Lying to Parliament is OK? To Congress, not so much…
OK. Can someone explain to me why our southern neighbour takes lying to legislative authorities so much more seriously than we do up here in the GW North?
Really. Former pitcher Roger Clemens could be in for some hard jail time if found guilty of lying to Congress about his alleged steroid use. Americans apparently put value on saying things under oath to elected officials.
Not so here in Canada. Here, a Minister of the Crown can go before a Parliamentary Committee, be asked point blank about certain conversations, lie about what transpired, be shown irrefutably to have lied, and suffer not a single consequence for his actions. What gives? Are Parliamentarians granted some kind of immunity while before a Committee that allows them to say whatever they damn well please?
Disgusting.
So mixed martial “arts” are coming to Ontario – thanks to yet another reversal by the McGuinty government. This decision has been framed as a good-for-the-economy type of thing. Mayorlarry is looking forward to it!
What a bunch of b.s.
The Libs in Ontario are doing exactly what the Harperites have done in Ottawa- pander to the lowest common denominator in a pathetic attempt to buy votes.
These spectacles of sub-human testosterone spraying are a single step above Gladiator matches and should be censured everywhere. We don’t need our kids growing up thinking that acting out the fantasies of a Mad Max addict is appropriate behaviour in a civilized society. I used to respect Dalton (he IS my MPP), but after this, and cowering to the religious right on the sex education changes AND fumbling, then backing off completely the perfectly fine Eco fees… well, the respect is gone. Poof!
Though I still hold a great deal of admiration for his brother David and hope that he one day takes the reins of the Federal Grit stagecoach.
The sacking of a couple of high level officials by the Reformatories shouldn’t surprise anyone.
OK – so the RCMP dude in charge of the Gun Registry wasn’t technically “sacked”, but he did suddenly need to go on language training right before delivering a report that praised rather than buried the value of the Gun Registry… not what the ReformCons want to hear… whatta joke!
And now the Minister responsible for Veterans Affairs has pissed off a significant core of Con support…
Anyone that has read any of my posts before knows that I’m a major Peacenik, but J P Blackburn has dissed all vets by defending a compensation system that puts dollars and cents ahead of injured soldiers’ long term financial well-being.
While the treatment of Canada’s wounded should be improving with the climbing casualties from the decade-long deployment to Afghanistan, it has actually gotten worse in some respects.
Paul Franklin, who lost both legs in a January 2006 suicide bombing, was actually one of the lucky ones.
Back in Canada, he was offered a choice between the outgoing system for disability payments – $4,000 a month for the remainder of his life – or compensation under the new system, a $250,000 lump sum payment.
“I did the math real quick and $4,000 a month works out to $2 million if I live 40 more years,” he said. “It was a no-brainer.”
Michael Barnewell, 29, injured just 10 months later, never had Franklin’s easy choice.
“With a lump sum payment, the problem is that it’s not enough. You either try to use it now and then it’s gone so you don’t have it for the future, or you try to invest it for the future and what do you do now?” he said. “Under that old system, when you get those payments, you’re just taken care of. It’s just such security. It’s always there. It just comes.’’
But that security has been eroded by tight-fisted officials and a Conservative government that promised to honour the country’s soldiers and veterans but has left them feeling abandoned, Stogran said.
Stogran chose against an outright attack on his elected political masters, but did circulate a 2002 Canadian Alliance political pamphlet in which then-leader Stephen Harper promises to defend Canadian soldiers the way that they have defended the country.
Speaking in Mississauga, the prime minister sidestepped the strident criticism from Storgan in recent days and said the government is open to suggestions that could improve future programs.
But like other federal watchdogs who have either been fired or undermined by the government, the Tories may just bide their time until Stogran’s term expires in November and his pulpit evaporates.
Does this government have no shame? Even a Peacenik like me has heaps more respect for these guys than do the Harperites. There has been some attempt by the right to deflect the blame on to the public service staff and away from the politicians. But let me be clear – bureaucrats take their directions form the government of the day. And especially with the Soviet style of government practiced by the PMO, you can be damned sure that senior bureaucrats MUST do as told… and if they cannot do so, then resign with honour.
But then I got to thinking about what other kinds of t shirts may be interpreted as “disruptive” in the minds of folks like Ms. Bradley. I mean, why stop at Greenpeace? There shurely must be scores of cotton-blend upper body wear with logos and pictures that may disrupt the minds and actions of scores of cotton-blend wearing Upper and Lower House members!
Or what about this fine design that, while I personally think that peace is something worth celebrating, some members of the ReformCon caucus may find disruptive due to it’s somewhat anti-arms-industry message! Can’t piss off Boeing!
Along the same lines, all of those in the Reformatory caucus and some of the spineless wimps in the other parties may find this gem disruptive. After all, it would be wrong to demean the American organization that helped to begin the dismantling of the gun registry!
Needless to say, this one would disrupt the sensibilities of any and all who are not members of Leaf Nation!
Lastly, can you image the extent to which proceedings would be disrupted by this baby! Mammals of all party stripes would barely be able to contain their anger! As well, rumour has it that the noble dinosaurs is being considered as the symbol of the ReformCon Party of Canada. Like the easily recognizable elephant and donkey to the Republican and the Democrats in the south, the dinosaur represents all that encompasses those of the Harperite Cult: outdated, lumbering and soon to be extinct!
Your move, Stevo...
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