The PM's secret and other such oddities from yesterday.

.

I see that there is breaking news that the PM Harper may be influencing the Democratic nomination. Unfreaking believable! I mean if it was to sabotage Obama, the only possible conclusion would be that PM Harper is keeping a dirty little secret. He is a Hillary supporter.

Come clean Mr.Harper, and reveal your secret agenda. Are you indeed a Hillary supporter, and when did you know it? Also why, after so clearly leaning towards Edwards early on, have you decided to switch teams now? The Canadian public supports honesty, time to be honest with the Canadian public sir.

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The day gets more strange as after discovering that my PM supports Hillary Clinton, I then learn that my Conservative MP supports Jack Layton. From The Phantom Observer "Does Mike Lake support the NDP" When will this madness end!!

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Oddities of science from Global TV reporter Mike Drolet as he told us on the Global National News of March 5, 2008 that "..there is still six weeks left until spring", also noting near the end of his story that "..with more than a month left of winter chances are good we are not out of the woods yet."

Hmm, maybe something has changed but.....

Link to the Global story : note link is time sensitive. Story titled "Stormy Weather"


------------

And some political oddness as Jack Layton tables the NDP non confidence motion . Why the NDP want to force Canadians into an election at a time their numbers bleed makes little sense, but I think Jack is putting the heat to Dion with this motion. Anyone with any type of political instinct should see that, but it is the Liberals we are talking about here.

Still on the motion(s)

Have you read some of this stuff in the motions?


.. this government’s budgetary policies have been marked by an unbalanced approach of corporate giveaways to the big banks and big polluters and have failed to address the priorities ordinary Canadians care about, such as health care, housing, infrastructure, manufacturing and forestry, climate change, child care, Aboriginals, women, seniors, poverty..

..this government has failed to introduce policies which will diminish the inequality between men and women, in particular by its refusal to provide adequate resources and policies governing child care; legal assistance; long-term care; home care; health care; support for women's equality seeking groups; support for seniors; support for Aboriginal and minority women; pay equity; reform of employment insurance; support for preventing violence against women; public housing and transportation and other services so vital to the hard working women of this country.


It is nice to know that I can always count on Jack Layton to bring me back to reality from such a day of strange happenings. I can always count on the fact that Jack Layton is and will always be a socialist.

-------------

Latest update: Huh? The Liberals have a non confidence motion of their own against the Bloc and NDP! Dion seems to have lost it completely.

I haven't seen anyone comment on this yet on Liblogs, but I await the attempt to spin this as Dion somehow showing leadership. Good luck with that one btw.

Some comments on the motion from our liberal friends at liblogs. If this is any indication of how the devoted feel, Stephane and his impotent leadership is in even more trouble than many think.

15 years of Liberal domination ended for Edmonton Millwoods

Congratulations to Carl Benito for his win in Edmonton Millwoods over incumbent Liberal MLA Weslyn Mather. Carl worked very hard and seemed to be everywhere in the riding during the campaign and in the end his hard work paid off as Millwoods has elected their first PC MLA in 15 years.

As a quick side note, Carl Benito has again pledged to give his salary this year to a scholarship program to help area youths. That is approx $75,000 out of his own pocket.

Well done Mr. Benito.


And Weslyn, if the way that you treated myself with a total lack of response to emails sent to both of your MLA offices was representative of the way you dealt with your other constituents; the loss was well deserved.

Zytaruk wrong. There was only 1 meeting.

Statement from Mr. Dan Wallace (Chuck Cadman's assistant)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 2, 2008

Today Mr. Wallace issued the following statement:


“The May meeting date included in a soon to be released book about Chuck Cadman is inaccurate. Unfortunately, because of that error, some media are now reporting that there were two meetings, one on May 17 and another on May 19, 2005, between party officials - Doug Finley and Tom Flanagan - and Chuck Cadman. For the record, there was only the one meeting between my former employer, Chuck Cadman, with Doug Finley and Tom Flanagan and it took place in his private office on May 19th. As I have stated publicly last week, I was outside that room and not privy to the details.”

It's a Scandal!!

Liberal Strategy 101: When you got nothing else, or you need to take the eyes of the nation away from internal Liberal woes, cry scandal.

Cadscam is just another such example. This story is still developing and I will update as more facts come up, but are there any takers on how this one will turn out?

No, I do not claim to have the spooky Kreskin like powers of Rick Mercer and know the future, but it feels like I have seen this movie before. In fact I think I have seen this same plot line many times over the last 2 years in MSM/LPC productions.

A short history of Liberals crying scandal with related items.

Day 1, Feb 2006.
The original scandal as Emerson crosses. Some facts, and the end result.


Oct 2006.
Libs go after Darrel Reid, Rona Ambrose's chief of staff. End result, eating crow


Feb 2007. A short break from crying scandal but ramping up on the rhetoric and The Campaign of Fear™.


March 2007.
Dion promises to take the high road. Results, still unfolding...

The Big Box Scandal. So good the Liberals called out the cameras. Video here. Time line and end result.


April 2007.
Afghan Prisoners, part 1 of many. Result and some background. Related on the mission itself.


May 2007.
The Harper Hockey scandal. Result, Denis Coderre shines.


Oct 2007.
In and Out or "by far, the largest political scandal in Canadian history." Related info and why the story went nowhere.


Nov2007 until present.
Mulroney-Schreiber, or the little scandal that couldn't. But the LPC are still trying. Related, this should be a much bigger story than it is, but in Liberal Land talking about killing someone is not as bad as slurring an ex girl friend.


Dec 2007.
James Moore's laptop porn scandal. Result, after some initial confusion we get apologies.


Feb 2008, a very busy month for scandal and smear.
Porn redux. Result, Cherniak looks foolish yet again.

The Facebook Scandal. This is so bad a retraction and apology was issued by Cherniak.


Not a complete list, but I think you can see the theme quite clearly which brings us back to present day March 2008.
Cadscam. Result = (place your bets*)

*Non monetary cyber bets of course; don't want to start a scandal by using the blog for illegal gambling.

The Supreme Court backs mandatory sentences

The SCOC has issued a landmark ruling defending Parliament's right to create mandatory minimum criminal sentences, and to have those measures enforced by reluctant judges.

It couldn't have come at a better time as the unanimous decision, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, comes only a day after the Harper government's new crime law -- which includes higher mandatory prison terms for certain gun crimes -- received royal assent from the Governor-General.

What were these guys thinking

Two masked and machete-wielding men who barged into a club in Sydney, Australia, couldn't have picked a worse night for their robbery -- a monthly meeting of bikers.

Read more here.

