June 23, 2006

Terror Watch

June 23 - CTV reports that Saudi Arabia shootout kills 6 'militants' (another was arrested) after security forces "stormed a suspected al Qaeda hide-out":

One policeman was also killed in the clashes, it said.

The statement, carried by the official Saudi news agency, said security forces chased seven members with "deviant thoughts" who "belong to the astray bunch" to a house in Riyadh's al-Nakheel district. The Saudi government often refers to al Qaeda members as individuals with "deviant thoughts."

The house was "a hideout for crime, corruption, and a base for the plots of aggression and outrage," the statement said.

Why do the pronouncements from these guys always make me groan as much as did those incessant quotes from Chairman Mao's Red Book back in the day?

June 24 - 19:01 CTV reports that 17 were wounded in the attack and over 40 suspects have been arrested in sweeps after the raid.

Maybe the Saudis were feeling a bit left out what with all the arrests in Toronto, Britain, heavy action in Afghanistan and the recent U.S. arrests of 7 plotters:

Five of the suspects were arrested Thursday in Miami, after authorities swarmed a warehouse in Miami's poor Liberty City area, a federal law enforcement official said.

One person was arrested in Atlanta on Thursday, and another person was arrested before yesterday, according to CNN. (Bolding added)

(That last sentence made me giggle because I was expected a place, not a date, but it can't be that funny if I have to explain it.)

Most of the chatter on Fox is actually worth listening to because they are doing a great job of speculating about things that can only make wanna-be terrorists nervous -- like the rumour that the head of the terror cell was an FBI agent.

Our guys in Iraq continue to rack 'em up: on Monday a senior Al Qaeda operative and 3 others were detained (no names released.)

Sorry, I shouldn't be happy. I should be sombre, and Weighted With The Enormity Of It All, but I'm not. Maybe it's because it's Friday, maybe it's because we ducked another bullet, but more likely it's because Ace is hot on the story:

You will not be surprised that the "timing" of these "arrests" of "terrorists" is being "questioned."
His link to Allah is, as always, beyond funny.

Here's your CanCon and a return to seriousness: when I read the CNN headline (on the World page) "Rights boss: Stop terror abuse" I actually thought ... but no, alas, it was just

U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour, taking aim at the war on terrorism, reminded all states on Friday of their duty to ban torture and give all security detainees a fair trial.

In a speech to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Arbour also voiced concern at the alleged existence of secret detention centres, saying they facilitate abusive treatment.

Although she mentioned no names, her remarks were clearly aimed at the United States and its allies in their "war on terror" launched after the September 11 attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001.

"It is vital that at all times governments anchor in law their response to terrorism," Arbour told the 47-member state body ahead of the U.N.'s International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, being observed next Monday. (bolding added)

Your timing sucks, bitch. Consider

The torture and murders of two soldiers who, by all legal definitions, qualified for protection under the Geneva Convention: Private Thomas Tucker and Private Kristian Menchaca.

A government worthy of condemnation: Sudanese militias kill hundreds in Chad
Car bomb in Philippine market place kill 5, wounds 10 in a probable attempt to kill the governor of the southern province;
Tamil Tigers Caught Laying Sea Mines:

A POWERFUL explosion occurred off the coast north of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo today, with police saying it was probably a sea mine planted last week by Tamil Tiger rebels.

The explosion was heard about 15km from Colombo, near the site where police on Saturday arrested five Tigers in diving gear who were laying sea mines, Sri Lanka's police chief Chandra Fernando said.

"There are no reports of casualties. We are investigating," Fernando said.

"Last week we had information that there were eight sea mines. Seven were accounted for but we had not found one. The blast today is probably that mine."

Officials said sea mines were similar to limpet mines but magnetically attached to a ship's hull and could be triggered to explode by a time-delay fuse or by remote control.

One of the five arrested divers had swallowed cyanide and committed suicide to prevent being questioned, and another two who took cyanide were taken to hospital.

The terror attack links are in fact relevant to Arbour's admonition to "governments" as these terror attacks were undertaken by groups that intend to take state power. This one, howerver isn't because it relates to a man who, pre-Spider Hole, actually held state power and lied to the U.N.: Hundreds of WMDs found in Iraq.

And the NY Times continues their normal job of assisting the terrorists by revealing a clandestine program intended to follow the money:

WASHINGTON, June 22 Under a secret Bush administration program initiated weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, counterterrorism officials have gained access to financial records from a vast international database and examined banking transactions involving thousands of Americans and others in the United States, according to government and industry officials.

Data provided by the program helped identify Uzair Paracha, a Brooklyn man who was convicted on terrorism-related charges in 2005, officials said.
The program is limited, government officials say, to tracing transactions of people suspected of having ties to Al Qaeda by reviewing records from the nerve center of the global banking industry, a Belgian cooperative that routes about $6 trillion daily between banks, brokerages, stock exchanges and other institutions. The records mostly involve wire transfers and other methods of moving money overseas and into and out of the United States. Most routine financial transactions confined to this country are not in the database.

Viewed by the Bush administration as a vital tool, the program has played a hidden role in domestic and foreign terrorism investigations since 2001 and helped in the capture of the most wanted Qaeda figure in Southeast Asia, the officials said.

I wonder if they are referring to Hambali. who provided the money, or to Canadian Mohammed Mansour Jabarah, who paid the bombers directly for the Bali bombing. *
The program, run out of the Central Intelligence Agency and overseen by the Treasury Department, "has provided us with a unique and powerful window into the operations of terrorist networks and is, without doubt, a legal and proper use of our authorities," Stuart Levey, an under secretary at the Treasury Department, said in an interview on Thursday.
Maybe liberals are so shrill about the rights of terrorist because they also enable terrorists.

(Louise Arbour is a Canadian, if that needed clarification.)

*09:46 - FoxNews TV says it was probably Hambali.

12:23 - Newsbeat1 has a nice list of terrorists killed or captured since Zarqawi's death.

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June 21, 2006

"Fearless" James Loney

June 21 - Some proclaimed former hostage James Loney a hero. What. Fraking. Ever. I'm more inclined to scoff at those who are so desperate to produce a hero that they'd select someone who did nothing heroic (other than survive) rather than look to the fine men and women who voluntarily risk their lives for us every day in places like Afghanistan, but that's just me.

But giving him a "Fearless" award when his heroic feat was to conceal his homosexuality because his captors would likely kill him if they learned he was gay?

I was thinking on my way over here how surreal this is," the soft-spoken Loney told reporters.
Surreal doesn't even begin to describe this.

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June 20, 2006

"Religion and politics are an explosive mixture" but ...

June 20 - I'm sick of double-talk. In the wake of the arrests of southern Ontario men alleged to be planning terror attacks here, Muslims condemn extremism:

The Muslim Canadian Congress gathered with the Bangladesh Association of Toronto to urge Muslims to be vigilant against the spread of extremist interpretations of Islam, which they said are spread by "misguided fanatic youth and their mentors."

"Imams and other clerics who peddle politics need to be told to take their politics to the electorate and not to the pulpit," said Tarek Fatah of the MCC.

"Religion and politics are an explosive mixture and invoking God on one's side in a political dispute is dishonest, callous and dangerous."

Fatah said Muslims shouldn't have to pay for the alleged crimes of the 17 terror suspects arrested this month.

"We want Muslims to know there is nothing to apologize for," Fatah said. "We can't run from this."

That last paragraph is a head-scratcher. I get the first sentence and I get the second sentence, but I have no idea what the two sentences taken together are supposed to mean.
[...]

The MCC urged the government to work toward finding a solution that will keep Muslim youth away from terrorist activity.

I'm not sure what they want the Canadian government to do, but somehow I suspect the Canadian taxpayer will be expected to foot the bill. Can't blame them for that - it's as Canadian as royal commissions. Or maybe it's supposed to be in exchange for no longer accepting foreign donations? (see next section)
They also called for an end of the occupation in Iraq and Afghanistan and for a ban on foreign donations to places of worship.
Is it just me, or did the Muslim Canadian Congress, a religious organization, go on to make a political statement about Iraq and Afghanistan after saying that religion and politics should be separate?

It's far too easy to infer that they are connecting the Canadian presence in Afganistan (and the American presence in Iraq) to growing Islamic radicalism here, and there are bound to be some who will believe that it was an implicit threat that things could get worse if Canada does not withdraw from Afghanistan (although I think it more likely they were just doing a variation of "it was wrong but ...)

Same old, same old.

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Universal smugness

June 20 - Ouch. Hartley Steward doesn't pull his punches in 'Nice' people finish last:

So, have you dropped the idea of sewing a cute little Canadian flag onto your backpack to endear yourself to strangers when you holiday this year? There goes another precious Canadian conceit.

It seems that even the unbearable niceness of being Canadian won't keep you safe in this dreadful new world of ours. The smug Canuck smile has surely been wiped off your face by the gory details of the alleged Muslim terrorists' plans uncovered in Toronto.

But there's no reason for Americans - or Europeans, Australians, Indonesians, or anybody - to grin at Canadian discomfort because we've all been guilty of thinking our essential niceness and decency immunized us from hatred. Americans failed to learn after the first attack on the World Trade Center to take bin Laden's declaration of war seriously and we paid a terrible price for our stupidity in 2001.

Canadians, or more specifically Torontonians, ducked the bullet this time and only time will tell if enough took the lesson to heart, but people up here do have the regrettable advantage of having witnessed terror attacks where other "nice" people live such as New York, Bali, Madrid, and London.

Our paradox

We've all been raised to believed that people will respond to kindness with kindness and, by application, to tolerance with tolerance. Those notions remain valid and not ones we should discard, yet it's the exceptions to those rules that will kill us.

Canadians, as do most Westerners, need to figure out how to be both tolerant and vigilant. It is extremely difficult because it is a paradox, requiring simultaneous trust and distrust, and all the harder because experiences in both London and southern Ontario indicate that new converts were used, indicating (again) that those wishing us harm are not easily identified.

All in all, its kind of depressing that weve gotten to this point. Like everybody, I made some vows to myself in those early days after September 11. Most of them were echoed by millions of Americans, but there was one in particular that I knew might be the hardest to keep: to keep my anger focused on the actual evil-doers, not to lump all the members of that culture with said evil-doers, and to persevere in winning Muslim support against evildoers.

We all know that Japanese-Americans were placed in detention camps during World War II. We know that it was rationalized as being to protect Japanese-Americans when Japan invaded as U.S. soldiers would fire upon anyone who looked Japanese while repelling the expected invasion.

So, did anyone else fear that Muslim-Americans with roots in the Mid-east might be rounded up? Cmon, you know you did. Anyone who knows American history would have had the thought flash across his or her mind even if it were immediately rejected.

But, and its a big but, I think most of us would have hit the streets and protested against such a draconic move. Thats something the left doesnt seem to understand about those of us who are determined to protect and defend our country, and thats why so many of us were won over when President Bush early on made it clear that he regarded Muslims as allies, not enemies, and declared this war as one against the evil practice of terrorism.

We know that we committed a sin during World War II. And I know that, although my rage some days challenges my early vow, that same vow has provided ballast and returned me to my earlier conviction: that we Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian are in this together.

You're either with us or against us

Stewart lays it out:

The time has come for the international Muslim community to take some responsibility. It's time to squeal their heads off to security forces everywhere when they know something. Time to drop the dime on friends, neighbours, associates -- to show some courage and old-fashioned fortitude. Time to stop whining about a possible backlash against ordinary, law-abiding Muslims and begin to participate in the solution.

We don't need another lecture on our insensitivity to the Muslim world. We need help.

Note that he addresses this to the international Muslim community.

A more than substantial number of terror attacks have been carried out by Muslims, and those in Western cities were carried out by Muslims who had been living in or raised in Western countries. Those attacks were proclaimed to be in the name of Islam. Like it no, Muslims have been put on the proverbial spot and each thwarted and successful attack lessens the patience Westerners have for the counter-accusations of racism, victimhood and the outright denial uttered by far too many international Muslim leaders.

It really is a pity more liberals seemed incapable of of respecting the sincerity of Bush's call for tolerance after Sept. 11, but it would have been a far bigger pity if many Muslims hadnt paid attention and, by choosing their allegiance and trusting their governments, helped expose cells like the one in Lackawanna and perhaps even this most recent Toronto cell.

The extent to which tips led to the takedown of international terror cells is impossible to ascertain and it might even be reckless to overly speculate on the subject, but logic tells us that some degree of inside information had to come into play.

That realization should counter outrage or any kind of opportunist backlash because, just as we do not always recognize the foe, we also do not always recognize the ally.

We were all forcibly enrolled in an intense training course on Sept. 11 and it is right that we hated being forced to take it, but don't forget that Muslims were also enrolled in that course and that Muslims were not only among the victims of Sept. 11 but have comprised the majority of casualties since.

In the end, Muslims have as large a stake in this war as do we, and we should never stop reaching out to those communities.

14:43 - I can't believe I failed to include the fact that success in fighting the terrorists in Iraq and Afganistan is largely due to the massive number of tips received by the police and armies as well as coalition forces in those countries. The grim degree to which Iraqis and Afghans have a stake in destroying terror networks there is beyond any dangers we've yet faced in North America.

[This was written Sunday but I've only now been able to publish. Sorry it's so stale.]

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June 17, 2006

Letting people choose

June 17 - Posting continues to be difficult: the denial of service attacks targeting My Pet Jawa have affected alll Munu sites (despite the inconvenience, there's also some satisfaction that a fellow Munuvian is pissing off the right people but that is offset by the infuriating fact that the Jawa Report is still off-line) plus my ISP seems to have intermittent problems finding the the Munu server. At least I have options if my ISP can't resolve the second problem.

Indeed, one of the fundamental values of Western civilization (and capitalism) is that there are a variety of options for most situations, yet when we women make choices that don't fit with what other women believe we should do there is an incredible amount of spin to make it appear that what we have freely chosen is evidence of victimhood.

For example, child-care advocates continue to be baffled by a strange phenomenom in Alberta and British Columbia. Despite the West being one of the "hottest job markets" in the country, more women in theose provinces are leaving the workforce and the numbers are especially high for women with children under the age of six. Now I'm no expert, but it seems to me that they are opting to stay home with the kids until they enter school.

Shocking, huh? They could have jobs, you know, yet they choose to stay home and focus on raising their young children during "the formative years."

But the author of the study concludes that this is due, among other factors, to the lack of child care::

The author of the study, Francine Roy, says women are entering and exiting the job market for reasons that have little to do with financial need.

Instead, Roy argues that factors such as the availability of day care, educational levels, number of children and the type of employment drive women's participation in the workforce.

"The rising participation rate of women in eastern Canada appears associated with greater use of daycare and higher education levels in Quebec, lower birthrates in the Atlantic provinces, and a lower proportion of immigrants than in the West," Roy writes in the study.

One of the implication seems to be that lack of education causes a woman to make poor choices - like stay at home and raise her own kids. The CTV item doesn't include any data from the study supporting any of Roy's conclusion (which doesn't necessarily mean there was none) but it is fairly apparent that her bias has led to her to a complete failure to consider the one factor that many parents with pre-school children would immediately recognize: the desire to nurture one's children. (Sometimes Dads are the ones with the nurturing trait, and it's thrilling to see more and more of them opting to be the at-home parent.)

Having constant, one-one-one interaction with young children in those early years is not only incredibly satisfying for both parent and child but has the additional benefit of establishing a solid bedrock for the child which can stabilize him or her after they enter the "real" world of elementary school as well as later on when they become teens and the inevitable struggle ensues to redefine limits and capabilities as well as themselves as independent from the parents (except for money, shelter, food, and the family car!)

One of my aunts told me long ago that the primary duty of parents is to raise responsible adults. You can't sub-contract that job out, yet universal childcare with the attendant heavier tax load will force women out of the homes and into the job market.

The sad part is that having government agencies raise children is being presented as an ideal scenario by daycare advocates. There are two glaring problems with that position: the ridiculous notion that we can raise children on an assembly line, and the inability to have quality control. (Actually there are three: the absurdity of thinking the government actually performs routine tasks better than the average person.)

Whatever happened to the tiresome assertion that each of us is unique? Uniqueness doesn't roll off assembly lines (reminds me of the old joke that you can buy a Ford in any colour you want so long as you choose black.) Uniqueness, also known as individuality by us older types, is nurtured by consistent, one-on-one interaction that parents are best fitted to provide. The family remains the best setting where good qualities can be encouraged and bad qualities can be dealt with, and it should go without saying that dealing with behaviour problems when they first appear is far better than trying to deal with them after they become entrenched characteristics.

I make this claim about the family for one simple reason: parents love their children. Parents have an ongoing interest in their children's future. Parents are emotionally invested in their children in ways that reach far above and beyond someone who is paid to look after their children. Parents don't go on strike.

I keep thinking that the real impetus for government day care is that the social engineers are frustrated that, try as they might, this country continues to produce square peg children who defy efforts to pound them into round holes and they figure that if they can get the children at any earilier age it will better their chances of making children more pliable, i.e., into uniform, cookie-cutter kids.

Issues over quality control are fairly self-evident when you are dealing with a monopoly and more so when the government is the sole provider. Both health care and education issues continue to plague us, and tangential to the problems in the education sector, it is worth noting that children who learned to read at home before they entered school do better scholastically than those whose parents rely exclusively on the schools to teach that basic skill.

People conveniently forget that even that bastion of early childhood education, Sesame Street, was specifically designed to be viewed by both parent and child, which tends to reinforce the necessary role of the parent as a child learns how to learn.

Am I saying that families where both parents work cannot raise children well? No, but I do think it is a lot harder and a lot more frustrating because we've already devoted our best and most productive hours of the day at work. And then there's the need to discipline children, which require two vital tools: patience and maintaining a calm atmosphere. That's damned hard to achieve when your day is one long rush: rushing to get them and you ready to leave in the morning, rushing to pick them up after work, rushing to prepare dinner, rushing to bathe them, rushing to read the bedtime story ... all this yet rushing to get them to bed at a decent hour. Even with both parents performing those tasks, where's the time to teach them why it's wrong to bop another child on the head with a Tonka truck? or find a suitable answer to "why is the sky blue?" or "why do I have to kiss Aunt Martha even though she smells funny?"

Interestingly, David Warren comments on the steady encroachments on personal freedoms, including the destruction of the family unit, with the goal being that "the citizen becomes a kind of jelly to be fit into any desired new mould."

So, rather than deplore the choice to stay home and raise their kids, we ought to applaud their good sense and committment to parenting.

So if you opt to say at home with kids and someone says "what do you do," i.e., where do you work and what job do you perform that enables you to pay more taxes, just look them straight in the eye and say "I'm an early childhood specialist." And you will be telling the truth.

(David Warren link via Newsbeat1.)

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June 11, 2006

Harper meets with Muslim leaders II

July 11 - This updates an earlier report on a meeting between PM Stephen Harper and Muslim leaders: according to Parliamentary Secretary Jason Kenney, the PM's meeting with Muslims may lead to study

"It was a very useful exchange of ideas. We heard concerns, obviously, about some of the extremist elements and how they're trying to mislead youth," Kenney said.

"We heard concerns that the government stand in solidarity with the community against any kind of backlash, and we heard suggestions about how we could go forward, perhaps with some kind of study or review of the issues that came out last month."

Bloody. Hell.
Those issues, Kenney said, included challenges faced by Muslim youth in Canada -- particularly young men -- the influence of extremist elements within the Islamic community, and methods of combating that influence.
I get where they're going, but another fraking study? Why not a Royal Commission? I can see it now: a Royal Commission to investigate why young Muslim men think they're entitled to murder innocent people.

Try this as a Subject for Study: Once it was decreed that Israeli civilians were a legitimate target, it was open season on all of us.

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A possible result of the Harper meeting with Muslim leaders?

June 11 - John B. had a great, common sense idea: set up a BadJihadWatch to root out terror elements, and I guess someone listened because CTV reports that

Muslim religious leaders promise to report any suspicious behaviour from their followers to authorities and abide by a zero-tolerance policy against preaching hatred in the wake of last week's terror arrests.

Leaders representing more than 30 mosques and Muslim organizations throughout Canada gathered in Toronto on Saturday to deliver the message -- and remind Canadians not to discriminate against Muslims.

The leaders admitted there are pockets of radical fundamentalists within their community who believe in violence, but said co-operation by the Muslim community led to the arrests of 17 terror suspects.

[...]

"Canadian youth of Muslim faith have been unduly influenced by radical thought," said Yasmin Ratansi, a Liberal MP.

That last admission, of course, is not limited to the youth of Muslim faith.

What on earth should we expect when our media and schools deliberately promote the notion that Western civilization is degenerate and evil? The "home grown" nature of the alleged terrorists refers to more than place of birth or upbringing: it is about institutionally planting and nourishing the seeds of contempt for this country because it is a Western one.

But, as I've stated repeatedly, most people who feel alienated do not to strive to become psychopaths. We've seen that kind of radical thought before, with the FLQ, the Air India bombers, the Weathermen and the Symbionese Liberation Army, so even if we don't understand it we must recognize that is dangerous for us all.

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Why the CBC?

June 11 - The inclusion of the CBC as a terror target was the most surprising of the revelations that came out of the Toronto terror sweep. The big question was Why? The only news entity up here that is more terror-friendly is the Toronto Star, and they were not on that list.

I trust the CBC is having in-depth meetings to address the "root causes" of Muslim "anger" and "perceived alienation" that has caused so much "resentment" and "humilation."

Those meeting will undoubtably be productive although they won't address the "root causes" of steadily declining CBC viewership (except, of course, for hockey.)

Going a step further, inasmuch as seizing communications and media are top priorities for insurrectionists, Lorrie Goldstein goes there and reaches a surprising answer to why terrorists might be discontented with the CBC: What would happen if our national broadcaster was ever taken over by ... er ... 'militants'?"

"Hello, I'm Lorrie Goldstein of the Toronto Sun, reporting live for Sun TV, Torontosun.com and Canoe.ca, outside Toronto CBC headquarters at 250 Front St. W., where terrorists have just taken over the building, demanding that the CBC refer to them as ... uh ... terrorists.
When you come right down to it, that really is the only possible grievance they can have against the CBC.

In a hypothetical interview with OBL, the question is asked if there are women in the group:

"I see, evil spawn of Satan. So, let me get this straight. We storm the CBC's headquarters, overpower their security staff and are now holding hundreds of their employees hostage and threatening to blow up their building and all these infidels care about is whether there are any women in our group, so they will not be politically incorrect if they refer to us as 'gunmen'?"
The beauty of satire lies in how closely it resembles reality, and Goldstein scores a grand-slam on this one.

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Where do they find such wankers?

June 11 - It's hard to be patient in the face of incredible stupidity. Of course it is vital to maintain a presumption of innocence in any arrest (that's why the word "alleged" was invented) but when some fool announces, on behalf on Muslim youth, that 'This is our 9/11' my calm side notes that they missed a vital difference, unless over 3,000 Muslims were massacred in Toronto last week, and my rational side is overcome with disgust that a horrific event would be hijacked by some of the stupidest apologists this side of the Toronto Star.

Of course, maybe I missed coverage of the over 200 Canadian Muslims who leapt to their deaths from a blazing inferno atop the CN Tower. Maybe I failed to read about the dust cloud that swept down Bay Street - a dust cloud that was composed of incinerated building materials and human bodies.

Maybe I was sufficiently insensitive to the reports of the horror in forensic labs as DNA was extracted from intenstines and bone fragments in order to try and identify victims and match them to the heartbreaking posters of the missing that lined Toronto streets.

And that story about a pair of bound hands found atop a nearby building? I totally missed that.

I did note, although not previously report, that some 28 windows at a GTA mosque were broken. (Sorry, my attention has been somewhat distracted by the bombing of Shiite mosques and funerals in Iraq. Maybe the death toll accounts for my inattention.)

It was wrong, but it was also mild; in fact, it seemed downright tame compared to the firebombing of a Jewish synagogue and the destruction of the library in a Montreal Jewish elementary school a few years back events which - Gee! did not compel Muslims to hold press conferences denouncing acts against Jewish and Shiite religious institutions.

Just how stupid do they think we are? Have Muslims been dragged out of their homes and beaten to death? Have they been forced to wear crescent badges so we can readily identify them? Have there, in fact, been widescale reprisals against Muslims?

Of course not. It's not as those cartoons depicting the Prophet were published in Canadian newspapers and set off a rampage in which the Danish Embassy was burned ... besides, this is a free country, and those who want pandering and abasement can get that and more from the Toronto Star which is attempting to put a human face on those arrested which inevitably lead to promoting the alientation and misunderstood theme - a notion that is insufficent given that they allegedly sought to express their feelings with mass murder.

If "teen angst" and "lack of identity" justifies psychopaths, then wouldn't we expect that Christian teens - surely the most marginalized group in both Canada and the U.S. - would be primary candidates for terrorists? (Read Michael Coren's column along that line of thought here.)

But, fortunately, timing is everything. Any theme of finding terrorism as an outlet while searching for an identity is downright awkward given that one primary inspiration for terrorists is DEAD. (Those who are offended that Zarqawi's puffy dead body was put up for display can also be soothed by the Star which, at least in this instance, did give fair time to both sides of the controversy.)

And I can't deny that I was downright inspired upon learning that Zarqawi's last look at life on this side of Hell was at the faces of U.S. servicemen and Iraqi policemen - people he had spent considerable time and resources to kill but who had a most satisfying last word.

Ah, maybe I'm being too hard on these kids. What with the failure to teach criticial thinking at Canadian schools and the Cult of the Don't Pass Judgement Unless it's Against Americans, why wouldn't they imagine that the arrest of 17 alleged terrorists is the same as the murder of over 3,000 innocent people?

Or maybe the media mis-reported the press conference. Maybe the "Muslim youth" were thanking Allah that a real Canadian 9/11 was averted. Ya think?

Posted by Debbye at 02:53 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

June 10, 2006

Harper meets with Muslim leaders

June 10 - Unsurprisingly, PM Harper held a closed-door meeting with Muslim community leaders in the aftermath of the arrest of 17 terrorists in Southern Ontario and, although the details of the meeting were not released, the response by one of the participants hints that in addition to the soothing of ruffled feathers, issues of accountability may have been broached:

[Farzana] Hassan-Shahid [of the Canadian Muslim Congress] told The Canadian Press that those in attendance had different viewpoints about what may have led a group of young Muslims to consider violent attacks on their own country.

"It's about time Muslims owned up to the fact it's a Muslim problem," she said, adding that she thinks the community must forcefully denounce extremism.

"We need to be more proactive, rather than issue statements of condemnation," she said.

And then there was some unintentional humour:
[Tarek] Fatah [spokesperson for the Canadian Muslim Congress] said the issue of American-based Islamic organizations spreading fundamentalism and extremism in Toronto was also brought up.

He said two - the Islamic Society of North America and the Islamic Circle of North America - were singled out.

"This is America pushing its fundamentalist Islamist thinking into Canada, not vice versa," he said.

That's a switch. Instead of bashing the U.S.A., President Bush and evangelical Christians, he bashes the U.S.A. for importing Muslim fundamentalism. That man is like totally Canadianized -- he just can't address home-grown Canadian issues without invoking the anti-American card.

By the way, don't blame me for designating Fatah as "spokesman" for the CMC and Hassan-Shahid as being "of" the CMC - that's how the article is written. Another well-known dirty little secret is that the Canadian value of equal rights for women is applied somewhat selectively - although I blame the usually vocally outraged Canadian feminists for that unprincipled failure.

As I wrote yesterday, there does indeed seem to be a concerted attempt to push fundamentalist thinking onto Canada but the source is Saudi Arabia, not the U.S.A.

The Saudi royal family has issued over $70 billion in grants to leading U.S. universities - including Harvard, Cornell, Texas A&M, MIT, UC-Berkeley, Columbia, UC-Santa Barbara, Johns Hopkins, Rice University, American University, University of Chicago, Syracuse University, USC, UCLA, Duke University and Howard University and the purpose of the grants was to establish departments and chairs that promoted the Wahhabist version of Islam.

There is a fairly well-defined line between propaganda and education and it's no secret that many U.S. and Canadian universities crossed that line long ago, but what many don't realize is that Saudi money helps fund that propaganda.

Question of the Day: How much money do the Saudis contribute to Canadian mosques and universities?

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June 09, 2006

Wahhabism in Canada

June 9 - Schools funded and staffed by Saudi Wahhabists have been blamed for teaching the ideology that justifies terror attacks in Pakistan and Indonesia, and it seems that they have kindly included Canada as a recipient of their benevolence.

Newsbeat1 links to a video of an interview with a Sufi Muslim recently aired on CBC's The National in which serious allegations are made that the Saudis have sent Korans to Canada which include tracts inciting jihad (go to Newsbeat 1: If you click on the video clip at 7:55 mark -. there is a story about those arrested. It requires RealPlayer to view.)

Kamal Nawash of the Free Muslims Coalition has a blog entry on the Saudi Royal Family and the Wahhabists which is extremely thorough and puts some key points in perspective:

For most of the 20th century, the Saudi royal family was substantially stronger than the Wahabi religious establishment. However, due to shortsighted policies and a lack of leadership from the Saudi government, the Wahabi religious establishment has gained substantial influence in Saudi Arabia. Over the last 30 years, radical Wahabis have become restless and unsatisfied with Saudi Arabias historical division of power. In response to the Wahabis increasingly assertive demands, the Saudi government adopted a policy of appeasement. The decision to appease the Wahabis has resulted in the legislation of internal social policy that is based on the most extreme common denominator. As is clear, Saudi Arabias policy of appeasement has backfired and has resulted in the propagation of a wicked, backward, violent and intolerant interpretation of Islam the likes of which the Muslim world has not experienced in 1400 years of history.

In recent years, Saudi Arabia has become a victim of terrorism with several bombings that killed hundreds of people. In response to terrorism on its own soil, the Saudi government has finally declared war on terrorism. It now appears that the Saudi government realizes that the status quo cannot continue and are taking baby steps to reform their policies by organizing tough police actions and ideologically challenging the terrorists theological justification for violence. The Free Muslims Coalition regularly monitors Saudi TV and while we have witnessed intolerant rhetoric by radical Wahabi religious figures, we have also witnessed a sharp increase in the number of religious and government figures who aggressively advocate tolerance, respect for other religions and attempt to discredit the ideology that leads to extremism and terrorism.

Nevertheless, while we recognize that the Saudi Arabian government has taken steps to fight extremism and terrorism, it is not yet doing enough. ..

Nawash calls upon the Saudi government to take steps to end the export of intolerance, but I think it is equally the responsibility of the U.S. and Canadian governments to not allow what is arguably hate literature into our countries.

We really need a chapter of the Free Muslims Coalition up here. John Lawrence's latest article in Canada Free Press, Toronto area Muslims feel singled out, expresses the frustrations many feel when Muslim leaders adopt a stance of victimhood in the wake of terror arrests rather than express determination to weed out those in their community who threaten us all:

As for those in the muslim community who don't like the tactics of Canada's various security agencies and police forces, I issue this challenge to you. Flush these cowards out of your mosques. Condemn all radical speech as unacceptable and turn over any and all information regarding subversive activities involving any member of the muslim community immediately. ..

[...]

You, Mr. Hindy, are no better than any other Canadian, and as a Canadian, it is time for you to put Canada first and to stop this rhetoric about how you are being persecuted. There is a groundswell of emotion rushing against your religion not because of remarks by our Prime Minister as some have suggested, and certainly not because of the allegations put forth in the form of criminal charges.

The fault, my fellow Canadian, lies at the doorstep of your mosque and others like it. Deal with it like a man and stop blaming every one else. It will not be until the majority of muslims speak out and turn out these sadistic hate mongers that muslims will be looked upon in the same light as every other group in this great land.

Just a caution: there are still many things we don't know about the terror sweep in Toronto last week, including whether tips came from Muslims who noticed there was something decidedly "off" with these men and contacted the security agencies.

Nevertheless, the quick assertions of victimhood are counter-productive as well as wearisome, and they do a deep a disservice to Muslims everywhere.

While it is true that the vast majority of terror attacks are carried out by Muslims, it is equally true that the vast majority of terror attacks target and kill Muslims.

Far too often we only pay attention when it affects Western countries, and that is a dangerous miscalculation. Al Qaeda and its affiliates seek to gather all Muslims under their murderous banner and, as we have seen in Iraq, they murder shoppers at markets and children playing in the streets ...

GI and dying Iraqi girl 0_22_450_baby.jpg
Michael Yon

and they do so with the same indifference with which they murder Iraq police and army personnel - and us.

Victory can only be achieved when people who cherish freedom are willing to stand up and fight for it, and that means all of us - Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jainist, animist, wiccan, agnostic, and atheist.

The war on terror is decidedly non-denominational, and the Muslim community in Canada desperately needs leadership that is willing to stand up and protect the rights of all Muslims from Islamic fundamentalists -- not only in Canada but in the rest of the world as well -- and affirm that tolerance is something to which we are all entitled.

June - 10 08:30 Salim Mansur passionately writes about the economic, social and political morass in many Muslim countries and declares that We Muslims have work to do.

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June 07, 2006

Canada and the War on Terror

June 7 - I've been off-line as the phone company didn't come through and then Munuvia was hit with yet another DNS attack. We must have pissed someone off, which I'll take as a compliment.

The international attention to the terror arrests up here has been astonishing, and all the more so in that the Canadian security agencies involved in the arrests have been more forthcoming than usual about those accused and their alleged specific targets. And too, the accusation that one of them wanted to behead the prime minister adds to the sensationalism in the case.

The Toronto Sun has archived the reports coming out in the aftermath of the arrest of 17 alleged terrorists here.

Judging from my own observations, I would say that awareness by both private citizens as well as by institutions has been increased -- but I'm sticking with generalities for the same reason as I cited in the previous post: give nothing away and make the bastards do their own legwork.

I will only report on the responses of those I know (and those who know me, and my American flag lapel pin intentionally acts to forewarn folks) yet I think it's fair to say that the astonishment here in Toronto is mixed with gratification. After the dismal failure to convict the defendents in the Air India trial which was, in part, attributed to turf wars between CSIS and the RCMP coupled with the revelation that the RCMP was involved in some questionable Adscam doings and had become highly politicized was disenheartening, but the arrests seemingly signaled that those responsible for public safety were in fact making us safer:

The RCMP led the investigation, but the probe included significant co-operation with partners through an Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, or INSET, made up of RCMP, the CSIS spy organization, federal agencies and provincial and municipal police.

INSET teams were created in April 2002 under a five-year, $64-million investment by the federal government.

That means the teams were created when Chretien was prime minister, which is significant and asks a question of those who parrot the sorry "it sends a message" line: Why do you vote for people who say one thing and then do another rather than voting (or at least respecting) those do what they say they will do?

Chretien and his ministers continually pooh-poohed the terror threat in Canada, yet established a high-profile committee to counter terror threats and it was highly successful. The arrests and detainment in Canada under this country's Anti-Terrorism Act (and which was opposed in an open letter from Muslim and civil rights organizations in part due to provisions permitting secrecy and long-term detentions without the formal filing of charges) should have been enough to persuade Canadians that (a) there was a security threat and (b) some strong measures had been taken to contain that threat.

The most striking feature of the case is that the targets were total Cancon -- nary an American business concern or MacDonald's were on that list. Even the dumbest dunderhead should have to concede that their hated for Canada and her institutions went beyond any imagined connection with the USA and spoke to their hatred of the West in general, but I'm not counting on it. The readiness with which many up here blame the USA for everything and anything is so deeply embedded that I doubt anything could excise it, but it is those others who are thinking about this and doing their own math and, if they think about it from this perspective, the aborted attacks say so much about Canada's worth that it may help counter the sense of inferiority that marks much of what is called Canadian self-deprecation.

In short, Canada is a force of good in the world and that makes her a target -- just not in the way that those at the CBC and Toronto Star would project. It is more evident in the West, but folks in the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario too have it as part of their heritage: the courage to pick up roots and settle in a foreign country (including the Tories Loyalists* that fled from the American War of Independence;) the willing self-reliance and confidence such a decision requires; the optimism and hope that life here will be better than it was "back home."

Okay, I'm going all Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle on you, but there is a lot of wisdom in that movie (and some grrr-eat humour) but I do have a point: people don't come here (especially given the damned winters) unless they have confidence and yearn to build a better life for themselves and their children. I actually believe that at least some of the familes of the accused had no idea what their kids were up to because that spark and optimism drove them to take a chance and move here and I feel as badly for them as for any family that sees - and disbelieves - that their kids are trashing every gift their parents gave them.

Those who want to invoke the 60s might want to look a little deeper: one of the accusations of my generation was that our parents were too materialistic and insufficiently spiritual and "close to nature." That this accusation was directed at people who had grown up with war-time scarcities was not even a consideration, yet how different is that blindness from the young fundamentalists who have disavowed every reason for which their parents migrated here?

It should be said that recognition of and gratitude for that gift can be perverted if the schools and communities don't celebrate the very heritage that enabled people of all colours, religions and ethnicities to come here and succeed, and by that I am referring specifically to the shared English heritage of both the USA and Canada which molded our institutions and gave legal recognition to individual merit and free will, despite its inconveniences, and just maybe what Canada and Canadians need is to accept that the two countries have that in common as well as a geographical boundary.

Instead of Canadians prefacing sentences with "unlike Americans," maybe we can all say that we -- Canadian, American, Australian, New Zealander, and British -- are all engaged in promoting the genuine values of an Anglosphere which decrees that all are equal and can rise on the basis of individual merit and worth.

On Canadian Appeasement

All the protests, anti-Americanism, Bush-bashing (including that by elected officials) and a refusal to support the Iraq War only fooled the fools -- it did not fool those who allegedly plotted attacks on institutions and landmarks and, had the plot actually gone forward, the death toll as well as the impact on the Canadian economy would have been substantial.

They are even accused of plotting an attack on the Toronto CBC studio, one of the most liberal if not leftist institutions in Canada. The CBC has been lukewarm on Canadian involvement in Afghanistan and their hostility to the USA as well as US efforts in Iraq is unmistakeable, yet they were a target.

Again, only the fools were fooled.

As I noted in an earlier post about some pre-Sept. 11 difficulties between the French and British in their respective perceptions of the international scope of conspiracies to commit terror acts, the French may talk a lot about discourse and negotiations but their security services tell a different story: they are focused, hard-nosed, and sometimes ruthless in their determination to eliminate threats. The problem with the French governments is their hypocrisy, or perhaps it would be better to say that the security agencies operate in such deep shadows that the French people can pretend that they are far too sophisticated to indulge in cowboyish maneuvers or do things like blow up the Rainbow Warrior just because it was attempting to expose the environmental impact of continued nuclear testing in Polynesia. After all, their government was "sending the right message."

There are indeed two Canadas, but it is not divided so much between French and English as between those who recognize that terrorism is an international threat and Canada is vulnerable, and those who will not concede the fearsome reality. Given the need for public vigilance in noticing stray bags, gunfire in the night, or an imam who preaches beyong the fiery, the extent to which these arrests are a wake-up call are yet to be determined.

As it has in the USA, though, I fear the retreat to partisan trench warfare between right and left will be rapid and unashamed, and far too many will not be able to find it within themselves to take the necessary steps to admit that we need to pull together now if only for self-preservation. But I really hope to be proven wrong.

* I should have said Loyalists, not Tories. Thanks to Keith for the correction.

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June 01, 2006

The Insidiousness of Scent

June 1 - Now that public smoking has been banned, it's time for True Believers to organize for their next assault. In Ottawa, Councillors vote to educate public on perils of perfume:

A citizens' committee on the environment submitted a proposal that the city phase in a bylaw banning people from wearing perfumes and scented products such as deodorants and soaps.
Get in the game, Toronto! The Ottawa City Council is threatening to capture the coveted title for Can't Run the City But Can Run Your Life. But first they have to spend millions to explain to people why perfumed products are wrong:
The proposal suggested starting with a public education campaign,
handled, no doubt, by advertising companies,
then following with a scents ban in city buildings and later a citywide ban.
Sheesh, I could sympathize with (althought not support) any measures taken to deal with those who do not wear deoderants (particularly after this recent heat wave) but take away my Eternity? To the barricades!
Councillors agreed Thursday to a public awareness campaign in city-owned buildings to encourage people to stop wearing scents.

They plan to review the effectiveness of the campaign in 2010 before looking at the committee's recommendations for a scents ban.

Woo hoo! Four whole years for avid anti-aromaists to agitate and organize and get public funding and be a Major Factor in the next city elections which, I've no doubt, it will be a dirty but scent-free campaign. Candidates will resemble the newscasters in the Batman movie.

I tremble to think of what these zealots will do. Throw water on those who wear perfume and after-shave? Distribute circulars on how Musk Is Bad and Roses Ruins Lives? Pontificate on the allure of natural bodily odours?

How about starting with the youngsters? Millions can be spent urging teens to "Just Say No to Scent." City ordinances could be passed requiring that all perfumed products are to be removed from shelves and cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 18.

What about potpourri? and incense? Pot Smokers and Orthodox Churches Unite?

It never fraking fails. The zealots came after the smokers and now smokers have been literally ostracized. Now the same argument is being advanced to go after people who thoughtlessly pollute the air with (shudder) artificial smells.

In the proposal, the environment committee argued that people have the right to breathe clean, fragrance-free air in the workplace.
Today the workplace, tomorrow the buses and subways, restaurants, canopied outdoor patios, and child care facilities along with stiff fines for those who violate the law. Beware: the Perfume Police are on your trail.
Several places across Canada have implemented public awareness campaigns urging people to not wear fragrances to help reduce illness and discomfort by those with scent allergies or asthma.
They are coming for You!

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Passports and whining and insults, oh my!

June 1 - Newsbeat1 often posts excerpts from Question Period in the Commons (which is another good reason to visit a couple of times each day) and today's post concerns questions from yesterday as to what the Conservative Government is doing to stop the pending requirement to present passports when entering the U.S. at the northern border.

First I should mention that U.S. tourism has decreased to Canada in the past few years, and provincial and national Liberal politicians and pundits have come up with a variety of explanations: Sept. 11, SARS, the dollar, in short, everything and nothing.

Some, though, have voiced the obvious reasons: Canada was a member of the Axis of Weasels; Chretien flew to Mexico (then a member of the UNSC) to encourage Pres. Fox to vote against U.N. action in Iraq; Canadians seem to love Michael Moore; there's a rather long lists of terrorists are out there with Canadian backgrounds (although some are dead or in Gitmo) yet the prime minister said "there are no terrorists in Canada"; and members of the Liberal Party and the news media persist in insulting us.

Now it escapes me at the moment why Americans might not choose to visit a country that has so much contempt for Americans and furthermore actively campaigned to derail American efforts to deal with a known threat and financial supporter of terrorsts, but the Minister for Public Safety, Stockwell Day, demonstrates considerably more sense on this issue than his predecessors.

Newsbeat 1: Hansard excerpts- Question Period- May 31 ,20060:

Hon. Robert Thibault (West Nova, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, on the issue of the border with the United States, this government has abandoned Canadians. The Maritimes depend on American and Acadian tourism. American families have to spend more than $500the price of passportsto enter Canada. Americans will avoid the Maritimes, and our tourism industry will suffer further. Canadian exporters who must travel to the United States have the same problem. [Americans will need a passport to enter the U.S., not Canada, although the previous government had threatened to enact such a policy as an act of retribution.]

Why is this government abandoning Canadian communities on the passport issue?

[...]

Will our government not represent us on this vital question or do we have to depend on U.S. governors to defend our interests? This is bush league leadership. Once again, the Prime Minister shows himself to be a shrub, a little bush. (Emphasis added)

Hon. Stockwell Day (Minister of Public Safety, CPC): Mr. Speaker, insults like that created a lot of problems for the Liberal regime.

A number of speakers take to the floor to whine about how passport requirements will hurt tourism and they all take their shots at the U.S. -- although I should note that they do not for its value in the debate but because they think they're ingratiating themselves with Canadians who they fondly imagine like to hear that stuff.

Somehow I doubt passport requirements will radically affect American tourism up here any more such would affect tourism to other countries. A large number of Americans, as do Canadians, hold passports already, but what may be happening is that the Liberals are establishing the grounds for blaming the Tories for reduced American tourism, as though their own big mouths weren't a major factor.

There's a saying about being careful what you wish for. A common Canadian complaint is that Americans don't know anything about them, but Americans have become more acutely aware of the world since Sept. 11 and, I fear, of Canada -- or maybe I should say the version of Canada the news media up here likes to project.

Posted by Debbye at 08:48 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Too harsh? Hardly

June 1 - This story sickens me. A man raped his 2-year old daughter and posted pictures of the act on the internet.

The assaults continued for two years, and after his 2005 conviction, the man received a 15-year sentence -- but the sentence was reduced to 9 years by the Quebec Court of Appeals:

In a 2-1 ruling on Tuesday, the court ruled the man's crimes were not among the worst sexual assaults ever committed, and agreed to reduce his sentence from 15 years to nine.

"There was no violence, such as gagging, threatening or hitting the child," Judge Lise Ct wrote.

Because gagging, threatening or hitting the child would have been wrong.
[...]

When the court reduced that sentence on Tuesday, Ct cited the man's young age [32 years old] and the fact that he has only one other criminal conviction (for sexually assaulting another child when he was 17).

Only two children (that we know of) have been damaged so we wouldn't want to ruin his life because of this.
The prosecution's case was based on roughly 5,000 pictures and 5,000 videos found on the man's computer, some featuring very young children.
The man has three other children.

(Via Neale News.)

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May 29, 2006

Ont. Civil service union to boycott Israel

May 29 - I should be outraged but such would be entirely too subdued: civil service workers in Ontario, whose generous wages and salaries are paid for by taxpayers, have endorsed the boycott of Israel:

The Ontario wing of Canada's largest union has voted to join an international boycott campaign against Israel "until that state recognizes the Palestinian right to self-determination."
You got that backwards, idiot. Israel has recognized that right and is instituting that right, but the Hamas party, which now holds majority rule, has not reciprocated and still holds to its position to eliminate Israel.
Sid Ryan, the Canadian Union of Public Employees Ontario president, said 896 members voted unanimously at its convention in Ottawa on Saturday to support the campaign.

"This is not an attack on Jewish people. It's [an objection to] the state of Israel's policies on Palestinians," Mr. Ryan said yesterday. "They say they are creating an independent state but they're not giving them the tools to do that."

"Tools" like mortar, explosives, schoolbooks that teach that Jews are monkeys and pigs, and ambulances to transport weapons? They have them.

Or "tools" as in "useful fools tools?" 'Cause I can assure you they got those too aplenty -- including your delegates.

Under the resolution approved by delegates, the union -- which represents more than 200,000 workers -- will also develop an education campaign about the issue, according to a press release. The statement condemned the West Bank barrier erected by Israel.

"The Israeli 'apartheid wall' has been condemned and determined illegal under international law," the release reads.

That stupid myth of international law is again raised as though it has legitimacy (in the proper sense of the word) and breezes past the murderous attacks that prompted the erection of the wall.
In a reference to boycotts, it also notes, "Canada has a free trade agreement with Israel, the only such agreement this country has outside of the Western hemisphere."

"In Ontario, the Liquor Control Board carried more than 30 Israeli wines, many produced in the occupied Golan Heights."

I never noticed that before, being a California wine lover, but I will definitely buy a couple of bottles now.
Mr. Ryan said the global campaign started last July and has been supported by 170 organizations around the world. "It's a human rights issue," he said.

He said the union has also come out in the past against attacks by Palestinian extremists and suicide bombers.

Insert the pro-forma "It was wrong but .." b.s., and, having been fair and even-handed, jump back to showing how enlightened you are.
CUPE Ontario's next step, he said, is to try to get other unions such as the Ontario Federation of Labour and the Canadian Labour Congress to join the campaign of "boycott, divestment and sanctions."

In recent years, CUPE Ontario has called for the end of Israeli military action and a withdrawal from the occupied territories. The executive of the Canadian Labour Congress crafted a resolution in 2002 comparing Palestinians in the occupied territories to blacks living under apartheid in South Africa.

Note the discrepancies: blacks in South Africa lived in South Africa; the Palestinians are living in what is not part of Israel. Israel is in fact withdrawing from the territories, but the issue for most of the Palestinian leadership is that Israel is not withdrawing from Israel. Not that details matter when you're enlightened.

In other news, Israeli soldiers thwarted a homicide bomb attack and here's the part that really sticks out:

Senior IDF officials told Ynet that the intelligence alert that led to the arrest is one of the most severe they have received so far. This was a joint plan of the Islamic Jihad, Fatah and the Popular Front to carry out a large scale terror attack in Israel, an army source explained.
Get that? Fatah. Now that they no longer control the PA, they have no need for the pretense of wanting peace, instead choosing to restore their reputation as butchers.

Reader Timbre sent me an email about Toronto Star editor and columnist Haroon Siddiqui's thrat to sue a commenter over at little green footballs. Anyone know how that is developing?

(CUPE link via Neale News)

[The transit workers' work stoppage has ended, so I'm heading to work. More tomorrow.]

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May 28, 2006

Oh, that Canadian MSM (Updated)

May 28 - Interesting debate going on up here which, although seemingly stemming from alterations in how PM Harper handles (or fields depending on your POV) questions from the press, reflects deeper problems with which most Americans are wearily all too familiar: rank partisanship by reporters, a news and commentary elite that cannot distinguish between fact and opinion, editorial statements disguised as questions, different reporters repeatedly asking the same questions already asked and answered (Sec. Rumsfeld deals decisively with them,) deliberate or lazy (again, depending on your POV) misrepresentation of what was actually said (remember the infamous Dowd ellipses?) and above all, in what amounts of a near-derelicition of duty, a failure to perform the kind of investigative reporting that might have brought attention to scandals like Adscam and over-spending for the Gun Registry much earlier.

JM at Newsbeat1 makes an extremely pertinent point on exactly that failure here in his link to the following item.

Stephen Taylor has an excellent post on the controversy giving Fair time to both sides of the debate and the comments are both stimulating and informative. Be sure and follow the links in both the post and comments; this is not an idle debate but one that exposes the degree of disenchantment that has led to the rise of blogs and questions as to the amount of unfettered access the media should have to the Prime Minister.

This comment by Maria cuts to the heart of what many of us see as a direct challenge to the assumumption of an "independent press":

I don't have exact source but here is another fact that makes Canadians suspicious of the motives of some members of the press:

56 appointed for life Senators were journalists (don't know how many of those were from the Ottawa press corps)

Of these 48 were appointed by Liberals.

Another extremely large number of journalists have been made Ambassadors.

The past two Governor Generals appointed by Liberals were from CBC.

There is a perception that these appointments are for "favours rendered".

No kidding. Certainly the prospect of getting a plum patronage appointment would indicate a potential conflict of interest if not a direct conflict of interest but (surprise!) the Canadian media hasn't exhibited much interest in pursuing that story.

Furthermore, the CBC is not the only news outlet that receives funding from the Canadian taxpayer so maybe it isn't so strange that much of the news media actively fanned a scare campaign in an effort to secure a Liberal win during the last two national elections.

(Please note that I am not singling out the Canadian news media for scorn -- laziness and the wholesale failure to check their facts is endemic among news organizations around the world and I cordially despise most of them all of the time and all of them some of the time.

I must admit, though, that U.S. press briefings would be far less entertaining without Dowager Helen Thomas.)

May 30 21:10 - Lorrie Goldstein points out in his column that the practice which is so outraging the PPG (Parliamentary Press Gallery) today was, in truth, instituted back in 2004 in honour of the the last two election campaigns. At those times, though, a Liberal, Paul Martin, was Prime Minister.

So the same press gallery that quietly accepted restrictions under a Liberal PM -- and, it must be stressed, during two national election campaigns -- has suddenly re-discovered the concept of a vigorous and investigative press? If we are to believe they are indeed neutral, then why didn't they stage walk-outs under the Martin government? Were they somehow afraid of the Liberals?

It is simplistic to always assume liberal (and Liberal) bias in the media, but their own inconsistencies are increasingly hard to fathom and they aren't offering any coherent explanations.

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Rally in Toronto for illegal immigrants rights

May 28 - It was inevitable, I suppose, that rallies in the U.S. demanding rights for illegal immigrants would trigger similar ones up here. 500 attended a rally for immigrants' rights in Toronto yesterday:

The protesters, who gathered outside the OISE building on Bloor St., chanted "No one is illegal," and "Status for all." The rally and march was one of several across Canada yesterday.

"We want an end to the detentions, deportations and use of security certificates," said Zima Zerehi, a spokesman for No One is Illegal Toronto.

Zerehi said studies show about 500,000 illegal immigrants live in Canada with 80,000 in Toronto.

If we apply the 10:1 ratio when comparing Canadian figures to those for the U.S., that would approximate 5 million illegal immigrants in Canada and 800,000 in Toronto.

Posted by Debbye at 09:06 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

Our Ambassador to Canada

May 28 - Nice little story about US Ambassador David Wilkins: In one short year, the new U.S. ambassador to Canada has become a poutine-loving, Moosehead-swilling Canuck-at-heart.

I think most Americans will readily admit that Canadian beer is better than ours (it has a higher alcoholic content) and to my taste, Moosehead is indeed The Best (with thanks to Sammy and Amelia for introducing me to it) and well worth the higher price.

As for the poutine, to each their own, eh?

Posted by Debbye at 08:56 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

May 27, 2006

The Battle of Panjwai

May 27 - I am impressed: this item, Canadian troops capture militants, which was written by Bob Weber and appeared in the Toronto Sun, has some solid reporting and indicates some understanding of the military and how they fight. I'm going to quote more than usual due to the uncertain lifespan of the link:

For nearly two weeks, hundreds of Canadians have been fighting in the mud-walled villages of the Panjwai district west of Kandahar, facing large concentrations of Taliban militants who - unusually - have chosen to fight rather than fade away.

The battle, a hide-seek affair of house-to-house searches and sudden, ferocious ambushes, has cost lives both Afghan and Canadian. Forty Taliban fighters were reported killed and 40 others captured in Panjwai last week in a battle that also took the life of Capt. Nichola Goddard, whose funeral was held in Calgary on Friday.

And still the fighting continues.

"We're not 100 per cent sure why (the Taliban) are fighting so hard for this area," said Capt. Dave Johnston of Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

"But this is definitely the main event now."

I suspect the Taliban are not fighting so hard for the area so much as fighting Canadians and hoping their ferocity will compell the withdrawal of Canadian troops from the region. They probably rely on the Star for their intel and have misunderestimated the character of Canada outside of Toronto.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the big action came to Banzya ...

A long convoy of light armoured vehicles - or LAV IIIs - and G-Wagon patrol vehicles had pulled into an adjacent field the previous night, its soldiers bedding down on the flat plain of dust and goat droppings.

By 8 a.m., about a dozen soldiers had filed through Banzya's main gate to begin the operation.

The Canadians set up a blocking cordon along one side of the town. Then, working with the Afghan police and army, they formed a line at right angles to the cordon. They started from one end of the cordon, searching homes, poking down alleyways and questioning villagers, moving along methodically like a squeegee cleaning a window.

The Afghans took the lead. They understood the tribal differences that allowed them to recognize someone out of place. They could spot the signs that suggest a man habitually carries an AK-47.

"We've got a lot of technology that they don't," said Johnston. "We've got more firepower, we can see better and we can call in artillery."

"But they've got a spidey sense."

The anti-war folk (and much of the MSM) are generally dismissive of the growing involvement of Afghan (and Iraqi) army units in operations because it defies their multi-cult worldview which respects the inherent dignity of people from places like Afghanistan and Iraq. No, wait, that's a contradiction. Let's try again: the anti-war folk (and much of the MSM) are generally dismissive of the growing involvement of Afghan (and Iraqi) army units in operations because it undercuts their premise that the Afghans and Iraqis liked living under the monstrous Taliban and Saddam regime.
For hours, the work went smoothly. Mid-afternoon, the Canadians and the Afghans broke from the mid-40s C heat under a shady tree. After days of fighting in the area, the place seemed deserted.

But about 3:20, as the Canadians were working through a narrow choke point of road near the vineyards, the Taliban sprung an ambush.

"There was a lot of rounds, a lot of (rocket-propelled grenades)," said Pte. Paul Carey - at least 15 of them. Carey watched one of the rockets bounce across a road like a stone over a pond, hopping over a soldier who had dived into a ditch.

The Canadians returned fire with rifles and their own grenade launchers.

Usually, such attacks last for 15 minutes or so then fade before the Canadians can call in air or artillery support. But this time, using the vineyard as a network of trenches and a nearby building for cover, the Taliban kept up fire for an hour.

One Taliban round rammed through a mud wall and the armour of a G-Wagon, setting its interior alight and badly wounding the platoon's interpreter.

The Canadians often escape an ambush by going around it. Suspecting that's what the Taliban anticipated, they changed tactics.

I'm just pausing here because it's hard to write with a big grin on one's face.
"We decided to power through the attack," said Master Cpl. Chris Alden.

Under cover of the big Canadian howitzers, landing punches from kilometres away as the soldiers cheered, the platoon gradually worked out of the trap the Taliban had tried to close on them.

But as they edged forward, they discovered their enemy had one more surprise in store. The road out was now blocked by an IED - or improvised explosive device, the sort of roadside bomb the Taliban regularly use on Canadian convoys.

"They had stuff set up for us," said Alden.

This time, the soldiers zigged, blowing a hole through a wall to open an egress.

Ka-boom! I love this stuff. It's almost Patton-esque. And, not to dwell, it's a testimony to the Canadian soldier that, despite years of neglect, they can still kick ass -- not because of what they carry in arms or equipment but because of what's inside them: guts and determination.
Meanwhile, air support arrived. A U.S. B1 bomber unloaded a 900-kilogram bomb, flattening a Taliban position with a concussion that could be felt inside LAVs two kilometres away. A U.S. air strike earlier this week in fighting elsewhere, in Azizi, killed at least 16 civilians along with dozens of Taliban fighters. Canadians were not involved in that battle.
Let it go. There are political reasons why Canadian non-involvement in that action needs to be emphasized. But, and this is directed to the American MSM, there seem to also be political reasons why the Geneva Convention is often mentioned when they report on the controversy over the Guantanamo holding facility but they don't condemn the Taliban for using human shields -- a definite violation of that same convention.
The platoon finally arrived back inside the defensive perimeter late that night, their interpreter the only casualty. During the skirmish, they had fired at least 7,000 rounds.

The work resumed the next morning at first light, with another platoon of soldiers filing into Banzya. A smattering of gunfire shortly after 10 a.m. was answered almost immediately with about 20 artillery rounds.

As I prefaced, one rarely read this kind of field reporting up here and I look forward to reading more by Mr. Weber.

One more nod to the Afghan soldiers:

Banzya is only one of a dozen tiny communities in Panjwai and operations in the area are ongoing. Each one will be different, and each will be the same.

"With the Afghan National Army taking the lead," said [Capt. Dave] Johnston [of Second Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry], "Canadians are going into compounds and making sure there are no bad guys around."

I ran a google on Bob Weber; a photo is credited to him in a Washington Post story about the battle last week in Musa Qala, a canada.com report about the death of Capt. Nicola Goddard, and there's an item by him cited in The Agonist about the Nov. 2004 Alberta elections. It seems he's a photojournalist who works for CP and AP.

I don't often note by-lines, but I'm going to be looking for his.

The season finale of Battlestar Galactica is about to begin (we're only concluding Season 2 up here) and I am so hyped. And the view on my monitor still looks brilliant.

May 28 20:35 - I wonder if information gathered from those detained is in any way connected to the successful U.S. air attack on an insurgent training facility near the Pakistan-Afghan border.

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May 18, 2006

Howard in Canada

May 18 - Australian prime minister John Howard addressed a packed Commons and spoke directly but eloquently about the dangers we face in this war on terror:

"Terrorism will not be defeated by nuancing our foreign policy," he said.

"Terrorism will not be defeated by rolling ourselves into a small ball and going into a corner and imagining that somehow or other we will escape notice."

America's '100% ally' also directed some blunt words to anti-Americans:
"Australia, as you know, is an unapologetic friend and ally of the United States," Howard told a Commons chamber that has heard frequent criticism of Washington in recent years.

"The United States has been a remarkable power for good in the world. And the decency and hope that the power and purpose that the United States represent in the world is something we should deeply appreciate," he told a packed Commons to sustained applause.

[...]

"For those around the world who would want to see a reduced American role in the affairs of our globe, I have some quiet advice. That is, be careful of what you wish for. Because a retreating America will leave a more vulnerable world."

I've previously expressed my gratitude (and relief) that Australia steadily and forthrightly provides leadership in the war on terror for southeast Asia - the western flank in this conflict - and I'll gladly say it again: thank you, Australia. Your deeds are noticed and appreciated. Also, it won't hurt for us to remember that when the tsunamai devastated that region in 2004 that Australia was the first on the scene providing rescue and relief operations.

Australia is a member of the Commonwealth and one would think that country would get more recognition here. Australia saw to the evacuation of and medical treatment for Canadian citizens after the 2002 bombing in Bali but that received scant attention here much less any outpouring of grief from Candian citizens for the deaths of Australian citizens.

There's no way around it: the rugged capability of the Australian military and navy do not reflect well on the Canada of recent years. If, as the news report snidley suggests, Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper considers John Howard to be a role model then that is not a bad thing at all.

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Afghan mission extended

May 18 - Parliament voted yesterday to extend the mission in Afghanistan for two years. It was a very close vote at 149-145 with the Bloc Quebecois and the NDP voting against the motion but, although the Liberals were split, enough voted for the extention to carry the motion.

17:22 - Andrew Coyne titles his post on this succinctly: We're staying and looks at the divisions within the Liberal Party over a mission they initiated when they ran the government.

I was too tired this morning to do more than note this extremely important committment, but it should go without saying that it is indeed welcome news. The media here (as indeed it does everywhere) takes note of the firefights and deaths but the gains don't make the headlines: building schools (and a school system that educates girls as well as boys,) medical clinics and supplying much needed equipment and medicine.

Coalition forces are also helping to train Afghan police and army units. This too doesn't make the news nor does its significance: that we are helping to build the very institutions that will eventually lead to our withdrawal.

Did I mention that girls are now allowed to attend schools? Or that women are allowed to vote? I just don't understand how any woman who calls herself a feminist could not rejoice at this news.

Another gain has been downplayed: The Torch has a post noting, among other things, the emergence of a healthy press in Afghanistan.

The Taliban and al Qaeda are caught between coalition forces, the Afghan army, and Pakistan, a country that is somewhat reluctant to engage an enemy that threatens its government (as well as the tenuous peace between it and India) but cannot help but note the extension of the Canadian mission and all it conveys.

This period in history has increasingly become one in which actions speak louder than words, and the vote in Parliament confirms that Canada is indeed committed to advancing the march of freedom. Well done.

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May 17, 2006

Female soldier killed in Afghanistan (updated)

Cdn female soldier killed.jpg
(Photo from CTV web site)

May 17 - Bumped and Updated 16:43: CTV has updated the information on the link noted below and the fallen soldier has been identified as Capt. Nichola Goddard, of 1st Royal Canadian Horse Artillery based in Shiloh, Man.

Goddard was serving with Task Force Afghanistan as part of the 1st Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry (1 PPCLI) Battle Group. Her age and hometown were not immediately available.

A military spokesman said the captain was killed in action at 6:55 p.m. local time (10:25 a.m. ET) about 24 kilometres west of Kandahar city in the Panjwai region.

Members of the Canadian Forces were backing up combined operations of the Afghan National Army and police, who were involved in a firefight against a group of Taliban fighters.

It's worth noting that the mission was a success.

I wish to extend condolences to her family for their loss as well as the gratitude of us all.

Remember those who serve.

15:27 - Very few details have been made public yet, but it has been confirmed that a female Cdn. Forces soldier has died in Afghanistan. PM Harper confirmed it was a combat death during Question Period today.

This too is something about which it is difficult for me to comment. Americans have had to try and steel ourselves to a rising death toll that does include female military personnel -- nevertheless it always hurts a bit more when it's a woman.

But far worse would be to deny those women the recognition and honour due them because they chose to accept, along with equal rights, equal responsibility for the protection and defense of their country.

Anyway, that's how I see it.

(Via Neale News.)

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Scrap the gun registry (updated)

May 17 - The Auditor-General's report hopefully dealt the gun registry its final blow when she informed Canadians that not only had the cost of the program far exceeded the initial projections but that the true costs of the registry were concealed by the previous Liberal governments. The figures given for a computer system are hard to believe:

Her audit found the price tag for a computerized information system ballooned from an initial $32 million to more than $90 million -- and it still isn't in operation.
Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day said today that Canadians will no longer be required to register long guns and shotguns and those who failed to register them will not be penalized. (See below for correction)

The desire to be seen as "doing something" has led governments to do initiate all sorts programs that too often don't even address the problem which they are meant to solve. Rex Murphy speaks to that urge and how it produces zero results, twinning the gun registry and Kyoto and labeling them to be little more than Yoking wishfulness to vast expenditure He gets in some splendid shots; regarding the gun registry, for example, he says

In the early days of this program, it was all so simple. We had then Justice Minister Allan Rock standing to tell the country, "All that we're asking of firearms owners is to fill out two cards and mail them in."

A few postcards and a postage stamp. And we get a billion dollars?

Who was the mailman? Wile E. Coyote?

Murphy link via Newsbeat1, who has has a post in which the editor of the site pointedly takes us on a little trip down memory lane and compares Adscam and issues raised by the Gomery Commission to the unresolved questions about the gun registry ("Some politicians should be walking around with a bag over their head." Heh.)

19:10 - Rats. I need to correct what I said above about the requirement to register long guns and shotguns: the announcement on the Canadian government website:

The Government is moving ahead today with the implementation of the following measures:

* transferring responsibility for the Firearms Act and regulations to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), taking over from the former Canada Firearms Centre;

* reducing the annual operating budget for the program by $10 million;

* implementing licence renewal fee waivers and refunds;

* eliminating physical verification of non-restricted firearms; and

* introducing a one-year amnesty to protect previously-licensed owners of non-restricted firearms from prosecution and to encourage them to comply with the law as it currently stands.

As well, the government will table legislation to repeal the requirement to register non-restricted firearms.

Any legislative and regulatory changes will continue to require the safe storage of firearms, safety training, a licensing program including police background checks, a handgun registry (as has been the case since 1934) and a ban on those classes of firearms currently identified as prohibited.

(Via Newsbeat1.)

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May 14, 2006

Andrew Coyne

May 14 - Andrew has posted several links to columns from April 8 - May 14. There's lots to read there so I'm gonna start reading.

Looks at though comments are re-enabled too.

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May 13, 2006

Darfur and Ottawa

May 13 - Another great read I came across at Newsbeat1: Stephen Taylor has a fascinating look at "Google Trends" and has an interesting tidbit for those of us for whom Darfur was of deep concern long before it became a popular issue:

On first glance, it appears that the Sudanese region of Darfur is within the mindset of a greater number of Canadians than Afghanistan. [Stephen has a really cool chart here.]

However, on closer inspection, it appears that Darfur is really only being researched in Ottawa rather than by the rest of the country. Certainly others in Canada are interested in Darfur, however, in reference to Canadians that search for information on Afghanistan; those that search for Darfur are in Ottawa.

I'm a normal person so I just naturally seize upon something that piques my interest! Evidently, Darfur, which wasn't very important when the Liberals were in power, is suddenly a Subject of Great Interest in this nation's capital. True, the Liberals did approach the Sudan government about sending a modest force to stave off a confidence motion in the Canadian Parliament but the Sudanese said No without the thanks and it all kind of fizzled. But now, after years of killing off the Canadian Forces by monetary starvation, the Liberals and the NDP are calling upon the current government to send troops to Darfur.

It's kind of funny in a sick, twisted way: they are inadvertantly heeding Usama bin Laden's call for the muhajadeen to go to Sudan but in order to do that they have to abandon their committment to stabilize Afghanistan, a country that once sheltered bin Laden and advanced his aspiration to restore the caliphate until al Qaeda dared attacked the USA on our own home soil and he fled because we smote them. Now they want to send troops to Sudan, another country that once sheltered bin Laden and advanced his aspiration to restore the caliphate until al Qaeda dared attack the USA on home soil (also known as embassies) and we smote them so they ejected bin Laden and he went to Afghanistan.

I need to find those who declared that irony was dead and beat the crap out of 'em.

I wrote the above before I noted a link to a column (again from Newsbeat1) by Jim Travers in today's Toronto Star that stops just short by a millimeter of urging that the Canadian military leave Afghanistan and go to Darfur but reminds us that Canada is only in Afghanistan as a concession to the USA - evidently the vicious reign of the Taliban didn't offend Canadian values - and even though he acknowledges that the state of the military is one Harper inherited, not created, he fails to be consistent and give proper consideration to the fact that the committment to Afghanistan in general and the Kandahar mission in particular were also inherited and should be honoured.

The best part lies in his desperate need to find some way to conclude the column. I do sympathize; its often easier to begin a piece than to end it, but I mean really, was this the best he could come up with?

Still, the continuum between past, present and future is serendipitous. In the first decade of a new century, peacekeeping is subordinate to peacemaking, failing states compete with newsreel victims for scarce resources and even the most dubious policies are justified by the search for the holy grail of security.

In trying to balance those forces, Harper is gambling that Afghanistan won't come to haunt his government and that Darfur won't redefine this nation as one that no longer cares.

"The holy grail of security." Isn't he clever? He's oviously channeling the Da Vinci Code, but I wonder if he's familiar with another Holy Grail tradition and, no, I'm not referring to Monty Python but to something slightly more appropriate to military matters: Wagner's Parsifal and the Holy Spear which some scholars believe to be the relic which is referred to as the Holy Grail (and which, interestingly, may actually have belonged to Charlemagne rather than a Roman soldier, and the former attribution has a definitive context which I find quite appealing.)

Serendipity is a great word. It's all about accidental but pleasant discoveries and has nothing to do with inattention to historical events. The "continuum" - a great, Star Trek: the Next Generation word - is far from serendipitous when rooted in blood and death, or maybe Travers forgot the famine in Ethiopia which was neither the first or the last of "newsreel victims for scarce resources" and for whom the world - well, actually, those with European traditions - rallied to save. It appears he also missed that little incident in 1993 when some say peacekeeping without peacemaking died along with 18 U.S. Marines although others say it died in 1983 and no matter how you look at it, all the noted events, according to my calandar, were in the last century. (This century, as most of us realize, also opened with a bang and it too was unpleasant.)

As do all good liberals, as Ann Coulter has said, he only wants the military to engage in wars which it cannot win. I'm not sure it's intentionally defeatist, but there it is. There will be no adjacent land base from which to deploy or supply troops so any intervention there will need air power, and, for those who have a memory, being denied a northern base from from which to launch an assault hurt us when we invaded Iraq so imagine the difficulty of having no land base.

Don't look at us. I think we may be busier than many realize, and I've got my wonders about the real circumstances behind recent events in Somalia (mums the word) and besides, I think our guys should be allowed to finish their jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan and, you know, go home to their families and loved ones and that's not even taking into account possible action in Iran. Certainly an intervention in Darfur is in keeping with everyone's values but the U.N., which until quite recently was pronounced to be the only legitimate authority under "international law" to wage war, seems disinclined to sanction military force to end the not-genocide so I fear that Darfur will be like the weather: everyone will talk about it, but no one will do anything about it.

And who's fault will that be? I know, it will be all our fault. Everything is our fault. Certainly we can't blame Canada and other value-laden countries who were busily dismantling their militaries to meet the entitlement demands of their populations and felt secure in doing so because ... well, because the U.S. had always been willing to pick up the slack. Until Sept 11, 2001, when we were attacked and we learned where we really stood in the world.

John Robson makes this point and others in Plenty of mercy, but no muscle for Darfur (via Daimnation!) and he makes the one vital point about a reality that is neither unexpected nor pleasant:

Liberals talked about the duty to protect. But they ignored the capacity. So now the pitch to those-awful-macho-Americans in sunglasses and body armour is, we didnt join you in Iraq but you should join us in Sudan. Well not exactly join. More lets you and him fight.

Ahem. Dear President Bush, remember all that joshing about how you lied and were a war criminal and the worst president in a century and an imbecile and stuff? Ha ha. Just kidding. Actually we share your idealism but um forgot to have an army, navy or air force so could you maybe just totally invade and occupy an oil-rich Muslim country for us a bit? If trouble erupts elsewhere, like Korea or Taiwan, and youre overextended because you took on Darfur, well, you can count on us to rely on you. But well cheer until something goes wrong. Then well denounce you as an insensitive imperialist and start muttering about Halliburton.

There are Americans who are desperate for world approval and then there are the rest of us, and if outsiders understood American politics they would see how far to the right John Kerry swung in '04 yet still lost and how much farther to the right Hillary is swinging now yet her poll numbers are poor. Maybe then they would begin to realize how angry we are and, if they think it through, they'd suddenly realize that we're taking Mom's advice and ignoring the people who bug us. That's why we can have our silliness with American Idol, attend NASCAR races, keep our guns clean and our ammo close by, and produce wonderful moves like Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle and do all the stuff that so offend the elites because the only thing that really matters is how we feel about ourselves, and we kind of like us.

So the situation in Darfur is undeniably desperate - albeit only one in a frighteningly long list (be sure and look at the entries for May 5) but we're kind of busy right what with Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and probable players to be named later.

But it's not hopeless: the world could still face this challenge without U.S. leadership.

I propose that France assume leadership in a Coalition of the Used-To-Be-Unwilling. They possess aircraft carriers and might even be able to use their presence in Congo and Ivory Coast from which to launch a land assault and besides, it will demonstrate French superiority. The Spanish could redeem their honour by participating and Belguim too could demonstrate that their horror for crimes against humanity is not just rhetoric.

I devoutly hope, however, that Canada doesn't trade its valued presence in Afghanistan for an adventure in Sudan for many reasons not the least of which is because, like it or not, any intervention there will be one without an exit plan

I would be heartened should there be a genuine humanitarian intervention in Darfur. It's lonely being the only guys on the block willing to take on the bullies. But I have my doubts, though, because doing such would also require taking on the Russians and Chinese and I'm not sure the French in particular are willing to abandon their playing-off-the-USA-against-Russia-and-China strategy.

But shh! don't tell anyone that Sudan has oil. I'm sick of those posters.

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Great reads

May 13 - I meant to go to sleep but I foolishly visited Newsbeat1 and I've spent the better part of the night (morning? whatever) reading some great stuff.

Top of the list is Michael Yon currently writing from Afghanistan. I need to put a post-it on my monitor to remind myself to complain about the "mainstream media" rather than the shortened "media" because assuredly Michael Yon is a member of that profession -- or maybe he is what they wish they were: someone that writes from heart and mind rather than studied artifice.

Just as he does always, this latest post, The Long Road Ahead, has filled me with a sense of joy, sorrow, laughter, fierce pride and all-round general choked-up-ness.

After reading it I realized I need to return to Right Wing News to re-read John's Favourite Hindu Story.

The thematic connection between the two is not restricted to dogs, though, but to the kind of steadfastness and loyalty we so often see in honourable warriors.

Now here's a thought: we should encourage the Lefties to send a peace delegation to a Hindu village in Afghanistan to explain to them why removing the Taliban was wrong.

If you followed the last link, by the way, you'll note a name that recently popped up yet again: Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. I swear this guy is like an Afghan Keyser Soze.

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May 12, 2006

Cindy Sheehan on Canada

May 12 - Michael Moore came up here and Al Gore came up here so I guess it was inevitable that Cindy Sheehan make the trip. Oh. Joy.

There is (surprise) one point with which I commiserate with Cindy. I too have adult sons who sometimes make questionable decisions or have opinions with which I might disagree. It's a part of growing up (I mean us parents growing up.) That doesn't mean that I'm giving her a pass for being such a jackass, only that I do understand why she feels so guilty (indeed, what parent doesn't feel guilt when one's child dies?) I suspect that she hasn't found a way to mourn for the man her son became but only for the son that she lost.

Anyway Cindy came, encouraged Canada to accept the hundreds of U.S. military deserters (?) she claimed want refuge here and is enlightening Americans on Canada in Cindy Sheehan Reports from Canada:

Canadians are distressed that defense spending rose by 5.3 billions of dollars (roughly what the US spends for 2 weeks in Iraq) while the preschool budget is being cut and college tuition is rising. This increase in military spending coincidentally correlates with a push to recruit thousands of more soldiers who are still be told by the Canadian recruiters that their country only does peace keeping missions. This manipulation of facts and the exploitation of fear and false patriotism is being fueled by the Canadian media who seem to be turning, for the most part, into propaganda tools of their government a la our rightwing 4th estate. (Bolding added)
Cindy didn't check her facts. She may have just accepted what she was told uncritically -- yet she flings accusations about others lying and being manipulative! For one thing, the promise to rebuild the military was a key election promise. The recruitment centers are busy up here because young Canadian men and women read the papers and listen to the news (unlike Cindy) and they know full well that there is a firefight in Afghanistan and they want to do their part to defend this country now that they have a government that will support them and rebuild the military thus restoring an institution that was once a source of tremendous Canadian pride.

The accusation in the bolded part of her report is just as funny up here as it is down there and for much the same reason - in fact, it might even be funnier as there's no Canadian equivalent to FoxNews or even CNN.

The recent polls in Canada show that the people there are starting to wake up by the truckloads with support for their administration's support of BushCo's war slipping 14 percentage points in two months! Canadians are seeing that the war in Afghanistan is not righteous and that when Canada sends troops there, it frees American troops to be illegally and immorally deployed to Iraq. Canada needs a Cindy Sheehan to go to the PM's residence and demand to know what noble cause her child died for, or is still fighting for.
See how she did that? Once again it became All. About. Her.

Neale News mischieviously links to her report with the caption "Cindy Sheehan: "Harper is Wildly Unpopular"" next to these three:
Tories Riding a Wave of Support, Polls Show,
Canadian military asks photographer to suppress photos of Taliban raid, capture, and
Majority support Afghan mission: Poll which indicates that Cindy has poor math skills:

The Ekos survey -- provided to Reuters -- shows 62 percent of Canadians support the mission in Afghanistan, down from 70 percent in early February. The number opposed grew to 37 percent from 28 percent.
The article doesn't break down the numbers by region or province, which is Canadian for "support would be higher if you factor out the numbers from Quebec."

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Canadian troops capture 10 Taliban

May 12 - Canadian troops capture Taliban suspects without firing a shot and turned them over to Afghan police. Much of the article content, though, focuses on whether photos taken by an embed from Agence France-Presse may have violated Geneva Convention articles on the rights of prisoners.

The Toronto Sun article also focuses on the photo issue, but provides much more information about the suspects and what they were carrying:

Ten prisoners were taken in the raid, including three known to authorities. [Maj. Marc] Theriault said the men were found with large sums of money and bomb-making materials.
That information is conspiciously absent from the Yahoo account as well as the the CBC story. which is exactly the same as the one at Yahoo but does include a link to a photo gallery (requires Macromedia Flash Player.)

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May 10, 2006

Ardent Sentry

May 10 - 'Ardent Sentry' Testing U.S., Canadian Crisis Response:

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2006 More than 5,000 U.S. and Canadian servicemembers are working with authorities in five U.S. states and two Canadian provinces [Ontario and New Brunswick] to test their response capabilities to crises ranging from a major hurricane to a terrorist attack to a pandemic flu outbreak.

Ardent Sentry 2006, a two-week U.S. Northern Command exercise, kicked off May 8 to test military support to federal, provincial, state and local authorities while continuing to support the Defense Department's homeland defense mission, according to Air Force Lt. Col. Eric Butterbaugh, a NORTHCOM and North American Aerospace Defense Command spokesman. The Canadian part of the exercise began May 1 and continues through May 12.

[...]

While testing the military's interagency coordination, the exercise also focuses on its ability to operate with the Canadian government and the newly established Canada Command, NORTHCOM's Canadian counterpart, Kucharek said.

"This is the first major exercise which will allow Canada Command to train with federal and provincial departments and agencies," said Gordon O'Connor, Canada's national defense minister. "Exercises such as Ardent Sentry 2006 help ensure we respond to domestic threats and natural disasters in a coordinated manner." It also will promote "cross-border information sharing" between Canada Command and NORTHCOM, he said.

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May 09, 2006

That unelected Sentate

May 9 - Can you imagine this coming from a body whose membership has to face an electorate? Canada's Senate committee recommends nickel-a-drink tax hike for mentally ill.

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Leadership: Canadian Style

May 9 - The Conservatives continue to impress me with their handling of the big stuff. Recent polls have indicated support for the Afghan mission is slipping, so Peter MacKay, the foreign affairs minister. pays surprise visit to Canadian troops in Kandahar and pledges that Canada will "finish the job."

