Jeffrey Simpson: When the facts don't support you, just make stuff up.

Are there any editors at the Globe and Mail?  I have to ask because in Jeffrey Simpson's column today he manages to get away with writing something that is a complete fiction*, and not on some minor obscure fact or even on something that could be considered passable as it may skirt on the edge of truthfulness either. No, Simpson totally gets the Liberal tax policy wrong and to make matters worse he does so while claiming to be correcting the record on the subject! 

From his column today:

"Falsely, the Conservatives are insisting that the Liberals want to “raise” taxes, whereas, in fact, the Liberals propose to forgo coming corporate income tax decreases, a quite different approach from raising taxes."

To put it simply: What Simpson wrote is total bullshit. 

From Liberal.ca: "The Liberal Party of Canada has put forward a motion today in the House of Commons calling on the Conservative government to reverse $6 billion in tax cuts for Canada’s largest corporations back to 2010 levels in the upcoming Budget."

There are of course numerous other examples available because the (already well known) Liberal tax policy does call for raising the corporate tax rate back to pre Jan 2011 levels (which IS a tax increase) and a simple Google search or even a quick look at numerous articles from Simpson's own paper easily proves. I am not going to waste my time listing them all as there is no need to do so, but I do have to ask; 

why didn't Simpson already know the readily available facts and just how does such a blatant error make its way past the editors, who should also know or if they didn't perhaps they could check, and into 'Canada's newspaper of record'?

 

BTW Jeffrey, adding the words "falsely" and "in fact" to a BS story does nothing to help its credibility, it only hurts the credibility of the writer; and that sir is a fact.

 

 

* and by complete fiction I do mean a lie.

Green Party Candidate and EDA President protest at Bev Oda's office....

and the media (in this case owned by theTorStar Corp) leave out the direct ties to the Green Party of the 2 protesters.

Link to story at durhamregion.com with the somewhat cryptic " With files from Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star" found at the bottom of the page. ( BTW Check out the picture; the arrows on their signs point the wrong way, LOL)


What the story left out:

Protester #1: Is Virginia Ervin, the "CEO Durham Federal Green Party Association and former GPC candidate for Durham.

Protester #2: Is Gail Bates, Green Party Candidate for Oshawa.


I guess they didn't think it relevant to reveal political ties when doing a political story.  Maybe it is something in the water but there seems to be a lot of that going around lately.

Is harassment too strong a word?

Breaking: Elections Canada brings administrative charges against CPC.   More from Brian Lilley here. National Post here.



Elections Canada loses in court, appeals the decision (but do not yet have a decision) but decide to lay administrative charges anyway. Unbelievable.


No, harassment is not too strong a word.   Could you imagine if a crown prosecutor tried to pull something like this off while they were waiting for an appeal verdict on what is in essence the same charge(s).    I think they just might find themselves before the appeal judge on this matter shortly to explain themselves.


Updated:

Previously: Conservatives win 'in and out' election financing case. (great link to Stephen Taylor)

Officially Screwed with some classic cinema on the subject.


Another case. This time Elections Canada went to court to prevent the Conservatives from returning money to the treasury.

Anymore questions as to why Ted Morton walked away?

Whether it is a 3.4 billion dollar deficit or a 6.1 billion dollar deficit, the Alberta Progressive Conservatives have made a colossal mess of the finances in what was the only debt free province in the country.

Time for someone new at the helm.


And I don't mean just a new leader either.

But I thought the Liberals were against money for prisons...

Somebody in the OLO really needs to get a memo out on current Liberal policy.

Liberal MP Scott Simms argues in favour of spending money on Newfoundland prison.




Related: The Iceman on support for prisons.

Michael Ignatieff: Polls don't matter. Liberal.ca: Yes they do.

Make up your mind already Liberals.

Yesterday: Michael Ignatieff: "Polls don't matter."  said on his 'working families' tour while talking to seniors (not working families), before talking to rich Liberal donors (also not working families) and high school kids. Yup, again not working families, but at least he didn't overtly lie to the high-school kids this time.

Today: Liberal.ca: A poll released late last week shows two-thirds of Canadians fear that Prime Minister Harper will compromise....citing a poll to help make their case.  BTW Liberals, if these negotiations are supposed to be so secret, how come you know so much about them?



And speaking of polls that Ignatieff will not believe in:

'Superstar’ status in global economic poll strengthens Harper’s hand.

Make of this what you will.

A visitor from earlier today who arrived at my blog in search of Linda Duncan.

Frank Graves: Your intellectual superior.