Rick Mercer, modern day political Nostradamus.

Rick Mercer must be some kind of seer of the Canadian political scene, and frankly his Nostradamus like powers scare me.

----------

It is the only logical explanation, otherwise how could the second segment from The Rick Mercer Report that aired earlier tonight on the CBC possibly be explained?

Sometime recently he had the "vision", perhaps while he was in the centrifuge or perhaps it was in a dream, but at some point Rick Mercer foresaw the future. Then he rented a choir, some acrobats, a couple of unicycle riding jugglers, procured some low budget but flashy pyrotechnic devices, rehearsed what by Canadian television standards would have to be called an extravagant musical number, filmed it all, did the editing and still managed to get it to air the same day as the Federal Budget comes out.

How did he know Dion would again cave? I mean with Liberal MPs, all of of the bloggers who thought otherwise, , and MSM pundits thinking an election was near; how could Rick Mercer know this in advance? And will he promise to only use this power for good and not evil? That my friends is the real question.


I think after I call CSIS, I am going to line my walls with tinfoil and hope Rick Mercer doesn't mind being exposed.

Al

Update: Thanks to Christian Conservative for finding this on YouTube

Private Members Bill C-423

Here is another reason why I continue to support my Member of Parliament, Mike Lake. His private members Bill C-423, an Act to amend the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

In a nut shell Bill C-423 will use a carrot by adding a ‘referral to substance abuse treatment’ to the current list of extrajudicial measures available to police officers when dealing with young persons, particularly first-time offenders accused of committing non-violent offenses, and a stick because if a young person referred to a treatment program does not complete it, the police officer may initiate judicial proceedings.

In my opinion Mikes bill is well balanced change to the current act that will not only give the police more options when dealing with young offenders who may have substance abuse issues, but will give the young offender an opportunity to help themselves.

So far the Bill has received support from members from all sides of the House, and currently is awaiting its turn before the Justice Commitee.

You can read some of the debate on Bill C-423 here.

The scoop, MSM style.

The rumour that Hunter from Climbing out of the dark was going to break a big, yet strangely familiar story on how the media tweaks the news; was confirmed to Albertaardvark by an insider at the MSM, who stated they had gotten this exclusive off the record comment from their deeply placed source within the LPC.

The source went on to say......

Will history repeat itself....

..and this time will more people be paying attention?


Danish newspapers reprint controversial cartoons with a history.


The outrage starts .








(AFP RIZWAN TABASSUM)



Governments get involved.

Telling comments are made, and editorials are written.

“There could have been other ways to do it without the drawing, which I personally do not like,” Abdul Wahid Petersen, a moderate imam and a Protestant who converted to Islam, told a foreign news agency.
He said, “It’s not a good idea to reproduce it and the newspapers could have defended the cartoonist differently, without resorting to provocation.” “It’s good to have a dialogue on freedom of expression, but you shouldn’t seek out a confrontation from the start,” he said.

Children's television characters get in on the action.

People eat less cheese.

and people die. (no link yet, but.........)




All because of these cartoons.



And there are still people who don't get it, even though they all have seen it before.

This changes nothing

According to the National Post, the much offended Syed Soharwardy has dropped the charges against Ezra Levant after he had published those wacky Mohammad cartoons.

While I am happy for Ezra not to have to deal with this sham of a complaint, I am a bit saddened that this never made its way into a REAL court where good old section 13 could be dealt with for what it is; an unconstitutional limit on free speech. That will have to wait for another day, but until then, and I think it will be sooner rather than later, the battle for free speech goes on.



The shotgun has more here as well.

Advice for Warren Kinsella

Warren, some friendly advice from a fellow blogger: If you happen to get an email from a Nigerian Prince asking for your help to pay some fees so he can access his multi million dollar fortune, a large portion of which he is willing to share with you; hit the delete key, because it is a scam.

After what happened earlier this week, I thought you could use the tip.

----------------------

Und vie have vays of making you edit your blog

First they came for Blazing Cat Fur,
but I remained silent; because I am not a cat.

Then they came for Mike Brock,
but again I did not speak up; for I am not a Brock.

When they came for me, there was no one left to speak out.

----------------

The litmus test

My little litmus test:


Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act. I know where I stand. Where do you stand?

-----------------------------------------------

Red or blue? For free speech or against it. There really is no gray area with this one, and those who claim otherwise will be exposed for what they really are, and no amount of spin will change the colour of the paper.

Kinsella, Cherniak, and a few others have already been exposed with this test, and although they all are claiming to be defenders of your rights, their actions on this have revealed the truth about where they stand on the most basic of our rights as Canadians.

Free speech is not a partisan issue, and those that want to play political games with this are going to be paying a heavy price for doing so, not just today but for a very long time to come.

A bad day for Bob Rae.

Stephane Dion's choice as foreign affairs critic for the Liberal Party of Canada, the unelected Bob Rae, had what might be called his worst day since his defeat as Ontario Premier in the 1995 elections where, as leader of the NDP, he took his party from a majority of 74 seats to a dismal 17.

Today Bob Rae not only came to the realization that Canada may indeed be involved in counter insurgency operations in Afghanistan, he also showed the country that he has no clue about how military operations are carried out, nor about just how far a government should be micro managing those operations from Ottawa.


If the Liberals are deluded enough to think that they should be directing the daily combat actions of our military from Ottawa, than I hope the troops do get pulled out of Afghanistan because these arrogant clowns in the LPC will end up costing lives on the ground. Canada has a very well trained and responsible Armed Forces who know how to handle their military operations, and they do so without broadcasting their plans and protocols to the world. How they quietly handled the prisoner issue goes to enforce just how professional our troops are in the job they have been tasked with by our government, NATO, and the UN.


Combat operations should not be run in public by consensus, nor should they be run from a classroom run by a nerdy professor with Marxist ideas. Only fools, incompetents, or ones who choose to play politics on the backs of our military would 'think' otherwise.

Which of these would better explain the actions of either Bob Rae or Field Marshall Dion? Either way, the Liberals have again shown Canadians why they are not capable of forming a government for some time to come.

BIG UPDATE: Dion knew about this a week ago. Watch the Liberals try now to spin and explain Dion and Iggy both knew about the change yet allowed Bob Rae and the rest of the attack machine to try to embarrass the Harper government.

As I said, playing politics.

-----------

Very late update: Canadian Cynic linked to this post 3 times to incite and spin this non issue.

Links at the bottom of the comments.........But be warned that CC uses his free speech rights to offend people and not work friendly. It is strange considering that CC goes out of his way to offend while he supports the HRC's abusing the free speech rights of Levant and Steyn.