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May 01, 2006

"just another way to get to work"

May 1 - Interesting information about a new paratrooper unit formed up here (you have to read that post to get the title -- it's a doozy of a quote!)

I've always felt awkward about commenting overly on Canadian military issues. After all, I could hardly be called neutral much less even-handed but I do feel it's important for Americans to recognize that, despite the sniping and barbs hurled at us by the previous government, Canada was contributing a great deal in Afghanistan and the Persian gulf and it was certainly no reflection on those who serve in the Canadian Forces that the government and news media largely ignored them (unless there was a death, at which time they all hyped it up to a suspicious degree -- and I'm not alone in my cynicism.)

So I guess there are two points to this post: that there is a determined if clumsy effort by the minority Conservative government to get across the fact that the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan is a war, and that you will want to read The Torch on a regular basis to learn just how engaged Canadians are in Afghanistan. (True, its not yet on my blog roll but I've only just managed to restore my permalinks and haven't the faintest idea yet how I fixed 'em much less lost 'em so venturing into a template might be a Bad Idea.)

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April 21, 2006

Happy 80th to the Queen

Apr. 21 - Cheering crowds greet Queen on birthday walkabout but the real tribute is from Beaverbrook.

Off to work.

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Better get those passports

Apr 21 - Fox reports some interesting news - FBI: Two U.S. Citizens Met With Islamic Extremists in Canada to Plan Terror Strikes - with one glaring omission: Canada is a big country and the "where" might be of interest to folks up here and, I suspect, to folks down there.

Get with it, FoxNews.

(The alleged meeting was in Toronto.)

[Just to clarify that post title, it is in reference to people up here who oppose the new regulations requiring people from Canada to present passports when they try to enter the U.S.A. There seems to be some weird attitude by Canadians that they have a God-given right to enter the US at will, which is kind of funny coming as it does from a country in which the English population doubled by the many Loyalists who left the USA after the Revolutionary War.]

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April 05, 2006

Kindly define "friend"

Apr. 5 - The Globe and Mail headline shouts Brief Throne Speech hails U.S. as 'best friend' - death quotes theirs, as though that statement is a bad thing - which is why it continues to bewilder me that so many in the MSM express opposition to new regulations which require Canadians crossing the border to carry passports. Are we to suppose that the Globe and Mail thinks Canadians should have the kinds of consideration merited by long-standing ties of friendship between the two countries without the friendship part? (Actually, yes, but don't ask me to explain it.)

It seems below much of the media's radar up here that some decidedly unfriendly words and actions by columnists, activists and even members of the previous government have led many Americans to not count Canada as a friend and, too well aware that Canada was a member in good standing of the Axis of Weasels, regard this country as little better than France and deserving of the same disdain and treatment.

The formation of the Congressional Friends of Canada was widely hailed up here but should have been a huge warning flag. It was reactive, not pro-active: a reparative act in response to a woeful admission that relations between the two countries have deteriorated to the point that such an organization is needed, for why bother if there was no need to counteract the altered perception of Canadians by Americans?

Things have changed since Sept. 11. Before that day we tended to brush aside the slings and arrows thinking that we were "big enough to take it" but once we were attacked we took careful note of who were friends and who were foes and Canada came up sadly short. Blame Chretien, Parrish and Martin or applaud them, just don't overestimate our willingness to overlook or forgive because it's no longer about hurt feelings but about our very survival.

Also, for all the anti-Bush sentiment and professed preference for Democrats up here, please don't fail to note which party is increasingly becoming the party of protectionism and isolationism. Those who don't believe such sentiments will hurt trade are sadly mistaken.

The funny part is that the Globe and Mail is supposed to be business-oriented, yet the attitudes and policies they promulgate would have a devastating effect on the Canadian economy. Go figure.

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A New Leaf - Speech from the Throne

Apr. 5 - The Speech from the Throne was delivered to Parliament yesterday and the 2006 session opens today under something of a cloud due to the pay increase that puts MPs in the top 2% of income earners.

The themes of the speech echo much of the philosophy and promises made during the election campaign but, as always, the test will be in the ability of the minority government to get legislation passed by the House. Nevertheless, the opposition would be foolish to block the passage of a bill to strengthen accountabiliy and protect whistle-blowers (although they may try to water it down.)

The issue of child care will continue to be a major bone of contention. Those who claim that lack of child care forces many women to stay at home overlook an uglier reality: high taxes and prices force many women to work outside the home even when they'd much prefer to raise their children themselves. The Throne speech affirmed that parents should be able to choose the form of child care that works best for them.

The extent to which the federal government plans to return power to provinces in unclear. The speech spoke of facilitating "provincial participation in the development of Canadian positions that affect areas of provincial responsibility" which is not the same thing as returning power formerly held by the provinces.

We'll see how it goes.

Lorrie Goldstein looks at the double-standard and hypocrisy by Liberals criticizing yesterday's speech.

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April 03, 2006

PM speaks on crime

Apr. 3 - Good news and good news: Police cheer PM's tough talk on crime and I cheer his resolve to abolish the long gun registry ... but leave it to the Star to search out and quote someone who supports keeping the gun registry. Is there a policeman in Canada who assumes that someone doesn't possess a gun just because they aren't a registered owner? The illegal, unregistered hand-guns used in the incessant gang warfare here in Toronto answers that question pretty decisively.

PM Harper's speech today on crime is here and the speech of Vic Toews, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, before the Canadian Professional Police Association is here (via Newsbeat1.)

Parliament opened today. It will be interesting to see how much this minority government will be allowed to accomplish inasmuch as the leadersless Liberals are not likely to want an election any time in the near future.

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"It's time to do something about the CBC"

Apr. 3 - Richard has written a persuasive, low-key open letter to PM Harper about continued federal funding for the CBC over at Cannuckistan Chronicles.

It's a nicely restrained letter with lethal pin-point accuracy. After citing some examples from Tony Burman, Editor in Chief of CBC News, of his self-aware political bias the letter concludes:

Freedom is an interesting word Mr. Harper. As Canadians we have the freedom to provide funding and support to any number of activist groups should we choose to do so. We have the freedom to make that choice. Except when it comes to the "activist" CBC, as it's funded by our tax dollars.

As such Mr. Harper, I respectfully request that you level the playing field. ..

Well done.

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Oh, that liberal media

Apr. 3 - M.K. Braaten proves that pictures are better than words and in doing so utterly discredits the Wardrobe Controversy the media has tried to create over PM Harper's choice of apparel during the Cancun summit.

(Note to Americans: the first photo is of former PM Paul Martin and the second is of current PM Stephen Harper. If you thought much of the American media gave Clinton a free pass ...)

(Via Newsbeat1)

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April 01, 2006

Abderraouf Jdey (and Harper's wardrobe)

Apr. 1 - Some Canadian exposure of revelations about Abderraouf Jdey that emerged from the Moussaoui trial: Al-Qaeda plotters sought Canadian as pilot, court told because al Qaeda believed that those who held Western passports would more easily pass through security checks. One correction though: the Sept. 11 commission was in fact told specifically that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed claimed that Jdey and Moussaoui were both to have hijacked planes out of Indonesia to attack the U.S. west coast (more on that here and google search results here.

Note to Globe and Mail: Kindly check your ... Oh forget it. I realize your people have far more important things to do, like complain about Harper's wardrobe.

18:07 This goes beyond the ridiculous: today's CTV poll question (on their main page) is if I think it matters what Stephen Harper wears when he attends high profile meetings with foreign leaders. What are they trying to do, turn him into a metrosexual?

It's nice to note that there are so few issues of substance these days that the Canadian news media can address this sort of urgent issue. And they wonder why Canadians watch US news channels.

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Rally to defend freedom of the press!

Apr. 1 - It appears that there is more than one way to supress press freedoms, and I'm finding it hard to restrain the contempt I feel as I report that a Canadian human rights commission in Alberta is complicit in an attempt to do just that.

The Western Standard magazine published those Danish cartoons last February. Attempts to get the police to stop publication were denied but now a complaint has been filed - and accepted - by the Alberta Human Rights Commission that claims that reglious rights were violated by the publication of the cartoons and charges Ezra Levant with hate mongering.

Few things anger me more than the frivolous manipulation of those agencies which are intended to protect citizens' rights, and when the agencies themselves are complicit in the frivolity they destroy their own credibility. But it's not just stupidity propelling this but action by the usual, politcally correct suspects to limit freedom of expression.

But herein lies the rub. Although there is little if any chance that the Western Standard will be found guilty they will have to pay for their legal defense (whereas of course the complaintant's bills will be covered by the taxpayer) and, being a small newspaper, it is going to hurt because those costs are not reimbursible.

So I'm asking you to help not only this Canadian magazine but also yourselves, because unless suits of this nature are immediately met with outrage and direct, tangible support to fight them they flourish, and that's bad news for all of us.

WSLEGAL.gif

There is more information on the suit here and a link to a .pdf file of the complaint. I doubt I need to remind anyone reading this that defending press freedoms is part and parcel of the war on terror or how imperative it is that we rise up as one when our freedoms are attacked.

So I'm asking you, no, begging you to click on the image above or go here to donate to this fight. (In truth, American readers, if only because a small Canadian newspaper shamed a lot of big American ones, I'd say that donating to this cause is even more incumbent upon Americans!)

Canadian and American soldiers are protecting our freedoms overseas and we owe it to them to do our part to protect those freedoms when they're attacked here. It really is that simple.

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The Maple Leaf Forever!

March 31 - Prime Minister Stephen Harper's visit to Afghanistan could not have been timed better coming as it did right before the annual spring Taliban offensive. In contrast, the calls by the Opposition parties to debate the Afghan mission in Parliament could not have been timed worse. It effectively gave the Taliban reason to hope that Canadians would cut and run once blood had been drawn and why the assault on the base was stronger than expected; they well understand the nature and tactics of opposition parties which hope to bring down a minority government by any and all means. It was essential that Harper renew Canada's committment then and there, with his boots on the ground, and assure the troops (and Afghans) that the Canadian government and people supported them.

Not bad for a rookie prime minister, eh? And the response here has been overwhelmingly positive and makes one wonder what the heck is going on with Canadian sensibilities. Media pundits, meanwhile, gripe that Harper, who never received any respect from them, doesn't respect them. There have been major firefights in Afghanistan and the media is focused on themselves. Right.

Harper's visit and brief speech also marked a welcome shift in policy as he asserted his confidence in Canada - not as a heckler but as an active player on the world stage by recognizing that you can't "lead from the bleachers." Andrew Coyne's analysis on this is well worth reading and I won't go over the same ground but want to speculate about some possible implications on how that speech might affect the role of the Canadian military in foreign affairs and how it might affect Canadians as they perceive themselves.

Significantly, Harper asserted that the troops were in Afghanistan to "defend our national interests." Now I don't know how often the Liberals openly justified foreign policy on the basis of national interests but I'd hazard it would be somewhere between "not often" to "rarely if ever." Canadian participation in the NATO mission in Afghanistan, for example, was portrayed as one of altruistic peacekeeping -- as though Canada did not have a stake in the establishment of a democratic, peaceful Afghanistan. (Harper did elide over the fact that it is a NATO mission by referring to it as a U.N. mandated mission. The political reality is that Canada tends to regard the U.N. as a Canadian accomplishment so invoking the U.N. confers better legitimacy. Sigh.)

He also stated that Canada has a stake in the role on terror, and by affirming that Harper broke new ground - not so much because of what he said but because he was completely and utterly sincere. If Americans regarded former prime minsters Chretien and Martin as indistinguishable from France's Chirac maybe it's because that perception was accurate: the previous governments were perceived to be paying token lip service to the war on terror and justified Canadian participation by playing the trade card, as though Canadian security and national interests were not at stake and as though terror attacks on innocent civilians were not an affront to Canadian values. Yet, like France, Canadian security forces have been more active than is publicly recognized here. It's as though they are contributing but don't want anyone to know about it - something that is insulting to Canadian citizens who are entitled to know what their government is doing.

Harper also reminded the Canadian troops of the two dozen Canadians that died on Sept. 11, something the Liberal government had been quick to shrug aside just as they underplayed the deaths of Canadians who have lost their lives in other terror attacks. The previous government followed much of the world by pretending that the U.S. alone was the target -- as though the name World Trade Center was as devoid of symbolism as was the death roll of citizens from around the world.

Right about this time three years ago the booing of the U.S. national anthem at a Montreal Canadiennes game was noted by the American news media (although not so much the determined cheering of the anthem at a Blue Jays game in Toronto.) There were a lot of people up here who recognized that, despite one's attitude about the war in Iraq, the ties of friendship and shared values were worth defending, and it was in that spirit that the Friends of America organized rallies across Canada in early April of 2003.

The Toronto rally was on a Friday afternoon and, despite the freezing rain, some 2,000 people attended. One of the most spirited speakers at that rally was Stephen Harper, then leader of the Alliance Party, who ended his speech with the cries "God Bless America" and, very significantly, "The Maple Leaf Forever!"

The response was electrifying. By invoking that cry he hearkened back to an earlier, pre-Trudeauian era when Canadians were internationally regarded as tough and gritty - bold men and women who strode down from the North with determination and got the job done. (The song Maple Leaf Forever is quickly recognizable because it was often background music in war films where Canadian troops were featured, and was the unofficial song of Canada before Oh Canada was institutionalized.)

The capabilities of the Canadian military have been so diminished that that when Canadian soldiers first arrived in Afghanistan they were wearing forest green uniforms. It is to their credit that they scrounged for paint in order to create desert-camo fatigues and blankets but they shouldn't have had to go to such lengths, nor should Canadian troops have had to hitch a ride for the deployment. Sea Kings should not fall out of the air nor should a sailor die on a second-hand submarine and it is hard to swallow the pious sentiments expressed at cenotaphs on Remembrance Day when it is government indifference that most puts military lives at risk.

Polls indicate that Stephen Harper's approval ratings shot up after his trip to Afghanistan and it has been reported that enlistment numbers for the Canadian military are steadily increasing. Is it possible that a long-stifled urge is at work here, an urge for Canada to count as a player on the world stage and be recognized by her deeds rather than by the empty words of past governments? Is it possible that the energy checked by too much political correctness is about to spring free?

I still can't gauge how Canadians are reacting to the reality that her soldiers in Afghanistan are engaged in active warfare as well as reconstruction efforts but the lack of demonstrations argues that Canadians are fine with it. American forces in Afghanistan as well as Iraq have been doing both for a long time and I suspect that Canadians are sensible enough to recognize that there is no reason why, with proper support, Canadian troops can't do so as well, but there is also a deeper recognition that springs not so much from American sentiments but from Western sentiments: we are not only willing to die for our values but also willing to kill to defend those values.

There is a part in most of us that is dismayed when we ask our sons and daughters to kill. That is it should be in a moral society and is a key value that separates us from those who enthusiastically rejoice when their children commit murderous terror acts which kill inocent civilians. Yet the fact is that killing and detaining terrorists are the best if not only ways to protect civilians - including Muslims, Christians, Jews and Hindus - from terror attacks, and those who will not defend the innocent are selfishly immoral.

As I prefaced earlier I'm just speculating, but there's a reason why Don Cherry was voted to the Top Ten List of Canadians and why hockey thrives up here. If the Canadian youth are totally anti-war then why are they wearing desert camo clothing? There's something askew, and as neither Don, hockey nor military wear are for sissies, maybe there's something going on that neither the media nor the polls have addressed but which Stephen Harper has.

Confidence is a concept that has been eroded by fretting over self-esteem. It takes confidence "to do" but one needs neurosis to obsess over self-esteem, and a less neurotic and more confident Canada can be a strong and valuable participant on the world stage. I sincerely hope that Harper can tap the wellspring of Canadian confidence sufficiently to render ludicrous accusations that such is an American-style approach to life and the world because the detractors are dead wrong: confidence is not the sole province of Americans but is God's gift to the world as surely as is liberty, and there are no more confident people on the planet than free people.

To repeat Harper's exhortation of three years ago, The Maple Leaf Forever! Stride onto the world stage with the same gritty confidence that once marked Canada as a force to be reckoned with and show 'em what Canadians are made of and yes, do it for the children - including mine.

[It only took me three days to write, edit, and re-write this. Heh, maybe that's why I don't post as often as I used to. Oh well, Stephen den Beste and Bill Whittle I ain't.]

Posted by Debbye at 11:19 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 30, 2006

And yet another attack

Mar. 30 - A joint Romanian-Canadian convey was attacked this morning and a Canadian soldier wounded in suicide attack in Kandahar as were six Afghan civilians.

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Pte. Robert Costall, KIA

Mar. 30 - The opening sentence says it all:

[Pte. Robert Costall, 22, of Thunder Bay is] Canada's first soldier to die in combat in Afghanistan ...
One American soldier and eight Afghan soldiers were also killed. And some 32 of the enemy were killed.

Although there has been a Canadian presence in Afghanistan since 2002, the mission has been grossly underplayed by the government and the news media. It's been all "wave and smile" and tea-time, and there has been this general illusion that Canadian soldiers are peacekeepers who don't kill even when though they are killed. Sure, they return fire and try to find whoever is lobbing mortars at them, but they don't catch them so it's okay. That's the myth, anyway, and it is one that has been earnestly portrayed by far too many journalists who are also so naive as to reveal in which section of the camp the mortars landed. But it's all out in the open now: the Canadian Forces are truly an army, capable of taking and inflicting losses.

When we engage the enemy we take casualties. Every thinking person (who is not a member of the news media) knows that basic truth, and those of us who are honest want our soldiers to prevail. A soldier's death must be a meaningful one because he has made the ultimate sacrifice in our names.

March 29, 2006 Coalition forces killed 32 insurgents and destroyed two Taliban headquarters buildings in Afghanistan's Helmand province today, officials at Bagram Air Base said. The early-morning engagement continued into daylight hours as coalition forces defeated a large enemy element that was attempting to retreat into sanctuaries.

Coalition forces also discovered large caches of munitions as they overran the Taliban compound and the enemy fled. Coalition forces destroyed the munitions, which included weapons and bomb-making materials, causing multiple secondary explosions and destroying the compound and all enemy military equipment inside.

There has been an escalation in attacks on Canadian soldiers and on the base since they moved to Khandahar. Although the previous government had warned that it would be more dangerous they really didn't make it clear that there would be fighting, i.e., that Canadians would fight back.

I don't know how the Canadian public will react to all this but I suspect most soldiers would, given the chance, prefer to die fighting than from being sucker punched by IEDs or homicide bombers. Soldiers are not victims but fighters, and their willingness to fight is what allows us to natter and nit-pick and whine and opine without worrying about who might be taking names or a knock on the door in the middle of the night. (Joe Warmington has a good column on this and contrasts the homecomings of Pvt. Costall and James Loney.)

I don't know how the Canadian public will react to the fact that Canadian soldiers fought valiantly and inflicted casualties but I suspect that many -- if not most -- will be heartened if not downright joyful.

I shudder to think of how the political opportunists and media will manipulate this in days to come but this day Canadians can feel proud and grateful that this country still produces men and women made of that stern stuff from which heroes spring.

There can be no finer tribute:

More than 2,500 troops -- Canadian, American, British, Australian, Dutch and Romanian -- lined the tarmac for the solemn ramp ceremony. Eight soldiers carried the casket to the aircraft. The lament of a lone piper drifted across the desert.
Rest in peace, Private Costall. Your country -- and ours -- salute you.

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February 28, 2006

Canadian takes command of forces in South Afghanistan

Feb. 28 - Brig. Gen. David Fraser, Canadian, takes over in southern Afghanistan, but it's a bit more complicated than that.

Read this post at The Torch for good, well-linked information on the structure and nature of the command.

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February 26, 2006

Canadians in Afghanistan

Feb. 26 - A Canadian soldier was slightly wounded after two grenades exploded near a Canadian patrol on the Kandahar road between two Canadian camps. The attack was made at approximately 10:30 p.m. and and, as too often happens, it was a hit-and-run attack and thus no chance to return fire (Canadian patrol under rocket-propelled grenade attack in Afghanistan):

The first round exploded on the road between vehicles. The second projectile struck a rear door.

"It was bang, bang," said Grimshaw. [Maj. Nick Grimshaw, the senior officer on the patrol.]

Capt. Jay Adair was standing through the hatch in the rear the lead LAV-3 and saw the RPG attack firsthand.

"I heard the bangs and I also saw the explosions," Adair said.

"I'm not sure whether I saw the explosions from the weapons being fired or the weapons striking the ground and the vehicle. But certainly a bright flash and two loud bangs."

[...]

The attack was on the main road from the city to Kandahar Airfield, the same road where Canadian diplomat Glyn Berry died in a bomb attack.

As the article notes, the soldiers were traveling in G-wagons, which replaced the unarmoured Iltis vehicles after Corporal Jamie Brendan Murphy was killed in January, 2004.

Properly funding and equipping the military is going to be a major challenge for the newly installed minority Conservative government. Canadian chief of the defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier lays it out:

"We remain short about three quarters of a billion dollars just to sustain the present Canadian Forces," he said.

"That's everything from married quarters to spare parts, to ammunition, the running of simulators, to gas and oil, to rations and to everything else necessary to march or fly or sail."

Beyond these day-to-day expenses, there's an enormous backlog of repairs and maintenance that has been deferred for years.

"The bow wave of things that we have not done, that we have put off . . . is enormous," he said. "It is going to take us billions of dollars to get out of that hole and I mean billions with a capital B."

Hillier also said that the military has too many buildings, hangars and other infrastructure on its bases that cost money but add nothing to the Forces.

"My estimate is that we have anywhere up to a quarter of our infrastructure that is not operationally required."

Hillier has welcomed the Conservative government's proposals for new planes, bases and 13,000 new troops.

[...]

Hillier seemed to be taken aback by a new poll published Friday which suggested almost two-thirds of Canadians oppose Canada's involvement in Afghanistan.

[...]

Hillier also said he wants to build a stronger connection between the Forces and the rest of the country after years in which the military and the civilian community have drifted apart.

"Having been disconnected from the population for many years in my view, disowned by Canadians in this past decade and seen their confidence in us plummet, we have an obligation to ensure that we as Canada's armed forces are seen by our population . . . as exactly that; as their armed forces."

Although I can't scientifically prove it, I do believe that the impact of American Milbloggers on communications between the American public and military has been immense. As this chart indicates, though, there is a decided lack of them in Canada.

Bloggers do have a way of filling a vacuum, though, and Damian Brooks and Chris Taylor are part of a new enterprise to fill that need: The Torch, a blog focused on the Canadian military and which already has an impressive series of posts including this one which takes on the notion that Canadians are a nation of "peacekeepers." Be sure to bookmark and visit The Torch.

(Yahoo link Neale News; CTV and Milblogs links via Newsbeat 1.)

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February 20, 2006

Cdn. Journalists say publish cartoons

Feb. 20 - A bit of vindication for Ezra Levant and the Western Standard: according to a recent Compass poll, about 6 in 10 Canadian journalists say Publish cartoons.

Interesting breakdown of options:

According to Monday's report, about 17 per cent of those polled felt all major Canadian media should have reprinted the images. Another 18 per cent said most media should have carried the cartoons and 25 per cent said at least some of Canada's biggest outlets should have used the caricatures.

By contrast, about 31 per cent of respondents said major media were correct in the decision not to use the material.

The great divide:
Of those who supported non-publication, most cited respect as the reason.

The bulk of those who said the cartoons should have been carried said fear was the primary motivator for not publishing.

Encouragingly, the poll also found that the journalists who participated understood the implications of not publishing the cartoons:
Still, the majority of Canadian journalists also said they had at least some concern that not publishing the cartoons increased the power of extremist groups at the expense of Shia Muslims who include portraits in their every day lives and pluralist Muslims who want the Islamic world to accept diversity of opinion.

Journalists were asked to score how strongly they agree with that argument on a scale of one to five, with five being the strongest point of agreement. A total of 62 per cent scored three or more on the scale.

(Via Neale News.)

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February 19, 2006

Canadians in Afghanistan (Updated)

Feb. 19 - It may be underfunded and underequipped, but the Canadian military in Afghanistan does this country proud and doesn't back down when it comes under fire from insurgents:

Military officials told The Canadian Press that attackers fired three rocket-propelled grenades at a platoon from Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry taking shelter in a compound in Gumbad, about 60 kilometres northeast of Kandahar.

No Canadians were reportedly injured in the attack, which occurred at about 7:30 p.m. local time. The rockets fell into fields surrounding the camp, just south of the small village.

Military officials said a patrol was sent out to investigate the enemy firing positions, but found no sign of insurgents.

It's the first minor skirmish reported since a new rotation of Canadian soldiers began arriving in the country for Task Force Afghanistan during the past month. The number of soldiers is expected to reach 2,200 by next month.

There will probably be accusations that this attack was a direct result of the decision to publish the Danish cartoons in the Western Standard (as though there had not been prior attacks on Canadian Forces!) Damian has a thoughtful essay (which predated this recent rocket attack) and questions whether we can keep our soldiers safe without becoming something less than we are now.

(N.B.: The headline reads the troops "exchanged fire" with insurgents although nothing in the story indicates there was actually an exchange of fire. I can't account for the discrepancy. Nevertheless, the fact that a patrol was sent out implies the willingness to shoot back.)

Update: The CTV account has been expanded and it appears there was indeed a firefight:

The soldiers returned fire using rifles and their new 155-millimetre M777 howitzer, a towed artillery piece. Military officials said a patrol was sent out to investigate the enemy firing positions, but found no sign of insurgents.
There's a somewhat detailed account of the procedure the patrol undertook in their effort to locate the enemy:
"There were no locals, there was no enemy traces found," Lt.-Col. Ian Hope, the head of the PPCLI battle group, told CP. "But that's quite normal too because normally they shoot and they run.''

The troops did, however, find a series of trenches and tunnels which were likely used as an escape route.

"According to our American counterparts, it is a well-known area that the Taliban have used for fortifications in the past," said Hope.

"They've conducted several ambushes there. They've actually killed some (Afghan National Army soldiers) from those positions, so it was no surprise ... that that was an area that they were firing from."

I've probably quoted more than I should have, but after calling them on what they left out I wanted to fully acknowledge the additions they've made to the original story.

(Via Neale News.)

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February 18, 2006

Raising the level of the debate

Feb. 18 - The University of Toronto's student newspaper, The Strand, has published a cartoon depicting Mohammed and Jesus kissing.

The cartoon, "Tunnel of Tolerance," and editorial, "To print or not to print," can be viewed here (registration may be required.)

Unsurprisingly it has caused a bit of an uproard , but the U of T student newspaper refuses to apologize for publishing the Muhammad and Jesus cartoon.

I am in the usual evening rush (wake up, gulp down coffee, dash out) and don't have the time at this moment to properly formulate and present my thoughts, but my immediate reaction is that I like this response to the Cartoon Controversy. I'll try to put words to my thoughts tomorrow.

One sees what one wants to see. I don't see this as a gay statement but as a kiss of peace -- a symbol of acceptance and tolerance between two of the world's largest religions.

Bottom line: the war of terror is not a war on Muslims.

[As I noted, I'm in a horrible rush and thus reserve the right to edit this for the sake of clarity.]

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February 17, 2006

And you thought the FCC exceeded its mandate!

Feb. 17 - The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunication Commission (CRTC) has ruled that overcharging customers is a Canadian value. No, that's incorrect. What I meant to write is that the CRTC ruled that customers of Bell Canada and Telus Corp. were overcharged and, rather than ordering the two companies to reimburse those customers, the money be used for 'an important social and economic goal' (CRTC vetoes repayment).

I'm not the only one who is unhappy with this ruling:

Consumer groups and one dissenting commissioner said the money belongs to consumers and should go back to them.

CRTC chair Charles Dalfen told reporters yesterday that expanding broadband services, also known as high-speed Internet, is an important social and economic goal.

It has been a federal government priority for at least five years, although Ottawa has yet to allocate enough money to provide access in most rural and remote communities. "We think this is in the broader interests of the consumers," Mr. Dalfen said.

[...]

The CRTC said in its ruling that the companies will have until June 30 to outline how they will use the money to expand broadband. They are also ordered to use at least 5 per cent of the money to improve broadband access for the disabled.

Parliament failed to allocate money to expand broadband services so the CRTC has decided to appropriate money for the cause - money which rightfully belongs to those who were overcharged.

This sets a very dangerous precedent.

Posted by Debbye at 09:39 AM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Stifling political commentary, Canadian style

Feb. 17 - What on earth has prompted Warren Kinsella to sue a Canadian blogger, as Bruce reports in Blogging is a dangerous game? The defendent is Mark Bourrie, an Ottawa bogger, and Kinsella is demanding $600,000.

The claims of Kinsella's suit are here. As there is something of a history of bad feelings between Kinsella and Bourrie one has to wonder if this is a "gotcha" suit rooted more over an issue of English grammar than a serious claim of defamation.

Jay Currie has a great deal more here.

Mark is doing the right thing by fighting this suit, but his defense will cost a great deal.

Donations can be made at stopkinsella@hotmail.com on www.paypal.com , and I would encourage everyone to contribute what they can. Defending Mark now will be less costly than the long term harm which will be done to Canadian political bloggers should frivolous suits as this one be permitted to proceed unchallenged.

There was an ugly spate of threatened lawsuits last June which threatened the Canadian news media. Now it's the unofficial news media which is being targeted and, as was done then, it's fighting time.

Posted by Debbye at 07:30 AM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

February 10, 2006

Canadian connection to thwarted L.A. attack

Feb. 10 - Noteworthy item here, although the interesting part is not even in the story: Malaysian recruited for attack on U.S. pulled out after seeing Sept. 11 on TV. The Malaysian in question is Zaini Zakaria. (I suspect Australians and New Zealanders are familiar with that name, hmm?)

Duly note this:

It quoted Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the reputed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks who was captured in 2003, as saying "three potential pilots were recruited for the alleged second wave."

It identified them as Zacarias Moussaoui, Abderraouf Jdey, and Zaini. (Bolding added.)

I immediately recognized the name of Jdey. In that this is a story on a Canada's supposed primary news site (funded by the taxpayers) and written by writers for the Canadian Press one might think they would blink (if not shoot out of their chairs) at the name "Abderraouf Jdey" but, while providing some information about Moussaoui and Zaini, they passed on Jdey.

So why am I making such a fuss? Because Abderraouf Jdey is a Canadian. He moved here in 1991 and became a Canadian citizen in 1995. His suicide tape was found in Afghanistan and the FBI issued a world-wide warrant for his arrest some years ago. He is considered armed and dangerous. (Heh. Wikipedia has an entry on Jdey including some allegations which are highly, um, speculative.)

It's absolutely incredible that they fumbled on some rather obvious Can-con (that's a phrase we give to the mandatory inclusion of Canadian content imposed on radio and television.) Journalistic malpractice or willful ignorance? I can't read their minds so can't make a determination in this matter but I do think either is pathetic.

Moussaoui, of course, was already in jail on September 11, 2001, so his participation in any plot planned for 2002 was foiled, and Zaini Zakaria is currently being held for his involvement in Jemaah Islamiya, the al Qaeda-linked group which planned and carried out the 2002 Bali terror attack.

I knew Jdey's name already -- it also came up during the Sept. 11 hearings in the U.S. -- but had to google to get information about Zaini. (That's because I'm just an amateur and forgot his mention in the Sept. 11 Commission report.)

The true wonder is how they concluded the item in the best tradition of the Sob Story without blushing.

Posted by Debbye at 04:20 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

November 23, 2005

Dirty deeds done dirt cheap

Nov. 22 - Martin hit target?

An accused drug dealer alleges he was offered a meagre $300,000 in 2003 to assassinate Paul Martin (then Finance Minister.) A bit more to the story, of course, but still, only $300,000 ...


A very Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends!


Everyone seems to be having entirely too much fun around here -- except for me: I'm in the midst of a killer work schedule (for those who don't know, I work in the retail sector.) But keep up that shopping folks! You pay my salary.

I actually got some sleep today, though, so should be more alert tomorrow morning.

The real news is that we expect snow in Toronto overnight. Driving will be such fun.

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October 24, 2005

Reactions to the Mehlis Report

Oct. 24 - I wish I could report on official Canadian reaction to the Mehlis Report but thus far there hasn't been any. The rest of the world isn't waiting for Canada, though, and Detlev Mehlis, who was commissioned by the U.N. to investigate the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, will be addressing the United Nations Security Council tomorrow. It seems likely that the imposition of sanctions on the Assad government will, at the very least, be brought up (U.S., Britain press for actionagainst Syria) :

Diplomats at the United Nations and in Washington said U.S. and French officials have been talking with Russia and other nations about anti-Syria resolutions to put before the Security Council, including the possibility of punitive economic sanctions.
Seems France is still on board, which is good (however deeply I may distrust them.)

It's not really so surprising that Canadian officials haven't commented yet, especially as you'd never know the Mehlis Report was all that damning if you read the CBC webpage today (nor would you find a link to an earlier story on that report.) But you can trust the CBC to emphasize the anti-American element in the following story: pro-government demonstration in Syria today:

In a country where protests are rare, a rally in support of the Syrian government virtually shut down central Damascus Monday.

Among the hundreds of thousands of people at the rally and a similar event in the northern city of Aleppo there were government employees let off work for the occasion and students released from classes with the government's blessing.

Imagine: government blessed demonstrations! I haven't seen anything like it in that region since Saddam ruled Iraq. (Do reporters in Syria travel with "minders?" Just asking.)
They chanted anti-American slogans to protest a United Nations report released last week that said Syria and Lebanon played roles in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14. (Emphasis added)
They dislike the findings of a U.N. report written by a German so they chant anti-American slogans. I could be really, really wrong but I am beginning to wonder if this might have been a "staged" event.

The CBC fills us in on more items from the report:

The same report also scolded Syria for its less-than-full co-operation with the United Nations investigation.

[I deleted intervening paragraphs which are not about the report's contents but the CBC report is copied in full in the extended entry for your reading pleasure.]

Syria vigorously denies the allegations in the U.N. report, dismissing its contents as politicized gossip.

The CBC does not report that Detlev Mehlis concluded that leading members of the Syrian and Lebanese governments were involved in the assassination nor does it note that last-minute alterations suppressed the names of several leading Syria officials (including members of Bashir Assad's immediate family) raising suspicions that Kofi Annan had broke his pledge not to interfere. In fact, the CBC doesn't even mention that a computer "gaffe" enabled recipients of the report to retrieve the deleted names.

Imperative No. 1 at the CBC is to suppress any news that makes the U.N. look bad or, failing that, downplay it. (Imperative No. 2 is to hype news that makes the U.S.A. look bad; note the lead picture on their Indepth Lebanon page!) That's part of the reason why some of us are somewhat cynical when CBC reporters are named to the Senate or appointed Governor-General. When your job as a reporter includes tainting the news or even failing to report the news, The News Canadians Trust isn't very trustworthy and neither are its reporters.

Although the news report says that there have been calls for U.N. sanctions, no specific country was named (the article does quote President Bush's response to the report, though.) I think it odd that the CBC completely ignored the involvement of both the French and the British not only because of the shared British and French heritage of Canada but also because the two countries are permanent members of the UNSC. Some might think that when 3 out of 5 permanent members are attempting to build a U.N.-based response against Syria that such an event would be newsworthy.

Same old, same old. For the CBC, it's always All. About. America. and not about, say, the Lebanese (or the Iraqis, for that matter) unless it's about a Syrian response which is All. About. America.

The CBC was so anxious to be even-handed that it didn't even mention the response in Lebanon to the report, unlike the AP, Michael Totten and Expat Yank Robert (and the latter has posted some very moving photos of the commemorative ceremonies at Hafrik's grave that were held last Friday.)

14:25: This CTV report on the Syrian demonstrations contains considerably more information about the Mehlis report although no names of suspected perpetrators are mentioned nor is the revelation that the report was altered to removed key names.

There's also a sobering analysis over at Canada Free Press by J. Grant Swank, Jr.: Syria: Murder & mayhem, but who cares? in which he expresses why he believes the Syrians will not be rising up to oust Assad. He makes several good points and, when you come right down to it, this isn't really about internal matters in Syria but that country's behaviour in Lebanon over the past few decades as well as their support of terrorist groups that attack Israel and (I suspect) Iraq.

The following is the CBC report about today's demonstration in Syria:

Syrians turn out for pro-government rally
Last Updated Mon, 24 Oct 2005 10:28:18 EDT
CBC News

In a country where protests are rare, a rally in support of the Syrian government virtually shut down central Damascus Monday.

Indepth: Syria

Among the hundreds of thousands of people at the rally and a similar event in the northern city of Aleppo there were government employees let off work for the occasion and students released from classes with the government's blessing.

They chanted anti-American slogans to protest a United Nations report released last week that said Syria and Lebanon played roles in the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Hariri on Feb. 14.

FROM FEB. 25, 2005: UN investigates Hariri assassination

The same report also scolded Syria for its less-than-full co-operation with the United Nations investigation.

Syria is intent on countering growing criticism over the affair, which includes calls for U.N. sanctions against the administration of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

United States President George W. Bush has labelled the report "deeply disturbing," and called on the U.N. Security Council to act immediately to reprimand Syria.

"Syria Will Never be Another Iraq," read one banner hoisted by protesters at Monday's rally. "Wake up Arabs, Your Turn Will Come Soon," said another.

Syria vigorously denies the allegations in the U.N. report, dismissing its contents as politicized gossip.

Detlev Mehlis, the U.N.'s lead investigator, is scheduled to address the United Nations Security Council Tuesday.

Hariri vigorously opposed Syria's domination of Lebanon. He and 20 others were killed when powerful bombs went off near his car in Beirut in early February.

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October 21, 2005

Another one bites the dust

Oct. 21 - On the one hand researchers claim that working women are too stressed to to add frozen vegetables to boiling water, and on the other hand someone who said that proper child-raising and rising to the top ranks in the advertising industry are incompatible goals has been forced to resign (Top ad guru quits amid sexism furor.)

Mr. [Neil] French confirmed yesterday that he has quit as worldwide creative director of WPP Group PLC, the world's second-largest marketing company where he oversaw famous agency networks including Ogilvy & Mather, JWT, Young & Rubicam and Grey Worldwide.
At least the center of this storm isn't backing down:
But Mr. French -- famous both for his brilliant work as a copy writer and his politically incorrect views -- stands by controversial comments he made in response to a question from the audience at a Toronto event sponsored by ad industry Web site ihaveanidea.org. The comments circled around the world after being reported last week in The Globe and Mail's Nobody's Business column.

"The woman asked why there are so few women creative directors. I said because you can't commit yourself to the job. And everyone who doesn't commit themselves fully to the job is crap at it . . ," Mr. French said yesterday in an interview.

"You can't be a great creative director and have a baby and keep spending time off every time your kids are ill. You can't do the job. Somebody has to do it and the guy has to do it the same way that I've had to spend months and months flying around the world and not seeing my kid. You think that's not a sacrifice? Of course it's a sacrifice. I hate it. But that's the job and that's what I do in order to keep my family fed."

One may not like his message, but that doesn't make him wrong.

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Canadians in Iraq

Oct. 21 - I must be getting old because I thought this was already well known but evidently the issue is that the knowledge has received official confirmation! Or maybe the issue is that Canadians participating in the "insurgency" tends to minimize the claim that said "insurgency" is an Iraqi-based resistance.

Seems that according to the director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, James Judd, some Canadians are taking part in Iraqi insurgency. (Gasp!)

According to Keith Boag, the CBC's Ottawa bureau chief, the Prime Minister's Office was "flabbergasted" that such sensitive information could be released by the head of the spy agency. "They didn't know it was being spoken about publicly and for that they [the PMO] are very angry."

"The prime minister never comments on intelligence matters and they were under the impression that CSIS didn't either," said Boag.

Acknowledgment that Canadians are fighting in Iraq raises a number of questions, such as what will their status be if they decide to return to Canada.

You mean when they return here seeking health care after being wounded in action? That issue has already been settled as has their legal status.
"It raises the longer-term question of what do they bode for the future?" Judd said.
I guess it's really nice that they are at least considering the long-term ramifications but expecting action from this government? Uh, no, although there are those who are more than anxious to prosecute U.S. President George Bush under Canada's Criminal Code, and a Vancouver court has lifted a publication ban on attempts to do just that:
The Kitsilano lawyer [Gail Davidson] got the ball rolling against Bush as soon as he set foot on Canadian soil for his November 30, 2004, visit. As a private citizen, she charged him with seven counts of counselling, aiding, and abetting torture at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq and at Cubas Guantanamo Bay naval base. She had her charges accepted by a justice of the peace in Vancouver Provincial Court.

Bush faces prison time if the case goes to trial and he is found guilty.

On December 6, 2004, Davidson was at Provincial Court to fix a date for the process hearing. However, Provincial Court Judge William Kitchen promptly ordered a Straight reporter and other observers from the courtroom and cancelled the charges, declaring them a nullity. The meeting was deemed to be in-camera and Kitchen concluded immediately that Bush had diplomatic immunity during his two-day visit to Canada because he was a head of state.

You can read about the legal wranglings at the link. (I included it because I didn't didn't want anyone to think that Canadians are incapable of taking A Stand On Moral Issues.)

(Links via Neale News.)

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The real scandal in Dingwall's "approved" expenses

Oct. 21 - David Dingwall explains his expenses and in one respect he is entirely correct: his expenses were approved by the Canadian Mint's Board of Directors.

But that's the point! The fact that those "expenses" were "approved" is a real scandal as much as is the appointment of political hacks who feel it necessary to pad their income by lobbying for contracts for which lobbying is forbidden.

So why is Dingwall getting severance pay instead of jail time? (I know why; just let me emote!)

Patronage appointments lead to corruption. The resistance by the political parties to legislate having such appointments be made strictly on merit and qualifications is why many are indifferent or even hostile to politics, and when the argument devolves to "give the other side an opportunity to appoint their own thieving cronies" then we are well past cynicism and apathy and into a level of contempt that can kill the heart of a country.

Shoot. For. The. Stars. Demand competence, accountability and honesty from all appointed officials. Taxpayers deserve no less.

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Operation Rudolph

Oct. 21 - Operation Rudolph - as in guiding Santa's team to deliver packages to Canadian Forces personnel in Afghanistan (link via Newsbeat1.)

There's no nice way to say this: public support for Canadian troops up here is all talk and no show. Yes, everyone shows up at the local Cenotaph once a year on Remembrance Day, stands around solemnly and intones "Never Again!" but when it comes to actually giving something (and we won't even go into federal funding for the troops) there isn't the kind of personal, local support here as there is in the U.S.A.

No one's asking you to "give 'till it hurts" (that right is reserved for the taxman) but maybe you can send a thank-you note. Or a donation (tax-deductible, no less!)

I'm as guilty as anyone up here of doing little to support the Canadians in Afghanistan, but then my energy and money go to supporting my people in my army in the U.S.A. What's your excuse?

By the way, before anyone sneers at the Canadian presence in 'stan, they might want to read Canadian forces offer first peek at JTF2 mission in Afghanistan from Sept. 21. (Run the complete headline through google for article.)

Also, read Postcard from Kandahar over at Small Dead Animals.

Posted by Debbye at 02:04 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

October 19, 2005

A Canadian institution

mounties.jpg
(Sent via email by a friend out West.)

Sorry about the no blogging - I feel asleep early and woke up late.

Tim Horton's, for any readers who may not know, is a huge chain of donut shops up here and most have drive-through service. Many a person arrives to work with a Tim Horton's cup in hand.

Tim Horton was a legendary hockey player who, for most of his career, played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and he may have been the strongest man to ever play in the NHL. Story has it that he didn't fight - he just bearhugged 'em. He last played for the Buffalo Sabres and was killed in a car crash on the QEW in the 1974.

Posted by Debbye at 08:20 PM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

October 18, 2005

The rogue lobbyists explanation

Oct. 18 - From rogue civil servants to rogue lobbyists - which in turn poses the question as to who, exactly, was roguely lobbied if not rogue civil servants? After all, if certain kinds of contracts and grants are not supposed to be lobbied for wouldn't the person(s) being lobbied know that?

Four lobbyists investigated for possible ethics breaches:

Mr. Nelson said he cannot comment on the investigations, but confirmed that he started them in the past month, although he said that the activities that are being probed are not necessarily that recent. Officials said the investigations cover the activities of four lobbyists.

[...]

"I have initiated eight investigations into potential breaches of the Lobbyists' Code of Conduct," Mr. Nelson said. "That may not seem like a large number . . . but in contrast, since the code of conduct came into being in the late 1990s, there has not been one investigation."

Mr. Nelson's office, which until last year came under the purview of the prime minister's ethics counsellor, Howard Wilson, has been criticized for what has been perceived as inaction in enforcing the law and code governing lobbyists. The Lobbyists' Act was amended in June to include wording changes proposed four years ago after prosecutors asserted that they could not successfully prosecute Ren Fugre, an unpaid aide to former prime minister Jean Chrtien, for failing to register to lobby on behalf of companies that paid him a 5- to 10-per-cent commission to obtain government grants.

Stay tuned.

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" ... I am really not a scary guy."

Oct. 18 - I am genuinely sorry that Carolyn Parrish is not running for re-election (Parrish not retiring-in any sense) and my reason isn't all that complicated. For all her faults, she had one redeeming virtue: she was honest, even if that included being outspoken as to her attitude toward the U.S.A.

My own experience tells me that she expresses the truth as to how many Canadians (at least here in the Greater Toronto Area) feel about us and our president. I prefer her upfront, in-your-face brazenness to the smile-in-their-faces-and-stab-them-in-the-back type of creature PM Paul Martin epitomizes.

I do realize that many Canadians consider her to be an embarrasssment, but what real value is there in pretending that the U.S.A. and Canada are bestest buddies? It does not serve American interests (we already came to terms with the peridy of the French) and, although it may appear to serve Canadian interests, how does being dishonest really serve Canada? It seems to me that being two-faced can only inspire contempt from Americans and, to this American mind, better straightforward honesty to blowing smoke up our as*es.

I don't have to like what someone is saying but at least say it openly. Yet with such honest dealing a deeper chasm would be revealed because many Canadians do not agree with the the Liberal government's attitude toward the U.S.A. That is the debate the Liberals continue to avoid.

However, despite the revision of recent history, Caorlyn Parrish was actually booted out of the Liberal Party for remarks she made about Paul Martin, not those she made about President Bush, and she used this interview to remind us of that. That Martin - with the complicity of the news media - tried to turn it around later and pretend that she was expelled for for her anti-Bush antics pretty much says everything there is to say about this government and its media apologists.

I wonder, did Martin hire Earnscliffe to conduct a public opinion poll to ascertain if Canadians would stomach him dropping Parrish for stomping a Bush doll on public TV or if charging her with lese majesty would be preferable?

Her comments in the interview about Paul "Dithers" Martin reflect what many have observed:

"One of my major disappointments in my whole life, and it will turn out to be one of the major disappointments of most Canadians, is Mr. Martin's leadership. He has been so fragile and he's been so tentative," Ms. Parrish said in her first interview since it was announced that she would not be running in the next federal election.

Paul Martin is "too keen to sit on the knee of the American President. He's been weak on softwood even though he's running around making noises now. He's been weak on beef. He's been weak on caucus management. He's got a whole bunch of yes men sitting in the front row. He is thoroughly intimidated by someone like me -- and I am really not a scary guy."

[...]

"I expected so much out of him. He's a very charming man but he's almost like a deer in the headlights. He looks old and he looks tired and he looks frightened."

Her loyalty to the Liberal Party seems genuine, despite her disappointment in the leadership of Paul Martin. She explains that she decided not to run because she feared a split vote would give the riding to a Conservative candidate, and it is well known that her vote in the "officially sanctioned" non-confidence motion kept the Liberals in power although a lesser person might have used the circumstance for some payback.

So long, Carolyn. Too bad the Liberal Party doesn't have a big enough tent to allow for a little honesty.

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October 16, 2005

Closing a tax haven

Oct. 16 - I'm super late posting on this, but an important private members bill has been submitted to Parliament calling for the closing of a tax haven for Canadian businesses.

A detailed report can be read at Frost Hits the Rhubarb: Proposed Amendment: Income Tax -- Note, CSL.

It is despicable that tax dollars are spent on contracts with firms that dodge paying business taxes in Canada - or in the U.S.A., for that matter. Let's hope this bill gets some support.

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October 14, 2005

That "rogue civil servant" explanation

Oct. 14 - Testimony previously under publication ban has been released by Judge Gomery which gives a closer look at the financial relationship between Jean Brault and Chuck Guite (Money bound Brault and Guite) all of which seems to be in line with the "rogue civil servant" explanation:

Both men said that after he left the federal civil service in 1999, Guite collected thousands of dollars for advising Brault on how to boost his business, often at the expense of taxpayers.

Guite and Brault are now charged with conspiracy and defrauding the government of nearly $2 million. Their trial is set for May 2006. The testimony made public Friday does not touch on any of the contracts that resulted in criminal charges.

[...]

The testimony illustrates the cosy, back-scratching environment that exploded into the $250-million sponsorship fiasco, which featured ad agencies and other middle-men collecting $100 million, often for little or no work.

[...]

According to Brault's testimony, his involvement began at the Vancouver Molson Indy auto race in 1995 where Guite taught him how federal sponsorships were really run.

"That's where he showed me that there was a sponsorship the government gave to (advertising company) Lafleur, and by spending three days in jeans with a beer in hand it's much easier to establish contacts," Brault said in the testimony.

"It was the first time that I would say I sowed, as we say in the business, a little seed to get one of these non-conventional contracts."

Both Guite and Brault reaped the harvest. While Brault gathered millions in ad contracts through his firm Groupaction, Guite picked smaller fruit at first.

Both men say Brault gave Guite high-performance Pirelli tires in 1997 for his brand new Ford Mustang. Brault's company billed the sponsorship program more than $1,300 for the tires. A few months later, Brault bought the car from Guite for $35,000 after Guite decided he was too old for a sports car.

[...]

Guite testified that Groupaction purchased expensive tickets for him and his family for the Italian Grand Prix in 1998.

Guite said that once he left the public service in 1999 he worked on contracts for Groupaction, receiving $76,000 from the company through August 2000.

Brault said he had put Guite on a $10,000 monthly retainer by 2001 for his "vast knowledge of ... the potential of different organizations working on communications in Canada."

According to Brault, his company gave more than $136,000 to Oro Communications, Guite's firm, from 1999 through 2002.

Guite said he borrowed $25,000 from a Groupaction subsidiary, Alexism Inc., to purchase a boat in 2001.

Guite was to repay the money from a $125,000 commission he was to receive later that year from Brault on a handshake deal. The repayment plan was interrupted when the sponsorship scandal broke and became a criminal case.

Guite said he still intends to repay the money, with interest.

Other testimony released Friday highlighted other aspects of the sponsorship file:

--Paul Coffin, the first man convicted of fraud in the sponsorship program, testified that Guite told him to fabricate invoices to cash in on sponsorships. Coffin pleaded guilty to several counts of fraud earlier this year and received a sentence to be served in the community. The sentence is under appeal.

-- Brault testified that Guite pressed him into making a $50,000 donation to Jean Charest's provincial Liberals through ad agency Groupe Everest in 1998. Brault said Guite named Charest, saying "We must send $50,000 to Charest." Brault later qualified the statement by saying Guite was talking about the Charest campaign, not Charest personally.

Guite denies the accusations.

So much for Guite, Brault and Coffin, but the question lingers: what the hell were those elected to run the country and oversee expenditures doing? Either they were doing their job and Guite, Brault, Coffin and others were doing what they were expected to do, or those elected weren't doing their jobs so what the hell good are they and why would Canadians entrust their future to such fall downs?

(Link via Neale News.)

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October 13, 2005

Loyalty from Diversity

Oct. 13 - Interesting poll results (Canadians value diversity, demand loyalty: poll):

The majority of Canadians believe the country's multicultural society helps guard against extremism, a new survey shows. However, most respondents also believe Canadians should be loyal first and foremost to Canada, not their countries of origin.

The results may indicate where a country that prides itself on multiculturalism is prepared to draw the line on tolerance.

Nice of the Globe to confuse loyalty with tolerance!

To me this poll simply indicates that most Canadians have common sense.


As an aside, I've been doing a marathon thing at work (we call it "gearing up for Christmas") but things are expected to return to normal next week (that's the official story, anyway.)

(Link via Neale News.)

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October 07, 2005

Happy Thanksgiving and Be Careful!

Oct. 7 - I can't be the only person in Toronto who has taken the alert for New York subways as a warning to up my own Awareness Meter when riding the subway here (Official: Threatcites this weekend) so, in the immortal words of Sgt. Phil Esterhaus, Let's be careful out there.

I have to work again tonight but before I head out I want to wish all of you in Canada and the members of the Canadian Forces around the world - including Afghanistan - a blessed Thanksgiving weekend.

We do have a lot to be grateful for. I know I gripe a lot but I also live in a country where I can do so publicly.

Mark, on the other hand is not grateful. The BoSox were eliminated and he's temporarily inconsolable.

(Please let the Angels win. I don't think Mark can handle it if they blow a 5-0 lead over the Yankees.)

Posted by Debbye at 08:48 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

October 06, 2005

Anti-Semitism and the Saudis

Oct. 6 - Pieter reports on a disturbing incident at Vancouver Island's Pearson College at which swastikas were painted on the sidewalk greeted Israeli Consul General Cobie Brosh when he visited that campus.

[Oct. 7 - 07:04: Pieter has some information on the response of the college administration to the incident here and I guess it would be safe to say that they dealt with it much as one would expect a U.N. sponsored school to do but perhaps more than one would expect the U.N. to do.]

Is anti-Semitism in North America on the rise? There is certainly reason to be concerned, and certainly reason to confront that possibility. There is also reason to wonder what role the Saudis might have played if there has been an uprise.

According to this article in the NY Sun, the U.S. State Department has demanded that Saudi Arabia answer for their distribution of hate literature to mosques and schools in the U.S.A. I say "their" because the literature bears the official seal of the government of Saudi Arabia. The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hold hearings on the hate literature starting Oct. 25.

The literature appears beyond inflammatory and even incites treasonable actions by recent Muslim immigrants to the U.S. The Sun article deserves to be read in full because, if the allegations are correct, we have a big problem: our views on human rights and liberties are in direct conflict with our need to defend ourselves.

The flurry of activity comes months after a report from the Center for Religious Freedom discovered that dozens of mosques in major cities across the country, including New York, Washington, and Los Angeles, were distributing documents, bearing the seal of the government of Saudi Arabia, that incite Muslims to acts of violence and promote hatred of Jews and Christians.

A Washington-based group that is part of the human rights organization Freedom House, the Center for Religious Freedom also found during its yearlong study that the Saudi-produced materials describe democracy and America as un-Islamic. They instruct recent Muslim immigrants to consider Americans as enemies and the materials urge new arrivals to use their time here as preparation for jihad. The documents also promote the version of Islam officially embraced by Saudi government and several of the September 11, 2001, hijackers, Wahhabism, as the only authentic Islam.

[...]

The Accountability Act, introduced in June, says its purpose is "to halt Saudi support for institutions that fund, train, incite, encourage, or in any other way aid and abet terrorism, and to secure fully Saudi cooperation in the investigation of terrorist incidents." The legislation is highly critical of the House of Saud for its support of terrorist activity and cites the January Freedom House report as evidence of the kingdom's complicity in the spread of radical Islamist ideology. As part of the Accountability Act, Senator Specter has in the past held Judiciary Committee hearings into Saudi financing of terrorism and Saudi Arabia's role in injecting ideology into textbooks for Palestinian Arab schoolchildren. (Bolding added)

There has been much criticism of the Bush Administration for its kid-glove treatment of Saudi Arabia and failure to strongly condemn the role in exporting terror particularly through their schools and mosques. The extent to which the Saudis fund terror organizations is also something that has also not been adequately addressed by the Bush administration and accusations that the administration is covering up for the royal family have some validity.

But one peculiarity of U.S. government structure is the separation of the executive and legislative branches, and sometimes Congress takes the lead (as they did in investigations into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program) and it is possible that the White House has chosen to play a diminished but supporting role to this latest Senate investigation:

Also demanding answers about the hate materials is the State Department's undersecretary for public diplomacy and public affairs, Karen Hughes. During a high-profile trip to the Middle East last week, Ms. Hughes said American representatives had addressed the propagation of Saudi hate material in America during private meetings with government officials.
In response to questions as to why the issue was raised privately rather than publicly, Hughes said that "We had been raising the issue privately," Ms. Hughes said, "and as part of raising difficult issues that we need to discuss, I felt it was appropriate."

I have a sinking feeling that there is truth to the allegations. And I don't know quite how we can deal decisively with the Saudis without performing bin Laden's dirty work for him by destablizing the Saudi ruling family, how we can separate those who immigrate in hopes of better lives and those who come to these shores with murder in their hearts.

I'm willing to let the Senate committee take the lead, but I think the Bush administration is going to have to confront the Saudis sooner rather than later.

(I've only had time to quickly read through President Bush's speech to the National Endowment for Democracy but from what I gleaned he didn't admonish the Saudis. It seems to have been a good speech but I need to read it more attentively after work tomorrow morning.)

(NY Sun link via Newsbeat1)

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October 05, 2005

3 Canadian soldiers injured

Oct. 5 - Three Canadian soldiers received minor injuries today by what initial reports indicate was a homicide bomber about one kilometer outside of Kandahar. Approxomatly 250 Canadian soldiers are stationed in that city at present and the deployment will be increased by 1,250 in February.

Kandahar is considered to be more dangerous than Kabul and thus the risk to the Canadian contingent is higher, but Kabul isn't all that safe either. Two Canadian soldiers sustained injuries Sept. 15 from a roadside bomb there.

(Link via Neale News.)

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October 04, 2005

Pink Floyd rules for the Opposition

Oct. 4 - It's a little hard at times to explain the Commons (that's Parliament, for Americans) and how it can sometimes be less than dignified. Even with some of the rowdiness, though, even on my best day I couldn't have predicted that the Conservatives would sing Pink Floyd songs to make a point (Opposition sings a song of Dingwall):

The Conservatives broke into a rendition of Pink Floyd's Another Brick in the Wall to reveal their disgust at the excessive spending habits of David Dingwall, the former head of the Mint who retired last week amid allegations that he and his staff spent $740,000 last year.

Tory revenue critic Brian Pallister began the rendition with his version of the tune:

"You don't need no information,
We're in charge of thought control,
Fine wines with caviar in the backroom.

The other Tories finished with the chorus,

"Hey Tories! Leave those Grits alone. (Spacing added.)
How about working up some new words to AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap for today's songfest? Oh wait, it's hardly cheap, is it? But so long as it's on the taxpayers dime and they don't mind in sufficient numbers to end Liberal rule ...

There's more here on MP Brian Palliser, who is doing more work on uncovering excessive spending than our (un)investigative press up here.

I really need to sleep. So long until tomorrow.

(Via Neale News.)

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Don't hold back!

Oct. 4 - Keith really lets loose in fine style in More Islamist murders, Jihadi fashionistas, our cowardly ambassador.

He concludes the fiery post by tearing a strip off Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. over remarks made up here at the Empire Club:

Funny isn't it? Our great leaders take pride in needling the country that spends its own blood and treasure to protect Canada, that buys some 80% of our exports.

But they don't have the guts to do the same with, oh, I dunno, China? You know, China? The country whose government does not hesitate to mow down its own citizens with tanks, to arrest, detain and "disappear" people who speak publicly against it? Dysfunctional? Nooooooo. Hell, the Liberals only wish they could get away with it too.

Or Iran, the country that detains, tortures and kills Canadian citizens.

Sharp, pointed commentary.

Posted by Debbye at 10:54 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Paulus Martinius AdScamus

Oct. 4 - Lorrie Goldstein writes a history of Canada from 2,000 years in the future and the pivotal events under the political leadership of one Paulus Martinius AdScamus.

Funny and sad.

Posted by Debbye at 07:36 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

October 01, 2005

Living in Bizarro World

Oct. 1 - I'm just postive there's a logical explanation as to why the feds would consider giving former Canadian Mint president David Dingwall a severance package (Dingwall payout dinged.)

But I can't think of one.

Posted by Debbye at 07:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 30, 2005

Then why are my taxes so high?

Sept. 30 - I'm too tired to do a total deconstruct of remarks made by Canada's Ambassador to the U.S. Frank McKenna (McKenna calls United States government dysfunctional) but he does have a few good points:

"In Canada, whether we like it or not -- and often we don't like it -- but essentially we have party discipline, and if you can convince the Prime Minister or a minister that something should be done, invariably it can end up being done," Mr. McKenna said.
True, totalitarian governments do tend to be more efficient, but the question lingers: what if you can't convince the PM to do something?

And then there's this:

At the same time, he said, the United States faces "a very difficult financial situation," with predictions its deficit will hit or exceed US$500-billion this year.

"That's not to speak of the fact that that doesn't include unfunded liabilities for social security, which, some estimate, could run into the twenties and thirties of trillions of dollars."

By comparison, Canada is in its eighth consecutive year of surplus, with a dropping ratio of debt to gross domestic product, he said.

Yeah, we know how you reduced the national debt. The military, health care system and provinces were underfunded, but the economy was so robust that we could afford the corruptions of Adscam and the unfolding questions about Earncliffe contracts.
"Our pension plan, instead of being in deficit, is actuarially balanced for the next 75 years."

He also praised Canada's health care system and the country's abundance of natural resources.

Whatever, dude. Just don't get sick up here.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:42 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

September 29, 2005

The new G-G

Sept. 29 - Someone in my family asked why I had posted nothing on the Michaelle Jean, Canada's new Governor-General. I replied that she holds French citizenship, she has been appointed to represent the Queen of England, and what's wrong with this picture? (My kids and husband are old enough to handle my sarcasm wit.)

Well, she's announced her intention of giving up her French citizenship. I can't deny that's an improvement.

Posted by Debbye at 09:55 AM | Comments (5) | TrackBack

September 28, 2005

Dingwall resigns at head of Canadian Mint

Sept. 28 - David Dingwall, whose name came up during the Gomery Inquiry into Adscam and, more recently, due to his extracurricular activies as an unregistered lobbyist for grants with the Technology Partnerships Canada (TPC) on behalf of Bioniche, resigned as head of the Canadian Mint this afternoon:

The former Liberal cabinet minister has become embroiled in controversy after it was recently revealed he failed to register as a lobbyist for a Toronto pharmaceutical company.

In a statement Wednesday he said he believed all of his actvities were above-board.

Mr. Dingwall stepped aside amid controversy about his lobbying activities, before his appointment to the Mint as well as questions about his expenses while heading up the Crown corporation.

His lobbying activities on behalf of Bioniche Life Sciences Inc. are under scrutiny by Industry Canada.

It should be noted that yesterday, Bioniche announced they would repay Ottawa the $463,974 "success" fee.

Dingwall's expense account was reported on only this morning:

Federal documents released under the Access to Information Act show the office expenses and pay packet of David Dingwall, president of the Royal Canadian Mint, cost more than $1 million last year.

Included in Mr. Dingwall's office billings for 2004 were $1,235 for his annual golf membership, $13,228 in one day of foreign travel, and a $5,728 meal at a posh Ottawa restaurant.

And while Mr. Dingwall has a leased car courtesy of the Crown corporation, his office ran up a $2,500 tab for limousines in 2003.

The wining, dining, globe-trotting and other office expenses added up to $846,464 in 2004, mint records show. In addition, Mr. Dingwall's annual salary -- not including up to 12 per cent in performance bonuses -- is as much as $241,000.

[...]

Other billings released to [Tory critic for the mint] Mr. [Brian] Pallister show Mr. Dingwall, a Jean Chretien-era cabinet minister, has been running up a substantial tab, which included the following in 2004:

- $5,297 for various membership fees;

- $11,173 for meals in Canada;

- $3,317 in foreign dining;

- $40,355 for domestic travel;

- $92,682 for foreign travel;

- $12,487 for domestic hospitality;

- $5,998 for lease vehicle operating costs.

Mint spokeswoman Pam Aung Thin defended Mr. Dingwall's spending, saying each claim has been approved and verified by the Crown corporation's chief financial officer.

When I first began to read about the TPC transactions for which Dingwall lobbied I had to double-check to make sure he was still president of the Canadian Mint -- it seemed inconceivable that someone who already had a plush patronage appointment would also be a registered (much less un-registered) lobbyist. It just goes to prove how naive we can be about how this government operates.

Sept. 29 - The Toronto Sun isn't pulling any punches in today's editorial Dinged by David Dingwall:

This editorial is inspired by David Dingwall, a man who made $277,000 a year as president of the Royal Canadian Mint (until yesterday) and still charged Canadian taxpayers $1.79 for a bottle of water.

And, oh, yeah ... $91,437 on international travel in 2004 alone.

Greg Weston says he was Chewing Our Money and looks on the career which Paul Martin praised in the House yesterday:
Back in 1994, Dingwall was Liberal public works minister when he publicly vowed to eradicate patronage and corruption from the awarding of massive federal advertising contracts.

The senior bureaucrat handpicked by Dingwall to clean up the advertising swamp was Chuck Guite, the same official who helped create it under the Tories.

The rest, as they say, is history. AdScam was born in Dingwall's department the next year, $350 million was blown on the scandalous advertising sponsorship program, and Guite is now facing criminal fraud charges.

[...]

Testimony at the Gomery inquiry into AdScam indicated that in 1998, for instance, Dingwall was paid $12,000 a month by a Montreal advertising executive he apparently had never met, supposedly to provide lobbying advice to VIA Rail, a Crown corporation prohibited by law from hiring lobbyists for anything.

The Montreal ad executive, Jean Lafleur, is a key player in the AdScam fiasco, and told the Gomery inquiry he was ordered by VIA to hire Dingwall and send the bills to the public railway.

Posted by Debbye at 07:44 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

The ethics of Martin and his Liberals

Sept. 28 - Toronto Tory is busy digging up questionable transactions between Liberal Party leader Paul Martin, the government he leads and corporations which, after receving government money, made sizeable donations to the Liberals and/or Martin's leadership campaign. Keep in mind that Martin was Canada's Minister of Finance for several years before his campaign for party leadership.

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) lies at the center of the allegations in Entry #1:

After JD Irving Limited received $700,000 in approved funding from ACOA, they donated $100,000 to Paul Martin's leadership campaign.

Oxford Frozen Foods received $1,600,000 in 2003 from ACOA, and donated at least $50,000 to Martin's leadership campaign.

Keep in mind that the list of donors has vanished from official Canadian government archives (fortunately, Google's snapshot images endure.)

And then there's TESMA, which received received $2,600,000 from ACOA and then donated $15,000 to the leadership campaign.

Is it just me? Either these corporations are so needy that they require taxpayer subsidies or they are so financially secure that they can afford to make political contributions. I don't see a middle ground which is also ethical and, to all appearances, this is a quid pro quo arrangement and the taxpayers are footing the bill.

Entry #2 on Toronto Tory's list concerns something I alluded to earlier: Martin's dilemma in trying to sandwich the date for the next election between reports on audits. I should have included trial dates!

The Earnscliffe Strategy Group has long been associated with Paul Martin, and the article $10M in federal funds go to firm linked to PM in today's Ottawa Citizen brings new figures:

The Earnscliffe Strategy Group, an Ottawa consulting firm with close political ties to Prime Minister Paul Martin, has received more than $10 million in federal government money since the Liberals took power, new documents show.

And another Ottawa polling firm that has sometimes worked with Earnscliffe received more than $61 million in the same period.

Ottawa-based EKOS Research was awarded more than 1,600 contracts over the 111/2-year period, mostly for public opinion research.

The work was done for various departments, agencies and Crown corporations.

Records tabled in the House of Commons on Monday show that Earnscliffe and its affiliates have received 269 contracts, amendments and standing offers since 1993.

During Mr. Martin's years as finance minister, his department repeatedly hired Earnscliffe to do polling and focus groups and provide communications advice, often in advance of federal budgets.

The new records show that Earnscliffe received just under $2 million from the Finance Department alone.

The finance contracts last year became the subject of a political storm as a former public works official alleged that the tendering was specially tailored to ensure the work always went to Earnscliffe. The firm denied the allegation.

Most of the finance work was done by Earnscliffe senior partners David Herle, who ran Mr. Martin's 1990 leadership bid, and Elly Alboim, a former CBC producer.

Additionally, there's been a lot of speculation that Earnscliffe is Martin's Adscam, with contracts going out for little or no work.

The apparent conflict of interest hides another weakness in the Martin government. All governments pay heed to public opinion, but public opinion is usually concerned with short term objectives and governments that lead are presumed to take a longer view.

When public opinion dominates decision-making we end up with a government that hesitates, fumbles and, shall we say, dithers. Harsher types might call it opportunism, something we expect in political parties but reject in governments.

Posted by Debbye at 06:58 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 26, 2005

The value of Unasked Questions

Sept. 26 - Two items on the UN, one on oil-for-food and one on the lack of whistleblower protection in Canada have a common denominator: unasked questions.

From Frchette's U.N. challenge (link via reader JM):

The oil-for-food report, by former U.S. Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker, said the U.N.'s systems for preventing mismanagement, corruption and communications gaps were "insufficient," and that Frchette "knew but did not act upon" reports of major program violations.
Now I'm not a journalist and I never went to journalism school so I could be wrong but wouldn't a real reporter ask about the "knew but did not act upon" part and perhaps even about the allegations that Frchette actually blocked reports of corruption in OFF from coming before the Security Council? But no; the very next paragraph reads:
But, Volcker concluded, both Frchette and Annan should be part of the effort to reform the world body, the task that the Montreal-born diplomat and public servant was appointed to do seven years ago, when faith in the U.N. leadership was high.
M'kay. Faith in the U.N. leaderhsip was high when Frchette was appointed and now, by implication, it's low. The logic of keeping Frechette on when it seems clear that she has failed to accomplish her appointed task escapes me, but I wonder if Ward is perhaps being deliberately ironic in that paragraph. Oh well, one can only hope.

Salim Mansur, always a favourite around here, doesn't mince words: Paul Martin out of touch in reference to Martin's speech to the U.N. (text of speech here.)

Mansur speculates on the kind of speech Lester Pearson would have made:

The former PM and Nobel-Prize-winning diplomat would surely have told the UN that Canada, as a founding member, found intolerable the stain on the organization's reputation due to the corruption, ineptness, nepotism and mismanagement revealed by Paul Volcker's commission of inquiry into the Iraqi Oil-for-Food scandal.

Pearson would surely have reminded the UN of his role in calling for global "partnership for development," and the necessary provision of assistance by rich countries to the poor. But he would also insist the UN cannot be trusted with increased funds unless full reform of its management practices occurred, and the UN secretariat became accountable and transparent.

His idealism was framed by realism, since he knew full well the perennial nature of evil. He would not have shirked taking responsibility for UN failure in Rwanda and the Balkans, and then in scolding member-states for their appalling disregard for the tragedy unfolding in Darfur.

Pearson would also, in my view, have made sure Canada stood firmly together with Britain and Australia as members of a great Commonwealth affirming U.S. President George Bush's message in New York on this same 60th anniversary occasion: "If member countries want the United Nations to be respected -- respected and effective -- they should begin by making sure it is worthy of respect."

My reaction to Martin's speech superceded my usual reaction to vague platitudes and drivel because I was outraged that Martin of all the leaders gathered there would have the nerve to talk about reforms and financial accountability. I did note, however, that he talked about "three pillars," a rather clear lifting of Bush's Whitehall speech which also employed "three pillars" to explain U.S. foreign policy.

Has anyone asked why Martin felt it necessary to plagiarize the president of the United States?

Claudia Rosett writes The Buck Still Hasn't Stopped (link via Newsbeat1) that the "definitive report" issued by the Volcker Inquiry is "hefty" but not definitive.

You should read the whole thing, but this is a CanCon post so I only excerpted this bit about the man said to be Paul Martin's mentor, Maurice Strong, from page 2 of the article:

Part of the problem is that Volcker has imposed on his inquiry the standards not of a prosecutor, but of an accountant. Faced with a pole too tall to measure by hand, he instead tells us its precise circumference on the ground, and lets it go at that. Much has been aired already of Volcker's account of Annan's strange and abiding ignorance of his own son's lively lobbying for U.N.-related business. So let us focus on another character, Annan's former special adviser Maurice Strong, longtime U.N. guru of good governance. (Strong did depart the United Nations this spring, but with Annan's office expressing fervent hopes he will soon return.)

At some length, Volcker does the genuine service of laying out how Strong, in mid-1997, received a check for $988,885 made out to his name (a copy can be found on page 106, Volume II). The check was drawn on a Jordanian bank, funded by Saddam's regime, and delivered by Korean businessman Tongsun Park, who was a U.N. "back-channel" go-between with Saddam. Strong endorsed the check over to a third party to invest in a Strong family-controlled business, Cordex Petroleum. Interviewed by Volcker's team earlier this year, Strong said he did not recall receiving such a check. When shown a copy, he said he did not know the money came from Iraq. Volcker leaves the matter there, concluding that "the Committee has found no evidence that Mr. Strong was involved in Iraqi affairs, matters relating to the [Oil-for-Food] Programme or took any actions at the request of Iraqi officials."

But how hard did the Volcker committee look? In July 1997, the month before Strong cashed the Saddam-backed check, Annan was issuing his first U.N. reform program, reshaping the secretariat. Strong was the major architect of that reform, and was thanked profusely by Annan at the time for "his important contributions." A significant aspect of that reform was the consolidation of the then-new, ad hoc, and diffuse Iraq Oil-for-Food program into a single, more firmly entrenched office. This move tilted control of the daily administration of Oil-for-Food away from the Security Council and toward the secretariat. When the new, unified office set up shop three months later, in October 1997, Annan appointed Sevan as executive director. That marked the beginning of the stretch in which Sevan began taking bribes from Saddam, and the Oil-for-Food program, urged on by Annan, began to grow astronomically in size and scope. Lacking any disclosure of the secret U.N. paper trail that led to the creation of this office and its expanded mission, it is impossible to know whether Strong took a direct hand in setting up the office from which Sevan then, in effect, collaborated with Saddam. Perhaps Strong had nothing to do with it. But Volcker doesn't even ask the question.

Not asking the right questions could be due to oversight or ineptitude, right? Right.

The last item, Whistleblower fires back at Immigration and Refugee Board (link via Let It Bleed), concerns the dismissal of Selwyn Pieters, a man who had gone public with allegations of wrongdoing at the Immigration and Refugee Board:

In March 2004, Mr. Pieters complained to the Public Service Integrity Office that the politically appointed board members who are supposed to decide the fate of refugee claims were violating the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act by not writing their own decisions.

The refugee protection officer also went to the media with his allegations that civil servants were the ones who were doing the decision-making.

Following a probe by a board-hired investigator, IRB chairman Jean-Guy Fleury conceded improper conduct occurred in three cases and appropriate administrative measures were taken against four board members.

In firing him last month, executive director Marilyn Stuart-Major credited Mr. Pieters with exposing the wrongdoing in which he participated.

However, she lashed out at him for his deliberate fabrication in calling the problems at the board systemic, and for alleging a code of silence existed around the misconduct.

The case is complicated by claims and counter-claims of racism, harassment and retaliation, but there is another issue posed because Mr. Pieters believes that dismissing his claim that the problems at the board are systemic was done prematurely:
He also maintains it failed to delve thoroughly into his claim that the problems with decision writing were widespread.

I said it was a systemic issue and they're saying there's no evidence of any systemic issues here, Mr. Pieters said.

There's no evidence because (they) didn't investigate it.

Clearly readers can't judge if the review was inadequate, but it does raise some serious questions, including the Board investigating itself, and in light of indications during the Gomery Inquiry that civil servants often exceeded their job descriptions I think this derserves more scrutiny.

After all, if you don't ask, you won't know. Nor will we.

Posted by Debbye at 04:54 PM | Comments (8) | TrackBack

September 25, 2005

That damned gun registry again

Sept. 25 - I linked this in a post below but it really deserves its own spot. The alarm bells that went off when we were told that the feds had spent $1 million in software were not false, and it may well be that the gun registry is a 'Bigger fraud than AdScam':

Critics of the gun registry are eagerly awaiting Auditor General Sheila Fraser's "Canadian Firearms Program" audit which is scheduled to be released in February -- if we're not in the midst of a federal election campaign.

Fraser isn't doing interviews about the audit, which has been underway for months.

The last time her office attempted to look into gun registry spending was 2002 and the results were explosive. In fact, her team was forced to abandon its attempts to follow the spending on the gun registry because of the absence of records.

"The information on cost recovery provided to the government changed as the program developed," Fraser wrote at the time.

Originally expected to be self-financing by 1999-2000, Fraser and her auditors discovered the target for the firearms program to break even was pushed to 2013 -- an assumption that the program collect $419 million in fees in 2002-03 and about $828 million by 2007-08. (Emphasis added)

What part of accountable government don't people understand? People who vote for the Libranos do so in large part because that party says the right things; I get that. But what kind of brain death fails to connect the lapse between "saying the right things" and "doing the right things?"

There is a sick, twisted mentality at work here. Paul Martin has to time elections these days with an eye on inquiries into scandals and the reports they generate.

To reiterate an old rant, if those who froth at the mouth when they read "Halliburton" would apply some of the same passion when they read about the seemingly endless list of government mis-spending and "absence of records" we might find a lot of common ground.

To re-iterate another rant, let's see some concrete proposals from the CPC to force accountability into public spending (and that includes accountability from any agency, institution or foundation that recents public funds.)

Or, to take another view, if the aim of the Libranos is to initiate "Scandal Overdose" then they are succeeding. I know I'm weary of being angry and I can't help but wonder how many Canadians have begun to block out this kind of news simply to bring some sanity back to their lives.

(Link via Newsbeat1 via NealeNews, two of the most informative sites in Canada.)

Posted by Debbye at 06:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

September 24, 2005

Ethics and the Liberals

Sept. 24 - Bill and Angry continue to keep their eyes on the growing questions about how some Technologies Partnerships Canada (TPC) loans were obained. Two weeks ago it was about $3.7 million made to 3rd party intermediaries who were used to help obtain the loans, and now it appears that the investigation has expanded from four to as many as 15 companies that are improperly using lobbyists or middlemen.

Some recent revelations bear yet more resemblence to Adscam-style dealings, namely claims that a lobbying firm, Wallding International, is owned by former Cabinet minister and president of the Royal Canadian Mint David Dingwall, was paid a $350,000 "success" fee for his assistance in getting $15 million in federal financing for Bioniche. Angry has more in this post that poses some questions about the lobbying activies of Dingwall and another former Cabinet Minister, Marc Lalonde, who served under Pierre Trudeau, and now works on behalf of TM Bioscience, a company that has also received money from the TPC.

The TPC is now being phased out and replaced with a new agency, the Transformative Technologies Program. Okay, so they discard a name that has been touched with scandal. But now I'm wondering if it is something more after reading this:

NORTH CAPE, P.E.I. (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin said Saturday that he intends to make Canada a major producer of renewable energy.

Martin made the commitment as he toured the site of the new Canadian Wind Energy Institute at North Cape, a blustery village at the northwestern tip of Prince Edward Island.

On Friday, the federal government, through the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, announced it will contribute about $3.6 million toward the establishment of the institute.

As well, starting with the 2006-07 fiscal year, Natural Resources Canada will contribute $1 million annually for two years toward operating costs.

That commitment, however, is expected to extend well beyond two years, but tail off gradually as the institute's own sources of income grow.

Are institutes that receive federal financing required to be audited by the A-G or, like foundations, are they exempt?

Bill and Angry are doing fantastic jobs staying on top of this story and, like Adscam, the allegations of wrong-doing involve people who were once entrusted with the governance of this country.

This is very timely: Toronto Tory has set a self-imposed challenge:

Every day, for the next 30 days, I will post an example of a company or individual who has an unethical relationship with Paul Martin, and/or the Liberal party of Canada/Ontario.
There are more details about the challenge at LIBERAL CORRUPTION - THE ONE MONTH CHALLENGE. Somehow I don't think there will be a lack of material.

Sept. 25 - 17:49 - I missed this post by Kate that expands on the role David Dingwall played in Adscam and connects some more dots.

So many scandals, so little time. The gun registry could be a fraud bigger than Adscam (link via Newsbeat1)"

[Auditor General Sheila] Fraser isn't doing interviews about the audit, which has been underway for months.

The last time her office attempted to look into gun registry spending was 2002 and the results were explosive. In fact, her team was forced to abandon its attempts to follow the spending on the gun registry because of the absence of records. (Emphasis added)

I feel sick.

Posted by Debbye at 07:03 AM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

September 23, 2005

Our crazy Uncle Paul

Sept. 23 - Crazy Paul's billion dollar shell game: maybe Canadians pay closer attention to US matters than Canadian ones in order to stay sane!

