrugged off the directive. "If you think you're on to something that is going to ignite people from coast to coast in a fury of rage, maybe we'll look at it. But this is the first I've heard of it, so good luck with it."
What a giggle from Doris as he arched a well-groomed eyebrow. The coast-to-coast fury in response to Stevie's arbitrary abolition of the long-form census caused nary a ripple in the Harper Regime's authoritarian stand.