Hey Pablo, is there something you want to tell us?

The CBC has acknowledged that Krista Erickson did indeed feed questions to a Liberal MP that were used in questioning Brian Mulroney during the ethics committee hearings, and Krista now has been taken off the Ottawa beat and sent to Toronto.

So Pablo, you had stated that it was you who wrote those questions yourself when speaking about this event shortly after it became public. Were those statements correct or ........

WTF is wrong with the media in this country

Seriously, would someone like to please explain to me why, arguably the most important story in years regarding our basic rights is being ignored by the main stream media in Canada? If there is a valid reason why the news isn't 'all Ezra, all of the time', I would like to hear it, because not only does this sham proceeding against Ezra effect all Canadian citizens right to free speech and expression, but it also greatly effects the very heart of what the free press/MSM is, and supposedly stand for in a democracy such as Canada.

This should be a bread and butter issue with the Canadian MSM, but yet most of them remain strangely silent as a fellow magazine publisher gets hauled before a government sanctioned body to explain why he published news worthy cartoons in a news magazine, and explain to them what his motives and thoughts were when he did so. Something that threatens the very existence of the free press/MSM is all but being ignored by those that it may have the most profound effect on. I don't even have a word for something like this, but unbefuckinlievable comes close to my thoughts on the entire thing.

As of this writing, a Google news search only produces 54 hits for Ezra Levant. 54!!! 78 with duplicates included and the real sad thing is that almost half of these new stories come from sources OUTSIDE of Canada. If you take out the National Post, Sun Media, and the now online only Western Standard stories from the list, and you are left with a little over a dozen hits on the HRC/Levant story. A quick search of our taxpayer funded CBC News site gives a grand total of zero ( I guess Rex's rant does not qualify as news to Google), and an exact same total of zero hits can be found over at the CTV News website.

Bloggers have again jumped in where the MSM fear to tread, which is to be expected as most of us can see the potential threat in all of this to what we do in our spare time. Even those opposed to Ezra because of his political leanings or past writings should conclude that their own freedom to write that scathing post about Levant, is the exact same right that Ezra exercised when he decided to publish the cartoons.

Freedom of thought, speech, and ideas form the backbone of what it means to live in a free society, and when those basic rights are attacked, threatened or even possibly curtailed, the rest of our rights of which we should hold so dear, are very much in danger themselves of being removed all together.


Again, where is the media on this?

Mayor Miller calls for a ban on private vehicles in Toronto

Top Stories: January 18, 2011

Toronto: Mayor Miller today called on the majority Harper government to ban driving and the private ownership of automobiles in the City of Toronto. "There is no reason for any citizen to drive a vehicle within the City of Toronto". Miller said, "It is a crime to the environment and upon every last breathing creature on the earth to do anything else but take the TTC,"adding later that "We have spent billions of tax payer dollars on the TTC to save you from having to feel the guilt of driving."

Critics of the plan, upon having had their criticism scrutinized and approved for publication by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, noted that the excess costs could bankrupt the federal government which currently pays for approximately 90% percent of the GTA budget. "We cannot expect everyone in the country to pay for the utopia that we all know is Toronto." said a spokesman for the critics, being careful to note that at no time did he bring up the issue of private ownership rights as that would be against progressive thinking and be wrong.

Miller quickly shot back that because of the cost savings to the average auto owning citizen; his plan would free up about $500 extra dollars a month that could now be taxed to pay for the added expenses. Miller proudly exclaimed, "The people will be happy to pay extra money if it means they no longer have to worry about driving or the environmental damage they are causing." A consensus of economists praised the idea and supported the mayors numbers citing that $6000 is actually much less than what your average car owner pays in a year for the privilege of driving. "There is plenty of room there for even more taxes."


Calgary: Ezra Levant was denied parole today after he again refused to admit to the thought crimes he was convicted for in 2008. According to witnesses at the hearing, just before Mr Levant was carried away by prison guards for refusing to comply he gave a nasty tongue lashing to members of the parole board saying that they................

I support free speech

I have had no time to blog for weeks now, mostly because I have been working way too many hours, but I am making some time today before I head out to work again tonight to throw my support behind Ezra Levant and the right to free speech.

Ezra, take heart knowing that not only were you correct in publishing the cartoons, but that you have the support of Canadians everywhere who truly value their/our rights.

Bob Rae, best wishes for the upcoming year 2002.

Yes that is correct, 2002.

Either Bob Rae must believe that we are about to into the year 2002, or he is totally incompetent at his job of being the Liberals foreign affairs critic.

Bob Rae (Globe and Mail)

“If we continue down the path that (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper wants to take us on, we're really going to be essentially engaged in a counterinsurgency campaign in Afghanistan, and I think that's extremely unwise,” he said.

“I don't think that's where people want to be. I think they want to see us in a peacekeeping role. I think they want to see us in a peacemaking role.”

Is Bob Rae, a person whose job it is to know, the only person in Canada to not know the reality of what are troops are and have been doing in their NATO lead and UN approved role in Afghanistan since January of 2002? Hey Bob, I mean you must know, it was in all the papers and it was the current group of people you hang around with that first sent our troops there to begin with.

Either that or maybe Bob Rae does think it is still 2001. Possible, because he does seem to have issues with his memory in remembering other things from the past as well.

This is almost too unbelievable for words, the Liberal critic for foreign affairs has shown himself to be a clueless idiot and he is not called on it by the press. Do you think if any conservative said anything even half as stupid as what Bob Rae said that we wouldn't all be hearing the screams of the Liberals in every MSM source out there? Yes, me to.

H/T Freedom is my Nationality.

Having it both ways.

How is it possible, as Dion says, to have Canada make mega tonnes of money and not harm our economy while we reduce our CO2 emissions, while at the same time accepting the argument from China and India that they must be allowed special circumstances because it will harm their respective 'developing' economies?

So which one is it Stephane? If you believe in one, you can't believe in the other.


Or maybe you can if you just make stuff up to suit your needs.

Making stuff up; Dion Style

I just finished watching Stephane Dion doing the year end interview thing with Graham Richardson for CTV's Mike Duffy Live.

What a revealing interview it turned out to be.

It would seem that Dion, the self proclaimed hero and environmental champion, either has no clue about CO2 and Norway, or he does know and just decided to lie to the nation and hope nobody was paying attention. It is really too bad for old Stephane that some people were.
HT CBL

In a nutshell Dion stated that achieving the now impossible to achieve Kyoto targets would not be a burden on the economy but rather a boom for it, sort of rephrasing his earlier mega tonnes of money BS. When asked to give an example of another resource based (oil) economy the intellectual named Norway, a country that has increased it's emissions by 25% since 1990 and is now over it's goals by more than 30%.

