Posts Tagged ‘Stephen Harper’

No one is really surprised, right?

Thursday, April 26th, 2012

That Harper is opening the door leading down a right-to-choose debate corridor?

If you are, or if you really think that this is an innocent Private Member Motion to simply discuss updating the “when does life begin” law, then you need to give your head a shake.

Of course, the timing of this is to distract Canadians from the F-35, prisons, crime bill, Bev Oda, election fraud, etc. etc. And the motion itself is intended to appease the red meat social cons from the west and in rural Canada.

The end game is to take away or limit right-to-choose rights from women. There is no doubt in my mind.

Harper micromanages and controls all messaging coming out of the CPC. All of it. This PMM did NOT just sneak though. It has the full support of the PM.

Didn’t he say last election “Let me be perfectly clear, we will no reopen the abortion debate”

Asked in French by a reporter whether he is personally for or against a woman’s right to choose abortion, Harper didn’t answer directly.

“Very clearly I am against reopening that debate,” he said. “That is my position, now and in the past five years as well, and as long as I am prime minister, we will not reopen the debate on abortion. We will leave the law as it stands.”

Yup. He sure did.

But of course, campaign promises are a dime a dozen for these guys, eh?

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

My debate teacher told us that…

Wednesday, March 21st, 2012

ad hominem attacks were cowardly and used only by those of inferior intellect. And I agree.

Yet the CPC doesn’t see it this way. Politics over policy. Attacks over debate. Accusations over cooperation. It’s the Stephen Harper Way.

Daniel Veniez penned a good article in iPolitics about the latest series of cowardly attack ads on Bob Rae.

Mr. Harper has taken Canada down an ugly path of gradual incrementalist polarization, division, cynicism, and subterfuge. I am deeply embarrassed and ashamed that such an amoral and unethical character could sit in the chair of the most important office in the land. He does not deserve the respect his office commands. Why? Because this sinister attack is only the latest in a very long string of flagrantly debasing drive-by hits, destructive and cynical policy, and immoral conduct by this small man and his smaller coterie of taxpayer-funded cheap shot artists and assassins.

This criticism is not aimed at the vast majority of Conservative Party members. They are good and decent people. I know they are horrified with how Stephen Harper has perverted the basic values of the old Reform and Progressive Conservative parties.

Robert Stanfield, Joe Clark, Brian Mulroney and Kim Campbell would never sanction – much less stomach – Stephen Harper’s actions and the ugly politics he personifies.

My favourite quote : “Stephen Harper is the Todd Bertuzzi of Canadian politics.” Good one!

Majority Government. No election in sight for years. And still they practice the politics of cynicism and fear…

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Friday miscellany…

Friday, January 27th, 2012

So Harper is acting all smug and tough in Davos, isn’t he?

Although short on details, Mr. Harper’s speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on Thursday made clear the sweep of his ambition. He will change how Canadians finance their retirement. He will overhaul the immigration system. He will make oil and gas exports to Asia a “national priority” and aggressively pursue free trade in India and Europe.

Sigh. I agree with most of that but too bad no one in Davos is calling him on the G8 slush fund, the In and Out scandal, abandoning the environment to oil companies, corporate welfare enhancements, etc., etc.

Message to the Cons – the pendulum will swing back one day – and it will smack you right in the forehead!

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It’s All Star weekend in Ottawa! So why aren’t I smitten? I dunno, but I guess I’m getting more cynical as I get older and see these things more as money-making circuses and less like celebrations of the game.

Am I becoming a curmudgeon?

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Good to see that the OC Trashpo head, Alain Mercier has backed down from his “you’ll get GPS data when I say you can” stance -,albeit under enormous political pressure from both some Transit Commissioners (thank you Councillor Tierney!) and the public at large.

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Hens in the backyard? Why not, as long as there are strict controls in place and enforced. I grew up on a hobby farm where we had fresh eggs every day. Nothing like them.

There is a movement building in O Town to convince Council into changing the City Bylaw that prohibits the keeping of backyard hens. Keeping hens in an urban setting is not exactly an unusual practice and provides food for a household and education for the little ones. If done properly, there is little noise and no smell.

Check out this link to see how a successful urban hen policy can work.