Posted by Debbye at 05:13 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack

Fraud in Canada's health care system

Sept. 23 - News that billing fraud is widespread in Canada's health care system isn't exactly unexpected (Health fraud rampant) but it is dismaying to see it confirmed:

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. - Canada's health care system is rife with fraud that costs the public and private sectors an estimated $3-billion to $10-billion a year, the country's first-ever survey of health fraud indicates.

"It's a big problem. It's a multi-billion-dollar problem and that's a big drain on the health care system," said Michael Chettleburgh of Fraudbox Inc., which did the survey for the Canadian Health Care Anti-Fraud Association.

[...]

Speakers at the anti-fraud association's annual conference told about fraudulent billings by pharmacists, dentists and other health care professionals, as well as the growing problem of people stealing caregivers' identities to illicitly claim payments.

The article notes that the problem isn't limited to Canada, but the realization that the cracks in the taxpayer-funded health care system here are worsened by the greed of some health care professionals further erodes public faith those in the health sector have a calling to cure and heal.

The Canadian Health Care Anti-Fraud Association page doesn't have the report on its page yet but the results of the survey are available in .pdf here at the Fraudbox Inc. site.

(Via Neale News)

Posted by Debbye at 04:01 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

September 22, 2005

Porkbusters!

Sept. 22 - Glen Reynolds is reporting on the initiative to Cut the fat in order to pay the huge costs of Katrina's devastation, and it struck me that this easily has Canadian applications.

Cut the pork to improve the health care system.
Cut the pork to upgrade the military.
Cut the pork to reduce gas taxes.
Cut the pork to reduce taxes period.
Cut the pork to ______________ (your project.)

Posted by Debbye at 12:44 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

Greg Weston on Coffin's sentence

Sept. 22 - Greg Weston writes on the incredibly harsh sentence given to the first convicted participant in Adscam (from Coffin nails Liberals?):

OTTAWA -- The Quebec judge who sentenced one of the AdScam con men to a wrist-slapping for stealing $1.5 million has certainly sent a clear message to all who would even consider ripping off the government.

In the immortal shrug of Jean Chretien: "So, maybe a few million was stolen."

For 15 counts of deliberate and systematic fraud, Montreal advertising executive Paul Coffin was sentenced this week to two years less a day "to be served in the community."

Translated, he has to be home by 9 p.m. weeknights, and lecture university students on "business ethics."

Coffin's pitch to so many young minds will no doubt include horror stories about how his utter lack of business ethics condemned him to a miserable life of big boats, fast cars, fancy houses and expensive wines.

I'm not surprised, but nonetheless I feel ashamed for this fine country.

Paul Coffin betrayed the people he was supposed to serve. He betrayed every single Canadian but the court has ruled that it's no big deal.

Does the word honour even have meaning these days? If it doesn't, and I am becoming increasingly certain that it does not, then dishonour too seemingly has no meaning. And that is the government we're stuck with.

13:57 Sleep can wait; Darcy lends some much needed perspective into Coffin's gentle treatment. Now I'm getting mad again.

Posted by Debbye at 10:18 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 15, 2005

Scandal - again!

Sept. 15 - Release of the Gomery Report on Adscam is delayed. The report on the Toronto MFP scandel is out. The issue of accountability - or lack thereof - continues to dismay and anger us.

But scandal seems to be becoming Canada's chief industry, as Bill takes note of yet another Canadian boondoggle which is finally being subjected to scrutiny: Audit of $2.9 billion TPC program expands and (oh my aching head) Paul Martin's mentor, Maurice Strong who was also implicated in OFF, is involved. Again.

One of the findings of the Volcker Inquiry into the U.N. Oil For Food program was the extent to which corruption is institutionalized in the U.N. I fear that much the same may be said of Canada (and Ukraine) and that weeding it out will prove far more difficult than installing new leadership.

The extent of corruption in the civil service and the complacency of the news media are the ultimate impediments to honest government. It's that simple. Shame on the lot of them.

Posted by Debbye at 06:04 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

Canadians troops injuried in Kabul

Sept. 15 - They hold the line so others can be free, and too often at a price: Two Canadian soldiers were injured in Kabul by a roadside bomb during a routine patrol in preparation for Sunday's elections. Details are sketchy, but thankfully the injuries are said to be minor.

This attack is yet another in a series intended to prevent consensual government in a Muslim nation and coincides with the terror attacks in Iraq yesterday and today.

Posted by Debbye at 05:01 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

July 09, 2005

Liberal Party Corruption, Act II, Scene 2

July 9 - The following item appeared July 7 in the Globe and Mail and is all the more interesting when put into context with suspicions about Canadian PM Paul Martin's ties with Earncliffe [Act II, Scene 1.] Firm headed by Martin aide got $92,082 for medicare poll:

OTTAWA -- The federal government hired a communications firm with close ties to Prime Minister Paul Martin to track public opinion through every twist and turn of last fall's health-care summit between Mr. Martin and the provincial premiers.

The survey by Veraxis research and communications, which is headed by senior Martin adviser David Herle, tested support for the various proposals being considered, as well as who would bear the blame if the talks were to fall apart.

[...]

Among the survey's listed objectives were to "monitor change in public opinion throughout the course of the FMM [first ministers meeting]."

When that survey ended, the department commissioned another poll by the Strategic Counsel, which is now The Globe and Mail's pollster, at a cost of $162,142 to track public opinion throughout the week after the summit through phone calls and focus groups.

Conservative health critic Stephen Fletcher, who observed the summit first hand, said the government's use of rolling polls is "unbelievable."

Mr. Fletcher said it appears the Liberals are using Health Canada dollars to help craft partisan messages for the Liberals.

[...]

Mr. Herle, who was formerly with Earnscliffe Research and Communications, was the Liberal Party's election campaign manager.

The article contained details of the poll but that is hardly the point: Adscam [Act I] blew open when it was revealed that those receiving the commissions had done little or no work, not when it was revealed that the work they were doing was frivolous. Will the use of taxpayer money to do advance work for the Liberal Party achieve scandal status?

In truth, there aren't many Canadians who will deny that it's time to throw the bums out, but many are convinced that Harper is "scary." I'm tempted to agree: his willingness to go along with the Liberal Party and throw more money into failed programs as well as his denouncement of a "two tiered" health system worries me, but of course that's not what people here mean. But a recent post by The Hack places the Scary Factor in a global context and the conclusion will surprise many.

According to one Canadian, Harper is not right-wing at all in a global context but left of that which is defined as right-wing in many countries. The Hack quotes a fascinating letter by James Allan that appeared in the National Post. Mr. Allan is a Canadian who lived in New Zealand and Australia for nearly 20 years and he brings some long-need perspective to this whole "scary" argument:

But here's the odd thing. In global terms, it's simply not true. Take today's Tories and Stephen Harper out of Canada and plunk them in New Zealand and they would be to the left of Helen Clark's Labour government. Down in New Zealand, there is a two-tier health system; there are civil unions but no gay marriage; the economy is far less heavily regulated in terms of labour laws, tax policy and tariffs than anything Harper is proposing.

The same goes for Australia. Compare the policies of the left-wing Labour Party there (on defence, immigration, the environment, health, education, you name it) to Canadian Tories' policies and Harper consistently stands to the left of Australian Labour, not the right.

And this is the same Tory party that is demonized in Canada for being "too right wing." Frankly, it was disorienting to return to Canada and to be met, continually, with this total lack of global perspective.

It's gotta hurt for Canadians to be told that they lack global perspective, but it gets worse:
All I can say to that is that people down in Australia and New Zealand, even in the U.K., must be made of sterner stuff. They would never rejoice in such self-emasculation.
That's really hitting below the, er, never mind.

Posted by Debbye at 04:12 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

July 02, 2005

Oh, Canada

July 2 - Excellent post by Flea - He's tipped - in which he links to a post which sadly observes the lack of coherent policies in matters other than gay marriage by the Conservative Party of Canada.

The post linked to this one from N=1 who wrote some follow-up posts here, here and here. I would strongly urge Americans to read these posts, as - and I honestly mean no disrespect by this - Canadian conservatives are to some extent freed from the personal concerns of war to examine and debate issues over which we are less focused but which we should not entirely ignore.

Although I have a great deal of admiration for Stephen Harper personally and although terming a union between gay couples "marriage" is not as important to me as to others, I was worried when opposition to gay marriage was the rallying point around which the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative parties merged yet, as I believed there were sound reasons around which to form a political party to oppose Liberal rule, I hoped they would be able to build the party on the basis of principled opposition to the imposition of nanny statism.

Regarding the issue of gay marriage in the U.S., I am opposed to a Constitutional amendment that defines marriage (I don't think it is properly a Constitutional issue) but must admit that it has at least initiated some serious discussion over the issue, something that was missing up here as it was imposed - rightly or wrongly - by judicial fiat.

I may have been unprepared to expand my definition of marriage beyond the traditional one of being a union between a man and a woman, but it is something I know I will come to accept especially now that it has become law in Canada. Legislating it as a right and then later removing it is not something I believe I can accept because I don't believe it would be just.

Like many others, I take issue with the manner in which it came to become law but we've got out own Supreme Court issues and I am far more concerned over the recent U.S. Supreme Court Kelo decision which stripped personal property rights than the Canadian Supreme Court which awarded personal rights and am much more willing to fight the Kelo ruling than Bill C-38 (although Angry could be right, and this is will provoke contingent issues that will deepen Canadian polarization - although I fail to see how any potential challenge to monogamy can in truth be connected to recognition of gay marriage; the definition of marriage remains, in law, as being between two people.)

To put it more concisely, the decision in Kelo vs. New London has put things in perspective. Kelo clarifies that the true battleground is that of personal freedom and property rights vs. the encroachment of the state - which actually believes it has rights not accorded to it by the people - and not that of loving gay couples who want their committment to one another to be acknowledged by the state and, I suspect as importantly, by the people.

The failure of the CPC to assert itself confidently and aggressively in matters other than gay marriage at a period when Canadians are confronting increasingly higher taxes, the disaster of their health care system, the decay of their armed forces and the corruption not only of the ruling Liberal Party but of government itself has been disappointing. It is comparable to the Sept. 10 mentality of Democrats; if they truly believe that gay marriage is the most important issue facing Canadians then they are seriously out of touch with the fundamental issues facing people up here and almost as unfit to run the country as the Liberals.

The Conservative Party up here has behaved much like the Democrats in that both restrict themselves to opposing rather than proposing and thus have failed to electrify voters with vision and solutions. When will either of them grow up? The people of both countries deserve better.

July 3 - 17:20: Maybe I failed to make my one main point about gay marriage strongly enough:

To reiterate: the one prospect I find insupportable is that of allowing gays to marry yet a future Conservative Party government suddenly declaring those marriages null and void. Try to put yourselves in the position of marrying, making plans for a future together and even making joint financial investments and then imagine being told your marriage is no longer legitimate.

Forget the circusy atmosphere we see on television and some of the wilder "activists" showcased by a sensationalist media and focus on the human face of this issue. Gay couples love one another - in probably the same variables of intensity and committment as straight couples - and I believe their love is entitled to respect.

The damage to the institution of marriage was done long before gays emerged from the closet. We can blame easier divorces, the pill, Roe vs. Wade, or the sexual revolution and even the "disposable society" but we simply cannot with any honesty blame gays much less instituting gay marriage.

Continuing to oppose gay marriage now that it has passed in Parliament is much too much like the "selected not elected" crowd that has disrupted U.S. politics far too much in our recent past, and the CPC is likely to face the same kind of backlash that Democrats encountered in '04.

Lastly, a suspicious person (like me) might wonder if the focus on gay marriage as The Most Important Issue of the Day is intentionally diverting attention from other bread-and-butter issues.

There are serious challenges facing Canada and the CPC should endeavour to propose solutions to them. At the risk of getting cyber-slammed, I really think they need to "move on" and exhibit some freaking leadership.

Posted by Debbye at 09:33 PM | Comments (16) | TrackBack

June 16, 2005

Double-dealing in Librano-land

June 16 - The Judge is Angry:

MONTREAL - First, it was Jean Chretien taking John Gomery to court. Now, Justice Gomery is taking Paul Martin to court.

What gives? Gomery is annoyed that the Martin government had a secret exchange of letters with Chretien's lawyers acknowledging that even as the former prime minister dropped his court case alleging Gomery's bias against him, he could make the same accusations later after the release of the judge's findings.

Gomery didn't know about the letter. He read about it in the papers. And he's furious. The Martin government professes to support him, but it looks as if it was undermining him.

The May 30 letter was signed by federal government lawyer Brian Saunders, but as far as the Gomery Commission is concerned, it was approved by the Clerk of the Privy Council, Alex Himelfarb. Mere government lawyers, acting on their own, don't make deals on behalf of one prime minister with another.

By coincidence, or not, May 30 was the same day Chretien's lawyers withdrew his case, removing a very inconvenient obstacle from the Martin government's path to political recovery.

Gomery was having none of it. The next day the judge said he would take the Martin government to the Federal Court to clear the air about his alleged bias, before he sits down to write his findings and recommendations. His lawyer, Lorne Morphy, complained in a letter to the government that the exchange of letters with Chretien puts "Justice Gomery and the commission in an extremely delicate position" and that to have the allegations of bias hanging out there "is, simply put, unacceptable."

Newsbeat1 has the excerpts from yesterday's Question Period on this issue here.

Posted by Debbye at 01:00 PM | Comments (6)

That damned gun registry again

June 16 - Audit targets firearm registry:

OTTAWA -- Costs for the controversial gun registry program could continue to "spiral out of control" unless the government takes steps to curb spending, an external audit warns.

The financial report compiled by Hill and Knowlton for the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, obtained under Access to Information by Conservative MP Garry Breitkreuz, recommends the government shift the Canada Firearms Centre to another larger department to wrestle down costs.

I have a much better idea of what to do with that infernal registry.

Posted by Debbye at 11:58 AM | Comments (1)

A bewildering number of lawsuits

June 16 - My question about the libel suit against David Frum has been answered - in spades. Many thanks to Candace for finding this discussion thread on the Frum column and for digging up an older item on Adscam-related lawsuits.

I'll state this up front: I believe it is up to bloggers to stand by and defend these commentators. It pisses me off beyond reason that their colleagues are not doing so, but things are what they are in Canada these days and it won't be the first time bloggers were trailblazers.

Frum wrote he has been served with papers accusing him of libel.

There are confirmed reports that National Post columnist Andrew Coyne and reporter Laurent Soumis of the Journal de Montreal have also been served and, although I have yet to find confirmation, CTV's Mike Duffy and Warren Kinsella may also have been served. (Note that I have no way of ascertaining if these four as the ones to which Frum was referring and there are in fact good reason to doubt this is the case.)

Of necessity this is a fairly long post so click on the extended entry for more, but I'm putting Kate's opening on this side of the post because she tears a deservedly giant strip off the feckless Canadian media:

In any sane democratic country, a slap suit against an opinion columnist by a government operative would provoke outrage and non-stop editorials in the mainstream press. The item would be leading the newscasts, with punditry convening soberly on our TV screens. Reporter scrums would pepper government leaders to explain their actions in curtailling that most hallowed (in their eyes) of all freedoms - freedom of the press.

But of course, this is Canada - a nation of "natural governing" one-party rule in which a "living" constitution permits such limits on speech as are consistant with a Liberal Kleptocracy.

So, as the Liberals draft laws that push more and more areas of government operation outside the reach of Freedom of Information requests, weaken protections for whistleblowers, when they brazenly refuse to acknowledge the defeat of their government in non-confidence motions and ignore the Auditor Generals concerns about billions of tax dollars being funneled into unaccountable foundations - the Lloyd Robertsons and Peter Mansbridges busy themselves studiously studying Stephen Harper's facial expressions and providing Canadians "Better News Through Polling" .

They remain virtually silent on the assaults on members of their own profession - silent, because for the most part, the majority of mainstream media in Canada functions as nothing short of a communications arm of the Liberal Party. In other words, they see themselves as nothing less than an unelected arm of government.

I'd ask that Americans readers try (and I know it's hard) to keep in mind that the truth is not relevant in libel suits up here. Also keep in mind that, as I am constitutionally incapable of understanding the libel laws up here because they conflict with my cultural bias toward inherent rights, I have no idea if any of the statements allegedly made by the defendents are libelous under Canadian law.

I don't know if this column is what prompted Tim Murphy to have Andrew Coyne served, but anyone who has read his blog and columns knows that Coyne is damned good at linking to his sources of information and writes well-reasoned columns and posts. I could see why they would want to silence him if we lived in Iran or Zimbabwe, but we don't.

I can't ensure the veracity of this post at the CNEWS forum, but it served as a damned good starting point to pursue the other threads of this story and I was able to confirm at least part of its information.

On the libel suit against David Frum:

Terrie O'Leary vs National Post, CanWest Publications and David Frum: Sent libel notice related to the May 17 edition of the National Post in which Frum wrote, "They might observe that he never manipulated government contracts to direct business in a firm run by his chief of staff's boyfriend." O'Leary claims that the statement is defamatory and calculated to disparage her both as a person and in her former capacity as Executive Asst. to the Minister of Finance of Canada.
I don't know if this is the cause of Frum's notice, but the ironically titled May 17 column Averting Their Eyes from Scandal - Since 1993, Ottawa's Press Corps Has Been Taking a Nice, Long Nap can still be read online. (Links for the the hearings on the Earnscliffe contracts are here and here.)

Mike Duffy of CTV is also rumoured to be sued:

Liberal Party organizer/PMO staffer Karl Littler vs Mike Duffy CTV: Suing for defamation over remarks Duffy made about Littler visiting strip clubs and engaging in improper and unlawful behaviour due to his position as an official of the Liberal Party and Deputy Chief of Staff to PM. Seeking $250 thousand in general damages, $50 thousand in punitive damages.
The remarks were probably made on air so there isn't a link (at least one that I could find.) The best I found was a CTV article in this post from Angry about whistleblower Allan Cutler and staffer Karl Littler (but there's nothing about strip clubs in it.)

And yet another journalist:

BCP Communications, John Parisella, Yves Gougoux vs Sun Media, Canoe and Laurent Soumis: Suing for defamation over May 12 article written by Soumis. The article linked BCP to allegations that Liberal Party election expenses were paid out of the sponsorship program. Seeking $250 thousand in real damages from each defendant, $100 thousand in exemplary damages from each defendant.
I couldn't find a May 12 article in the English Canoe archives, but the Canoe search feature turned up confirmation of the lawsuit against Laurent Soumis in .pdf here and other search results of articles by Sourmis (in French) are here. A quick check in Google turned up this translated item from CBC Radio Canada on testimony about BCP here but it consists mostly of denials.

Frum reported here

Along with at least four other public commentators, I have recently been served with libel papers by a leading figure in this story.
Frum declined to state the name of his accuser so I am going to respect Frum's reticence and not play pin the tail on the donkey.

Blogger Warren Kinsella is supposedly being sued over what he wrote on his blog:

Terrie O'Leary, Earnscliffe Research and Communications vs Warren Kinsella: Libel notices issued to Kinsella and warrenkinsella.com on behalf of Earnscliffe and to Andrew Davis over his reprinting and highlighting of transcript from his appearance before the Public Accts. Committee.
The hearings were published and televised, but for all I know there could be some law forbidding Kinsella to write about it. (If this is true it is worthy of Bizarro World.)

Somewhat unsurprisingly, Kinsella may also be suing on his own behalf:

Warren Kinsella vs Scott Reid: In his blog Kinsella has indicated that he would sue the PMO official for suggesting that he had committed perjury in his appearance before the Public Accts. Committee last month.
Hey, anyone can play! The CPC is suing Immigration Minister John Volpe:
Conservative MP Lee Richardson vs Immigration Minister Joe Volpe: Libel notice filed against Volpe after Volpe associated Mr. Richardson and the Conservative Party with the Ku Klux Klan.
And of course we musn't forget the suits filed by fired patronage appointees Jean Pelletier, Marc LeFrancois, and Alfonso Gagliano who are suing the Canadian government because they deem their reputations were besmirched due to their alleged involvements in Adscam. I don't want to be sued so I'd best not speculate if these lawsuits are Golden Handshakes Librano Style.

Lastly, the Canadian government is suing various people over Adscam (although I don't see Jacques Corriveau on that list.)

Francois Beaudoin won his lawsuit and, more importantly, was vindicated, but what of Miriam Bedard who was crudely attacked by her former boss Pelletier and for which he was supposedly dismissed? (see 2 paragraphs up and remember: Bizarro World.)

Lastly, the Chretien threat to challenge to Judge Gomery is still hanging like a Damocles Sword over the Inquiry and Liberal lawyers are urging Judge Gomery to exonerate both Chretien and Martin.

Posted by Debbye at 09:26 AM | Comments (5)

Canada criticized by U.N. committee on arbitrary detention

May 16 - UN group condemns Canada:

OTTAWA (CP) - A UN committee says it is gravely concerned about Canada's system of jailing suspected terrorists without trial using national security certificates.

The UN committee on arbitrary detention, which is visiting Canada at the federal government's invitation, said persons detained under security certificates are denied the right to a fair hearing.

[...]

The committee noted that all four of the people currently detained under security certificates are Arab Muslims, and one of them has been detained for five years.

All four of the suspects now in detention argue they face a risk of torture if returned to their homelands.

The timing of these criticisms coincides with accusations by the Canadian Council on American-Islamic Relations that security forces have used unacceptable intimidation when investigating terrorism. Shaken refutes the allegations quite admirably.

But everything happens in threes, right? So of course it's only now being reported that last February yet another member of the Khadr family had come under scrutiny. This latest involved the seizure of Zaynab Khadr's laptop when she landed at Pearson Airport after a trip to Pakistan. The contents of her laptop allegedly included bin Laden tape clips calling for - what else? the murder of Americans. She says she didn't know that the clips and some songs - including one titled "I Am A Terrorist" - were on her computer.

Posted by Debbye at 07:37 AM | Comments (0)

Frum and Steyn on Canada

June 16 - David Frum's A Scandal So Immense is a concise description of events that lead to the political crisis in Canada. He gives just the facts, as they say, and the accumulative impact is immense when viewed in the whole.

By the way, I didn't realize before I read this item that David Frum was among at least five people who have been served with libel papers:

There is though one warning I'd better immediately deliver to readers: Along with at least four other public commentators, I have recently been served with libel papers by a leading figure in this story. ..
Is this public knowledge? I could well have missed reading about it during the past couple of days, but I thought I had kept abreast of most of the big stories.

So even if I'm only the latest in an entire parade of people who have said so, I think it worthwhile to go on record and state that this is outrageous. These suits may well be nuisance suits, but, if only by their stifling effect, they constitute an explicit threat to press freedoms and freedom of speech.

Back to the main subject, Frum touches on some key points over this recent period. On corruption:

Some of that money ended up in the pockets of influential Liberals, allegedly including the brother of former prime minister Jean Chretien. Some was kicked back to the Liberal party and its campaign workers. The Gomery inquiry has also revealed a disturbing nexus--that's a word to which no lawyer can object--between senior figures in the Liberal party and organized crime.
On the Gomery Inquiry:
Then Judge Gomery took his hearings onto cable TV. Night after night, Canadians heard firsthand stories of tens of thousands of dollars in cash left in envelopes on restaurant tables, of alleged Mafia figures giving orders to party chairmen, of kickbacks, bribes, and fraud. ..
On Paul Martin and how he secured the votes to survive the budget vote:
Paul Martin has always benefited immensely from his reputation as the Mr. Clean of the Liberal party. ..

The first thing he had to do was trample on Canada's constitutional traditions. ..

[...]

And then Canadians learned the reason why: Over the period that the Martin government had been losing vote after vote in the House, it had been secretly negotiating with the disappointed loser of the Conservative party's 2004 leadership contest, Belinda Stronach, the billionaire heiress to an auto-parts and land-development fortune.

I've only quoted bits and it deserves to be read in full, especially the five reasons he offers to explain the public's reluctance for a change in government. (Link via Newsbeat1.)

Mark Steyn tells of reading The Globe and Mail on a recent airplane flight. He's not overly complimentary. Then he spies a video monitor which instructs To begin, press EXIT.

From Exit strategy by Mark Steyn:

The Liberal Party of Canada isnt the catchiest name for a Quebec biker gang. .. its essentially engaged in the same activities as the other biker gangs: the Grits launder money; they enforce a ruthless code of omerta when fainthearted minions threaten to squeal; they threaten to whack their enemies; they keep enough cash on hand in small bills of non-sequential serial numbers to be able to deliver suitcases with a couple hundred grand hither and yon; and they sluice just enough of the folding stuff around law enforcement agencies to be assured of co-operation. The Mounties Musical Ride received $3 million from the Adscam funds, but, alas, the RCMP paperwork relating to this generous subsidy has been, in keeping with time-honoured Liberal book-keeping practices, inadvertently lost.
After a nice transition to a bit where he reminds us that the Westminster system depends on a certain modesty and circumspection from the political class he suggests an exit strategy.

Posted by Debbye at 07:24 AM | Comments (5)

June 15, 2005

Those Grewal tapes (still)

June 15 - Whether they are altered, edited, or doctored, the Grewal tapes are still controversial.

Bloc Quebecois leader Gilles Duceppe seems to believe the contents of the tape are genuine, and says the Liberals are lying:

Duceppe said the prime minister has systematically refused to answer questions about when he became aware of backroom discussions with Tory MP Gurmant Grewal.

"When did he know? Did Paul Martin participate in a criminal act?" Duceppe said yesterday outside Parliament.

"He refuses to answer. And it's been a while. We're getting tired of being lied to, right in our face (by Liberals). "They're lying in the House. They're lying to the public."

Top Liberals were heard on tape discussing career opportunities with Grewal in exchange for missing a May 19 confidence vote.

The opposition insists the talks with Grewal were possible violations of anti-corruption provisions in the Criminal Code.

Martin spokesman Scott Reid said the Bloc leader is basing false allegations on doctored tapes.

The tapes are in the custody of the RCMP, and they will eventually get around to examining them (snark.)

Posted by Debbye at 02:05 PM | Comments (4)

Good news! The mob scares Canadians more than we do!

June 15 - If you find this headline shocking then you clearly haven't been paying attention: Canadians see Bush, bin Laden as national security threats. But wait: the facts of the story are far more interesting than it first appears for reasons which, strangely enough, are not explored in the article:

TORONTO -- Canadians believe U.S. President George W. Bush is almost as great a threat to our national security as Osama bin Laden, according to a government opinion poll obtained by the National Post.

The 1,500 people contacted for the poll, conducted last February for the Department of National Defence, listed "International Organized Crime" as the top danger, with 38 per cent ranking it as a great threat to security concern and another 50 per cent listing it as moderate.

But tied for second in the poll were "U.S. Foreign Policy" and "Terrorism," with 37 per cent rating it a great risk. Just behind those worries came "Climate Change and Global Warming." (Emphasis added)

Organized crime worries Canadians, but the article doesn't touch on that but rushes over to the number 2 concern.
Experts said the results reflected a continuing "schizophrenia" in the Canadian public's attitudes towards defence -- still worried about international terrorism even three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, but also concerned about the power and aggressive policies of the Americans.
One expert (me) says that the continuing schizophrenia is manifested by an exclusive focus on the second highest rated threat rather than the first.
The poll, by Ekos Research Associates Inc., surveyed Canadians' attitudes towards a wide range of defence, military and national security issues, part of an annual public opinion polling process by the Department of National Defence.

It was considered accurate within 2.5 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

Most of those contacted for the poll had "great confidence" in the Canadian Forces' ability to respond to natural disasters in Canada, but only 25 per cent felt the same way about how our military would handle a terrorist attack on Canadian soil.

That's just sad. It's akin to feeling confident about the ability of the fire department to rescue a cat stuck up in a tree but not about their ability to handle fires.
The poll suggested other security concerns preying at the public's mind include "Weapons of Mass Destruction," listed as a great danger by 30 per cent of those surveyed, and "Potential Weaponization of Space," which 26 per cent of those polled found a great concern.

Health threats, such as the SARS outbreak of 2003, nuclear threats, natural disasters and countries in turmoil, such as Sudan or Haiti, were the least worrisome threats according to the poll.

Potential Weaponization of Space. Right. That is clearly of far more concern than genocide in Sudan. (Now you know why prices for tin foil have risen.)

Still, I find it odd that organized crime would rate as a higher cause of concern than U.S. foreign policy and terrorism, unless (and this is a long shot) respondents have take the "Librano" definition to heart, in which case the poll results may be more interesting than the article lets on.

14:22: Via Neale News, according to the latest Angus Reid Consultants poll, health care is the top concern of Canadians followed by poor government and leadership issues.

International issues / War / Peace are way at the bottom at 2%, tied with Unemployment, Same sex marriage and Crime / law and order.

Don't you just love polls?

Posted by Debbye at 05:54 AM | Comments (17)

Protecting the border

June 15 - Canada: Armed Agents Needed on U.S. Border:

While U.S. Border Patrol agents along the frontier are armed, officers of the Canada Border Services Agency are not allowed to carry firearms. They currently are instructed to call the Royal Canadian Mounted Police or local police if they run into a threat and, as officers testified before the committee, that help is often extremely slow in coming.

"The committee has reluctantly come to the conclusion that if the federal government is not willing or able to provide a constant police presence at Canada's border crossings, current border inspectors must be given the option of carrying firearms," the report says. (Emphasis added)

Ouch.
Another proposal calls for Canada to allow up to $2,000 in duty-free goods from the United States by 2010, freeing up customs agents to focus on potential threats to security rather than acting as tax collectors.

"Canada needs a system within which personnel on the crossings are border officers first and clerks second the reverse of the current situation," the report says. "Raising personal exemptions for travelers will help border officers better direct their attention to border security rather than revenue collection." (Emphasis added)

Double ouch.

Posted by Debbye at 02:52 AM | Comments (1)

June 12, 2005

Those Grewal tapes

June 12 - Does one really have to be a rocket scientist to see the blindingly obvious? I can well believe that Tory support plummets because the poll (surprise, surpise) focused attention on a secondary issue.

Decima also asked the respondents to its poll, which is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points 19 times in 20, to indicate whose version of events they believed in the Grewal affair. Specifically, they were asked who they believed initiated the discussions about Mr. Grewal crossing the floor.

About 25 per cent sided with the Liberals, who said the Conservative MP initiated the conversation, compared with 23 per cent siding with Mr. Grewal, who said he was called by the Liberals.

If we are to take it as a given that there are serious questions about Grewal's ethics, then the proper question is why on earth Prime Minister Martin's chief of staff Tim Murphy and Minister of Health Ujjal Dosanjh were even talking to him to about crossing the floor, yet this poll sidesteps that issue.

Who made the first overture is not the point; what is alarming is that discussions were held with someone who is supposedly under investigation for misconduct in an immigration matter, and the final discussion on the tapes were held in Grewal's office, which means that Tim Murphy was pursuing the discussions and was free to leave at any point.

Although we often refer to Canada as a one-party state, one thing we overlook is that, in a one-party state, the only way to "get ahead" is to be a member of that party.

Perhaps that's why Benoit Corbeil's allegations that lawyers routinely traded "volunteering" for Liberal party candidates in return for bench appointments were less shocking than they should have been because we secretly suspected that this was indeed the case and that the appointments were due less to competency than to political connections.

The ethical crisis in Canada lies not so much with the political parties and their elites as with the Canadian (or Ontarian) electorate which has chosen to accept the corruption and patronage appointments as "business as usual" and thus admitted, in effect, that this is the best Canada can ever be.

There is a direct correlations between a country's ideals and how strenuously they attempt to achieve those ideals. When, in the name of sophistication, the citizens of a country fail to strive for honesty and ethics in government, they thereby bequeath to their children mediocrity. That is not a legacy they of which can be proud.

Posted by Debbye at 05:50 PM | Comments (47)

June 09, 2005

Poundmaker update

June 9 - The Poundmaker protest continues but they are running out of money and the car they relied on for transportation has broken down.

Darcey has a brief update and adds

I am guessing they would appreciate moral support so be sure to take some time and email your greetings to Tyrone to pass on: tyrone45 at nativeweb.net.
He linked to this analysis by Lance of Catprint in the Mash which makes several good points about the specifics of the electoral process which laid the groundwork for the protest and how the deficiencies of that process are being challenged. (I would quote some excellent portions, but I can't seem to copy excerpts alone.)

Short version: they are taking peaceful, legal action to redress their grievances. Would that the rest of Canada took note.

Sorry about the light posting - I slept through the day (yay!) and have to hit the road.

Posted by Debbye at 08:32 PM | Comments (1)

June 08, 2005

"Madison" and "Adams" join the Monarchist

June 8 - I hope Americans and Canadians have been sufficiently intrigued by the links to The Monarchist to continue to read their current outpouring and read their archives.

There are welcoming some new members of that team with familiar names: Madison and Adams, who charges right in with An Atheistic Individualist Defense of Monarchism. (He doesn't say, but I assume the writer is invoking John, not Samuel, Adams.)

The sorest grievance of our Founding Fathers was that they were denied their rights as free Englishmen, and that could not and would not be borne. I think that this Adams incarnation can safely be regarded as one who found a sympathetic hearing from the Crown and Parliament, which brings to bear the "what if" line of historical reasoning which is somewhat applicable in a Canada which was populated by Loyalists but who retained nonetheless a recognition of their duties and rights as Englishmen in this country.

[I mean no disrespect to Quebeckers or Acadians, yet I think it accurate to say that the philosophical connotations of being "free Englishmen" is deeply ingrained in the unfolding of the political histories of the U.S.A. and Canada - at least pre-Trudeau - which is the only basis on which an Adams might still be arguing on behalf of the monarchy. ]

I realize that the teaching of American history has changed a great deal since (ahem) my day, but, if we are to reclaim our heritage, the full recognition of what our traditions and institutions owe to Mother England must be acknowledged and respected, and it wouldn't hurt Canadians to do the same.

Yet at the end of the day, I am an American and thus willing to place my hopes in the works and dreams of men, not the intervention of monarchs however benign and most definitely not in the intervention of someone appointed without Parliamentary review to represent that monarch.

Nonetheless, the site has some of the most thought-provoking essays I've read, and I don't think I'm being overly complimentary when I compare their work to that of Stephen den Beste. I'm only speaking for myself, but some of the essays I've read have resulted in my leaving the computer to pace and reflect on the points they've made.

There are aspects of the Parliamentary system which jar an American consciousness. There are no fixed terms, but that is supposed to provide a different kind of check - yet a check nonetheless - on tyranny:

What the Liberals don't seem to understand is that it is not for the government to determine if it has the confidence of the House, it is the members of the House who make that determination. And a majority of them have just voted for the government to resign on a procedural motion, which obviously constitutes a very serious challenge to the continued legitimacy of their authority to govern this country. The only way for them to get out of this mess now, is to seek clarification from the House at the earliest possible opportunity (as in today), that they still have the democratic and constitutional authority to carry on.
Yet that clarification was delayed until the vote was rigged, which leaves Canada in a limbo state that far too few in Ontario recognize.

I took a Canadian history class, and (perhaps unfortunately) exposed my far too open American nature when I expressed disbelief on learning that such was not mandatory in the Ontario school system. That may explain part of the reason Canadians did not take to the streets when the Martin Rogue Government failed to "seek clarification from the House" at the earliest opportunity - too few realized that respect for parliamentary safeguards as well as protocol demanded the Liberals call that vote immediately and not at a time of their choosing.

We Americans cannot afford to be smug on this: our own school systems have failed to provide comprehensive civics classes which would give our younger citizens a working framework to understand the traditions and workings of our own government, and we should look to the current crisis in Canada as a red flag moment for our own country.

One example: you will not find the phrase "separation of church and state" anywhere in the Constitution, yet far too many Americans believe it resides there, and some of those misguided citizens are lawyers and journalists who ought to know better.

For Canadian readers, it is not so necessary to agree with views advocated by the essayists of The Monarchist as it is to read and study them. Such writings in my country came to be known as a collection of works called "The Federalist Papers" which informs our consciousness to this day, and as Canada finds herself on the brink of an identity crisis, it might be useful to be open to more than one frame of mind before declaring the debate ended.

Posted by Debbye at 05:26 AM | Comments (11)

June 05, 2005

The Tipping Point, Part II

June 5 - Americans may well wonder that a blog titled The Monarchist has produced some of the most stirring and urgent writings on behalf of liberty in Canada that I've ever read.

(In truth, I wonder myself but I am also bemused by my own feelings for and loyalty to a Queen whose ancestor was utterly reviled by my ancestors so have just filed that contradiction away in the belief that insight will come in its own time.)

Walsingham wrote a follow-up to the widely acclaimed Tipping Point (which dispensed with any last beliefs that all Canadians are inherently passive) and in The Tipping Point - Part II, the basic framework of consensual government and how the federal government have broken that bond is reinforced:

Because the truth is this: in democratic government, process not only matters, it is central. It matters more than anything else; more than any specific outcome that it might produce. The true left should understand that it is not simply that a corrupted process that worked against the right - and the West, and Quebec - this time around; might well work against them the next time. They should understand that faith in a process that is open, fair and consistent - i.e., in a government that is representative and responsible - is the only thing, other than tyranny and coercion, which can hold a society together for any length of time. Free men will consent to submit their wills to those of others only when they believe that they do so as the outcome of a process in which they have been heard, on a fair and equal footing, along with all others; and - most critically - that that same process will turn their way, if and when they come to command majority support. Nothing will dissolve the bonds and restraints that make a democratic society function presuming, of course, that the society is composed of men and women who retain the capacity to be affronted by insult and injustice faster than the discovery, by any semi-defined and quasi-permanent constituency, that the process is rigged against them.
Americans should recognize that argument; it was our permanent disenfranchisement that lay at the heart of the War of Independence.

I have to go to work and wonder at my co-workers who are more afraid of Stephen Harper than those in government who have stripped them of their rights as free people.

Posted by Debbye at 09:15 PM | Comments (15)

What do you do when you wake up on Planet X?

June 5 - Answer: start a blog and call it Waking Up On Planet X!

As Candace explains, I fell asleep in a democracy ...

It is always cause to celebrate when insightful commenters choose to strike out on their own and start blogs, and given the political situation in Canada and the inclination of the media to elide (at best) or applaud (at worst) the brazen acts of this government, the voices of those who oppose the dismantling of democratic safeguards and the destruction of those institutions meant to separate partisan ends from the country's needs are the more urgently needed.

Welcome, Candace!

Posted by Debbye at 08:09 AM | Comments (2)

What do you do when you wake up on Planet X?

June 5 - Answer: start a blog and call it Waking Up On Planet X!

As Candace explains, I fell asleep in a democracy ...

It is always cause to celebrate when insightful commenters choose to strike out on their own and start blogs, and given the political situation in Canada and the inclination of the media to elide (at best) or applaud (at worst) the brazen acts of this government, the voices of those who oppose the dismantling of democratic safeguards and the destruction of those institutions meant to separate partisan ends from the country's needs are the more urgently needed.

Welcome, Candace!

Posted by Debbye at 08:09 AM | Comments (2)

Joseph Stephanides - fall guy?

June 5 - Fired U.N. Official Seen as Fall Guy. Ya think?

My mind is too full of similarities between Adscam and the OFF scandals to articulate them, and the involvement of Canadians Louise Frechette, Reid Morden and Maurice Strong bodes ill.

Now we can add another set-back to Canada's self-image as a caring society: Canada Free Press has an expose of yet another indication of the Strong family's hypocrisies, this time involving Oxfam, which uses Chinese slave labour to make their anti-povery wristbands.

Posted by Debbye at 03:01 AM | Comments (1)

June 04, 2005

Canadian Voices

June 4 - The Grewal tapes exposed something horribly wrong in this country. We've grieved and gotten angry, but that isn't enough.

There are some people out there determined to bring honour and integrity back to Canada, and a lot of them are at Harper Liberals .

Everyone has a different breaking point. These people have reached theirs.

Posted by Debbye at 01:41 PM | Comments (3)

June 03, 2005

What Martin has learned from this period

June 3 - This morning I read that the PM vows to clean up mess:

MONTREAL (CP) - The Liberal party's efforts to rebuild its electoral fortunes in Quebec were reinforced Thursday evening with Prime Minister Paul Martin vowing not to let those responsible for the sponsorship scandal ruin the party's reputation for
honesty? decency? integrity? open government? adherence to Western standards of democracy? No, something ever so much more important:
rehabilitating the country's finances.

"We, the Liberals, put our government finances in order," he told a party fundraiser where an estimated 1,200 supporters each paid $500 to dine on grilled salmon.

"And we didn't do it so that a group of people could tarnish the reputation of our party and cause people to lose confidence in our country's political class."

WTF? Canadian confidence in the political class relied on a balanced budget? Was that why money was stripped from the provinces and the health care system crashed? Or maybe why there was a $41 billion overcharge on the pension plan? Or why the gas surtax, which was supposed to go toward highway maintenance, didn't? How about the extra charges levied on VHS tapes to promote Canadian artists? Surcharge on airline tickets to cover increased security costs? Missing HRDC funds? Gun-freaking-registry?

It was all about the balanced budget! (Now there's a slogan you don't often see on a protest placard.)

The Martin Comedy Revue continues:

Martin, who said he understood the disappointment of Quebecers and Liberals caused by the scandal, vowed to subsequently introduce measures to prevent a repetition of such abuses.
Been there, heard that. Specifics?
"As prime minister, I will do everything in my power to ensure that your government deserves your respect."
Ah, you see, that's part of the problem: the Prime Minister's Office has too much power. How about returning power to the House of Commons where it, you know, actually belongs! No?
Transport Minister Jean Lapierre told the gathering that the event demonstrated that the Liberal party is financed openly and not behind closed doors.
How does a salmon dinner prove that? Because it isn't a golf tournament? I suppose it is nice to know they can organize fund-raising dinners without Joe Morselli or Jacques Corriveau, but can they run a campaign without "fake volunteers?"
"We have nothing to hide. Our books are open and our hands are clean," said Martin's Quebec lieutenant, who was joined at the event by cabinet ministers from across the country, including Conservative-turned-Liberal Belinda Stronach, who received a standing ovation.
I'm going to be sick. Back in a sec.
"Tonight is the beginning of the reconstruction of the Liberal party throughout Quebec. We will rebound in Quebec thanks to the unwavering integrity of our leader, Prime Minister Paul Martin," Lapierre said.
And rebound in Saskatchewan! and in Newfoundland! and in Alber ... (maybe not.) Is he actually channeling Howard Dean? That would be really icky.
Recent opinion polls suggest, however, that the party faces an uphill climb to regain public support in Martin's home province. The Bloc Quebecois has consistently received about 50 per cent of support in polls, suggesting it was headed to winning a record number of Quebec's 75 seats.
If Martin's "unwavering integrity" is the best they can offer then there will be no challenge to the Bloc, because opinion polls cast doubt that voters believe he posseses any integrity, wavering or otherwise.
The audience delighted in Martin's attack on Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe and Conservative Leader Stephen Harper for their "underhanded dealings" that he said are threatening the country's stability.
Clearly the crowd appreciated satire.
Martin said if Bloc MPs wanted to defend Quebec's interests, they would have supported the budget, which contains millions of dollars in annual spending for the province.
What is "bribe" in French? Never mind, the important thing is that Quebeckers recognized it as one and refused to be swayed by baubles and beads.
"Their objective is to destroy the country," the prime minister said. "And in that, they will never succeed."
Because the Liberals have that market cornered!
As for Harper, Martin questioned how the Tory leader can explain "his common agenda with the separatists."
You're losing 'em, dude. Everyone in the room knows why Harper and Duceppe joined forces: to get rid of you and your crooks. Try another tack.
Martin said the interests of Quebecers have been defended by Liberal MPs, senators and ministers who have spearheaded Canada's positions against participating in the U.S. anti-missile shield and in favour of ratifying the Kyoto protocol.
There you go: anti-Americanism plus "you're so progressive":
"Through its progressive ideals, its social values, and its innovative ways of doing things, Quebec plays a key role within Canada," he said.
So that's why the Liberal Party interfered with the political process in Quebec! They couldn't trust Quebeckers to, no, that doesn't track. Why did they interfere with the process in Quebec again?

The Canadian federal system is flexible and allows provincial experimentation and creativity, Martin added,
That's right, I had forgotten that the federal system is flexible (it's so flexible it can ignore non-conficence motions,) it experiments (it cheats,) it's creative (just check out the Adscam invoices! they even constructed a secret Olympic stadium in Rimouski!)
noting past efforts that produced pension plans and ongoing plans for early learning and child care.

Despite references to internal political battles, Martin spent much of his time outlining Liberal achievements over the past 12 years and the party's plans for the future.

As prime minister, Martin said he will follow his record as finance minister and not run deficits as have the other members of the G8.

"We have learned a very important lesson from this period. We can no longer allow the government to live beyond its means."

That is the very important lesson they have learned from this period: don't live beyond one's means.

To repeat: the Liberal minority government is embroiled in a Constitutional crisis, corruption scandals and may have been caught attempting to bribe an MP, and what did they learn? That the government cannot be allowed to live beyond its means.

PoliSci 101: the government has no means except that which it squeezes from us, the taxpayers, and given what has been promised to the provinces and the NDP, the ways in which this government can avoid a deficit are limited. They can raise taxes or renege on promises -- or both.

But the budget will be balanced. You have Martin's word on it because he knows what Canadians really want. Then all we private citizens have to do is learn to live within our (reduced) means.

Posted by Debbye at 09:22 AM | Comments (8)

June 02, 2005

The end of innocence

June 2 - There couldn't be a worse week to ramp up action at work!

The revelation as to the identity of "Deep Throat" has inadvertantly sharpened the differences between the scandals rocking Canada's Parliament right now and Watergate, and it isn't pretty.

The break-in at the Watergate Hotel eventually revealed illegal wiretaps on political activists, mail tampering, vandalising the Muskie and other campaigns, CIA activity on U.S. soil, and that U.S. presidents since Kennedy had habitually taped telephone conversations. Deplorable as those were, they were mostly acts of agencies that went beyond their mandates and, as a result of the hearings, they were curbed.

That is not what is being revealed in Canada. We should be so lucky up here for the scandals to be about agencies that went beyond their mandates - oh, for the good old days when the RCMP planted dynamite and burnt down barns!

The current scandals are all about personal gain - Adscam is about stealing money, plain and simple. The Liberals offering inducements to MPs to defect and/or abstain on the vote are the acts of a group of people who believe that others are as power-grubbing and mercenary as they are.

That is a poor reflection on Canadians, because the ease with which the Liberals and NDP were able to bribe the provinces and cities is itself an inditement.

When Inky Marks went public, it was pointed out that he had no proof. Grewal got that proof, and he is now being denounced for getting that proof.

It is hardly surprising that accusations of tape-tampering are being leveled, but to my mind the fact that Tim Murphy was in Grewal's office settles the matter: Grewal held the power, so Murphy went to him; Murphy could have walked out at any time; Murphy was in that office because Grewal had something Murphy wanted - a vote.

Had Grewal taped a conversation with a child pornographer in order to get evidence to take to the police he would be hailed as a hero. But he taped conversations that persuade that the worst fears about this government are true: that appointments are handed out as pay-offs - even important positions like Ambassadorships - and if competence is not even a consideration, it explains why government agencies up here are run so poorly. [Note I am not saying that Grewal is incompetent - only that they were going to offer him whatever he wanted, not what he was suited for.]

Watergate was a double-edged sword for Americans. The euphoria of being proven correct - that those funny sounds on our phones, late mail delivery, and strange looks at work were not all due to paranoia - was accompanied with sorrow, because our government had interfered with the right to organize legal, peaceful protests and thus our rights under the First Amendment.

That was the angst of Watergate - learning that being right brings its own costs.

The scandals rocking Canada are all about greed and the lust for power. Those who have long believed the Liberals are corrupt are being proven right, and we are finding it is not a cause to celebrate.

The part that is most perplexing is the failure of Ontarians - and the media - to realize that the Murphy scandal is far more serious than Adscam. The latter is about money, and greed is something we all encounter, but the former is maniuplating the powers of government, and that threatens far more than our pocketbooks.

If Canadians allow this to pass, then truly consensual government in Canada has gone from endangered species to extinction, and I doubt it can be revived by conventional means.

Posted by Debbye at 08:55 PM | Comments (6)

June 01, 2005

The Grewal tapes

June 1 - I've spent a greater portion of the day reading the Grewal tape transcripts and watching CPAC.

Between those and the new revelations as to the identity of Watergate's Deep Throat I am struck by the cosmic forces that have forced these two scandals to interweave in counterpoint.

Nixon's downfall was due to his attempts to protect his people; Martin is trying to do the same. The word "irony" springs to mind.

What can I possibly say? More importantly, what will Canadians say?

The transcripts of the Grewal tapes are in .pdf here, here, here, and here.)

June 3 - And the missing section here.

(Courtesy of Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:13 PM | Comments (9)

May 31, 2005

Question Period - May 30

May 31 - Nice, pointed Question Period in Parliament yesterday with especial note to the Spin Team the taxpayers provide for the Martin Libranos, courtesy of this post at Newsbeat1.

(Question: does anyone else have trouble loading the Parliament webpages? I'm not sure how I'd feel if it was just me ...)

Posted by Debbye at 11:10 AM | Comments (1)

Tape may show Martin knew about offer to Grewel

May 31 - This is all speculation just yet and, despite what we may want to believe, it is probably best to wait until the tapes are fully translated and made available to the public,. Nevertheless, this is intriguing: but according to CTV,

CTV News' Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife reports that the Prime Minister knew of the negotiations.

According to Fife, the full four hours of transcripts of Grewal's taped conversations with a top Martin aide and Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh show:

- Martin was ready to talk to Grewal about defecting like he did with Belinda Stronach
- Grewal was offered a government position two weeks after the vote

The transcripts could be released Tuesday. Conservative House Leader Jay Hill has said the party will be turning the tapes over to the RCMP soon.

The federal ethics commissioner Bernard Shapiro is also expected to announce Tuesday whether he will conduct an investigation into the alleged Liberal deal-making.

As Greg Weston notes in relations to the limited mandate of the Gomery Inquiry, the RCMP has also been compromised by Adscam: Of course, the Mounties themselves were up to their musical ride in almost $2 million of sponsorship cash, much of it hidden in a non-government bank account in Quebec. It is hard not to raise one's eyebrows that they would investigate a matter of political wrongdoing or bribery (although I think it's fair to say that most of us still respect the rank and file Mounties - it's their leaders that are suspect.)

Posted by Debbye at 08:08 AM | Comments (1)

Why didn't he just say no?

May 31 - Editorial in yesterday's Toronto Sun on MP Gurmant Grewel's allegations that the Liberals tried to induce him to abstain on the budget vote - Liberals protest too much - brings up the impropriety of their leaking to the media that Immigration Minister Joe Volpe had asked the RCMP to investigate allegations of wrongdoing by Grewal:

Grewal has denied this allegation and what's more, it was sleazy of the Liberals to smear him this way. This wasn't a case of revealing that Grewal had been charged with anything, merely that the government had requested the Mounties look into it.

Indeed, this incident has become yet another subject of controversy in this affair, with Grewal denying Liberal claims that he wanted the investigation dropped in return for abstaining on the non-confidence vote.

The tapes reveal Grewal and Murphy discussing Volpe's actions, although the Liberals insist this was only about the possibility of having Volpe say something positive about Grewal, to lessen the sting of the immigration controversy for him.

and asks the two most important questions
Even if that's true, if the Grits really believed Grewal had committed immigration improprieties, why did they talk to him at all in the first place? Why didn't they just say "no"?

Posted by Debbye at 06:47 AM | Comments (2)

May 30, 2005

No, they don't "all" do it

May 30 - Are you tired of people saying "they all do it" whenever you talk about corruption in government? Kate has a good reply and exposes the fallacy of that particular argument in They Are Not The Same:

... The argument that "all polititians are the same" is not only a falsehood - it is a falsehood with a hidden intent. Manufactured in an attempt to pull all those in the public service down to a lowest common denominator, it sustains the apologist's rationale to endorse "The Devil You Know". That particular devil just happens to be the soil in which corrupt governments take root.

Buying into the canard is not a product of cynicism, but an admission that one's own moral compass should be sent in for a rebuild. If we truly believes that "all politiicans are the same", then we must also concede that all citizens are "the same", held to no particular standard of honesty or integrity, and that with such low expectations of government, undeserving of better.

Indeed, and her points add dimension to another canard: People get the government they deserve. If Canadians Ontarians believe they deserve the Liberal Party then they have assuredly earned corruption.

Posted by Debbye at 11:30 AM | Comments (3)

May 29, 2005

The Librano family business

May 29 - Ben Macintyre writes tongue in cheek for the London Times on the Canadian-American and French-British rivalries in Everybody needs bad neighbours:

In our thoroughly globalised world, the US and Canada, France and Britain, cling anachronistically to their singular, ancient rivalries. Australia and New Zealand look further afield than each other for economic comparisons; Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan do not expend energy anxiously surveying their respective sex lives. But the English Channel and the US border with Canada remain the distorting, two-way mirrors through which these neighbours perceive themselves.
He emphasizes his point that the British-French rivalry is of the sibling order by a quote from columnist Claude Imbert in Le Point "To those French who still believe that Britain is a former Norman colony that went wrong ..." Ouch. We credit the Normans with doubling the English language and introducing chimneys but tend to believe the invaders were, in due time, anglicized, and can always view Shakespeare's account of the Battle of Agincourt in Henry V with some pride so long as we can gather our coats and file out of the theatre thus missing the final lines on the failure of the next generation to retain what Henry V won.

Americans and Canadians will, at the drop of a hat, bring up the War of 1812 and work backward to 1776 to present our list of grievances, but that list seems downright contemporary compared to two countries who can begin theirs in 1066.

Macintyre is looking at a bigger picture set in European terms and his conclusions are interesting but he doesn't address (or perhaps even know about) the impact of Adscam on Canadian thinking and sensibilities.

The family nature of U.S. and Canadian relations is one that we tend to rush past and it has been made easier by the wholesale re-write of history which de-emphasizes British rule and influence up here in order to side-step the end of French rule at the Plains of Abraham (Canada's Culloden, if you will) which brought a reluctant step-brother into the family.

The current scandel proves the point that we can re-write history but we can't undo it. Adscam is directly related to (if only because it formed the pretext for) anglo- and franco-Canadian relations, and many of us are re-examining our former attitudes to the cause of Quebec sovereignty and recognizing that the exposure of how basely that issue was manipulated by the Liberal Party in their pursuit of one-party rule justifies Quebec outrage and, further, may have irreparably damaged prospects for a truly united Canada.

The divide-and-conquer strategy of the Libranos is being exposed, and some are beginning to realize that the implications go far beyond Quebec and permeate the very weave of today's Canada.

Every time Bombardier is granted a contract there are grumblings in Ontario, but which profit most when the contracts are awarded to Quebec: Quebeckers or those who own Bombardier? It's past time to get deeply suspicious of the quasi-Socialist pretentions of the Libranos and look closer at who gains from these contracts. If it is done in the name of national, or family, unity, then why are the kids bickering?

Once the Libranos decided that they were the natural governing party of Canada and set about to do whatever they could to assert their rule they forgot the danger that the kids might get together and compare notes. Some are noticing that one family analogy which may fit is that of a parent who purposefully incites quarrels between the adult children in order keep them bitterly divided and, in the case of a wealthy family with sizeable assets, ensures they will continue to pander to the parent in order to get what they perceive to be their rightful shares.

But Quebec and the West have had enough and, within their own families, are seriously thinking of getting out of the family business and setting up their own. Ontario is the "good eldest child" -- compliant and obediently determined to uphold the patriarch's dominance (although it privately feels that it should get more for its loyalty than the parent is alloting) and is so invested in the family business that it tends to dismiss the mutterings of those who wonder if the price of unity is worth the cost of their dignity.

Like many parents, the Libranos shrug aside the signs of rebellion, thinking that "kids will be kids," and forgetting that the blind love of children for the parent is replaced by a more critical view once the kids grow up. Should the judgement be that the parental unit makes decisions more for its own benefit than that of the family as a whole then the justification for maintaining family unity is lost.

They played a good hand when they projected Paul Martin in the role of the sympathetic "other" parent and, by seeming to overthrew Chretien's iron rule, he gained some traction by apologizing to the kids for taking them and their contributions for granted and promising to address their concerns and to treat them with more respect, fix the democratic deficit, and distribute more of the profits from the family business.

But then the family quarrel was aired in the Commons, and the Libranos retained power by marrying both the NDP and Belinda Stronach and pre-emptively gave a larger share of the profits to the kids. Martin thus, to all appearances, retained control as this placated some of them, but there is a limit to how often that strategy can be successfully employed.

He will likely take the opportunity at the next family gathering (which would be the next election) to praise the children profusely and humbly, and this will work only to the extent that the kids are denied a thorough understanding of the business accounts for the family in part because foundations which receive federal money are not accountable for how they spend that money.

There is another who wishes to be made head of the family, and some of the siblings use their distrust or dislike of Harper as a pretext for their continued support for the Libranos, but I am genuinely perplexed that, by inference, Joe Clark is somehow be seen as more likeable and charismatic than Harper.

[In contrast, President Bush has many qualities I admire but even I wouldn't call him charismatic. My support for him stems from support for his policies, so his personal appeal is not even a factor. The same can be said for Australian PM Howard.]

I also fail to see how anyone can pretend that Paul Martin has personal appeal, and I am stunned that people still worry about the "hidden agenda" of the Conservative Party when, should the allegations at the Gomery Inquiry be proven, it would seem that it is the Libranos who had the hidden agenda and it was to enrich themselves and their friends at public expense rather than anything that resembled governance.

Oddly enough, it may be the experience of living under Liberal despotism that causes fears about the Conservatives; people may believe that the CPC is as capable of forcing unpopular legislation through Parliament as the Liberals.

I hope the Conservatives use the next period to craft and state their policies. Their failure to do so is probably due more to being a new party and needing to have those kind of discussions among their members but Eastern voters are not likely to buy another pig in a poke.

Canadians are facing a dilemma of another sort though when the media projects the value of personal appeal over policies. Is it possible to maintain illusions once the blinkers are off? The polls seem to say yes, and that is the challenge for both the Libranos and the opposition parties - everywhere except Quebec, that is. They, at least, had the grace to feel insulted by the bribery, and rightly wonder how much the rest of the family truly values them when the others don't share in that outrage.

And that's the real pity.

(Links via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:46 PM | Comments (6)

Noble Gestures

May 29 - Emergency at work - I was called in this evening* and just got home.

Maz2 and Tony kept the ball rolling these last few days (thanks!) and Andrew Coyne has a post has with a great title: It's a vast right-wing punditocracy! (of course it is) The post has some interesting links on the allegations that members of the Conservative Party were offered inducements to abstain or be absent for the Real and Official Non-Confidence Vote last week.

I particularly like the first one from the Vancouver Sun (link no good unless you have a subscription) in which Arthur Schafer, director of the Centre for Professional and Applied Ethics, scores a grand-slam by making what to my mind is the critical point about using patronage appointments as a form of bribery:

"In my view, the latter is every bit as serious as the former. Perhaps more serious, since the harm to Canada may last longer and be more serious than the 'mere' loss of public money."
Having an elected Senate would be my first choice for Parliamentary reform. Ya hear that, Belinda?

Mark the calandar on this: we learned that Man of Culture Jacques Corriveau is into making Noble Gestures which is why he put 4 volunteers for the Liberal Party on his payroll even though they did no work for him:

Corriveau said he hired Serge Gosselin at his firm Pluridesign in 1999 and paid him $55,000 -- half of that for Liberal-related work.

Pluridesign's financial statements show Corriveau put three other Liberal staffers on his payroll after the 1997 election, paying them $86,509 from 1998 to 2000.

He said he made the backdoor donations to the Grits at the request of ex-Quebec party head Michel Beliveau, adding he felt obliged to after billing $1 million for printing election signs.

I can see why he might feel indebted to the Liberal Party.

I am so very happy that the medical condition which had prevented him from recollecting certain things has improved and am hopeful he will be able to remember even more things.

*Make that yesterday evening, i.e, Saturday evening.

Posted by Debbye at 01:23 AM | Comments (4)

May 27, 2005

Poundmaker support (updated)

May 27 - Darcey has some updates on the Poundmaker protest: a press release from the Poundmaker Working Group and organizing a grocery run.

Ian Lance is making that grocery run Saturday (tomorrow) and is collecting funds through his Pay-Pal account.

Look, we've complained on this site (as well as others) as to how the outrage over corruption in Ottawa has been largely limited to sighs and laments, but members of the Poundmaker Working Group are not content to wring their hands and wish somebody (else) would do something about corruption in their own community -- they have engaged in an act of civil disobedience because, having already reached their tipping point, they have taken the initiative to push their point home.

Ian has issued a compelling call to support this action in Fighting Corruption Our Way. Is their struggle really that separate from what we've been so angry about? I don't think so.

May 29 - 2:36: Lance reports and writes of something fundamental that he found at the protest and in the Poundmaker Working Group. Great post.

Posted by Debbye at 01:58 PM | Comments (2)

May 25, 2005

PM's aide Gaetano Manganiello testifies before Gomery

May 25 - PMO staffer says sponsorship firm paid him $25,000 for Liberal work:

An aide in Prime Minister Paul Martin's office told the sponsorship inquiry Wednesday he was paid $28,000 under the table to work for the Liberals in the late 1990s.

Gaetano Manganiello, who is on a paid leave of absence from his job as a media officer in the PMO, said he worked off the books as a party logistics specialist in 1998 and 1999. He said the then-boss of the party's Quebec wing, Benoit Corbeil, approached him at the Montreal headquarters and said the party was in dire financial straights.

Corbeil said the party could no longer afford his salary but explained the Pluri Design graphic firm, owned by Jean Chretien's friend Jacques Corriveau, could step in to pay him, Manganiello testified.

"I was informed by Mr. Corbeil that Pluri Design would pay my salary but I would continue working at the Liberal party," Manganiello told the inquiry, saying he was on the firm's payroll for nine months.

"He (Corbeil) didn't tell me why, but in all fairness, I didn't ask why either."

Gomery's comments as to what has and has not been established about Brault's allegations of illegal contributions are also in the article.

(Via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:15 PM | Comments (0)

Even the NY Times ... oh, the infamy

May 25 - Master Meriadoc could lecture us well on the virtues of being unnoticed ... at least for a short period of time.

Was Canada Just Too Good to Be True?.

Actually, it's a pretty good article but either he doesn't know about or chooses to ignore some troubling questions about the procrastination of the Liberal Party in allowing the non-confidence vote or the thoughts in the minds of some Westeners and Quebeckers.

Or maybe he just hadn't read the opening paragraphs of this.

Or, more significantly, this Lorrie Goldstein column that takes a pretty close look at the Grewal-Murphy tape and Insta!Stronach Cabinet post.

May 29 - Today's editorial in the Toronto Sun, Can't we take a little criticism? says that Canadians should be thanking Krauss; it seems that Clifford Krauss has been slammed for his article in the NY Times for puncturing some of Canada's illusions about itself.

We hope Clifford Krauss is reading this, because after the week he's had, he deserves a thank-you.

The New York Times' Canadian correspondent filed a stinging dispatch from Toronto last week that predictably riled many Canucks -- because, we submit, it was true.

I must read the wrong papers, because I didn't know there was hostility to the article. But still, the NY Times has had a few articles about Canada since the publication ban on Jean Brault testimony was lifted that focused on Adscam and the Liberal Party's manipulations to stay in power, and I am somewhat surprised that the latest item from Krauss was received with more outrage up here than his previous report (noted here) and the op-ed by Canadian David Frum which appeared in the NY Times (and noted in the same link) which were far more critical by what they implied.

Posted by Debbye at 11:35 AM | Comments (8)

You go girl!

May 25 - I've had some things on my mind today, like the dissolution of Confederation and moronic pilots, so I needed a really good laugh.

Ask, and it shall be given: Parrish ponders return to Liberal party:

Independent MP Carolyn Parrish says Prime Minister Paul Martin has left the door open for her to return to the Liberal fold.

The Toronto Star reports that the suggestion came from the prime minister himself last Thursday, after she voted in favour of passing the government's budget in a crucial confidence vote.

"He gave me a big hug and a kiss," Parrish told the Star.

She says a colleague asked if it wasn't time for Parrish to return to caucus, and Martin said: "Whenever, you're ready," according to Parrish.

Do you think I could find anyone to take my bet? Not a one. My life sucks.

(Via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:12 AM | Comments (3)

The Spirit of '05

May 24 - 11:29: The spirit of Tom Paine is alive and well in Canada. Walsingham has written forcefully and eloquently that The Tipping Point has been reached in Canada and concluded that the only option remaining is to dissolve this confederation.

Will a spirit of 05 now arise here? I believe it is already stirring. The Liberals, with much of Ontario in dumb connivance, have sown the seeds. They do not understand what they have set irretrievably in motion. It is far beyond their sphere of recognition to see that far from saving Canada, they have destroyed it. A Canada worth preserving might just have been revived had this government fallen. But the very factors and forces that prevented that fall have now pointed the future in a very different direction. And I say: so be it. The chasm has been crossed. The tipping point has been reached.
There is more, so very much more, so read the whole thing as well as the comments.

"The Tipping Point" may well take its rightful place beside the pamphlet "Common Sense" and ought to be spread from browser to browser by all who believe in liberty.

(Via Keith, who adds some thoughts in his post.)

May 25 - 7:55 - Despite the bravado in my posted words above, I still feel as though I am in mourning. I felt this way once before: on Sept. 11 (it's an American-sourced feeling.) The logic of Walsingham's post is inescapable, though, and I am somewhat comforted by these words from Occam's Carbuncle if only because he too sees the abyss:

There comes a time, however, when you realize that the apparent complexities of life, while important to our understanding of events, are not what should ultimately speak to us, are not matters upon which to base our fundamental ideas about right and wrong, about what is good or ill for ourselves and our society. The simplest of notions, ones like liberty, democracy, pride, dignity, loyalty, are the ones that must shape our actions. It is precisely these simple ideas that increasingly become meaningless as this party and that interest work to obscure them to their own profit. Are we utterly lost, as Walsingham suggests? Is this the time when Canada, like a reluctant phoenix, immolates itself, and we are left to await whatever incarnation may rise from the ashes? I can't bring myself to say yes. I've urged others to say no. I want to say no. I can't say that either. If you think this is all rather silly and overwrought, then I am sorry for you. Things matter, or they do not.
I found myself humming The Maple Leaf Forever! at work this morning. I'm not sure I want to examine that too closely.

Oh Canada, how much I grieve for thee.

I'm bumping this post up. Walsingham must be read (and Maz2's comment.) I'm even adding a quote of my own:

These are the times that try men's souls. (It's a quote and I refuse to de-gender it.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:55 AM | Comments (2)

May 24, 2005

Kroll Report

May 24 - The Kroll Report (from the Adscam auditors) can be viewed here.

May 25 - 06:50 - There's a discussion about the future of the Maritime provinces should confederation collapse in the comments well worth reading. Feel free to join in.

Posted by Debbye at 06:31 PM | Comments (7)

Crunching some Adscam numbers

May 24 - Angry in the Great White North has a breakdown of some of the numbers that came out of today's session of the Gomery Inquiry and has a Sample of how the government manages our money:

Out of a total of $46.32 million:
$460,000, or 1%, went to sponsorship
$8.34 million, or 18%, went to actual work done
$26 million, or 56%, went to "unrelated or unknown parties"
$11.52 million, or 25%, was unspent or the invoices were not found

"Not found." Went to "unrelated or unknown parties."

I have no words.

Posted by Debbye at 06:21 PM | Comments (2)

Poundmaker Protest Update

May 24 - From Darcey of Dust My Broom with an update on the the protest by the Poundmaker Working Group who are remaining in the offices of Chief Ted Antoine and the Council until new elections are called. Also he's got more background here and a request for support here which asks for letters of support, supplies and phone cards.

If you're not aware of what has been happening, you can read all Darcey's posts on the Poundmaker protest by going here and scrolling down.

Maybe you think it's none of our business? Publius puts it well: "Functioning along roughly the same mental lines that allowed generations of wife beaters to remain protected under the guise "family unity," so the new imperialists have been allowed to get away with their crimes." (Read the post.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:40 PM | Comments (2)

Now on CPAC - Gomery Inquiry (updating)

May 24 - The session of the Gomery Inquiry currently being aired on CPAC is (at least partially - it's not over yet) in English ... transcript should be available tonight here.

From Newsbeat 1:

Sponsorship loss may be an additional $100 million (CTV says it would now total $355 million)

Groupaction Marketing, which allegedly funded the federal Liberals under the table for years, issued $406,000 in cheques that could have been converted to cash, says a report tabled at the Gomery inquiry Tuesday and,

Kroll also attached a dollar figure to all contributions to the Liberals - registered and unregistered - heard during testimony at the inquiry.

The auditors said $768,000 was donated above board to the party and added, "if the amounts identified by Mr. Brault as payments for a political purpose are included, this amount rises to $2.5 million."

[...]

Documents previously tabled at the inquiry indicate Brault paid the $430,000 to the Pluri Design firm owned by graphic designer Jacques Corriveau, a friend of former prime minister Jean Chretien. Brault has said Corriveau told him the money was destined for the Liberals.

Kroll, while not backing the claim, said "the available documentation does not indicate what services, if any, were provided by PluriDesign to Groupaction for the $430,370 it received."

The auditors said they requested Corriveau's bank statements from 1994 to 1999, along with other financial data, but that the information was "not available for our review."

Coffin may plead guilty.

Gagliano loses suit - Gomery stays. As for Chretien,

If Chretien wins a favourable court ruling, it could block Gomery from delivering two reports planned for the end of the year.
And the elections Martin promised were for after the report was issued.

During the break, you might want to read today's editorial in the Toronto Sun.

Unrelated to Adscam but good nonetheless, Paul Jackson gives some good advice to the "spoiled brats of the entertainment world."

15:55 - Session is back on.

Posted by Debbye at 02:02 PM | Comments (0)

More on the Royal Commonwealth Society of Toronto

May 24 - If you read Bill Strong's post on the Royal Commonwealth Society of Toronto yesterday you might want to make a return visit. Looks as though whoever is behind bloc-Harper.com might be trying to cover some tracks ... lucky thing Kate grabbed a screenshot yesterday.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Private gripe: deleted. I just won't sleep. Ever.

16:45 Neale News is linking to Bill's site and has before and after screenshots of the Whois page for blocharper.com. The first shows the Royal Commonwealth Society of Toronto Foundation as owners of the blocharper.com domain name, and the second shows the Freedom International Association as the owner. Both versions have the same Newmarket address, phone and fax numbers and show Sinclair Stevens as the webmaster and technical contact but the second has different email addresses for him.

Bill has a new post up here.

I don't know that anything illegal is going on, but the overnight change of who is listed as owning the domain name seems to imply that somebody else thinks it is, to say the least, indiscreet for the Royal Commonwealth Society of Toronto Foundation to own a domain name which makes clear it's intention to remove the leader of the Official - and Loyal - Opposition.

This is the website for Freedom International (link from the post on this issue at Colbert's Comments.)

Posted by Debbye at 01:44 PM | Comments (3)

Tax-payers foot bill for Liberals (again)

May 24 - The weight of the Liberal Party's notion of how to best protect their own interests good governance daily becomes more unbearable. The latest: Taxpayers foot $1M bill for Liberals' sponsorship 'war room' for a secret team that monitors the Gomery Inquiry and preps the Prime Minister for questions that might be raised in the House of Commons:

Documents obtained by the Citizen through the Access to Information Act reveal that the rapid-response war room, which is in almost daily contact with the Prime Minister's Office and the government's top bureaucrat, Alex Himelfarb, operates out of the Privy Council Office.

The cost of the strategic office, which does everything from preparing answers for question period in the House of Commons to keeping the Prime Minister's Office abreast of testimony at the inquiry, covers the salaries of staff and expenses.

The war room and its cost came to light on the heels of last week's complaints from Justice John Gomery about officials exaggerating the cost of his inquiry.

Officials at the commission looking into the sponsorship scandal say the total cost of the actual inquiry will come in under $32 million. Judge Gomery said government officials have "leaked" to the media that it is costing departments another $40 million to cover costs at four key departments, including the Privy Council Office. "It's an exaggeration and it's twisting reality," Judge Gomery said last week.

Revelations from the inquiry, which is digging into the $250-million sponsorship scheme, forced the Liberals to set aside $750,000 in a trust fund to pay back money improperly obtained by the party.

One memo to Mr. Himelfarb indicates the strategy office was set up almost immediately after the Martin government launched the inquiry in February 2004 upon the release of Auditor General Sheila Fraser's damning report on the sponsorship program.

Dated Feb. 18, 2004, the memo describes "the intergovernmental co-ordination group" being set up in the PCO, the nerve centre of the federal government, under the proposed direction of bureaucrat Guy McKenzie. However, the summary and attachments are mostly blanked out, under section 23 of the Access to Information Act, due to "solicitor/client privilege."

The office's operating budget now totals $1,068,000 after its first-year budget of $534,000 in 2004-05 was renewed for a second year, according to Hali Gernon of the PCO.

Remember when I expressed some sympathy for why the Conservative Party might not want to release the Grewal-Murphy tape to the RCMP? Read this next bit:
Ms. Gernon said the office has a small staff of about "four or five" employees and since June 2004 has been under the direction of lawyer Ursula Menke, the former deputy commissioner of the Canadian Coast Guard and inspector general of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The team will continue to operate until the Inquiry concludes and "until the end of the fiscal year to allow any required followup to the inquiry."
Judge Gomery has made it clear he doesn't appreciate the Martin government adding its hidden costs to his overall budget. In an exchange with an ad executive, the judge said: "What they did was ... put together the fees of everyone in the Justice Department that worked on the file, the photocopies they made at the PCO and God knows what other expenses that were totally beyond the commission's control."
Bookkeeping, Librano style. Judge Gomery knows it well.


Posted by Debbye at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)

They'd rather switch and fight

May 24 - Their numbers are growing: Harper liberals

(Thanks, maz2.)

Oh, and bonus points for those who get the reference in the post title.)

Posted by Debbye at 08:27 AM | Comments (5)

The perseverence of Stephan Hachemi

kazemi_zahra030709.jpg
Zahra Kazemi

May 24 - The fruitlessness of soft power has come to be symbolized by one outstanding example: the failure to achieve justice for Montreal photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, who was murdered on or about July 11, 2003, in an Iranian prison for the unspeakable crime of photographing a vigil outside Evin Prison - the very prison in which she would later be tortured and killed.

Those of us who recognized immediately that Kazemi's death was linked to the struggle for democracy in Iran hoped - briefly - that the Canadian government would, by pressing Iran for answers to Kazemi's death, be able to assist their struggle. We were disappointed, because the Canadian government seemed to do more to protect the Iranian mullocracy than a Canadian citizen.

Their calumny was further revealed by later reports that she was defiant in prison and was subjected to unspeakable torture, but we did not get this information from the government which should have pressed the investigation but from British, American and Canadian news sources.

The lethargic response by the Canadian government, first by accepting the dubious explanation of the Iranian government and then by dithering, delaying, and finally mildly protesting was sharply challenged by the news media in Canada, which did not allow the story to die, and by Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi.

Coincidentally, 2 months after Jean Chretien stepped down as PM Khazakhstan News reported that he had been named special adviser to the board of directors of Calgary-based PetroKazakhstan, and the same item mentions a lucrative swap arrangement with Iranian oil refineries (read relevant excerpts here.)

Kazemi's son wrote a scathing letter to the National Post which can be read here.

And then there is this: The Canadian ambassador to Iran has been recalled twice as a response to Iran's failure to achieve justice for Kazemi, but relations with Iran are not only friendly but downright cozy - so cozy that the Canadian government planned to give an official from Iran - a known state sponsor of terror and a member of the Axis of Evil - a look at the workings of the Advance Passenger Information database in August, 2003, little over a month since Kazemi's death had been confirmed as due to torture (more information under extended entry.) (Link from lfg.)

Stephan Hachemi has been steadfast in his quest to achieve justice for his mother and again renewed his call for Canada to take action against Iran.

Canada's record is dismal, though. Thus far it is Iran 5, Canada 0.

CBC has provided their timeline, and I have a slightly different (and admittedly incomplete) one in the extended entry.

Tracking the Kazemi case:

Students in Iran held pro-democracy demonstrations on June 10, 2003, and for the following nine nights. The demonstrations were broken up by thugs on motorcycles wielding clubs and chains and it was estimated that over 4,000 people had been arrested. Canadian citizen and photojournalist Zahra Kazemi was arrested on or about June 24 for photographing people holding a vigil outside Evin prison where the demonstrators and student leaders were being held.

According to an eyewitness, she was defiant in prison:

When Ms Kazemi was first challenged, she was told to leave her camera and collect it the following day. She refused, ripping out the film to expose the frames. Her defiance ensured she was kept in prison.

"She was confronted by the authorities and asked to give the camera and the film," said Hamid Mojtahedi, a Canadian human rights lawyer with access to officials involved in Ms Kazemi's case. "She resisted."

According to the same eyewitness, she was still conscious when she was taken to the hospitalon or about June 27 but was not given medical treatment for 12 hours during which she lapsed into a coma. The official story was that she lost consciousness in the prison and was finally admitted to a hospital. Despite repeated requests by her son, Stephan Hachemi, and the Canadian government, Kazemi's body was not returned to Canada for autopsy and burial.

Bill Graham, then Minister of Foreign Affairs, was vacationing in Corsica at the time and in public statements at the time, seemingly accepted without question the Iranian official version that she fell, hit her head, and went into a coma.

The CBC was unrelenting in keeping the story going and urging further investigation into Kazemi's death. They ran a story on July 16, 2003, Iran admits beating killed Kazemi with an odd lead paragraph:

Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi died of a fractured skull, but it may have been an accident, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said.

Graham said he learned about her death in "an open and frank exchange" on the phone with Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, on Wednesday.

[...]

Mohammad Ali Abtahi, Iran's vice-president, admitted Wednesday that Kazemi died as a result of being beaten.

But Graham said Foreign Minister Kharrazi told him that "she might have fallen or had an accident." He said that until it's known what happened, it's not possible to say what caused it.

Graham, speaking from France where he is on vacation, said the minister assured him that the perpetrators, if any, would be prosecuted.

Graham said Canada must be satisfied that the Iranian investigation is open and transparent.

"If crimes have been committed, we're pushing the Iranian government to punish those who committed the crime," Prime Minister Jean Chrtien said earlier Wednesday. But "we have to know all the facts" before acting, he added.

The CBC article deserves to be read in full to get the full sense of how unwilling the Canadian government was annoy Iran.

Yet according to a Globe and Mail April 1, 2005, article,

[Current Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre] Mr. Pettigrew added that Canada has known from the outset that Ms. Kazemi was murdered. "We do not accept the Iranian government's allegations that this was an accident. We never have."
On July 20, 2003, Kazemi's son, Stephan Haremi, continued to press for the return of Kazemi's body to Canada for an autopsy and burial and expressed his frustration at the passive behaviour of the Canadian government.

Reporters Without Borders joined the fight, as did Amnesty International. Yet the Canadian government refused to use the combined weight of these organizations to push for an immediate disclosure of the truth.

On July 22, 2003, the Canadian government "asked" that an inquiry be held into Kazemi's death.

July 23, Reporters Without Borders urged the Canadian government to take the initiative and cites other abuses of journalists in Iran and, on July 25, called upon the EU to break with Iran until officials responsible for Zahra Kazemi's death had been brought to trial.

Then, on July 27, it was reported that 5 people had been detained in connection with the death. Hachemi proposed the case taken before the ICC and dismissed the arrests as a "diversion" to throw the Canadian government off track." The day after Hachemi's call was made public, Graham suddenly seemed to understand what the case was all about:

"We wish to use the case both to open further democracy in Iran and also the protection of journalists," said Graham, whose son Patrick spent time in Iraq covering the war. But Graham has yet to speak with the Iranian foreign minister or confirm the reports surrounding the arrest of five security officials.
Only two persons were being detained in Kazemi's death. Then, for no apparent reason, Iran threatened to exclude Canada from the investigation altogether. (As the quote in the post notes, Canadian media suddenly became aware there was a power struggle between the mullahs and the reformists.)

Sept. 2, Canada asked the U.N. Human Rights Commission to take the Kazemi case after the charges against the two interogators were dropped.

On mid-September, a coalition including Stephan Hachemi made a series of proposals including turning the Kazemi case over to the U.N. Human Rights Commission.

On Sept. 22, an intelligent agent was charged with the "semi-premeditated" murder of Kazemi.

On Sept. 30, the Canadian ambassador to Iran was set to return.

Oct. 2, MPs voted unanimously for Kazemi's body to be returned.