Pollster Frank Graves, through his Twitter account, tries to show those that commented on an article posted at The Pundits Guide that he is their intellectual superior.*


From the Twitter account of pollster Frank Graves as he replies to a question on the above mentioned article.

I am not a pollster but I am largely completley (sic) sure that 'largely completley' is really nothing at all and cannot be represented as a percentage or a number. But as I stated, I am not a pollster so I am relatively unfamiliar with the 'science' that is polling so I could be wrong.




Link to the Pundits Guide post mentioned above. (BTW a great article and discussion. Well worth the read as are most posts at the PG!)



* Normally I wouldn't call anyone out on spelling/grammar issues, as I myself have a nasty habit of messing up the English language on a regular basis, but the irony of someone calling others illiterate after they themselves made spelling errors and used a word having the exact opposite meaning of what they had intended to use was just too much to resist.  Well that and the fact that I think Frank Graves is an ass.

Heather Mallick : yes someone pays her.

If there was any lingering doubt about the Toronto Stars leanings, may I present Heather Mallick's latest in all of its smeartastic, fear mongering glory. 

Canadian democracy Soviet style.



Related: Background on the baseless allegations her article is based on, also from the Star; some coincidence that eh!  BTW Toronto Star, repeating baseless allegations over and over again does not make them any more true.

A treasure of the left.

CTV News gets caught again.

CTV News has once again been caught selectively cherry picking comments. The second time in little over 3 weeks.

The first happened late last month when CTV was caught selectively editing out the first half of a sentence where Michael Ignatieff had commented on US Secretary of Defense 'Gates', and second occurred yesterday when CTV was caught doing something similar. Only this time it was done to the comments of PM Harper but unlike the Ignatieff example, it wasn't done to make the PM look better.

In fact I would say it was a deliberate attempt at the opposite.


Brian Lilley has the details here.

The highlights:

CRAIG OLIVER: Raw street power for 18 days. Despite police intervention,
assault from Mubarak thugs, the cut-off of internet and cell phone
service, and a non-violent army standing by, the peaceful protestors
would not back down. Twice Mubarak went on television promising reforms.
But you the surging crowd would not believe him and continued to demand
his resignation. The president finally fled the city on Friday. The army
announced it would lead a national council and move the country toward
democracy. US President Barack Obama eloquently praised the outcome. 

BARACK OBAMA: The people of Egyptian have spoken, their
voices have been heard, and Egypt will never be the same.

OLIVER: And here is what Prime Minister Stephen Harper had to say.    ( NOTE: Craig compares what Obama said AFTER Mubarak left to what the PM said BEFORE Mubarak left.)

STEPHEN HARPER: I think the old expression is
they’re not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube on this one.


Here is what PM Harper actually said: (and remember this was BEFORE  Mubarak stepped down)

Well, first of all, you know, let me just be clear, as I’ve been clear every time I’ve answered this question, that the future of Egypt is for Egyptians to decide. What I think we all want to see and what I think is clear most of the people of Egypt want to see is a transition to a democratic Egypt. We want to see free and fair elections. We want to see the rule of law and stability. We want to see respect for human rights, including the rights of minorities, including the rights of religious minorities, and we want to see a government that will continue to respect peace treaties and seek peace in the Middle East. As I say, we are all seeing what’s happening. A transition is taking place in Egypt. That transition, in my judgment, there is no going back. I think the old expression, “They’re not going to put the toothpaste back in the tube on this one.” Our, you know, our strong recommendations to those in power would be to lead change: get in front of it, be a part of it, and make a bright future happen for the people of Egypt.


A textbook example of misleading news don't you think? 




Video:  Updated with PM Harper's entire remarks. Thanks Gabby!

BC Blue's thoughts.

Blue Like You.

Feeling paranoid? Have a baseless accusation to make? Contact the Toronto Star.

Because they will be happy to publish a story on it for you.

Check out this article written by Susan Delacourt/ Bruce Campion-Smith.


Highlights: ( alternate section title: find the speculation. Because there are few facts other than the on the record denial from the conservatives, but why let facts get in the way of speculation)


OTTAWA—Two University of Ottawa professors, vocal critics of the federal Conservative government, say they have become targets of a new political intimidation tactic, aimed at using their private, personal information against them.

...but Mendes and Attaran are convinced that it’s part of an academic witch hunt by the governing party — part of a wider campaign to silence university voices that may be critical of the Conservatives.

“I started thinking, my God, this is a McCarthy-like attempt to politically intimidate both of us,” Mendes said 

Neither Attaran or Mendes know the name or names of the requesters, but they have suspicions about the motive.