How could Dion, a so called academic be this wrong with the facts on an issue that he claims is so important to him?

He didn't know and made it up or he did know and just lied about it. Either way he looks like a fool. Are you Liberals really sure that this is the guy you want to go to the polls with whenever the Liberals stop "postponing" the election? Because if what he said during the interview is any indication of what he is going to say during an election campaign, you had better start looking for a good venue for the next LPC leadership convention soon.


While we are on the topic of making stuff up, I see Dion again tried to smear the PM with a quote taken completely out of context, the 'so called greenhouse gases' quote. This originally came about when PM Harper was asked about how the governments environment plan differed from the Liberals plan: . "As we implement our clean-air agenda, the focus is a little different than the other parties. They focus only on so-called greenhouse gases and ignored smog entirely." He was speaking about smog and air pollution being included in the CPC plan, not about whether or not GHG were real or not. BTW these 4 words are very often used by many others as well.


So either Dion was listening to the likes of Cherniak who tried to run with the smear and does not know the true nature of the quote(that might explain the need for a new communications director for the LPC) or he does know and chose to use it anyway in an effort to deceive for political gain. Again, either way it does not look good on Dion with his promise to run a clean campaign.

Not that you can ever believe any Liberal promise, campaign or otherwise, but this stuff is ridiculous.


I also wanted to get into how the Liberals can possibly reconcile their ideas that reducing CO2 will benefit the economy, while at the same time not wanting to put the 'economic burden' of reducing CO2 on 'so called' developing countries such as China and India, but my time is short. Though somehow I am sure there will be more than a few opportunities to do so in the next few months as Liberals never seem to think anybody notices these contradictions in their policies.

Update from the comments: Norway's emissions raise more than 80% not 30%.
In graphic form at CBL

And now in video, also courtesy of Canadian Blue Lemons



.

Did the CBC write some of the Liberals Questions to BM today?

Watching CTV after the testimony of former PM Brian Mulroney, Duffy was speaking with former Liberal MP Jean Lapierre who stated that he was told that the CBC wrote some of the questions used by some of the Liberals at the committee hearing today. Those questions dealing not with the airbus, Schrieber fiasco, but with the proposed cellphone spectrum auction.

Could this be true?

Update: Dean Del Mastro on Duffy states that a Liberal researcher has confirmed the story.

Stephen Taylor has some more info here.

Dec 20th Update: Why did Pablo ask such a detailed question in english?





More to come, that is if the MSM feel like looking into their own backyard.

Update 23:45 : not much from MSM on this YET, but many (not Liberal) bloggers are:
As usual Joanne gives us her take, as well as Sandy here, and Angry gives us his view and has included video of our friend Pablo asking the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney the off topic questions. Watch how Paul Szabo justified this line of questioning as being in the mandate of the ethics committee. The same questions that may have been suggested by the CBC!

Saturday update: It looks like this is finally getting some attention, Joanne has a nice roundup of links here.


Dec 18th update: Another response from the CBC and they do indeed think it is a big deal, so how is it that some Liberals can continue to claim otherwise?

All Aboard

"You can have unilateral disarmament. Some might call it noble -- but it's not necessarily smart.''

John Baird nails it with that quote. Unless China, the US, and India cut their emissions the "climate change" problem will not get solved but rather only become worse with time. It is simple math; yet the climate change consensus crowd who are always shoving 'science' down everyones throats ignore the only real pure science of the argument, the math.

BTW, how can a country that has 1.4 trillion dollars sitting in the bank, and that amount growing by 1 billion per day, be considered poor and a developing country? 1 billion per day!! Perhaps if China were serious about reducing CO2 emissions they could spend their own money on the problem rather than the 15 billion a year they get from indulgences the carbon trading market, and that money could go to a country that will actually reduce their emissions rather than increasing them like China does.

If the goal is CO2 reduction, China has to be on board.

Karlheinz Schreiber names Doucette

Oh the humanity! I can't wait to see what he says next week.

______________

Update:
.
Watch as NDP MP Pat Martin on CBC Politics seems to think Jerry is involved in this as well.
video here approx 39:00 (note video expires in 1 week)

Why a Public Inquiry is Still Required

Because a Canadian citizen, as well as a former Prime Minister, have been persecuted by not only the Liberal Party, using the powers of government to do so, but also the press in what looks like a political witch hunt from the start.

Let's give the 2 key players what they deserve and have both called for, a public inquiry into how these false stories and political allegations have ruined their names, and why.

So why are we doing this again?

I had my doubts about the need to have an inquiry into the Schreiber/Mulroney affair in the first place, and after today it is looking more and more like this has been a big waste of time and money.

What is being investigated? And why?

Airbus: there is no connection at all to Mulroney and Airbus. Everyone including the RCMP and the Liberal Party of Canada agreed that there was no such connection.

June 23, 1993, mere days before Mulroney left office: Schreiber has stated that an agreement in principle was made with Mr. Mulroney, but NO money changed hands and no money amounts were discussed.

The 2+ Million dollar defamation settlement: This is in regards to the allegations that Mr. Mulroney was involved somehow in Airbus, and everything that exists out there supports Mr. Mulroney's position on this matter that he was not involved.

300K in cash: While this amount of cash could raise questions, there is no law against using cash in this country. Out of curiosity, at what amount of cash does this become an 'issue'? $20, $200, $2000, $200,000 ?

Mulroney's statement about his dealings with Schreiber: Schreiber confirmed that what Mr. Mulroney said was true, and that he did not have any dealings with KHS on Airbus or any other matter at that time.

The letter to the PMO: This never was an issue as the Privy Council already cleared the matter up.

Again, where is the crime and why is the government investigating?

----------------

Update: It was a good day and a bad day.

It looks like a good day for KHS as he was granted bail and can now sleep at home in relative peace, although the media will be all over him for the foreseeable future it will be better than jail.

And someone who is not having such a good day would be Liberal MP Robert Thibault. So Robert, how is that defamation suit from Mr. Mulroney coming along?

Dion's best line of the week.

"It was an attempt of sabotage," Dion said. "Fortunately, nobody in the world knew who was Jack Layton."

This from a speech to a gathering of LPC Riding Presidents in Montreal on the weekend as Dion expressed distaste for the partisan conduct of NDP Leader Jack Layton, who showed up at a Montreal climate change conference chaired by Dion in 2005 and predicted the conference would fail due to Canada's lack of credibility on the issue.