Oct. 8, the accused enters a not guilty plea.

By Oct. 29, the investigation in Iran was bogged down with accusations and counter-accusations.

Dec, 2003, Chretien leaves government, travels to China, joins PetroKazakhstan, which develops close relations with Tehran and China.

Jan. 8, 2004, PBS Frontline aired a story about Iran and included the Kazemi case in their investigations.

Feb., 2004, Chretien's ties to PetroKazakhstan and the Iranian oil deal is made public.

June 8, 2004, Stephan Hachemi bitterly thanks Chretien for all he did to bring Kazemi's killers to justice, citing Chretien's connection to PetroKazakhstan and upcoming visit to Iran.

July 18, the Canadian ambassador to Iran was recalled when the court for the Kazemi trial banned foreign observers. Shortly afterward, the proceedings ended with no information as to when they would resume.

Nov. 25, 2004, Canada announced it was "mending" relationships with Iran. According to the Globe and Mail article (cited below) the government first learned of the medical testimony that month.

The Mar 31, 2005, Globe and Mail quotes Zahra Kazemi's attending physician who describes her injuries:

In Ottawa yesterday, Dr. Shahram Azam a former physician with the Iranian security police who last month received asylum in Canada spoke in great detail about the gruesome injuries to which Ms. Kazemi eventually succumbed in July of 2003.

She had a badly broken nose, a smashed eardrum, broken fingers, a crushed toe, missing fingernails and toenails, a severe head injury, signs of flogging, and deep bruising all over her body, he said.

An examination by an emergency-room nurse revealed "brutal" damage to Ms. Kazemi's genital area, which the nurse said could only have been the result of violent rape. "Those injuries, extensive and severe as they were, could only have been sustained during torture, Dr. Azam said. "It was the first time I saw someone who was tortured," he said in Farsi, speaking softly but confidently. "It was shocking for me."

Dr. Azam's testimony is the first account by a medical witness that categorically contradicts the official Iranian explanation for Ms. Kazemi's death, which is that she died after fainting and hitting her head.

This is the same article in which Pettigrew asserts that they always knew Kazemi was murdered. (Link via excellent post at Let it Bleed.)

The Canadian ambassador to Iran has been recalled twice as a response to Iran's failure to achieve justice for Kazemi, but relations with Iran were not only friendly but downright cozy - so cozy that the Canadian government planned to give an official from Iran - a known state sponsor of terror and a member of the Axis of Evil - a look at the workings of the Advance Passenger Information database in August, 2003, little over a month since Kazemi's death had been confirmed as due to torture. (link from lfg.)

The Canadian government understood fully how outraged the public would have been:

Iran had requested that one of its officials, Seyed Abu Talib Najafi, be briefed on the workings of Canada's new Advance Passenger Information database, designed to identify potential threats to civil aircraft before they board.

According to e-mails obtained under the Access to Information Act, Customs officials were concerned about the visit becoming public. One e-mail said: "We should keep this as low-key as possible."

Two e-mails within Canada Customs suggested there were concerns: "What's our position about the requesting country? ... in view of the current situation with Iran."

Just eight days previously, the Department of Foreign Affairs had recalled Canada's ambassador to Iran because it had refused Canadian inquiries about the Zahra Kazemi case. Kazemi, a Montreal-based photojournalist, was beaten to death after being arrested for photographing a Tehran prison riot. Iran maintains her death was accidental.

Foreign Affairs told Customs officials its only concern was "whether [Najafi] will be able to get his visa in time."

In dozens of e-mails, there is no mention of Kazemi, and no one questions why Canada would help Iran, considered by some to be a brutal police state. As well, no one asks why a government with a known track record of sponsoring terrorist attacks might want information about a new passenger security screening procedure.

With just days to go before the visit, a flurry of e-mails reveals that there were last-minute concerns about Najafi's identity. Canada believed his first name was Nasser only after he landed in Canada did they learn his actual name.

And in an e-mail sent after Najafi was already en route to Canada, Chrystiane Roy, Iran desk officer at Foreign Affairs, informed Customs that if Najafi already had a visa, "it would be too late to do any screening."

In the end, it was only the huge North American blackout of Aug. 14, 2003 that prevented the briefing session.

One might say the fortuitous black-out, although whther by divine intervention, Rovian/CIA/FBI nefarious doings or plain old good luck is up to you (although I'd ask you at least consider that the CIA/FBI might have done it - they could use a successful operation, deserved or no, to balance their blotted copybooks!)

The article concludes with another alarming note:

Instead, Rachelle May, now acting director general of the Canada Border Services Agency, took Najafi across the street for a coffee. In a report sent afterwards to Foreign Affairs, she writes, "He showed interest in Advanced Passenger Information." (Emphasis added)
It is ironic that on the same day that the publications ban on the Gomery Inquiry is being attacked that there needs to be an acknowledgement that it was in fact the CBC that kept the Kazemi story in the fore even as the Canadian government was downplaying it.


Those responsible for Kazhra Kazemi's death have never been brought to justice.

16:06 - Pieter has a round-up as well, and I should note that one blogger who played a major role in trying to stir some government action, Paul, moved sites in the meantime so the urls I used in linking his site have changed - thus the incomplete record of the early days. His posts are in at his new site in his July, 2003, archives but I didn't have time to weed them out. It was Paul, by the way, who coined "Screeching Bill Graham" in honour of the miserable role that wanker played in trying to downplay Kazemi's death.

Posted by Debbye at 04:38 AM | Comments (2)

May 23, 2005

Grewal-Murphy (Updated)

May 23 - Oh course there's more about the attempt to bribe Grewal (Grewal says he wanted to show Grits were dirty) and the contention that Grewal sought the bribe (Grewal wouldn't take no for an answer in today's news.

I tend to deal with unwanted advances from persistent types a bit more decisively than Chief-of-staff Tim Murphy and Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh: I refuse to meet with them or talk to them. Nothing says "No" like, well, "No!"

Having beer and pizza together says "Maybe," not "No" (but then I haven't dated in over 30 years, so maybe the rules have changed.)

I've lost track a bit: exactly where did the conversation(s) between Grewal and Murphy take place? I seem to remember that it was in Grewal's office, but can't find confirmation.

The refusal to release the tape raises some awkward questions; now, I can understand why there might be some hesitancy to turn the tape over to the RCMP (that's surely the saddest thing I ever wrote) but I should think it would be appropriate to turn over a copy of that tape or even (heh!) release it on the internet.

(Links via Neale News.)

13:08 - Keith has confirmed that eight minutes of the tape are available here for those who wish to hear the portion for themselves. [Note: every time I've tried to access it my computer crashes and thus I can't vouch for it personally but there are some, like Andrew Coyne and Keith, with whom I am more than willing to to on faith.]

Keith raises some interesting questions here about Grewal and a possible Liberian connection, and yes, I think it best if we simply go after the truth.

17:28 The Globe and Mail is also urging the tapes be released, and Kate has an interesting conjecture here as to why letting them dribble out slowly is a good strategy.

Posted by Debbye at 11:30 AM | Comments (13)

Andrew Coyne speaks

May 23 - In case anyone hasn't checked his website, Coyne has a new post up which links to the Toronto Star's Graham Fraser on the Grewal-Murphy tape and notes Funny, that's just what I said.

Posted by Debbye at 09:03 AM | Comments (1)

Poundmaker protest

May 23 - One of the stories I intended to cover until the Coyne situation threw me off-stride was the Poundmaker First Nation Working Group protest that Darcey of Dust My Broom has been covering here with follow-ups here and here.

Encapsulated, members of the Cree Nation are taking action against corruption, and the shame of it is that

a) they have a lot more guts than we do, and
b) we are too intimidated by the "hands off criticizing the leaders of the victimized segments of society" meme that has allowed corruption to flourish when we should be supporting those who demand clean government and are willing to fight for it.

We didn't have a problem criticizing corruption in the Ukraine, but this is in our own backyard and we suddenly are too polite?

Read the posts and spread the word. The issues raised by this latest incidence of corruption hits too close to home to go all squeamish.

Posted by Debbye at 07:07 AM | Comments (2)

An open letter to the subjects of Canada

May23 - Crabby mrbill is issuing a challenge (and he has the creds to do so): An open letter to the subjects of Canada:

Our freedoms are being taken away from us, and like sheep, we don't say anything and go merrily on our way. Big brother is taking care of us, or we do say something, and it is on our blogs, and we visit other blogs and leave comments to say we have been there and we agree with what we have read, and then we go back to our blogs and link to what we have just read with a new post, and so it goes, round and round, and all the while, our leaders just continue doing what they want.

Ask yourself, and be honest with your answers.

Some of the questions are ones that can make us squirm and, darnit, he's right.

Posted by Debbye at 03:32 AM | Comments (1)

May 22, 2005

AC under threat? UPDATED - YES! (but he has surfaced)

May 22 -

04:20 - Commenter Candace left a note that comments at Andrew Coyne's blog are gone - and I mean all of them seemingly on all posts, past and current.

I'm trying to find out if there is some innocuous explanation, like band-width or something, or if something more disturbing is going on.

I just woke up and thus am in an ultra state of not knowing here ... let me know in the comments if you know anything.

Andrew Coyne's blog has been, arghh, I'm not sufficiently awake to express how important the comment section has been for us but then I don't really have to explain to those those of you who hang there.

Candace, thanks.

04:31 - Wow, AC is being sued by Tim Murphy, Paul Martin's chief of staff? Robot Guy, aka Ed Minchau, has a lengthy post here. (7:09 - Note: you may have to hit refresh a few times or go to the home url. Darned blogger.)

Candace is right: this is an assault on freedom of the press. According to this in the Globe and Mail,

"Mr. Murphy has retained legal counsel and will be pursuing a libel action against Andrew Coyne of the National Post, and is also considering a potential claim against Gilles Duceppe."
05:55 - Pursing leads from the comments at sda, I too am asking "What Clark commentary?" [13:46 - Scratch that request. I learned the cleaned-up version and it's not worth learning more although it was instrumental to AC's decision to suspend comments.]

I'm leaving this post on top until I find out what's going on.

9:07 - Bruce is also on the case (see post right under this one here - it too has a later time on it which will keep it below this one throughout the day) and it appears some some comments under some posts at AC's site are now readable.

10:26 Commenter maz2 reminded me of a previous incident in which the Canadian government interfered in blogs (the attempt to close down Paul Martin Times) and I remembered another one: the heavy-handed treatment of BlogsCanada by the Canadian government.

I've been asked before why there are no Milblogs in Canada. Is the answer staring us in the face?

12:30 A wise man just reminded me that words like "alleged," "it appears that" and "there might be" are our best friends these days.

12:41 - Coyne speaks! It appears he doesn't yet realize how worried we all were.

Those nine days of infamy really have destroyed my beliefs about Canada. I'm going to spend the next few minutes breathing again and contemplate how easy it was for me to assume the worst.

17:47 - From this May 20 post at The Raging Ranter, Mike Duffy of CTV's Countdown reported that "Murphy wants to sue Andrew Coyne for printing transcripts of the taped conversation in which he was attempting to bribe MP Gurmalt Grewal." (The quote is from the post, not from Duffy.) The post pre-dates the Globe report of May 21 that states that Murphy has retained council etc. (see excerpt above.) (Link via London Fog.)

I don't get it; AC's post on his site linked to the Globe and Mail for the transcript here and that article is dated May 20, 1:02 a.m.

This is making less and less sense. Kate isn't the only person wondering what in in the column Bruce and I published could possibly be considered actionable.

I am becoming more and more convinced that we are dealing with a case of intimidation by the government, not libel by Coyne.

May 23 - 12:15 - Some welcome support from Pixy Misa in Australia: First they came for the bloggers.

Posted by Debbye at 08:20 PM | Comments (37)

Dissent being stifled (cont.)

There is cause to believe that a recent column of Andrew Coyne's is what some find objectionable. If a journalist posing questions about a government official's assertions is cause for a libel suit then we are all in trouble.

This is Part 2 of that column, continued from Bruce's post and explanation here.

The Prime Minister's people do not deny that Mr. Murphy met with Mr. Grewal, or that it is his voice on the tape. Their defence is that it was Mr. Grewal who first approached them, and not the reverse. Oh, and that there was no deal. But how does it matter who first approached whom, so long as the the two ended up in the same room? And if there was no deal, why so much artful talking around it? How long does it take to say "No"?

What's clear, moreover, is that this was hardly an isolated event: Mr. Murphy speaks of similar discussions with several other Conservative MPs. And we know of one, in particular, with whom the discussions proved notably fruitful. Offering a Cabinet post to Belinda Stronach to induce her to vote with the government would not ordinarily be illegal, though it is certainly unethical -- and arguably unconstitutional, given the government's tenuous position in the House. But offering positions outside the House -- a Senate seat, a diplomatic posting -- as an inducement to someone to vote a certain way, or not vote a certain way, would plainly be against the law.

At the least, it would be conduct unbecoming a member of the Law Society of Upper Canada.

"A person can say, 'Look, I obviously abstained and created some issues' and then they can say, 'I'm thinking hard about what the right thing for my riding and the contribution I would like to make.'"
All of which is only the squalid terminus of a weeks-long effort at self-preservation the likes of which this country has never seen: from rewriting the budget three times in the space of a fortnight, to tossing billions of dollars at every passing province, to refusing to seek the immediate confidence of the House after last week's defeat, as precedent and convention require: the precedent and convention on which our Constitution vitally depends.

The Liberals have caused incalculable damage in the course of this scorched-earth campaign: to the treasury, to constitutional government, to our political culture. And, as it happens, to their own political fortunes, in the longer run. Before all this began, the Prime Minister remained a sympathetic figure to much of the public: the worst people said of him was that he was not cut out for politics.

No one would say that now. In recent polls, upwards of 60% of the public have said they believe Mr. Martin knew more about the sponsorship scandal than he has let on, that he would lie for political gain, and so on.

They may have won the day, but they have done so at the expense of severely tarnishing their "brand" -- that is, not just as Liberals, but as the Liberals who aren't those other Liberals, whose reputation is beyond repair.

They may come to regret this victory before long.

"In advance of that explicit discussions about Senate, not Senate I don't think are very helpful and I don't think can be had in advance of an abstention tomorrow."

"You can easily say, if you don't like, you can stay home or stay back where you are or if you do like we can make an arrangement that allows you to move."

"It's much like Belinda, where there is a third party who is independent of both sides. So you didn't approach. We didn't approach...."

To re-affirm Bruce's pledge, this will be taken down if Andrew so requests.

For a refresher course on this controversy, read Andrew's posts here and here.

13:41 - Coyne speaks! It appears he doesn't yet realize how worried we all were. He explains why he dropped comments but that doesn't actually concern this post except inasmuch as it was their suspension that led to learning about the threatened legal action.

Posted by Debbye at 07:12 PM | Comments (7)

Amnesty Int'l "adopts" deserter

May 22 - I'm too tired and cranky to write reasonably about this so I'll let it speak for itself: Amnesty International says U.S. war dodger would be prisoner of conscience

TORONTO (CP) - Prominent human-rights group Amnesty International has declared that it will adopt a young American war dodger as a "prisoner of conscience" if Canada deports him to the United States and he ends up in jail.

Amnesty says it considers Jeremy Hinzman a legitimate conscientious objector to the war in Iraq, even though Canadian immigration authorities have decided otherwise.

Hinzman, 26, fled to Canada in search of asylum just days before his Airborne Division unit was deployed to Iraq to fight in a war he considered illegal under international law, one in which he feared he would be forced to commit atrocities.

His refugee claim was rejected in March by the Immigration and Refugee Board, and now Hinzman, who has filed a Federal Court challenge to the ruling in hopes of staving off deportation, faces a court-martial in the U.S. and up to five years in jail.

In a decision taken at Amnesty's international office in London, the organization said it considered Hinzman "to have a genuine conscientious objection" to serving as a combatant in Iraq.

"Accordingly, should he be imprisoned upon his return to the United States, Amnesty International would consider him to be a prisoner of conscience," the group said in a statement.

The designation is important, at least symbolically, because it will raise awareness of the issue and put public pressure on American authorities, said Gloria Nafziger, a refugee co-ordinator with Amnesty's Canadian section.

"People would write letters to the U.S. government asking that he be released and stating their objection to his imprisonment," Nafziger said.

"We have varying degrees of success when we take that position."

Hinzman's lawyer Jeffry House said Amnesty's decision cuts to the core of the case.

"It means that if the Canadian government sends Jeremy back to imprisonment in the United States, it will be complicit in a serious violation of human rights," House said.

"Amnesty recognized that a deeply held ethical refusal to kill other human beings cannot justify a jail term, however powerful the country which proposes to do so."

Posted by Debbye at 06:44 PM | Comments (6)

The "W" word

May 22 - Linda Williamson asks in today's Toronto Sun Is it ever acceptable to call a woman a whore? which is the latest word on the storm that ensued after some male politicians used the W word in connection with Belinda Stronach.

She makes a very convincing case that if the word fits, etc., and makes several other good points about the long association of politics with whoring, gender quotas (or the lack of them) and the upside-down double-standard that passes for integrity these days.

Marzi wrote a post earlier this week that also proved conclusively that BS is a whore.

But I would suggest that we really shouldn't use the "W" word when we're talking about a female. It's sexist and might, you know, lower her self esteem.

I think it better that we keep it dignified and use more acceptable words like harlot, strumpet, Jezebel, hooker, sporting woman, courtesan, Delilah, Cyprian, hetarata, drab, fallen woman, painted woman, Paphian, soiled dove, slut, scarlet woman, tart, trollop, floozy, chippie, harridan, streetwalker, or, my personal favourites, hoochie-koochie girl and woman of easy virtue.

What nobody seems to remember with all the kerfuffle over the "W" word is that it is far, far worse to be deemed a treacherous, back-stabbing, self-aggrandizing betrayer than a whore. After all, the lowest circle of Hell is reserved for traitors, not whores:

Dante next follows Virgil into Judecca, the Fourth Ring of the Ninth Circle of Hell and the lowest depth. Here, those who betrayed their benefactors spend eternity in complete icy submersion.
A huge, mist-shrouded form lurks ahead, and Dante approaches it. It is the three-headed giant Lucifer, plunged waist-deep into the ice. His body pierces the center of the Earth, where he fell when God hurled him down from Heaven. Each of Lucifers mouths chews one of historys three greatest sinners: Judas, the betrayer of Christ, and Cassius and Brutus, the betrayers of Julius Caesar.
Just something to think about, Belinda. Remember: Brutus thought he was acting for the higher good too and Judas was helping to maintain stability.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:40 PM | Comments (3)

The End of Canada?

May 22 - My bad; I usually poise the mouse over commenters' names to see if they have blogs but don't keep re-checking so missed that Dave J. was writing at It Comes in Pints?.

He's written a very interesting prognosis about The End of Canada? and how the different regions would fare.

It's an important read because the subject is no longer speculative. It's surprising that so many, including me, are unsurprised that so many minds are thinking along these lines. When the Wicked Witch of Aurora (nice one, Damian!) claimed she was slithering over to the Liberals to protest the alliance between the Bloc and the Conservative Party jaws dropped because those following reactions in Quebec over the revelations of the Gomery Inquiry knew that the separatist cause had been re-ignited as a direct result of the revealed corruption and fraud shamelessly conducted by the federal and Quebec wing of the Liberal Party.

Two commenters over at an old post at Captain's Quarters humourously suggested that Canada could be saved if the separatists in Quebec and Alberta joined forces to eject Ontario ... the joke is that they weren't entirely wrong.

The Liberals hope that time will ease the outrage, but they have overlooked one critical fact: you can dampen the fire but that don't mean the embers go out. Any decent psychologist can tell you that it's the things we repress that come back to haunt us, and even if the current outrage is reduced to a simmering state it won't disappear but, like Athena, will spring fully grown.

Oh Canada, having failed to protect those things that made you great you are past parody and now on the edge of dissolution.

Posted by Debbye at 05:17 AM | Comments (7)

May 20, 2005

The fight has just begun

I read the news today, oh boy ...

I really did try to write something early this morning, but writing "Dayum, I'm tired" was all I could come up with.

A good day's sleep and being on the verge of this Victoria Day weekend kind of rejuvenates me, and I can't help feeling that some good things have come out of these last two weeks.

The biggest one is that the contention that Canadian politics are boring has been shot down. What a ride! We've watched more live House sessions these past weeks than ever, and have been educated about procedures and precedents in Westminster-style Parliaments.

I'm running late for work (what else is new?) but I suddenly feel optimistic: positions have hardened, and I don't think the Grits are calling the tune right now. They may control Parliament, but they gave up the last shred of decency and integrity to gain it, and that is something that will be tickling voters in the backs of their minds.

I'm going to be thinking along the lines of "where do we go from here" rather than mope about what has happened because I'm not a whiny Democrat baby.

Guts. Principles. Program as opposed to agenda.

Buck up, friends. We have only just entered the fray.

Posted by Debbye at 09:15 PM | Comments (7)

May 19, 2005

Liberals live to steal another day

May 19 - 153-152: the Speaker of the House cast the deciding vote which broke the 152-152 tie and allowed the Liberals to survive budget vote and continue their corrupt rule over this diminished country.

CTV puts a curious spin on it:

Prime Minister Paul Martin put his 11-month-old Liberal minority government to the test today, and passed.
Huh. I guess they see the vote as the test, whereas I see the events and manipulations leading up to the vote as the test.

Independents Chuck Cadman and David Kilgour split their votes, the latter voting against the budget amendment that the Liberals drew up to secure NDP votes.

The tie vote highlights the damage Belinda Stronach's defection cost this country, and may have set off events that could see it disintegrate.

This isn't an episode of Dallas where the irascible J.R. pulls shady maneuvers to get what he wants - that is fiction, and viewers knew that plot twists didn't affect their lives or pocketbooks. This was a "test" that addressed the leadership of a country in crisis, and that they survived that test basically by cheating is hardly reason to celebrate.

Canada has just entered a period of unknown unknowns and although an election would not have solved everything, it would have had the effect of applying a bandage over an open wound which, as it appears it will be left untended, will deepen the cynicism and apathy which afflicts this country.

Posted by Debbye at 08:11 PM | Comments (12)

No support for Stronach from Mulroney

May 19 - Stronach said he supported her decision, but Mulroney denies backing party switch.

She's lying like a Liberal already.

Posted by Debbye at 12:18 PM | Comments (3)

And I wouldn't believe this because ...

May 19 - Had the Liberal Party demonstrated a shred of integrity this past year I might have been more skeptical about this allegation (Tory MP Grewal says Liberals tried to bribe him) but my goodness, who haven't they tried to bribe?

"It's politics," CTV's Robert Fife told Canada AM on Thursday.

"It may seem unseemly to a lot of people that people are actually buying their votes and trying to cut deals for Senate seats or diplomatic appointments or cabinet jobs," he said.

"But in politics anything seems to go."

"It's high drama, it's exciting theatre to watch."

I beg to differ, sir. It is not high drama and it's not exciting theatre.

It's sordid, it's dishonourable, and it bears as much resemblence to governing a reputable nation as slasher films do to G.B. Shaw plays.

Have we sunk so low that our media is incapable of distinguishing vote tampering from leadership?

10:17 - Turns out maybe some laws were broken.

Posted by Debbye at 08:35 AM | Comments (1)

Bad, bad me

May 19 - I am a very, very bad person. A good person would express sympathy and sincere "get well wishes" for the bitch who called us "bastards," said she hated us, and stomped on a doll representing President Bush on television outspoken MP, Carolyn Parrish, who has appendicitis and could miss the budget vote tonight, but I am not a good person.

So I hope she's writhing in agony and misses tonight's vote.

But maybe it's all a scam and the offer of a Cabinet post would make her real better real fast. Should that be so I am, if not a good person, at least not a very bad person.

Don't mess with Texas. Or me.

10:26 - False alarm (also known as a publicity stunt.)

Fine; I hope she get a super-sized zit before the vote.

Posted by Debbye at 08:11 AM | Comments (2)

May 18, 2005

Betrayal of democracy

lawnsign.jpg

From The Librano Sign Generator (Thanks, John B.)

May 18 - A lot of media reaction to Stronach's defection yesterday to the Liberal Party. Andrew Coyne has a good round up (keep scrolling down) and it is fairly predictable.

Today's editorial in the Toronto Sun suggests a likely side-effect:

But by crossing the floor to join a corrupt Liberal government yesterday in exchange for a cabinet seat as minister of Human Resources and "democratic renewal," Stronach herself heightened the rampant cynicism that is increasingly turning all Canadians, especially the young, off politics. (Emphasis added)
In Andrew Coyne's latest column, Proof there are no more rules, he probably sums up what many are feeling:
I had thought the feeling of nausea that washed over me at the news was one of disgust. I now realize it was vertigo. The bottom has fallen out of Canadian politics. There are, quite literally, no rules any more, no boundaries, no limits. We are staring into an abyss, where everything is permissible.
He refers not merely to the betrayal by Stronach: the parliamentary crisis lies in the fact that every political tradition has been shredded since the non-confidence vote last week - before, if the cancellation of Opposition Days is taken into account - and the last vestige of the power supposedly exercised by Parliament is gone.
The loss of a confidence vote is no longer to be taken as a fundamental loss of democratic legitimacy, but rather as a signal to spend more, threaten louder, and otherwise trawl for votes on the opposite benches, for as long as proves necessary.
Those high-fiving because they believe the Liberals "pulled off a good one" do not seem to realize that what the government has done is an outright subversion of democracy worthy of a Putin or Kuchma. Stronach-types come and go, but this precedent will remain.

Rather than despair, though, we might take heart from this, written in March, 2004. Compare what was then and what is now.

Posted by Debbye at 02:33 PM | Comments (6)

Accountability in public service

May 18 - Testimony in yesterday's session of the Gomery Inquiry focused on the extent to which public servants are held to account when they violate guidelines and even laws, and Judge Gomery stated that it appears that Bureaucrats get off easy:

"Sometimes you get people who just, more or less deliberately, disregard the law," the judge told Stephen Wallace, a top official at the Treasury Board secretariat.

"There have been, it seems to me, well-documented instances of mismanagement . . . and I didn't see that they had any consequences on the employment of anybody.

"What happens if you find somebody who's just a bad apple?"

Wallace said managers in fact have the power to suspend, demote or fire employees who break internal rules.

But he acknowledged that power isn't always exercised.

[...]

Wallace was among a panel of public-service managers who appeared before Gomery to explain what has changed in government since Prime Minister Paul Martin shut down the scandal-plagued sponsorship program in 2003.

The responses were mixed.

Wallace said plans are in the works for tighter financial controls, better training for managers with signing authority as well as more detailed audits.

But government-wide training courses, including those ensuring bureaucrats know the law, have yet to be implemented, said Wallace.

Public Works official Richard Robesco, who oversees 450 government ad contracts, told the inquiry that training measures in his department haven't been updated recently.

Or, evidently, a code of ethics.

What recourse do we have when the civil service - those on whom we rely to ensure government is run honestly - violates our trust? An election that ends Liberal rule will restore some confidence, but the number of programs that have been mismanaged would seem to indicate that the rot goes deeper and is not limited to elected positions.

It seems sometime punishments are handed out, though, as in this controversy over a contract that was first reported August, 2003, and resulted in a chastisement:

The Canadian International Trade Tribunal has chastised the federal Liberals for failing to follow contracting rules and ordered a re-evaluation of bids on a moving contract plagued by allegations of favouritism.

The CITT backed Envoy Relocation's complaint that its bid was shortchanged by the feds last year, ordering the government to cut a $2,400 cheque to cover the real estate company's complaint costs.

The CITT has also given Public Works 15 days to have a fresh evaluation committee comb through the bids and "if this re-evaluation results in a new winning bidder ... the existing contract should be cancelled and awarded to that bidder."

The ruling is the latest in a war waged between real estate giants vying for the lucrative contract most recently awarded to Royal LePage Relocation last year.

The Commons public accounts committee will vote today on whether to ask the Auditor General to probe the contract.

(Link from AC.)

Posted by Debbye at 01:50 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2005

No Canadian troops to Darfur

May 17 - From the Globe and Mail, Ottawa to comply with ban on troops in Darfur and those sent will work out of Khartoum.

Sudan has criticized the Canadian government for making the announcement they would send troops without proper consulation and both they and the African Union, which leads peacekeeping forces in Darfur, stated they didn't want European or non-African troops.

Posted by Debbye at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

Stronach crosses floor, takes Cabinet post

May 17 - Thank goodness she lost the bid for CPC leadership (Stronach crosses the floor, joins Liberal cabinet.)

I'm thinking some other strong things, too.

13:44 - CTV has a brief item on Harper's response in which attributed her betrayal to ambition and expresses his relief that she crossed before rather than during an election campaign.

I'm almost afraid to check any Western sources - Ontario is going to get hammered for this.

Kate says

I wonder if she realizes how many new Western separatists she just created today with her comments about Conservatives not understanding the "complexity" of the country? That the party must "grow in Quebec" before it's a national party? I wonder if she understands that her defection speech will be interpreted as another slap by a self-serving and politically ambitious Ontario power broker at western aspirations to finally have an equal voice in Canada?

Probably not. The woman is that stupid.

More from Kate here. Read the comments under both posts; it's grim.

The Western Standard blog The Shotgun starts with All bets are off and then here and, oh heck, just keep clicking posts to the right as they accumulate. Again, read the comments.

Brock dares answer the question you know you wanted to ask: What of McKay? Seems he's sticking with the CPC and maybe even dumped her over this. Meow!

14:15 - Benedict Belinda!
Jay makes a very perceptive observation (scroll down to text):

Assuming for the moment that the Grits [k]new Stronach was waivering their strategy of refusing to acknowledge confidence votes makes perfect sense.
Doh!

Andrew Coyne sums it up with typical terseness:

There are no words. And yet, I have to write a column...
Damian has a round-up of reactions going and Yay! Bob Tarentino is back and delivers on Stronach and the media.

By the way, I neglected to mention that Western Standard editor Ezra Levant was interviewed by CBC Newsworld and the clip should be airing throughout the day (I've got it on in the background, and believe me when I say I'd only do it for Ezra.)

Good thing I don't have to into work tonight.

Posted by Debbye at 11:38 AM | Comments (10)

Take Back the Hill

May 17 - The last-minute "Take Back the Hill" rally yesterday was predictably small and Bruce reports that "it collided with a much larger farm protest, leaving the farmers firmly in control. But there was plenty of common ground between the groups, so I don't think anyone minded." He has photos.

More photos at Ravishing Light who makes an astute obserservation:

it's hard to piggyback specific discontent with the federal Liberals onto largely rural, unfocused discontent with ... all levels of government.
True enough. Adscam represents one, specific grievance: the outright theft of our tax dollars to promote the Liberal Party with the sole objective of achieving a one-party state (and if a few dollars happened to drop in a few pockets, it was all for a Good Cause.)

That should be sufficient to bring us all under a single banner regardless of party affiliation or political bent, as I suspect that even loyal Liberals are ashamed that their party was so base.

Links via Glenda, who makes this point:

Rural folk truly are angry enough to spit feathers.
So are truckers, parents, office workers (including a lot of outraged government employees,) health care workers, teachers, seniors, ______ (fill in the blank,) and yeah, ME.

Posted by Debbye at 09:33 AM | Comments (0)

Sheila Fraser before Gomery Inquiry

May 17 - Canada's favourite Auditor-General, Sheila Fraser, appeared before the Gomery Inquiry yesterday saying that she found Ad activities 'troubling'.

There are numerous instances where there was no paper trail to follow - and remember, this is what started the initial investigation:

When Fraser first looked into the sponsorship affair in 2002 - reviewing only three deals that had come to light by then - she concluded senior bureaucrats had broken nearly "every rule in the book" in awarding contracts to private-sector advertising and public relations firms.
Although there are no new revelations in the article, it is a quick reminder of some of the items that have fueled our outrage since the publication ban on Jean Brault's testimony was lifted.

The transcript for yesterday's testimony is up (requires Adobe Acrobat - it's a .pdf file) here or, if that doesn't work, go to transcripts and select May 16.

Ms. Fraser's testimony is in French but Assistant Auditor-General Ronald Campbell's testimony is in English, by the way.

Posted by Debbye at 08:50 AM | Comments (0)

May 16, 2005

"for Canada is in meltdown"

May 16 - The British media are noticing what is going on here (Your Majesty, this trip could get political.)

The Daily Telegraph notes that the Queen's trip here could be delayed if

... her private secretary, Sir Robin Janvrin, answers his phone between now and then to an apologetic Canadian prime minister delivering the news: "It's all off." For Canada is in political meltdown.

The Liberal government is teetering on the brink of collapse and, should prime minister Paul Martin fall before the Queen is airborne his advice could be to stay at home.

His demise will automatically trigger a general election, and Canada in the middle of an election campaign is no place for a Queen who has avoided political hot potatoes throughout her 53-year reign.

Mr Martin has so far staved off a vote of confidence over allegations that the Liberal government gave millions of dollars in contracts to firms in Quebec, with many of those firms, allegedly, then paying kickbacks to the Liberal Party.

But, under pressure from Conservatives, he is being forced to hold one on Thursday when parliament gathers to vote on his federal budget. That is two days into the Queen's nine-day tour of Saskatchewan and Alberta.

If he is still standing by the time she touches down, the prediction is he will lose the May 19 vote.

Thus the man who greets the Queen as her prime minister at the bottom of the runway steps at Regina may no longer be her prime minister two days later.

The article goes on to question what would happen at government functions held in her honour should there be no government.

(And yes, the facts as reported are somewhat off.)

And, for all you Constitutionalists, Pixy Misa compares today's situation in Canada to a 1975 incident in Australia in which the Governor-General recognized and performed his duty.

Posted by Debbye at 08:41 AM | Comments (3)

May 15, 2005

Take back the Hill rally

May 15 - Glenda covers the upcoming "Take back the Hill" rally scheduled for tomorrow at 1 p.m. on Parliament Hill in Ottawa in Just Between Us Girls and, in response to a Globe and Mail columnist who frets about Harper's "anger," gives only a few of her reasons why she's angry.

Read her post and make your own list. It will grow as new thoughts emerge.

I've concluded these past few days that trying to explain the past month in Canada is going to be nearly impossible. Some of it has been shocking and the phrase "beyond parody" will never again be lightly invoked.

This item will stay at the top all through the day.

Linda Williamson also takes on the charge of Harper being "angry" (but it should be pointed out that Glenda did it first!)

Posted by Debbye at 08:36 PM | Comments (0)

Mansur on the 'democratic deficit'

May 15 - Salim Mansur addresses how the 'Democratic deficit' cripples our government beginning with the concentration of power in the PM's office at the expense of Parliament and how the destruction of that balance has led to the current impasse:

The increased eminence of the PM has coincided with new techniques in politics arising from developments in communication and information technology, and the rise of the welfare state. The PMO now has an expanded role in directing governmental affairs, setting priorities and making appointments to all branches of government.

This has distorted the delicate balance between legislative and executive powers, and the necessary check on executive power by elected representatives of the people has been eroded.

[...]

Martin, like his predecessor, has allowed himself to be corrupted by the absolute power of his office. We have seen the effect this week in his party's disregard for Parliament's expressed opinion that the government lacks the democratic mandate to remain in power.

[...]

The only remedy for this unprecedented situation, if the people are not to be abused, is an election of a new Parliament, with restoration of the balance between legislative and executive power. (Emphasis added)

Mansur refers to Trudeau, who was PM in the 60's and early 70's, and thus demonstrates how long this process has been ongoing. I don't recall any efforts in the Mulroney years to reverse this trend (although there well may have been such - my eldest was born in 1981 so I missed an entire decade of politics) but I tend to believe that successive governments have kept the powers taken from Parliament.

Mansur's column makes clear that what we are witnessing is not an isolated political crisis but one that has been building behind the scenes as Parliamentary powers were increasingly transferred to the Executive. I'd say one word for that is despotism.

Posted by Debbye at 11:22 AM | Comments (1)

Sudan rejects Canada's offer

May 15 - This is disturbing on many levels: Sudan rejects Canadian military offer.

It brings a different context (or should that be contempt?) to Bill Graham's assertion "We cannot invade Sudan" and despite the temptation to ridicule Canada's Rogue Government for failing to discuss this with Khartoum's government this refusal brings to mind issues that go beyond the political crisis here:

1) If, as many assert, the Sudan government is behind Janjaweed attacks on the people of Darfur, permission by the Sudan government is irrelevant;

2) the assistance of Canada should be up to the African Union which is are organizing and conducting the peacekeeper mission in Darfur rather than the Sudan government;

3) Welcome to my world, Canada. The rapist has denied permission for you to stop the rapine - what now?

4) Shut up, Kilgour. The party from which you just scuttled is the sole reason that the Canadian Armed Forces can barely gather 100 soldiers together for even a token force, and your humanitarian pretensions at this late date are little more than opportunistic posturing.

8:35 - Despite Sudan's opposition, Canada said it would go ahead with plans to send its troops. So over Graham's objections, Canada will invade Sudan! The item also notes the opinion that it is up to the AU to get Sudan's approval of the plan.

There is also some dispute as to whether the Martin government contacted Sudan before announcing the intended aid and peacekeeper deployment, but I've had experience with Martin's spokesperson's lying in the past as well as the failure of CTV to use common sense much less do any fact-checking.

10:52 - Excellent post from Keith on the Sudan mess and Mar-toon (heh) which includes some facts about Lord General Charles Gordon and an excellent logistical reason why the cooperation of Khartoum is necessary: landing strips (as in "rarity of in Sudan.")

14:01 From today's editorial in the Washington Post Beyond Darfur:

A good example of the potential gains from pressuring Khartoum is provided by the Lord's Resistance Army, which terrorizes parts of southern Sudan and northern Uganda. Thanks to the LRA, northern Uganda has been in a state of low-level war for 18 years. Thousands of children have been kidnapped to serve as soldiers or sex slaves, and perhaps 1.6 million people have been driven from their homes. The LRA's leader, a self-styled messiah named Joseph Kony, has received arms and a safe haven from Sudan's government. In return he has attacked Sudanese civilians, acting as a proxy for the government in its long war with the southern rebels.

[...]

The United States and its allies have sometimes viewed Sudan's various conflicts as separate issues ... But the truth is that all these conflicts reflect the same challenge: The willingness of Sudan's government to sponsor atrocities. It will take a common effort from the United States, Europe, Russia and (most awkwardly) China to pressure the Sudanese regime into changing its ways. But the diplomatic effort is worthwhile: The stakes are bigger even than the awful genocide in Darfur.

Worth while read.

Posted by Debbye at 05:42 AM | Comments (3)

Jack has a new home!

May 14 - A long time Canadian blogger has a new home - Jack's Newswatch is up and running.

Jack doesn't pull his punches, which makes him my kind of blogger.

His post on Warren Kinsella (permalinks not working yet - scroll down to "Kinsella on a Rampage") is particularly revealing. Jack warned - more than a year ago, I believe - that we should keep an eye on Kinsella and in this new post notes something that may have been overlooked:

The guy is a patriot and if he's trying to bring the Liberals down he has cause and he's in good company ...
Jack gets it. Now is the time for people who actually care about this country to recognize their shared concerns and refuse to let labels and meaningless rhetoric cloud their vision.

One thing the Democrats and now the Liberals are learning to their cost is that the electorate can distinguish between honourable people struggling to find the right course and party hacks who don't care about right and wrong but only about power and thus craft their policies to that end.

I don't under which category Kinsella falls. He and I have never crossed swords (I don't read him because I don't need more anti-American rhetoric to supplement my daily diet) so I don't have the same personal antipathy toward him as others might, but it seems to me that if Adscam has the potential of transforming the Canadian political structure to be more accountable and open then it will take the combined efforts of all those who chose hope over sophisticated cynicism.

Posted by Debbye at 05:15 AM | Comments (0)

Liberals pulling out all the stops

May 15 - Some interesting developments as we close in on a new non-confidence vote. The NDP offer to "pair votes" is pretty well discussed elsewhere, and that provincial and civic leaders would line up to want the budget passed was a foregone conclusion.

A deal has been made with Alberta, and Saskatchewan has shown it too can be bought, but as the Conservatives have already said they will honour committments made by the Rogue Government, the bidding seems superfluous.

Adsam has evolved into outrage that the federal Liberals siphoned funds intended for one program into funds intended to elect Liberals. No matter what deals are struck, who would believe that federal funds administered by the Liberal government won't be equally misused?

Posted by Debbye at 04:13 AM | Comments (0)

May 14, 2005

Lorne Guntner's blog

May 14 - Another columnist starts a blog - Lorne Guntner.

I've linked to some of his columns in the past; he is my kind of conservative who prefers less, not more, intrusion from government.

(Link via Jay Currie.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 13, 2005

CPAC

May 13 - Sorry about the light posting. CPAC today has been far more interesting than anything I could write.

When I got in this morning, I switched on CPAC in hopes of seeing some testimony from yesterday's testimony of the Gomery Inquiry, but instead there was testimony from a Commons committee. I was about to switch to a news channel when I heard the name "Earnscliffe" and looked closer at the TV screen. It said April 18, and was indeed the testimony was before the Commons public accounts committee posted about here and here.

I was shocked at how whiny Terrie O'Leary and David Herle were, whereas Allan Cutler and (this is really hard to write) Warren Kinsella were professional and direct. As I had come in at the tail end I missed what Auditor-General Sheila Fraser might have said, which is regrettable.

[Maybe "testimony" is the wrong word. Everyone called before the committee is seated together at a table and Committee members (seated at an opposite table) can direct questions at whoever they chose in whatever order they chose. My prior concept of testimony before a committee had been for one person at a time to appear and answer questions.]

Beryl Wajsman's testimony at the Gomery Inquiry from earlier today was on CPAC when I woke up this afternoon, and he seemed extremely defensive and clearly anxious to clear his name. But I have to say that Jean Brault remains the far more impressive and credible witness.

Points to Wajsman, though, for saying he had discussed Brault's testimony with Joe Morselli. Chuck Guite and Jacque Corriveau claimed they had neither read nor talked to anyone about any of the prior testimony before their appearances - perhaps trying to emulate Chretien's dismissive attitude toward the proceedings? - which just doesn't seem credible.

Now Question Period is being re-broadcast. It seems Mark has decided the House of Commons is far more interesting than O'Reilly or the Jays!

It makes me wonder how many Canadians are watching CPAC these days - possibly for the first time ever - and therfore paying attention to national politics during the most tumultuous period in Canadian politics since TV cameras were installed in the House.

I can't help but hope that millions of Canadians are watching. The best defence of a democracy is an involved and engaged electorate which, because it is involved, draws its own conclusions by directly observing what is being said rather sound-bites and provides its own analysis of events without the need for media spin. That would be bad news for any party hoping to operate without transparency, which is good news for us.

We can only hope.

Posted by Debbye at 08:23 PM | Comments (5)

The Gomery Parliament

May 13 - Retro-posting (again) - Rex Murphy on The National exposes "The Gomery Parliament."

(Via Andrew Coyne)

Posted by Debbye at 09:07 AM | Comments (0)

May 12, 2005

Canadian aid to Darfur

May 12 - Another bit of retro-posting, still relevant even though attempts to aid Darfur have been sideswiped by the government in Khartoum.

PM pledges $170 million aid package to Darfur including airlift capability, humanitarian aid, diplomatic support and up to 100 military personnel to train local forces.

Posted by Debbye at 08:31 PM | Comments (0)

Dezainde claims intimidation by Morselli

May 12 - The Gomery Inquiry was told of money clash between Daniel Dezainde, Joe Morselli and Beryl Wasjman. Daniel Dezainde said that he was physically intimidated when he tried to take control of the bank accounts of the Liberal Party of Quebec from Gagliano, and when he asked Jacques Corriveau for help he was rebuffed.

He said that he fired Wasjman in June, 2001, for organizing unsanctioned fundraisers and peddling influence which led to a confrontation with Joe Morselli:

"He approached me and pointed his finger at me two inches from my nose and said from this time forward this is war," Dezainde told Justice John Gomery. "I thought that went a bit too far, because I felt that my security was directly threatened."
Weenie. (If you think I'm being too harsh on him, please refer to yesterday's post in which I said that an honourable man in Dezainde's situation would have resigned when he realized he learned that the Party debts were being paid off by laundered money.)

10:45 - CTV writes up the confrontation somewhat differently:

When Wasjman was eventually fired, Dezainde testified that Morselli came to see him in a rage.

"From now on, I declare war on you," Dezainde recalled Morselli saying to him, before breaking down on the stand.

When Justice Gomery asked him if he considered that a threat of physical violence, Dezainde replied, "Yes."

This next assertion is not covered so explicitly in the previous two news sources cited: the Globe and Mail says
Jacques Corriveau, a close friend of Jean Chrtien who made $8-million in sponsorship subcontracts, candidly told an official at the Quebec Liberal party wing that he had set up a kickback system, the Gomery inquiry heard Wednesday.

Daniel Dezainde, who was the director-general of the Liberal Quebec wing in 2001, said that the admission came during a lunch he had with Mr. Corriveau.

He said Mr. Corriveau told him: In the past, I set up a system of kickbacks with communication agencies and I kept a part of it for my expenses and I made the rest available for the party. (Emphasis added)

Dezainde says the reported his conversation with the Man of Culture to the police. There is also this:
He said at a previous meeting with Mr. Bard, [Gagliano's] ... chief of staff went on a rant against Mr. Corbeil and against Jacques Corriveau.

Benot, he scammed enough already, he was told. He said Mr. Bard said about Mr. Corriveau, Good riddance. Mr. Dezainde told the inquiry: Have you ever seen the Twilight Zone TV series? It was like that.

I was thinking it more like a episode of The Untouchables (the Robert Stack vintage model.)

By the way, English translations for transcripts of hearings through April 29 are up at the link.

May 14 - More here.

Posted by Debbye at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

May 11, 2005

Non-confidence motion #2

May 11 - Opposition leader Stephen Harper has made a motion to adjourn, which is a non-confidence motion. (update: no it wasn't!] They have called for anyone absent to return to the floor and the vote should be held in about 20 minutes.

How will David Kilgour vote? Will he hold to his promise to vote for a motion of non-confidence.

The musical interlude this time is The William Tell Overture by Rossini, more commonly known as the theme to The Lone Ranger.

/on stand-by mode

Despite the earlier vocal vote that led to the standing vote, the motion to adjourn was passed 277-21. Maybe a Canadian who understands can explain what happened? I'm guessing that because so many Liberals voted for the motion it was no longer a confidence motion, or maybe Mark misunderstood when he called me to the television.

David Kilgour wasn't even in the House for the vote, by the way, nor was Paul Martin.

18:40 - Via Captain's Quarters, this Globe and Mail article says the motion to adjourn was a non-confidence motion, but the government didn't recognize it as such.

By the way, Fox News just aired a piece on the situation in Canada and last night's vote. Is this the first coverage they've had on the crisis up here? It's the first I've seen, but when one's Significant Other has the converter clutched firmly in his hand one rarely sees any one channel for more than a few minutes.

20:25 I haven't really figured out just what the vote to adjourn was all about, but I have to get to work. It's good old fubar. Ignore the post or, if possible, shed some light on this! /update

May 12 - 08:10: Oh joy, I'm not crazy! (or I have fellow crazies. Don't comment on that ... )

I think I've got it. Martin has stated there will be a confidence motion on May 19. The Opposition refuses to give an inch - or 7 days - more to the Rogue Government and have boycotted committee meetings and by denying a quorum, government business has come to a halt.

On the non-confidence vote last night: in one sense, there were two. The Rogues made a motion to adjourn which was defeated which in effect means that the government is no longer able to conduct even procedural business.

Oppostion leader Stephen Harper spoke at length as to why this government no longer has the confidence of the House,, and then made a motion to adjourn which he stated was a confidence motion. The voice vote was close (many more than 22 said "Nay!") and the bells rang to recall members to the House. The recorded vote showed the motion to adjourn passed 227-21 because many Liberals changed their votes.

The argument by the Rogue Government to wait for the report from the Inquiry is deliberately misleading. Under Section K of the Terms of Reference the mandate of Judge Gomery precludes the making of conclusions or recommendations regarding civil or criminal liability - although he is permitted to make recommendations for legislation that will prevent future theft or protects whistleblowers. (Link via Kate.)

The invaluable and resourceful Andrew Coyne cites expert opinion ... and the debate continues.

Posted by Debbye at 05:40 PM | Comments (5)

Daniel Dezainde testifies

May 11 - Munu was down for awhile this afternoon (probably due to a spam attack) but we're standing strong again!

Today's testimony at Gomery Inquiry was by the man who took over for Benoit Corbeil as the Director-General of the Quebec wing of the Liberals, Daniel Dezainde. He complain that he wasn't really in charge - Joe Morselli was "the boss" behind the scenes.

Dezainde testified he went with Corbeil to meet Morselli at a north-end Montreal restaurant on May 14, 2001. At that meeting he claims he was told by Corbeil that Morselli was "the real boss" of Liberal affairs in Quebec.

Dezainde also said Corbeil warned him not to antagonize Morselli, a friend of then-public works minister Alfonso Gagliano.

He told the commission that, as a result, Morselli ended up running things, but completely off the record.

He also said he was told on another occasion by Gagliano that if he had any "needs" to give Morselli a call, or to call the minister's chief of staff, Jean-Marc Bard.

Dezainde said he understood that to mean financial needs.

The question of financing became a pressing one, Dezainde said, because he quickly learned the Quebec wing had amassed a pile of unpaid bills -- as much as $2.8 million was owing. He told the commission that Morselli told him to send the bills to him "so he can determine what can be paid."

Dezainde said that troubled him.

"Not only you didn't know where the money came from but you no longer had the ability to manage your organization, Dezainde told the Gomery inquiry. "So what's the point of being there?"

None, which is why an honourable man would have resigned.

Yesterday, Benoit Corbeil testified that ministerial aides to current and former Liberals were paid under the table during the 2000 federal election campaign.
In his appearance before Justice John Gomery's inquiry in Montreal Monday, Benoit Corbeil claimed that the workers received an alleged total of $50,000 from advertising executive Jean Brault to help cover the employee payroll. Corbeil also claimed that Brault offered him $100,000.

The other $50,000 sum, corroborated by inquiry documents and witness testimony, was made through Commando Communication, owned by Brault associate Bernard Thiboutot.

According to Corbeil's allegations, the cash was paid at the start of the 2000 campaign to staffers, including: Irene Marcheterre, later named head of communications for federal Transport Minister Jean Lapierre.

Even as I write this, there is another non-confidence type of vote in the House of Commons over a motion by Opposition leader Stephen Harper to adjourn. The vote should be held in about 22 minutes.

The musical interlude this time is The William Tell Overture by Rossini, more commonly known as the theme to The Lone Ranger. I'll be reporting the vote above (barring another attack. Die, Spammers!)

Posted by Debbye at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)

From Georgia to Canada - Let Freedom Ring!

May 11 - How ironic. How horribly, grieviously ironic. The media is covering President Bush praising the people of Georgia for their steadfast determination during the Rose Revolution and, at the same time, we are watching the Liberal Party clinging to straws as they cling to power and defying the safeguards that protect consensual governance.

Its worthwhile to remember that the Rose Revolution was sparked by people's fury over the fraud and corruption of their 2003 elections - and what else can we call the 1997 and 2000 elections here?

One advantage of a Westminster-style Parliamentary system is supposed to be that a government that has lost the support of the people can be forced to step down and the issues that forced the non-confidence vote are referred to the electorate.

Lenin Square in Tbisili has been renamed Freedom Square. Whatever shall we call Parliament Hill now?

Captain Ed has his usual excellent summation of yesterday's vote, and there is an excellent round-up of blogger reactions at Dust my Broom - Just us Bloggers eh!

Anyone else notice that the musical interlude as we waited for the vote was from "The Merry Widow" by Franz Lehar? It's an operetta about the attempts of a small country to secure a widow's fortune through seduction ...

10:18 - Kate says "Paul Martin's "rogue group" is now a Rogue Government" and some of her commenters are calling for vigils in Ottawa. Who could have imagined that there would be a need for a freedom movement in Canada?

It would probably be a bad move for President Bush to comment on this situation ... if Karl Rove is ever going to send me orders he'd better hurry or I'll have to fall back to thinking on my own (that's a sideswipe at some of my commenters, by the way, and meant entirely in jest.)

12:47 - I should have checked my mail earlier. Mike emailed a link to The Confidence Convention and the May 10, 2005 Vote on the Public Accounts Committee Report which examines both the constitutional issues of the vote and cites precedent for what should be done next.

Posted by Debbye at 05:11 AM | Comments (0)

May 10, 2005

Unaccountable bureaucracies

May 9 - You are probably already aware that a U.S. court granted a temporary injunction blocking the release of documents to the U.S. Congress.

Henceforth, I shall refer to these documents (or should that be copies of documents) as the Annan Papers.

The NY Times covers the story but seems unaware that the revelations the Annan Papers might contain is information that, for the greater good, should be made public.

So exactly whose lives would be in danger if the only wrongdoing was poor oversight and Benon Sevan's conflict of interest?

One clue may lie in a link from Roger L. Simon to a document on the Pajamas Media Website which is said to be to Paul Volcker from Pierre Mouselli's attorney Adrian Gonzalez-Maltes which protests the treatment his client has received from the International Inquiry Committee.

The letter and accompanying documents (in .pdf) are available for download at the site and make for some verrry interesting reading.

Also, Ron over at Friends of Saddam draws some extremely alarming parallels between the Oil-for-Food Program, the Kyoto Accord, and "The Law of the Sea" and our old friend Maurice Strong appears yet again:

Mr. Volcker's March report on Kofi Annan and Kojo Annan failed to mention that the younger Annan had served on the board of directors of a now-defunct company, Air Harbour Technologies, first alongside the U.N. secretary-general's special adviser, Maurice Strong, and then alongside an adviser for U.N. oil-for-food contractor, Cotecna Inspections...

Maurice Strong's name keeps coming up in various articles. If you remember he is the person who promoted the Kyoto Protocols into existence ... Now a story has arisen about 17,000 scientists saying its based upon "bad" science and its a major Scam. It was signed into law in Canada and has already had cost overruns of $5 Billion Dollars just for starters. Its hard to think of a bigger Scam than "Oil for Food" but the Kyoto Protocols could surpass it easily and could ruin the industrial nations of the western world besides. The same type of scheme is before the Senate for ratification and its called, "Laws of the Sea" and it is a hot item for the Democrats.

The "Law of the Sea" is a UN thing and there are taxing provisions that could give the UN more money than any existing nation now in existence... Maybe we should look at what 17,000 thousand scientists are saying about "Kyoto" because "The Laws of the Sea" is from the same bunch of rascals.

Ron includes information that Bill wrote last month: the Friends of Science and their efforts to expose the bogus science of global warning. Their documentary cannot get air time in Canada; read Bill's analysis here as to how the Canadian government uses regulations to stifle the production of anything that contradicts their policies.

He also has a link from which you can download the documentary.

Sheesh, I've rambled about 2 scandals and one in the making and haven't even mentioned Adscam. Since you're already at Strong World, interested Americans might like to read Bill's explanation of this evening's possible dissolution of Parliament, the procedural arguments, the possible intervention of the Governor-General -- and presents an intriguing option: Queen Elizabeth II may be asked to intervene using her reserve powers ["the final line of defense against tyranny in the Westminster system"] when she visits Canada May 17.

I'm off tonight, so I'll try to catch up on Adscam after some sleep.

May 11 - 04:00 - Sorry, I tossed and turned, then Mark got me up for the vote in Parliament after which I fell asleep and slept through most of the night. That seems to be an unwelcome, new pattern: getting 2-3 hours of sleep for a couple of days, then sleeping 9-11 hours straight on my half-weekends.

8:35 - One more thing: I tried to edit this yesterday when I realized that I had failed to note that Ron had also written about the activities of the Friends of Science but my access to my site was down - probably due to another spam attack. I've fixed that oversight now.

Posted by Debbye at 01:45 PM | Comments (5)

May 09, 2005

Beryl Wajsman

May 9 - Upcoming Gomery Inquiry witness Beryl Wajsman left a comment at Captain's Quarters that reveals how deeply the Adscam thefts betrayed the idealistic members of the Liberal Party who believed that they were carrying the banner of Trudeau and national unity through their membership and participation.

It is a very compelling letter, and it would well behoove those who read it to remember that Duplessis was a member of the Conservative party, not Liberal.

Ontarians and federalist Quebeckers are in a blind alley. They have been betrayed by the Liberals, who have been revealed to be brigands feathering their own nests, and disappointed those who believed their pitches about inclusion, diversity, and a "sharing and caring nation."

Much like outraged townsfolk pursuing medicine show charlatans who bilked poor widows of their savings, Canadians would like to tar and feather the Liberals but vengeance is an emotional response and, as the brain begins to reassert control, the fact remains that Canada will still need a government after the fallout subsides.

The Conservatives, on the other hand, have failed to recall what usually happens to the next medicine show that comes to town and tries to sell a miracle cure.

There is a very short time frame in which to bring forth concrete proposals for reform and an even smaller time frame in which to sell their ideas and most especially their sincerity.

A cynical public needs reassurance that the state of this country is not beyond repair, but by whom? The four party leaders in the house have relished their sound-bites, their name-calling and even their feigned outrage but have forgotten that Canadians are not a prime-time TV audience but citizens acutely aware that there are problems in this country which require urgent, clear-headed leadership.

So what do the leaders do? Get into a bidding war for votes and upping the ante, a debasing circus that has usurped the basis on which this election should be fought: making proposals for legislating serious - even drastic - reforms in the civil service, appointments, whistle-blower protection and contract tendering.

The outrage against Adscam could provide enough support for those reforms to counterweigh strong opposition from those who stand to gain from corruption - but this is a limited time offer that won't be there for the next election. Tory failure to take that path will confirm suspicions that they only want to be elected so they can get their own thieves on the national payroll.

The most alarming part of this bidding war is the threat to institute a national childcare system. Fuzzy puppies, warm nurturing environment, early instruction, gee, it sounds too good to be true. And if it sounds too good to be true - you know the next part, right?

Think: if the federal government can withhold transfer payments meant for health care then they can just as easily withhold transfer payments meant for health care and day care. Guess who would have to pick up the tab? That's right, the provinces, which would probably mean a reduction of services, but do you really want the quality of your children's care to be subject to the vagaries of government funding?

Posted by Debbye at 09:41 AM | Comments (2)

Canadian War Museum opens

May 9 - The 60th anniversary of VE Day yesterday saw the official opening of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa.

First there was the parade - a wonderful parade - in which the veterans proudly marched down the streets from the War Memorial to the new museum to the cheers and applause from those lined along the route. (Australians do this each year in numerous cities on ANZAC Day. Wouldn't it be great to make this a tradition here as well?)

PM Paul Martin dedicated the museum as "a shrine of sacrifice" before the more than 10,000 people who came to witness the historic occasion.

The controversial picture is still a sore point with some, and Peter Worthington relates someone's idea for another picture that too would show "ordinary" Canadians in war:

"This painting would show young, 22-year-old medical Cpl. William Newton rushing from his medical aid bunker at the rear of the Hook.

"A heavy mortar bomb has exploded. He has his satchel of bandages, medicine, gear. He ran out instinctively.

"A good thing he did. There, lying on his back but with the toes of both boots pointed at the ground, is 19-year-old Cpl. Charles Pond of Ottawa who, a year earlier, was a high school football star. (Emphasis added.)

I dare you to read the account without an irresistable urge to stand and salute. Or cry.

Be grateful to those who serve. Cherish them. Thank them. Never, ever, misuse them.

Posted by Debbye at 09:01 AM | Comments (3)

May 08, 2005

Do Canadians have what it takes?

May 8 - Keith has a bang-up post in which the Liberal Party is characterized as the new Hapsburgs (heh): The Anglosphere Network: do Canadians have what it takes?

Posted by Debbye at 06:23 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian troops to Darfur - 150 strong!

May 8 - People who think bloggers are wannabe journalists might stop and try to name journalists who link to and get feedback from other journalists to the extent that we do!

A case in point: news that Canada is sending her military to Darfur. I was focused on this bit from the CBC report which seemed to be talking about the mission:

"This is a complex and relatively dangerous environment," Gen. Rick Hillier told CBC News.
Relative to what? Iraq? Afghanistan? Kosovo? Halifax? Call me too quick to criticize, but I think the environment in Darfur is much more dangerous for unarmed villagers than armed (at least I hope they'll be armed) soldiers.

So I missed the dumber part of the dumb statement, but fortunately Kate didn't.

The dumber statement (from the same CBC report) is highlighted:

The minister wants military intervention to be only one part of an overall plan for the northeastern African country.

"We cannot invade Sudan. It requires United Nations action ... it requires political as well as military and aid matters," Graham told CBC.

I have no idea what that means, unless a newly legislated piece of international law states that if the U.N. says it's okay to go into a country uninvited then it isn't an invasion. Or they are going to Darfur but won't actually go in to Darfur? Or, significantly, has someone decided that Darfur is no longer considered part of Sudan?

One of the unacknowledged downsides of sending Canadian peacekeepers to Cyprus is that Greek Cypriots were unable to take back the sections of that island which the Turks had seized. The Turkish invasion was thus successful entirely due to the intervention of the U.N., which is why the U.N.-crafted peace accord was rejected by the Greek section of the island last year.

According to a report late last night, Canadian officials are finalizing plans to send all of 150 military personnel to "war-torn Sudan."

Now it's "war-torn." Only a few days ago it was a "conflict, stemming from the fallout of a peace deal to end the country's decades-old civil war" (I've counted several failed peace deals between Sudan and Darfur, but the CBC is probably alluding to the one of two years ago although it might be the one of a few months ago.) (Wikipedia has a reasonably good history of the conflict.)

The CBC report from last night says the Canadians also plan to donate some "used military equipment" to ... wait, it doesn't say to whom they will donate that equipment, but I'm guessing it will be to AU forces, not the Darfur rebels.

Then there is this:

Canada has also already promised 31 soldiers to act as advisers to an African Union mission in Addis Ababa, the capital of neighbouring Ethiopia.

The additional Canadian military personnel would serve as short-term advisers, mechanics and trainers, CP reported.

So why the sudden realization of Canadian international duty? The CBC doesn't pull any punches here:
The Canadian government has a new sense of urgency to deal with Sudan as it seeks the support of members of Parliament for a looming confidence vote in the Commons this month.
What other blogger is most likely to be on top of this? Damian Brooks, of course, so I headed there and he's linked to an article in the Globe and Mail which calls the Darfur region blood-soaked but has more specific information than the CBC provided and fills in some vagueness:
General Rick Hillier, the chief of the defence staff, said the Canadian Forces will be ready to deploy a large contingent overseas for "significant operations" by late summer after a year of recovery and rebuilding.

The Darfur situation, he said, "is a complex and a relatively dangerous environment and the tragedy that is unfolding there is on a scale that is very tough to determine."

It is more clear from this quote that Hiller is in fact saying that the environment is dangerous to civilians, but also that he thinks 150 constitutes a "large contingent." Even applying the ten-fold rule, which would mean the equivalent of sending 1,500 US troops overseas, that is not a large contigent. Although the Globe doesn't have Graham's "We cannot invade Sudan" disclaimer, the clarification in this article is that the peacekeepers are indeed going to protect the refugees. But wait, most of them have fled into neighbouring Chad.

So exactly what is the mission?

Graham's next words seem to answer that question in that this is not actually a military mission but an advisory mission, and it implies that Canadian troops will indeed not set foot on Sudan soil:

Defence Minister Bill Graham said whatever the Canadian military does in Darfur, it will be in a support role to the African Union, which is in charge of the peacekeeping operation and whose member states will supply most of the ground troops.
In other words, the Canadians will not be in Sudan, will be kept away from any potential danger and will safely lead from the rear.

This is not good. Leading from the rear will not win respect for Canada in the eyes of the AU soldiers or African nations but will make Canadians look timid at best and arrogant at worst -- too timid to put their own precious lives on the line but willing to arrogantly send others into danger to do the job Canadians are too good to do. And too, Canada cannot "invade" Sudan, but they can advise AU forces to do so. Canada can be so naive at times.

"We'll be looking, from a government point of view, at every way we can help the people of Darfur," Mr. Graham said. "The military is part of the solution."
And then there's this bit from Hiller:
Many living in camps find the conditions better than anything they had previously known in their villages. "They have enough to eat. They have some security. They have some medical care . . . and they have some schooling, in many cases for the first time in their lives."
Well golly gosh, the villagers should be thanking the Janjaweed hordes! Hiller is obviously in a perverse competition with Graham to see which can be more fatuous.
The long-term challenge, international development agencies say, will be to build a lasting peace and provide tools for the people of Darfur to become economically self-sufficient.
Words like those seem to imply that not only will Sudan not share their oil wealth with the western region of the country but that someone really is contemplating the establishment of a separate Darfur nation.

Sheesh, I was only speculating when I was making fun of the CBC article, but now I am truly suspicious that the long-term plan is to either set up the refugee camps in Chad as permanent settlements (look how well that worked with the Palestinians) or partition Sudan. And let me be the first to say that "it's all about the oil."

By the way, Damian's post on this subject, which is cautiously optimistic has a most memorable phrase:

I know I should be skeptical. I know I'm just setting myself up for a fall if the Liberals continue their "walk loudly and avoid carrying sticks" policy, as one would expect them to.

Posted by Debbye at 12:51 PM | Comments (9)

May 07, 2005

A "sinister nexus"

May 7 - Shaken, Occasionally Stirred has a breathtaking series of posts on connections between the Oil-for-Food Program encompassing the recent revelations of how money from the U.N. Oil-For-Food program was funneled to financiers of terrorists and research has led to threads that may tie into the Abu Nidal Organization. Abu Nidal left a long, bloody trail behind him, including the 1985 Christmastime attacks at the Rome and Vienna airports (another event in the category of things that people don't talk about but haven't forgotten.) He died in extremely odd circumstances in Iraq in August, 2002.

Shaken has put all the links together in this post and connecting the dots has led to either a startling coincidence or something that demands a great deal of explaining by the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool (or jail time. I'm easy.)

How chilling: the name I found listed in Montreal is Albanna, the same name I found that linked to alleged Oil For Food fund redirection by BNP Paribas.

When I did some background research on "Abu Nidal Organization" (ANO), I saw many references to close ties to Iraq, and routing funding through Lebanon. Perhaps a total co-incidence. But it is chilling to find a telephone listing in Montreal for an Albanna that is renting a furnished executive suite, and shares the same name as an executive for a company in Lebanon linked to Oil For Food contracts placed on hold by the US. Very chilling indeed. Scroll down to my earlier posts to see how the dots connect.

Do as he says. I'm heading back for my second read-through.

Posted by Debbye at 11:58 AM | Comments (0)

May 06, 2005

Volcker responds to sub-poenas

May 6 - Overslept and have to run, but want to note Paul Volcker's response to the Congressional committee sub-poena of records from former Oil-for-Food investigator Robert Parton:
Lives 'Are at Stake'
:

Volcker said Friday that Congress has to restrain itself from requiring certain acts and information from current or former IIC members as it conducts hearings into Oil-for-Food (search).

"It is essential that it also protect the integrity and the confidentiality of the independent investigating committee," Volcker told reporters in New York, saying the probe involved "highly sensitive matters."

"Lives of certain witnesses are at stake," he added. "We're not playing games here, we are dealing, and let me just emphasize this, in some cases, with lives."

I'm surprised he didn't implore us to "think of the children."

The U.N. Oil-for-Food Program was supposed to be about lives: allowing oil sales in exchange for purchases of goods and products that would alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people that arose from the U.N. imposed sanctions when Saddam Hussein failed to comply with the provisions of the cease-fire following Gulf War I.

That program was corrupted, and the money that was supposed to alleviate suffering went instead into the pockets of individuals - including Saddam himself.

The response of Rep. Chris Shays cuts to the chase:

"We just want transparency, we're used to it in the United States. We have freedom of information, we don't have that in the U.N.," he said. "There will be no faith in the U.N. until all the facts are out ... everyone is cooperating, and people aren't cooperating."
Tangentially, those words in part reveal why Americans are so unsettled by the publication ban imposed by the Gomery Inquiry. There is no implicit disrespect meant for Canada or Canadians (at least from most of us) but a difference in attitude about accountability for public funds.

(I hope I said what I meant to say, but I'm late and have to dash. Have a good weekend!)

Posted by Debbye at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

May 05, 2005

Canadian vets return to Holland

May 5 - Today marks the 60th anniversary of Liberation Day in Holland, a proud day for the Canadians who freed that country from Nazi rule.

The Canadian vets among military parade to mark Dutch liberation from Nazis were cheered by thousands of spectators:

Some onlookers hung out of windows, cheering loudly, snapping photos and shooting guns of red, white and blue confetti.

Marike Bakker, a 35-year-old homemaker, secured her curb-side position a full eight hours early.

"I feel very emotional," said Bakker, a camera draped around her neck. "I think these veterans are going to die soon, so we as younger people must understand what happened in the Second World War."

Those who believe that war never solved anything might want to ask the Dutch, but I wouldn't recommend doing so today.

Posted by Debbye at 05:45 PM | Comments (1)

Canada looks to the future

May 5 - Three cheers for Damian Brooks, who has kept watch over some of the other things happening in Canada while some of us (cough) have focused almost exclusively on the Adscam and Oil-for-Food scandals

The Canadian government recently released a new International Policy Statement and Damian has an excellent overview of it in A good start that comes too late.

Damian has already received validation of the best sort: Lloyd Axworthy pans the report, and Damian gets to count the ways in which Axworthy is wrong. (Follow the links in the update here to read his letter to Sec. of State Rice if you can't remember who he is.)

Today's post is on the Defence portion of the report which Damian finds disappointing because there is a lot of general talk about improving security and focusing on concerns in the Arctic but little proposed to implement those decisions.

I'd bet a month's wages that at least three foreign navies operate submarines in Canadian arctic waters. Where is even an acknowledgement of this hole in our sovereignty, let alone a discussion of how to develop a crucial under-ice naval capability to counter it?

I'm not the first military-watcher to say this, but we should OWN Arctic op's. This policy statement pays only lip service to Arctic sovereignty.

He's right. Canada should rule in the Arctic.

The issue of defence is probably doomed. The "proud tradition of peacekeeping" was damaged during the Somalia Inquiry and the urgent inclusion of pictures from that one incident at Canada's new War Museum will be a constant reminder as to why Canada has decided not to trust the overwhelming majority of decent men and women who have honourably and faithfully served this country.

But there is bit of hope, and I'd have to say that the potential for a different relationship with the U.S.A. could be a very good thing. I've complained before that far too often both the U.S.A. and the U.N. are factored into decisions which Canada offers as arguments either for or against policies would should rather be made strictly on the basis of what is in Canada's best interests, and a relationship with a Canada that has outgrown invoking the U.S. as an entity to be placated or defied would be a definite improvement if only because it would be honest - not only with the U.S., but with the Canadian people as well.

Posted by Debbye at 05:08 PM | Comments (2)

Bliveau testimony preview

May 5 - The Globe and Mail has some previews of what is expected to emerge from the testimony of Michel Bliveau before the Gomery Commission today - including assertions that $300,000 in cash allegedly went to Liberal campaign during the 1997 federal election campaign:

Mr. Bliveau is scheduled to testify today about allegedly receiving the cash from Jacques Corriveau, another Liberal supporter and close friend of Mr. Chrtien, who got millions through the sponsorship program in the 1990s.

The testimony would be the first by a Liberal official describing illicit cash transactions in contravention of Canada's electoral laws. It builds on allegations from Jean Brault, former president of Groupaction Marketing Inc., who told the inquiry of secret payments to Liberal officials in the 1990s and early 2000s -- including payments to Mr. Corriveau he was told were "for the cause."

Believe it or no, an envelope stuffed with $20 and $100 bills totaling between $75,000 to $100,000 was allegedly passed to Bliveau by Corriveau (the self-described "man of culture.") There was no receipt.
The cash was used to prop up Liberal organizations in "orphan ridings," Mr. Bliveau said, referring to the expression used in Liberal circles to describe ridings held by other parties. (Emphasis added)
It seems somehow fitting to take a Pirates of Penzance break.

May 7 - Bliveau's testimony is covered here and during it he exonerated Chretien from knowledge of the kickbacks:

FORMER PM Jean Chretien's chief organizer told the AdScam inquiry he witnessed more than $400,000 in cash secretly pumped into the Liberal Party's coffers to finance the 1997 election and pay off debt.

During shocking testimony yesterday Michel Beliveau said during his time as the Liberals' Quebec executive director in 1997 and 1998 he personally received thick envelopes stuffed with cash directly from Chretien's former bagman Jacques Corriveau and ad exec Alain Renaud.

"I take that responsibility, I accept it," Beliveau said, tearfully confessing that in revealing the financing scheme he has broken trust with the Liberals. Beliveau said he decided to tell Justice John Gomery about the illicit cash payments after speaking to Chretien, who he said didn't know of the backdoor donations.

"I'm still a loyal man so I warned the (former) prime minister that I had received my subpoena," he said.

"The only thing he told me is to tell the truth."

[...]

Beliveau, who broke down and wept into a handkerchief before leaving the stand, said he handed the envelopes of cash to former Liberal executive member Benoit Corbeil, admitting that they were never registered in the party books and broke financing laws.

Bliveau also testified that Liberal candidate Helene Sherrer, who ran unsuccessfully for a riding in Quebec City, was unaware that Corriveau had supplied him with $ 8,000 to pay off the debts of a company she owned. Helene Sherrer is currently Martin's principal secretary.

Posted by Debbye at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

A tale of two pictures

May 5 - There's a picture in Canada's new War Museum that has stirred some controversy. Peter Worthington writes:

Prominently displayed in the new Canadian War Museum, which opens to the public next week, is a 10-foot painting of a Canadian soldier choking a young and bloodied Somali prisoner with a baton.

[...]

Why is this painting in the War Museum?

While the purpose of the new War Museum is not to glorify war, surely its intent isn't to belittle and depict Canadian soldiers as murderers?

Read the whole thing. Peter is admirably restrained in it.

The CBC is also covering the dismay of Veterans groups over the inclusion of the infamous picture and has a response from the artist:

The artist, Gertrude Kearns, said these two paintings deal with the theme of how Canadian soldiers deal with the psychological toll of modern warfare.

She said a committee, which included several veterans, approved her concept.

"These particular works, the ones in the museum, are about conscience. They're also about complexity," said Kearns.

She wants conscience and complexity? If the horrors of Nazi Germany are too simple, she might try this:

GI and dying Iraqi girl 0_22_450_baby.jpg
Michael Yon

Eager to get to and kill U.S. soldiers, Michael Moore's "Minutemen" plowed through a crowd of children who were playing in the street.

They "got to them" all right, and gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "human shields."

Is that "complex" enough?

Amy Bieger, wife of Maj. Mark Bieger (the soldier in the above photo) is interviewed here.

(NY Post and CBC links and photo via Neale News.)

11:59 - Paul has a lot more to say on the Canadian War Museum's choice of pictures and connects this fiasco to the cheapening of the English language.

14:11 From this post by Michelle Malkin I've learned that the photographer, Michael Yon, has a blog and he has a very moving post titled simply Little Girl. His final line on the eager murderers is "Their day will come."

So say we all.

Posted by Debbye at 10:59 AM | Comments (4)

"A complex billing scheme"

May 5 - Allegations that members of the federal government pressured sponsorship contractors to donate to the provincial Liberal Party of Quebec were bad enough, but now there is evidence that taxpayers paid for television ads for that same party (Public paid for TV spots):

TAXPAYERS were secretly billed for TV spots in 1998 showcasing French-speaking Quebec Liberal MPs to the tune of $92,008, the AdScam inquiry heard yesterday.

Financial documents tabled before Justice John Gomery show a complex billing scheme obscuring the fact that former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano had taxpayers pay for the production of partisan spots that aired on community television stations between 1997 and 2000.

Productions Cameo owner Thalie Tremblay, the daughter of Michelle Tremblay who is closely tied to Gagliano, told the AdScam inquiry that she first sent her invoices for the TV spots directly to Gagliano's office but later agreed to send her bills through Montreal's Groupaction Marketing.

In 1998, Pierre Tremblay, who was then Gagliano's chief-of-staff, told Thalie Tremblay to describe the work she did in general terms and to redirect the bill to Groupaction which "hid" the bill within sponsorship-related invoices. They paid Tremblay and Gagliano billed the House of Commons for the amount paid to Productions Cameo.

The article provides a bit more confirmation of Corbeil's testimony about what he termed "fake volunteeers":

A handful of Liberal organizers appeared before Justice John Gomery late yesterday, testifying that they were paid for their work during the 2000 election campaign through phony consulting invoices they sent to Quebec City's Commando Communication.
Following allegations by Corbeil about a connection between working for Liberal party campaigns and appointments to the bench, Judge John Gill in Alberta is being scrutinized:
John Gill, who served as co-chairman of the 2004 federal campaign, was appointed judge of the Court of Queen's Bench of Alberta in January. Elections Canada records show he made donations to the Liberal party in the last few years, including $763 in 1998, $828 in 2000 and $340 in 2003.

Gill's former law firm, Edmonton-based McCuaig Desrochers, also gave thousands of dollars in donations to the Liberal party, records show.

The NDP has raised concerns about the appointment on the heels of his high-profile work on the federal campaign, but Gill declined to respond to the concerns.

"I can't comment," he told the Sun. "Sorry, I can't talk about it. That's part of the job -- you don't talk about things. I've got nothing to say about it, basically."

A bit of thrusting and parrying during Question Period on this issue:
In the Commons yesterday, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper demanded an investigation, saying the Liberal party had "corrupted the system of nominating, vetting and appointing judges."

But Prime Minister Paul Martin said Canadians should be proud of their judiciary and blasted Harper for calling its integrity into question.

Chuck Guite admitted to violating federal rules requiring a one-year period between leaving public service and lobbying the federal government (he signed his first contract within 24 hours of retiring.) Records show that his company, Oro Communication, issued bills for more than $1,000,000 from 1999-2002 - mostly to advertising firms and one sponsorship contractor.

Greg Weston identified electile dysfunction in Sunday's column, and predicted that it is likely to worsen:

Call it electile dysfunction on a national scale -- Canadians so angry and disillusioned with the shambles in federal politics that they can't bring themselves to vote for anyone.

It was bad enough that last year's election set a 100-year record for voter absenteeism, Paul Martin and his Liberal government having been handed power by barely 20% of the registered electorate.

But by the time the muck settles this time around, the coming election could well establish yet another low-water mark.

Last year's poor showing on election day was driven primarily by voters turned off by their lack of choices -- angry with Liberal corruption, but unimpressed with Stephen Harper and fearful of his new party's agenda.

Unfortunately, it looks like the coming election could be more of the same. Polls indicate voters are even angrier at Liberal corruption, but only marginally more comfortable with the Conservatives and their leader.

O Canada: Mad as hell and not going to vote anymore.

The Georgians, Ukrainians, Iraqis, Kyrgys and soon the Lebanese continue to shame us by their determination to secure honest, representative governments. Can anyone imagine Canadians - or Americans - erecting tent cities in the dead of winter? Yet, out of pique, we are childishly surrendering that for which others have unyieldingly striven.

Posted by Debbye at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)

Gomery Inquiry Extras

May 5 - I'm still fuming over my 2004 tax return so really didn't need this from the Captain's Quarters to further my state of discontent -- "spoiler" alert, eh?

Posted by Debbye at 08:12 AM | Comments (0)

May 04, 2005

Guite links Martin, Manley, Dingwall and Gagliano to Adscam (Updated)

May 4 - Captain's Quarters reviews the connection between the American purchasers of ad agency Vickers and Benson and what they needed to do to ensure contracts under Adscam and what those dispensing contracts could do to ensure they got those contracts here, and (link via from that post) CTV has published some of Guite's testimony before the Gomery Commission in which he cites involvements by some top Cabinet officials in giving the assurances that Vickers and Benson would continue to receive contracts as inducement for the American buyers:

Guite testified that back in 2000, he was told that then-finance minister Paul Martin had intervened to ensure a Liberal-friendly ad firm wouldn't lose its lucrative contracts with the federal sponsorship program.

Guite had already left the civil service by then, and was lobbying the government on behalf of the Toronto-based advertising agency Vickers and Benson Ltd.

Hoping to secure the future of his firm's ad contracts with Ottawa, Guite said he had lunch with his former boss, Public Works Minister Alfonso Gagliano.

"He said he'd look after it," Guite told the commission.

A week later, Guite says he got a call from Gagliano's chief of staff, Pierre Tremblay.

"The minister had spoken with both ministers and the volume of business would be maintained," Guite testified. He claimed he was assured Vicker's contracts with two federal departments -- Industry under John Manley and Finance under Paul Martin -- were safe.