“It seems like an intimidation tactic,” said Attaran

“The information makes me think it’s somebody who is essentially trying to amass a file on critics of the government,” he said in an interview. “I have a feeling it’s political.”

“It certainly set off some alarm bells,” Attaran said. “Somebody wants their sticky fingers on me. I just don’t know who it is.

Mendes: “If I knew who the person was and the person was politically connected, I’d be furious.”
 
“They (U of O) seem to agree that it’s meant to clamp down on academic freedom in some way,’ he said.

Heather MacIvor, a professor at the University of Windsor and a longtime researcher and commentator on the Conservative party, said she believes that there is a concerted effort to put a “chill” on academic critics of the Harper government,

“This government has a hostility toward people who think for a living or people who write for a living,” MacIvor said

MacIvor said she’s been told that Conservative operatives refer to her as “Liberal hack” 


Here’s the thing. I don’t make that public. I don’t talk about the fact that I worked for the Liberals,” MacIvor said. “I can tell you that my employment record for Parliament Hill is (only) in the National Archives. It takes a lot of work to find it. Somebody found it.”

Nor did spokeswoman Andrée Dumulon want to speculate on why U of O has been receiving a disproportionate share of access requests in recent years. “We don’t know anything about the motives behind the requests,” Dumulon said.


I found one more in another story, this time in the Ottawa Citizen:  "It does have a distinct political whiff to it," Attaran said.   

------

An entire article based purely on speculation, feelings, and unconfirmed suspicions (unconfirmed suspicions seem to trump confirmed denials) published in the Toronto Star under a Susan Delacourt/Bruce Campion-Smith byline.

Not that I am surprised though, because with Delacourt we are talking about a 'journalist' who wrote another article based on the TOTALLY IMPOSSIBLE notion of a Tuesday (Federal elections are held on Mondays) March 29th election.


You know what they say: If it is published in the Toronto Star, it is probably bullshit.  ( If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.)

Related: Who is Amir Attaran?

Liberal supporter?  Follow the money.



Other opinions:

BCBlue gives his thoughts here.

Blue Like You.

The National Post.  ( I love the title: Possibly the lamest front-page “exclusive” in the history of Canadian journalism)

A Few Figs.


New Ekos poll out: CPC 37.3 LPC 24.8 NDP 14.2  GPC 10.7 BQ 9.9

Seems like the Liberals plan to steal the NDP platform has fallen flat.

Linda Duncan, call your office.

Linda Duncan, call your office because it looks like someone is using Parliamentary resources for partisan purposes which is, as you know, strictly against the rules.

Update: I have removed the 'it looks like" line from the original post. At first I thought that perhaps the use of the @parl.gc.ca email address might have been a simple error on behalf of the campus NDP, but that is not the case and I now have concrete proof that Linda Duncan's MP office is indeed using that account  for the partisan door knocking event(s) outlined below. (see end of post for additional info)

(Please note the contact email address, highlighted by me, in the following email)



Email from the UofA NDP Campus club:

Subject: U of A Campus NDP Meeting and Volunteer Requests.

Hello fellow campus New Democrats!

The U of A Campus NDP is planning to re-coordinate our efforts to get

New Democrats seen and heard on campus. If you're interested in being

involved in the club, including planning strategy and bringing in

speakers from the provincial and federal NDP, come to our upcoming

meeting:

(snip)

Also, it is quite likely we will have a federal election called in the

next month or two. Help your Edmonton NDP candidates get ready! Here

are some ways you can help get rid of Stephen Harper's Conservatives

and put progressive MPs in their places:

Re-elect Linda Duncan in Edmonton-Strathcona

Upcoming door-knocking sessions (open to everyone, regardless of

experience level):

Canvass in Windsor Park, Saturday February 12, 1pm:  Please meet at

home of Mary XXXXXX, one of the coordinators for the Windsor Park

team, XXXXX St

Canvass in Garneau/Strathcona, Sunday February 13, 1pm:  Please meet

at the home of Nancy XXXX, Garneau team coordinator, XXXXX,

XXXXXX.  The building has visitor parking and there

is also parking on Saskatchewan Drive.

Canvass in King Edward Park, Sunday, February 20, 1pm: Please meet at

the home of Melinda XXXXXX, 8XXX XX Avenue.

For more information or to sign up for any of the above sessions,

contact Erica Bullwinkle at DuncaL1@parl.gc.ca. 

(Snip)

Hope to see you soon on the campaign trail with us!

Joel French

U of A Campus NDP

(end)


While I don't know the exact reading of the House Board of Internal Economy's rules on the use of government resources for partisan purposes, I am pretty sure that the organizing of 3 separate and purely partisan door knocking events, using an email account from Duncan's Parliamentary office and on Government of Canada servers, fits into the category of things not allowed.