Funny coming from a man who is going to Bali, uninvited to scream @ anyone who will listen to him about Canada's 'lack of credibility' on the issue. Fortunately for us, few will know who he is, but somehow I do expect Dion will get much more press in Bali than old Jack did when the conference was held in Canada. Why is that?

To the 307 Liberal Riding Presidents in Montreal....

Please have some sympathy for this man, Allan Armsworthy, as you party put on a brave face to cheer on your "leader" this weekend in Montreal.

After all, poor Allan has nothing to do until after the next election when the good Liberal supporters of Central Nova will again get to choose for themselves a Liberal candidate; instead of having Dion unilaterally decide that the Liberals are no longer a national party and that they should support a nazi obsessed person from another political party instead.

So please do enjoy your party, but also remember to take some time to think of Allan and all those other abandoned Liberals in Central Nova.

-----------------

A bit of NON truth in advertising from the Liberal Party of Canada website linked above:

Central Nova:

"Your riding is currently not held by a Liberal Member of Parliament. Here are five ways you can help the Liberal team win back your riding today.

1. Join the Liberal Party and help us make Canada a better place.
2. Become a volunteer and create change in your own neighborhood.
3. Make a donation to help us fund our next election campaign.
4. Spread the word about the Liberal vision for Canada with your friends and neighbours.
5. Stay informed — sign up for Liberal e-news and learn more about what the Liberal team is doing for you."

So exactly how are the Liberals possibly going to "win back" the riding if they have no candidate running? Maybe they should add a number 6 to the above list.

6. Get rid of Stephane Dion and bring democracy and leadership back to the LPC.

Now there is some truth in advertising.



Al

All you can eat pasta, cooked up by KHS

I noticed that a few people have jumped all over the new revelation by Karlheinz Schreiber that there was no pasta business "All this nonsense with the pasta business is five years later...."It had nothing to do with any pasta business.... It didn't simply exist...."Pasta had nothing to do with it. It was for light armoured vehicles."

Interesting because this is what he said under oath in testimony in 2004, Mr. Schreiber said under oath: "I was involved in the pasta business and enriched Durham semolina products and this is the moment when I spoke to him about Archer Daniels. And he provided me with some material on it," he said.

According to an affidavit he swore on Nov. 7, Mr. Schreiber expected the former prime minister to help establish a light armoured vehicle factory in Nova Scotia. When the deal fell through after the Liberals took power, Mr. Schreiber said -- up until yesterday -- that he then expected Mr. Mulroney to help him promote a business he incorporated in June, 2001, called Reto Restaurant Systems International Inc.

Source

Another day, another bit of sworn testimony changed to suit the current needs of KHS.

Entertainment tonight from the ethics commitee, sort of

Thanks Mary. I am standing a few feet away from the doors to the ethics committee room where Karlheinz Schreiber is expected to testify later today, and all I can say is that you can feel the excitement in the air as people start to file by on the red carpet. It is a who's who of media celebrities as they gather to cover an event that the average Canadian could care less about. One thing you can say about the Canadian MSM Mary, is they know where their bread is buttered.

The security is tight today as the throng of reporters busily attempt to interview anyone who walks by, or in the event no one is walking by, themselves. I just talked with the CBC's Nancy Wilson about today's events which see called "very interesting", and we both agree that their has not been this much excitement among the press in Ottawa since the PM had his last press conference. I wanted to speak with Blogging Tory Stephen Taylor, but some members of the PPG ran him off with a pitchfork when they spotted him earlier in the day, so he was unavailable for comment.

Still plenty more to see today as, oh wait, look over there; I see Jane Taber and CoJo doing as who is hot and who is not on fashion segment. Both of them are wondering if Mr. Schreiber will be wearing his orange jumpsuit today or a new suit that his lawyer Edward Greenspan picked up in Chicago on business recently. On the other side of the red carpet I think I see Mike Duffy interviewing Jim Travers, no wait, it looks like Don Newman is interviewing Travers, no wait again, Duffy and Newman are now fighting over who is going to interview Travers, oh the humanity. Good thing that Chantel Hubert has now stepped in to separate the two or it could have been very messy.

It is indeed a media frenzy here Mary! or perhaps circus would be a better word.

Before I go I will leave you with this bit of breaking news. I just ran into Ben Mulroney doing a bit for CTV, and he promised me that he would be doing an exclusive interview with one of the big names from the hearings. I couldn't get him to reveal the name, but he promises that it will be big, your guess is as good as mine so I guess we will just have to wait and see who it is and ignore the idol chatter until then.

Back to you in the studio Mary, or was that Cheryl?

Toronto: the fishbowl

I think most are already familiar with the recent poverty report from the United Way which claimed that 1 in 3 Toronto families live in poverty. True or not, I am not to judge, but I think this report, and the expected response from socialists everywhere, offer up a golden opportunity to prove that pie in the sky elaborate government programs do not work or even come close to what they intend to do.

Put Toronto in a fishbowl and conduct the grand experiment.

Let Premier McGuinty pour tons of money into the targeted problem, and encourage him to do so even if it means increased taxes. Lets encourage Mayor Miller to continue on with the grand ideas he already has to deal with the poverty issue and come up with a few more as well. I would hate to have someone say that it could have been accomplished if we only had a few more dollars, so lets have the PM open up the cheque book for the a short length of time to pay for all of these wonderful ideas until the experiment is over.

Then we can sit back and look into our fishbowl and see the true utopia that is Toronto; where poverty and all that stems from it, like crime and various other social strife, are history.

Come on all you on the left, this is your chance do what Cuba and the Soviet Union never could do and prove that socialism works. Put my money where your mouth is and lets see what happens when your slogans are put into action.


I already have a good idea how it would turn out, what do you think would happen?


Al

Kevin Rudd's position on a post Kyoto agreement

Australian Labor Party leader and newly elected PM Kevin Rudd: "I have made absolutely clear that we would need to see clear-cut commitments from the major emitters from the developing world for us to become party to that agreement" Source

Sounds an awful lot like the position of PM Harper doesn't it?




While I am on the subject, how is it that liberals and other assorted lefties are so adamant that Canada, even if other countries like China and India do not do their fair share, must shoulder the burden on climate change no matter what the consequences?

Compare that to Afghanistan where liberal logic dictates that we must abandon our task because we are doing more than other countries? Confused? I think the left are as well, but that has never stopped them before.

Karlheinz Schreiber, the rider

After some deep sleuthing in places better not spoken of in public; I now present the rider from:

Karlheinz Schreiber, The Cross Canada Tour. Now in it's 8th hilarious year.


1. Limousine to and from the Committee hearing/s.

2. Bail.

3. 3 cartons of DuMaurier Lights.

