From the Anthill June, 29th

It has been awhile since I last made a blog entry due to the fact that I am trying to stay as far away from my computer as possible while the weather is nice and our short Canadian summer season starts. It is also the time of year where I enter into urban warfare or perhaps better described as the great undeclared battle with my neighbors over who has the nicest lawn. A sad state of affairs indeed, but it does keep me out of trouble and despite the fact that my wife has astutely pointed out that I seem to have morphed into my own yard obsessed father, I do enjoy spending as much time outside as possible putzing around the yard. Now if only I could find away to get rid of that fairy ring I could die a happy man.

This upcoming Canada Day marks the first day of the lowering of the much hated GST to 6% from the current 7%. Any day that my taxes are lower automatically makes it a great day, but add in some fireworks, a BBQ, some nice weather, and of course some fine icy cold Canadian made beer (now cheaper with the tax cut) it just might be the best Canada Day ever.


I was going to comment on a few other issues today, but screw it. I am in too good of a mood to bring myself down discussing all the crap out there, so instead I wish you all a good day and have a great long weekend!

So now it is off to the fridge for one of my last over taxed beers, and then outside to set up the sprinkler so the kids can run around and cool off a bit while I do some recon of my urban battlefield.

June 23rd Bits

Todd Bertuzzi was traded to the Florida Panthers

I think this was a wise move for both the Canucks and Bertuzzi as the Steve Moore incident will always be hanging over his head no matter how long he plays or where his career in the NHL takes him. Florida is not Canada, and he has a much better shot at making a fresh start down there then in Vancouver or anywhere else in Canada. I wish him all the best in Florida.

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Foreign Affairs Minister Peter MacKay does the right thing.

His response to the Iranian Justice Ministers claim of libel is classic.

"Take me to court. Come to Canada and face it in the justice system, if that's what he believes. I don't put a lot of faith in what the Iranian justice minister has to say, frankly."

This government continues to do the right thing and I think everyday more and more people are seeing the differences between how it is now vs how it was for 13 years of Liberal rule. Standing up for Canada was not just an election slogan.

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Opposition funk or finally facing reality?

I do not care what standards you are using, I doubt anyone could honestly grade the Liberals as being an effective opposition so far. They are in disarray and I do believe that it is going to get much worse before it gets better for the LPC.

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Martin's office gets an additional $140,000 to run his office

I understand that there might be some added costs with this rare type of situation, but I have just one question.

Just how many times did Mr.Martin show up in Parliament this past session?

More pay for less work. Buzz would be proud

Rona comes out swinging.

Today in question period Environment Minister Rona Ambrose was firing back at the opposition, who had tried to pass a motion calling for her to resign, by daring them to force an election over climate change.

Article here HT to the good Doctor

“I say, ‘Bring it on,’” Ambrose said Thursday in the House of Commons, responding to a question from the Bloc Quebecois. “Our government, in four months, is miles better than the 13-year Liberal record and the non-record of the Bloc.”

“This government has never rejected Kyoto. We have never pulled out of Kyoto. We are working within the Kyoto protocol,” she said before the House rose for its summer break. “What we are doing is putting a reasonable, achievable, affordable domestic plan in place that will ensure that the mess that the Liberals made out of Kyoto over the last 13 years will be addressed and we will make a success out of our made-in-Canada plan.”

I sure am going to miss this stuff as Parliament takes a break for the summer. While I may not be happy about the forced political detox, I think there will be more than a few Liberals who are very much looking forward to having some time off away the daily grind in Ottawa and their poor performance so far.

I hope they enjoy the summer because when they get back in the fall, I think things are only going to get worse for the LPC.

Interesting politics

I am not sure what the NDP were trying to do with their motion, in the Commons environment committee, which called for the resignation of Environment Minister Rona Ambrose. While the real reasons remain a mystery, it sure made for some interesting politics.

The NDP do not like Rona, we all get it, but a committee is not the place to decide who should be in cabinet, nor is it the place to play 'rate the minister'. No matter who is in government, some or dare I say most of the opposition are not going to be happy with the choice of cabinet ministers or agree with all of the governments policy. This is a given fact, so this motion was a joke and I am happy that Prime Minister Harper put a stop to the games by making the issue a confidence motion and that the Liberals came on side.