Time to call your office Linda, because someone there is breaking the rules.


The important info from an email ( on the subject of partisan door knocking) forwarded to me this AM. As with the campus NDP email I have removed all the non relevant personal identifiable information.


Updated: With permission, I have now enclosed the entire email body

Return-Path: (duncal1@parl.gc.ca)

Received: from mailer01.parl.gc.ca ([192.197.82.XXX])

Subject: RE: Sunday Feb 13 Canvass in Garneau/Strathcona

(body of email snipped to protect source, but related specifically to the campus email and partisan door knocking and the reply signed by Erica B, acting in the capacity of constituency assistant in Linda Duncan's Edmonton office)



Hi Ron – Terrific!  I will plan for three and if not everyone shows that’s OK.  I just like to make sure I have enough routes and kits.  See you then, Erica

Erica Bullwinkle

Constituency Assistant

Linda Duncan, M.P.

Edmonton-Strathcona

780-495-8404

Fax: 780-495-8403

www.lindaduncan.ndp.ca

Busted!

Smackdown: Ralph Goodale scores on his own net.

Earlier today Liberal MP Ralph Goodale was beside himself with what he called a "big score" for the Liberals against corporate taxes when he tweeted the following:

@RalphGoodale "Libs land a big score against Cons tax cuts for big corps. CFIB-VP says corp tax cuts are NOT in CFIB's Top-11 priorities."        
(FYI CFIB = Canadian Federation of Independent Business)


One small problem though; Ralph has the position of the CFIB totally wrong as explained by CFIB President Catherine Swift.

"As to any confusion over CFIB's support of continuing the corporate tax cuts, we unequivocally support them! The plan should be continued."

"The reason CFIB's so-called top-11 list did not include corporate tax cuts is that we considered them a done deal, not subject to change."

Sorry Ralph but the CFIB is in favour of the tax cuts and they unequivocally do not support the job killing Liberal tax increases you and your party are proposing to inflict upon Canadian business as we come out of a recession.

Your big score was into your own net Ralph.



Related:  The Liberal plan IS a tax increase.    Liberal tax policy folly.

Watch Iranium online for a limited time

Watch the controversial film Uranium Here or at the Iranium website .





Trailer:

Your Sunday morning chuckle.

"Federal Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff says he is confident his party can make inroads in Alberta."



And how does he know this?

Because Ignatieff knows what Albertans want.
ht JoshGroberman

 

Ignatieff stretches the truth on his position(s) on asbestos

Michael Ignatieff stretches the truth on his position on asbestos while happily attending a big bucks Liberal fundraiser hosted by a businessman leading the charge to reopen one of Canada’s last-remaining asbestos mines. (ironic no?)

"I think that Canada cannot export a product that is dangerous and cannot be handled safely,” Ignatieff said in Montreal. I’ve said that for a long time.”

Well he did say something like that in the past but on one occasion when questioned on that statement that he had made just days earlier, Ignatieff said something else completely.

"We have had 60 years of experience with this product. What I said in answer to a question is that we have an obligation to international agreements to the countries that we export to, to make them aware of the risks. That is all I said."

Causing Kathleen Ruff, senior adviser on human rights for the Ottawa-based think-tank Rideau Institute, to comment on Ignatieff's denial: "I knew he would be under pressure to retract what he said but that's an out-and-out lie"


Confused? Don't worry, you are not alone. Even Liberal candidates don't know Ignatieff's position.

Bérubé (the Liberal candidate selected for the Richmond-Arthabaska riding) argued that Ignatieff did not use the word asbestos and that he was talking hypothetically when asked the question by the Devoir.
“He did not state his opposition to the asbestos industry specifically, just to things that are toxic.”
“I don’t believe our asbestos is a toxic substance and the question of its safety should be examined by a committee after we are elected to government.”
Long-time Liberal Lucien Richard from Asbestos agreed with Bérubé that his party leader did not target the industry in the Devoir interview and hopes to discuss the matter further with Ignatieff.
“I want to hear him say it to me,” said Richard.
“I don’t believe he said the asbestos industry should be stopped.”
Local Liberal organizer André Beaumier said Ignatieff met with industry officials in early June and argues the industry will not be shut down by a future Liberal government.
“Our studies have shown that the fiber mined here is safe if handled carefully. “
“If Ignatieff said it was a dangerous industry, I don’t think he knew all the facts then. I am sure he will change his mind on this issue.”


and who can really blame them for not knowing Ignatieff's position, it is always hard to hit a moving target.