4. The Justice Minister must delay his deportation.

5. A pretty little flower pot of white gardenias.

6. At least 2 days to review papers.

7. A 10 litre glass bowl filled with Smarties* in the dressing room. Under no circumstances are there to any blue Smarties or I just won't talk.

8. ........

Canadians do not want an election now..

They want one in February

Linda Diebel's challenge: 6 months later.

Bumped with update scroll to the bottom.

May 17, 2007 "Give Stephane Dion another six months before deciding whether he's a leader or not, says a journalist and author of a new biography of the Liberal leader." source CTV

6 months have now passed since Linda Diebel gave her interview to CTV in regards to her then new book, Stephane Dion: Against the Current Viking Canada, 1 edition (May 12 2007),
and I was curious to see if her own opinions had changed on Dion's leadership, and whether or not she feels Canadians opinions had changed in the last 6 months since she issued her challenge.

After a very promising initial reply from Ms. Diebel; she has not replied any further to my questions. I do not want to guess as to what her reasons might have been for not going any further in our communications, but I really not surprised given the last 6 months in the political life of Stephane Dion.


If you are interested: Video link to CTV Question Period interview with Linda Diebel.

--------------

Update: Canadian Cynic has taken me to task for the above post and rightly so. It was very naive of me to expect any liberal to actually mean what they say and stand by their own words. Silly Ardvark.

Also in the comments at CC , I received my first death threat:

"Speaking as a 'Liberal' ( actually I'm not I just hate morons and hypocrisy ), maybe we should start executing people like Alberta Ardvark so that conservatives will know they can be killed too. Otherwise they might all just turn out to be traitors."

but as CC was alluding to in his post, I do not have to worry about what liberals have to say, as this clown didn't even have the conviction to stand by what he wrote for even 1 minute as he/she/it added the line "Just a little joke.. ha ha."

Ha ha ha, indeed.

No judge in Canada

By chance I happened to talk to a Crown Prosecutor last night and asked him a question. I asked him his opinion of the Karlheinz Schreiber story and he had a really nice answer that I would like to share with you all.

He said that no prosecutor would ever put Schreiber on the stand as a witness for the prosecution because he lacks credibility with his ever changing stories, and that "there is no judge in Canada who would convict anyone" based on anything Schreiber had to say.

Late Night T&O

Thoughts and opinions with a few links for Nov 16th 2007.

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As promised in an earlier post, the great Steve Janke has more on the details of the old in and out.

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The airbus story goes on and on, and like myself, Bob Fife thinks all of this is only going to benefit Shreiber.

"Mr. Schreiber is saying that he's not trying to use the court system to delay his extradition to Germany," CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife said Thursday.

"That's just completely unbelievable."

Fife said Schreiber has had opportunities over the last 15 years to come forward with any allegations of wrongdoing.

"If he knew about this meeting with Mr. Mulroney he should have told people a long time ago," said Fife.

"The only reason he's talking about this now is that he's on the doorstep to being extradited to Germany."

My guess is Mr. Mulroney will also do well himself in all of this, and the liberals will again not be happy the longer this drags out over time.

---------

So the Liberals might be revisiting something else other than the GST. Could this be the issue that gets the Liberals up off of their hands? Just do your jobs and fix the damn thing up in committee. All parties basically agree and if you can't do what you get paid for and work together on such a small bill, then lets get on with the election so things can be accomplished.

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Some fake news to outrage the masses. This kind of thing of course has gone on before, but yet so few are aware of it because they get their news from the MSM.

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Dr. Roy has a little bit on Sharia Law in Saudi Arabia. Even with all of its problems, I think I will stick with Canadian law thank you very much.

----------------

Speaking of Canadian justice; There is a big difference between a volunteer army and one that drafts people into it. The SCoC agrees, Elizabeth May and Shirley Douglas are outraged, Keifer Sutherland had no comment.

Late Sunday thoughts on timely topics

This is something that has bothered me for some time on the GST debate. We always here that 'economists' like/support the GST, but nobody ever seems to go into why they like it so much.

It is pure and simple; the GST may be the 'perfect tax' when compared to all other taxes out there. If you were trying to design the perfect tax vehicle, I think the GST would fit the description perfectly. Think about it; for the most part the GST collects money that has already been taxed once, and no one escapes paying it. You get to tax money a second time, and everyone including both the wealthiest and the poorest of Canadians of every age group and ability has to pay it. What is not for an economist to love about this. Come to think of it, this might be why the Liberals love it so much as well.

The so called in and out non scandal has not been such a hot topic recently but some Liberals still feel that there is something in it for them to keep it going. Interesting; I think something is in it for them, but when it finally does arrive I doubt that they will be very happy about it. As a person who is much more in tune than myself to what is happening recently told me; Why do you think when the Liberals are done asking questions on this in question period, that the NDP and Bloc do not jump on board and ask their own questions on the subject to nail the government? Hmmm, why is that? More on this to come.

As promised.



Airbus. Why is everyone taking the word of Karlheinz Schreiber to be the gospel truth lately? If there is one person who stands to really gain anything from a long drawn out costly inquiry it is Karlheinz Schreiber. Does anyone else think that this guy might confess to having Jimmy Hoffa in his freezer if he thought it would keep him in this country longer than he should be? He has been fighting extradition to Germany for about 7 years now in an effort to keep German authorities from getting their hands on him and showing the world just how much of an upright citizen he really is. Half of what he says contradicts his own previous accounts, much of it before the courts, and the other half he has conveniently saved for just before he gets Das Boot right out of the country.


The latest is that Karlheinz Schreiber wrote a letter to the PMO possibly containing more details about the entire affair, the PMO denies this but the Liberals think they are on to something and are again outraged. I must say I am shocked as well. How can it be that the PM does not read each and every piece of mail he receives, especially letters from people who are about to get deported and have matters before the courts. I think the Libs must be confused with how things used to be done at the PMO that they forgot that there is now someone else in the big chair who does things a bit differently.

Not that it matters much but something else most seem to forget is the 2.1 million dollars that Mr. Mulroney won in that libel suit against the Liberal government was donated to charity.

I think the PM is doing the right thing by announcing a probe into this matter, and if there is indeed something more to all of it, I think it will be well handled in a responsible way.

More than 116,000 Canadians

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders Fields.

- John McCrae


I remember those that have fallen, and those that have served.








The Toronto Star has other thoughts. H/T SDA

The Big Squeeze

From one side the Conservative Government, and from the other the NDP, who are trying to portray themselves as the official opposition since the Liberals have decided to sit it out.