Martin and Manley have denied the allegations in statements issued by their offices.

The CTV also reports that Guite said that the awarding of contracts under the Progressive Conservatives was even more political which again reinforces the need for severe reformation of the system.

I've been sick with a virus and am still under the weather but will try to stay with this.

May 5 - 08:42: Toronto Sun story here has this item about a new piece of evidence:

A new inquiry document shows Corriveau went directly to Jean Carle in the PMO to secure sponsorships even before the creation of the program in 1996.

The document backs Guite's claims that Chretien's former chief of staff Jean Pelletier and Carle drew up the sponsorship lists. As the program matured, Guite said he got direction from Gagliano.

Guite said Gagliano dipped into the sponsorships to pay for his own pet projects, at one time demanding a paper trail-free approval for a Canada sign in a small Italian village.

While candidly admitting he broke contracting rules, Guite blamed the ad agencies for sky-high production fees.

Posted by Debbye at 09:04 PM | Comments (3)

April 23, 2005

To the polls! (C'mon, you know you want to.)

Apr. 23 - The impact of Adscam is finally returning to the one arena that most needs to be challenged: the Ontario voter. I say "returning" because when Ontarians went to the polls last year far too many of them surrendered to the devil they knew and returned the Liberal Party to power - albeit limited as other Canadians were less willing to consort with that devil.

There's no getting around it: Quebeckers punished the Liberal Party. Albertans punished the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party leads a minority government because some Ontarians punished the Liberal Party but those in greater Toronto area did not - and the mayor of Toronto is setting the stage for us to be bribed - again:

"It would be very serious," he told reporters Saturday. "It would cost us, directly, $40 to $50 million this year. That's equivalent to about a four per cent tax hike. And indirectly, tens of millions more."

The impact would only get worse in succeeding years, he said.

Miller is worried about his city's share of federal gas tax revenue promised by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Paul Martin.

The Toronto Star newspaper published an editorial Saturday opposing an early election. The newspaper said if the Martin government were defeated without the budget being passed, it would cost Canada's cities $600 million in lost gas tax revenue.

We've all read the accusations that Quebec holds Canada for ransom and that rivers of federal money flow into Quebec, but Quebeckers refused to be bribed in the last federal election. I wish I could say the same for Ontario.

Kateland recognizes the tip of an iceberg when she sees it:

Adscam only represents one Liberal run government program. If this is how the Liberals ran the sponsorship program in Quebec; whats to say that all the other liberal government programs in Quebec and the rest of the country are not run the same way? Think GUN REGISTRY or STRIPPERGATE for starters. Adscam is only where they got caught holding the smoking gun - not evidence of innocence.
Let's take it even further. If Benoit Corbeil's statements are true, the Liberal Party systematically set out to destroy the Progressive Conservative Party in Quebec and see to it that the Liberal Party and Canada became synonymous. What's to say they didn't also try to subvert the democratic process in other provinces?

Joe Clark, the last leader of the federal Progressive Conservative Party, actually endorsed Paul Martin and the Liberal Party over Stephen Harper and the newly merged Conservative Party of Canada one year ago. Greg Weston wrote a column last May in which he accused some very senior Tories of making a secret deal with the Liberal Party in the 2000 election to secure Clark's re-election in return for securing Alberta Liberal Anne McLellan's re-election - and then some:

Two weeks before Jean Chretien called the country to the polls in October 2000, reliable sources say, a small group of top Tory officials cut a secret deal to help Chretien's ultimately successful national campaign for a third majority government.

In return, the Liberals agreed to throw the vote in the Calgary Centre riding of then Tory leader Joe Clark.

In what may have been a series of similar deals, sources say the Tories also agreed to "stand down" to help Liberal Deputy Prime Minister Anne McLellan hang on to her Edmonton seat, which she won by only 733 votes.

Sources refuse to divulge details of what, exactly, the Tories agreed to do for the Liberals. One would say only that the deal "without question, helped them (the Liberals) nationally."

Another tool in the Liberal Party bag has been bribery of provincial governments by means of transfer payments to provinces - and that means they can also withhold transfer payments to punish provincial governments.

People should be outraged that the government give or withholds their money according to "correct voting," (it isn't that different from the kind of tactic that people like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe uses.) Nevertheless, the Liberal party was elected in Ontario with a general expectation that the federal Liberal party would loosen the purse-strings more readily for their provincial cousins than they had for the Progressive Conservative-led government and once the Liberals were installed, the federal government re-opened talks about extra money for Ontario - and nobody so much as blushed.

Kateland analyzed the reaction to Martin's pathetic speech April 22:

My conclusion was that the typical Ontarian will give him [Paul Martin] kudos and high marks for stating the obvious and delivering it with obvious sincerity. ..

Will that work? Canadians are neither naturally politicos or idealistic. We tend to take people at their word rather than judging them by their actions. I think the most common phrase in Canada is that he means well. That excuses all.

Here in Toronto, people desperately need that excuse so they can do the math from a high moral ground:

"he meant well"
+
"he'll give us money"
Toronto votes Liberal.

This should be easy, because it is for that monetary incentive that they voted Liberal last year. (Sheesh, sex workers have more brains than had the average Torontonian voter because they demand to be paid before rendering service.) The only question is how easily Torontonians can be fooled twice.

Martin's plea to let him "clean up the mess" sounds very reasonable unless you're alert like Laurent and remember a 1995 assertion from then Minister of Finance Paul Martin:

The problem is that Paul Martin has been claiming for the last 10 years that he was cleaning up. As soon as his 1995 budget speech, he claimed that he had introduced "a new and much tighter system to manage its spending" and that his first priority was to "eliminate waste and abuse and ensure value for Canadian taxpayers." We saw the results.
1995 was also the year of the referendum vote in Quebec and the the Liberal conspiracy to destroy the Progressive Conservative Party which was one of the goals for which the Sponsorship Program was designed. The question is inevitable: did Martin tighten the system or loosen it so that Adscam could proceed undetected for several years?

One of Benoit Corbeil's assertions was that lawyers worked for Liberal party candidates with the expectation of receiving appointments to the bench. (Kind of a neat Canadian twist on "will work for food," eh?) Damian Penny and Bob Tarantino write eloquently of their outrage so I won't cover the same ground here.

I seem to be the only person I've read that liked Duceppe's rebuttal last Thursday (and I'm disappointed that CTV didn't see fit to post the text to his speech yet included NDP Leader Jack Layton's) but my impression of Duceppe's remarks was that he appealed to Canadians to restore honesty to the Canadian government, and however cynical one might be about the Bloc Quebecois, there really isn't much we can say to urge Quebec to stay in Canada especially as voting Liberal would be to condone the dirty tactics they used in Quebec which gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "special relationship."

Maybe it's because I'm coming at this whole thing with an American anti-federalist (i.e., pro-States rights, pro-provincial rights) attitude. I can completely sympathize with the desires of both Quebeckers and Albertans to be free of a federal government that increasingly usurps power from provincial governments, takes the revenues of the provinces and then uses that same money to reward or punish according to how the electorate votes.

But this is the interesting part: I think that Ontario and Toronto will get a better deal from the Conservative Party than the Liberals can offer. The Liberals can be fairly confident that, as Toronto voters love platitudes and scare pretty easily, the election is in the bag for them so they can afford to make promises they don't intend to keep, but Conservative MPs would, if elected, have to go extra lengths to meet their promises in order to be re-elected and retain power.

Ah, power. It really is all about power, but there seems to be a perverse disinclination in Canada to examine the pursuit of power. Maybe that's why "he meant well" has such traction and why people seem actually surprised that the Liberal party is as corrupt as it is, and maybe that's why Torontonians, under the veneer of their sophistication, are stupid voters.

The Liberal Party has ruled Canada with unchallenged arrogance for 12 years -- how could anyone realistically expect them not to be corrupt? It defies logic, psychology and history. Mark Steyn puts it succinctly:

In a one-party state, the one party in power attracts not those interested in the party, but those interested in power.
In an age when there is so much talk about empowerment it seems beyond strange that more people don't understand power - personal or political.

It looks as though the Conservative Party is putting together a slate (Conservatives line up high-profile candidates) and, if you can believe anything Layton says, he isn't selling out to the Liberal Party but is willing to go with the proposed Liberal budget if they meet his demands to, er, fight smog (and, socialist to the end, drop plans for a tax rebate cut for businesses.)

Although I don't know if Toronto will vote Liberal or Conservative (or Green, NDP or even Rhinosaurus) I do think it urgently necessary that an election be held now rather than later. Those who vote to oust the Liberals will at least have the knowledge that they personally did not give tacit approval to corruption.

Fighting isn't only about winning, but about reclaiming honour, self-respect and human dignity. People who give into outrage without a fight lose more than those who lose a fight: damage to the spirit lasts longer than bruises and, knowing they wimped out, it gets harder to fight back as each subsequent outrage piles higher like stones on a burial cairn.

(Globe and Mail and Reuters links via Neale News.)

Apr. 24 - 07:56: Criminey, even CNN has noticed that the Liberals are desperate to forge a deal with the NDP and that Bono is disappointed in Martin.

18:12 - I should have read Sari before I posted; she articulates what I felt about Duceppe:

Duceppe had me wishing - not for the first time - that he wasn't on the wrong side, because as usual he stole the show with a fantastic opening line to his speech, something to the effect of "the last time a prime minister addressed the nation, it was 1995 and Chretien was fighting to save Canada; this time, Martin's fighting to save the Liberals". He picked up votes for sure.
It is surprisingly possible that separatist sentiments in the West and Quebec will end up saving Canada by forcing the federal government to return those powers to the provinces which were originally apportioned to them in the Constutution - including health care - and restore the notion of local control over local concerns. Of course, that would mean less power concentrated in Ottawa ...

Apr. 25 - 11:00: RJ at Thoughtcrimes.ca has a key observervation about Duceppe:

Duceppe does not have to maneuver for position nationally as do Martin, Harper, and Layton, so that gives him a bit more room to step up and be statesmanlike. He talked about how the BQ are not supporters of federalism, but that the BQ had pledged to work within the system.

Key to both Harper and Duceppe's speeches was the distinction that the scandal allegations emerging from the Gomery Inquiry are Liberal scandals--not Quebec scandals. An important point that will continue to get much play from both BQ and CPC talking heads over the next few weeks.

The Meatriarchy may reflect the thoughts of many Canadians on Duceppe:
Duceppe - well I didnt really listen to him. Although the bit I caught he sounded better than usual. If anyone is growing in stature through this thing its him.

Posted by Debbye at 11:56 PM | Comments (8)

April 22, 2005

Saddam, Martin and Strong

Apr. 22 - Adscam may be the least of Paul Martin's worries. Canada Free Press has uncovered damaging information that ties Martin, Maurice Strong, Tongsun Park, Saddam Hussein, and the U.N. Oil for Food project: Hussein invested one million dollars in Paul Martin-owned Cordex.

The Canadian company that Saddam Hussein invested a million dollars in belonged to the Prime Minister of Canada, canadafreepress.com has discovered.

Cordex Petroleum Inc., launched with Saddams million by Prime Minister Paul Martins mentor Maurice Strongs son Fred Strong, is listed among Martins assets to the Federal Ethics committee on November 4, 2003.

Among Martins Public Declaration of Declarable Assets are: "The Canada Steamship Lines Group Inc. (Montreal, Canada) 100 percent owned"; "Canada Steamship Lines Inc. (Montreal, Canada) 100 percent owned"Cordex Petroleums Inc. (Alberta, Canada) 4.6 percent owned by the CSL Group Inc."

Yesterday, Strong admitted that Tongsun Park, the Korean man accused by U.S. federal authorities of illegally acting as an Iraqi agent, invested in Cordex, the company he owned with his son, in 1997.

In that admission, Strong describes Cordex as a Denver-based company. Cordex Petroleum Inc. is listed among Martins assets as an Alberta-based company.Read the whole thing.

Posted by Debbye at 09:26 PM | Comments (2)

April 21, 2005

Harper and Duceppe rocked!

Apr. 21 - Prime Minister Paul Martin gave his speech and begged for time to let the Gomery Inquiry finish it's task. He pledged to call an election Election 30 days after final Gomery report.

In short, he gave the Canadian equivalent of a Checkers speech.

Opposition Leaders Stephen Harper and Giles Duceppe responded with well-targeted, rapid-fire rebuttals of Martin's points. They both hammered home the point that it's not the country that is in crisis but the Liberal Party.

NDP Leader gave a foolish speech in which he made promises that would amount to raising taxes.

There are video links to the right of the CTV article.

More later, other people in this household want equal (ha!) time on the computer. I should toss 'em a second or two ...

Posted by Debbye at 07:47 PM | Comments (2)

The military in Canada

Apr. 21 - Damian Brooks has two impressive series of posts on the report from the Canadian Defence Committee and one on the purchase of submarines and the death of a Canadian sailor:

Big week

Defence review: first blush

The submarine purchase fiasco.

Good, solid reads.

Posted by Debbye at 06:38 PM | Comments (8)

Maurice Strong steps down

Apr. 21 - I woke up and turned on CPAC about half-way through Question Period (and a fine Question Period it was!) and nearly fell over when a member of the Opposition stated that Maurice Strong had stepped down from his UN post and went on to ask questions about the Canadian involvement in the U.N. Oil-for-food program.

I believe this is the first time that particular scandal has been addressed in the House of Commons.

The article is accompanied by no links to the ongoing investigations into the U.N. Oil-for-food program but does link to a glowing in-depth profile of the United Nations.

Yesterday, two investigators, Robert Parton and Miranda Duncan, resigned from the Volcker inquiry which is looking into the U.N. Oil-for-Food program Saying Probe Too Soft on Annan. Neither investigator was available for comment.

Back to Strong (see here and here for background to the story behind this story):

UNITED NATIONS - Maurice Strong, a long-time Canadian businessman and currently the top UN envoy for North Korea, will suspend his work for the United Nations while investigators look into his ties to a South Korean businessman accused in the UN oil-for-food scandal in Iraq.

Strong denies any involvement with the tainted program and has pledged to co-operate with investigators.

His ties to Tongsun Park are raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest in respect of his role as envoy to North Korea. (Emphasis added.)

Park is accused of accepting millions from the Iraqi government while being suspected of operating as an unregistered agent for Baghdad, lobbying for oil-for-food contracts.

Of course he'll cooperate! Mass shredder Iqbal Riza did such a thorough job destroying documents that could possibly have ruined both Annan and Strong.

Nice try by the CBC to imply the issue is a the propriety of being an envoy to N. Korea while maintaining business relations with a corrupt S. Korean ...

After Corbeil's revelations, the CBC needs to be scrutinized. After all, one of the first rules of warfare is to seize control of communications and news media, and the CBC is a federally funded body. I doubt it's an accident that they subtly altered this news items.

Posted by Debbye at 04:53 PM | Comments (4)

Martin boosted Boulay's contract

Apr. 21 - It's hard not to wonder if Paul Martin had his own, personal corruption ring that was not attached to the Sponsorship Program. First there were some surprising revelations about Martin's knowledge of improprieties in granting contracts to Earnscliffe and now it appears he helped other friends and political allies: Contract boost by Paul Martin earned $75,000 for his friend, say documents:

MONTREAL (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin approved a contract amendment when he was finance minister that landed an ad man friend $75,000 for doing little work, say documents at the sponsorship inquiry.

Memos from January 1996 indicate Martin approved the boost in additional funding for a Canada Savings Bond direct mail campaign. The file, unrelated to the sponsorship program, was co-managed by Montreal firm Groupe Everest, headed by Claude Boulay, and resulted in the $75,000 commission.

Finance official J.P. Labrosse said in a January 2, 1996, memo that the contract amendment involving Everest was "approved by the minister (Martin) on December 21, 1995." The contract was boosted to $2.6 million from $1.7 million.

Documents show Boulay's ad firm was paid a 17.56 per cent commission for the campaign even though the bulk of the work was done by another agency, Pinnacle Advertising.

It wasn't clear whether Martin knew the funding increase put money in Boulay's pocket.

There was some discussion about dividends paid out to Boulay during his testimony earlier (on Monday, I think.) I suspect Martin is familiar with that routine practice.
Boulay, who continued his testimony at the inquiry on Thursday, had worked on Martin's 1990 leadership bid as well as his 1988 and 1993 election campaigns.

The funding approval went ahead over the objections of Public Works official Allan Cutler, who later blew the lid off of the sponsorship scandal.

Cutler said in a memo to a finance official that Groupe Everest's involvement in the contract was minimal or nil.

"Groupe Everest will presumably obtain a commission on the sub-contract without having done any work," said the memo dated January 26, 1996.

Cutler also noted the funding increase had been approved even though all of the mailing and distribution work related to the contract had already been completed.

Is Claude Boulay trying to finesse his comments in a style akin to Corriveau? Note the following exchange:
Boulay testified Thursday that Cutler was in no position to know what work Everest performed on the campaign

"I don't know how he could make this comment," the ad executive said under questioning from inquiry counsel Marie Cossette.

"He wasn't there when we met with Pinnacle."

Cossette then asked: "So Mr. Cutler was mistaken when he wrote this memo?"

Boulay replied: "Listen. What I'm telling you is that he wasn't there. He can make a comment, but he wasn't there during our meeting with Pinnacle."

But the question was if Cutler was mistaken, and one has to infer that, as Boulay won't answer, Cutler was not.

Alternate link here.

Note this change: Prime Minister Martin will be addressing the nation (earlier than first scheduled) at 7 p.m. tonight.

Posted by Debbye at 04:43 PM | Comments (0)

Corbeil confirms Brault's tesitmony, letters refute Chretien's

Apr. 21 - Jean Brault's shocking testimony about the manipulation of the Sponsorship Program to funnel money illegally to the Liberal Party in Quebec has been corroborated in an interview with Benoit Corbeil, who is the first Liberal insider to admit to the money laundering scheme.

From the Globe and Mail, Insider backs Brault story:

Benot Corbeil, the former director-general of the Liberal Party's office in Montreal, said in an interview that he received approval from some of his superiors for the cash transactions that were part of a regular flouting of electoral law.

At the time, Mr. Corbeil was at the top of the party's organization in Quebec, working under the direct supervision of then-minister Alfonso Gagliano.

Gagliano was the man to see for contracts, and had claimed earlier while protesting his innocence that he was being victimized on account of his Italian ancestry.
I took the bills [from Mr. Brault] and with that, I paid people, without declaring it [to Elections Canada], Mr. Corbeil said, refusing to state exactly how much money he received that day.

I have to admit it, that's the way it happened, he said.

[...]

Mr. Corbeil said most of the recipients of cash payments were Liberal supporters who took unpaid leaves from their positions in ministerial offices to work on the general election.

I liked to call them fake volunteers, he said.

The interview M. Corbeil gave was in anticipation of his appearance before the Gomery Inquiry in May at which he intends to make clear the total control exerted over him by the Prime Minister's Office under Chretien and "the Liberal hierarchy in Quebec."

According to M. Corbeil, in 2000 Groupaction paid five "fake volunteers" by cheque through Commando Marketing, a Quebec City company owned by an employee of Groupaction, and Groupaction contributed $100,000 after Mr. Corbeil made an urgent plea for funds to a senior official in Ottawa who he declined to name. He said he relayed information about the transactions to "many of his superiors" and that his actions were approved. He also told members of the electoral commission.

Although Mr. Corbeil would not name names in the interview, he indicated he would do so under oath when he appears before the Inquiry.

Many of them came and told me they wanted to get paid right away, he said.

Mr. Corbeil said the people who received the cash payments were part of a larger group of party supporters who worked at the Liberal Party's headquarters in Montreal during the election campaign. He said most of that larger group were lawyers, engineers or accountants from major firms, which he said hoped to reap federal contracts after the election.

They don't want to get paid right away, they want to get paid later, he said, noting that many of the lawyers have since been named to the bench. (Emphasis added)

Mr. Corbeil said that in that context, the Liberals did not fully reveal the full cost associated with their campaign as required under Canadian law.

We accounted for the provision of goods, but we didn't account for the majority of the services, he said.

Mr. Corbeil went on to explain how the rationalization for the Sponsorship Program led so quickly to graft: it seems the Liberal Party adopted a war mentality about the separatists:
He said that after the [1995] referendum, two goals were approved by the highest authorities in the Liberal Party: Annihilate the Conservative Party in Quebec to unite all of the federalists in Quebec under the Liberal banner, and ensure that the Liberal Party became synonymous with Canada in the province of Quebec. (Emphasis added.)
They succeeded in the first part. The Progressive Conservtive Party was destroyed and the federal Liberal Party is despised for being so corrupt, which is why the Bloc won so many seats in the last federal election and why they will sweep the next one. As for the Liberal Party of Quebec, they are currently the party in power there but, if I may use an American saying, a member of that party probably couldn't get elected as dog catcher in the next election. My guess is that the Parti Quebecois will sweep the next elections, although the ADQ may win some seats.

But am I missing something? The 1995 referendum, like the one before, was defeated. Why would the Liberal Party decide to characterize it as a war and begin to fight it after it was defeated?

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but this explanation lacks credibility. It is entirely too self-serving, and I'd guess that they are using the unity card to conceal their true agenda: total and unlimited power by any means necessary.

Mr. Corbeil said the strategy was developed by the PMO and the Liberal establishment in Quebec, and that Mr. Corbeil's group only provided the foot soldiers.

Mr. Corbeil said that as the director-general of the party in Quebec, his biggest challenge was raising funds.

He said the Quebec wing of the party was in a constant rivalry with the national organization, which got the first crack at the biggest donors in Quebec.

He said the Quebec wing always wound up with the crumbs, and that it could never find a permanent solution to its funding woes.

Maybe if more people had listened to us and paid more attention, maybe we could have avoided some problems down the road, he said.

Er, right.

18:21 This indicates that the interview was on CBC (French) Radio.

Letters have revealed that Jacques Corriveau made Sponsorship pitches directly to Chretien and that Chretien replied - again in writing - that he would pass the request along.

But the request indicates Corriveau finessed his response when he testified last week that he never discussed sponsorship deals with Chretien.

The exchange of letters also raises questions about Chretien's testimony in February during which he said he never talked sponsorship with Corriveau and didn't know he was getting government business.

Corriveau provided a similar response at the inquiry last Thursday before he was even asked about it, saying "There was not, I can assure you, any request for any file that interests the commission."

Pressed further by inquiry counsel Bernard Roy about any possible sponsorship talk with Chretien, Corriveau replied, "It's certain. No."

But in his letter to Chretien, dated August 26, 2002, Corriveau said he was prepared to meet him to discuss an injection of cash into the 2003 show.

The letter contained a laundry list of items for the prime minister to consider, including:

$3.5 million in sponsorship funding for the event:
$2.6 million from other government departments:
$500,000 for similar botanical events in three African countries and for First Nations communities.
Lodging for 250 gardeners at a military base south of Montreal.

Chretien replied in writing just over two months later, saying he would send the request to colleagues including Sheila Copps, then heritage minister, as well as John McCallum, the defence minister at the time.

I need to sleep on this (and I want to see Martin's televised address tonight.) The time on the Globe article is Thursday, Apr. 21, 5:19 a.m., so Claude Boulay would not have heard about any of this during his testimony yesterday during which he admitted receiving a $3.5 million contract after lobbying Gagliano.

(Alternate link here.)

(Globe and Mail link from Damian.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:49 AM | Comments (0)

April 20, 2005

Blogging Tories challenge

Apr. 20 - Sometimes somebody gets a really great notion, and even though I'm kind of out of this fight I'm also in it because I believe that the system of consensual government works best when there's a viable Opposition (and besides, I'm tired of being ripped off. Aren't you?)

All things Canadian has issued a fundraising challenge to the Blogging Tories. I'm not one [either a blogging Tory or a Tory as I'm not a citizen] so I'm encouraging Canadians who want to force some accountability onto government to go here if you've finally decided that voting for "the devil you know" is a dumb reason to vote for the kind of government you don't want.

Posted by Debbye at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

Adscam catch-up

Apr. 20 - Sorry about the length of the following posts. After years of having not much to post it's a damned avalanche and I'm still playing catch-up on Adscam on my half-a-weekend ... by the way, watching the testimony has been made the easier due to the fluid delivery of the interpreter.

I need to get some sleep, so I'll just post the relevant links and try to counteract all the coffee I drank last night.

April 18 testimony at the Gomery Inquiry: Chretien ally may have lied to press (Corriveau's testimony.)

Letter ties Martin to sponsorship figure: Tories which is a smoking gun if you actually believe Martin is a sincere kind of guy -- I assumed someone in his office wrote it and Martin just scribbled the obligatory "personal" comment, but Kate sees more and she has often been right.

Somebody is unhappy about their cut from Adscam. What to do? Sue!

Boulay denies discussing sponsorship program with Martin ... well, he would say that, wouldn't he. (Longer living link here.)

Opposition Day cancelled by the Liberal minority government. It made Question Period even more uproarious than usual. The Opposition fights back - or allows itself to be provoked prematurely, depending on your point of view.

Posted by Debbye at 03:25 AM | Comments (0)

Maurice Strong under OFF probe scrutiny

Apr. 19 - Is Maurice Strong the anonymous Canadian U.N. official No. 2 cited in reports about the arrest of David Bay Chalmers Jr? Sure looks like it ...

Oil-For-Food Probe Targets UN Aide Maurice Strong:

Strong, a special adviser to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on North Korea and one of Canada's most influential entrepreneurs, acknowledged on Monday that he had ties to South Korean Tongsun Park, who is suspected of bribing U.N. officials in the oil-for-food scandal.

Park, a central figure in an influence-peddling scandal in Washington in the 1970s, was charged by federal prosecutors in New York last week with being an unregistered agent for the Iraqi government before Saddam Hussein's ouster in 2003.

The Independent Inquiry Committee into the oil-for-food program, led by former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, has now opened an investigation into Strong, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Maurice Strong is also a former president of Power Corp, as shown by Kevin Steel's all-purpose handy-dandy chart.
In 1997 or 1998, Park arranged a meeting in a Manhattan restaurant with a high-ranking U.N. official, who was not identified. Park later told an informant he had spent $5 million to "fund business dealings" with the official, a U.S. criminal complaint said.

Park, according to the informant, invested about $1 million in an unnamed Canadian company set up by the son of the U.N. official. The money was later lost when the company failed.

And the other $4,000,000.00? Oh, sorry. That was impolite.
Strong, 76, acknowledged in a written statement that Park in 1997 had invested "on a normal commercial basis" in an energy company with which he was associated that had no links to Iraq.
Well, that isn't Power Corp. Remember, it was All About The Oil.
Strong's son Frederick Strong is a Canadian businessman who has worked in the energy industry. He could not immediately be reached for comment but the federal complaint did not mention Strong or anyone from his family.

Maurice Strong has been active in the oil industry and has also worked for the United Nations for decades in various jobs including several senior posts. He had an office down the hall from Annan for about a year in 1997 when he served as the secretary-general's special envoy for U.N. reform.

He also briefly was a member of the board of Air Harbour Technologies Ltd. along with Annan's son Kojo Annan, whom the Volcker panel is also investigating for possible conflicts of interest in the award of a multimillion-dollar oil-for-food contract to Cotecna, a Swiss company that employed him.

Air Harbour Technologies, based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is chaired by Hani Yamani, the son of former Saudi oil minister Sheikh Ahmed Zaki Yamani.

Strong, in a written statement on Monday, said he has continued to maintain a relationship with Park, who he said advised him on "North Korean issues in my role as U.N. envoy."

Maybe he means when Maurice Strong reported that U.S.-North Korean relations could be eased by a treaty because we all just needed to communicate.
The United Nations was looking into whether it was appropriate for Strong to continue working for Annan during the investigation, spokesman Dujarric said.

Annan, however, would not be drawn into the controversy.

I'm sorry, but I find that sentence extremely funny. "Drawn" into controversy? He is already neck-deep in controversy! Is he catatonic? on drugs? Does he have a grasp on what has happened on his watch? Maybe not; he kind of missed that whole Rwanda thing, you know, and the Sudan thing is beyond his comprehension. Or he could just be incredibly brazen.

Dear oh dear, what shall we do with Annan? (raises hand) Cut of his .... funding?

"Maurice Strong has issued a statement and is also in touch with the Volcker Commission and has indicated he will cooperate with anyone who is looking into this," Annan said."
And why not? The shredders did their job.

According to this, Annan didn't know that Strong and Tongsun Park had a business relationship and U.N. officials say that Park and former UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali were close.

Time to go hmmm (I'm kidding - it's way, way past time to content ourselves with going hmmm. It's rapidly getting to be time to grab those pitchforks and torches, though.) First Louise Frechette, then Reid Morden, and now Strong ... the Canadian bureaucrats at the U.N. are implicated in the Oil for Food scandal as deeply as their federal Liberal friends are in Adscam. Anyone see a pattern yet?

In seemingly unrelated news, Canada is revamping their foreign policy and forging stronger ties with its North American neighbours. I hope they mean the North Pole, because the revelations in the inquiry of the Oil-for-Food scandal have rendered Canada's profile as being, um, less than trustworthy with sensitive American security issues.

Oh, why mince words? They're the farking enemy! (I trust you know what Canadian "they" I'm referring to. Fourth member of the Axis of Weasels, right? Nothing must stand in the way of access to Iran's oil fields (scroll down.) They never met an enemy of the U.S. they didn't cozy up to. That them.)

True to form, the premiers of Ontario and Quebec are raising their fears over border plans, and just to clarify, they are referring to this one. That's right, the premiers of the two provinces that hate America most are upset that their residents can't enter a country they vehemently despise without a passport. (A curious person might wonder why on earth they'd want to visit such a horrible, dreadful, unenlightened country, but I don't. The Canadians who scream the most about being subverted by mysterious forces who envision Canada as the 51st state behave as they they have the same rights as the Phantom 51st State. Normal Canadians, I'm glad to report, are happy to be Canadian and just want to make this country better. Of course, they are also sane.)

It will be duck-and-cover time when the two aforementioned provincial premiers learn about this plan -- they are really going to be pissed off, but it will take awhile because they never pay attention to anything that is written in the West.

Posted by Debbye at 03:09 AM | Comments (0)

April 19, 2005

Kinsella outs Martin in Earnscliffe-gate

Apr. 19 - Americans might wonder why the Liberal Party has been dubbed "The Libranos." In part it's due to allegations of mob involvement, but what makes the nickname so appealing is that they act like mobsters. The cliche "a falling out among thieves" also comes to mind as Chretien's guy tries to prove that Martin and his guys are also dirty.

The problem is clearly a symptom of the decayed education system: none of these people ever studied Greek or Shakespearean tragedies -- had they done so they would have known they were riding for a fall.

The hearings on Earnscliffe contracts awarded by the Finance Department outlined here have already produced fireworks. There were early warnings to Martin's chief-of-staff that the bidding process for polling contracts was flawed:

A letter from Warren Kinsella to Terrie O'Leary, made public at a Commons committee Monday, warned of flawed competitions for public-opinion polling contracts, excessive payments, unnecessary work and political interference.

But O'Leary and another former top Martin aide testified that they did nothing wrong.

"Terrie, all of this spells trouble and you know it," Kinsella wrote in his letter.

"The competition was flawed, the payment is excessive, the work is probably not needed, and the research community can be fully expected to blow the whistle on the political connections here."

Kinsella was an aide to Public Works Minister David Dingwall at the time and was responsible for ensuring that government departments followed contracting rules. He was later a fierce supporter of Jean Chretien in the leadership dispute with Martin.

[...]

Allegations of political influence by Martin's office in the awarding of contracts were raised last year by Chuck Guite, the former bureaucrat who ran the federal sponsorship program at the Public Works Department. He claimed, in testimony to the public accounts committee, that he came under pressure in the 1990s to channel work to Earnscliffe.

Judge Gomery ruled that investigating the allegations about polling contracts did not fall under his mandate.

Further to Warren Kinsella's testimony, a more in-depth article today headlines that he proclaimed Martin knew about the 'rigged' contracts and that "someone" tried to intimidate him from telling the truth in his testimony. I'm excerpting out of order:

Paul Martin knew about claims of "bad behaviour" involving public-opinion contracts for a firm closely tied to his leadership campaign but threatened to quit his job as finance minister if his top advisor was disciplined, a former Liberal aide testified yesterday.

Warren Kinsella, a former advisor to Jean Chretien and a vehement political foe of Mr. Martin's, said the then-finance minister was aware of allegations that contracts in the mid-1990s had been "rigged" to favour the Earnscliffe Strategy Group.

"He absolutely had knowledge of these things," Mr. Kinsella told the House of Commons public accounts committee during hearings into a 2003 Auditor-General's report that looked at how the government handled contracts for polling and other public opinion research.

Mr. Kinsella said that, as then-aide to Public Works and Government Services minister Dave Dingwall, he wrote to Mr. Martin's office to express his concerns about money flowing from the Finance department to a firm so closely affiliated with Mr. Martin's leadership ambitions.

He called this "bad behaviour -- I considered it inappropriate that you cross-subsidize using the public treasury."

Mr. Kinsella's claims topped a dramatic session that saw him seated at the witness table next to two of the Prime Minister's most loyal advisors -- Terrie O'Leary and David Herle, her common-law spouse and a former partner in Earnscliffe -- and claim that he was intimidated in a phone call he received shortly before his testimony.

To be honest, Kinsella kind of loses me when he claims to have been intimidated, but I'd accept that someone tried to intimidate him.
He provided the name of the person who made the phone call in confidence to committee chairman John Williams, a Conservative MP. Mr. Williams said he considered the alleged call a form of intimidation and would refer it to a steering committee today to investigate. Mr. Williams refused to release the name when pressed by reporters.

Earlier at the session of the public accounts committee, Mr. Kinsella said that he raised flags about Department of Finance contracts for polling and other public-opinion research as early as 1994.

He also echoed claims made by previously by another witness, former public works bureaucrat Allan Cutler, who claimed the open bidding process for the Finance contracts were tailored so that only Earnscliffe could win them. He said he received complaints from several other polling firms about the contracts and felt obliged to investigate.

O'Leary denied the bidding process was flawed and said she had run the situation past an ethics counsellor (!) who said she was not in a conflict of interest - never recognizing that if you have to ask, it's a clue that either you are or, at the least, that you are giving the appearance of being in a conflict. It may not be fair, but there's a very good reason why intelligent people try to avoid even the appearance of being in a conflict of interest: it's an indefensible position to which one can only plead "Trust Me - I'm Honest."
Auditor-General Sheila Fraser began the hearing by reiterating her opinion that while public-opinion contracts were generally well-managed, there were some concerns about contracts in which the public-opinion advice was given to departments verbally, not in writing. But opposition members of the committee pressed Mr. Kinsella for details of what Mr. Martin knew about the contract awards.
Martin left messages and Kinsella didn't return the calls. Not much there.
By 1995, there was enough concern about Earnscliffe's contracts that they were the subject of a meeting in the Prime Minsiter's Office involving Mr. Chretien's chief of staff, Jean Pelletier, and his ethics advisor, former Liberal Cabinet minister Mitchell Sharp, he said.

The possibility of dismissing Ms. O'Leary over an alleged conflict of intrest was discussed, Mr. Kinsella said. "Mr. Martin said he would quit before that would ever happen," Mr. Kinsella recall learning in in a disappointing call from PMO. "I phoned my wife said it's time to leave Ottawa."

Mr. Kinsella injected a note of intrigue in the proceedings when he claimed he received an intimidating phone call minutes before the hearing that indicated Mr. Martin's office would pressure former public works Minister David Dingwall to appear before the committee to contradict his testimony.

By the way, Dingwall is now the head of the Canadian Mint (another patronage postion) which was previously under investigation as outlined in posts from 2004 here and here.

There's an item about Dingwall's tendency to porkbarrel here, a profile from a year ago after his appearance before the House of Commons public accounts committee on Adscam here, and an item about Dingwall, Martin, Kinsella and Chretien here.

Dingwall was the subject of a wonderful column by Lorne Guntner partially quoted here (canada.com links to opinion columns are sadly short-lived.)

The Wikipedia entry on Dingwall says he was appointed to the Canadian Mint in 2003 - I thought it was 2004, but then my memory sucks.

Aug. 20 - 03:33: Frank Schiller is reportedly the "mystery man" who advised Kinsella not to testify against Martin:

Parliament Hill sources named the man Tuesday as Frank Schiller, who once worked with Kinsella in the office of former public works minister David Dingwall. Schiller also put in a stint on the staff of former prime minister Jean Chretien and is currently a principal of the Ottawa consulting firm IGRG (Industry Government Relations Group).

Posted by Debbye at 10:50 PM | Comments (0)

NY Times on Canada

Apr. 19 - An article in the NY Times looks at the dithering in the House of Commons as the Liberals try to retain leadership (Canadian Leader Digs in to Confront Scandal) and makes some oblique observations that I'll take as substantiation of some views I've been forming. (As an aside, the author notes this time that the current PM was Minister of Finance during the Sponsorship Program.)

The article focuses on the difficulty of running Parliament as a minority government but suggests the ways in which the Liberal Party is trying to shape the focus of a possible election. Some excerpts:

Prime Minister Paul Martin is scrambling to keep power as the scandal involving his Liberal Party grows, making deals that delay or even jettison central elements of his political agenda, including a bill to legalize same-sex marriages and a measure to control greenhouse gases.

The campaign debate is already emerging in Parliament. The opposition is emphasizing the issue of honesty in government, while the Liberals are claiming that the Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, has allied with the separatist Bloc Qubcois on a secret agenda to scrap the public health insurance system.

The proposal is to allow private health care. A term the writer avoids but which the Ontario provincial Liberals prefer is "Americanized health care" which in itself is an oddity because Quebec, which could never be called Americanized, already allows private clinics to operate alongside the public health care facilities. The interesting part is what the Liberals are not doing in Parliament:
With Mr. Martin's position deteriorating, action has been delayed on many of his campaign promises - including decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of marijuana, establishing a national child-care system and cracking down on child pornography.

The long-promised legislation to strengthen regulation of the online pharmacy industry, which provides many elderly Americans with cheaper drugs, has also been delayed because Liberal Party lawmakers in western Canada fear they could be punished politically by the 4,000 Canadians who work in the industry.

Earlier this month, a threat by Conservatives to vote against Mr. Martin's budget forced him to remove the financing for an environmental measure that would have fined industrial producers of greenhouse gases.

Since Canadian courts have already made same-sex marriage legal in provinces and territories where 90 percent of the population lives, the legislation is mostly symbolic. But the delay makes it clear that it will be a campaign issue. (Emphasis added)

I'm guessing that all the things the Liberal Party has scrapped will be campaign issues: dealing with Kyoto Accord committments, legalizing gay marriage, decriminalizing possession of marijuana, cracking down on child pornography, instituting national child care, fixing health care for another tenth-of-a-generation, and even the latest initiative to expedite bringing the parents and grandparents of immigrants to Canada (which will put an additional strain on the health care system, which is not an argument against the proposal so much as my wonder at the opportunism of the federal Liberals.)

The Liberal Party has not backed down on these legislative matters but has deferred them in order to have a platform on which to campaign - the same platform on which they campaigned in the last election:

1. Chretien was the crook, and we're cleaning up his mess, and
2. If you want these progressive laws, you will have to vote for us.

David Frum, in the op-ed section, offers an analysis of the Liberal Party citing the reasoning behind setting up the Sponsorship Program as an indicator that the the Liberal Party is a "brokerage" party (that sounds considerably more cynical than "big tent") which is more intent on securing power to distribute the spoils rather than a party held together by shared principles and policies.

And it was presumably for these same reasons that Mr. Chrtien set in motion his kickback scheme. As Liberal strength in Quebec has decayed, the Liberals have found it more and more difficult to hold together an effective political organization in the province. How do you sustain a political party without principles or vision? Sometimes you do it with graft.
Enter the Sponsorship Program, which created
a huge unmonitored slush fund from which key political figures in the province could be rewarded. A large portion of those rewards, the judicial inquiry in Montreal is being told, were then kicked back as campaign contributions to the Liberal Party and as payments to Liberal insiders.
Until its collapse as a federal party, I think it fair to say the Progressive Conservative Party was also a brokerage party and that part of the problem up here is because voters are bound to wonder if they are only exchanging one set of crooks for another.

It was the Supreme Court decision recognizing the Charter right of gays to marry that finally resulted in the merger of the Canadian Alliance with most of the remnants of the federal Progressive Conservatives*, and the continued opposition of the CPC to gay marriage - but not "civil union" which would guarantee the same rights and benefits of marriage - keeps many whom I would call South Park Republicans Conservatives from supporting the new party. The CPC has yet to present ideas for reforming the "dividing of the spoils" that accompanies gaining federal power, which I see as a fundamental flaw in their program.

Frum ends on a hopeful note:

As countries modernize, they tend to leave brokerage parties behind. Very belatedly, that moment of maturity may now be arriving in Canada. Americans may lose their illusions about my native country; Canadians will gain true multiparty democracy and accountability in government. It's an exchange that is long past due.
Canadians who complained in the past that Americans were ignorant about the goings-on up here forgot the main rule of journalism: When it bleeds, it leads. Canada's bleeding and now the media is interested.

* The provincial Progressive Conservative parties retained vitality and were even elected as the ruling party in Ontario after the demise of their federal cousins. The party here retains the Progressive Conservative name.

(South Park Conservatives link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:12 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2005

Earnscliffe-gate

Apr. 17 - The Earnscliffe Strategy Group obtained federal contracts during PM Paul Martin's tenure as Finance Minister. Former Martin aide Terrie O'Leary has been subpoenaed by the Commons public accounts committee looking into the relationship of the group, federal research contracts and the Finance Department. Her lawyer says its for "political" purposes:

A parliamentary committee examining federal research contracts is trying to "embarrass and humiliate" a former aide to Paul Martin for political purposes, says the woman's lawyer.

Andrew Davis, the counsel for Terrie O'Leary, levelled the accusation in an e-mail to the Commons public accounts committee, which wants to question O'Leary about opinion polling contracts that went to a firm with political ties to Martin.

[...]

O'Leary is one of four witnesses subpoenaed to appear next Monday at hearings that will centre on Earnscliffe Strategy Group and its relations with the Finance Department when Martin was minister there.

The subject has come up in passing at the federal sponsorship inquiry headed by Justice John Gomery, but the judge ruled the deals did not fall within his mandate.

That prompted Bloc Quebecois MP Benoit Sauvageau to propose that the public accounts committee take up the matter - a suggestion quickly adopted by other opposition MPs who command a 7-5 majority on the panel.

Another witness to be called to testify about the relationship of Earncliffe to the Finance Department when Martin was Finance Minister is David Herle, who was also a partner at Earnscliffe when the contracts were awarded and O'Leary's "longtime personal companion."
Herle, who co-chaired last year's Liberal election campaign, was a partner at Earnscliffe when the firm obtained contracts from the Finance Department during Martin's term there.

For much of the same period his longtime personal companion O'Leary was chief of staff to Martin. She has repeatedly said she was careful to avoid any involvement in contracts that went to Earnsclifffe.

The firm employed many political associates of Martin, and was often jokingly referred to at the time as the prime-minister's-office-in-waiting.

Warren Kinsella, a former cabinet aide, and Peter Daniel, a former Finance Department official, are also scheduled to appear. The former sent a letter objecting to the fact that he has not been given any detail as to the areas about which he is to be questioned. Mr. Kinsella supported former PM Chretien during his leadership struggle with Martin.

Two other witnesses will be Auditor-General Sheila Fraser and Public Works whistleblower Allan Cutler, a former Public Works official who was fired after he filed a complain in 1996 about the questionable handling of the Sponsorship Program.

Posted by Debbye at 09:34 AM | Comments (4)

Trying to fix the Canadian Forces

Apr. 17 - A report from the Conference of Defence Associations says that replacing the Hercules transport and other equipment is "years off" because the military lacks efficient procurement practices:

"At present, the department has inadequate numbers and expertise . . . to execute the existing capital acquisition plan," the association said in a report to the Commons defence committee.

"Existing approaches to military acquisitions and a dearth of project expertise lead to the troubling conclusion that transformation of the Canadian Forces . . . would not be possible before the year 2020."

The conclusions come as the all-party committee prepares to release a report on military procurement Monday. The panel is expected to say defence purchasing is weighed down in politics and inefficiency.

In another story, there have been allegations that questionable purchases have been made at Canadian Forces Base Borden near Barrie (CFB squander) and there are also allegations that since the issue was first raised in an anonymous letter last November, there have been systematic attempts to stifle the investigation and that "Many believe the NIS was only interested in determining who wrote the anonymous letter."

Similar to the revelations that followed the initial investigation into the Watergate break-in and the attempts to cover up the crime, many stories are now emerging which suggest other instances of wrong-doing. Some will prove out and others will not.

Posted by Debbye at 09:32 AM | Comments (4)

The money trail and recent Adscam testimony

Apr. 17 - Greg Weston reports that a "crack team of top forensic accountants" is Following the Adscam money trail to determine where the millions stolen from the Sponsorship Fund eventually landed:

... This is no ordinary group of number-crunchers.

Among its members are some of the key investigators who unraveled the massive and complex financial scandal at Enron Corporation, the giant American energy company that collapsed under billions of dollars of hidden debt and fraud. Sometime in the next few weeks, this squad of sleuthing bean-counters from the firm Kroll Lindquist & Avey will present the Gomery inquiry with the results of its Adscam investigation.

If successful, the accountants will answer the most contentious of all sponsorship questions: Who ended up with all the money?

So far, the Gomery commission has heard testimony that an elaborate web of kickbacks and fraudulent invoices siphoned millions of dollars from the federal sponsorship program into the coffers of Liberal Party operatives. What we don't know -- and the forensic super-snoops will likely tell us -- is what happened to all the loot after the Liberal bagmen got it.

There have been numerous debates about fixed terms and pre-set election days up here, but the fallout from Adscam shows the other side of that argument. If an election is called, it ought to be after this report has been made public -- the Liberal Party will be damaged by the corruption exposed directly within its structure or by that of it's paid campaigners - like Corriveau - who may have pocketed the money but whose ethical poverty reflects poorly on the leadership team of the party.

The statute of limitations for some of the illegal acts is very slim:

While Brault and two others are facing criminal fraud charges, time has wiped out any chance of nailing others with violations of election and lobbying laws.

The Gomery inquiry has so far heard from a dozen witnesses who broke election laws -- passing political cash around in brown paper bags does not exactly conform to federal political financing rules.

But an official at Elections Canada indicates there is nothing the government can do to prosecute the Adscammers -- under the old election financing laws in place during the sponsorship program, violators had to be prosecuted within 18 months.

The same applies to the numerous Gomery witnesses who have admitted they broke federal lobbying laws while they were out twisting arms in government for sponsorship cash.

A joke at the best of times, the lobbying laws don't even apply to AdScam -- the statute of limitations is two years.

The federal lawsuit against the 19 Adscam players is open-ended, to allow the government to add more names as they are unearthed at the Gomery inquiry. (Emphasis added)

On the other hand, the statute of limitations is possibly why some of the witnesses have been so forthcoming with their testimony: should the criminal prosecutions result in convictions, the sentencing for some may be lighter. Jean Brault was applauded when he appeared after the publication ban was lifted and I can understand why, especially when I compare Brault's straightforward testimony with Corriveau's haughty demeanor during the latter's appearances before the Gomery Inquiry.

I'm not likely to buy a used car from either man, but Brault came across as someone who tried to take a shortcut to success and ended up paying for it, and his testimony despite his poor health compared to Corriveau's memory-loss-by-medication makes Brault the more sympathetic character.

Mindful of the dictim that one can't excape death or taxes,

... If all else fails, there is always the long arm of the tax man, no doubt already hot on the trail of all that pilfered Adscam money. Where it will end nobody knows except, we hope, the accountants of Kroll Lindquist & Avey.
A couple of links and some background, starting with a profile of Corriveau here.

Some articles recapping Jean Brault's and Luc Lemay's testimony in anticipation of Corriveau's testimony here (including testimony from Groupaction employee Bernard Michaud that seemed to confirm that Brault was being pressure to donate to the Quebec wing of the Liberal Party) and Lemay's testimony that he never looked at Corriveau's bills but just paid them and that he didn't know that Gault was being pressured to donate to the party (the last contradicts Gault's testimony.)

A recap of Corriveau's testimony this past week: Corriveau denies kickback claims and CTV's coverage on Thursday and Friday.

In another link, on Thursday Corriveau denied ever discussing the Sponsorship Program with Chretien while running the graphic design company Pluri Design, denied that he was close to Alain Renaud, and denied one of the most damning segments of Brault's testimony:

Corriveau said he never referred to the party as "the cause" in any conversations, contrary to Brault's claim that the phrase came up often while Corriveau and top Liberal officials browbeat him for cash.
Corriveau had also denied that he was was a "really" good friend of Jean Chretien's and that he was an informal consultant to the former prime minister.

On Friday, he denied receiving any kickbacks or playing any role in a scheme to funnel money back to the Liberal Party and suggested the inquiry focus on Alain Renaud. He explained the invoices which were for events in non-existent Olympic stadiums were due to a "significant printing error" -- so it wasn't due to a copy-paste operation but the use of an original invoice (for a 1997 event at Montreal's Olympic Stadium) as a template for later invoices (which went undetected in several Accounts Payable departments? If the invoices contained a significant error due to the template it's not a "printing" error but human error, and that still doesn't explain why nobody noticed it.)

He admitted being paid for lobbying the government for contracts for Lemay's Groupe Polygone even though he wasn't a registered lobbyist, and was caught contradicting testimony by Chretien's neice, Maria Lyne Chretien, when he admitted recommending her for a job at Groupaction upon her request (she had testified that she never solicited a recommendation from him.) Brault testified that of the five he hired (Serge Gosselin, Maria Lynn Chrtien, Gaby Chretien, Alain Renaud and Jacques Corriveau) she is the only one who did legitimate work for Groupaction.

[I've tried to cite numerous sources in part because some of the links have only a short life span and others will be subject to "subscribers only" retrieval.]

11:05: Lorrie Goldstein dispenses with the contention that Martin is the "wire brush" to clean up Canadian politics and brings the point home with the the reminder of the applause and praise in the Liberal caucus following Chretien's golfball testimony at the Gomery Inquiry -- an appearance that, to quote Goldstein, "made it perfectly clear he [Chretien] had nothing but contempt for the proceedings."

More chickens comes home to roost, as Linda Williamson reminds us of the "tainted blood scandal" and John Crosbie points out some bad bookkeeping and questionable business decisions at Canadian Steamship Lines, the company Paul Martin owned and ran before he became Prime Minister and wonders if the Canadian electorate will leave the government in the hands of wolves.

Edmonton Sun columnist Paul Stanway urges voters to "stop hiding behind the excuse of Battered voter syndrome" and outlines the flaws in the Liberal Party's pretensions as the "natural ruling party of Canada."

Salim Mansur asks Remember when honour was important?:

There was once an unspoken rule in public life that when trust is broken and a reputation sullied, the person in question should depart and save others from embarrassment.

We no longer live in such a world or, more properly, we now imagine that to demand honour in public life is romantic fiction.

It has become unreal to expect from public officials what Shakespeare made Mark Antony declare: "If I lose mine honour, I lose myself."

Instead, the unruffled contemporary norm is pass the buck, deny evidence and brazenly defy those whose trust has been broken due to poor judgment, ineptness or malfeasance.

Instead, the unruffled contemporary norm is pass the buck, deny evidence and brazenly defy those whose trust has been broken due to poor judgment, ineptness or malfeasance.

We've seen ample evidence of this in the AdScam debacle in Ottawa. So, too, we recently heard the pithy response of Kofi Annan, secretary general of the United Nations, when asked if he would resign following the release of the second interim report of the Volcker committee on the Oil-for-Food scandal: "Hell, no."

Yes, the column is actually about Kofi Annan - but could easily be about Martin. I think that's the point.

Posted by Debbye at 06:12 AM | Comments (1)

April 15, 2005

Website shut down by Calgary police chief

Apr. 15 - I have to rush off to work, but this is troubling: Website gagged as Calgary police chief wins court order.

Neale News has a link to this page of the website.

We'd better keep an eye on this.

(Links via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 08:52 PM | Comments (3)

American arrest in U.N. Oil-for-Food scandal

Apr. 15 - David Bay Chalmers Jr. of Bayoil U.S.A. was charged yesterday in Iraq Oil Sales by Hussein Aides.:

In an indictment, federal authorities in New York said David Bay Chalmers Jr., a Houston oil businessman, and his company, Bayoil U.S.A., made millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks to the Iraqi government while trading oil under the $65 billion aid program.

Separate charges were brought against Tongsun Park, a millionaire South Korean businessman, for acting as an unregistered lobbyist for Iraq in behind-the-scenes negotiations in the United States to set up and shape the United Nations program. The criminal complaint said Mr. Park received at least $2 million in secret payments from Mr. Hussein's government for serving as a liaison between Iraqi and United Nations officials.

Mr. Park was at the center of a lobbying scandal in the 1970's, when he was accused of paying bribes to lawmakers in Washington to secure support for loans to South Korea.

[...]

The authorities not only charged that Bayoil made illegal payments to secure Iraqi oil, but also that it conspired to artificially lower the price Iraq received, depriving the Iraqi people of money for sorely needed items. The charges also disclosed new information about an alleged plan to pay senior United Nations officials to influence the course of the program.

Catherine M. Recker, a lawyer for Mr. Chalmers, said the Bayoil defendants and the company would plead not guilty and "vigorously dispute" the criminal charges.

According to federal authorities and the complaint against Mr. Park, he was a partner in the lobbying effort with Samir Vincent, an Iraqi-American businessman who pleaded guilty in January to illegal lobbying for Iraq.

Mr. Vincent, who is cooperating with federal investigators, said Iraqi officials signed agreements in 1996 to pay him and Mr. Park $15 million for their lobbying, the complaint says.

One of their tasks was "to take care of" a high-ranking United Nations official, which Mr. Vincent understood to mean to pay bribes, the complaint says. The authorities did not identify or bring charges against the United Nations official. (Emphasis added)

[...]

David N. Kelley, the United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, in Manhattan, said the complaint alleges that Mr. Park intended to bribe the official, but does not show that the official received any bribe.

The complaint also charges that Mr. Park met with a second unnamed senior United Nations official, once in a restaurant in Manhattan. After that, Mr. Park said he invested $1 million he had been paid by Iraq in a Canadian company belonging to the son of the second United Nations official, the complaint says.

Mr. Kelley declined to say whether the officials were still actively serving at the world organization. He said, however, that the investigation was "broad and large" and that his office would "wring the towel dry" in pursuing United Nations officials. (Emphasis added.)

The story in the Washington Post says much the same:
A federal grand jury in Manhattan charged that David B. Chalmers Jr., founder of Houston-based Bayoil USA Inc. and Bayoil Supply & Trading Limited; Ludmil Dionissiev, a Bulgarian citizen who lives in Houston; and John Irving, a British oil trader, funneled millions of dollars in kickbacks through a foreign front company to an Iraqi-controlled bank account in the United Arab Emirates. If convicted, the three men could each be sentenced to as long as 62 years in prison, $1 million in fines, and the seizure of at least $100 million in personal and corporate assets.

The federal complaint against Park charges that he received a total of $2 million in cash from Iraq, including a fee to "take care" of an unnamed U.N. official. It also states that Park invested $1 million in Iraqi money in a Canadian company owned by the son of another unknown, "high-ranking" U.N. official. Park could face as long as five years in prison and a fine of as much as $250,000 or twice the value of profits he earned as a result of his alleged activities. (Emphasis added.)

The Telegraph (UK) has a fairly terse article on the arrests.

Thus far I've only found coverage of the arrests in The Globe and Mail which covers the arrest but as of 5:41 a.m. didn't report the allegations of a Canadian connection but does report that U.N. officials may be connected to these arrests:

The reference in the complaint against Mr. Park to two mystery high-ranking UN officials sparked widespread speculation in UN corridors of possible names.

Mr. Kelley, pressed repeatedly by reporters at a news conference to say whether U.N. officials had actually received money tied to Mr. Park, would say only that that issue was not part of the indictment.

Any Canadian who read the NY Times or Washington Post today is probably speculating too!

The U.N. is claiming that the Americans and British were perfectly aware of the violations of the sanctions but refused to order their ships in the Persian Gulf to stop oil tankers heading for Turkish and Jordanian ports with illicit Iraqi oil. I have read reports that trucks loaded with illegally purchased oil from Iraq went to Turkey and Jordan (that became common knowledge after Operation Iraqi Freedom and the public learned just how corrupt OFF - or Oil for Palaces - really was) but I don't understand why oil headed for Jordan or Turkey would use rather lengthy sea lanes when they border Iraq and could drive it in.

Maybe Annan was thinking of Syria, a member of the U.N. Security Council, but, again, the oil was not transported by sea but by pipeline, two of which were turned off when U.S. troops got to them. Maybe he just forgot.

11:30 - Glenn Reynolds has lots of links on the arrests.

Apr. 16 - 10:05: FoxNews has no additional information on U.N. Official No. 1 and Official No. 2.

Posted by Debbye at 10:19 AM | Comments (8)

April 14, 2005

Corriveau testimony Day 1

Apr. 14 - Some quick updates before I go to work. Corriveau says he can't remember Chretien calls but confirmed about 21 over the years, citing surgery and medication as reasons for some memory problems, and that he only saw Chretien once or twice a year on average. He also denied he was an "unofficial consultant" to Chretien

The story in the Globe reports that Corriveau defended the phone calls logged in the former prime minister's office as being due to his employment of Chretien's son, Michel, at Corriveau's graphic-design firm from 1989 to 1991, which was before Chretien came to power, as pointed out by inquiry counsel Bernard Roy.

Posted by Debbye at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)

"I did not have lunch with that man!"

Apr. 14 - Paul Martin denies ever having lunch with Claude Boulay of Groupe Everest, one of the agencies implicated in Adscam (Paul Martin: I have never had lunch with Boulay.)

Greg Weston wasn't impressed with Martin's "moral authority" speech yesterday and even less impressed with Martin's refusal to answer Opposition Leader Stephen Harper's direct question yesterday about Boulay.

Posted by Debbye at 12:30 PM | Comments (4)

Luc Lemay, Day 2

Apr. 14 - Yes, it's Update on Adscam time, but I'm not sure I'm up to it. I caught some of Lemay's testimony on CPAC this morning, but I couldn't believe my ears. Did he really assert that he has neither read nor heard anything as to the content of Jean Brault's testimony last week? That is so unbelievable that I'm certain I must have dozed off there for a bit.

Another curious note: I turned on CPAC a few minutes ago and there is debate going on over a Bloc motion for the Liberals to put their alleged ill-gotten gains into a trust account so as to level the playing field in the event of an election ... thus far, speakers from the Bloc, Conservative Party and NDP have supported the motion.

Back to Lemay's testimony, he seemingly has no understanding of what constitutes 'Influence peddling':

HUSTLING by a pal of Jean Chretien to land a Quebec publishing empire lucrative sponsorships for a hefty commission is blatant "influence peddling," Justice John Gomery charged yesterday. Gomery launched the allegation in heated testimony from Groupe Polygone owner Luc Lemay, who said he helped mask Jacques Corriveau's hefty commissions with fake invoices to avoid the federal lobbyist registry.

"You have never heard of what we call influence peddling, as being a forbidden practice in the government?" Gomery pointedly asked Lemay during his second day of grilling.

"No," Lemay answered.

Corriveau, a Liberal bagman and the former PM's confidant, made $6.7 million in commissions on the $37 million in sponsorships the feds pumped directly into Lemay's conglomerate of companies between 1996 and 2002.

Lemay is also Clueless In Rimouski, billing for an event in the Olympic Stadium there - except that none such exists.
Laughter erupted when inquiry counsel Bernard Roy noted Corriveau billed thousands of dollars for working at the Olympic Stadium in Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres, Rimouski, Chicoutimi and Ste-Foy, a suburb of Quebec City.

"To your knowledge, is there an Olympic stadium in Rimouski?" asked Roy, adding: "These details escaped you because you did not examine the bills."

Lemay replied: "Essentially."

Some of the events said to have taken place in Olympic Stadiums actually took place at shopping malls and hockey rinks.

Brian Daly also writes on Lemay's testimony here:

The fake bills complete with non-existent stadiums were turned in by Liberal organizer Jacques Corriveau for a series of regional hunting and fishing shows that did in fact take place, promoter Luc Lemay testified at the inquiry into the sponsorship scandal.

Many of the bills were duplicates of a legitimate invoice that Corriveau submitted for one of Lemay's hunting and fishing shows at Montreal's Olympic Stadium in 1999.

Lemay said Corriveau did little work or no work on the regional events and simply substituted the names of the smaller communities but left the rest of the document unchanged.

Lemay, who claims to be a businessman, testified that he paid whatever Corriveau requested. If Corriveau claimed he had spent more time than anticipated on a project and billed accordingly, Lemay paid without question.
Corriveau, also a graphic designer, had cut himself in on the lucrative deals at 17.5 per cent but did little more than eyeball mockups for most of the contracts, said Lemay.

"I never verified these bills," he said.

A $2.7 million People's Almanac contract and the Montreal outdoors show were the only two of 19 federally sponsored events for which Corriveau played a major role, said Lemay.

As for the other 17 events worth nearly $28 million, Lemay said he had a "good faith" agreement to pay commissions to Corriveau, but didn't ask for details about Corriveau's work.

Lemay wouldn't corroborate Brault's claims but didn't deny Corriveau's bills were inflated.

[...]

Brault has implicated Corriveau and Lemay in the wide-ranging scheme that allegedly used Brault's Groupaction firm to secretly funnel at least $1.1 million to the party's debt-ridden Quebec wing.

Brault said he paid Corriveau nearly $500,000 under a bogus contract, and alleged Corriveau sent the cash to the Quebec wing.

Brault, who's semi-retired, also testified Corriveau pressed him to make huge financial contributions, while one of Lemay's firms allegedly paid Brault $2.3 million in bogus commissions to offset the party's financial demands.

Lemay has admitted that $1.9 million in bills from Groupaction were "perhaps a bit inflated" but insisted Brault told him the money was to help manage sponsorship contracts.

He said he he had no idea Brault was being pressured for Liberal contributions and said no Liberals ever strongarmed him into sending cash.

The CTV link tells me I haven't gone Nuts Over Adscam
Gomery was incredulous when Lemay claimed he still didn't know about Brault's allegations, which have made international headlines.

"I've never seen media coverage like that of Mr. Brault's testimony," said the judge, adding: "You've read nothing about it?"

Lemay replied: "I don't have the time to read it."

Gomery then said, "Maybe it's time for a break," before ordering a pause in the proceedings.

Jacques Corriveau is to testify today.

Posted by Debbye at 11:37 AM | Comments (4)

The "fiscal imblance as dark matter"

Apr. 14 - Andre Coyne absolutely rocks. I am floored that the existence of dark matter is proven because scientists weighed the universe and found something was missing ... I know there isn't some cosmic scale that they used, but being a Lowly Humnities Major I get close to these kinds of theories and then they slip right past me.

So what does dark matter have to do with the Defining the "fiscal imbalance"?

One of the delights of federal-provincial relations is the ingenuity with which the premiers find new ways to rationalize the same unchanging demand for more money. ..

Remember the 18% ratio? That was the percentage of all provincial health spending that Ottawa was obliged to pony up, some years back, or risk violating one or another of the laws of thermodynamics. The accounting was dubious enough -- the provinces conveniently forgot about federal transfers in the form of tax points, and in any event the money all goes into provincial general revenues, not some sequestered bank account marked health -- but no more so than the underlying principle. Which was what, exactly? Well, 18% was what Ottawa used to kick in for health, circa 1995, before the unilateral (ie federal) reductions in federal transfers to the provinces imposed in that years budget. And why should that be any sort of benchmark? ...

Lately the premiers have discovered a new formula. .. The fiscal imbalance is one of those things like dark matter or quantum uncertainty that defy comprehension by the ordinary layman. Its precise magnitude has been the subject of countless arcane calculations -- the government of Quebec devoted a whole white paper to the subject -- but its basic mathematical expression may be reduced, by a combination of Lagrange polynomial interpolation and dead reckoning, to two lines: 1. Ottawa has money. 2. We want it.

Read. It.

Posted by Debbye at 11:07 AM | Comments (2)

Neo-Nazi Wolfgang Droege

Apr. 14 - Neo-Nazi Wolfgang Droege was shot and killed last night in east Toronto.

My only comment is that this guy only got 3 years for trying to overthrow the government of Dominica, but got 13 years for cocaine possession and weapons possession in Alabama. Something is wrong with that! Dominica sounds rather interesting; the website I googled says

Dominica was the last of the Caribbean islands to be colonized by Europeans, due chiefly to the fierce resistance of the native Caribs. France ceded possession to Great Britain in 1763, which made the island a colony in 1805. In 1980, two years after independence, Dominica's fortunes improved when a corrupt and tyrannical administration was replaced by that of Mary Eugenia CHARLES, the first female prime minister in the Caribbean, who remained in office for 15 years. Some 3,000 Carib Indians still living on Dominica are the only pre-Columbian population remaining in the eastern Caribbean.
The Toronto Sun article has a "man who repented" air about it, but I'm adding the CTV link from Flea, who says exactly what I want to say and who had a run-in with the man.

I know the KuKluxKlan has tried to project a new image and that there are always fools who will be taken in by their b.s., but to me they are always the Democratic Rifle Club that was formed shortly after the Civil War and used murderous means to intimidate and deny enfranchised African-Americans their legally constituted civil rights. (Only one google reference. What do they teach in schools these days?)

I've filed this under the "Canada" category because I don't have one for "Sick Bastards Who Finally Died and Went to Hell" and under USA because I don't have one for "I don't believe in hate speech laws but I do affirm my right to get in your face and call you out when you preach that kind of crap."

Posted by Debbye at 06:51 AM | Comments (0)

April 13, 2005

Inquiry moves closer to Chretien's circle

Apr. 13 - Luc Lemay testified yesterday that Chretien pal Corriveau got millions:

A GOLFING buddy of former PM Jean Chretien raked in $6.7 million for landing a Quebec publishing empire lucrative federal sponsorships, the AdScam inquiry heard. Luc Lemay, owner of Expour and the Polygone publishing giant, said the millions were a thank you to Jacques Corriveau for landing him $42 million in sponsorships from 1997-2003 -- by far the lion's share of the $250-million program.

Lemay first hired Corriveau, Chretien's riding organizer and bagman, to design Expour's first outdoor show in 1997.

Lemay said only two short months before his show was set to open at Montreal's Olympic Stadium, Corriveau showed up with a vital $450,000 federal sponsorship.

CTV elaborates further on Lemay's testimony and Corriveau's billing procedures:
MONTREAL Jean Chretien's good friend Jacques Corriveau did almost nothing to earn a $6.7 million cut from a Montreal promoter's sponsorship deals, an inquiry heard Tuesday.

Promoter and publisher Luc Lemay said he simply rubber-stamped Corriveau's bills, which in some cases appeared to be duplicates with the names of various events pasted in.

Lead inquiry counsel Bernard Roy ran down a list of $36 million in federal sponsorship contracts handled from 1996 to 2002 by Lemay's firms, mainly for hunting and fishing shows in rural Quebec.

Corriveau, a Liberal organizer and graphic designer, had cut himself in on the lucrative deals to the tune of 17.5 per cent. But Lemay acknowledged the former prime minister's friend did little more than eyeball mockups for most of the contracts.

Roy asked: "The bills that you received at the time were for honorariums for services that were not really performed as described in the bills."

Lemay confirmed: "I never verified these bills."

A $2.7 million People's Almanac contract and a Montreal hunting and a fishing show were the only two of the 19 events for which Corriveau played a major role, said Lemay.

As for the other 17 events worth nearly $28 million, Lemay said he had a "good faith" agreement to pay commissions to Corriveau, but didn't ask for details about Corriveau's work.

Lemay's admission suggests millions of taxpayer dollars went unaccounted for through Corriveau's Pluri Design firm during a period when huge sums of cash were allegedly diverted from the sponsorship program to the Liberal party.

Ad man Jean Brault has said Corriveau extracted huge sums from himself and Lemay to fatten the party's coffers in a corruption scandal that threatens Prime Minister Paul Martin's minority Liberal government.

Lemay wouldn't corroborate Brault's spectacular claims but didn't deny Corriveau's bills were inflated.

The bills, tabled at the inquiry, indicated Corriveau performed professional services when in fact his income came from commissions earned after lobbying the Liberal government on Lemay's behalf.

[...]

Brault has implicated Corriveau and Lemay in the wide-ranging scheme that allegedly used Brault's Groupaction firm to secretly funnel at least $1.1 million to the party's Quebec wing.

Brault said he paid Corriveau nearly $500,000 under a bogus contract, and alleged Corriveau sent the cash to the party's debt-ridden Quebec wing.

Brault, who's semi-retired, also testified Corriveau pressed him to make huge financial contributions, while one of Lemay's firms allegedly paid Brault $2.3 million in bogus commissions to offset the party's financial demands.

Corriveau's $6.7 million in honorariums and professional services represent more than 18 per cent of Lemay's sponsorship income between 1997 and 2002.

Andrew Coyne is all over the employment of former Immigration Minister Denis Coderre with Group Polygone in the late 90's.

He also notes a contradiction in Martin's contention that he "barely knew Claude Boulay, the president of Groupe Everest" and the fact that he was seen lunching with M. Boulay at the Liberal convention. Predicatably, Martin deflected direct questions on that to defending health care ... three times!

Posted by Debbye at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

Election in June? Maybe not!

April 13 - Everyone is getting ready for an election that hasn't yet been called. Poll numbers indicate support for the Liberals is eroding, but will that translate into votes for any of the other parties? Quebeckers were the only ones who punished the Liberals in last year's election, and Ontarian, with a third of the seats in Parliament, talk about being angry but last time around that translated into a curious tradition called "holding their noses while they vote Liberal."

Greg Weston doubts an election will be held until Harper is sure he can win, and Harper probably remembers how misleading the polls were in the days leading up to last June's election.

Lorrie Goldstein, in a wryly amusing column that's a little too true for comfort, observes that Ontarians need a little more time:

A break in the political deadlock almost occurred in 3027 when God Almighty Herself, sick and tired of hearing her name constantly invoked in Ontario simply as an adjective for "awful" in relation to AdScam, descended from the heavens, hovered 10 feet above the Parliament buildings, and with a strong voice and a mighty outstretched hand pointed at the entire federal Liberal caucus and thundered, "Crooks!" -- whereupon the earth opened up and swallowed the federal public works department.

However, subsequent polling of Ontarians showed that while most considered this to be a fairly good indication that the Liberals might have had something to do with AdScam, they still wanted more proof before finally deciding whether to throw them out of office.

Thus the stalemate in Parliament -- uninterrupted Liberal minority governments for the past 2,006 years -- continues.

Apr. 14 - 10:37 - just checked out a post on Brock on the Attack because I wanted to double-check the post here and the comments ... read the comments.

As I've expressed before, my best hope for Canada - and Iraq, Afghanistan, and all nations - is that they elect a government that is not so much "friendly to the U.S.A." or any other nation as it is friendly to its own citizens - concerned for their aspirations and their goals - for it is only with such as their prevailing concern that each can achieve greatness.

I tried to be hands-off in the last election because my mind and heart were so filled with concerns for the presidential election in my country that I could honestly plead bias, but should there be an election up here I may not be so constrained.

Posted by Debbye at 05:47 PM | Comments (0)

NY Times on Adscam

Apr. 13 - The NY Times has taken note of the scandal up here even though one can only hope they'll dispatch a reporter in Montreal, where the Gomery Inquiry is behind held. From Canadian Prime Minister Struggles to Keep Job:

TORONTO, April 11 - Prime Minister Paul Martin sought Monday to distance himself from a scandal that is enveloping the governing Liberal Party, saying that he was "personally offended" by a pattern of money laundering, payoffs and kickbacks by party functionaries that has emerged in recent days.
Something that first came up on March 18 constitutes "recent days?"
The crisis has been simmering for over a year as a commission led by Justice John Gomery has been investigating charges that the Liberal government under the former prime minister, Jean Chrtien, transferred nearly $100 million to several advertising firms under a program to publicize federal activities in Quebec, in exchange for little or no work.
The Times is bracing the American public for the "Blame Chretien!" side-step, omitting the fact that the man who was Finance Minister and thus should have noticed huge sums of money were unaccounted for happens to be the current Prime Minister.

But the Times article somewhat makes up for their omission of the above detail with the next few paragraphs that make Martin look hapless if not foolish:

While in Rome for the funeral of Pope John Paul II, Mr. Martin remained silent about the Brault testimony; and over the weekend he huddled with his advisers to consider his political options. On Monday morning, he finally appeared in public and spoke in solemn but firm tones.

"I was as offended as any other Canadian - even if that testimony is contested, I was personally offended by what I heard," he told reporters on Parliament Hill. "That is not the way that politics is done in Quebec. It is not the way that politics should be done in Canada. And it is certainly not the way that I believe that politics should be done."

He added, "I can assure you that anyone who has been implicated in this matter is going to be punished." (Emphasis added)

That is an odd statement from a legal framework. Being implicated does not necessarily equate guilt, but now Martin is on record assuring the Canadian and now the American public that those "implicated" will be punished. Does signing the cheques "implicate" an official? The Times then reports
Mr. Martin, who has not been personally implicated in the scandal, also contended that he has the "moral authority" to continue governing. (Emphasis added)
Again with the "implicate" thing! Yet Martin has failed to accept his own accountability as the Finance Minister who failed to take action after a few millions here and a few millions there went missing or were spent in violation of the rules (e.g., no competitive bidding) on his watch.

The one strength on which Martin can capitalize is the Gomery Inquiry itself and Martin's refusal to end it.

"Establishing the Gomery inquiry has cost me and my party political support," Martin told reporters in Ottawa.

"But it was and it remains the right thing to do because it is needed to defend and protect the integrity of our political process."

[...]

Martin said that as prime minister, he accepts his responsibilities and is accountable for the government.

"The true test of character is doing the right thing when it is difficult. And let me tell you that matters a great deal more than the ambitions of any political leader," he said in an apparent shot at the opposition parties who have been threatening to end his minority government.

Martin knows whereof he speaks when he invokes "the ambitions of any political leader" -- he landed in the middle of this mess because he maneuvered behind the scenes to get Chretien out rather than let Chretien face the backlash of the Auditor-General's report back in early 2004.

Posted by Debbye at 04:46 PM | Comments (2)

April 12, 2005

Election in June?

Apr. 12 - Sorry about the no posting; when I got home this morning CPAC was airing Monday's testimony in the Gomery Inquiry and I stayed up to watch it. [Disclosure: Okay, and then I watched Stargate: Atlantis. I need to have some fun.]

The comparison of Watergate to Adscam just went up a notch with Deputy Leader of the Opposition Peter McKay casting doubt on the impartality of the RCMP - the Canadian equivalent of the FBI - in investigating the latest revelations of Adscam as they themselves have been implicated.

I'm still holding my breath - holding it to see if the corruption can be directly linked to Chretien and/or Martin. So far it's closing in on Chretien's good buddies, and maybe the true indicator will be if the Clintons and Chretiens take any more golfing vacations together. (Can a Prime Minister issue a pardon for crimes for which a former government official hasn't even been charged? I don't think so, but I didn't think Ford could do so either.)

It does look like there will be an election in June - Harper: No need to wait for report and although the Conservatives still need to fill their slate, if rumours of the Liberals who are considering crossing the floor (joining the other party) pan out there may be fewer blanks in the Conservative slate.

One caution: one thing I never forget is that a key difference between Americans and Canadians is that the U.S.A. is a country at war and Canada is not. That difference alters the issues and motivations in the electorate, and is probably the single most important reason why Conservatives up here should not be confused with Republicans (although the Independents and Democrats who voted for Bush may find our counterparts in disgusted former-Liberals!)

Kerry had to swing over to the right even to lose, a fact that has totally escaped his supporters up here, and Canadians have yet to face their "moment of truth" as we did on Sept. 11. I don't want to belabour it overly, but we endured an attack on our home soil and conducted two wars. It changed us - in different ways, I'll grant - but change us it did. Just something to think about before we tot-tut Adscam and wonder how and why any self-respecting tax payer could ever vote Liberal!

Another thing to keep in mind is that the U.S. had its own years of scandal and corruption and it finally took the assassination of President McKinley before civil service reform was initiated (it's still an ongoing process.)

There are similarities, but, for example, when the Conservatives talk about "smaller government" they are being relative: smaller than the Liberals want would still gladden a Democrat's heart! The CPC won't alter health care or any one of a number of "entitlement" programs although they may do more for the military.

Opposition Leader Stephen Harper, oddly enough, reminds me of President Bush in that both are sincere men with strong personal ideals who understand that they are as entitled to their personal beliefs as much as others are entitled to theirs. (I'm prejudiced, though. Harper will always have a place in my heart because of his spirited speech at the Friends of America rally in Toronto April, 2003.)

The temptation to run an "Americanized style election*" (attack, attack, attack) will be very strong, but if the CPC paid attention to how well that strategy worked for the Democrats in the 2004 Presidential election campaign they may understand that they need to come up with concrete solutions to the corruption that has plagued this country and base their attacks with solid ideas for reform.

Martin doesn't have a military record but he did own a successful company, Canadian Steamship Lines, which gives rise to questions as to how, as Finance Minister, so much money could have been stolen on his watch. (That company, by the way, is registered in Barbados because even the Prime Minister of this country doesn't want to pay the high Canadian business taxes.)

PM Martin has already broken his committment to address the "democratic deficit" so if he centers his campaign on "this time I actually mean it" it might produce laughter but not much confidence.

The Conservatives should be able to counter the "hidden agenda" accusation very handily by pointing out that it's the Liberal Party that had the hidden agenda, one which put taxpayer money into their own coffers while the military and health care system collapsed.

I think the Liberals will retain Toronto proper - the 416 area code (Mike Brock has a different read on things - I hope he's right and I'm wrong!) but the Conservatives and NDP could very well win seats in the ridings outside Toronto. Bruce points in his post aptly titled Survivor: Canada that the corruption has triggered vigorous political discussions up here, and that in turn may signal that change is coming (at least outside Toronto!)

For some reason, Torontonians in particular are absolutely terrified of social conservatives, believing in what can only be a manifestation of their conspirazoid fantasies that People in Western Canada are plotting to Destroy Urban Life as We Know It by passing laws to outlaw gays, force women to have six children, and not allow Elvis to be shown below the waist on TV.

I'm in a strange place: I despise Chretien, Martin and the Liberal Party for reasons directly attributable to my being an American, but I can't get too excited about the Conservatives until I see them make a strong push for reforms in government spending and appointment practices.

Come to think of it, that's quitessentially American.

Sorry for the rambling. As I admitted, I'm in a strange place in this election (not that it matters as I can't vote!) but in the spirit of my ancestors I hope Canadians will finally rise up and throw the kleptocrats out.

One piece of weirdness: if there's an election, the Queen will postpone her visit to Canada until afterwards. The weirdness is how very fond I've become of Queen Elizabeth II.

*That's sarcasm, by the way. Anything the Canadian elite want to discredit immediately becomes labeled "Americanized."

Update: A bit of serendipity: The Libertarian Party of Canada is having their 2005 convention in Toronto May 21-22 (I just learned that when I googled for the link for a totally unrelated reason!) Canadians seem clued out about libertarianism, but that's probably because it hasn't occured to many of them that you can have fewer rules and regulations if you actually enforce the ones you already have. Being responsible for one's actions run directly counter to the nanny state mantras and would probably be labeled "unCanadian."

Posted by Debbye at 09:43 PM | Comments (11)

April 11, 2005

Iran: Blame Canada

Apr. 11 - Thanks to the wise and patient government in Iran, we now know exactly whose fault it is that there has been no justice for Zahra Kazemi.

You see, Canada has been going about this thing all wrong:

Canada has demanded an international forensic examination to determine the cause of Zahra Kazemi's death.

"Unfortunately Canada has been following a wrong approach from the very beginning, and caused things to get more complicated," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in a weekly press conference.

"From the very beginning, the Canadians should have accepted that Mrs. Kazemi is an Iranian citizen. Demands by the Canadians have to be answered by Iran's judiciary," he said.

Oh my, this is awkward. It's that moral equivalence multi-cult thing again, and Canada should never have poked it's nose in to what is clearly an internal Iran matter.

Maybe the Iranians figure that after Canada argued against regime change in Iraq and thus indirectly supported Saddam's right to murder his people she can't exactly argue that Iran doesn't have the right to murder theirs.

Time to update this: now the score is Iraq 5, Canada 0.