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So, O Canada ranked 4th out of 6 national anthems examined in a British study…. in terms of sing-along-ablily, that is…

I’m not surprised at all… The ol’ Soviet National Anthem rocked… didn’t understand a freakin’ word, of course.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

From the Stephen Harper Colouring Book…

Monday, November 28th, 2011

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Do as I say, not as I do…

Saturday, June 18th, 2011

Given the hoops that Public Servants are forced to jump through to be able to have coffee available at a meeting, this type of stuff REALLY pisses me off!

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s own department has repeatedly broken the government’s tough rules for hospitality spending.

An internal report on how the Privy Council Office spent $340,000 on hospitality found widespread flouting of a basic rule — that is, public servants must get prior approval from a supervisor before spending the cash.

The review of 2,100 hospitality claims over 13 months, ending last June, found employees repeatedly failed to get a green light before racking up expenses.

The average claim was for about $160, for drinks, meals and other largesse.

I’m serious. If you aren’t a Public Servant who has tried to get even the tiniest hospitality expense approved, then you cannot appreciate the bureaucracy involved and levels of approval that are required.

And I’m not really complaining about that; after Adscam, abuses or even the potential perception of an abuse must be prevented. It may be a bit overboard sometimes, but the rules are the rules… at least for some of us.

But I do expect the Office that reports directly to the Prime Minister to abide by the same rules.

Am I asking too much????

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Not telling you who TO vote for…

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

Great vid on why you should vote for anyone but Harper.

Watch this and think… think really hard if you are thinking of marking a “X” beside the Harper Party candidate in your riding.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Harper – and his long nose – inspires FEAR!

Sunday, April 17th, 2011

I love how Gable made Stevo’s nose extra long…

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Ironic…

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

…is what I call these words:

Conservatives are reacting with fury to a Liberal attack ad that accuses them of harbouring a secret agenda to cut health care funding if they obtain a majority government.

“The Liberal ad uses some of the dirtiest tricks in the book — including twisting words out of context and deliberately altering dates to make old words appear recent,” Tory campaign manager Jenni Byrne wrote to party supporters in reaction to the new attack ad.

I hate attack ads no matter who the source and who the target, but I had a bit of a belly laugh when I read the bolded text above. The Cons perfected the art. And isn’t imitation the highest form of flattery?

Remember this ad that was pulled from the Con website after they were spanked by everyone for so blatantly taking words out of context?

Cons – if you’re gonna give crap like that, ya gotta be prepared to take it too.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Just to repeat – the 100K gazebo. Remember.

Tuesday, April 12th, 2011

This is where your tax dollars ended up.

So it’s only 100K? Right?

100K buys a low income family a decent living arrangement.

100K buys a whole lot of food for a food bank.

100K buys more than a few boxes of textbooks for our kids.

100K could have been spent better.

httpv://trashysworld.ca/2010/08/01/the-tony-clement-gazebo-on-video/

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

Brian and Stevo – not the best of buds?

Monday, April 11th, 2011

Truth told, I never really liked Brian Mulroney. I found him kind of arrogant and self-absorbed. He also got WAY too cozy with the Americans – IMHO. I ran in the 1993 election for these reasons, among others.

But I did respect the guy. Although our politics differed somewhat, I found him to be intelligent, articulate and knowledgable (OK, well-briefed). He was also arguably the “greenest” of all our Prime Ministers having established the “Green Plan”. An environmental roadmap that was lauded by the rest of the world.

Ah, those were the days… when Canada actually led the world in something other than spin…

So when I read this piece on the lack of enthusiasm that Mr. Mulroney has for the Harper-led Conservative government, I was not really too surprised. Mulroney was a PM who, love him or hate him, articulated policies, not political opportunism.

It was an illuminating moment in a remarkably candid conversation.

Brian Mulroney, the most successful Conservative prime minister since Sir John A. Macdonald, was sitting down for a rare television interview the other day in Montreal.

TVOntario’s Steve Paikin, always adroit at coaxing politicians to dish, broached the subject of the May 2 election and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.

“You’re voting for Mr. Harper, I take it,” said Paikin, coincidentally the moderator of Tuesday’s English-language leaders’ debate.

“At this point,” replied Mulroney with a pause that seemed to hang in the air longer than its mere second, “I’ll vote for the Conservative candidate in my constituency.”

Whoa!

Thanks Mr. Mulroney, for showing that it is not only we progressives who are uncomfortable with Harper’s version of conservative politics.

Trashy,
Ottawa, Ontario

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