From CTV: "OTTAWA -- NDP Leader Jack Layton has won the backing of the prime minister to hold a nation-wide referendum on the abolition of the unelected Senate, "

Now sit back and see what the Liberals, both in the House and in the Senate, decide to do. Hang on to your hats folks, the fun has just begun.

Abducted child is found safe, and now....

Good news as the baby that was abducted yesterday has been found and has been reunited with her parents. Nineteen-year-old Brenda Batisse, who allegedly took the baby girl, has been arrested and is facing abduction charges.

So using my psychic abilities I will predict how the story will unfold over the next little while.

First their will be relief that the child has been found and returned safely.

A discussion will ensue about how to tighten up hospital security so this kind of thing never happens again.

Next will come the discussions about the crime itself and what kind of punishment should be dealt out. During these discussions, the soft on crime left will ignore the crime itself and the premeditation involved. We will hear how the alleged abductor had a hard life and that it really is not her fault, but rather that of society that caused the alleged abductor to behave this way, and as a result this woman should not be sent to prison. The left will bring up the sex of the alleged abductor, and how society treats women in general, as a 'straw man' in their zeal to do what they think is the correct thing.

These arguments will be effectively shot down when it is pointed out that all these feelings of sympathy for the alleged female abductor would not be the same had the abductor been a man.

Update: While I was not totally correct with my predictions the courts come through in the appeal as her sentence gets cut in half.

Sign o' the times

I have a feeling we will be seeing this one again in an election campaign.

© CPC
In what could only be described as a dumb political move; Dion again demonstrated his lack of political/leadership skills by saying, that if the Liberals are ever returned to power, he might rescind the cuts to the GST made by the Harper Government. Wow! What an election platform plank this will make. Good luck with that one my liberal friends.

More bad news for the Liberal Party of Canada

I was going to post a little roundup on the misfortunes of the LPC over the last couple of days when I came across another one to add to the list.

Stephen Taylor has some questions for Garth Turner about how he is raising money. It is a must read about how our old friend Garth might be in violation of Election Canada rules. Interesting timing since Garth and the Libs have been trying to stir up the pot over CPC practices. I will be watching this one carefully over the next little while.

The sponsorship scandal is again raising it's ugly head courtesy of former PM Jean Chretien. It looks like JC has had his lawyer busy trying to quash some the Gomery Commissions findings that placed some blame with the PMO and hurt JC's feelings. JC has never been happy about the entire sponsorship issue; in his book he stated that Martin made to much of a deal out of it and should have swept it under the rug instead of calling an inquiry. As usual, in the Liberal Party, the buck stops nowhere. H/T Christian Conservative


Some big news out of BC where the MP Blair Wilson,Liberal critic for revenue (the irony here is priceless) is in some hot water for spending allegations in the 2006 campaign. Wilson resigned today after first denying anything was improper, but it looks like someone upstairs was trying to do some damage control and Wilson's tune changed a bit. I wonder how Stephane will deal with the above mentioned Garth Turner allegations? Better keep that Press Release handy; just cross of one name and add another.

So much for the big plan of painting the conservatives as a crooked party. It was a dumb idea to begin with, but now with the Wilson story, Garth's potential troubles, and of course JC bringing up the grand daddy of all, the sponsorship scandal, the Liberals continue to look like buffoons.

This last one may not be much, but having just read the Susan Delacourt story in the Star, where everything seemed to be coming up roses for the Libs in the GTA area*; the president of the Sarnia-Lambton federal Liberal association, Anne Marie Gillis, has resigned because of the poor leadership of Dion. The Liberals are desperately hoping that the major cracks and trouble seen in Quebec wing will not pour cross over the border into their last major area of support in the country, but didn't those cracks in Quebec just start out small as well? Here's hoping.

*How could a survey of the Liberal party's 47 riding presidents in the GTA possibly be representative of anything? It would be like asking the Board of GM what type of vehicles are the best, or asking Leafs coach Paul Maurice who will win the cup. The entire story looks like a sad attempt at cheer leading that the Star, and Delacourt, should both be ashamed of.


Late update: It seems that Blair Wilson at one time was contemplating running for the LPC leadership and the entire country into the ground with his management skills. H/T KerPlonka

Liberals: " small minded, racist fear mongers."

OK, that is not the exact quote, but I only changed one word and fixed the typo. The word change was easy to justify because in this matter, both the Government and the Liberals are of the exact same opinion.

This found on the ever so tolerant left leaning Liblogs :

"The Falling Sky Saved By Tories
Ah! At last. The real Tories step forward and introduce the first piece of legislation with any real substance. And isn't it true to who they are; small minded, rascist (sic) fear mongers."

This all dealing with the proposed legislation that would require people to show their face when being identified to vote. That is all people, not just some people, but all people (sounds equal and fair to me, but I am just a knuckle dragger from Alberta) Oops, I guess the writer of the above quote is as well.

The Liberal position here. Stephane Dion said; "We disagree with the Elections Canada decision and we ask them to revisit their decision... It's important to identify the person. It may be done in a very respectful way, but it must be done."

Even Taliban Jack Agrees: "NDP Leader Jack Layton said he continues to hold out hope that Mayrand will change his position before the byelections, but is prepared to support a legislative move."If not, it appears it will be necessary to change the law to make it clear," Layton said." So do some progessive bloggers now think Jack Layton is racist as well?

So who again are these small minded, racist fear mongers?


Another Liberal has some thoughts on PM Harper Dion here.

Mayor Miller, Jim has a foolproof idea for you.

Attention Mayor David Miller.

Jim Travers from the Star has a great liberal idea that is guaranteed to solve your money problems.

You see, and the statistics do not lie, because the crime rate is down there is no real need to worry about crime in general, and subsequently there will be no need for Toronto to have such a large and costly police force. You could cut about 25% right off the top, and save the city MILLIONS of those badly needed dollars.

Simple, and how can it fail? A great liberal idea, carried out by a liberal mayor; a dynamite combination for success if there ever was one.

It could get even better once this country wakes up to Harper's secret agenda and we return the Liberals to their rightful place in power. With the Libs back in power it is obvious that an even greater drop in the crime rate will be sure to follow, and the police force could again be easily cut to a size of about half of what exists today.

Just think what you could do if you had 50% of that police budget to do the things that really matter.

Marc Garneau pulls a Dion

Former astronaut and failed Liberal candidate Marc Garneau is expected to be parachuted in by Dion as the Liberal candidate in the Montreal riding of Westmount-Ville-Marie, one of the 'so called' safest Grit bastions in the land.