Apr. 13 - 00:30: This following is why the Kazemi case is important. She was killed in June, 2003. Chretien tried to downplay her death, but the news media, led by the CBC, kept it on the front burner (more credit to them.) Chretien left office in December, 2003.

In February, 2004, there are two curious items in Khazakhstan News:

Major Canadian-based oil company PetroKazakhstan plans to ramp its supply to the Tehran Oil Refinery (Iran) up to 21,000 barrels of oil per day in the next several months, the company announced in a statement this week.

"Over the next several months supplies [to the Tehran plant] will gradually reach their contract level of 21,000 barrels of oil per day (1 million tonnes per year)," according to the PetroKazakhstan press release.

PetroKazakhstan announced in 2003 that it had reached a swap agreement with the Tehran Oil Refinery. Under the agreement, PetroKazakhstan will supply the refinery with crude from its Kazakhstani field, while the Canadian company will receive a monetarily equivalent volume of light Iranian crude at Persian Gulf ports in southern Iran. The agreement obviates the need for PetroKazakhstan to transport its crude across at least part of the lengthy Central Asian export routes.

"The agreement enables the company to get maximum price for its crude oil while reducing destination and transportation costs," PetroKazakhstan said in its statement.

PetroKazakhstan sent its first shipment of 26,800 barrels to the Tehran plant in December 2003, Interfax noted. (Interfax)

[...]

Former Canadian Prime minister Jean Chretien has been named a special advisor to the board of directors of PetroKazakhstan, the company announced in a press release this week.

Chretien will advise the board on international relations issues, drawing on his ten years as Canadian PM as well as his earlier service in the Ministries of Justice, Finance and Energy and Mining. (Emphasis added)

Hmmm.

(By the way, Stephan Hachemi, Kazemi's son, expressed his outrage and disappointment in a letter to editor of the National Post.)

No. 528 on my list of reasons why I despise Jean Chretien!

To no one's surprise, Iran has rejected a Canadian demand for an international forensic team to examine the body of an Iranian-Canadian photojournalist who died in Iranian custody.

Maybe Canada will get mad, and recall the ambassador for the third time. Yeah, that'll show them!

More to the point, those who wish to stand pat on soft diplomacy may do so, but I'll see your soft diplomacy and raise you an armed Predator.

Posted by Debbye at 10:11 AM | Comments (12)

Liberal Scandal Record

Apr. 11 - Another new site keep track of the Adscam mess: LIBRANO SCANDALS AND PROMISES.

(Link via Kate.)

I had almost forgotten that the name Adscam was selected in a democratic manner by an elite group of people who read the right blog.

I kind of miss Andrew's Noth-ing posts. If Corriveau develops amnesia, how about a return appearance?

Posted by Debbye at 09:12 AM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2005

Corriveau on Tuesday?

Apr. 11 - Chretien's pal Corriveau is up next before the Gomery Inquiry:

JUSTICE JOHN Gomery will take his first bite out of a Liberal rainmaker this week when former PM Jean Chretien's golfing buddy makes an appearance before the AdScam inquiry. Jacques Corriveau is expected at the Gomery commission as early as Tuesday, where he will be grilled by lawyers on his dealings with Liberal-friendly ad firms and about his involvement in the scandal-plagued $250-million sponsorship program.

Tomorrow Gomery is expected to uncover where the 600 VIP Montreal Grand Prix tickets purchased through the sponsorship program went when he questions the event's owner, Normand Legault.

Brault testified last week that once he began receiving lucrative sponsorships to manage, it was made clear to him that Corriveau had a big say in who got those contracts.

Corriveau is a close confidant of Chretien's and a longtime Liberal bagman who has been fingered by Brault and his staff during questioning over political influence in the doling out of lucrative sponsorships.

Corriveau, the former owner of ad agency Pluri Design, has been painted as an influential Liberal who directly demanded backdoor donations from Groupaction.

Brault said Corriveau was too much of a gentleman to outline the consequences of refusing to give secret donations but believed Groupaction would have been cut out of the sponsorship program.

Corriveau had not been mentioned by any of the witnesses prior to Brault and his staff and quite a few people are hoping Corriveau's testimony will connect Chretien directly to the scandal.

John Robson wrote last month that Judge Gomery's questioning style was similar to that of Lt. Columbo - seemingly innocuous questions which are revealed to connect loose ends and weave them into a net. Interesting read, or re-read.

Lorrie Goldstein had a column yesterday recounting the despicable treatment of Francois Beaudoin by Chretien and the former's use of real thug tactics when Beaudoin, then head of the Business Development Bank of Canada, responsibly turned down an unreasonable loan request by one of Chretien's friends, Yvon Duhaime.

There's an earnest story, MPs fear Gomery revelations hurt trust, which contains some interesting speculation tying cynicism to low voter turnout and one curious note:

In the federal election last June, some estimates of voter turnout put it just above 60 per cent, which would be the worst in Confederation's history. Due to problems in the voters' list, Elections Canada has not released an official number. (Bolding added)
I must have been asleep on the job, folks, because I don't remember anything about that. Is it tied in with difficulties in the Election Contributions database?

Lastly on that audit which Scott Brison had produced as evidence that no dirty money went into the bank, a notion that was firmly rejected by the Opposition:

"Let's not forget that when it comes to these types of activities, the whole purpose of money laundering is to hide the money. We're kind of overlooking the obvious here aren't we?" [Deputy Conservative leader Peter] MacKay said.
Sound bites are nice, but bloggers do better research - and accountant M.K. Braaten has looked at the reports and suggests that
In fact, these engagements are not audits but simply an analysis of parts of the Liberals finances that they asked the firm to analyze.
Braaten also includes the donations to the Liberal Party by the two firms and points out that there is a potential conflict of interest there (fancy such a thing! Ahem.)

Apr. 12 - 00:11 I'm watching Question Period, and Oppostion Leader Stephen Harper just brought up the letter in part 2 of M.K. Braaten's post in which Deloitte states that they did not conduct an audit. Harper, in asking a second question, calls it a "review." Diane Ablonzsky (?) is now pushing the point that Deloitte complained about the lack of documentation. (Story here.)

Braaten 2 - Liberals 0

Posted by Debbye at 07:00 PM | Comments (1)

Time for Canadians to go hmmm

Apr. 10 - People who compare Adscam to Watergate are missing a vital difference. Whereas the Watergate hearings began with the use of private donations to President Nixon's re-election campaign for illegal operations, Adscam is increasingly exposing the use of public, taxpayer money to fund the election campaigns of the Liberal Party.

Follow the money has since entered public awareness as a standard investigatory practice, and it's hardly surprising that wrongdoers try obliterate the money trail in order to avoid detection or, at best, have some kind of plausible deniability even to the extent of blaming their own subordinates for incompetence or outright corruption. (Plan B is to accidentally erase 18 minutes from a tape or "not remember" what transpired.)

The use of such tactics is the picture that is emerging from the Gomery Inquiry, and as this National Post editorial notes, Judge Gomery has taken some low blows from some who have accused him of bias and cited the high costs of the inquiry to detract from its value.

One issue that must be confronted lies in the editorial:

A year ago, the struggles of the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee proved how difficult it would be to get to the bottom of the sponsorship scandal. (Bolding added.)
Why couldn't the Commons committee get to the bottom of the scandal? A second, unaddressed question: why it did it take so long for the alleged payoffs and paybacks, that at minimum go back 15 years, to be uncovered and brought to light? (A third questions might be as to what use is that committee if it can't get to the bottom of a scandal involving millions - if not billions - of dollars of misspending, corruption, graft, patronage appointments and the awarding of unbidded contracts?)

The latest testimony at the Gomery Commission concerns donations for the 1993 campaign which were made with the intent of influencing future contracts in the event of a Liberals victory (Ex-PM's staff took payoffs) which, it is ironic to remember, was fueled by accusations of corruption in the sitting government at the time - the Progressive Conservative Party.

MONTREAL -- Staffers of former PM Jean Chretien received secret payments to fund his victorious 1993 Shawinigan election campaign from a Montreal ad firm lobbying for federal contracts, the Gomery inquiry heard yesterday [April 8.] Former Groupaction Marketing employee Alain Renaud said that two years later Chretien's brother Gabriel personally set up meetings for him with a senior PMO staffer and top Liberal officials in a bid to open the floodgates of federal contracts.

Renaud, who was hired by Groupaction founder Jean Brault to bring in federal contracts in 1994, added to his former boss' explosive testimony about the fallout from secret donations made to key Liberals.

Renaud testified to the amounts paid, which he said added up to about $50,000, and how his expectations were fulfilled.
Renaud said he would complain to Michel Beliveau, the Liberal Party's former Quebec president, if the flow of contracts stopped.

He said Beliveau would call Chretien's then chief-of-staff Jean Pelletier about the complaint.

"I saw Mr. Beliveau call Mr. Pelletier directly in his (Beliveau's) office," Renaud said under questioning from Roy. "I never saw Mr. Beliveau speaking about a specific contract, but he spoke to the PMO regularly."

Roy asked: "How did you get confirmation that your messages were understood and were followed up on?"

Renaud replied: "When the contracts came in quickly."

Renaud credited Beliveau's influence with Pelletier for landing Groupaction Canadian Grand Prix contracts in 1998 worth a total of $1.3 million. (Bolding added.)

It doesn't take a genius to suspect that corruption is a communicable disease and to re-focus attention on previous instances of public money that went missing due to a variety of excuses that seemed to finger poor bookkeeping practices and ineptitude -- in short, to blame the civil servants employed in those ministries -- and go hmmm and pose like the incomparable Arsenio Hall.

Greg Weston is connecting some dots:

Now for the bad news: Adscam is likely just a puddle in a far wider, deeper and dirtier cesspool of corruption involving potentially billions of dollars in government programs unrelated to the sponsorship fiasco.

[...]

It is a huge amount of money. In the same time the Liberal government squandered $250 million on the sponsorship program, over $800 million was spent on federal ad programs.

As it happened, a pile of that cash went directly into the coffers of the same Quebec ad firms involved in Adscam.

Were palms greased and favours granted? Hmmm.

Weston notes that the federal government hands out millions of dollars in contracts and the potential for corruption is immense. The largest fraking red flag lies in this paragraph:
In one case that emerged at Gomery this week, Groupaction president Brault described how a $100,000 bribe got the firm over $5 million in contracts with the federal Justice Department.

According to the AG, in 1998, Justice officials were not happy with work being done by Groupaction and wanted to re-tender the contract. The retendering process began, but suddenly "was halted without explanation, and Groupaction was retained until mid-2002" after getting another $5.4 million in contracts.

What really happened, according to Brault, was he had asked Liberal Party bagman Joe Morselli to see if anything could be done to help Groupaction keep the contract in 1999. The two men met one day in Montreal, Brault testified, and Morselli told him: "$100,000 and your problem is solved."

Brault said he slipped the first $50,000 to Morselli at a spaghetti dinner, and never got around to paying the second instalment before the sponsorship scandal erupted in 2002.

The Justice Department. Somewhere, John Mitchell is smiling.

Weston discusses the $1,000,000,000 that has been spent on the "useless gun registry" and reminds us

In one case, a Sun investigation almost two years ago revealed Groupaction billed the feds hundreds of thousands of dollars for gun registry work that no one seems to remember being done. The firm is now facing criminal charges related to those contracts.
Two websites have come to my attention of late:

Alberta's Voice with an especial note to read their Scandals page, and
Law-abiding Unregistered Firearms Association (LUFA) which also lists some of the scandals since the Liberals took power in 1993. (People may remember that the Liberal government blamed those fighting the registry for it's high costs and cited the need to run advertisements in support of the registry.)

The Alberta's Voice scandal page reminds us that funding for the HRDC program spiked just before, and just after, the 1997 election. There were accusations that those who got jobs through the program were primarily family members of civil servants and Liberal party volunteers. Hmmm.

It appears that the health care system, once a source of deserved pride, was also manipulated by those who were supposed to be maintaining it. Weston writes

Ad exec Jean Lambert testified that his spouse, Sylvie Cloutier, had won a competitive bid for a $200,000 Health Canada contract in 1994. Instead, she was forced to run the work through Lafleur Communications, a firm now at the centre of Adscam.

The Gomery commission was told Cloutier was forced to pay Lafleur $50,000 to do nothing but pass along her invoices to the government.

So all the extra money pumped into the health care system went ... where again?

[A quick comment on Alberta's Voice - I really recommend you write you own letters rather than copy and paste any form letter. Their examples provide a good reminder of the talking points you might want to address, but sincerity counts the most in any endeavour, and the numbers of sincerely outraged taxpayers is what directs political and institutional change.]

Captain's Quarters is already on election watch and it appears that at least one Liberal in Alberta is thinking about jumping ship - MP David Kilgour. He also covers recent poll figures which I'm avoiding (I live in Toronto and have little faith in the common sense of the voters of this town. I'm just saying ...)

As I've stated before, an election is not going to solve anything. It's the structure of how the government approves spending - and the lack of whistleblower protection - that is all wrong and provides an open invitation to corruption. Andrew Coyne summed it up succinctly in Trust Us:

"All we have to say is 'We won't steal your money'," the Conservative stalwart said...

[...]

What this member of the public wants to hear is: Don't trust us. You don't have to. Here are the specific things we'll do to ensure that you don't have to trust us -- because this kind of thing will be impossible.

That's what I too want to hear because I don't trust anyone with my money, which what I view tax dollars to be and, quite frankly, is how you should view that amorphous mass called "government money."

(Links from the Ottawa Sun and National Post via Neale News who should bookmarked by every blogger and checked several times a day by newshounds.)

10:20 Tom Brodbeck of the Winnepeg Sun points to another instance wherein the Prime Minister of Canada assumed powers above those of Parliament:

[Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray] ... was given a patronage appointment to head the National Round Table on the Environment and the Economy by Martin, even though he's completely unqualified for the position.

His appointment was rejected by a Commons standing committee. And this past week, Parliament voted to rescind Murray's appointment. A majority of democratically elected MPs voted against the appointment. Yet, Martin's appointment stands.

So much for democracy.

Murray was grilled by a Commons standing committee and he revealed how pathetically unqualified he is for the job.

He even acknowledged his shortcomings and apologized to the committee for them.

The House of Commons rejected Murray's appointment by a vote of 143-108.

But junior Environment Minister Bryon Wilfert said Murray will keep his job anyway.

"The position of the prime minister stands absolutely," said Wilfert. "The house has voted after the fact. ..

Then why hold a vote? And, if it was intended to have been a rubber-stamping exercise and Parliament revolted, why didn't they do something principled when they learned they had been ignored, like walk out or express their displeasure to the press?

This country drives me nuts.

15:48: Brodbeck column linked. Sorry!

Posted by Debbye at 05:54 AM | Comments (5)

American women win hockey gold

Apr. 10 - The 2005 world championship game between the Canadian and American women's hockey teams was scoreless in regulation and overtime so the matter was settled in what the writer refers to as a "questionable way" to win and what others of us (on our mild days) call "unsporting and fraking ugly" -- a stupid shootout.

Canada had won 8 consectuive titles and the U.S. had a run of silver until this championship tournament.

There was one cool note in the story:

Kazakhstan upset Russia 2-1 in the relegation game, sending the Russians to the second-tier or world women's B championship in 2007.
Heh.

Posted by Debbye at 05:42 AM | Comments (7)

April 08, 2005

Kinsella meeting with Ontario govt. Cabinet may have constituted a conflict of interest

Apr. 8 - This is curious - Alan Findlay writes today that the Ontario Cabinet met with lobbyist Warren Kinsella in what at best might be construed as incredibly (as in unbelievably) poor timing:

THE ONTARIO government came under fire yesterday after admitting that a paid lobbyist met with cabinet shortly before the bill he was hired to influence was steered away from legislative debate. Progressive Conservative critic Bob Runciman said the government is caught in a major conflict of interest by having party strategist Warren Kinsella meet with cabinet while also lobbying them on proposed legislation.

Premier Dalton McGuinty said Kinsella had nothing to do with any policy discussion with cabinet.

"I can assure you that Mr. Kinsella did not in any way, shape or form broach that particular topic of Bill 133," said McGuinty, referring to the environmental bill that Kinsella is being paid to lobby against.

"Trust Us." I can't think of a worse day on which any government would base their denial of wrongdoing on that pitiful phrase.

A quick google brought up the web page for the Bill 133 which the Ontario government describes as distinguishing between fines levied in the events of spills, etc., and penalties which would, among others things, place at least part of the financial burden for clean-up and restoration on the shoulders of the companies from which the spills originated.

This page confirms that Kinsella has been hired to lobby against the bill and by which companies.

I can't prove that Kinsella spoke about Bill 133 when he met with Cabinet, but McGuinty's routine dismissal of the accusation is hardly reassuring.

Posted by Debbye at 06:12 PM | Comments (5)

The Hell's Angels strike back

Apr. 8 - Pirate Paul Martin! (move your mouse onto the picture to read the article and your mouse off the article to view the picture.)

Can't really argue their point!

Posted by Debbye at 05:45 PM | Comments (0)

The news Canadians trust

Apr. 8 - This past week has been strange. When much of the print and live news media was focused on the Pope's funeral, Canadian bloggers were weighing the risks of breaking a publication ban, and we had renewed appreciation of the term Kafkaesque because it was unclear as to what factors would determine if we had broken the ban.

It didn't occur to me until I read Larry's Drinking in the Sand to wonder where Munuviana is hosted (but I don't think it's the USA although it is offshore) but I have also posted to Television Without Pity forums (does that constitute a conflict of interest?) and I'm not sure where it is hosted either - although I know at least one of the moderators is in Manitoba.

I know where I am hosted and I know where my ISP is hosted, and although the publication ban might have provided some wiggle room in terms of site location, I would assume that using a Canadian-based ISP through which to post would constitute violation of the ban.

I decided that my biggest risk was deportation, and I also knew it was unlikely the US government would support me were I placed in a legal battle because it expects me to obey the laws of the country in which I reside.

I decided that the risk of deportation was minimal compared to the risk of my children living - and paying taxes - in a kleptocracy.

I decided that the publication ban inadvertantly (and I really mean that - Judge Gomery has struck me as a man of integrity) hindered the ability of the Opposition to function in Parliament.

Most importantly, I decided that the risk of deportation was minimal compared to the risk of underestimating the intelligence, common sense and skepticism inherent in the average Canadian and that the better option was - wait for it - to trust the people of this good country.

I also know that I finally got a decent night's sleep after the publication ban was lifted - so decent that I overslept and missed work which enabled me to watch the retro broadcasts of Brault's testimony on CPAC.

It was very awkward to try to explain why so I thought it vital to break the publication ban without divulging the contents of the testimony which had been put under the publication ban. I didn't even try - I just posted the links to Captain's Quarters, although in retrospect I should have put a "Not safe" warning up for people with high blood pressure, heart problems, or currently doing up their tax returns.

I trust that everyone now understands why some of us decided that violating the publication ban was in the public interest, and also why it was important that not everyone violate the ban - after all, who would be left to cut through the media spin to expose the vile corruption that seems to be inherent in the Liberal party were we all in jail or deprived of internet access?

My hope is that the people who read the posts at Captain's Quarters are now placed beyond the reach of Liberal party spin doctors because as Kate's post makes clear, there is plenty of reason to suspect that the CBC leads that spin.

I also hope that, as retro-coverage of Jean Brault's tesimony last week played last night on CPAC and blasted the front pages of the print media today, people who discovered blogs this past week have also learned that the internet has made primary research much easier.

The Gomery Commission has a web site, and the transcripts from the hearings are also online in English and in French in Abobe format (.pdf)

People can use the internet to read posts about Buffy&Angel 4Eva!!!! or to read transcripts and the India Times. Like everything in this world, the power of the internet can be used for good, for ill, or for irreverence. It's up to the individual.

Posted by Debbye at 04:08 PM | Comments (5)

April 07, 2005

Restoring Ethics to Canadian sensibilities

Apr. 7 - The Captain has posted portions of the the CTV summary and is doing some fact checking -- comparing the information he received from his source to what is going up the CTV site.

Before we go further, I would like to tell you all about something known as a Tipjar. It's located right under the "Official Blogger" button and is a white box that says "Make a Donation." Captain Ed hasn't said, but I suspect the heavy traffic generated by his Adscam reports exceeded his bandwidth and has cost him money, so each of us should give him something if only as a token of our thanks for all he has done. Okay?

Back to Adscam.

The Capt'n makes a point which says much about some of what led to Adscam:

Under cross examination, a lawyer for the Liberals suggested Brault didn't really know if some of his payments ended up in Liberal coffers. Brault agreed with that, saying 'You're right."
Well, perhaps the attorney representing the Liberals on the cross-examination felt he scored a point. However, when political appointees demand cash from a government contractor, either the money is for themselves or their party -- and either way, it's corruption.
The attorney representing the Liberals probably doesn't, in fact, realize that very thing. Ethics rank lower than scoring a point.

And that's where the work need to begin - to stop shrugging and saying "everyone does it" but to press for reforms that will end - or at least minimize - institutionalized theft, to decentralize power so that those elected to represent their ridings are actually able do so.

Chretien's legacy is still under advisement, but the stench he left behind remains. It's about the cynicism, civil service promotions on the basis of who you know rather than how well you do your job, trips abroad to study brothels and red light districts, and golfballs.

It will be easy to sit back and hope that somebody else does it, but it don't work like that. If you've never written a letter or visited your MP's site before, now is the time (even if you are represented by a Liberal.) Let them know how sick and tired you are, and demand changes. (Just don't believe anyone who promises to fix the democratic deficit.)

Send the Liberals further into panic mode, and demand the Conservatives come up with something better than criticizing the Liberals.

That's how I see it, anyway. Good night.

Oh wait, the Globe and Mail report must have popped up after I left their site (link via Angry in the Great White North, who will probably be going full steam this evening so be sure and check him often.)

A shorter article is up at the CNews here noting this from that article: Brault said he circumvented Quebec election rules in 1996 to funnel at least $100,000 to the Parti Quebecois when Lucien Bouchard was premier.

Posted by Debbye at 02:46 PM | Comments (2)

Restoring Ethics to Canadian sensibilities

Apr. 7 - The Captain has posted portions of the the CTV summary and is doing some fact checking -- comparing the information he received from his source to what is going up the CTV site.

Before we go further, I would like to tell you all about something known as a Tipjar. It's located right under the "Official Blogger" button and is a white box that says "Make a Donation." Captain Ed hasn't said, but I suspect the heavy traffic generated by his Adscam reports exceeded his bandwidth and has cost him money, so each of us should give him something if only as a token of our thanks for all he has done. Okay?

Back to Adscam.

The Capt'n makes a point which says much about some of what led to Adscam:

Under cross examination, a lawyer for the Liberals suggested Brault didn't really know if some of his payments ended up in Liberal coffers. Brault agreed with that, saying 'You're right."
Well, perhaps the attorney representing the Liberals on the cross-examination felt he scored a point. However, when political appointees demand cash from a government contractor, either the money is for themselves or their party -- and either way, it's corruption.
The attorney representing the Liberals probably doesn't, in fact, realize that very thing. Ethics rank lower than scoring a point.

And that's where the work need to begin - to stop shrugging and saying "everyone does it" but to press for reforms that will end - or at least minimize - institutionalized theft, to decentralize power so that those elected to represent their ridings are actually able do so.

Chretien's legacy is still under advisement, but the stench he left behind remains. It's about the cynicism, civil service promotions on the basis of who you know rather than how well you do your job, trips abroad to study brothels and red light districts, and golfballs.

It will be easy to sit back and hope that somebody else does it, but it don't work like that. If you've never written a letter or visited your MP's site before, now is the time (even if you are represented by a Liberal.) Let them know how sick and tired you are, and demand changes. (Just don't believe anyone who promises to fix the democratic deficit.)

Send the Liberals further into panic mode, and demand the Conservatives come up with something better than criticizing the Liberals.

That's how I see it, anyway. Good night.

Oh wait, the Globe and Mail report must have popped up after I left their site (link via Angry in the Great White North, who will probably be going full steam this evening so be sure and check him often.)

A shorter article is up at the CNews here noting this from that article: Brault said he circumvented Quebec election rules in 1996 to funnel at least $100,000 to the Parti Quebecois when Lucien Bouchard was premier.

Posted by Debbye at 02:46 PM | Comments (2)

That publication ban -- lifted!

Apr. 7 - I meant to sleep, honest. But I'm watching CBC Newsworld (along with a long of bloggers, I'll wager) and readying my rebel yell.

Here goes: Judge Gomery says that it is in the public interest that Brault's and Guite's testimony, with a few exceptions, be lifted.

Judge Gomery cites a precedent which says the jury may not be able to distinguish between what impressions they had before the trial and what they hear as evidence in the trial, which is why the ban will stay on a few items which were testified to in the inquiry.

14:15 CBC Newsworld is already airing their coverage of Brault's testimony, and it's already on their web site here.

Oh lord, CBC has Jim Travers on.

Question Period has begun in the House of Commons. McKay was strong, McClellan was shrill. Everyone seems charged! (maybe not everyone ...)

The Conservative Party website has a web page dedicated to the Gomery Inquiry which might balance out the CBC spin.

CTV coverage of Brault's testimony is here.

Toronto Sun has coverage of the lifting of the ban.

I just realized I've never thanked Captain Ed! Thank you, sir, for standing up for the rights of free people and their right to know what their government is doing.

Let freedom ring!

Posted by Debbye at 02:09 PM | Comments (1)

David Ahenakew

Apr. 7 - I've been meaning to post about the hate speech trial of David Ahenakew, former senator and member of the Order of Canada who publicly stated that Jews started WWII and are a "disease." The explanation the defense has offered is that Ahenakew is a victim of medical, chemical and alcohol problems.

I'm losing the ability to comment rationally on things like this and a really loud yell doesn't go across the internet so well.

Bob, however, has covered it and with considerable style.

Posted by Debbye at 01:41 PM | Comments (2)

NY Times names Captain Ed

Apr. 7 - From the NY Times: A Blog Written From Minneapolis Rattles Canada's Liberal Party (free registration may be required):

An American blogger has suddenly emerged as a force in Canadian politics.

Edward Morrissey, a 42-year-old Minneapolis area call-center manager who runs a Web log, or blog, called Captain's Quarters as a hobby, last Saturday began posting allegations of corruption that reached the highest levels of the Canadian Liberal Party. The postings violate a publication ban instituted a few days earlier by a federal judge, Justice John Gomery, who is leading an investigation into accusations of money laundering and kickbacks in a government program from the 1990's that was aimed at undermining Quebec separatists.

[...]

While the Canadian news media have not reported explicitly what Mr. Morrissey is posting, their newspaper articles and television features about his work have led Canadians to visit Captain's Quarters (www.captainsquartersblog.com) to read the latest scandalous details. Mr. Morrissey said his blog had been flooded since Canadian CTV television first reported on its existence and contents Sunday night, and that he was now getting 400,000 hits a day.

And yes, that is a hyperlink to Captain's Quarters embededed in the third to the last paragraph from the full text of the article.

I get the Times headlines by email daily. I usually go to the International News page, scan it, and then click on All Headlines .

What would be the legal ruling now, given the hyperlink in the article?

I'm not the only person up here who gets the NY Times emailed.

Good call for Jay Currie, who speculated on this very point a while ago. (Make that 2 days ago. Right.)

Posted by Debbye at 12:47 PM | Comments (0)

Gomery and Adscam and Liberals, oh my!

Apr. 7 - The Grits are running out of straw men persons. First the Sponsorship Program was a clever ploy to save Canada from the separatist threat (which was marred a little by some thievin' Quebeckers,) but when it became a fully-fledged scandal it was a "rogue group of civil servants," which progressed to Chretien's golf-balls and now it's all about the evil machinations of some shadowly parallel group of Liberal party members which is just pretending to be part of the Liberal Party (which would mean, I guess, that Chretien only pretended to be the controlling despot he was said to have been.) Yesterday, Martin responded to the grilling by the CPC and BQ by accusing them of being in league to break up Canada so we're back to where they started: wrapping themselves in the flag to defend stealing millions of dollars from tax payers.

Yesterday's column by Greg Weston exposed that Groupaction was an equal opportunity kickback firm: they paid off the Parti Quebecois in return for a contract for the province when the PQ was in power in Quebec - thereby helping to fund the PQ in their bid to lead Quebec to separate from Canada.

Groupaction had also taken money from the federal government to prevent separation. The editorial in today's Toronto Sun says In other words, the Liberal sponsorship program, aside from being unethical, was also incompetent. That is a point that needs to be repeatedly stressed, lest the betrayal of Canada by Groupaction become the focus instead of the Liberal Party (and Parti Quebecois) which hired them.

Greg Weston reports that the Liberals have even lost the votes of the Toronto chapter of the Hell's Angels (that's just got to hurt) and the latest twist:

If any of the $250 million in sponsorship money paid to ad agencies was ultimately bound for Liberal party coffers, the Grits said, it never got there.

As the party's lawyer Doug Mitchell told reporters in Montreal: "The Quebec wing was $3 million in debt. This is hardly in keeping with assertions that the party was receiving substantial benefit through inappropriate means."

In other words, someone must have stolen some of the stolen sponsorship loot stolen from taxpayers.

After apparently pondering all this over tea with Alice and the Mad Hatter, the Liberal party decided to call in the Mounties to investigate what seems to be a case of kickback double-cross.

The BQ has rushed to defend the PQ and is denying that the PQ ever received a kickback from Groupaction and claims that Groupaction never even got the contract for which they allegedly paid the PQ. Weston swings back, saying that the contract in question was indeed given to Groupaction:
As we reported yesterday, Alain Renaud, a senior executive who worked for the ad firm Groupaction during the Adscam years, claims that while the company was getting $43 million in sponsorship funds, it was slipping thousands of dollars to the PQ.

In one deal, Renaud says, Groupaction paid about $90,000 to the PQ in return for a $4.5-million advertising contract with the Quebec liquor board, the SAQ.

The PQ, of course, went berserk over the story, denying it with separatist vigour. Groupaction had actually lost the bid for the liquor board contract in late 1998, the party insisted. Too bad Renaud was talking about Groupaction's contract from 1996-97.

And how is the Opposition handling the opportunity to have a specific talking point that can legally be brought up during Question Period?
Conservative Leader Stephen Harper made the perfectly sensible point that since "hundreds of thousands of tax dollars may have been funnelled through the Liberal sponsorship program to the Parti Quebecois, I guess the Keystone Crooks stole the money and gave it to the wrong people."

Harper asked, could the PM "guarantee Canadian taxpayers that not one red cent of their money went to the separatist cause in Quebec in the name of national unity?"

Keith looks at Weston's revelations and makes some very shrewd conclusions about the BQ's motives.

Laurent has prepared a Guide to the Sponsorship Program and resurrects Tony Clement's proposals as examples of what kind of solutions might be proposed.

Finally, someone looking at the issues under the issue! I believe that an entire series of reforms are needed, starting in patronage appointment practices, enacting protection for whistleblowers, reforming the Senate and judicial appointments, and, not by any means least, the need to return to Parliament those powers which Chretien moved into the Prime Minister's Office.

Don't go to the polls until some concrete reforms are ready to present to the voters.

And as to the RCMP investigtion? They always get their bagman

Andrew Coyne sets the scene:

Situation Room, RCMP Special Investigations Unit
First briefing for those who will investigate the fraud which has victimized the Liberal Party.

No, dont get up. And you can cut out the salutes, too. For this kind of operation, youre going to have to forget all about that stuff. Now, weve been given a mission, the likes of which I cant recall seeing in thirty years on the force. Weve been told that a group of individuals, posing as members of the Liberal Party of Canada, have been soliciting contributions to the party in exchange for promises of federal contracts. It is further alleged that these individuals, though wholly unconnected with the party, then absconded with the cash -- money that rightfully belonged to the party. Im sure you can see the seriousness of this matter. At least, thats one theory were working on. The other is that certain other individuals promised to pay the party sums of money in exchange for federal contracts, but never delivered on their half of the bargain. All we know at this point is that the party has been the victim of a massive fraud. How do we know this? Because the party told us so, and as you know, thats always been good enough for us. ..
The RCMP may not be the best choice, though, because in January, 2004, the RCMP admitted it lost millions of dollars worth of equipment it had purchased for the G-8 conference in June, 2002, in Kananaskis and shrugged it off with the old standby oh well, sometimes these things happen.

Judge Gomery is expected to rule today on whether to lift the publication ban on Brault's testimony. If he does lift it, the information that comes out might affect the public mood and the Opposition parties might decide that the time is right to force an election. If he doesn't, the Liberals gain some breathing room. The first possibility allows the parties to choose to exercise their Parliamentary option, and the second hinders them, another unintentional consequence of the ban.

Actually, I hope they wait for the Gomery Inquiry to conclude and present its findings. Then the Conservative Party can go to work and come up with solutions to offer the Canadian voter, as I said above. Nevertheless, it is only right that they have that option.

The Toronto Sun story on the ban has a telephone interview with Renaud:

Gomery will hear today from Alain Renaud, a consultant who was paid $1.1 million to lobby for federal contracts. He said it's thanks to his contacts with key Liberals that sponsorship floodgates opened after 1996.

"I began from zero and took (Brault) to the highest summits," Renaud said in a phone interview yesterday.

Renaud said that had he only lobbied public servants in charge of handing out advertising and sponsorship contracts at public works, "I'm not sure that we would have reached those summits."

Renaud said he took advice from Chuck Guite to get close to key Liberals to heart: "So the mix of both politics and public servants worked."

Renaud said he was let go when Brault handed Guite a consultant contract in the fall of 2000. "I introduced all those people to Brault and I was pushed aside," Renaud said.

Guite, the Big Bad. Didn't he used to sleep in Chretien's basemen?

Aha, Captain Ed that Minneapolis guy is at it again.

Kathy has a suggestion for a banner, but I kind of like the phrase she's taken to opening her posts about the site that dare not speak it's name: The first rule of the fight club ...

Kate keeps on punching: A Tale of Two Accountants

More people are Standing Up for a True North Strong and Free:

Canadian Speaker, a non-blogger who opened a blog just to put up the proscribed link.
The Last Amazon
Strong World
A Voice for Freedom

Yay! Dust My Broom already has compiled a huge list of canaries Check it out (so I can get some sleep!)

Posted by Debbye at 08:30 AM | Comments (2)

April 06, 2005

PQ also got kickbacks

Apr. 6 - Greg Weston has dropped a bombshell: he writes that the separatist Parti Quebecois got kickbacks, too. This was revealed to Sun Media by senior executives and the column quotes from one of them who wishes to remain anonymous as he is due to testify before the Gomery Inquiry next week.

A MONTREAL advertising firm that received more than $40 million in AdScam sponsorship contracts paid huge kickbacks to both the federal Liberal party and the Quebec separatists, senior executives of the company have told Sun Media. "I remember seeing the cheques," one former Groupaction executive said of payments to the federal Liberal party in Quebec.

[...]

The $250 million in sponsorships that the previous Liberal government pumped into Quebec was supposed to help fight the separatists after the near-miss referendum in 1995.

But another former Groupaction executive, Alain Renaud, said that while the firm was getting millions of dollars in federal sponsorship money, it was secretly cutting cheques to the separatist Parti Quebecois.

Renaud said that in one transaction, a total of about $90,000 was given to the PQ as part of Groupaction's getting a $4.5-million advertising contract for the Quebec liquor board, called the SAQ.

Groupaction apparently won the contract in a competition when a bagman for the Parti Quebecois had a meeting with the firm's top executives.

One of those executives told Sun Media: "The bagman came by and said: 'Well, you won the bid, and all that's needed now is a signature, and the documents are on the minister's desk to be signed, and it's going to cost you fifty grand.' "

Renaud recalled about $45,000 a year in donations were to be paid to the PQ for two years.

The money was funnelled through individual Groupaction employees to circumvent Quebec law, which prohibits corporate political contributions.

Were there earlier allegations that the PQ received Sponsorship money? (I could easily have missed it during bouts of work-related marathons.) If proven to be true, this will shake Quebec provincial politics to the roots.

Update: Poor wording on my part. There have been no allegations that the PQ received Sponsorship money, period.

Posted by Debbye at 09:31 AM | Comments (2)

McClellan Spinning Time (updated)

Apr. 6 - Here's one example of how the CBC chooses to present facts: U.S. will demand passports from Canadians.

"Demand!" Yeah, those nasty friggin' Yankees!

WASHINGTON - In response to a new rule requiring most Canadians to carry passports for entry into the U.S., Public Security Minister Anne McLellan said Americans may also have to carry the document to enter Canada.
You go girl! (Okay, not exactly "demand" calibre, but it sounds like a bit of tit-for-tat, right?)
"Our system has really always worked on the basis of reciprocity," McLellan said outside the House of Commons.

"And therefore we will review our requirements for American citizens and we're going to do that in collaboration with the United States.

"There's no point in either of us going off in a direction without working together to determine how best we can facilitate the flow a free flow and movement of low-risk individuals."

McLellan's comments come as the U.S. State Department announced that by 2007, most Canadians will need a passport to enter the United States.

CBC finally gets to the real circumstances on the sixth paragraph:
And by 2008, most Americans who visit Canada won't be able to re-enter their country without a passport.

The new rules will still allow Canadians to enter the United States without being fingerprinted. The U.S. demands a fingerprint from all other foreign visitors now.

The tighter security will be implemented first between the U.S. and Caribbean countries, then along the U.S.-Mexican border and finally between the U.S. and Canada.

It is likely to start at airports, then spread to land crossings.

As I wrote yesterday on this matter, passport requirements were mandated in 2004 in the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act. It's going to be inconvenient for everyone, not just Canadians, but I wonder if the vital justification in the sixth paragraph of the item will be heard before people express their outrage.

(Link via Neale News.)

12:11 Here is the link to the 2005 Report of the Auditor-General of Canada on National Security which reads much like the last report, come to think of it. It appears there has been no improvement in passport checks either (although the fees were raised citing the addition of security features as the reason.)

Posted by Debbye at 08:42 AM | Comments (4)

April 05, 2005

Brault testimony, Part II

Apr. 5 - I finally and completely understand why Canada has not produced a Dr. King or a Henry David Thoreau. Every blogger up here has only one decision to make: will you fight for liberty? This is an act of civil disobedience, not armed insurrection, for crying out loud. The threat to charge those of us who published certain links, such as the second post in a series about Jean Brault's testimony before the Gomery Inquiry - The Martin Connection, must be met with only one response: Bring. It. On. I mean it. Let's drop the gloves once and for all and get some earnest debate up here about liberty and inherent human rights.

People around the world are being killed in their struggles for freedom and I'm almost ashamed that the worst I face is the loss of some money and, horrors! inconvenience.

Joe Katzman puts Adscam, the publication ban, the power of the blogosphere and some analysis of the choices the Liberal Party must make here. Must read for Americans and Canadians.

If I tried to list the outpourings of posts from Angry in the Great White North and small dead animals I'd never publish, so just start in and read.

Stepping back for a second, I don't believe an election will solve anything. A change in government will be fruitless unless there are substantial changes in the way the patronage system is allowed to bleed taxpayers by rewarding favours with government positions and civil service reforms are enacted. Addendum And what about fiscal accountability, including for those foundations which receive grants from the government but are not subject to audited reviews on that money?

All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.

There are another thing consideration which would make Canada look beyond stupid. As Andrew Coyne put it, should the publication ban remain and an election be called, We would then be treated to a sight I venture to say has never before been witnessed anywhere in the world: an entire election devoted to an issue that no one is allowed to say anything about..

Standing Up for a True North Strong and Free:

Angry in the Great White North
Autonomous Source
Dust my Broom
Girl on the Right
Italics Mine
Minority of One
News Junkie Canada
The Politic
Relapsed Catholic
small dead animals

(I may have missed some web loggers and haven't outed anyone who hasn't had the links up for some time. Let me know if you want to be removed or added on.)

Sometimes Faltering Lips can be a good thing. When the time comes, perhaps we all will say I am Spartacus!

Honourable better-late-than-never Mentions for Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail and the CBC (get url for Real Player broadcast here.)

(Part I is here, if you are late to this Tea Party.)

13:02: Jay found this Very pointed satire which brings a whole new meaning to the concept of thought crimes.

Posted by Debbye at 09:23 AM | Comments (10)

If the shoe fits ...

day by day 04-05-2005.gif

Day by Day by Chris Muir (with thanks to Jay for the pointer.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:04 AM | Comments (5)

There's freedom afoot ...

Apr. 5 - Go to Nealenews for some excellent links (I'll be linking and writing later, but why wait for me? Just git!)

Posted by Debbye at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

April 04, 2005

Canadians: Linking to CQ May Be Good For Your Freedom

Apr. 4 - Those looking for the link to Captain Ed's item on Brault's secret testimony before the Gomery Inquiry have been given a bit of a helping hand by the Canadian media.

CTV carried the story but wimped out completely and pulled their story entirely (before I could read it) rather than edit out the name of the blog, blogger, and Canadian news service that carried the link (and from which I got it yesterday.) Jane Taber of the Globe and Mail published the story of the leak on an unspecified American blog and publicized by an unspecified news service (and rendered the Good Captain into an "anonymous blogger",) and Stephanie Rubec had a similar article in the London Free Press and Toronto Sun without mentioning specific names and site addresses (the story may well be in all Sun Media newspapers, but I followed the LPF link from Capt. Ed and have checked only the Toronto Sun on my own thus far.)

Captain Ed warns Canadian bloggers that linking to CQ may be bad for your democracy but I disagree - it's good for your democracy, and there are a lot of Canadians who are voicing their agreement by following the results of their web searches.

Freedom is precious, and many have died to preserve that freedom. If people aren't willing to fight and sacrifice for their freedom then they don't deserve it.

Angry in T.O. is, um, angrier, and is standing tall, and I've only just learned that Kate proved her mettle yesterday.

Why violate the publication ban and risk legal action? Asked and answered in a follow-up post by Angry in the Great White North.

As for me, as I noted in a response to a comment yesterday, every Canadian who pays federal taxes is a victim of the fraud and theft perpetuated by the Sponsorship grants and possibly by the Liberal Party.

They didn't commit crimes against or steal money from the government. The government has no money except what it deducts from paychecks as well as the "surcharges" we pay when we file taxes, levies on businesses, and raises through an 8% tax on purchases.

They stole your money and my money - and each of us would be a plaintiff in this case and thus would be unable to qualify as jurors should the case ever come to trial.

Judge Gomery forgot that minor detail when he placed the publication ban on the testimony in order to guarantee a fair trial. I guess he and I have a fundamental disagreement on some basic concepts about government and tax money.

Posted by Debbye at 07:54 AM | Comments (8)

CTV wimps out on revelations about Brault's testimony

Apr. 4 - CTV interviewed the American blogger who wrote about the "secret" testimony of Jean Brault before the Gomery Inquiry into Adscam but pulled the article when they realized they could be committing a crime just by linking to Captain's Quarters.

Their timidity is all the more deserving of scorn in the wake of new information about the torture Canadian Zahra Kazemi endured before her death in an Iran prison for the dreadful crime of photographing those who were holding a vigil in June, 2003.

Zahra Kazemi died in defense of press freedoms in a totalitarian country and the CTV is too afraid to exercise freedom of the press in a democracy.

Shame and double shame.

Posted by Debbye at 07:46 AM | Comments (6)

April 03, 2005

John Dean comes to Canada

Apr. 3 - Imagine the outcry had the Watergate hearings been placed under a publication ban because some of those named faced criminal proceedings. It's a testimony to the American character that we conduct open reviews of scandals like Watergate and the Iran-Contra hearings even though it provides our enemies with a great deal of ammunition -- more than a lesser people could tolerate.

Canada put testimony in the Gomery Commission behind such a ban with nary a blush, piously citing privacy and legal concerns and knowing that the media outcry would rapidly subside as journalists shrug because it's the kind of repression they've come to expect but which they rarely name.

But make no mistake: the media blackout is repression of a free press and in too many ways exposes what is wrong with Canada.

Enter the Age of the Internet. Unsurprisingly, it seems some information may have trickled out and is available for the world, except Canadians, to read. Unless they dare.

Apr. 4 - 6:45 - Edited to add the link was via Neale News, which I omitted yesterday because I didn't want to be indirectly responsible for any ramifications of his courageous act. Needless to say, that particular cat is long out of the bag but Neale is still carrying the link. [12:21 - it's gone now and Neale is listing links to today's news.]

We must all hang together or assuredly we shall all hang separately.

Posted by Debbye at 01:46 PM | Comments (7)

March 30, 2005

Kassem Daher charged as money raiser for al Qaeda

Mar. 30 - An former Edmonton man, Kassem Daher, was named as a money-raiser for al Qaeda and is believed to have operated movie theatres towards that end.

Daher hasn't resided in Edmonton since 1998.

In 2000, he was arrested in Lebanon after a shootout between police and alleged terrorists. After his arrest, Daher's relatives denied he was ever involved in terrorism and urged the Canadian government to intervene on his behalf. He was never formally charged with a crime in Lebanon or Canada and has been free on bail for the past year, Barbara Campion, a spokeswoman for CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) told CanWest News Service on Tuesday.

[...]

Earlier this week, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami released a 14-page affidavit sworn out by FBI agent John T. Kavanaugh detailing what he described as the "Jayyousi-Daher-Hassoun North American Support Network" for Islamic terror.

"The investigation of Jayyousi, Daher (and) Hassoun began in late 1993 and revealed that they had formed a network across North America to fundraise for and recruit mujahedeen to train and fight in various jihad areas including but not limited to Bosnia, Kosovo, Chechnya, and Somalia," the affidavit states.

"During the times relevant to this investigation, Daher resided in Leduc, Canada."

FBI surveillance teams recorded numerous conversations between the three men and others involved in the network, including onetime leader Mohamed Zaky, who died in 1995 fighting in Chechnya.

The tapes are said to have Daher describing his money-laundering, and one 1995 tape involves a conversation between two of the men in which they discussed their efforts to raise money to move "jihadist soldiers between Algeria, Egypt, Somalia, and Eritrea." They also expressed their wish they could raise enough money to send soldiers to Chechnya.:
"Daher and Jayyousi also discussed setting up a for-profit business in order to fund jihad," the affidavit states. "Daher then mentioned his organization, the Canadian Islamic Association, which he described as a 'cover, I mean it's very good.' "
Jayyousi is in U.S. federal custody in Detroit and was scheduled to appear in court today. Daher is believed to still be in Lebanon.

I ran a google to find the Canadian Islamic Association and found that it is a registered organization, has a business license in Leduc (among other places,) and was cited in an item at the Canadian Newspaper Association web site: Muslim chastizes Canadian media for erroneous coverage of Islam and terrorism.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 02:33 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2005

Mohamed Harkat

Mar. 29 - Mohamed Harkat, an Ottawa resident, faces deportation to Algeria after a federal judge ruled that he was a terrorist on March 22 and poses a threat to national security:

Judge Eleanor Dawson ruled that two federal cabinet ministers made a reasonable decision in December 2002 when they concluded that Mr. Harkat was a member of al-Qaeda, the world's foremost terrorist organization.

And she flatly dismissed Mr. Harkat's sworn testimony, during which he denied any connection to terrorism or the al-Qaeda network, as the work of a liar.

There is credible, reliable information from a number of independent sources, including the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS), that contradicts Mr. Harkat's evidence, the judge said.

"On the basis of the confidential information," she said, "it is clear and beyond doubt that Mr. Harkat lied under oath to the court in several important respects."

The judge is not required to divulge the confidential information that led to her decision, but she reportedly said that
... she did not rely on the evidence of Mr. Zubayda, who was thought by Mr. Harkat's defence team to be a linchpin in the government's case.
There are allegations that Zubayda was tortured by the U.S. military to obtain information.
Judge Dawson said she could not rely upon Mr. Zubayda's evidence because she was not told exactly what he said or the circumstances under which he identified Mr. Harkat.

Mr. Zubayda had been the only informant identified by the court as giving credible evidence against Mr. Harkat.

As a result, the defence team spent considerable time trying to establish that Mr. Zubayda had been tortured into giving that evidence.

Mr. Copeland said the experience highlights the "impossibility" of defending someone against a security certificate: "In these cases, you have no idea of the case you have to meet, and you have no idea of how to meet it.

"It is a process that is unfair and violates fundamental justice. But the courts don't seem to agree with me on that issue."

Indeed, Judge Dawson defended the process in her decision, arguing that it is constitutionally sound and offers fundamental justice to foreign citizens accused of terrorism.

The judge concluded there were reasonable grounds to find Mr. Harkat is a member of al-Qaeda who has repeatedly lied to Canadian officials about his terrorist links.

Mr. Harkat came to Canada in 1995 after five years in Pakistan, during which time he said he worked as a warehouse manager for the Muslim World League.

But Judge Dawson said there's reasonable grounds to believe Mr. Harkat travelled to Afghanistan during the early 1990s and developed an association with Mr. Zubayda, who ran two al-Qaeda training camps.

Harkat also was allegedly associated with Ahmed Khadr:
The judge found that Mr. Harkat was also unbelievable when he described his relationship with Ahmed Said Khadr, a known associate of Osama bin Laden's who was once the ranking al-Qaeda member in Canada. (Mr. Khadr was killed in the fall of 2003 during a gun battle with Pakistani forces after fleeing Afghanistan.)

Mr. Harkat admitted on the witness stand that he met Mr. Khadr in Ottawa and travelled with him to Toronto by car. Mr. Harkat claims he met Mr. Khadr through his roommate, Mohamed El Barseigy, and that he did not converse at length with him during a five-hour ride to Toronto.

Judge Dawson concluded that testimony was "inherently implausible and incredible."

[...]

Judge Dawson's decision on the reasonableness of the security certificate cannot be appealed to a higher court.

Posted by Debbye at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)

Bush, Fox and Martin met (and accomplished nothing)

Mar. 29 - I probably should have commented on the the meeting between PM Paul Martin, Pres. Bush and Pres. Fox but I was too irritated that the press up here kept calling them The Three Amigos (doesn't anyone up here speak enough Spanish to know that amigos means friends?) (and yes, I saw the stupid movie) and it wasn't as though it was more than a meeting for public consumption, the "We are family" kind of public appearance in which the press up here imagines Important Stuff is going on and the rest of us are wondering if Presidents Fox and Bush managed to reach some understanding about the growing numbers of illegal immigrants undocumented workers that are coming into the U.S. from Mexico.

But there was some interesting commentary too. Greg Weston in Smiling Texans, glum Canucks notes too that nothing really happened at the meeting between Bush and Martin.

I agree with that assessment, unless "more of the same" counts. Measures for Establishing North American Security since Sept. 11 have been announced after every meeting between Canada and the USA and will likely continue to be announced after every future meeting. The press keeps reporting on that as though it's really news, so either they are dumb enough to actually believe it this time or they haven't noticed yet that the it's the same, tired press release. (I guess that also translates to being dumb. Whatever.)

Back to the meeting. There are actually real outstanding issues between Canada and the USA involving (what else?) trade. For those keeping score:
Soft wood lumber - no resolution.
The cow thing - no resolution.
Lunch - BBQ or Thai?

Douglas Fisher thinks Canada should be more curious about George but I suspect his advice is falling on deaf ears (if that's what you call people who have their fingers stuck firmly in their ears.)

Bob MacDonald's column notes that Martin actually stepped foot on the ranch, something Chretien never accomplished, and received a gift from the President - a pair of cowboy boots. (Make your own joke. I'm not touching it - besides, my heart is set on a pair like Condi's. Mmm.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:05 PM | Comments (2)

Army deserters in Canada

Mar. 29 - Cliff Cornell is an army deserter who is now a peace volunteer and one of 8 deserters all of whom want to stay in Canada.

From Mar. 25, Jeremy Hinzman will appeal the refugee board decision which denied him asylum status (Dodger insists: I'll stay) yet as the headline indicates, there is a persistent attempt to evoke the Vietnam era by terming him a dodger - he is not a draft dodger but a deserter, having voluntarily joined the US Army and even served in Afghanistan.

Supporters of Hinzman claim the decision was pro-war advancing the notion again that it was "illegal" and "Bush's war," despite the fact that it was approved by Congress.

Bill O'Reilly had it wrong, by the way, when he talked about the case. The decision by the appeal board had little to do with concerns over U.S.-Canada relations and more to do with the large number of claimants seeking asylum that arrive in Canada each year and a population that has grown increasingly suspicious of the process due to a large number of bogus claimants. Hinzman's assertion that he would be harshly punished pales in comparison to the real dangers people face were they to be returned to their native lands and indicated his real contempt for genuine asylum seekers who don't face jail but face torture and death.

Refugee claimants are already viewed with cynicism. Hinzman may well have hoped to capitalize on anti-American sentiment but had the refugee board granted his request it would have set a precedent for granting asylum on political bases rather than humanitarian and would have further undercut the credibility of the board.

Posted by Debbye at 02:23 PM | Comments (0)

March 24, 2005

Islamic school suspends teachers over student's hate-filled tale

Mar. 24 - I wish I could be surprised at this: Ottawa Islamic school suspends teachers over student's hate-filled tale.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 02:40 PM | Comments (8)

March 23, 2005

Mohammad Mahjoub

Mar. 23 - Another moral dilemma: Bail bid for detainee Mohammad Mahjoub, who has been held in a Toronto jail for nearly 5 years on suspicion of terror connections:

AFTER BEING held for nearly five years in a Toronto jail because of secret evidence and a national security certificate, Mohammad Mahjoub must wait several more months to learn if he will be granted bail. Mahjoub, 44, an alleged high-ranking terrorist with ties to Osama bin Laden, is one of five Canadians held on secret CSIS evidence as a threat to national security.

He appeared in federal court yesterday seeking bail, while Ottawa continues its efforts to deport him to Egypt, where, all sides agree, he faces the risk of torture.

The evidence is secret, so we are going on faith that it is valid. From what little I know of the case no charges have been filed although the article notes further down that he lied under oath previously. Generally speaking, we don't detain people for five years because we believe they might commit an illegal act but our new awareness of "sleepers" has changed our perception of what consitutes real and present dangers to national security.

One more for the "no easy answers" category. (I'm kidding; I don't have such a category ... yet.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:27 AM | Comments (3)

March 22, 2005

SSM and the CPC conference

Mar. 22 - The recent Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) policy conference was live-blogged by insiders Stephen Taylor and Hacks and Wonks.

Stephen covers it here and here, covers Stephen Harper's speech here (.pdf text of speech here.) He also covers the Party party here.

Hacks and Wonks covers the conference here and here here and here.

It's worth the time to read both bloggers. They have different styles and observations about the proceedings and the combination of the two adds dimensions and tone.

Two policy issues dominated after the initial procedural kerfuffle. The first was abortion, and the CPC decided not to challenge the current laws.

The other was same-sex marriage, and the CPC's decision to fight it while supporting civil unions has produced a lot of debate in the blogosphere as people decide if they can support a conservative party that does not support same-sex marriage. I've mostly been following the comments and links at Jay Currie's site here and here.

Crafting a position on same-sex marriage is a problem for the Conservative Party. On the one hand, the impetus to merge the Canadian Alliance and Progressive Conservative Party came about largely as a reaction to federal government moves to recognize gay marriage (and, more specifically, to call those unions marriage) and on the other hand, the influence on the party by what are called "so-cons" (i.e., social conservatives) run directly counter the views of hipper, urban conservatives and libertarians who should, by all that's logical, form a strong base of support for the party by Canadians who are tired of the ever-expanding tax load and furious over Adscam yet are strongly committed to human rights.

Ben takes a moderate view and Alan wants government out of marriages altogether. The Monger makes a good case for the 40% muggers (in a post about taxes, not SSM.)

Gay marriage is just not the big issue for me right now. I guess it's the curse of being an American and having American issues on my mind, but I'm still more worried about Islamofascists who want to kill gays than arguing over the designation of what to call legalized gay relationships.

I do hate the phrase "civil union," though. It is sterile, and fails to acknowledge the deep committment and love between gay couples.

I will state outright that I am annoyed that proponents keep pushing the notion that calling gay unions anything other than marriage is somehow an instance of "separate but equal" -- a barely disguised effort to connect this issue to the civil rights movement in the 60's -- but which displays either ignorance about or indifference to the institutionalized inequality of African-Americans in some states.

As those of us who were actually alive back then remember, "equal" was hardly a description of the public institutions and facilities made available to African-Americans who lived in states with Jim Crow laws (and in Northern urban areas.) There were also the matters of little or no police investigations into lynchings and the rapes of black women, being denied the right to vote, and being denied protection and due process under the law.

So unless it can be demonstrated that the designation "civil union" (or a more agreeable term) means fewer benefits, legal rights and protections, I am unconvinced that the failure to alter the ancient definition of marriage equals bigotry (nor can I deny there are some extremely homophobic voices raised against gays as well as gay marriage. That's the real pity and has clouded the debate somewhat.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:03 PM | Comments (6)

March 20, 2005

Miss Canada Pakistan

Mar. 20 - Last night, in A crowning moment, 13 contestants in ethnic dress competed for the title of Miss Canada Pakistan.

A mini-controversy has swirled about the event, with some claiming that it violates the beliefs of Islam, and others saying it advances the cause of Pakistani women:

"It's a great opportunity to get out there and speak on behalf of the Pakistani community," contestant Sarvat Khan, 20, said.

"They call it a beauty pageant, but that doesn't make it wrong."

Organizer Sonia Ahmed said nothing, including threats or hate mail from radicals, would have prevented the third annual pageant from going ahead.

"We're trying to show strong, independent Pakistani women (who) will show their talents boldly in front of an audience," she said. "Canada is a free country and we have the right to express ourselves freely."

Indeed they do.

Posted by Debbye at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2005

Party financing and national unity

Mar. 18 - A portion of our taxes are now turned over to political parties to pay for their campaign expenses during federal campaigns. This legislation, which came into effect in 2004, was heralded as ending the corrupting influence of corporations, through their donations, on political parties.

Let me repeat: my tax money goes to finance the election campaigns of parties with which I vehemently disagree, such as the Bloc Quebecois, which advocates separation from Canada. As the money is apportioned to the politcal parties based on the percentage of votes they garnered in the previous federal election, I don't even have a little box on my tax form to indicate to which party I want my involuntary donation to be directed.

Corporate donations to finance political parties = bad. Nassty corporations. We don't likes them or their filthy lucres.

Earmarking taxpayer dollars to finance political parties = good. Stoopid taxpayers. They don't have the sense to know to which parties they should give their money. We don't trust them to make sensible, personal decisions, so we'll make those decisions for them.

Stealing taxpayer dollars, under the guise of promoting national unity, to finance the Liberal Party = genius. National unity is best achieved if there is only one political party, the Liberal Party. There can be only one.

Adscam started as an inquiry into the funneling of tax dollars to Liberal-friendly advertising agencies and the appearance was that these funds were in payment of services received or about to be received, but testimony again today indicates that actual cash donations were funneled back to Liberal Party workers.

CBC News: Groupaction masked payments to Liberals, Gomery told:

Bernard Thiboutot worked for former Groupaction advertising executive Jean Brault, who made millions from the sponsorship program.

Thiboutot, who had his own consulting company, told the inquiry that Brault asked him to send five cheques worth $57,000 to five people. Brault then paid Thiboutot $57,000.

The inquiry hasn't yet heard what type of work the five did, but Radio-Canada says Michel Monette, Jacques Roy, Guy Bisson, Franco Iacono and Louis Pichette were all Liberal Party organizers.

Bisson worked on the Liberal campaign in 2000, Roy worked as an organizer for the Liberals in Montreal, Monette worked on the Liberal campaign in Laval, Iacono was a lobbyist who used to work for former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano and Pichette was a Quebec campaign worker.

Brault didn't want to appear connected to the five people, Thiboutot said. The payments instead went through Thiboutot's company, Commando Marketing, in the same week in October 2000 that former prime minister Jean Chrtien called a federal election.

Brault faces criminal charges related to the sponsorship scandal and has been named in a $41-million government lawsuit.

Thiboutot also testified that Brault pressed him to make two contributions of $10,000 to the federal Liberals.

Earlier in the inquiry, another communications executive, Gilles-Andr Gosselin, said Brault asked him to make a $10,000 donation to the Liberals.

There are bigger questions which have yet to be addressed, and the biggest one is the ease with which the Prime Minister usurped the powers of Council and Parliament. That must be addressed but has not been addressed. That is my biggest concern, but I'm just an American who doesn't understand all this enlightened stuff and worries about minor stuff like a Prime Minister who promises a Parliamentary debate on ballistic missile defense but suddenly announced the decision without a public debate. Martin promised to address the "democratic deficit" in Parliament and he did so in a manner reminiscent of Ed Norton's advice to Ralph Kramden in the golfing lesson: Hel-lo ball!

Then there is the involvement of Canadian civil service workers and patronage appointees in furthering the misappropriation of public funds. The systems of political patronage appointees as well as the hiring and promoting civil service workers desperately needs reform. Whistle-blower protection also needs to be enacted.

Another mega-question is how millions of taxpayer dollars could be stolen over a period of several years and nobody knew, including the Finance Minister, who at that time was current PM Paul Martin. (I can't help wondering if his new persona, Mr. Dithers, is a smokescreen as he might be forgiven for being a bumbling fool but not for being competent and thus a knowing enabler of Adscam.)

A new controversy has recently arisen about the use of federal funds to finance foundations, many of which bank rather than spend the money, none of whom are accountable for the public funds they receive, and the potential of that money to find its way back into Liberal Party coffers.

Non-accountability, thy name is Bureaucracy, and that issue is also at the heart of the Oil-for-Food scandal as well as Adscam.

[N.B. Despite the plethora of Quebec locations, this is a scandal involving the federal Liberal Party, not the provincial Liberal Party. There is a difference.]

Personal aside: I'm tired of those who shoot back "Yeah, what about Watergate?"

What about it? Did the Nixon campaign steal millions of taxpayer dollars to finance his campaign, or did they misuse private donations to the 1972 Republican election campaign? As we say back home, That dog won't hunt.

Posted by Debbye at 07:47 PM | Comments (8)

March 16, 2005

Air India jury acquits (Updated)

Mar. 16 - Lots of links at the top of this story, Air India defendants cleared.

I gave up following the trial once it became clear that too much of the evidence consisted of conversations, which, without compelling supporting physical evidence, leaves a "shadow of a doubt" in judges' minds.

Sadly, the relatives of the 329 people who died in the 1985 downing of Air India Flight 182 (see this fact sheet if you can't remember it) have yet to see justice for their loved ones which leaves a gaping wound in their lives.

Mar. 17 - It cost $7.4 million to build a special courtroom. It cost $130 million on investigations and trials. And we learned during the trial that CSIS destroyed evidence that could have led to convictions rather than turn it over to the RCMP.

From today's editorial in the Toronto Sun editorial (one-day link):

During the trial, Judge Josephson cited what he described as the "unacceptable negligence" of the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service for, among other things, erasing hundreds of crucial wiretap tapes connected with the case. The court also heard that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police bungled their investigation and did not follow correct procedures. As a result, the judge rejected the testimony of a number of Mounties.

In addition, turf wars and infighting between CSIS and the RCMP (and a poor relationship between the RCMP and the FBI) were said to have resulted in a failure to share information in a timely way and in the burying of some evidence.

There was speculation from RCMP sources that CSIS had a source inside the alleged conspiracy, had advance knowledge that planes might be bombed but failed to act, and that it tried to undercut the court case to protect its source.

CSIS has categorically denied any advance knowledge of the bombings, having an inside source or that it deliberately bungled the case. CSIS officials have accused the RCMP of attacking CSIS as a method of diverting attention from their own incompetence in the event the charges were dismissed.

Given all this controversy about a terrorist act that ended in Canada's worst case of mass murder and the troubling questions it raises about CSIS and the RCMP, a public inquiry is clearly needed to find out what went wrong with this investigation and to come up with ways to insure it never happens again.

The automatic "hold an inquiry" notion over problems between CSIS and the RCMP that happened 20 years ago might seem foolish were it not that many suspect that those problems still exist, but Deputy PM Anne McClellan has rejected a probe. The difficulties between the FBI and RCMP are another issue, and looking at the relationship between Canada and the U.S.A. today, I'm sorry but I don't know how much information I want the FBI (or CIA) to share with their respective Canadian counterparts (and I state that even knowing how incompetent the American agencies are) because I don't trust either the honesty or honour of the Canadian government or its appointees.

Bob MacDonald has more about the screw-ups of CSIS and ties it into the "soft on violent crime" approach of the Canadian justice system. (He ties into grow operations too. Sigh.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

Anti-Semitism in Toronto

Mar. 16 - A report issued by B'nai Brith says that out of 857 anti-Semitic incidents reported in Canada, 405 happened here (Problem worst in GTA with more here.)

I wish I could say I was surprised, but I'm not. Tolerance is easy to talk about but harder to feel and impossible to enforce. I constantly overhear anti-Jewish comments which go by unchallenged but, were they directed against African- or West Asian-Canadians, would be immediately denounced by everyone in the room.

Something else that would be interesting to track would be expressions of hate toward Chinese- and East Asian-Canadians.

The Toronto police will release a report next month on acts which legally constitute "hate crimes."

Posted by Debbye at 06:28 PM | Comments (2)

7,000 plants make it a grow-op

Mar. 16 - At one point in my life, I would have fervently wished I was standing upwind - Pot up in smoke.

The fiery debates over grow houses could end very easily - either legalize it or don't. Decriminalizing possession is hypocrisy, much like letting johns go free but prosecuting prostitutes (er, sorry, "sex workers.")

Commentary here, and a little hysteria here.

Posted by Debbye at 06:08 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2005

Canada Free Press Blog

Mar. 15 - One of the bloggers I had the pleasure to meet at the Bloggerbash was Victor of the Canada Free Press Blog. I've been reading the blog for awhile and it. is. good.

His post From the people who brought you HRDC, the gun registray, Adscam... states the problems with Kyoto and why the Canadian government is determined to implement it:

If the usual pattern of Liberal incomptence, corruption and profligacy holds, the final tab should end up being somewhere between $40 billion and several trillion dollars. But hey, its not their money, so who cares. The only important things are that it provides lots of photo ops for Liberal hacks to show that THEY CARE, and it gives the government yet more control over the lives and bank accounts of its peons subjects citizens.
Both the Canada Free Press and the blog are proving their mettle - it was CFP that broke the Volcker connection to Power Corp. - and should be on everyone's blog reading list.

Posted by Debbye at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)

Fighting Quebec separatists in Italy

Mar. 15 - Adscam is a bewildering mess. Now it has taken on international dimensions.

Separatists were everywhere! The danger was so great in Chretien's own riding of Shawinigan that it received it too received money:

Former prime minister Jean Chretien's riding was a major destination for money from a $490,000 annual sponsorship slush fund in the 1990s, an inquiry was told Monday.

Documents tabled at the inquiry into the federal sponsorship program include several references to sponsorship allotments in the 1990s for "unforeseen events," including several in Chretien's former riding, which used to be known as Saint-Maurice.

The events include a hot-air balloon show, a canoe festival and the Grand Prix de Shawinigan-Sud automobile race.

And Alfonso Gagliano
... attended a ceremony in Italy where nearly $7,000 of sponsorship funds were used to brand a small village with the Maple Leaf. ..

Documents show the plaque, marking a spot called Canada Place, was inaugurated in May 1998 in the south-central Italian village of San Martino.

The documents also suggest the project's true source of funding was initially hidden. The plaque was not explicitly named as a funded sponsorship project, but was instead accounted for under money allotted to a ice-sculpture show that took place under a similar name in Ottawa."

Shameless. I'm trying to imagine Gagliano and Chretien each saying "I am not a crook."

Posted by Debbye at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

Update on RCMP slayings

Mar. 15 - Radio station 630CHED has learned some details about RCMP slayings near Mayerthorpe last week:

Investigators believe Roszko used a sheet as camoflage as he sneaked through snow to reach the quonset hut. He had socks over his boots to muffle sound and to cover his tracks.

Once inside, Roszko armed himself with an assault rifle, a hunting rifle and a pistol.

He sprung from hiding and killed four Constables in a matter of seconds.

One of two Auto Theft investigators outside is also a member of the elite RCMP Emergency Response Team.

A crack shot, he engaged Roszko and fired a volley of shots when the gunman came outside.

One bullet hit a pistol Roszko had tucked in his pants, another hit the stock of the assault rifle and two bullets hit the man in the groin area.

He stumbled back into the hut and killed himself.

Under the dirt floor of the hut investigators have found a hidden compartment they believe was used to store weapons. (em/jn)

The ever-vigilant Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan hastily blamed it all on grow ops - as though 20 plants constitutes an operation that qualifies for little more than personal use - and although the initial story has been discredited, the minority Conservatives are pushing for harsher minimum sentencing of those convicted of running grow ops (rather than targeting defaulters on truck payments, which was what began the events that led to the killing of the officers.)

Jay punches a number of holes in their proposal.

Posted by Debbye at 12:43 PM | Comments (0)

Everything you ever wanted to know about Power Corp.

Power Corp chart.jpg
Kevin Steel, Western Standard

Mar. 15 - Have I been complaining about the lack of investigative reporting up here? This graph and accompanying Western Standard news story The scandal spills north prove me wrong:

Just a month before the Canada Free Press revealed that Volcker, a former Federal Reserve chairman, is a member of Power Corp.s international advisory board--and a close friend and personal adviser to Powers owner, Paul Desmarais Sr.--a U.S. congressional investigation into the UN scandal discovered that Power Corp. had extensive connections to BNP Paribas, a French bank that had been handpicked by the UN in 1996 to broker the Oil-for-Food program. In fact, Power actually once owned a stake in Paribas through its subsidiary, Pargesa Holding SA. The bank also purchased a stake in Power Corp. in the mid-seventies and, as recently as 2003, BNP Paribas had a 14.7 per cent equity and 21.3 per cent voting stake in Pargesa, company records show. John Rae, a director and former executive at Power (brother of former Ontario premier Bob Rae), was president and a director of the Paribas Bank of Canada until 2000. And Power Corp. director Michel Franois-Poncet, who was, in 2001, the vice-chairman of Pargesa, also sat on Paribass board, though he died Feb. 10, at the age of 70. A former chair of Paribass management board, Andr Levy-Lang, is currently a member of Powers international advisory council. And Amaury-Daniel de Seze, a member of BNP Paribass executive council, also sat on Pargesas administrative council in 2002.

[...]

The reason investigators [from several Congressional committees] are interested in Powers possible links to the bank that acted as a clearing house for Oil-for-Food is because the firm also appears to have had a stake in an oil firm that had been working out lucrative contracts with Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. Subsidiary Pargesa owns the largest single stake in Total Group Inc. (a Belgian-French petroleum multi-national corporation formed from the merger of Total, Petrofina and Elf Aquitaine), which reportedly had been negotiating, prior to the U.S. invasion in March 2003, rich contracts with former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein to develop and exploit the Majnoon and Nahr Umar oil fields in southern Iraq. Those regions are estimated to contain roughly a quarter of Iraqs reserves. The contracts were on the verge of being signed in 1997, one year after the beginning of the UNs Oil-for-Food program replaced U.S. sanctions on Iraq, when the French government intervened and stopped the deal. Paul Desmarais Jr., now chairman of Power Corp. (Paul Sr. retired in 1996, but is said to be active in the firm), sits on the board of Total, and Power director, Franois-Poncet, also sat on the board of Totals predecessor firm, Totalfina Elf. Paribas also owned shares in Total as recently as 2000, records show.

Add up the facts that Power Corp. appears to be connected to an oil company that would benefit extensively if Saddam remained in power, with the bank appointed by the UN to help broker an Oil-for-Food program that appears to have been directly enriching Saddam, and which is being investigated for irregularities that may have abetted the wholesale corruption that eventually engulfed Oil-for-Food, and that Powers owners have a professional and personal relationship with the man hired by the UN to investigate the corruption, and its no wonder that more and more questions are being asked about the firm.

The United Nations has refused to co-operate with the U.S. Congress investigations into the US$67-billion Oil-for-Food program and Security Council members Russia and France have refused to give Volcker the right to subpoena witnesses in the internal UN probe.

Read the whole thing. Email the link to your friends.

Posted by Debbye at 07:35 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2005

Serendipity Plus

Mar. 13 - Damian Brooks is one persistent fellow (and a smart blogger.) He read a news item that seemed to demean the men and women who join the Canadian military, wanted to scrutinize the report and ask questions, and did some research on the reporter. Result? Serendipity.

It is a fascinating account made all the better by a certain "meant to be" quality. Read the post and follow the links (and then read this by the same Stephen Thorne about the smoke and mirrors of the promised increased funding of the Canadian Forces.)

Well done, Damian!

[I realize the prospect that Canada will simply cease to have a military has been cause for a lot of quiet speculation, but the impact of that on the Canadian psyche would be devastating - just consider these five words: "the tradition of Canadian peacekeeping," which, however poor the current deployments, signify something of considerable value to Canadians and us.]

I'm off to work. So long.

Posted by Debbye at 07:55 PM | Comments (2)

Distasteful, not hate speech

Mar. 13 - Go figure. Don Cherry gets into trouble for stating that it's mostly French and European guys - hockey players - who wear face shields on their helmets, and Mohamed Elmasry says that all Israelis over the age of 18 are legitimate targets because they are all members of the Israeli army (he later claimed he only meant "some Palestinians" believe that to be so.)

The remarks were investigated, and Elmasry was spared arrest because his remarks were deemed "distasteful," not hate speech.

He didn't even get hit with a 7-second delay.

Posted by Debbye at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2005

Bloggerbash-ers

Mar. 12 - Alternate title: It's Official, The Meatriarchy's Mental. (Silly play on the post I'm linking to - It's Official: I'm Mental - from The Meatriarchy. Never mind, just read it or none of this will make sense.)

It seems that Antonia Zerbisias attended the Bloggerbash we had a few weeks ago. I learned that after I read some of the posts on the bash and, after the initial surprise, I decided it really didn't matter because I achieved what I wanted from the bash: to see some wonderful people again, listen to stimulating discussions, and relax.

I should note here that I never posted on the bash because everything I wrote turned out gooey and several of the conversations were extremely personal, and my pathetic attempts were rendered even more so after I read Michael's wonderful satire on the evening.

Anyway, to the point of the post. Zerbisias doesn't get blogs if she thinks the end goal is to gain attention from mainstream media - a separate matter from bringing attention to their lapses - much less replace them. It isn't, at least for me. I actively feed off the media to write my posts, but I also feed off my own interpretation, analysis and feelings.

What drives blogs best (again, I'm only speaking for myself) is instantaneous internet access to media publications and to other bloggers around the world. That means that I can check what bloggers in Spain, Italy, and Germany are saying whenever something happens there, and they will be linking to the news items in local papers and then I can try - try - to get a comprehensive picture by comparing different accounts and then I get to apply my common sense! (What journalist is allowed to use common sense? Heh.)

We have similar goals as professional journalists, but are using an expanded number of tools (which includes an expanded number of journalists.) The time-consuming part is tracking what opinions we read and where so we can link back and give credit accordingly.

To the personal: she says in today's column that I had previously:

... accused me of lacking "class, restraint and compassion" in my columns, even as she cheers the war in Iraq.
As I don't write about Zerbisias it took me by surprise as my targets tend more to big-hitters like the Prime Minister of Canada and the NY Times, but I would like to make one correction in that I think it would be more accurate to say that I cheer the goals of Operation Iraqi Freedom, since I tend to remember not only the whats but also the whys. Anyway, I thought of Bob Zangas and finally remembered when I cited her: she had been crowing last spring about how the war bloggers had fallen silent, and cited Kathy Shaidle, who was on a previously and well-announced temporary leave, and Damian Penny, who was still posting regularly. Even so, I still had to search my own site for the post.

I wrote yesterday about events from last March in my lead-up to a post about the fatwa against bin Laden issued by Spanish clerics. Equally horrific events can be found throughout that spring, which is why steely resolve was the theme of the year. We expected a counter-offensive and we got one, and we endured.

She still doesn't get it. I find it amusing that today's column was All. About. Zerbisias. and not about Lebanon, the fatwa issued by Spanish clerics, or the bombing of yet another Iraq funeral procession which can all be connected to OIF. I guess each of us have different priorities.

Anyway, I guess I should respond by posting the reference to Zerbisias on this blog which criticized her unconcealed joy at everything that might imply a setback for US forces without regard for the human cost of those "setbacks" and I cited the pain of the personally felt death of Bob Zangas, a good man who also wrote a blog from Iraq:

The war has a personal face for most of us, and it isn't fun or happy. But for some reason, we manage to keep posting. And we manage to do it with a lot more class, restraint and compassion that anything you churn out.
I stand by that sentiment. The bombings of a funeral procession earlier this week and again today don't make me happy and I don't find posting about them fun - and sometimes the emotion is too much and I end up with an emotional draft but nothing I can publish. I try to maintain focus on the goals of Operation Iraqi Freedom and do cheer the fact that it is now the Iraqi people who are implementing those goals and even inspiring those in the region who want freedom.

Now could somebody please tell me exactly when she arrived? I must have been in a really engrossing discussion if I missed all that huhu.

And did you guys really gush over her? That is so cool. I must remember it and use it against you.

Note: Other responses to that column appear from Kathy, Damian, and Greg. Update: Kate also weighs in. Sorry, guys, Kathy and Kate win this round. Also, it should be noted that there were a number of non-gushing men there.

I have to go to work tonight (insert plaintive chorus of Oh No!) so if I missed any responses please forgive me and let me know.

Mar. 14 - 06:30: Bob lays claim to glories (and fame) (and riches) for being mentioned on page H2 of the Toronto Star. (Bob, why bother with the mysterious-sounding H2 designation? We can't hide the fact that the story appeared in the freaking Entertainment section forever ...)

Canadian Headhunter takes gentle exception (ha!) to the implication that the male bloggers were just regular guys who crave recognition and true lurve. Drink alert on this one, by the way. Michael has a gift for satire and combines it with great imagery but is never mean-spirited. Zerbisias should study his style if she wants people to think she's funny.

Mar. 15 - 07:05 - The Ambler offers another viewpoint. I suspect he and I differ on what we consider humourous, but he gets points for merging two quotes posted 10 months apart which I do consider laughable. Kathy responds. If this is going to be a flame war, I'll hope somebody mentions Hitler so I can lower the Godwin boom on 'em.

Posted by Debbye at 06:06 PM | Comments (5)

March 11, 2005

Ward Churchill's Canadian connection

Mar. 11 - Via Drudge, it seems Ward Churchill has a Canadian connection: he is accused of plagiarizing the work of Professor Fay G. Cohen of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Officials at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia sent CU an internal 1997 report detailing allegations about an article Churchill wrote.

"The article . . . is, in the opinion of our legal counsel, plagiarism," Dalhousie spokesman Charles Crosby said in summarizing the report's findings.

Churchill did not return calls to his home or office Thursday seeking comment.

Dalhousie began an investigation after professor Fay G. Cohen complained that Churchill used her research and writing in an essay without her permission and without giving her credit. Although the investigation substantiated her allegations, Cohen didn't pursue the matter because she felt threatened by Churchill, Crosby said.

Crosby said Cohen told Dalhousie officials in 1997 that Churchill had called her in the middle of the night and said, "I'll get you for this."

Cohen still declines to talk publicly about her experience with Churchill, but she agreed the Dalhousie report could be shared with CU officials, Crosby said, because "whatever concerns she may have about her safety are outweighed by the importance she attaches to this information getting out there."

Crosby declined a request for a copy of the report but said it does not contain information about the alleged threat from Churchill.

It is not clear if CU officials are aware of the alleged threat. A CU spokeswoman said officials there would not comment on any matter related to an ongoing review of Churchill's work.

[...]

In 1991, Churchill edited a book of essays published in Copenhagen, Denmark, which included a piece by Cohen on Indian treaty fishing rights in the Northwest and Wisconsin. When publishers wanted to reprint the essay in the United States, Cohen declined to allow her essay to appear, Crosby said.

So, Churchill penned an essay on the same topic under the name of the Institute for Natural Progress, a research organization he founded with Winona LaDuke. In the contributors section of the book, Churchill said he took the lead role in preparing the essay. (Ellipses in original)

Other cases of plagiarism had been cited by The Rocky Mountain News here. If that isn't enough to fire him, what is? Plagiarism until recently was grounds for immediate expulsion from university, and it's incomprehensible that a professor wouldn't be fired for it.

Posted by Debbye at 09:10 PM | Comments (5)

Honouring the RCMP's fallen

Mar. 11 - I really can't add anything to Thane Burnett's column, Only too human, on the memorial service for the four RCMP officers who were killed last week. It is a beautiful tribute.