I am having a hard time believing that the NDP thought that this motion would succeed, which begs the question: Were the NDP really after Rona or were they trying to smoke out the Liberals into publicly supporting the government?

After the shots that the Liberals have taken at the NDP this week in question period it wouldn't surprise me that this might have been the intention all along. It would however surprise me if Stephen Harper and Jack Layton cooked this one up in a hotel room somewhere to screw the Liberals; but i figured I will just throw that one out there for the foil hat folks to ponder.

The spin on this has been entertaining to watch so far with the Liberals claiming that it was not because they are leaderless and do not want an election that they supported the
government, as well as the old tired accusations of it is the other guy who is in bed with the government. I get so confused with who is "in bed" with the CPC thing. The Libs say the NDP are in bed because they helped send the Martin government to the history books, the NDP say the Liberals are as they supporting Rona Ambrose, and both of them say the Bloc are because they were going to support the budget, but yet neither the Libs or the NDP voted against it.

Maybe it is time for a bigger bed.

Official notice

Edmonton will be closed today from the hours of 6:00 pm until approx 10:00 pm for game 7 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Thank you for your co-operation, and go Oilers!!!

Update: The city has now returned to normal operations, thank you.


Although I cannot say I am happy with the results from game 7, I can say that I am proud of what the Oilers have done in this years playoff run. About the only thing that was missing from this incredible story was a fairytale ending as the Hurricanes stepped up and wrote a different ending by being the better team.

The Oilers barely made the playoffs and were not given much of a chance of advancing far by anyone but their own, loyal unto the end supporters, yet they showed talent and true character by keeping the dream alive up until the final minutes of game 7.

Good job, and on behalf of hockey fans everywhere I thank you for making this years playoffs very entertaining.

June 15th thoughts

No reply yet from Elections Canada to my question, so it looks like I have to wait until Tuesday when I get a few hours to play phone tag with the bureaucracy known as the federal government before I can get what I need.

The Oilers have forced a game 6 and Carolina are strating to look a bit worse for wear. I do not think they look forward to seeing Torres again this Saturday night at Rexall., muhahahahaha (evil laugh)

One game at a time guys, it can be done.

Can someone explain to me why the GG couldn't attend the birthday celebrations for her boss? This is not cool on so many levels.

A few links HERE and HERE on our future if we keep going as we are. We have one advantage on our side on this subject; we can watch what is happening in Europe now and see what we are in store for if we don't wake up.

Edmonton city council are looking at giving themselves a wage and benefit increase, and of course they have an independant report that states they should have the increase, a report that supports their position is always convenient isn't it. From where I sit my taxes have gone up every year that I can remember, and I have my doubts that this raise is deserved when looking at some of the stuff my money has been spent on, but they have a study so it can be justified to the masses.

It is always entertaining watching how anyone justifies giving themselves a raise, and Ward 1 Councillor Linda Sloan made me laugh tonight with something she said on the local news. She pointed out that she could make more money working as a Registered Nurse than she does on council based on the number of hours she puts in. Holy crap!! You didn't know what kind of salary you would be making on council before you left the critically short staffed nursing profession for a career in politics? Oh hang on, you were a Liberal MLA before running for council, so why the comparison to what an RN makes when you could compare yourself to a MLA. Apples and oranges Linda, and if it is that important that your hourly wage be higher perhaps you can go back to hands on nursing care where that high wage is not only justified, but earned with hard work by nurses 24 hours a day, 365 days a year all over this province. With you being a former leader of a nurses union, I am surprised you would do this unless somehow you think councillors work harder than your average RN?

Go Oilers

I am awaiting a response to a question from elections Canada to a little question I had. When I get that back I might have something very interesting to post, but until then.....


GO OILERS!!!!!!!!

When did it happen?

I know that not many people are even paying attention to the leadership race other than, a hungry media, political junkies like myself, and a hand full of children enthralled with a certain candidate, but from what I have seen so far, this is not the same Liberal party that I once voted for. (A big confession that I hope will not cause myself to lose my key to the BT bathroom)

My question is this:

When did the LPC get taken over by their 'more left leaning' members?