Garneau said just a few weeks ago that he is closing the door on politics and he said he was discouraged that Dion was going to hand pick the Liberal candidate for the Quebec riding in which he was interested and he seemed to rule out a comeback any time soon, saying: "I've gone into the private sector now for as long as I can see in the future.''


He should fit right into the Dion led Liberal Party, where what they say does not matter and Liberal self interest seems to trump everything else.

In case anyone has forgotten, this is some of what Stephane Dion had to say on Liberal support for the thrown speech :

"There's no chance ... Liberal MPs would rise in support of a Throne Speech that we judged was going against the best interests of Canadians and the honour of our country" (National Post, August 27, 2007)

"Never, as leader of this party, will I recommend to my caucus to support a bad Throne Speech or a bad budget bill," Dion said (Montreal Gazette, August 28, 2007)

"We want this Parliament to work,'' he told reporters on his way into a Liberal caucus retreat to plot strategy for the fall. Still, if the Tories insist on proroguing Parliament and starting a new session with a speech from the throne, Dion said Liberals won't hesitate to vote against it if it doesn't include a firm February, 2009, end date for Canada's combat mission in Afghanistan and a comprehensive climate change plan. (CP, August 29, 2007)

Yup, he will be right at home in the Liberal Party of Canada.

Can't Stop the Bleeding

It is hard to imagine how things could get much worse for Stephane Dion, but with the upcoming thrown speech and now the release of Jean Chretien's book "My Years as Prime Minister," I think the embattled Liberal leader is going to wish that he had went back to teaching instead of taking the helm of the LPC.

Chretien reportedly takes plenty of shots at Paul Martin in the book, bringing again to light the bitter feud and bad feelings that occurred within the party, and there is NO WAY the MSM is going to ignore the obvious comparisons to what is going on today under the Dion led LPC.

What could turn out much worse for Dion is that Chretien fully blames Paul Martin for not doing anything to achieve the targets set out within the Kyoto Protocol. In case anyone forgot, Stephane Dion was Martin's minister of the environment while nothing was done on the Kyoto file. The saying "We didn't get it done" will again fall into the lap of Dion and he is going to have to pick sides between the man who first brought him into politics, and the man who he served as environment minister for 2 years, and their respective versions of events.

More negative press from the MSM who now are almost in a shark like feeding frenzy over the blood in Liberal waters.

Even when Dion tried to do what looked like a good idea and cut the corporate income tax rate, he was over shadowed in the news cycle by his green pal Al Gore winning a Nobel Prize, and the announcement of the formation of a blue ribbon panel on Afghanistan, a move that more than a few in the press labeled as "brilliant" on the part of Prime Minister Harper. I used the term 'looked like a good idea' above because I have wisely learned to be very wary of Liberal math. In this case a 4 % cut will be more than offset by the excess costs and carbon taxes that the Libs will slap on business if they ever return to power.

By the way, who the hell is this idea supposed to appeal to? With Dion taking the party hard left, this is probably not the best way to get your base support up amongst those on that side of the political spectrum.

All this and later this week Dion has to handle the Liberal response to the throne speech all under the spotlight of increased media attention. It is almost enough to make me feel sorry for ol' Stephane. Almost.

Al

I just have to comment on some of those that PM Harper selected to be on the panel looking at our UN/ NATO mission in Afghanistan and the future. Mr. Manley is already being labeled a traitor, a non Liberal, and even a fool for taking on this responsibility, and he deserves kudos for doing so. I also must congratulate our future Governor General* Pamela Wallen for also taking up this challenge on such an important issue.


* I do not know this to be fact, but she does seem to have all the credentials of the previous 2.

The Mounties always get their man.

Canada's most wanted man, Emrah Bulatci, who is charged with the first-degree murder of a N.W.T. Mountie, was captured about an hour ago in a home in west Edmonton.

This arrest followed the killing of RCMP Const. Christopher Worden, 30, who was found shot to death Saturday morning after he responded to a call in the town of Hay River, N.W.T.

The Mounties get their man, a dangerous fugitive is now behind bars, and a family as well as a nation continues to grieve. Meanwhile the judges and lawyers that let scum like this out on the streets will continue on in their little dream world, not seeming to care what the results of their actions are.

"On Feb. 7, Emrah Bulatci was arrested in Edmonton on six charges, including possessing a restricted weapon, breaching a firearm ban and possessing proceeds of a crime exceeding $5,000.

The next morning, he was released on $20,000 bail."

"The man accused of gunning down an RCMP officer in the Northwest Territories accumulated at least 25 criminal charges across Alberta in the last three years." source

Only 25 charges? Maybe Jack Layton can nominate him for citizen of the year.

Al

Dion sees his shadow. No election for 6 months.

So, the very absent from any recent public events, Stephane Dion came out of hiding today to shuffle around the bones of the Liberal Party of Canada.

He named our old friend Garth Turner as a "special" advisor. I wonder if Garth's special talents will be used to help Dion with the clean campaign that he is eventually planning to run; because we all know Garth is never in the muck. ( I almost chocked typing that)

Dion also named, in what I consider a very bizarre choice, the infamous Bob Rae as the LPC's foreign affairs critic. The unelected Rae, who hit single digits in his popularity as former Premier of Ontario, was also a challenger of Dion's at the leadership convention late last year, and remains hungry for Dion's job. I say bizarre choice because even though everyone is blaming Iggy for a lot of the knife play as of late in the LPC, I have yet to see Rae make any of the 'support Dion' type of speeches Iggy has made.

Think about this; in who's best interests is it to have all of Dion's and the LPC troubles be front and center in the MSM for all to see, and have these leaks blamed on the #2 choice at the convention, Iggy? Ignatieff supporters may indeed be responsible for much of the backroom antics that are going on, but I doubt it could be considered a benefit to their guy to be blamed publicly for either the antics or the leaks. Maybe it is a case of keeping your enemies close, but judging by Dions lack of leadership skills and political smarts, I doubt it.

Dion who had earlier in the day spoken about how his party was or would not be obstructionist in Parliament, also named Pablo Rodriguez as critic for the Economic Development Agency (Quebec). We all remember Pablo as the sponsor of the private members' bill that appears to make the government comply with Kyoto, while in reality might just be the textbook definition of obstructionism, as well as a colossal waste of taxpayer paid time. Perhaps Pablo could help Stephane out with the current Jamie Carroll problem; as Pablo has called for him to be fired even after Dion publicly stated his support for Carroll. One big happy family.


Oh, and Dion did see his shadow today, so according to Wiarton Willies guide to Liberal politics, that means no election for at least 6 more months. Hey, taking advice from a groundhog might just be a good thing for the Liberals, heaven knows they are not getting any leadership from anywhere else.

Al