Posted by Debbye at 07:40 PM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2005

Senate votes to ban Canadian cattle

Mar. 3 - In a further blow both to President Bush, who has worked to re-open the border to Canadian cattle, and the Canadian beef trade, the U.S. Senate blocked importing Canada beef by a bipartisan vote of 52-46.

This isn't about missile defense, people, although that is little comfort to beef farmers and meat packers up here. The bipartisan vote in the Senate (and the probability is that measure will pass in the House of Rep.) was due to concerns about being able to re-establish trade with Japan and South Korea because they banned American beef when a cow with BSE was discovered in Canada two years ago.

Let me repeat: BSE was discovered on an Alberta farm over two years ago. American beef was therefore banned in Japan and South Korea because the source might have been Canadian. (Japan wants the origin of the beef indicated on the labels. We said no.) Canada's interests lie in re-opening the American market, American interests lie in re-opening the Asian market. Meeting both expectations is proving difficult.

Nevertheless, Martin's decision not to participate in the proposed missile shield is being factored into this latest setback by "some" Canadians:

Some Canadian industry observers wondered just how much support to expect from U.S. officials clearly disappointed about Canada's recent decision to stay out of the American ballistic missile defence program.
Get over yourselves. Canada's decision to stay out is not relevant. The manner in which Martin chose to make the announcemnent without informing President Bush first and the timing, which occurred while Bush was attending a summit with Russian President Putin, reflects poorly on Martin but it doesn't derail missile defense. We'll defend ourselves, and Canada will continue posturing. In other words, business as usual, and many would like business to include re-opening the cattle and beef market.

As for the extent of the President's "influence" in Congress, it's hard for Canadians to understand the workings of the U.S. government structure which separates the executive and legislative branches of the government. The word separate must be applied literally: each branch of the government - the executive, the legislative and the judicial - guards its powers jealously. The system may be unwieldy at times, but it works to prevent any branch from becoming too powerful.

The CNN article says that the President will veto the bill (that's one of those "checks and balances" things) if it passes the House and comes to his desk and it doesn't look as though they have enough votes at present to override his veto (that's another.)

It's hard for people who live with Parliaments to understand our Congress, but if it's any comfort, it is equally bewildering for Americans to grasp the subtleties of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet being members of Parliament and the routine practice of invoking party discipline for votes. (Don't get me wrong, such can be invoked in the U.S., but it really, really pisses off the electorate. Members of the House face re-election every two years -- they don't dare piss off their constituents by appearing like sheep.)

"Some" Canadians seem overly anxious to see this as payback. It will be interesting to see how this story progresses.

Posted by Debbye at 08:05 AM | Comments (57)

March 03, 2005

4 RCMP officers dead after Alberta shootout

Mar. 3 - I have to run off to work, but want to note this (Four Alberta RCMP officers killed during raid.)

By American standards it may not be big news, but up here, it is indeed major. And shocking.

I support the decriminalization of marijuana, but too many of these grow houses are run by people who really are criminals (as in criminally-minded.)

As I said, a shootout up here involving the deaths of 4 law enforcment officials is shocking news (even in Toronto, where shootouts are becoming too damned commonplace, but I can't recall an instance where 4 officers died.)

I'm off to work, more tomorrow.

Mar. 4 - I fixed a grammatical error and clarified what I meant by "criminal." The organization and set-up of most "grow" houses is actually quite impressive, and it's hard not to appreciate the pure entrepreneurial spirit they embody. Unfortunately, the downside is organized criminal connections and the fact that they are illegal (and drive up my hydro prices!)

The assailant was the 5th casualty, apparently by his own hand, and it looks as though he was a known wacko. At least we and the families of the slain officers will be spared a trial.

The main story is here, a partial biography of Roszko is here, and former Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino's response is here.

14:00 - According to this, they also found a chop shop and may have been at the farm initally looking for stolen cars following up a tip regarding a high speed chase. Also note how quickly this tragedy has become politicized by the Canadian Public Safety Minister, Anne McClellan, even though she may speaking without all the facts.

14:21 - The RCMP has opened a book online for those who wish to express their condolences.

Posted by Debbye at 08:44 PM | Comments (7)

Fact checking CTV

Mar. 3 - According to CTV, PM Martin attempted to advise President Bush prior to announcing his decision not to participate in the missile shield, but Bush ignored Martin's call.

A day before he announced that Canada would have nothing to do with U.S. missile defence, Prime Minister Paul Martin placed a call to the American president to tell him of his decision, senior American officials told CTV News.

But the leaders never actually spoke that day. And almost a week later, President George W. Bush has yet to return Martin's call.

This is further evidence of Washington's deep displeasure with Canada's decision to opt out of the U.S. ballistic missile defence program (BMD).

According to this, Martin announced the decision on Thursday, Feb. 24.

According to this, President Bush was attending a summit with Pres. Putin in Slovakia on Feb. 24.

Note how cleverly the article is worded: Paul Martin placed a call to the American president to tell him of his decision, senior American officials told CTV News. It doesn't say if the call was placed to Washington D.C. or Bratislava.

Now it is possible that the CTV is the only news media in the entire world which was not aware that there was a major summit between the leaders of the USA and Russia on the day that Martin made his announcement. In fact, I'd say it was probable, or they would have mentioned that in their article as a possible reason why the President didn't speak to Martin when he called.

Right?

(CTV link via Kate at the Western Standard blog, The Shotgun.)

Mar. 4 - According to this, President Bush and PM Martin did have a chat about Canada's participation in BMD at the NATO conference:

A U.S. State Department source told The Canadian Press that Bush is upset Martin didn't tell him personally about Canada's decision not to join the missile plan when the two met at the NATO (news - web sites) summit in Brussels last week.

The source said Bush asked Martin specifically about the matter during a brief conversation and the prime minister didn't mention that a decision had been made. A short time later, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew told his American counterpart Canada was opting out. (Bolding added.)

I doubt any of this is going to change minds up here. People like Lloyd Axworthy (great name!) are having much too much fun posturing. (By the way, Let It Bleed's response to him constitutes a direct hit.) Others, somewhat to their credit, are worried that the U.S. Senate was thinking payback when they voted to keep the border closed to Canadian beef but let's be honest: when in the history of the U.S. did we allow petty differences with allies (or even neutrals) get in the way of trade?

We're greedy, money-grubbing captialists, remember?

Posted by Debbye at 06:43 AM | Comments (5)

March 01, 2005

Frechette blocked UNSCAM probe

Mar. 1 - Investigations into UNSCAM have revealed a systematic attempt by the Deputy Secretary-General, Canadian Louise Frechette, to block results of audits into the Oil-for-Food program from the Security Council:

UNITED NATIONS With U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan next up for review by Paul Volckers inquiry into the Oil-for-Food scandal, a crucial question is whether Volcker will expand upon information tying the scandal directly to the U.N. chiefs office by way of Annans second-in command, Louise Frechette.
Louise Frechette went to the U.N. after out of a long career with the Canadian civil service including a term as Canadian Ambassador to the U.N. 1992-1995. She became the first Deputy Sec.-Gen. of the U.N. in 1998. Is that sufficient Cancon to put this story on the CBC Evening News?
Four years into the seven-year Oil-for-Food program, with graft and mismanagement by then rampant, Frechette intervened directly by telephone to stop United Nations auditors from forwarding their investigations to the U.N. Security Council. This detail was buried on page 186 of the 219-page interim report Volckers Independent Inquiry Committee released Feb. 3.

This decision from within Annans office left only the Secretariat privy to the specifics of the waste, bungling and contractual breaches detailed by U.N. internal auditors in dozens of damning reports. The extent of what Annans office knew was not available either to the Security Council or the public until Congress finally forced the issue and the United Nations produced the reports in conjunction with a Volcker "briefing paper" in January.

[...]

Frechettes actions stand in sharp contrast to the assertions of Annan and his public relations staff that the Security Council and not the Secretariat supervised the more than $110 billion Oil-for-Food program. Her decision, as documented by Volcker, also places responsibility squarely in the secretary-generals office for obscuring mismanagement of the program from the Security Council.

The cover-up did not stop with Benon Sevan, the now-disgraced Oil-for-Food executive director, who reportedly blocked audits that originated lower in the chain of command. The obstruction went all the way up to Annans office on the 38th floor.

Frechette's intervention was disclosed by the Volcker committee as the result of an interview with Dileep Nair, head of the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), the organizations internal watchdog. In the year 2000, Nairs audit department repeatedly urged that audits of Oil-for-Food be sent to the Security Council.

On Nov. 30, 2000, Nairs top auditor sent a memo to Sevan informing him that despite his objections, the auditors planned to start sending reports on Oil-for-Food to the Security Council. By Nairs account, what settled the issue was a telephone call from Frechette, who came down on the side of Sevan. After that, reports Volcker, Nair "abandoned the effort to report directly to the Security Council on [Oil-for-Food] matters."

When questioned about the telephone call at a recent press conference, Frechette said she had no recollection of it. But Im quite prepared to accept Mr. Nairs recalling the conversation, she told reporters. (Bolding added.)

The article mentions that although the Volcker Commission interviewed Frechette, the results as well as her name were not published. During her tenure as Canadian Ambassador to the U.N., current Volcker executive director Reid Morden was the Canadian Deputy Minister.

That explains something else to me: why the name of former Canadian PM Jean Chretien and his ties to Paul Desmarais as well as Paribas and Total haven't been made more public.

So what did Frechette know and when did she know it?

Frechette had connections to a number of Oil-for-Food figures. She had direct oversight of both U.N. watchdog Nair and Oil-for-Food director Sevan, although both reported to the Secretary-General. .. Asked why Frechette was mentioned only by title, not by name, Morden refused to comment.
Audits were blocked with the excuse that it would be a waste of money to audit a "program with an uncertain future" but evidently the temporary nature of the program was sufficient to spend $3 million to rent and renovate new officies for it.

I've already quoted too much from the news report, but Canadians who have followed the Adscam inquiries will probably recognize that some aspects of the failure to audit the Oil-for-Food program parallel those which allowed millions of dollars to be stolen in the name of national unity.

As with Adscam, the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program was introduced for a worthy goal, in the latter case to assist the people of Iraq who were harshly affected by the oil sanctions imposed when Saddam didn't meet his obligations under the cease-fire that ended Gulf War I.

As with Adscam, those administering the program reported directly to the top, i.e., the Secretary-General's office, not the U.N. Security Council.

And, as with Adscam, the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program was cynically manipulated to enrich individuals, too many of whom are connected with Jean Chretien.

Also, please keep in mind that there are no provisions to protect "whistleblowers" in the U.N.

The closing paragraph is particularly amusing:

Among other things, that audit found that Sevan had failed to hold any management meetings of his Oil-for-Food team for the previous two years. It remains to be explained how that fact had escaped the attention of Sevans direct supervisor, Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette, or that of Kofi Annan himself.
As with Adscam, ...

[Note: I've edited out the (search) markers in the Fox Report.]

Mar. 2 - Kate has kindly linked to this post, and has done some research which ties Volcker, Frechette, Morden, Desmarais and Maurice Strong. Sheesh, is anyone of influence in Canada not connected to Desmarais?

Naturally, I expect a major story on the CBC about these revelations, as well as outraged editorials in the Star and Globe and Mail. It shouldn't be too hard, as bloggers have done the digging.

Just imagine this was about Halliburton - I'm certain it would be plastered all over the front pages, but something with true Cancon can't summon a particle of interest. The words smug hypocrisy barely covers it. (And you folks in the USA think you have a problem with the myopia of MSM? Trust me, we've got you beat.)

Posted by Debbye at 04:27 PM | Comments (33)

February 28, 2005

Canadians not firmly opposed to BMD

Feb. 28 - Just when you think it's the last word on something ... according to Canadians are open to missile plan from the National Post, Canadians seem to "oppose it in practice, support it in principle."

A recent Compas poll indicates that:

The survey shows 54% oppose Canadian participation in the shield and 36% support it. But while opposing the shield itself, many respondents support the principles behind its creation.

For example, 56% said Canada should help protect North America against missiles, while 53% said it cannot be an independent country if it relies on the United States for protection.

Furthermore, 53% of those surveyed believe Canada needs to protect its cities because the country does have enemies and only 30% give credence to the argument that increased military spending will provoke others to attack Canada.

[...]

There is also a dwindling belief the United States would help defend Canada against an international attack, the poll suggests.

In April, 1998, 32% of respondents said they had "a lot of confidence" the Americans would protect Canada. By April, 2003, the percentage who gave the same answer fell to 19% and in the new poll, the number stands at 13%.

Only in Quebec is the opposition to missile defence unshakeable, according to the COMPAS poll. In that province, respondents reject the program by a ratio of three to one. Mr. Winn [COMPAS president Conrad Winn] suggested Quebec has a long history of opposing military programs, dating back to the Boer War.

It's hardly a secret that polls are notoriously susceptible to manipulation, but this does seem to indicate that Martin and Harper could have raised the question to the people of Canada - and Parliament - before rushing to end the, uh, dithering.

(Link via Canada Free Press.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:42 PM | Comments (8)

Canada's role in electronic warfare

Feb. 28 - Startling article by Judi McLeod and David Hawkins in Canada Free Press about Canada's hidden, media-ignored role in electronic warfare.

Weapons of electronic intelligence and electronic warfare are where the nation of Canada holds the cutting edge.

Through an intricate series of subsidiaries and sub-contractors, leading back to the blind trust running his Canadian Steamship Lines company, Prime Minister Paul Martin is still at the epicenter of that cutting edge.

In the development and design of Instrument Approach Procedures (IAP) for military aircraft, Canada maintains a first-place role.

IAPs are published instructions to pilots, specifying a series of aircraft maneuvers that must be executed for the aircraft to transition safety from an en route driving final approach, when flying by instruments.

Pretty routine stuff, until we get here:
In addition to CMC and BAE selling flight simulators in the global marketplace, Lansdowne's project managers also conduct something called "Lessons Learned" or what the Americans would call, "Red-Team Analysis" for NORAD's war games--including the simulations carried out on, and just prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Irrefutable proof that NORAD was conducting "simulation experiments" at the same time as the attacks, exists.

It was alleged confusion from these war game simulations that gave the NORAD commanders the convenient (and at the time, credible) excuse to order all U.S. Air Force military bases to "stand down" when they were about to scramble jets to escort or shoot down the alleged hijacked aircraft that nearly one hour later, crashed into several buildings.

Explaining the 9/11 collapse of NORAD command, control, communications and intelligence (C31 war-room) systems, the 9/11 Commission report cited a failure of imagination where no one (in America, at least) conducted "Red Team"--analysis as seen through the eyes of the enemy on how to convert hijacked jets into fuel-laden, precision-guided, un-intercepted missiles. (See www.9/11 Commission Report).

It now appears that project managers for the then-Paul Martin-owned Lansdowne Blind Trust Company were conducting Red-Team Analysis, in support of Canadas participation in NORADs 9/11-style war gamesbut they just didnt happen to share their web-enabled war-room insights with Canadas allies in America.

The 9/11 Commission claimed that prior to September 11, 2001 no one was looking for possible telltale indicators that may have aroused suspicion. Indicators, such as prospective Arab-speaking terrorist group members using the CSL blind trust concealed behind Lansdowne to buy advanced flight simulators from companies such as CAE in Montreal, or flight-training lessons from corporate giants, such as Bombardier, which operates the NATO flight-training schools in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

Read this through to the end, where the question is posed
Is Canadas role in the ongoing attacks on the American-led "Coalition of the Willing", one of counter-counter terror?
Please note that I'm sharing this with you all as I re-read it. It seems incredible.

Posted by Debbye at 03:16 PM | Comments (15)

February 27, 2005

The depressing reality of rejecting Missile Defense

Feb. 27 - I don't often get depressed after reading an Andrew Coyne post, but when he's right, he's right, and his conclusions about The missile defence decision are bang on:

... the only objection most of the critics have is that it involves a) the Americans, and b) military hardware. And because a good number of these people are to be found on the Liberal backbench, the Prime Minister feels obliged to kowtow to them. So we will make critical decisions on foreign and defence policy based on purely internal politics -- internal, not as in Canada, but as in the Liberal Party.
To paraphrase V-P Cheney, if Martin can't stand up to the NDP and left-wing of the Liberal Party, how is he going to stand up to rogue regimes?

I had followed Bob's link to a Toronto Star editorial which criticized Martin's decision not to participate in the missile defense shield program and noted but couldn't comment on this assertion until the inner ranting ceased:

Yet, if Martin failed a leadership test, Bush also failed to make a decisive case for joining. And Harper offered Bush no comfort. This was a systems failure from the get-go. The Three Amigos never got their act together.
That's right, they are criticizing Pres. Bush for failing to play a leadership role for Canadians on this issue. Canadians need American leadership, not Canadian leadership, to explain a program meant to protect Canada.

So much for the much-ballyhooed Canadian sovereignty. By blaming Bush, the Toronto Star editorial concedes that Canada's leaders don't have the capability (or balls) to provide leadership on issues that concern the defense of Canada.

The Star editorial ends with misplaced optimism

If that [increased military spending in the recent budget] doesn't buy us credibility with allies, nothing will.
Stay with the "nothing" part and you'll have it right. It speaks volumes that Canada's leading newspaper thinks that credibility, not to mention respect, can be bought rather than earned.

Posted by Debbye at 01:22 PM | Comments (19)

February 25, 2005

Canadian permission to defend ourselves - ha!

Feb. 25 - Greg Weston sees a bright side to Martin's decision to stay out of missile defense:

If average Americans had been following Paul Martin's stand on U.S. missile defence, they would surely be relieved by yesterday's announcement that Canada will not be part of it.

An Armageddon warhead incoming at four kilometres per second is no time to be sharing command and control of North American air defence with a dithering prime minister.

Not so fast there - PM Martin says the USA is supposed to ask Canada's permission before shooting down any incoming missiles:
Prime Minister Paul Martin is insisting that United States seek permission before firing any missiles over Canada.
Two words: Won't Happen.

14:13 - The latest test shot down a short range missile. 5 out of 6 - not bad for a system that "doesn't work." (via Peaktalk.)

Feb. 26 - Terrific post from Evan at 101-280 - Sweet Surrender not only on the ballistic missile defense (BMD) controversy but on the future of NORAD and the state of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Posted by Debbye at 01:30 PM | Comments (14)

February 24, 2005

Button, button, who pushes the button ...

Feb. 24 - US Amb. Paul Cellucci reflects the confusion of many Americans:

"We don't get it," Paul Cellucci said in Toronto. "If there's a missile incoming, and it's heading toward Canada, you are going to leave it up to the United States to determine what to do about that missile. We don't think that is in Canada's sovereign interest."
Clarification comes if you recall that the best way to duck the dirty work is to let George do it, and Canada long ago left matters of continental defense to the USA.

There is more about US reaction to the latest Martin decision along similar lines as the first linked item in Missile decision prompts U.S. warning. Everyone is saying what you'd expect them to say, but it's all so very pro-forma that I wonder if Martin's announcement could really have been that much of a surprise.

But the timing! Need I even bother to go into the timing of Martin's announcement? The NATO conference was earlier hyped as being the ideal setting for Martin to step onto the international stage and reveal himself as a statesman capable of playing an intermediary role to reconcile Old Europe and the USA. Instead it became the setting for establishing more distance between Canada and the USA!

And what of NORAD? The 2004 amendment to the NORAD agreement to which Frank McKenna, the next Canadian Ambassador to the US, alluded expanded NORAD's mission and thus allowed Canadian personnel assigned to NORAD to track incoming missiles.

Future repercussions are a possibility, though, and opting out of missile defence could alter Canadian role in NORAD:

... retired lieutenant-general George MacDonald says that while excluding itself from the plan may ultimately change Canada's role in Norad, it won't end it. "Canadians will not have any participation in the actual decision-making or the rules of engagement or anything to do with ballistic missile defence," said MacDonald, a former vice-chief of defence staff and now a consultant.

"We will simply be feeding the system. And the question that ultimately may be asked is whether this is still an important mission for Norad to do."

At some point, MacDonald says, the Americans may want to lop off the warning element of missile defence from Norad altogether, thereby excluding Canada from the process outright.

I'd like to think that the US government wouldn't want to eliminate a platform which would facilitate inclusion in the plan should a future Canadian government (or even this one) choose to re-evaluate their role in missile defense, but the Opposition's silence before Martin's announcement makes them look like an Opposition only capable of responding to events rather than crafting them. That weakness might be cause for the U.S. government to judge them as too unreliable to merit future trust.

Pieter has some thoughts on the matter, and an excellent insight on those matters which, being "unspeakable" in Canada, help explain how the Opposition "failed the test of political competency."

23:22 Paul is in top form:

Extensive discussions between Mr. Dithers, Pierre Pettigrew - AKA Ludicrous Hair Man -, and Screeching Bill Graham...that sure does inspire a lot of confidence somehow, doesn't it?

The Three Stooges sort of come to mind for some reason...

Feb. 25 - 00:31: There's a lengthy (for us) thread over at the Shotgun.

New Sisyphus weighs in as, again, do the commenters.

From the Telegraph (UK):

Canada has turned down the Bush administration's pleas to join its missile defence programme, dealing a further damaging blow to relations between the North American neighbours.

Paul Martin, the prime minister, has secretly conveyed the decision to Washington despite a personal request from President George W Bush to think again.

[...]

The decision is believed to mark the first time in decades that Canada had refused a US request to join a strategic programme to defend the North American continent. (Bolding added.)

Can a Canadian application to join the EU be far away? (Oh, I'm sorry. Did that sound bitter?)

Feb. 25 - 14:29: It actually has gotten worse. See here.

Posted by Debbye at 06:43 PM | Comments (18)

February 23, 2005

Canada's in, no out, no both ...

Feb. 23 - Paul Martin, please call home. There seems to be some confusion as to Canada's participation in the Missile Shield Defense program (Missile muddle.)

As the article notes, the amended NORAD agreement makes Canadian participation in the program de facto but there is a loophole if one squints hard enough. Bob explains better than I could.

A generous interpretation is that the Canadian government wants to pretend they aren't protected under the shield in order to placate any one of the xxxx groups lined up to scream hysterically about the weaponization of space, the environment, Canadian sovereignty or the relative merits of Final Fantasy VIII; a less generous interepretation is that they don't know what the hell they're doing.

I expressed a wish long ago that the USA could implement the missile shield without defending a reluctant Canada, and now I read that Japanese inclusion could make that happen. Wouldn't that be interesting!

Via Peaktalk, a CS Monitor headlines nails it: US allies: Australia signs up, Canada signs off (Australia is sending 450 more troops in Iraq in order to protect Japanese engineering teams.) The article points out a key difference: Howard has a majority government and Martin has a minority one, and who really doubted the outcome when Martin decided to form a government with the NDP?

Posted by Debbye at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)

February 22, 2005

PM Martin at NATO Summit

Feb. 22 - From this morning, Martin quiet at NATO summit:

BRUSSELS (CP) - Prime Minister Paul Martin tiptoed around the edge of the limelight Monday prior to the NATO summit as U.S. President George W. Bush's attempted reconciliation with Europe took centre stage. [Aside: What. Ever.]

[...]

Prior to the gathering in Brussels, senior federal officials played up Canada's role as a potential intermediary between the world's only remaining superpower and a continent that is routinely alarmed with the unilateral bent of the Bush administration.

But there has been no evidence of any fence-mending diplomacy by Canada, as none of the prime minister's bilateral meetings during the summit include any outspoken opponents of U.S. foreign policy.

Nevertheless, Foreign Affairs Minister Pierre Pettigrew insisted that Canada's role, although unseen, was still important.

"It is a very natural role for Canada to play a bridge between the United States and the European Union," he said.

"We have a lot of friends in Europe. We are highly regarded on the positions we've taken. At the same time, we are the United States' immediate neighbour, their best friend."

Indeed. See the post below on Frank McKenna, Canada's next Ambassador to the U.S., and his views on this bestest of friends relationship. Maybe it's just me, but I'd nominate Australia and Great Britian for best friend status over Canada.

From this evening: the Prime Minister broke his silence to address the delegates on Iran:

Prime Minister Paul Martin warned NATO leaders Tuesday that they should be prepared to stand up to Iran in order to check the Islamic republic's potential nuclear ambitions.

He told the 25 other alliance leaders at the end of their one-day summit in Brussels that the Islamic republic poses a "serious proliferation threat."

While "diplomacy and dialogue" remain a top priority, the prime minister said the world community "must be prepared to stand behind our words with stronger measures, if necessary."

Tougher measures could include UN-mandated sanctions, but U.S. President George W. Bush has repeatedly suggested he's prepared to use military action if diplomacy fails. (Bolding added.)

Right. Sanctions. Golly gee whiz, what Iranian product might possibly be subject to U.N. sanctions?

Given the results of a recent poll, Yanks "Slick" (sic) and Tired of U.N., I don't think U.N. imposed sanctions are going to be well received by either the American public or Congress. (NY Post link via Neale News.)

The PM was at least more candid than his "senior federal officials:"

Prior to the summit, federal officials played up Canada's potential role in bridging the gap between Europe and the United States, but Martin admitted he was largely on the sidelines.

"The truth of the matter is, to the extent there was a rift, I think it was healed by President Bush and the Europeans," he said. "Canada has a pretty good understanding of both sides and we'll continue to play the role."

Continue to play the role of being on the sidelines? Or play the role of having a good understanding of both sides? (To be fair, I think that could be a bit of sloppy journalism, although it's also possible that the writer was just as bewildered by that last statement as I.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:50 PM | Comments (3)

Frank McKenna, Canada's Ambassador to the U.S.

Feb. 22 - The next Ambassador to the U.S., Frank McKenna, has been appearing before the Commons [Parliament] foreign affairs committee and has some interesting observations. McKenna: Canada, U.S. 'never more different'. Some excerpts:

Canadians shouldn't worry about their sovereignty because in many ways this country and the United States have never been further apart, says the next ambassador to Washington.

McKenna thinks the U.S. should back off on criticisms of Canadian marijuana decriminalization. He worries about the gulf between Canadian and American understanding of one another. And he believes the two countries can't do enough to harmonize their shared border.

"I don't think I've ever seen the countries, in many ways, more different," McKenna told the committee.

"We're going in a very different direction from the United States of America."

By example, he cited legislative measures such as same-sex marriage, gun control and pot decriminalization.

And he said Canada's "whole approach with respect to preserving the social structure, social security in Canada, is dramatically different from the direction of the United States of America.

"We just seem to be much further apart than we've ever been before. So my view is Canadians have done a good job of protecting our cultural integrity and our sovereignty."

McKenna touched on the favoured "US objections to decriminalization of marijuana" theme, but here's something I don't get: given the treaties between the two countries to honour things like marriages, wouldn't the US object far more to the legalization of same-sex marriages than the relaxing of laws regarding marijuana possession which hardly differs from the laws of some states?

There are links to two older articles about McKenna: new Canadian Ambassador to the United States and Toronto Sun: NEWS - New envoy is frank.

Posted by Debbye at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2005

Mark Steyn speaks

Feb. 20 - Mark Steyn's regular column in The Western Standard was on Canada's least-known person, Paul Desmarais:

... there has indeed been a Canadian making a difference in the world-and if The National wanted to do a 133-part special report on him, for once theyd have enough material. Most of us know Paul Desmarais as the . . . [those ellipses in original] well, lets hold it there: most Canadians dont know Paul Desmarais at all. You could stop the first thousand people walking down Yonge Street and Ill bet no one would know who he is. But the few who do know him know him as the kingmaker behind Trudeau, Mulroney, Chrtien and Martin. Jean Chrtiens daughter is married to Paul Desmaraiss son. Paul Martin was an employee of M. Desmaraiss Power Corp., and his Canada Steamship Lines was originally a subsidiary of Power Corp. that M. Desmarais put Mr. Martin in charge of. In other words, Paul Martins public identity--successful self-made businessman, not just a career pol, knows how to meet payroll, etc.--is entirely derived from the patronage of M. Desmarais.

Imagine if Jenna Bush married the chairman of Halliburtons son, and then George W. Bush was succeeded by a president whod been an employee of Halliburton: Michael Moores next documentary would be buried under wall-to-wall Oscars and Palmes dOr. But M. Desmarais has managed to turn Ottawa into a company town without anyone being aware of the company. .. Power Corp.s other alumni range from Quebec premiers to Canadas most prominent international diplomat, Maurice Strong. In fairness, you dont have to work for M. Desmarais to reach the top of the greasy pole-Kim Campbell managed it, for about a week and a half.

And down to the heart of it:
were in the middle of the UN Oil-for-Fraud investigation, the all-time biggest scam, bigger than Enron and Worldcom and all the rest added together. And whaddaya know? The bank that handled all the money from the program turns out to be BNP Paribas, which tends to get designated by Associated Press and co. as a French bank but is, as it happens, controlled by one of M. Desmaraiss holding companies. That alone should cause even the droopiest bloodhound to pick up a scent: the UNs banker for its Iraqi humanitarian program turns out to be (to all intents) Saddams favourite oilman.
Read the whole thing.

On a (relatively) lighter note, as the President begins his European tour, Mark Steyn asks and answers the burning question of the day: What's US policy on Europe? No giggling.

What does all this mean? Nothing. In victory, magnanimity and right now Bush can afford to be magnanimous, even if Europe isn't yet ready to acknowledge his victory. On Thursday, in a discussion of "the greater Middle East", the President remarked that Syria was "out of step". And, amazingly, he's right. Not so long ago, Syria was perfectly in step with the Middle East it was the archetypal squalid stable Arab dictatorship. Two years on, Syria hasn't changed, but Iraq has, and, to varying degrees, the momentum in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon (where the Syrians have overplayed their hand) is also in the Bush direction. Boy Assad finds himself in the position of the unfortunate soldier in Irving Berlin's First World War marching song, "They Were All Out Of Step But Jim".

The EU isn't the Arab League, though for much of the past three years it's been hard to tell the difference. But it, too, is out of step. The question is whether the Europeans are smart enough, like the savvier Sunnis in Iraq, to realise it. The Washington Post's Fred Hiatt compared the President's inaugural speech with Gerhard Schrder's keynote address to the Munich Conference on Security Policy last week and observed that, while both men talked about the Middle East, terrorism and 21st-century security threats, Mr Bush used the word "freedom" 27 times while Herr Schrder uttered it not once; he preferred to emphasise, as if it were still March 2003 and he were Arab League Secretary-General, "stability" the old realpolitik fetish the Administration has explicitly disavowed. It's not just that the two sides aren't speaking the same language, but that the key phrases of Mr Bush's vocabulary don't seem to exist in Chirac's or Schrder's.

By the Way, SteynOnline is off it's brief (?!) hiatus and open for your one-stop Steyn reading spot.

Feb. 23 - Austin Bay disagrees with Mark Steyn on the death of the West:

Steyns bleakest last sentence (to quote Roger Simon) is way too fin dsiecle. Steyn writes: This week were toasting the end of an idea: the death of the West". Try and tell that to Ukraine and Poland and for that matter, Denmark. Post- Theo van Gogh Holland may also object.
Valid point. I too have to remind myself to distinguish between "Old" and "New" Europes.

Feb. 28 - Mark Steyn responds to Austin Bay here (scroll down.) Very worthwhile read.

Posted by Debbye at 03:00 PM | Comments (10)

World's longest hockey game

Feb. 20 - Sometimes I get so angry at the snobbery and elitism portrayed by some that I forget to remember the inherent decency and salt-of-the-earth qualities that are also a daily part of life up here. A case in point in this 9-day game in Edmonton. (The Toronto Sun also carries the story here.)

The previous record of 203 hours had been held by a group in Sudbury, Ontario, and the Edmonton players plan to finish up tomorrow after playing 240 consecutive hours. The score at one point was 1,540-1,360 with Team A leading. Sheesh, can you imagine scoring that game?

This game is being played to raise $200,000 for fighting cancer.

Feb. 21: Final score: "about" 2,500 to 2,300 and they did indeed raise more than $200,000. (Also a minor correction: the CBC link says the game was played in an outdoor rink in Sherwood Park near Edmonton.)

Speaking of long playing records, a brief career of Gordie Howe is in today's Toronto Sun. (If that name only rings a dim bell, think "Gordie Howe Hat Trick," which is a goal, an assist, and a fight.)

Posted by Debbye at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian troops return from Afghanistan

Feb. 20 - Members of the Land Force Western Area returned to Edmonton last night after a 6-month tour in Afghanistan (Hope delivered):

"They kept Kabul, and the region around Kabul, secure in a way that allowed people to start to create normal lives, to start to build houses and invest in their future," said Brig.-Gen. Stu Beare.

"The bottom line, people are making buildings. People are building roads, people are putting in electricity in a country that had none of that during the Taliban era.

"What does that mean? That people have hope, so there's been a huge difference."

Efforts to rebuild Afghanistan are often overshadowed by the bloodier events in Iraq, but restoring stability to Afghanistan is vital to the war on terror and Canadian forces have played an important role in that endeavour.

Despite the questionable support of the Canadian government, members of the Canadian military have steadfastly adhered to their duties, and as the post below demonstrates, this has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated by the public.

Posted by Debbye at 11:09 AM | Comments (0)

Canadians and the military

Feb, 20 - The following speaks for itself:

Letter to the Editor (one day link life) in the Sunday Toronto Sun:

This is an open letter to the individual who anonymously paid for our dinner at The Keg at the Sheppard Centre last Sunday.

As military officers, we accept our duties and responsibilities without thought of receiving thanks from the Canadian public which we serve.

Your gesture that night was truly humbling and encouraging.

To the group of us who benefitted by your generosity, the other patrons and staff at the restaurant, and colleagues of ours who were not present, your thanks that night was an example of tangible proof that Canadians do support the Canadian Forces and the missions it undertakes on behalf of all Canadians.

On behalf of ourselves, and the others you have touched -- thank you.

Major P. Brunberg

Major S. Banerrjee

Major G. Sexton

Captain J. Goetz

Captain T. Underhill

Posted by Debbye at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2005

Mr. Dithers

Feb. 18 - Everyone's covering this, but no one does it like Paul (heh!)

Posted by Debbye at 08:47 PM | Comments (1)

Adil Charkaoui freed on bail

Feb. 18 - Adil Charkaoui, (some background here,) has been freed on $50,000 bail after being held without charges for nearly two years.

Feb. 22: Morocco wants to extradite Charkaoui on the basis of an arrest warrant issued last September, but he says he's being framed.

Posted by Debbye at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2005

Flying Kyoto without a plan

Feb. 17 - Still no plan on how to implement Kyoto (MPs rip delays on Kyoto) but there is a dandy quote from Opposition Leader Stephen Harper:

If it costs $4 billion to achieve nothing, how much will it cost to achieve something?
The federal government does have a plan, however, on reducing pollution: a $26 million advertising campaign!

Some might think the Canadian taxpayer is a tad jaundiced on the subject of government ad campaigns.

Posted by Debbye at 12:26 PM | Comments (3)

2 confirmed Canadian O'Reilly fans

Feb. 17 - Calgary Sun columnist Paul Jackson makes some very good points about the straitjacketed Canadian news media and admits himself to be an avid Bill O'Reilly fan (Making airwaves.)

Jackson looks at Fox coverage as a Canadian who is delighted to finally have conservative views given a respectable hearing up here, and I look at Fox coverage as an American who is relieved - and restored - to finally have American views given a respectable hearing up here. Fox isn't perfect (I find it a little too loosey-goosey and cliche-ridden) but I'd have to be either a masochist or a self-hater to tolerate CBC-style coverage of American issues.

The other confirmed fan, Mark, also watches The O'Reilly Factor nightly. This is a sweet, lovable guy who does considerate things like leaving a plate of dinner in the oven for me when I oversleep and don't eat before going to work (he knows that when I get home I'll settle for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich rather than spend time fixing a proper meal.) I only mention that example of niceness because he's also a pitcher who, with 3 balls on him, would just as soon drill the batter in the ribs for the walk.

Maybe it's a nebulous No Quarter Given factor that inspires viewers. One of the thing Mark likes about O'Reilly is that he doesn't pull any punches (just keep O'Reilly out of the batters box.) Oh well, whatever O'Reilly's immense appeal I seem to be missing it but don't begrudge him or his fans. After all, Fox gives me Charles Krauthammer, Michelle Malkin and Oliver North. People who I've long followed in print are now three-dimensional and I'm loving it.

Fox News has the potential to shake things up in Canada. There is a wide gulf between what Canadians think they know about us and what they actually do know, and that lack of understanding is due in large part to the way the news media slants their coverage. Either the Canadian MSM - excluding Sun Media - don't get Americans and that's why they can't represent us fairly or they do get us and willfully represent us unfairly.

The same could be said about Canadians, by the way, who are monolithically represented by their media at home and abroad.

There is also a notable bigger lack of diversity in how news from other nations - espcially Iraq - is reported. For example, most of what Canadians knew about the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program prior to the Volcker Interim Report was through blogs and Fox News, and more than a few of them are wondering why they had not heard of the scandal before.

The Iraq elections and the Hariri assassination and subsequent reaction to it in Lebanon has focused an unflattering spotlight on Syria, and Canadians who view Fox News with an open mind may not alter their views (whatever those might be) but they will at least be exposed to facts and interpretations of those facts that have been underreported in much of the Canadian media and thus have a clearer understanding of why and how American views differ from theirs.

And to think I have al Jazeera to thank for finally gaining access to Fox News. Ironically, the former still doesn't seem to be broadcasting up here due to concerns over its potential to emit hate speech yet it is and has long been available in the repressive, facist USA.

Sigh. You don't have to actually live in Canada to understand the notion of Orwellian but it helps.

Feb. 21: Tim is definitely in! (and I like his reasoning.)

Posted by Debbye at 06:51 AM | Comments (14)

February 16, 2005

Slush scam

Feb. 16 - This was not the best day to get my T-4 slips, you know? Grits hide $9B in slush funds:

Eight years after the first foundation was set up, for instance, nine of them collectively still have over $7.7 billion of the original $9.1 billion in their bank accounts.

A handy hiding place for the Liberal government to stash its annual surplus on budget day, the foundations hand out grants for everything from hi-tech research projects to student bursaries, aboriginal counselling and, of course, "research on linguistic minorities."

Up to their boardrooms in Liberal appointees, the foundations have been officially declared "independent of government" -- that is, off-limits to the auditor general and exempt from the Access to Information Act.

Greg Weston gives some examples of foundations and how they spend our money or, in some cases, don't spend the money but let it earn a staggeringly high amount of interest.

Agencies which receive public funds yet do not have to account for them are dominating the headlines and the scandals aren't going away. The problem up here is that the party in power, be it Liberal or Conservative, uses the patronage appointments and grant system to reward its party faithful. Until an elected public official takes leadership on this issue and fights for real reform to the system itself, simply changing the party in power won't end the abuses.

Feb. 17 - One bright spot: 10 out of 18 Crown corporations will be opening their books to the Auditor General's scrutiny (and yes, the CBC is one of the 10 but they want the law amended to protect their journalistic sources. Tea leaves and animal entrails require whistleblower protection? Whatever ...)

Posted by Debbye at 09:09 PM | Comments (1)

February 15, 2005

Coyne Returns!

Feb. 15 - Hurray! Andrew Coyne is no longer AWOL and has some new postings on his blog including a list of the things we are supposed to believe that would even choke Alice (of six impossible things before breakfast fame) in My Saturday column [Feb. 12]:

We are asked to believe that Jean Chretien, having created the sponsorship program, having personally secured funding for the program out of the so-called unity reserve, having personal authority over every request for funds from that allocation and having been warned in writing by the Clerk of the Privy Council that he would thus be personally responsible for every grant made out of those funds, should accept no personal blame for anything that went wrong under the program.
Heh.

Posted by Debbye at 08:37 PM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2005

Moving to Canada, eh?

Feb. 14 - The threat by disconsolate Americans that they'll pack their bags and move to Canada continues to receive hype (via No Pasaran!) but putting things in context often diminishes their impact, and Red Granger does just that in a reminder of an earlier mass migration to Canada from the USA - no, not during Vietnam War but much, much earlier.

Posted by Debbye at 07:13 AM | Comments (1)

February 04, 2005

Events catch up to pretensions

Feb. 4 - This is downright disheartening. Paul covers the story of some very sharp criticisms leveled by John Watson, head of CARE Canada, on Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) which languished in Canada for 10 days after the tsunamai hit Asian coasts until they finally arranged to rent a Russian transport for travel to Sri Lanka in I rest my case... and the criticisms cast doubt on even the value of the team's work after it arrived.

Truth is, I find it very awkward to post about Canada these days. There's a code of honour that dictates you don't kick somebody when they're down (don't remind me that some Canadians don't follow that code - I well know that!) and despite the smugness displayed by much of the media, a lot of people in Toronto and Canada are down. Just here in Toronto, today's paper tells about problems in the education system (even at the elementary level,) the transit systems and despite millions of dollars spent to fight homelessness people are still sleeping in parks and on the streets even though it's mid-winter. Nationally, the sorry tale of Canada's sub purchase reveals yet another stupid decision and the Adscam inquiry is still bogged down in conflicting testimony while questions remain unanswerable due to bookeeping that rivals that of the U.N. for careful incompetency.

The failure of the electorate to administer a sharp rebuke to the Liberal Party for corruption and mendacity is depressing. Some back home say the American press was too voracious in pursuing the Watergate story and the leads arising from the hearings, but up here I'm seeing the other side of the picture: too many in the media seem almost disinterested in learning the truth and complacently let the government investigate its own wrongdoing with the occasional plaintive bleat that the commission has uncovered little of substance.

Two main legs of Canadian identity are health care and hockey, and both are way past life-support systems.

I can't count how many times Canadians used to conclude a (usually friendly) comment about the USA with a grinning "but don't get sick there!" I never took offense (Americans are much more polite and forbearing than we're given credit for) but consider how many people died of SARS in the US and how many died here in the city of Toronto. Might it have something to do with the fact that medical personnel down there wore the proper face masks whereas they were deemed to be too uncomfortable up here? Or maybe the quaint notion of "quarantine" actually meant something in the US even when it inconvenienced people. What happened to the meme if it saves only one life, hmm? They only trot that out when it comes to coke, Twinkies and McDonald's but keep it tucked away when people are actually dying.

Today the despised American-style health system is the only resort for Canadians suffering and even dying on the waiting lists the treasured health care system offers in place of actual medical care, and some treatments are even being offered to Canadians at a discount by some enterprising American doctors.

As for hockey, Attention NHL owners, players, and assorted others: it's February, you morons, and yet you're pretending there might yet be a chance for a hockey season? This season is dead, defunct. It has passed on. Canada survived without NHL hockey and the CBC showed some pretty decent double-billed movies on Saturday nights. End of story.

So what's left when health care and hockey are out for the count? The U.N., peacekeeping forces, and moral superiority.

Exposure of the debasement of the U.N. Oil-for-Food Program remains sparse and although a story today speculates about possible Canadian connections to Hussein's oil, the conflict of interest of former PM Chretien due to his familial ties to Power Corp. and thus TotalFinaElf remains an unpublicized and unexplored factor in Canada's membership in the the Axis of Weasels.

Remember when the argument would be made that Canadians had consciously reduced their military in order to nationalize a world-class health system?

Then he who was then Finance Minister and is now the Prime Minister, Paul Martin, decided to reduce the national debt by withholding money from the provinces which should have gone into the health care system. Now there's neither accessible health care nor military strength up here, but cruel history provided events in Liberia, Haiti (including the devastation of last summer's hurricanes) Sudan and a tsunamai to accentuate the harsh reality that Canada can no longer respond to international crises nor provide peacekeeping to protect innocent people from genocide. crimes against humanity.

The only leg standing (as it were) is moral superiority. Above all, Canadians are compassionate. If you don't believe me, just ask them. They will expound at length as to how much more compassionate and caring and enlightened they are than Americans. (They've even got some Americans believing it.) Why, they're close to achieving a plane of compassionate existence that's almost European! Unfortunately, they spend so much time and money proclaiming it that they never get around to actually doing much that is compassionate, caring or enlightened but a cynicism has set in that allows that it's the appearance that matters, not the deeds.

Coming back full circle, as was pointed out in the opening link, if Canada's rapid response to disaster is delayed 10 days while waiting for a foreign power to transport that team, what will happen in the event of a disaster within Canada? How will aid reach Canadians in their own country?

You know the answer to that. You know you do. Despite the recent urging of outgoing U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci, don't count on Canada spending the necessary money to enable herself to become self-sufficient in the areas of self-defense at home or doing her fair part abroad.

But beware: if the day should come that they need our help, they'll hate us for it not because of what it says about us but because of what it says about them. Gratitude barely disguises resentment.

I do understand in part what lies under the surface in Canada. Canada's moral pose adopted a strikingly higher plane when the US was bitterly divided over Vietnam and demoralized over the Watergate hearings. After all, Canada was just coming out of the FLQ Crisis and needed a boost. The country was in danger of losing federal coherency so everyone rallied around a "we're better than the US" plank. And it worked.

In fact it worked so well, they were reluctant to tone it down. The media and politicos have trumpeted Canada's superiority over their American neighbours increasingly louder since the mid-70's, but as so often happens, reality is slowing catching up and there is growing recognition that Canada has become too complacent and the legs of Canadian identity and culture have become eroded.

But that's not a crime, it's just life. No nation can live up completely to its ideals, but one of life's challenges is to square our shoulders and try again. The important part is to adhere to the truths of those ideals, nourish them, and keep trying.


The deaths of U.S. soldiers and personnel as well as Iraqis unfortunate enough to be near IEDs when they went off provided a kind of comfort zone for those Canadians who have had some niggling feelings that just maybe Canada should have been on board for Operation Iraqi Freedom if only to offer moral support.

But now something has changed, or rather, everything has changed. There were real elections in Iraq in which the people of Iraq defied both the terrorists and the expectations of those with compassionate, caring, and enlightened views and, in so doing, also defied France, Russia, Belguim and Canada.

And we know that the price our sons and daughters are paying can be laid on account against the weasels because we kept our troops in the desert for several months while they pretended to debate in good faith on the U.N.S.C. all the while buying time for Saddam to set up his underground thugs.

Although far too few, however, there are indeed Canadians who have been awe-inspiring rock-freaking-solid in supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom from the onset, and they have earned the right to feel proud of the remarkable events of Sunday because they were part of it. (If you don't know who they are, look at the blogroll and I admit that it's incomplete.) Their numbers include media such as the Toronto Sun and Western Standard. (It hasn't been uncritical support, of course, but that's what friends are for.)

As for some others up here ... If they're examining their souls and wondering how they could have so misjudged the situation in Iraq then I'd advise them not to waste too much time on guilt or shame but pledge only to open their minds to the possibilility that if a stopped clock can be right twice a day, then Americans too might occasionally be right.

Those, however, who are rapidly devising a posture that denies that the success of the elections in Iraq might require a re-evaluation of their world view may as well carry on as though nothing has changed. They no longer matter.


As I wrote earlier, gratitude equals resentment, and therein lies an additional reason as to why the elections in Iraq were so important. The Iraqis need no longer feel lessened by Operation Iraqi Freedom because when it came time for them to take a stand, they alone made the decisions and took the steps toward freedom, braving the threats of those who had proven their willingness to murder them and, in that defiance, asserting the dignity of the Iraqi people beyond all measure and for all time.

One result of that renewed confidence was indicated when the citizens of the Iraqi village of al-Mudhariya fought off an insurgent attack, killing 5 and wounding 8, and then burnt the insurgents' car! (link via Best of the Web Today)

It's become much more simple now. The mission in Iraq is far from over but we have a new member in the Coalition of the Willing: the Iraqis, and this coalition has something the Axis of Weasels could never have - a mandate from the Iraqi people.

The counter-offensive began yesterday, and there are once again families in the US and Iraq who are bereaved. Press advisories come into my inbox advising me of the names and heartbreakingly young ages of the Americans who have lost their lives. It's not fair. It's wrong. It hurts. But we won't be deterred.

You see, we Americans share a national dream that has returned to the fore with renewed vigor and energy. I look forward to that day when all the peoples of the world can join hands and bear witness to the stirring power of Dr. King's words as he stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and echo his words saying, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, [insert deity or deities] we are free at last!"

Correction: Feb. 7 - Dr. King's speech was delivered in the steps of the Lincoln Memorial not the Washington Monument as I initially wrote.

Posted by Debbye at 08:22 AM | Comments (16)

February 02, 2005

16 year olds voting?

Feb. 2 - Why does the goofier stuff that comes up in California always show up next in Canada? Now there is an "all party push to give 16-year-olds the right to vote."

Apparently many teens think it's a dumb idea.

Posted by Debbye at 04:15 PM | Comments (4)

February 01, 2005

Canada and Iraq

Feb. 1 - Official Canadian reaction to Sunday's elections in Iraq pretty much followed those of France, Russia and Germany focusing praise on the courage of the Iraqi voters. The link is to the Toronto Star's article Bush capitalizes on Iraq election and despite the spin in it, I'd like to note that the Star did acknowledge the importance of the elections yesterday (check out some of the links in the box to the right of the article and this account by an Iraqi in Baghdad is a must read but I'm issuing a crying alert for it) before they rushed into quoting those calling for a partial birth abortion specific plans for an 'exit strategy.'

I recall that the president has already announced his timetable for withdrawal from Iraq: to leave when the job is done. Works for me.

Posted by Debbye at 09:21 AM | Comments (0)

December 01, 2004

The Halifax Speech

Dec. 1 - Mike from Halifax writes 99.99% of Nova Scotians don't protest Bush! There's a great deal more in the post including a link to an editorial in the Halifax Herald that makes some of the points about the history of the courageous and stalwart Canadian military that Keith made yesterday and commentary by the CBC on the speech.

The Halifax speech (text here) went over well. President Bush thanked Canadians for their hospitality in the aftermath of Sept. 11 and for their efforts in Afghanistan and Haiti. Despite predictions, I didn't detect any statement in U.S. foreign policy that deviated from past speeches. He made many of the same points here as he made both at Whitehall and at the U.N.: a declaration that freedom is the right of all people, that the focus on talk is insufficient if they aren't prepared to take action to enforce that talk, and gave a Canadian context to those points and to the right for taking pre-emptive action.

The speech was also more relaxed than that delivered at Whitehall, and he exhibited knowledge of one important key to Canadian hearts:

Paul and I share a great vision for the future: two prosperous, independent nations joined together by the return of NHL hockey.
That comment received much laughter and applause.

When he thanked the Maritimers who opened their homes and hearts to travellers stranded on Sept. 11 he expressed it in terms of a personal thanks to the people who undertook that task rather than a government-to-government expression of gratitude. That is important, because the Canadian government itself was not involved in the massive efforts to find shelter and food for those travellers - it was a community effort, the kind that comes from open hearts that aren't in the habit of expecting the "government" to take care of things but stem from universal laws of hospitality, or, as my grandmother used to say, "that's what neighbours are for."

After some talk about NAFTA and trade relations between the two countries, he stressed those shared values from our British heritage (although he elided that last point!):

Our community of values reaches back centuries.

Canada and the U.S. may have disagreed on the wisdom of separating from the crown, but we've always agreed on the great principles of liberty derived from our common heritage.

We believe in the dignity of every human life. And we believe in the right of every person to live in freedom. We believe in free markets, humanized by compassion and fairness. We believe a diverse society can also be united by principles of justice and equality.

Then he tackled the problems with the U.N., which is a bit more thorny in Canada as the formation of that organization was led by the Canadian Prime Minister of the day and Nobel Peace Prize winner Lester Pearson, and thus occupies a special spot in the Canadian mind:
America always prefers to act with allies at our side. And we're grateful that Canada [is] working closely with us to confront the challenges of Iran and North Korea.

Multilateral organizations can do great good in the world.

Yet the success of multilateralism is measured not merely by following a process, but by achieving results. The objective of the U.N. and other institutions must be collective security, not endless debate. For the sake of peace, when those bodies promise serious consequences, serious consequences must follow.

America and Canada helped create the United Nations and because we remain committed to that institution, we want it to be more than a League of Nations. (Emphasis added)

He also referred to that part of Canadian history which too many have forgotten:
In the early days of World War II, when the United States was still wrestling with isolationism, Canadian forces were already engaging the enemies of freedom across the Atlantic.

At the time, some Canadians argued that Canada had not been attacked and had no interest in fighting a distant war.

Your prime minister, Mackenzie King, gave this answer: "We cannot defend our country and save our homes and families by waiting for the enemy to attack us. To remain on the defensive is the surest way to bring the war to Canada."

Of course, we should protect our coasts and strengthen our ports and cities against attack.

But the prime minister went on to say, "We must also go out and meet the enemy before he reaches our shores. We must defeat him before he attacks us, before our cities are laid to waste."

Mackenzie King was correct then, and we must always remember the wisdom of his words today.

From what I saw on CBC, the speech was fairly well received although comments after the speech indicated some irritation that the president hadn't backtracked or apologized for the decision to go to Iraq.

Posted by Debbye at 03:54 PM | Comments (17)

A different message for Bush

Dec. 1 - Among the many protesters of yesterday, Ottawa Sun columnist Earl McRae found one with a different message:

John Al-Hassani is Canadian, too. He's 48. He drove to Ottawa from Oshawa where he's an engineer. He stands on the fringe. His sign says: "Support President Bush."

"I came to this country from Iraq," he shouts in staccato bursts. "I have family there. I talk to them all the time. Look at these fools. They have no idea. They are idiots. They are simple babies. The majority of Iraqis are glad Bush liberated them from Saddam Hussein. But, you don't see that on TV, only the terrorist gangsters blowing people up. They don't speak for the people of Iraq.

Good read.

Posted by Debbye at 03:01 PM | Comments (0)

The President comes to Canada II

Bush-Martin Sun front page.jpg

Dec. 1 - Interesting front page for the online Toronto Sun today and caption.

The Sun is more supportive of President Bush than many Canadian newspapers and their coverage of his visit is fairly positive. Some aspects of the meeting not mentioned here:

U.S. PRESIDENT George W. Bush trumpeted a renewed friendship with Canada during his first visit to Ottawa yesterday, but bristled at criticism of his decision to invade Iraq. The president arrived at Parliament Hill surrounded by a 40-car motorcade overseen by police snipers on every rooftop and all manner of aircraft in the sky above.

[...]

Singling out Canada's military contribution in Afghanistan, Bush stressed that Canada and the U.S. share common values and stand shoulder-to-shoulder in the face of terror.

"The United States is fortunate to have a neighbour with whom we share so many ties of values and family and friendship," Bush said. "We look forward to an even stronger relationship in the years to come."

[...]

The Canada-U.S. relationship has been in a deep chill since Bush was first elected in 2000. Former PM Jean Chretien, who had a warm friendship with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, did not build the same ties with Bush.

Martin has worked to repair that during the past three meetings with Bush. The president previously visited Canada to attend two international summits, but this is the first time he has travelled to Ottawa for private meetings with the PM.

[...]

Bush raised the controversial ballistic missile defence shield during discussions with Martin, a topic the Canadian government had kept off the agenda. "We talked about the future of NORAD and how that organization can best meet emerging threats and safeguard our continent against attack from ballistic missiles," Bush said.

Senior Canadian government officials downplayed the discussion, saying Martin reiterated his opposition to putting weapons in space and reminded the president that Canada is still debating whether to jump on board or not. Officials said Bush did not ask for Canadian support.

CNN coverage gives more detail about the beef ban which is hurting the cattle trade:
Bush said he understood Martin's frustration but that U.S. law requires the White House Office of Management and Budget to review proposed Agriculture Department regulations before his administration can lift the ban.

"I fully understand the cattle business. I understand the pressures placed upon Canadian ranchers," he said. But he noted, "There's a bureaucracy involved. I readily concede we've got one."

PM Martin's and Pres. Bush's full statements and response to reporters' questions are here. The president noted past wars in which Canada and the U.S. have fought side by side as well as the current campaign in Afghanistan:
Canada and the United States share a history, a continent, and a border. We also share a commitment to freedom and a willingness to defend it in times of peril. The United States and Canada fought side-by-side in two world wars, in Korea and the Persian Gulf, and throughout the Cold War. Today, we're standing together against the forces of terror. Long-term success in this war requires more than military might -- it requires the advance of liberty and hope as the great alternatives to hatred and violence.

All free nations appreciate Canada's leadership: leadership of the security and stabilization mission in Afghanistan; leadership which helped make possible the first free nationwide election in that country's history. Afghanistan is a world away from the nightmare of its recent past, Mr. Prime Minister. It is building a decent and democratic future. And I want to thank you for your help.

He didn't shy away from Iraq and re-asserted the right of Iraqis to consensual government and brought up Canadian involvement in Haiti:
We're also standing with the brave people of Iraq who are preparing for elections on January the 30th. Both of our nations have a vital interest in helping the Iraqi people secure their country and build a free and democratic society. I want to thank the Prime Minister's resolve and his support for this great cause. The Canadian government has pledged more than $200 million U.S. in humanitarian aid and reconstruction assistance, and have agreed to relieve more than $450 million U.S. in Iraqi debt.

A free and democratic Iraq is rising in the heart of the Middle East. The success of liberty there will be a decisive blow to the ideology of terror and a model to reformers and democrats throughout the region. As we seek freedom for the Afghan and Iraqi people, America and Canada are working to further the spread of democracy in our own hemisphere. In Haiti, Canada was a leader along with the United States, France, Chile, and other nations in helping to restore order. Canadian police are standing watch in Haiti at this hour, and the Prime Minister just visited the country to further the cause of political reconciliation. I appreciate your briefing on your visit.

On Ukraine:
Prime Minister Martin and I also discussed the situation in Ukraine. I informed the Prime Minister that I talked this morning to President Kwasniewski of Poland. President Kwasniewski will again lead a delegation, which will include a representative of the European Union, to the Ukraine to encourage the parties to reject violence, and to urge the parties to engage in dialogue toward a political and legal solution to the current crisis. Our common goal is to see the will of the Ukranian people prevail. The Prime Minister and I want to thank President Kwasniewski for his efforts, and we wish him all the success.
On the decriminalization of marijuana in response to a question as to if it would affect the border:
It will probably affect those who use marijuana a lot more than it will affect the border.
and he then returned to the issue of security at the border and attempts to prevent "those who would do harm to either the United States or Canada from being able to do so ..." The next question also focused on marijuana, to which the president replied
I don't have a comment on what you're doing internally about that.
The claim has been made that marijuana hasn't been decriminalized yet due to pressure from the USA which feared it would enable more importation of the drug into the USA. I never quite understood that argument; it doesn't decriminalize the growth or distribution, only possession. The issue of medicinal marijuana usage is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court.

There has been a great deal of speculation about the speech President Bush is to give in Halifax today and whether it will be on a par with the landmark Whitehall speech.

8:33 - Air Force One is now departing from Ottawa Airport. The CBC is reporting about 40 protesters have gathered in Halifax.

Posted by Debbye at 07:11 AM | Comments (2)

November 30, 2004

Pierre Berton 1920-2004

Pierre Berton.jpg

Nov. 30 - Some truly sad news up here: Pierre Berton has died. He was a respected author and his face was one of my earlier introductions to Canadian TV from when he was a panelist on Front Page Challenge.

He was unpretentious (many documentarians could learn a lot from his style and delivery,) had an optimistic view of Canada and the world, and was voted #31 on the recent Greatest Canadians list.

The CBC page has a funny story about Berton giving lessons in rolling a proper joint which is worth reading. That tale fits him wonderfully.

I don't see it listed on the imdb page dedicated to him, but didn't he also host Great Railway Stories?

There's a short biography of him here and which is also where I got the photo.

Posted by Debbye at 08:05 PM | Comments (0)

The President comes to Canada

Nov. 30 - Welcome to Peaktalk readers!

Bumping this up as it is very much the news of the day up here.

No, I'm not in Ottawa wishing the president well and adding my voice to those who genuinely welcome him. He heard my voice when I voted, and I think he is aware of the large number of ex-pats who defied the pundits and turned out to vote for him in large numbers.

As I post this President Bush is landing in Canada, and the malice from those polite Canadians at work - which had been suspended after the election - picked up again but with different results because I wouldn't play. Why should I? These are people who assert that if there was oil in Sudan the USA would have been in there ... they trust CBC and the Toronto Star, and I trust facts. There is no common meeting ground beyond work and I can smile, nod, and know I am looking at people who have failed to acknowledge that the world is beyond that which our mainstream media portrays.

Canadians have Martin and we have Bush. We have as president a man who says what he means and means what he says, and they have a prime minister who's most notably strong move has been to kick Carolyn Parrish out of the Liberal caucus for criticizing him despite CNN's assertion that it was for her anti-American statements and behaviour on TV.

I have total confidence that the president will listen to NDP leader Jack Layton and Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe politely and pay little heed to the dial-a-demonstrations; after all, he is President of the USA, not of Canada.

Nevertheless, I really do wish there would be some research into the feasibility of deploying a missile shield that does not cover Canada.

Much of North American is speculating as to whether official relations will or will not be smoothed between the two countries but what has always been at risk are the unofficial relations, i.e., the attitudes of the two populations which are decidedly not affected by official dinners, pomp, and speeches before Parliament.

I warned prior to the election that the rest of the world was gambling far more than they realized with the Bush-hatred, and now that the American electorate has spoken decisively (and the more observant should have drawn the proper conclusions noting how far to the right John Kerry had to bend to get the vote he did get) and as it would appear that much of the world media has chosen to declare that we, the American people, are as dumb as our President, some lines in the sand are irremediably drawn.

So be it. So why are they busy kissing our asses now? It's all about the trade.

I would have said more but Flea beat me to it with comments he made on what is actually a non-related subject but totally apropos:

What surprises me about this latest analysis is the continuing realization that so many people truly believe the United States to be omnipotent. It is not. In this respect I see the street protests as a psychological reaction to an imagined "bad father" who should have protected them on September 11. Continuing troubles in an imperfect world are, in this light, an immoral or irresponsible choice on the part of the bad father rather than an improvisation in the face of the bad hand dealt to us by the jihadists and the better part of a century of accommodation with the ruling family of Arabia. (Bolding added)
Either we are all-powerful and all-seeing, in which case we can never make any mistakes, or we are as error-prone as any other human and doing our best under adverse circumstances. One isn't supposed to be able to have one's cake and eat it too, so I wish folks would make up their minds and pick either omnipotent or mere mortal. It would make debates much more manageable.

10:59: I am watching the CBC, and whathisname actually asked what impact demonstrations in Canada would have on Americans. The response by Allen Gottlieb was that the demonstrations would have less impact than had he been heckled in Parliament.

Perhaps so, but my answer would have been that the Democrats - none of whom live abroad except Chelsea Clinton, and she was dismayed at the degree of anti-Americanism in Oxford immediately after Sept. 11 - would whine about how much our "prestige" has "fallen" in the world, and most Americans would shrug regardless. Since the dismal state of the Canadian military is a pretty widely-known fact, how much respect can Americans have for a people who are unwilling to defend themselves?

11:01: The contribution Canada could make to running the elections in Iraq leaves out the fact that any Canadians there would be targets. Would Canada risk their own to help Iraqis have free and open elections? Right.

11:04: David Frum is more analytical than I in a column published in today's National Post (available here) as well as more conciliatory:

Bush is working on the assumption that many allied governments feel that they have allowed their disagreements with the United States to go too far. In 2002 and 2003, for example, Jean Chretien--like Germany's Gerhard Schroeder and some other leaders as well--seemed to have decided he could earn some easy political points on the left-hand side of the political spectrum by running against George Bush. That decision may have been aided by a calculation that Bush was an accidental president likely to lose in 2004. Now that the President has been returned to office with great political power, those 2002-03 calculations are looking less shrewd. A minority Canadian prime minister does not want to spend the next four years quarrelling with a popular president backed by a congressional majority. (Emphasis added)
In other words, the president, from a position of decidedly stronger domestic strength than, say, Prime Minister Martin, is extending his hands in friendship; a lesser man would behave far differently, but I doubt rabid Bush-haters will recognize or understand what they are seeing.

Wiser heads may reflect that he is capable of doing so because he has much bigger concerns than personal pique or feelings of self-consequence; they will even recognize that he is indeed a leader because he can consign the slurs and insults to their proper place and keep this young century's chief challenge at the forefront of his agenda.

He is determined to give credit wherever he can, to encourage the efforts - large and small - to the allies in the war on terror, and to continue to build that coalition and urge it forward.

15:00: A Minority of One takes a look from Ottawa and has some well chosen words for Canadians who chose to forget Canada's tradition before peacekeeping:

Hey, you there, you, with the stupid sign. So how should Canada, with its sacred values, have addressed the agression and murderous thuggery of Hitler and Co.? What should we have done in response to the conquest of Hong Cong and the subsequent use of Canadian citizens as slave labour in Japanese coal mines? Curious minds want to know.
A small part of an excellent rant!

16:13: The CBC is estimating that 5,000 demonstrators got to mix it up with police, and something very strange:

Also present were activists in favour of legalized marijuana, same-sex marriages, and a woman's right to choose, as well as students, grandmothers and groups ranging from Lawyers Against the War to Bellydancers Against Bush.
There are more demonstrations planned for tomorrow, they say.

A CBC Online Diary gives a moment-by-moment account of the Bush visit. Read it and judge for yourselves.

17:32 - Toronto Star headline reads Defiant Bush stands by foreign policy. The-title-under-the-headline is Smaller-than-expected protest greet U.S. president. (It must have really hurt to have to print that one.)

The story:

OTTAWA George W. Bush rode into town today with kind words for Canada but a defiant message for anyone who thinks hell back down from his controversial foreign policy.

The U.S. president arrived in Ottawa for a whirlwind two-day visit designed to warm bilateral relations and begin mending international fences in the wake of the Iraq war.
Still with that excuse? I lived here too many years to let them get away with pretending all the troubles began when we went to Iraq. The Star was especially vicious immediately after Sept. 11.
But the Texan was unbowed when asked about a recent poll suggesting most Canadians dont like his policy direction.
He's not the president of Canada but of the U.S.A. It's not his job to please Canadians.
Im the kind of fella who does what I think is right, he told a joint news conference with Prime Minister Paul Martin.

We just had a poll in our country where people decided the foreign policy of the Bush administration ought to stay in place for four more years.

It was not exactly the message many had been expecting from a second-term president reputed to be eager to win back allies alienated by his decision to invade Iraq.

Nonsense. The only Canadians pretending to have expected a different message are probably writers for the Star setting up tomorrow's editorial and columns. (Now you all know why I rarely read the Star.)
It also did nothing to soothe the anger of protesters who scuffled with police after being blocked from marching down the main thoroughfare in front of Parliament.
That, of course, is the real reason President Bush is visiting Canada: "to soothe the anger of protesters."

The prevailing attitude in most of the mainstream media seems to be that Bush needs to repair relations with Canada, thus implying that the USA has more to gain from better relations than Canada, yet without missing a beat stories go straight to the numerous trade issues (especially softwood lumber and the beef trade) which are rankling Canadians.

What exactly does the USA gain from better relations from Canada? I have my own reasons which center on increasing US security, but Canada has a great deal to lose should the border be closed in the event of another terrorist attack and should that attack originate in Canada there will be hell to pay.

18:02 - Heh. Lou Dobbs on CNN is reporting that the president found Canadians less than friendly, and John King is also promoting the Myth of Bitter Disputes Over Iraq. (But then CNN is still disconsolate that France didn't join us so their observations may be less than objective.)

As I recall, then PM Chretien announced that Canada wouldn't lend even moral support because he didn't support the notion of regime change, and the bitterness was pretty much limited to those Canadians who felt Canada should support her traditional allies Great Britain and Australia (and the USA,) and those who were far too enlightened to stop a maniacal, genocidal monster who terrorized his own people.

18:30 - The Fox website says that "Bush had a cool relationship with former Prime Minister Jean Chretien (search), but Martin, in office less than a year, has sought to repair the damage." What they imply but don't say is that Martin has had to step carefully because the anti-Americanism which was given full rein under Chretien is harder to put back into the bottle than it was to let out; furthermore, and this is the part that is hard for Americans to understand (as we don't have a Parliamentary system,) is that he is in a coalition government with the leftist New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Liberal Party depends on their support to remain in power.

Posted by Debbye at 02:15 PM | Comments (17)

November 25, 2004

Surge in illegal immigrants concerns officials

Nov. 25 - From Poisoning Pigeons v. Xmas: I'm nice during the holidays. Don't piss me off.The insantity must be stopped:

Officials are particularly concerned about smugglers who meet liberals near the Canadian border, pack them into Volvo station wagons, drive them across the border and leave them to fend for themselves.

"A lot of these people are not prepared for rugged conditions," an Ontario border patrolman said. "I found one carload without a drop of drinking water. They did have a nice little Napa Valley cabernet, though."

(Via Absinthe and Cookies)

On a more serious note, deserters from the U.S. military who sought asylum in Canada on the basis that the Iraq war was illegal have had that argument rejected by the refugee board.

Posted by Debbye at 06:26 PM | Comments (0)

Canada "mending" diplomatic relations with Iran

Nov. 25 - Canada withdrew her ambassador to Iran last July to protest Iran's failure to bring justice to Zahra Kazemi's killers but it was announced that Gordon Venner will assume duties as Canada's ambassador to Iran.

Despite the request of her son, Stephan Hachemi, and Canada's backing of that request, Kazemi's body has not been returned to Canada and thus an independent autopsy was never performed.

Why resume diplomatic relations after Iran killed a Canadian citizen?

NDP MP Alexa McDonough said Canada is better served by having a diplomatic presence in Iran.

"It's certainly clear that the Iranian government has not satisfactorily addressed the Kazemi fiasco, but at the same time, when there's an empty chair there's no dialogue ..."

Jean Chretien was prime minister when Kazemi was "interrogated to death" (per Mark Steyn) and his outrage seems to have eased after he left office and vanished entirely when he decided to visit Iran:
Mr. Chretien, now a private citizen, will travel to Iran next month to meet top Iranian government officials.

But Mr. Chretien isn't there to seek justice for Ms. Kazemi. Nor will he speak for the dozens of Iranians rotting in jails for the crime of believing Iran should have the same democracy Canadians enjoy.

Instead, Mr. Chretien is going to Iran as a "special adviser" to the Calgary oil company PetroKazakhstan, which wants to ship Kazakh oil to China and Iran. His job is to convince the Iranians that this is a good idea.

He succeeded.

Posted by Debbye at 08:04 AM | Comments (0)

November 24, 2004

The shifting moderate centre

Nov. 24 - Damian has an excellent (and heartfelt) post about the things he believes and the Canada he wants in Our shifting 'moderate centre'.

[You know, I believe there is really a chance for South Park Conservatism in Canada. If only people didn't freak out when we try to explain what it is ...]

Posted by Debbye at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

November 22, 2004

Arafat's wealth linked to Ontario firm

Nov. 22 - It will be interesting to see if this gets coverage up here: Arafat's massive wealth exposed and among his holdings is a pharmaceutical firm in Belleville, Ontario:

THE late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat controlled a network of companies, investments and bank accounts with a value totalling at least $US1.5 billion ($1.9 billion), according to Austrian business magazine Format.

Quoting a Central Intelligence Agency report, it said the CIA had conducted inquiries after receiving information that a holding company of the Palestine Liberation Organisation had invested $US9 million in a small pharmaceutical company in the Canadian town of Belleville, Ontario.

Format said investigators had "stepped on an anthill" when they uncovered the stake held by the Palestinian Commercial Service Corporation in Bioniche Life Sciences, revealing a network of PLO funds such as Chalcedony, Onyx, Evergreen, SilverHaze and Avmax International, the last based in Aruba in the Caribbean.

The weekly said it had seen a file "detailing in concrete terms for the first time how much money was involved".

One component of the financial network alleged to have been run by Arafat, who died in a hospital near Paris on November 11, indicated that Austrian interests had been involved.

The magazine said, from 1998 to the Palestinian uprising of 2000, the Austrian bank Bawag and a group called Casino Austria had financed a gambling casino much frequented by Israelis at Jericho on the West Bank. Bawag had later financed Arafat's private jet, a Challenger 604 worth $US23 million registered in Austria.

Format also alleged Arafat controlled $US800 million in bank accounts in Austria, the Cayman Islands, Luxembourg and Switzerland.

The speculation about the cause of Arafat's death has overshadowed the hunt for the money which he allegedly invested on behalf of the Palestinian people but about which he failed to make public.

According to Nasser al-Kidwa, Arafat's nephew, medical records reveal that no poison was found but the cause of death is still unclear.

Posted by Debbye at 08:17 AM | Comments (0)

Martin proposes new forum for talk

Nov. 22 - At the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit Martin made a pitch for his latest idea to reform the U.N. which would be to establish - wait for it - a new bureaucracy as a forum which could move more quickly on urgent matters.

France and Russia are among those who endorse the idea, which alone should raise eyebrows as it was they who blocked U.N. action to address repeated violations of the cease-fire which ended the '91 Iraq war and have been cited as having been among the chief beneficiaries of the corrupt U.N. Oil-for-Food program. Russia has delayed taking action in the Sudan, and Canada lacks credibility as they would contribute talk but no army with which this new council could implement decisions or, to be blunt, is unwilling to put her sons and daughters in any danger but would pressure the USA to do so.

If Canada wants to push for more active international peacekeeping forces she will have to be willing to provide a substantial increase in the troops she can field, and that isn't going to happen.

President Bush is skeptical of the notion and

... challenged Martin to prove his idea would be anything more than a forum of talking heads making speeches before the cameras.
Seems Bush's advisors have done a good job of prepping him for his visit to Canada as to how the government up here responds to issues.

Posted by Debbye at 07:57 AM | Comments (0)

November 18, 2004

Debunking Walkom

Nov. 18 - Bob of Let It Bleed shreds Thomas Walkom and the notion that President Bush could/should be arrested and prosecuted for war crimes when he visits here in "It's an interesting question". The "h" word - hypocrite - is used well and often.

Posted by Debbye at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)

Fox News coming to Canada

Nov. 18 - It's finally happened: Fox News coming to a Canadian digital channel near you.

Which, for me, will mean only that, on a daily basis, I have the option of watching the 6 a.m. news on Fox. The bigger picture is that it will certainly challenge the Canadian media who have under-reported things like the Oil-For-Food scandal and offer Canadians a different look at American attitudes and values than that offered by CNN.

I found this amusing:

Critics of Fox complained to the CRTC that Fox News Channel and its high-profile commentators are far too close to the Republicans and U.S. President George W. Bush to justify the slogan of delivering "fair and balanced news."
Uh huh. They never, of course, accused ABC, NBC, CBS or CNN of being too close to President Clinton.

The article says "as early as next year," so I need to call my cable company. Several times.

Posted by Debbye at 07:21 PM | Comments (9)

Twinkies and Anteaters II

Nov. 18 - The tiger who is accused of allegedly mauling a stripper has been named: Paka.

Yes, the proceedings have revealed much about the little known world of lap-dancers (Pay drop blamed on tiger attack.) I'm going to assume you'll read the post, but can't resist noting these intriguing, little-know aspects of the craft:

ALS lawyer Douglas Wright was cross-examining Cowles on what effect the apparel had on her earnings as a stripper.

He noted she notched her best payday --$500 a day -- three times after the attack.

"It was unpredictable," Cowles said of her fluctuating earnings from lap-dancing, saying the totals depended on other factors such as bar crowds and number of competing dancers and the number of private dances she performed.

She kept tallies of her earnings by marking numbers accompanying happy faces denoting profits and "frown faces" indicating losses. She had to pay up to $180 a day in disc jockey fees, cab fares and her bar tab. On some "slow days" she actually lost money as a freelancer. Cowles said she was so depressed that she drank heavily -- consuming between three and 10 double-shots of Southern Comfort and Coke and later vodka coolers -- each shift.

Please, do not become a nurse. Is it unfair to note that we already have more than enough health professionals who do not follow mundane instructions for things like sterlizing equipment?

And yes, she lowered the window to take pictures (my husband is grinning because that was his immediate guess after reading the article.)

Posted by Debbye at 06:57 PM | Comments (0)

Parrish and the CBC join forces

Nov. 18 - The CBC and MP Carolyn Parrish have joined forces in what the Toronto Sun is calling Voodoo politics:

SHE'S DONE it again. Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish was filmed this week for the comedy show This Hour Has 22 Minutes stomping on a George W. Bush doll, just weeks before his first visit to Ottawa.

The TV clip -- the latest of her anti-American gestures -- ignited renewed calls for Prime Minister Paul Martin to oust Parrish from caucus.

Conservative House Leader John Reynolds called Parrish's TV appearance "sick."

Whatever.

What is sick is that my tax dollars go to pay for this display of a Canadian MP behaving like a child, but if that were grounds for expulsion from Parliament we'd be left with legislators who actually worked on crafting policies and passing laws.

It's tempting to find a doll of Caroly Parrish and stomp on it myself, but a) I don't have the time or inclincation and b) I don't think they make fat, ugly dolls with feet in their mouths.

The same issue of the Sun has a series of articles about the failing film industry in Toronto. Somebody is finally realizing the real effect of a high loony loonie.

18:15: PM Martin has thrown Parrish out of the Liberal Party caucus perhaps for reasons other than her boorishness towards Americans:

But the final straw for Martin came after Parrish took direct aim at his leadership in an interview with The Canadian Press.

Parrish, 58, had said that if Martin "loses the next election and he has to resign, I wouldn't shed a tear over it."

"I have absolutely no loyalty to this team - none," she said.

She said she lost respect for Martin when he refused to intervene to ensure a "clean race" for the Liberal nomination in her riding of Mississauga-Erindale.

Damn, I was already set to disagree with those who applauded her expulsion on strict freedom of speech grounds, but I actually agree with her criticisms and assessment of that miserable proceeding!
"I cannot, as leader of our party and the government caucus, tolerate behaviour that demeans and disrespects others," Martin said less than 24 hours after Parrish's attack.

"It is unacceptable."

Lighten up, Martin. Look to GWB for inspiration on how a real leader handles jeers from the peanut gallery.

Posted by Debbye at 06:06 PM | Comments (7)

November 13, 2004

Twinkies and Anteaters

Nov. 13 - NDP party leader Jack Layton wants to outlaw twinkies. Seems they have too many transfats.

Food nazi.

And tied for you couldn't make it up is the exotic dancer from Hamilton who is suing African Lion Safari after her then-boyfriend, David Balac, and she were injured after being attacked by tigers during a visit to the park because it's clearly the park's fault they let the couple in she rolled down the window.

It seems she had dreams:

The disfiguring injuries and psychological toll the tigers' mauling exacted on her cost her dream of becoming a grand-a-day headliner, [Jennifer-Anne] Cowles said.

[...]

Cowles said she hoped to exploit her natural "assets" -- long hair, large breasts and slim torso -- to become a $1,000-a-day exotic dancer. Ultimately, Cowles wished to become a nurse.

And to work for world peace.
But the scarring injuries to her head and hip forced her to wear bandannas, hats and a skirt. Her colleagues mocked and tormented her and tried to turn patrons, who were used to naked dancers, against her, she said.

Her earnings plummeted and she was forced to work as a waitress and temporarily leave her children with relatives while she recovered.

Bummer: from exotic dancer to waitress.
She had to abort the baby because the pain-killers she needed would have damaged the fetus. However, she had earlier decided she wasn't going to have the baby.

She also suffered panic, anxiety attacks and depression.

I almost wish I could feel sorry for her, but had she also lost her ability to procreate I'd be submitting this for a Darwin Award faster than you could say Tony the Tiger.

But really, why I am being a hard-hearted bitch? Maybe due to the ubiquitous millions-of-dollars lawsuits (you knew there just had to be a lawsuit, right?) which will make everything all better:

She is suing the popular Rockton game park for $2.2 million in damages resulting from the April 19, 1996 incident. Balac is seeking $1 million.

Balac is also suing Cowles, accusing her of opening the window, and she's suing him, charging that he was driving a car that wasn't working properly.

Are you following this? He took her to the theme park, she opened the window, they are both suing the theme park owners as well as one another. (The article doesn't say in what manner she alleges the car didn't work properly, unless it's that the car should have refused to enter the park with a fool in the passenger seat.)

Remember the Monty Python skit "Vocational Guidance Counsellor"? People need to do some reserach, you know? Like the hidden meaning of signs which say "Keep All Windows and Doors Closed Because Big Predatory Animals Will Attack and You Could Die."

And speaking of stuff that comes back to bite you, Ottawa Sun columnist Douglas Fisher is warning that Disdain for Bush is hurting our economic future:

The majoritarian contempt among Canadians for Bush -- for what we take as his strident patriotism, his often ignorant unawareness or thoughtless discounting of other democracies' views and qualities -- is tangible and widespread.

Awareness of this contempt seems to be increasing among Americans, particularly the politicians in Washington. Such recognition was not what led to the problems with our softwood lumber and beef exports to the U.S., but surely it's been a factor.