The enemy within

On CBC earlier tonight The National had a segment entitled "The Enemy Within". It dealt with what Britain and Holland are doing about the 'Islamic threat' and how multiculturalism has failed as a policy; all from the perspective of a Canadian and our 'views' on the subject. I figured it was going to be a fluff piece or a slam so I figured I would raise my blood pressure and watch it.

Was I surprised. Yes Mark Kelley went in with all the 'liberal/Canadian' values you could expect from a CBC correspondent and he was upfront about it, even throwing out all the cliche's about how Canadians think multiculturalism is above reproach, and to be against it would be racist. From what I just wrote you might figure how the report would have progressed, but much to my surprise it was a very well done piece about how the situation in Europe is forcing changes in opinion on multicuturalism, integration and immigration policy.

The part that I found interesting was that our Canadian values, many of which were borrowed from Europe, were the same values that many of those interviewed once held, but the reality of what we see in all of our daily papers has made some of the most tolerant people on earth change their views on multiculturalism. Dutch MP Geert Wilders did a good job of summing it up nicely after being told that they have racist policies and that he has lost his tolerance; 'if we want to keep our tolerance...after decades of ignorant policy....we should learn to be intolerant to the intolerant, and if we do that we can keep our tolerance.'

This sounds like great advice that I am sure will be called racist by the left, you know the ones that would be the first to lose rights under Islamic law but yet support the terror from within, but if the Islamists can do this to the very tolerant Dutch peoples opinions, it deserves a re-think while we still have the chance.





Here is a link that I think will disappear tomorrow. I anyone can find a more permanent link it would be appreciated.

Link

Hello, this is reality calling........wake up!

I was away from all things electric for a few days and have yet to comment on the foiled terror attacks this past weekend.

My first thoughts were of the good job that the various law enforcement agencies did on this matter. It is hard to quantify the possible effects of what could have been had these clowns managed to succeed in their plans; property damage can be costed but not the effects of the unknown number of lives saved. Thank you.

So much has been blogged on the subject that it will take me some time before I can view what others are saying on all sides of the political spectrum, and I can comment more, but I will leave you with another of my initial thoughts.

Is this the wake up call or do we have to wait for one of these groups to succeed before we end all the political correct bullshit and confront the problem

NDP MP voting against the gun registry.

This is the kind of thing an MP should be doing, that is to KEEP his promise to those who elected him.

Something you do not see everyday from the opposition benches, and I just hope that that JL sees it the same way and doesn't boot him out one way or another.

Think of the Children

A few examples of how liberals "think of the children'.

The Liberal Daycare (non) plan. The nanny state truly becomes the nanny state as the Liberals think that somehow unionized daycare workers can do a better job than parents. Thinking of the children and how they can get their hands on them early.

The age of consent: The Liberals voted against raising the age of consent in the past on more than one time which is in opposition to general public opinion and numerous childrens advocacy groups. Thinking of the children takes on an entire different meaning.

Money: It looks like the Liberal party condones children as young as 11 years old donating money to leadership contenders. Think not only of the children but also of their money.

Child Porn: Remember the John Robin Sharpe case, and how the court rewrote the law and applied a loophole for artistic reasons. Then Federal Justice Minister Anne McLellan said she was 'delighted' the top justices upheld the law – calling the exceptions "extremely narrow" and the ruling "a clear victory for the children of our country." I am sure many who often think of children were very happy with this and your decision NOT to change the law to plug the loopholes.


Sentence too harsh: In a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday, the court ruled the man's crimes were not among the worst sexual assaults ever committed, and agreed to reduce his sentence from 15 years to nine. This from a Liberal appointed Judge who is thinking that child rape is not violent "There was no violence, such as gagging, threatening or hitting the child," Judge Lise Côté wrote.


So when you think of the Liberal Party of Canada, think of the children or how THEY think of the children.

The future with the Liberal daycare plan

And you thought this was a disruption

This would be the future for childcare in Canada if the Liberal childcare (non) plan was introduced. Unionized childcare workers could pull the plug at anytime and disrupt the lives of countless parents and children with strikes like the TTC fiasco earlier this week. Of course they would be "doing it for the children'' and never for their own benefit, but that would be the future if the LPC plan ever beacme reality.