Over time, we cannot escape paying a high price for it with lower, less remunerative trade, including tourism, when we openly radiate a national hostility, largely founded on a Canadian morality we take as superior to that intrinsic in American mores.

This superiority centres on our distaste for the character, style, religiosity, and governance of the American president. Our attitude has become cumulative as he and his views loom larger and larger in international affairs.

Well, what Bush symbolizes is real and he has it for the next four years. We, however, have a government that faces problems of survival, given its minority status in the House of Commons.

John Kerry's defeat means Prime Minister Paul Martin has been denied the interlude in which the executive team changes in Washington.

Translation into American: Whoops. Kerry lost. Do we have a Plan "B?"

Heh. 60.480 million Americans thus far voted for Bush, and they're still counting ballots ...

Posted by Debbye at 04:00 PM | Comments (12)

November 11, 2004

Today BBC, tomorrow CBC

Nov. 11 - It's a tossup if I more resent my tax dollars going to political parties like the NDP and Bloc Quebecois or to support the CBC, so I am thrilled on behalf of British taxpayers that they might get a break (Half of BBC staff face the axe (um, that's a figurative axe, right?):

The BBC is planning to axe as many as 50 per cent of jobs across the board, insiders revealed today.

A raft of cuts is being designed to prove the BBC is giving value for money before a review of its 10-year royal charter in 2006.

High-ranking sources say earlier rumours of 6,000 losses from 28,000 staff may turn out to be a wild underestimate.

I can dream, can't I?

(Link via Instapundit.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:54 AM | Comments (3)

November 09, 2004

Canadian-American group to study bi-lateral maritime defense

Nov. 9 - A Canadian-American planning group is studying the feasibility of establishing a 'Maritime NORAD'. A report is due to be released soon, and any implementation of those recommendations for the project would have to be approved by both Canada and the USA.

A great deal of informal co-operation has already taken place since Sept. 11 but this a project to formalize that co-operation:

The binational planning group was formed in December 2002 in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks against the United States. Morrell said the group is independent of both NORAD and U.S. Northern Command and comes under the command of Canadian Forces Lt. Gen. Rick Findley and his American deputy, Army Lt. Gen. Joseph Inge.

The concept of a "maritime NORAD" has a large group of endorsers, who envision an automated, oceanwide, vessel-monitoring surveillance network.

The study group has a great deal of support in the US and in Canada:
... The September issue of Canadian American Strategic Review calls a maritime NORAD "a logical next step" in increasing intelligence and surveillance data sharing between the two countries' maritime-security forces.

Author Philippe Lagasse called the concept "a win-win opportunity," noting that the United States' providing Canada with access to U.S. satellite and radar data increase continental maritime security while saving Canada the cost of building its own comparable capabilities.

The means by which we could prevent an attack by sea is one area that remains largely unaddressed.

Posted by Debbye at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)

November 07, 2004

I think I get it ...

Nov. 7 - In response to Bob's post I Don't Get It, I'm sorry to say that I do, which is another way of saying Bob is absolutely right. We live in a country where we are free to express our opinions, and as someone who detests the lack of democracy within the political parties up here and who wondered how the promise to correct the democratic deficit (which was a feature of the Martin campaign) was to be achieved, I must say I don't approve of the sudden crackdown on Parrish.

My explanation for Martin's sudden concern is that it was prompted by the Suck-Up Factor, i.e., let's pretend we are really, really happy about Bush's re-election to the presidency. (I would have been more impressed had he stated his disapproval before the election, admittedly, but still critical that he was denying her the freedom to speak her mind.)

Evidently the PM thinks that we are as dumb as Parrish believes us to be if he expects us to fall for that old trick.

If Martin knew the first thing about Americans, he would realize that although we may not like what Parrish says, we defend her right to say it.

Posted by Debbye at 11:46 PM | Comments (2)

Canada and Holland

Nov. 7 - The murder of Theo van Gogh in Holland was somewhat eclipsed by the US presidential campaign and downplayed by most of the MSM but I realised I wasn't overreacting when 8 others were held in his murder. But the same question dominates which was asked after the Madrid train bombings: what conclusions will the Dutch and Europeans draw from this latest murder? (I'm not suggesting that there are any conclusions to be drawn yet, only that this latest killing will have an effect.)

In case you haven't been reading Peaktalk, his coverage of the Theo van Gogh murder has been outstanding. His post A War of Courage highlights the essence of this struggle for Muslims:

It requires guts to line up for a police job in Baghdad and you equally have to be willing to risk your life to walk into an Amsterdam mosque and explain the principles of freedom of expression. Without these courageous Muslims this war can never ever be won. Lets help them, lets enlist them, they are the most important ingredient in this struggle for freedom and democracy.
Bang on!

Pieter has a great many posts of the murder of Theo van Gogh from when it was first reported here to an examination of the existence of a Fifth Column here, the reaction of Ayaan Hirsi Ali here, a less than optimistic outlook for Holland here, a translation of the letter pinned to van Gogh here, a more hopeful outlook here, a re-assertion of political correctness in Holland here followed by a re-assertion of Dutch pride here to the most optimistic post I first cited. Read them all, especially as there is a direct correlation of some events in Canada as the public here tries to digest what has happened, tries to make sense of it, and might recognize an implicit threat and hope.

11:59: This post at Belmont Club points to the way political correctness still constrains a meaningful response to the crisis. I would have run additional showings of the movie Submission and commissioned many more murals as my response to attacks on freedom of speech. When possible responses are assertion or appeasement one would like to think the answer was obvious.

There had been an undercurrent of speculation in Canada over the possibility of a Fifth column here which peaked when the notorious Khadrs (We-are-a-terrorist-family) returned to obtain medical treatment for the youngest (who had been wounded, captured and released by US forces) but three recent events (which also were eclipsed by the US elections) occurred which should have re-introduced discussions about the need to find some tangible means of encouraging tolerance in Canada which do not unintentionally breed intolerance.

On October 8, the Toronto Star carried a report that a Canadian had been killed by the Russians in Chechnya. After the usual expressions of disbelief and doubt as to the accuracy of the Russian claims came a report about the leader of the mosque attended by the dead Canadian, Sheik Younus Kathrada, on which Jay Currie reported here and then on October 19 Dr. Mohamad Elmasry, leader of the Canadian Islamic Congress, was a guest on Michael Coren's TV show and said that all Israelis - including seniors and babies - were fair targets for Palestinian terrorists.

Colby Cosh has a column with the National Post that points out the good news and the bad news. The good news is that as early as August, 2002, 20 B.C. Muslims had published an open letter which called upon Kathadra "to recant his teachings and apologize for them" but the bad news is that he didn't feel compelled to re-examine his views in this multicultural, diverse and tolerant country.

It is becoming more usual to read posts that sarcastically ask where the moderate Muslims are when a Nick Berg is beheaded or the head of CARE is kidnapped in Baghdad, and the fact that letters as the one Colby cites are not reported in the mainstream media does more a disservice to Muslims than would an exposure of a debate which may be quietly taking place within Muslim communities.

Dutch Muslims are responding to van Gogh's murder by recognizing they have a problem and if they don't provide strong leadership now the problem will only worsen.

Back in Canada, three forceful body blows struck the Canadian myth of super-tolerance, and much of the Canadian media responded by (what else?) lamenting the stupidity of the American voter. Do not expect strong leadership here so long as the public's attention can be diverted from issues which actually do impact on the average Canadian (and yet they call us stupid? It boggles the mind.)

Nov. 8 20:30: Some Dutch citizens have taken matters into their own hands, I'm sorry to report. An elementary school, for heaven's sake?

Posted by Debbye at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

November 06, 2004

Canadians rally 'round the flag

Nov. 6 - The fury continues at the refusal by Bloc Quebecois MP Andre Bellavance to hand out 3 Canadian flags for Remembrance Day ceremonies.

This recent flag controversy is the latest in a lengthy list of flag flaps, and I have to admit I was a bit surprised by the surge of outrage at Andre Bellavance's boorishness. The fact that MPs who represent the separatist Bloc don't mind collecting their Canadian taxpayer funded paycheques, pensions and election campaign funding has been an irritant for a long time, but that's the price one pays for appeasement policies, right?

But the Canadian public has become more honourong of their military (and more concerned about its dilapidated state) these days and Remembrance Day ceremonies have been well attended since Sept. 11, 2001.

The MP from Quebec hit two Canadian nerves: irritation at Quebec's special status and dishonouring good men who died for this country.

Sean's letter to MP Bellavance could easily be signed by millions of Canadians, and his story about a vet's refusal to provide CPR to the same MP is a must read (as is the disclaimer at the bottom of the post!)

Nov. 10 - 7:30: Cyrus doesn't pull any punches.

Posted by Debbye at 02:11 PM | Comments (2)

Unionizing ministers

Nov. 6 - United Church of Canada ministers want to unionize under the Canadian Auto Workers.

The group of clergy cite abuse from parishioners, low wages and a lack of security for their interest in unionizing.

"Our congregations and presbyteries are served by volunteers who are usually well-intentioned people, but they are not skilled in human resources or versed in labour law," said Karen Paton-Evans, wife of Rev. Jim Evans. "Our clergy need representation by people who are trained in employment rights."

[...]

The United Church, Canada's largest Protestant denomination, has 4,000 pastors and more than 3,600 congregations. In the 2001 national census, three million Canadians identified their religion as United Church.

A United Church minister's pay begins at $30,000, plus housing. Low pay has been cited as one reason why the United Church has had difficulty filling empty pulpits. But security issues seem to be of bigger concern.

Nov. 13 - 17:42: Not everyone thinks it is a good idea, but it seems to be going ahead. From The Saskatoon Star-Phoenix:
However, the church's general secretary said Friday that unionization is not a "good fit" for the clergy.

"They are not a good fit for United Church clergy," Rev. Jim Sinclair Said Friday.

He said unionization would fundamentally change the church's understanding of the role of a minister and the character of his or her relationship with a congregation.

"Labour legislation was not designed for the larger servant role that a minister has with a congregation. Confining it to these historic relationships of labor relations just fails to note there is responsibility to God as well as individuals," said Sinclair.

That said, the CAW's national director of organization, Mike Shields said: "We've just been inundated with calls and requests" from ministers inquiring about joining the union. "I feel like I have been talking to ministers all week."

[...]

Shields said the church's own figures show 18 per cent of the church's 3,000 active ministers are out on a stress leave. "If that happened in your workplace or mine, there would have to be a major investigation."

He said United Church ministers want to join a union because of their treatment by congregations.

"A small group in a congregation have the ability to run them out of town. They have a spouse, and 2.3 kids. When they are uprooted with little or no notice, it affects the whole family. They want some security, and to be treated with dignity," he said.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 02:08 PM | Comments (0)

Most Annoying Canadian

Nov. 6 -Yet another chance to vote! Bruce is running a poll for the Most Annoying Canadian. You can vote on the main page of Autonomous Source (there are additional details and the voting schedule here.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

November 04, 2004

The Greatest Canadian

Nov. 4 - Voting continues at the CBC website for the greatest Canadian. As of October 27, the top three candidates were Tommy Douglas, Don Cherry and Terry Fox. If you haven't been voting regularly, it's time to catch up!

And, to add to your multiple voting pleasure, a message board has been started: The Greatest Canadian? is open. (And many thanks to Mark for the tip!)

Vote early, and vote often!

Posted by Debbye at 09:06 AM | Comments (2)

November 02, 2004

Sudan

Nov. 2 - From this surprisingly emotional article about a U.S. Air Force mission out of Rwanda on Oct. 30:

The mission may have been clear and simple for the Americans involved, but as the airmen quickly realized, the Rwandans did not view the U.S. Air Force's airlift to Darfur as just another day at work.

Marching to the music of their own formal military band, the Rwandan troops carried more than their rifles as they entered the belly of the C-130. Their faces seemed to carry with them the concerns of a country that only 10 years ago experienced the horror of genocide.

Worth reading the whole thing. Sudan is still a nightmare regardless of the election results and should have a more prominent place on our list of things to solve.

Canada is getting more involved as well. PM Martin to visit Sudan, calling for an end to violence, humanitarian crisis:

Prime Minister Paul Martin will visit strife-ridden Sudan this month to urge the government to halt ethnic and religious violence that has driven 1.5 million people from their homes.

Martin will meet with President Omar el-Bashir at a brief stop in Khartoum during a 10-day trip to Africa.

"He'll urge the government to honour their commitments and act decisively to end the suffering," said Martin spokeswoman Amy Butcher.

"It's an opportunity to urge the (Sudanese) leaders to honour their word. G-8 leaders have a responsibility to engage and face-to-face meetings can be an effective tool to get leadership to act."

[...]

Martin had long been mulling the trip, and was encouraged to go in recent chats with British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) and the head of the United Nations.

Canada has pledged about $37 million to humanitarian efforts in Sudan and also contributed equipment to African Union peacekeepers.

Posted by Debbye at 07:26 PM | Comments (0)

The search for the perfect male, um, organ

Nov. 2 - Meanwhile, back in Canada, it would seem our MPs have entirely too much time (and our money) on their hands, and Paul reports on how they are spending it: My Tax Dollars at Work.

I think the expression is "this stuff writes itself."

Posted by Debbye at 11:04 AM | Comments (1)

October 25, 2004

Canadian military news

Oct. 25 - It takes a lot to leave me speechless, but this does: Military housing rents to be increased:

CANADA'S cash-strapped soldiers living in military homes will see their rents hiked by up to $100 on Nov. 1. Defence department spokesman Tina Crouse said the Canadian Forces Housing Agency will increase rents on bases across the country to bring them in line with surrounding rental prices.

"For the small number of occupants who have not reached appraised shelter values, their rent will continue to increase until they are paying based on the appraised value of their home," Crouse said.

Crouse said about half the military's 15,000 homes and apartments will see a rent increase to a monthly maximum of $100.

The boost comes while soldiers haven't seen their pay increased since April 2003, when they received a 2.5% hike. The lowest-paid private makes $26,616, while a sergeant can receive a maximum salary of $53,484.

I often wonder if the Canadian government is trying to actively discourage enlistment, but that can't be so because PM Martin wants to increase the size and capability of the military, right? I mean, that was a campaign promise, right?

Nov. 18 19:00: There may be a reprieve on the rent. Let's hope.

Posted by Debbye at 11:39 AM | Comments (3)

Cherry speaks on Cherry

Oct. 25 - Don Cherry will be the featured "great Canadian" on CBC tonight. Wrestler Bret Hart will make the presentation.

Don says here that

... he's a good Canadian, not a great one. On CBC last week, he threw his support behind another Top-10 finalist, Sir John A. Macdonald.

"Gotta endorse another good Kingston boy," he said.

He now says he would vote for Canada's Unknown Soldier, who placed No. 21 on the list. "As far as I'm concerned, he's the guy who should be the greatest Canadian. He paid for Canada with his life."

Cherry thinks he'd win hands down if the show was called The Most Popular Canadian. "I've got no humility on that one," he told the Sun.

He seems to be enjoying the consternation of the "white wine spritzer-drinking" elite" over his nomination.
"It's funny, eh? The frenzy the left-wing media is in," Cherry said.

"So far, I've been called shallow, narrow-minded, high-collared, low-brow, racist, retarded, hidebound dinosaur -- I don't even know what that means, hidebound," he said.

Cherry continued: "Embarrassing, buffoon, monster, cash cow, beer-swilling, puck-chasing hoser. Beer-swilling, puck-chasing hoser -- that sounds like a good Canadian to me."

Outspoken? Definitely. A breath of fresh air in what is too often a stiflingly, politically-correct country? Oh yes.

Posted by Debbye at 11:33 AM | Comments (1)

October 20, 2004

Don Cherry, Greatest Canadian II

Oct. 20 - The endorsements are coming in for Don Cherry, Greatest Canadian.

First mention goes to The Meatriarchy, who started this whole thing last Spring, and his posts here and here.

Joe Warmington of the Toronto Sun weighs in his reasons to support Grapes.

The Monger is supporting Cherry and I find his rationale to be both witty and appealing.

I have to go to my "real job" so will continue to look for other supporters tomorrow.

Posted by Debbye at 08:16 PM | Comments (2)

October 19, 2004

Of buffoons and cowboys

Oct. 19 - In another world, journalists and other great thinkers of the day (heh!) would look at these three news items, Anti-Bush Canadians Put Gov't in Quandary, UK anti-Bush letters spark outrage (with more and better samples from the Guardian site here,) and Cherry among ten greatest Canadians?, and do the patented Arsenio Hall hmmm. They might even connect the dots between the first two and reach the conclusion that the last item is highly relevant to the first and second and, in fact, contradicts some assumptions about the first.

cherry_don_225.jpg

The Toronto Star front page item on Canadian great Don Cherry (I wish I could reproduce the page just to show how huge the headline was!) has Garth Woolsey bewailing the fact that Don made it to the top 10 list of Greatest Canadians.

The stereotypes are true: We really are a nation of shallow, narrow-minded, beer-swilling, puck-chasing hosers.

Proud of it, too.

Confirmation comes in the high-collared, low-browed form of Don Cherry making the CBC's list of "The Ten Greatest Canadians" of all time, as voted upon by some 140,000 citizens of the Great White North.

Oh Canada, woe Canada, you have spoken. You have accorded Cherry a place in the pantheon, alongside Tommy Douglas, Sir John A. Macdonald, Terry Fox, Frederick Banting, Lester Pearson, Alexander Graham Bell, David Suzuki, Pierre Trudeau and Wayne Gretzky.

Canada to Star: maybe votes for Don were a rejection of the stereotypical Canadian you are so anxious to promote.

Don is an individualistic individual. He is refreshingly, heart-warmingly outspoken, and it isn't so much what he says (although it often is!) but the fact that he refuses to be gagged by the political correctness that has rendered political discourse in this country a vapid recitation of approved cliches which have little content but won't grab the attention of the Language Police.

His love for this country runs true and deep. He's no more a buffoon than the men who stormed Juno Beach, his support of the troops doesn't wait for the photo-op of a funeral, and he has given more good advice to Canadian kids on how to live and play with dignity and honour than all the Canadian government agencies and schools combined.

The article contends that mother won't let their kids watch Coach's Corner. That's b.s. Don consistently hammers home the need for sportsmanship as well as hockey skills. He's a sports parent's best friend.

The Yahoo article is only one of similar articles one finds everywhere which defends Canada's obsession with the USA with the usual lame excuse:

Measured by shared boundaries and trade, no foreign country has a larger stake in the U.S. presidential election than Canada. Its citizens, by an overwhelming margin, hope for President Bush (news - web sites)'s defeat, but its government unsure of the Nov. 2 outcome is trying to keep bilateral tensions from escalating.

Many Canadians have intently followed the campaign, watching the TV debates and writing impassioned letters to newspapers. Two recent polls showed Democrat John Kerry (news - web sites) favored by more than 2-to-1 across Canada; in French-speaking Quebec, Bush's support was only 11 percent.

The only surprise here is that so many Canadians, albeit outnumbered, support President Bush! (I've confessed before that living in Toronto colours my perception of Canada and Canadians, and this is welcome proof of that. What would be the result if poll numbers from Quebec and the Toronto area removed?)

The CNN and Guardian articles are pretty clear indications of how dimly Americans view outsiders meddling in our affairs. Take.The.Hint.

Canadians who are worried that events in the USA might impact Canada should look to their political leadership for solutions: that's why they hold office.

The primary issue for US voters remains national security. We were attacked several times during the 90's and our gentlemanly forebearance only convinced our enemies of our weakness culminating in the outrage of Sept. 11. (I can't believe I still find it necessary to remind people of that, but there it is.)

Due to an incredible series of strategic and personnel errors, the Democrats have found themselves saddled with a candidate who has a Sept. 10 mindset. Shame, shame on them.

I think that the candidates for Greatest Canadian preferred by the Toronto Star and the readers of the Guardian have Sept. 10th mindsets, and Don Cherry is a staunch Sept. 12th guy. I believe that of all the people on the Top 10 list, Don understands that the ideals of Canada must include unyielding opposition to terrorism and unceasing support of the spread of democracy.

If my assessment is right, Don made that list because others recognize that he represents a powerful symbol for those who know that readers of the Toronto Star and Guardian must stop yearning for Sept. 10 and accept Sept. 12 realities if we are to face the future.

Posted by Debbye at 06:05 PM | Comments (6)

Cdn. govt. to argue against refugee status for deserters

Oct. 19 - GI's no refugee, feds will argue:

THE FEDERAL government is challenging an American soldier's bid for refugee status in Canada. A government official confirmed the feds will oppose a refugee application from Jeremy Hinzman because he "does not fit the criterion for status refugees."

Refugee cases are heard by an independent tribunal and the federal government intervenes in hearings only when there's a novel legal argument or high public profile.

The hearing is scheduled to begin December 6.

Posted by Debbye at 08:34 AM | Comments (0)

October 18, 2004

HMCS Chicoutimi update

Oct. 18 - Two items on the Chicoutimi: this which alleges that the hatches were left open and the fire may have been due to human rather than mechanical error, the inquiry in Glasgow is a closed-door affair, and there may be a bill forthcoming from the British for the rescue of the stranded submariners.

I have a meeting tonight before work so have to get going. So long, everyone!

17:49: Oops, another bit of information: a House of Commons committee will investigate the purchase of the subs. But it's not really news when it's a given, is it?

Posted by Debbye at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

Canada vs. Denmark (again)

Oct. 18 - It seems like only yesterday the Danes claimed Hans Island (more here including some interesting comments.)

Today it's the North Pole:

Denmark has launched an extraordinary bid for ownership of the North Pole, one of the world's last untapped sources of oil and natural gas.

In recent decades the remote polar region has largely been left to a few explorers and tourists. Now, however, the effects of climate change have dramatically raised the stakes.

Scientists estimate that the ice in the Arctic Ocean is melting at a rate of three per cent a year - in time allowing the economic exploitation of a region that is almost totally unexplored.

In the words of one Danish scientist: "The Vikings hope to get there first."

The Danish claim has geographical foundation:
At present, the North Pole is considered international territory. The Danish bid is based on new geological data claiming to show that the Pole and Greenland - which has been owned by Denmark since 1814 - are linked by a 1,240km underwater mountain range, the Lomonosov Ridge.
The receeding ice cap could also be the realization of the quest for a Northwest Passage as well as previously inaccessible fishing grounds.

The Danish claim has been countered with rival claims from Canada and Russia.

I wonder if PM Martin's recent meeting with Russian Pres. Putin included some discussion of this issue.

(Via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 01:00 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2004

Live Blogging Greatest Canadians

Oct. 17 - I suffered through the Yanks-Sox game last night with two Sox fans - one a diehard, the other of the anyone but the Yankees variety. The less said, the better.

That same peanut gallery was cheered immensely was Avril Lavigne placed high than Jean Chretien as the "greatest Canadians." (It's not that they are Lavigne fans, but they liked the fact that a pop star beat out the last Prime Minister.) Wrestler Bret Hart beat them both out, and I recall hearing actor William Shatner's name but missed the ranking (Flea informs me Shatner was actually #55.)

Flea is live-blogging this over at the Shotun!

Laura Secord is also there, one of the six women who made it to the top 50.

Truth is, I didn't really pay attention until they mentioned Mr. Dressup (Canada's Mr. Rogers, if you will) but will try to keep up henceforth and link to the CBC story which is bound to list them all when it appears.

I'm trying to add some links for the lesser well-known Canadians for American readers, but I'm resistant to having to link hockey stars - if you're a fan, you'll know their names when you see them!

#33 - Gordon Lightfoot
#32 - Michael J. Fox
#31 - Pierre Berton (a Canadian icon in journalism)
#30 - Rick Hansen
#29 - Jim Carrey (the 3rd of 4 comedians who made the list)
#28 - Sir Isaac Brock
#27 - Celine Dion
#26 - Dr. Norman Bethune
#25 - Nellie McClung (the "Persons" case)
#24 - Arthur Currie
#23 - Maurice "Rocket" Richard
#22 - Harold Rogers
#21 - The Unknown Soldier (same symbolism as we have the USA)
#20 - Mike Myers
#19 - Bobby Orr
#18 - Shania Twain (she's the top ranked woman)
#17 - Stephen Lewis who is also the former leader of the leftist New Democratic Party.
#16 - Gen. Romeo Dallaire
#15 - Peter Gzowski (radio and television interviewer)
#14 - Neil Young
#13 - Stompin' Tom Connors
#12 - Jean Vanier
#11 - Louis Riel (finding a link is easy, but there are some real divisions as to whether he was a patriot, demagogue or just nuts. They are referring to him as a "Canadian Che Guevera" but John Brown might be more accurate as they both saw themselves as God's instruments.

Next up: The Top Ten. Terry Fox, Pierre Trudeau, Dan Ackroyd and Don Cherry are probably on it. Let the voting begin.

The finalists:

Sir Frederick Banting
Alexander Graham Bell
Don Cherry
Tommy Douglas
Terry Fox
Wayne Gretzky
Sir. John A. MacDonald
Lester B. Pearson
Dr. David Suzuki
Pierre Trudeau

According to the website, these are the rules for voting for the Top 10:

October 18 - November 22, 8 p.m. : Watch The Greatest Canadian on Mondays and Wednesdays to see in-depth profiles of each of the Top Ten Greats. After every episode, vote (requires registration) for the Canadian you think is greater than the rest.

November 28, 8 p.m. : Take one last look at the Top Ten candidates and then cast your final vote for the Canadian you feel is the cream of the crop.

November 29, 8 p.m. : The results will be broadcast on CBC.

Oct. 20 - 17:47: The list of the 100 greatest Canadians is here.

Nov. 4 08:43: A Greatest Canadian message board has been opened here. By the way, as of October 27, the top 3 were Tommy Douglas, Don Cherry and Terry Fox.

Posted by Debbye at 08:42 PM | Comments (12)

Canadians in Uniform

Oct. 17 - This article from Toronto Sun writer Stephanie Rubec about the Canadian Forces Our troops great, but the gear reeks points out something which has become nearly cliche: the people in the Forces are exceptional, and they persevere and get the job done despite equipment that routinely breaks down and spends more time in the shop than on deployment.

I find it awkward to comment on the Canadian Forces because I come from a country that is willing to spend massive amounts on her military and it's impossible for me to reconcile the facts that Canadians support their military in words but are not willing to support them with tax dollars.

I know that sounds harsh, but it is reality. The crocodile tears flow profusely when a sailor or soldier is killed in the line of duty, but once the photos are published, it's back to business as usual, and that business doesn't include a sober appraisal of improving the capability of the military and allocating the funds necessary to that endeavour.

Ms. Rubeck (who also wrote a series of articles from Afghanistan last spring) and the Toronto Sun are to be commended for their ongoing support of the Canadian Forces between funerals, but the voters of this country (although, arguably more precisely, the voters of the Greater Toronto Area and Quebec) chose funding the bottomless pit of social services over improving the military.

You get what you pay for and take your chances.

The real wonder is that so many good men and women continue to enlist in the Canadian Forces, and that doubles the shame on the Canadian voters who have either failed or been unable to hold the Liberal Party to account for both the neglect of the military and their record of fiscal mismanagement at best and outright theft at worst.

Posted by Debbye at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)

October 15, 2004

Crackdowns in Iran and Canada

Oct. 15 - Go immediately and read about the arrest of six Iranian bloggers and internet journalists in Thoughtcrimes and then read these link-filled roundups of the threatened legal action by a political hack former Chretien aide Warren Kinsella against Canadian bloggers here and here.

The two items are not exactly comparable: the first involves arrest, jail, and all the other delightful aspects of incurring the mullah's wrath, and the other involves the threat of legal action to stifle criticism of a public figure who has an underdeveloped sense of taking responsibility for decisions which he may have influenced.

But Canada is supposed to be a free country. Normally, in a free society, some of the possible responses to Kinsella would have been "Bite Me" or "F**k off and Die" but the very real prospect of lawsuits and incurred legal fees has had the effect of stifling freedom of speech by threatening a lawsuit which should not make it onto the docket but well might.

The bloggers who removed their posts chose discretion, but the fact that they took the threat from Kinsella seriously (and, I might add, with good reason) exposes an underbelly of Canadian politics where deviating from the "correct" political line is increasingly deemed anti-Canadian.

The initial outrage is one thing, but will I and others have this affair in the backs of our minds when we write posts? Probably. It will affect each of us differently, but it seems to me that the fact that it will affect us at all is an attack on our freedom of speech up here.

I don't know how to make a google-bomb, but I think Warren Kinsella richly deserves one. Maybe by tomorrow morning I'll come up with a suitable label for him but as I'm stuck working tonight I'll have to, er, work on it.

Oct. 17 - 22:12: This kerfuffle is settled, as recounted by Jay and Sean, so no google bomb this time around. Nevertheless, I hope Mr. Kinsella has become aware that bloggers will unite from across the political spectrum (and around the world) to defend our freedom of speech as well as his.

I've read no updates on the more worrisome item that began this post, that of the arrests of six Iranian bloggers, other than this and this which specifies the charges against them (and which pre-date my post.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:26 PM | Comments (2)

October 14, 2004

Questions about HMCS Chicoutimi

Oct. 14 - A "damning" British report recounting numerous problems with the four Upholder subs was brought up in the Canadian House of Commons today in an effort to ascertain if the Federal government had known about the report and problems with the subs prior to their purchase 5 years ago. They didn't receive a straight answer.

Toronto Sun columnist Bob MacDonald in Forces chopped into shame recounts some of the penny-pinching measures behind the decision to purchase the 4 mothballed submarines as well as some in their refit.

Canada's navy was forced to tie up the rest of its fleet of second-hand submarines yesterday as a safety measure -- on the same day that a whopping $8-billion federal budget surplus was revealed.

Earlier, Conservative opposition leader Stephen Harper revealed in the Commons that it was Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin who chopped $54 million from the funds to make the four used British subs safe. Martin did this in his earlier role as finance minister.

Harper charged that the chop left the navy unable to safely re-equip the subs or properly train its crews.

Of course, the Grit government dodged answering his charges with deputy PM Anne McLellan saying "all answers" will come out sometime in the future at a naval board of inquiry.

Lieut. Chris Saunders, the first Canadian submariner to die on duty in almost 50 years, was buried today. Rest in peace, Lt. Saunders.

Posted by Debbye at 08:13 PM | Comments (6)

Martin and Chirac

Oct. 14 - This is such a surprise: PM not sending troops to Iraq.

Canadian PM Paul Martin is in France after meeting with Russian Putin earlier this week. The headline may be an eye-catcher but hardly constitutes the bulk of the article.

During his meeting with Chirac, Martin described French-Canadian relations as "exemplary," according to presidential spokesman Jerome Bonnafont.

"We are hand in hand on most international questions and our bilateral relations are excellent," Bonnafont quoted him as saying.

Martin and Chirac reviewed international issues, including Afghanistan, where both Canada and France have troops, Congo and Iraq. However, the broad discussions also included issues like commercial fishing.

Martin voiced his "concern" over exploitation of fish resources, a position supported by France, Bonnafont said.

Chirac "suggested that Canada and France, with other interested countries, work out a common initiative," the spokesman said. However, he would not specify what such an initiative might entail.

Just a nondescript, friendly chat? Maybe so, but then there is this:
Asked about Quebec Premier Jean Charest's planned November trip to Mexico, Martin played down the significance. French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin is to accompany Charest there.

"The prime minister of Canada speaks for Canada," Martin replied. "There is but one voice on the international scene and that is the prime minister of Canada."

The Mexican trip, he said, is a "commercial mission."

Some provinces, particularly Quebec and Alberta, have indicated the desire to conduct their own international dealings, thus by-passing Ottawa.

Oct. 18 - 00:12: be sure to read Andrew Coyne's National Post column, Forty Years of Federalist Backpedalling, posted at his website.

Posted by Debbye at 07:52 PM | Comments (1)

Canada and Missile Defense Shield

Oct. 14 - So that's what Carolyn "Americans are bastards" Parrish is - a rebel grit!* And here I thought she was a %&$*#.

Rebel Grit says PM fixing votes on missile shield defense vote.

The fix is in. Canada will be protected whether she likes it or not.

Look, I'm no techie but I do have absolute confidence in the "work around" approach to any and all tech issues (it also helps to avoid anything called "beta.")

The last thing the American government wants to do is be divisive in Canada, so surely we could come up with a missile defense program that doesn't cover Canadian terroritory and let Canada decide which it prefers.

(*grit is slang for Liberal Party members.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:45 PM | Comments (1)

October 12, 2004

Chicoutimi Update II

Oct. 12 - More information about the ordeal aboard the HMCS Chicoutimi ('Nightmare' at sea) and a sobering assessment of the state of the equipment of the Canadian military.

Defence Minister Bill Graham doesn't rule anything out (responding specificially to the prospect of scuttling the subs altogether) and wouldn't answer questions about the possibility of taking legal action again Britain who sold the 4 submarines to Canada.

Posted by Debbye at 08:53 PM | Comments (2)

October 11, 2004

Jack's Newswatch

Oct. 11 - Note new address for Jack's Newswatch, a daily briefing of news from Canada and the rest of the world. Jack includes some of the text from the items, and sometimes even his own commentary (although not often enough, to my mind.)

Oct. 12 17:40: Jack just informed me that he's undergoing major surgery tomorrow and will be away for at least a week. I'll be praying for you, Jack, and looking forward to your return.

Posted by Debbye at 11:51 PM | Comments (1)

Canadians see terror threat increased

Oct. 11 - According to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted in Canada, 48% fear terror hit in Canada. The poll suggests that Canadians think the war in Iraq, which Canada did not support, has heightened the threat to Canadians.

This is the mind-boggler:

Canadians were generally satisfied with the way Prime Minister Paul Martin handles the war on terrorism. Sixty per cent said they approve and 32% said they disapprove.
As I can't think of anything the PM has done in this regard, I guess that those polled prefer that the PM do nothing.

No wonder Canadians would prefer to see Kerry elected President: he almost makes Martin look good.

Oct. 12 - 01:23: It seems Canadians weren't the only ones included in this poll; according to this at CNN

Leaders of those countries -- prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain, John Howard of Australia and Silvio Berlusconi of Italy -- all get low marks from their people for their handling of the war on terrorism, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows. (Emphasis added)

[...]

"In the context of the presidential campaign in the United States, this is undeniably a blow for George W. Bush, since it shows that a majority of Americans don't agree with the main justification for his policy in Iraq," said Gilles Corman, research director at Ipsos-Inra of Belgium, who studies public opinion trends across Europe.

This could be even more a blow to the Australian PM, who is facing an election which has been described as too close to call ... oh, wait. He not only won, he increased his party's majority!

Something is seriously wrong with this poll. But then, the only poll that matters is the one that opens on election day.

Posted by Debbye at 05:51 PM | Comments (2)

October 10, 2004

HMCS Chicoutimi update

Oct. 10 - (This should be titled "Why President Bush is a better person than almost everyone": Sub's ordeal nears an end.) The HMCS Chicoutimi, which was disabled by a fire last Tuesday, arrived in Scotland this afternoon - 1 day earlier than expected - because an American tug was dispatched to assist the Canadian sub and was able to tow the sub faster than the smaller British tug boat.

Lt. Chris Saunders died of injuries he sustained when the fire broke out, and the tentative cause of death has been "inhaling hot fire gas." Preparations are being made to return his body with full honours to Canada.

A great many luminaries are expected to be on hand for this event. You can expect many grave faces and words - lots and lots of words - because words are cheap, but outfitting and materially supporting the military aren't.

The real wonder is that so many fine Canadian men and women continue to enlist and staff the military. They get something that the so-called leadership of this feckless country doesn't: the need to stand on guard.

Even as Canadians mourn Saunders, it should be remembered that the crew of the Chicoutimi performed their duties and saved the ship.

Returning to the US tug that returned the Chicoutimi to port, let us all take a moment to reflect on how Haliburton and the oil companies are profiting by this because everyone in Toronto 'knows' that the USA does nothing unless it's to her material advantage.

Sheesh. The failure of this President to take advantage of the unexpected opportunity for a little payback by the simple practice of doing nothing must be added to Sen. Kerry's list of accusations. Or, perhaps the President feels as I do: that the uncomfortable spotlight which has exposed the sorry state of the Canadian military is not a cause for celebration but of sorrow.

As did many others, I waited for the President to slam the French, Chinese and Russians for their conspiracies with Saddam as they exploited, corrupted and debased the UN Oil for Food Project during Friday's debate. He declined the opening.

I get that we need to keep the door open to future Chinese, Russian and, yes, even French participation as the war on terrorism evolves.

I get that even though personal attacks are made on the President daily in the Canadian news media it would be childish for him to allow whatever personal pique he may feel influence his response in an emergency.

I even get that US assistance will not improve his image in Canada. The odds are that most of the voting American public won't even be aware of our assistance and the Canadian public will shrug it off as inconsequential and besides, Canadians are entitled to benefit from all things American.

But damn, doesn't President Bush know about shadenfreude? He still needs to learn more from our enlightened European cousins about these very important matters.

(Do I even need to attach sarcasm tags?)

I guess the long-term need to keep avenues open in the fight against terrorism overrides the very human short-term need to return personal shots.

And that why he's the President and I'm not.

Bob MacDonald has thoughts along similar lines:

It seems George W. Bush sticks to doing what he believes is right -- and not even his sniping opponents will stop him.
The personal nature of the attacks during this political campaign and indeed over the past four years is the main reason it's hard to take the President's opponents seriously - both at home and abroad. I get that nicely placed personal shots make people grin and feel superior, but such also mask a lack of strategy much less a plan for dealing with the very real threats we face.

Of course, Sen. Kerry does have a plan: hold a summit. Hmm, that's a page right out of Canadian Rules of Engagement! Peabrains do think alike!

16:43 - Kate ties the tow of the sub to Carolyn Parrish beautifully. I had noted that the tug's name is the Carolyn Chouest -- can't someone please come up with a zinger on that shared first name (other than the obvious similarities of their respective appearances?)

Oct. 11 - 18:22: See the comments section for some interesting information about the Carolyn Chouest from Chris Taylor and he's right - we don't want to connect the tug boat with Parrish.

17:00 - The FBI has uncovered a cache of what may be Kerry's plans (according to ScrappleFace!)

Oct. 11 - Coverage of the arrival of Ltd. Saunder's body in Halifax and the HMCS Chicoutimi in Scotland, and this from the UK's Daily Telegraph, contained this good news:

Two other crew members were also airlifted to Sligo General Hospital. Petty Officer Denis Lafleur and Master Seaman Archibald MacMaster, who is still in intensive care, are expected to make a full recovery.

Posted by Debbye at 03:45 PM | Comments (6)

July 06, 2004

Canadians in Afghanistan

July 6 - When the US asked Canada to to extend the tour of Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan so they could help provide security during that country's September elections, the answer was "no."

There is a critical lessons in this, one which is especially relevant for Americans who believe that having the U.N. and/or NATO inolved would therefore bring significantly increased military assets: while we do gain more "allies" who demand a voice at the table, they won't or can't commit military or monetarily to do what it takes to see the mission through.

Major-General Lewis MacKenzie (ret.) explains real reasons behind the Canadian refusal (Political excuses disarm military morale):

Unfortunately, it was left to a junior Defence department spokesman to explain why Canada would not agree to the U.S. request: "What the Americans are looking for is not exactly what our troops are trained for."

This need not have been such a highly embarrassing admission, as it is blatantly untrue. There are reasons why our contingent is incapable of taking on such a role, but it has nothing to do with a lack of training. On the contrary, they are the best-trained troops for such a mission in the multinational force.

[...]

Regrettably, a considerable degree of inflexibility was built into the organization of the Canadian contingent and a very un-Canadian solution was chosen.

It was decided that the soldiers would live in a large encampment with creature comforts previously unknown and deemed unnecessary on other missions -- Internet cafe, exercise tents, individual living compartments, a sewer and water system, extensive air-conditioning, etc.

Despite the fact that Afghanistan qualified as an operational theatre, civilian contractors were brought in to run the logistics support system for the soldiers. Meals, accommodation, ammunition control, overall maintenance of vehicles and equipment were all centralized in a static civilian component that could not deploy outside of Kabul.

Erroneously assuming that the Canadian mission to Afghanistan would not change and that the umbilical chord to the civilian supply system would always be available, the infantry battalion was required to leave behind in Canada its own internal supply capability provided by its service support company -- which normally provides the services offered by the civilian contractors in a more austere manner, but is considerably more flexible and mobile and can deploy into high-risk areas.

I can appreciate that our government might not want to respond positively to the recent U.S. request. To do so would mean that we would take on an expanded role that would see our soldiers move throughout Afghanistan during the election process to confront any attempts to interfere with the democratic process.

Any increased support for the United States during the current election would be seen as a negative for the government, given its anti-U.S. Iraq policy rhetoric.

When National Defence was told to come up with an excuse for us not agreeing to the U.S. request for us to rejoin the war against terror, the response should not have been that our troops were not trained for such a role. An honest -- but politically unacceptable -- response would have gone something like this:

"Sorry, the need to find more savings in our defence budget forced us to contract out the logistics support for our soldiers to a static civilian organization and that restricts them to operations less than 70 km from Kabul. We also have a massive administration and security overhead in Kabul, which means that out of our 2,000 personnel, only about 300 are available for taking any potential fight to the enemy. That reality is extremely unfortunate because the 3 R22eR soldiers in their light infantry role would be as good as any elite unit in the world at tracking down and eliminating the terrorists who would threaten the election process and the security of Afghanistan. They spend most of their time training for such a task and would prefer it to patrolling the streets of Kabul."

The lessons we can learn from this are: (1) we should think of our soldiers' morale and pride when politically correct excuses are made for all the world to see; and, (2) we should not fool around with the well-proven organization of an infantry battalion on the assumption that a particular role in a particular mission area will not change. It will, as it should but can't in Afghanistan.

Note that both the U.N. and NATO are in charge in Afghanistan, but aiding in Afghanistan is seen as aiding the USA.

Note also that desiring to influence the American presidential elections is far more important to the Canadian political elite than assisting Afghanistan in holding its elections.

In all likelihood, more terrorist attacks will occur in Afghanistan as the September election nears. Whenever a sombre Canadian broadcaster or politician tut-tuts the death toll and criticizes the US military for inadequate security, remember that Canada could have been part of the solution.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 07:43 PM | Comments (22)

July 05, 2004

US obtained Sampson's release?

July 5 - Canadian Sampson believes he was freed as part of Saudi-U.S. terror deal:

OTTAWA (CP) - The tale of Bill Sampson, a Canadian jailed fort (sic) 31 months and accused of terrorism and murder in Saudi Arabia, has taken another bizarre twist with a claim that he finally won his freedom last year in a prisoner exchange brokered by the United States.

In return for the release of Sampson and other westerners held in Riyadh, the Americans agreed to send five Saudi terror suspects they had captured back to their homeland, the New York Times reported Sunday. The Canadian government had no immediate comment, other than to say it was looking into the matter.

Sampson, in a telephone interview from Penrith, Britain, where he now makes his home, said he's convinced the story is correct.

"It confirms information that I have found from different sources myself over the last nine months," he said.

[...]

"It's my information that the Saudis themselves broached the idea of an exchange," said Sampson.

"We were used from the very, very outset as hostages, and this had been deliberate from the start, to use us as a means of leverage against western governments."

The Times, quoting anonymous U.S. and British officials, said the prisoner exchange that finally freed Sampson was engineered by Robert Jordan, the American ambassador to Saudi Arabia.

The deal was controversial in Washington, where some officials thought the U.S. was taking too big a risk by releasing potentially dangerous terrorist suspects from Guantanamo, said the newspaper.

But the Americans reportedly went ahead because they wanted to help British Prime Minister Tony Blair, a loyal ally in the war then shaping up in Iraq.

Blair's government had been trying to win the release of six Britons held along with Sampson, who is a dual Canadian-British citizen. Also held was Belgian Raf Schveyns.

All were arrested following a series of bombings in Riyadh that westerners claimed were the work of al-Qaida terrorists and the Saudis claimed were part of a turf war among western bootleggers involved in the illicit alcohol trade.

All eight westerners were finally set free in August 2003, three months after the five Guantanamo prisoners were sent home to Saudi Arabia.

Sampson said the Belgian documents, obtained and shown to him by Schveyns following their release, indicate that diplomats in Riyadh were worried about the three-month time lag.

Very, very intriguing.

05:12: CNN is carrying the story. The Saudis say the report is "pure fantasy" and US National Security Spokesman Sean McCormack said there was "no recollection here of any linkage between these two actions."

Sen. Charles Schumer (N.Y.-D) is very worried about the release of the Gitmo prisoners and thinks there was undue influence by the Saudis, but his comments had nothing to do with the upcoming presidential campaign because CNN doesn't connect the two.

[Read on to see what kind of "influence" was being exerted, and I apologize to Canadians and the British for the indifferent CNN coverage]

The Daily Telegraph (UK) takes an entirely different slant:

United States officials yesterday accused Saudi Arabia of demanding - and receiving - the release of Saudi terrorist suspects from Guantanamo Bay as the secret price for last year's diplomatic deal to release six Britons accused of a deadly bombing campaign.

The allegations, levelled by senior American officials in the New York Times, cast new light on what was already one of the murkiest episodes in Saudi-British relations.

The six Britons and one British-born Canadian returned home last August after a bizarre two-year ordeal that saw them accused of plotting a string of bombings that ended in the death of a fellow Briton in late 2000.

Though western residents and diplomats insisted that the bombings were the work of Islamic militants, Saudi authorities claimed that the bombs were the result of a feud between foreign bootleggers, illegally selling alcohol within the expatriate community.

The seven confessed to a variety of "crimes", but later retracted their confessions. They have since launched a High Court legal action naming high-ranking Saudi leaders, saying they were tortured into false confessions as Saudi authorities tried to cover up the existence of al-Qa'eda terrorists in the kingdom.

Two men, Sandy Mitchell and a Canadian, William Sampson, were sentenced to public beheading, four were sentenced to 12-year jail terms and the seventh was detained for 10 months but not charged. They were all granted clemency last summer and were released three weeks later after signing a letter apologising to King Fahd and thanking his subjects for their hospitality. (Emphasis added.)

When they arrived in Britain, credit was given to British Government pressure and to the Prince of Wales, who made a private plea for clemency to the de facto Saudi ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah.

[...]

One American source described as knowledgeable about the negotiations told the New York Times: "This presented itself as a way for the United States to help its friends, both the Brits and the Saudis. It's what diplomacy is all about."

A spokesman for the Foreign Office in London declined to confirm or deny US involvement in brokering the three-way deal, saying: "We worked very hard to secure the release of the men, and were relieved when they were released."

That's more like it.

Posted by Debbye at 02:25 AM | Comments (0)

July 03, 2004

Don Cherry and sensitivity training

Cherry sporting USA tie.jpg

July 3 - Today's news seems determine to bedevil me. I don't have a link for the story, but have a (temporary) link to today's Editorial in the Toronto Sun:

A Kinder, gentler Grapes?

SO, AFTER nearly seven months (!) of intense investigation, the Office of the Commissioner of Official Languages has determined CBC commentators like Don Cherry need sensitivity training to better understand this country's "linguistic duality."

Actually, as the Sun's Ottawa bureau revealed this week, that's only the preliminary finding by the bureaucrats assigned to probe Cherry's notorious comment that most of the NHL players who wear visors are "Europeans and French guys." We can only imagine how much more time and money will be wasted on producing a final report.

Of course, despite the fact this involves a taxpayer-funded language commission and a taxpayer-funded public broadcaster, there's no guarantee taxpayers will ever see the report, because of the "complainant's right to confidentiality." Well, it should be public. The public paid for it.

But at this point we're not sure what's worse, the fact the office felt it necessary to get involved in this supposed controversy in the first place, or that last week, it felt it necessary to justify its long investigations by putting up a "Frequently Asked Questions" file on its Web site.

"As an ombudsman, the mandate of the commissioner requires her to investigate all matters relating to the equality of status of our two official languages as well as all valid complaints against institutions relating to the Official Languages Act," it says.

To average Canadians, this is money-wasting lunacy at its finest. From the start, it's been unclear to most of us what, if anything, the Cherry controversy had to do with language.

His comment was about visors -- and as it turned out, he was only half right: more than half the visor-wearing players are European, but Quebec-born players (assuming that's what he meant by "French guys," although we're sure the language commissioner would prefer "francophones" or "Quebecois") were on par with the rest of the NHL.

So Cherry's guilty of being insensitive and inaccurate -- big deal. He didn't say French shouldn't be spoken in the NHL. He said nothing about language at all.

But as a result of all of this, some day soon it appears CBC guest commentators and contract employees will be hauled into rooms, told to hold hands and share their feelings about "linguistic duality" -- all thanks to a four-second Grapes gripe about visors.

We can't wait to hear his politically incorrect commentary about this one.

Me neither. Feel free to drop any suggestions for Don in the comment box.

Posted by Debbye at 01:20 PM | Comments (6)

State-run childcare

July 3 - Michael Coren comments on the election results (June 28's dark shadow) and Liberal promises to form a national child care policy. Along the way, Coren defines state-run childcare:

... spend billions so women can go out to work so as to pay taxes so as to pay the salary of other women to look after their children while they go out to work rather than raise their own kids.
Actually, Coren's definition could be even nastier.

The schools and hospitals are in shambles. Most of the money supposedly earmarked for those institutions goes to support staff (read civil servants) and yet we are supposed to trust this culture of ineptitude to provide trustworthy institutions for raising our beloved children?

I remember some of the (seemingly) wilder anti-Communist accusations, such as "they will take away your children and brainwash them."

Well, they aren't bursting into our homes and seizing the children (well, not usually) but they are applying a more insidious pressure on us to surrender our kids: bankruptcy.

And no, they aren't brainwashing them, merely failing to teach them to read and write. Keep them ignorant, eh?

Oh by the way, Ontario, this is the month we begin to pay our extra health care premiums. You may believe that your employer should pay it, but I ask you: who voted the Liberals into power?

There's no such thing as a free lunch. Tanstaafl!

Posted by Debbye at 01:15 PM | Comments (3)

Moore: Truly Ugly American

July 3 - I have already confessed my embarassment that Moore and Nader had the arrogance to speak about the recent elections up here, but it's actually worse than I thought.

According to a CBC item, Moore boosts Kerry, Moore deliberately released his latest movie up here in an attempt to influence the elections:

Moore also wanted his film released before the Canadian election, saying he hoped it would help convince Canadians not to vote for Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
What a bastard. I freaking live here yet I tried to tread carefully out of respect for this country, but he brazenly waltzes up here with the express purpose of sabotaging the electoral process of a sovereign nation. And the stooopid media failed to notice they had been insulted.

That's right: insulted. Moore was worried the foolish Canadians might choose wrongly so hurried to intervene with his peculiar brand of propaganda. I don't know if there's any way to ascertain if he actually influenced the elections, but that's hardly the point. He tried, so where's the righteous indignation?

Oh, that's right. The caring and compassionate left gets a free ride on their numerous violations of decency.

But let's think it through for a fraction of a second. If it's allowable for one wing of American political thought to deliberately intervene in Canadian matters, why isn't it allowable for the other wing? You know, do that fair and balanced thingy we hear so much about?

Suppose, just suppose, that positions were reversed and Canada leaned to the right. A huge scandal and a decade of mismanagement combined to look as though the ruling party was about to be unseated and a Liberal Party voted in, and then some Americans came up here to influence the vote.

You don't even have to speculate as to the reaction (unless you live on Mars ...)

Sen. Kerry, funnily enough, is exhibiting some belated caution as far as Moore is concerned:

Kerry has reportedly not asked Moore to appear at any campaign events (during the Democratic primaries, the filmmaker supported retired general Wesley Clark). According to a campaign spokesperson, it's not known if Kerry has seen the movie yet.
I wonder if Kerry is also keeping his distance from that other kiss-of-death, Al Gore.

(Link via Paul.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:19 AM | Comments (7)

July 02, 2004

Cocaine found on CSL ship

July 2 - I thought this was a joke when I first read about it, but it is true: Cocaine hidden on Martin ship named for his wife, the Sheila Ann. (The ship is named after his wife, not the cocaine.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:12 PM | Comments (3)

Which way are the rafts headed?

July 2 - Bill Whittle recently suggested that we observe "which way the rafts are headed" when we read and hear America-bashers. His point was that the immense numbers of people trying to get into the USA by any and all means - including those that prove fatal - effectively rebutts the hysterical claims of those who claim we and our country are hated by everyone in the world. He makes the further point that not many people are anxious to move to Cuba or the Mid-east, demonstrating that this test also works in reverse.

There are also some Canadian statistics on cross-border immigration which, as Peaktalk notes, may well have had an effect in the recent election up here.

Kate brings this full circle in Voting With Their Feet using those statistics to indicate in which direction the rafts are headed and that immigration numbers between Canada and the USA are a verifiable reality check on the propaganda claims by the Liberal Party of Canadian superiority.

Posted by Debbye at 04:20 PM | Comments (0)

July 01, 2004

Saddam behaved like Saddam (updated)

July 1 - First, Happy Canada Day to us up here in the Great White North. It's pretty warm in Toronto, and summer has officially begun. (Updated) Or, as Paul insists: Happy Dominion Day.

What is Canada Day? (I'm a bit jaundiced by the election results, so I'm letting this one go.)

I gave up watching the CBC coverage of Canada Day events when their military angle focused on tombstones. I get it, already. CBC doesn't think freedom is worth fighting and possibly dying for. Check.

In the news: Saddam was defiant during his court appearance. Lord knows he's watched enough CNN to know how to perform in court, so don't colour me surprised.

The internationalists are out in force whining that this trial will lack legitimacy. Let me see if I have this straight: those nations, some of which refused to oust Saddam in 1991, some of which harbour those who paid kickbacks to Saddam in order to profit in the UN Oil-for-Food program, many of which shipped expired medicines and hospital equipment that didn't work along with limousines, sports stadiums and plastic shredders, and most of which turned a blind eye to his crimes against his own people, and even those who acted within the U.N. to keep Saddam in power ... those people have the audacity to utter words like justice and legitimacy?

Why are they attempting to deprive Iraqis of their right to their day in court? Because they are anxious to give the International Criminal Court legitimacy, perhaps?

Sorry, International Community, but organizations and people gain respect by their deeds, not by their words. If you want to try a genocidal dictator, consider being aligned with those who stopped his evil regime and apprehended him.

Just a thought.

More to the point, who freaking cares what a bunch of wankers and self-appointed elitists think? We heard the same stuff from the same nations back around 225+ years ago; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now. (Kind of poor timing on their part, given the promixity of the Fourth of July, to cast doubt upon the capability of the Iraqi people to build a free and prosperous nation. I'm just saying ...)

Final thought on Saddam: Wolverines!!! (I just watched Laredo (a show I loved as a kid and which bears up well even today) on the Lonestar channel and William Smith was a regular on Laredo, and he was the eeevil Col. Strelnikov in Red Dawn. That's only three degrees of separation! Eat your heart out, Kevil Bacon.)

On a more sober note, it's not really a surprise that there would be more terrorist attacks on this day but it serves to remind us that freedom isn't free.

I don't have that much to say about the handover except Hurrah! As have many, I've been irritated beyond patience by the unending ominous pronouncements from CNN that every firefight in Fallujah "threatened the handover" because I felt every dead "insurgent" strengthened the ability of the incoming Iraqi government to organize elections and lead Iraq on a new path.

21:19: Spinkiller has an eloquent post over at The Shotgun Iraqis embrace their freedom... that is a must-read.

Peggy Noonan in today's Opinion Journal says

The early transfer of sovereignty to Iraq has hit everyone here, friend of the invasion and foe, as a brilliant stroke. Leaving early, and with such modesty--it was a pleasure to be here, let us know if there's anything we can do--tends to undermine charges of U.S. imperialism. President Bush is feeling triumphant--one can tell even from here--and the Western press is looking very irritable indeed. They don't like to be surprised, they don't like it when Mr. Bush scores one, and they don't like it when the troublemakers they've been so banking on to prove their point that Iraq was a fiasco don't even get a chance to stop the turnover.
She then goes on to worry that, with successes under our belts, the American electorate will want to vote in Kerry to serve as an "emollient" just to feel there's a chance to return to "normalcy."

That expresses a fear many of us have, that having addressed one root cause of terrorism, i.e., the lack of human rights and opportunities for self-advancement in the Mideast, and having done so with loss of American lives, the temptation to run and hide will translate into a belief that having friends who won't watch our backs but will spout all the correct sentiments is more important than being right, and that could lead to a Kerry victory in November.

I live in one of those countries which have strained relations with the USA because of Sept. 11 and the Iraq War, and I can assure Americans of one thing: they want us to fail because it will make them look less inadequate, not because we are wrong.

For proof, read Saddam was defiant again, and note that CNN is acting as though this monster has any credibility or respectability.

Noonan asks what President Bush can do about it, and I suspect that it is a rhetorical question, because most of us have expressed the wish that the president would be more vigorous in reminding us why we are fighting terrorism and why Iraq was key to turning the Mid-east to a new course.

He faces stiff opposition (mostly with alphabet names like CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, CBC, BBC, and the other ABC) but I'm convinced the American people themselves just need a bit of encouragement and bolstering.

Those who want to retreat have to ask themselves very seriously: what will you expect from the American President when the next terrorist attack occurs? Sadly, Pres. Clinton's response was to investigate fundamentalist Christians, which lead to the Waco disaster. Is that what we want?

Call me a warmonger, but I prefer the Republican president's track record to the Democrat's candidate.

Posted by Debbye at 05:33 PM | Comments (2)

June 29, 2004

Canada got the devil they know

June 29 - The election is over, and the Liberals have been re-elected but to a minority government.

I am deeply embarassed that Laurel and Hardy of the American left came up here to intervene - Ralph Nader urged voters not to regard voting NDP as vote splitting, and Michael Moore spoke out about how it is better to vote Liberal no matter how troubling that act may be.

No members of the American right pulled that stunt, but you can bet there would have been loud screaming had they done so.

Attack ads and fear-mongering work up here, as Toronto voters swallowed their outrage at the corruption of the Liberal Party and voted "for the devils they knew" who will likely form a minority government with the New Democratic Party -who are even further to the left of the Liberals (No looking back.)

Promises of federal funds for Toronto - the transit system, SARS relief, black-out relief, homelessness relief, you name it, it got promised relief - resulted in the ridings going completely to the Liberals and NDP and it looks as though much of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) went the same.

Damian did live blogging of the elections, which makes for interesting reading (even though I knew the results before I got home from work) and the comments have some interesting analysis, including some discussion as to whether the Liberal Party-NDP coalition will hold and, if not, whether another election could be called in two years (although I have my doubts that a Conservative Party-Bloc Quebecois coalition would have held much longer than that, too.)

Olivia Chow lost her bid for a federal seat, which is good and bad because it means Toronto is still stuck with her ...

The CBC has an election round-up and you can link to the individual ridings, but I'm trying to find a freaking map because I am very curious as to how the Conservative Party did outside of the GTA.

I've had a virus thingy and am still somewhat under the weather (that's an indirect way of saying I feel like hell but made it to work) but I found a crappy map thingy at CTV (scroll down to Provincial Breakdown) and it says Ontario went 44.7% to the Liberals for 75 seats and 31.5% to the Conservatives for 24 seats.

Posted by Debbye at 08:03 AM | Comments (8)

June 23, 2004

Gunshot wounds reporting to become mandatory

June 23 - The Ontario legislature is set to approve a law that requires hospitals to report gunshot wounds to police (Call cops over gun wounds, docs told):

ONTARIO HOSPITALS will become the first in Canada required to report patients with gunshot wounds to police, under new legislation being introduced today. Government sources said Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter will table a bill today in the wake of growing support from Ontario doctors to make such reporting mandatory.
This is a sad commentary on the rise of gunplay in Toronto. I feel as though Ontario just lost some of her innocence.

Posted by Debbye at 08:20 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2004

Canadian regionalism

June 22 - One of the strangest aspects of life in Canada is the intense regionalism. Not because regionalism is strange (at least to someone of my age who grew up in the American West) but because the federal government tends to encourage it and all the divisive antagonisms that it involves.

You see, it comes in handy during election campaigns. So what if lies must be spread to keep the distrust at full agitation level, as Ezra Levant recounts in this column, Anti-Alberta bigotry:

So last week, Martin blasted Alberta Premier Ralph Klein, calling Klein's health-care reform package un-Canadian. "Unlike Stephen Harper, I will look Ralph Klein in the eye and I will say 'no.'," ranted Martin. From Ontario, of course -- not over the phone to Klein privately, not in a memo, but at an election event, using federal-provincial relations as a desperate partisan weapon. "Unlike Stephen Harper, I will defend medicare," he said -- defending it against Klein, the new Liberal demon.

Although nearly every province has private health-care facilities, Martin chose to attack only Alberta.

He did not criticize Ontario and Quebec, with their burgeoning private hospitals. Ontario and Quebec are run by Liberal governments.

The government of Alberta has kept Martin briefed about their proposed changes for months. Martin has never raised an objection, and Anne McLellan, the deputy prime minister, has repeatedly approved of such changes.

So there was no reason to criticize Klein's plans at all -- at least until they provided a scapegoat for the Liberals. And if Klein's plans provide a scapegoat, so do all the other provinces.

For those who have forgotten, early reports on Adscam saw the federal Liberals blaming Quebec, as though the taxpayers of Quebec had not been defrauded just as taxpayers across Canada had been.

Given that the Liberal Party proclaims Canadian unity as their sole objective, why would they make statements that encourage anti-Quebec sentiments unless they prefer a Canada divided and thus weak?

But then we can't have the Liberals running on their record, now can we.

Posted by Debbye at 06:31 PM | Comments (5)

A Canadian soldier speaks out

June 22 - Earl McCrae of the Ottawa Sun interviews a Canadian soldier who delivers a blistering attack on PM Martin and all those who are trying to redefine the military and their role in PM outdated, not our troops:

"I voluntarily became a soldier knowing that it might one day mean me losing my life for Canada. Can Martin say that? When did he ever serve? He's a fat cat billionaire without a clue about what it means to be a soldier. What he said was an insult to every man and woman in this country in uniform. All of them better Canadians than him. But what's he care? Our military size has been so shrunk he figures the Liberals don't need their votes to win."

The soldier was reacting to a front-page newspaper story he read on the weekend in which Martin, during an interview, attacked Conservative leader Stephen Harper's plans for the Canadian military. Martin, according to the article, saying Harper would impose a warlike "ready aye ready" philosophy that is out of vogue in today's Canadian society.

"I went ballistic. Harper never served, either, but he's a hell of a lot more understanding and realistic as to what the armed forces should be than that ignorant fool Martin. As for outdated, it's old Martin who's outdated. What does he think the role of Canadian soldiers is? To hand out candies? Carry toy guns? Just sit around and watch? Being trained and ready to fight and kill the enemy in the defence of freedom is what soldiers willingly do.

"Men and women aren't forced to sign up, they sign up because they're willing and want to be warriors, and somebody tell Martin they're damn fine people, not thugs like he makes it sound. He insults every soldier in this country as well as their families."

The soldier slammed the Liberals' anti-Harper ad on TV portraying him as a warmonger. "The Canadian soldiers jumping out of armoured personnel carriers and attacking with their weapons -- just what the hell is wrong with that? They're soldiers, for krissake. Does the scene turn Martin's weak, little, stomach? Does he hope Canadians will puke with disgust over it? If they do, then we're a nation of pussycats and in real trouble.

Read the whole thing.

The Liberal Party has treated the Canadian Forces abominably. There are a lot of weepy words on Rememberance Day but little else. Their refusal to fund and equip the Canadian Forces should have had a detrimental affect on recruitment yet we still have steadfast volunteers, especially since Sept. 11, of excellent men and women who understand that their beloved Canada is at risk and are willing to defend and protect it.

I've made no secret of my respect and gratitude for all those who serve, but I have to admit a slightly higher awe for the Canadian soldier, who despite the lack of respect they are accorded by the current government, have done whatever they were asked cheerfully and made do with what they had or could procure, including scrounging up paint in Afghanistan to provide suitable camouflage for desert terrain on their blankets and uniforms. (For Americans: there were no uniforms available for desert terrain, so they painted their forest green uniforms and blankets with desert colours.)

I think the Liberals have underestimated the loyalty and pride the Canadian people accord to their armed forces. Martin's unfortunate comments were meant to be a shot at Harper's support for the USA in Iraq, but the shot went astray and struck at the courage and readiness of the Canadian soldier.

(Via Jack's Newswatch.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:44 PM | Comments (2)

June 21, 2004

Canadian elections

June 20 - Sorry about the light posting. The Sunday-Monday period is a rough one due to even odder hours those days, but there is one quick item I wanted to bring up before I go to work this evening.

THE PROVINCIAL Liberals are wasting time and money on a redundant plan for an anti-child porn tip line while dragging their feet on funding for vital resources, frustrated cops said yesterday. "We've been told behind the scenes that we're not getting any money, but nothing's been made official yet," said one officer, who asked not to be named out of fear of having a funding application denied.

Several police agencies province-wide, including Hamilton, Sudbury, Ottawa, Peel and Toronto, have applied to Attorney General Michael Bryant's office for grant money through the Victim Justice Fund to fight child pornography.

But it's been months and they still don't have answers.

This issue has been highlighted as a federal election issue by CNN in this item: Child porn controversy dominates Canada campaign.

Despite this, Liberals have moved to close child porn gap, the issue about child porn in Canada is not only about the laws that are on the books regarding child porn but about how the law is enforced and how the issue is handled when it seemingly conflicts with privacy laws. When there are convictions, the sentence is too often confinement to one's home.

A related issue is a national DNA registry for convicted sex offenders. The national government finally got onboard with the notion after provinces, including Ontario, chose to by-pass the national procastrinators and build their own databanks and allow one another access. Unfortunately, the databank only includes convictions secured after the law was passed rather than include those who are currently serving sentences for sex offenses.

Harper is not backing down on the issue of whether short stories and hand-drawn pictures should be defined as child porn or have "artistic merit" and I am fairly certain that the majority of Canadians share his views and are unimpressed by the belated stance of the Liberal Party.

I caught a CBC Newsworld bit early this morning which announced they were going to explore how Harper is wading into dangerous territory by promoting family values. I need to sleep more than I needed to rant but the phrasing of that promo only reinforced my view that the CBC is dangerously out of step with most Canadians.

Re-uniting families is a favourite theme of our Immigration policies, but Harper is dangerous because he promotes family values? Someone more nuanced than I might be able to work out that apparent contradiction.

More tomorrow.

June 22 - 17:46: Lorrie Goldstein takes on the Liberals' record on crime today and cuts to the heart of it (Sorry, but the Liberals ARE soft on crime):

No, Mr. Martin, no fair-thinking person believes you support child porn. But what many of us believe is that your government has failed to seriously address this issue, along with countless others, when it comes to fixing our criminal justice system. And that after 11 years, enough is enough.

Posted by Debbye at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2004

March 11

June 19 - A common feature over at Ghost of a Flea has been posts that begin "Now is the time at the Flea when we dance" and then the link is to something weird and/or funny.

There's been another dance going on up here, and it is somehow appropriate that Flea is the one who signals an end to that dance and suggests we confront the potential for a terrorist attack here in Canada right before the June 28 elections in his post titled evocatively March 11.

He's right - if one occurs, we'd best be prepared:

It is important to understand the shock that will ensue if and when Canada is attacked. The feelings of anger that follow could be turned to a resolute determination to stand up for responsible government and liberty. These same feelings can all too easily be twisted. We know what the media elites of this country have done with every story in the last two years of conflict. We can only imagine they will be ready to distort any atrocity to serve their own ends.

We need our arguments ready.

Posted by Debbye at 11:28 AM | Comments (7)

Iraq terror ties in Canada?

June 18 - This is interesting: 3 in Iraq smuggle scam: RCMP concerns the smuggling of car parts into Iraq that were said to be meant for use by Saddamites. Three men from southern Ontario, Salah Abdul Sahib, 44, of Leamington, Munther Yacoub, 55, of Windsor, and Vincent Lewis, 56, of Waterloo, have been charged with smuggling money, car tires and car batteries to Iraq via third countries.

Three southern Ontario men face 296 charges of violating 100 Customs regulations and UN statutes. Three trading companies were also charged.

The Mounties said from 2000 to 2003 some 29,000 tires, worth $800,000, were placed in containers and shipped from Toronto to Baghdad, via Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

Large sums of U.S. currency were allegedly transferred from Canada to Iraq, in contravention of United Nations regulations, Yen said.

The math is definitely off:
Eleven containers of household goods and foods worth about $118,000 were imported for sale here, police said.

The sale to Iraq of 13 containers of tires from China, worth $444,000, and one of batteries from South Korea, worth $26,000, were arranged from Canada, Yen said.

RCMP Const. Annette Bernardon said most of the tires were shipped to Iraq through Toronto's port. "We don't know where they went once they ended up in Iraq. They could have gone anywhere."

It's unclear from the article if the accused men were running a black market operation for the money or because they actively support Saddam (or, as he's in jail, something else? The Ba'athists in Fallujah, or al Zarqawi, maybe?) but if they imported $118,00 worth of goods and exported over $470,000 worth of goods plus $800,000 worth of tires in addition to the "large sums of" US dollars said to be transferred from Canada to Iraq then there is much more going on than is being stated.

Since the hunt is ongoing for Saddam's pilfered Oil-for-Food funds, though, the operation could well have been conducted on his behalf.

The three trading companies that were also charged are Leamington International Foods and Salco Import and Export, co-owned by Sahib and Yacoub, and Treadway Exports.

Posted by Debbye at 07:08 AM | Comments (1)

Michael Moore in Toronto

June 19 - Michael Moore is in Toronto. However can I contain my joy?

He and I seem to agree on one thing: media coverage of the war in Iraq is disgusting. It's a very brief article, but concludes with the revelation of his inner Canadian:

I believe that about myself and this is the Canadian in me, the self-deprecating sense of (being) not worthy."
Huh? I've never seen or read of Moore projecting himself as self-deprecating or considers himself "not worthy," whereas I have seen much evidence that he deprecates Americans and the USA, and his arrogance defies his statement that he believes he is "not worthy." So we have to split on this one: I don't think he's self-deprecating, but I do think he is not worthy.

(Nope. I'm not touching the attribution to Canadians as "self-deprecating" and "not worthy." There are lots of Canadian bloggers up here to tackle that one.)

He is also is unabashedly stumping against the Conservative Party here in Toronto ('Don't go our way'.)

He seems to be endorsing the Liberals. He admits that they aren't perfect, but confides that he knows what it's like to hold his nose when he votes because he doesn't like Kerry all that much. It seems Kerry has "blood on his hands" because he voted for war in Iraq. Funny, such things didn't seem to bother Moore when he endorsed Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, a man who also has blood on his hands, although I am willing to concede that Clark waffled as much about Iraq as Kerry, which in one sense makes them equal.

Maybe that's the key to Moore's feelings of not-worthiness: he recognizes that he lacks judgement. Who am I to argue?

But I'm pleased Moore is so taken with Canada. I'd suggest he actually move here and pay Canadian taxes (and die as he waits in line for the health care his weight will inevitably demand) but he isn't really that stupid - he just talks as though he is.

Besides, I'd like to think that Toronto isn't big enough for the two of us. Or one of him.

In other Moore news, Ray Bradbury, author of Farenheit 451, is demanding that Moore change the name of his film:

AUTHOR Ray Bradbury is demanding an apology from American filmmaker Michael Moore for lifting the title from his classic science-fiction novel Fahrenheit 451 without permission and wants the new documentary Fahrenheit 9/11 to be renamed.

"He didn't ask my permission," Bradbury, 83, said today. "That's not his novel, that's not his title, so he shouldn't have done it."

[...]

Bradbury, who hadn't seen the movie, said he called Moore's company six months ago to protest and was promised Moore would call back.

He finally got that call last Saturday, Bradbury said, adding Moore told him he was "embarrassed".

"He suddenly realised he's let too much time go by," the author said by phone from his home in Los Angeles' Cheviot Hills section.

In plain English, I think that means that Moore ducked the calls until the movie was launched and even if the name is changed now, it is too late.

But it is suggestive that Moore stole the title and concept for his movie from a patently obvious work of fiction, albeit allegorical fiction.

Moore is nothing more than this century's P.T. Barnum (what is that famous line from Barnum again?) and although he lacks Barnums's flair he supplies his own Jumbo. Mockumentary strikes again to kill truth and reason, and the rubes in Europe (and I guarantee some up here in Toronto) will eat it up.

But I'm okay with that. It's just a bit more evidence that Moore is "not worthy."

10:56: There's more coverage of the visit here, and both Damian Penny and Mark Steyn profess themselves shocked at the Large American Inteference in the Canadian Election. CTV is exhibiting their own bias rather clumsily:

As for those who say he isn't playing by the rules because he manages to be both a social satirist and a documentary journalist not held to the traditional rules of impartiality?
Impartiality isn't the only issue with Moore - it's his departure from facts ... no wait, facts don't count in journalism any more than they do in documentary journalism. My bad. Move along, folks.

12:11 John Hawkins at Right Wing News links to offers by Hezbollah to help promote Moore's film.

Ghost of a Flea swats the pretensions of the Liberal Party and Moore with one blow.

June 21 - 16:48: Burnside acclaims Moore as having made The Dumbass Quote of the Week and has some good advice for Moore.

19:11: Christopher Hitchins has some observations about Moore's latest movie, Unfairenheit 911 (via Daimnation!)

Posted by Debbye at 04:30 AM | Comments (4)

June 15, 2004

Canadian elections

June 15 - I'm running late, but here are some articles about the results of last night's debate from the Toronto Sun Eyes right to Harper. Check out The Shotgun for some other commentary (and good stuff daily!)

Posted by Debbye at 08:01 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2004

Canadian elections

June 9 - The shrill warnings that the Conservative Party is full of religious fanatics who will overturn the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in this case abortion rights, is the one card we knew the Liberals would play, and Hugh Windsor in the Globe and Mail column On Harper, media fall for the Grit hype demonstrates how the media play a role in this endeavour.

He leaves it an open question whether the media play an unwitting role, but if they are unwitting then they are also unbelievably lazy, another trait they share with their colleagues further south.

Thus far, Stephen Harper has taken the high road, which itself is a pretty firm message to Canadians who want to see honesty and principles in those who would govern this country.

Francois over at The Bad News Bears puts it on the line:

There two ways to play this part of the game. Attack. Like the Libs, the NDP and to a lesser extent the Conservatives are doing. The other way is to look Prime Ministerial. Thats what Paul Martin hopes to achieve this week with his trips abroad. The question on my mind is, will Harper raise the level of attacks to match his opponents or will he just stand there and swat away the attacks, giving him an air of leadership and strength? That seems to be working so far and I dont believe Canadians need to be reminded of adscam, etc. This strategy is making him look calm and solid while his opponents look ever more desperate.
Francois also makes this point:
He may be able to pull this off but its vitally important that he keep a muzzle on his candidates who have a tendency to spout off their personal beliefs on every subject under the sun to anyone wholl listen.
I'm not sure about that. So many things have become law in Canada via the courts rather than Parliament that Canadians may well thirst for political debate on issues even if though the result would probably be that the current laws stand.

The democratic process requires debate between opposing factions, even within parties, and is important in part because it engages the electorate in those arguments which lead up to the vote.

I dislike the imposition of party discipline because it excludes dissident voices within the party and thus dissident voices in the country. When voters feel their views haven't been allowed to be expressed because of The Party, it gives the appearance that they haven't been given a voice and thus are disenfranchised.

Voters want their say, even if their side loses. It's not really complicated.

Posted by Debbye at 08:07 PM | Comments (4)

Zahra Kazemi - All about the oil?

June 8 - Via Paul, Stephan Hachemi, Zahra Kazemi's son, has written a hard-hitting letter to the editor of the National Post which, given the short link life at the Post, I'm going to quote in full:

June 3, 2004

To former prime minister Jean Chretien:

Like many Canadians, I recently learned of your coming visit to Iran as a representative of a Calgary-based oil company. It is reported that the purpose of your trip is to conclude a deal with the Iranian government on behalf of this firm.

I write to congratulate you.

Your failure to ensure justice was served in the case of my mother, Zahra Kazemi -- who was murdered by the Iranian regime while you were prime minister -- has apparently paid off: You are now most welcome in Tehran.

Last June, my mother was arrested without cause by agents of the Iranian government, who then beat and tortured her to death. No doubt, you remember the case and so are well-informed of the systematic violations of human rights that take place in Iran, as well as the circumstances that surround the killing of my mother.

And yet, knowing this, you are off to shake hands with representatives of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the executioners who less than a year ago had my mother murdered.

I can only thank you for doing this now, Mr. Chretien -- for you are demonstrating clearly what a charade Canada's fervent defence of human rights is. Despite your speeches about human rights when you were at the head of our government, you are now conferring your personal prestige on Iran's regime, and by extension its crimes against humanity.

Bravo, Mr. Chretien. I knew I could count on you to take the veil off your government's hypocrisy. The politics that you practice now show how your government favours "business as usual" before human rights. Congratulations.

Stephan Hachemi, Montreal.

I'm not bashing Canada here, because Sen. John F(reaking) Kerry has done something equally disgusting: his primarary Iranian supporter, Hassan Nemazee, is suing the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran for $10 million in damages a move which the SMCCDI regards as frivolous but could restrict their ability to keep the Democrats honest in their dealings with Iran.

Read the whole thing; it is disturbing and raises some questions that should be directed at Sen. Kerry.

Sen. Kerry has already indicated his willingness to treat with the mullahs of Iran, in a move which may be cynical (maybe it's all about the oil!!!!) or could be appeasement but which amounts to a flagrant dismissal of the democratic aspirations of the Iranian people. Small wonder US Old Media coverage of the Iranian elections and subsequent demonstrations received so little air time.

As Americans and Canadians, do we support tyrants or those who yearn for freedom? Are we appeasers of murderous despots or do we actually believe in those human rights we are so quick to claim to revere?

Those issues may not seem as urgent or important as bread-and-butter issues, but if we lose our freedom to work and raise our families without fear we will lose the true meaning of freedom.

Election campaign coverage has a way of obscuring issues by focusing on the sound bites instead of the substance of remarks, but President Reagan's death has reminded us that indeed there are pivotal events that can lead either to victory or become yet another missed opportunity.

Would I rather rejoice because millions of Iraqis are entering a new era of freedom or bewail the fact that the French are annoyed with us for ignoring their advice?

Posted by Debbye at 07:24 PM | Comments (2)

Iraq sovereignty a fait accompli II

June 8 - I'm torn between being thrilled for the Iraqi people and wanting to say "duh" (Unanimous U.N. Approval of Iraq Plan.)

There are a few wrinkles according to some of the quotes from member nations of the UNSC in the article, yet none of those wrinkles seem to have been supported by modifications to the resolution and can be dismissed as empty rhetoric.

Despite the victory, four members of the G-8 summit -- France, Germany, Russia and Canada -- have said they won't send troops.
Canada has no troops she can commit, and given the Russian deployment in Chechnya I doubt it would be advisable to bring Russian troops in. As for France, well, there's that accordian on a deer hunt meme ...

I saw a clip on MSNBC with Pres. Bush and PM Martin in which the President mentioned soft wood lumber and Canada's contribution to the war on terror. Martin reiterated Canadian support of the US war on terror.

The President also said that Canada is strongly cooperating on finding ways to cooperate, which I read to mean that Canada continues to prefer cooperating quietly and without public awareness. The Liberal Party has put themselves in an increasingly awkward situation. Lord help them if there should be a terrorist attack here before the elections. The mood has changed, the Tories have pulled ahead in the polls, and Paul Martin may be the only Canadian who remains oblivious to that fact.

Hubris. Martin and the Liberal Party can look it up.

The original draft is here (heh, with "spelling appearing to follow British usage." Sometimes Fox coverage is somewhat embarrassing.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)

McGuinty trails own party in polls

June 8 - I guess this just wasn't a good year to break election promises and raise taxes. Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario, has one of the lowest approval ratings I can remember: 9%, which is 25% behind his Ontario Liberal Party (Premier hits new low: Poll.)

It's so mean-spirited to mock him, yet it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy:

The Liberals have the support of 34% of those polled, down from 46% last October when they won a resounding majority. [I think they mean a majority of seats in the Ontario legislature.]

Now 52% think the premier is doing a poor job while 32% rate his performance as average.

Tory Leader Ernie Eves and the provincial Tories are more popular than the Liberals or their leader in the poll.

That's harsh. Even I don't like Mr. Eves.

Posted by Debbye at 08:52 AM | Comments (2)

5 years for Adscam answers

June 8 - According to Justice John Gomery, who is to head the judicial inquiry into Adscam, it could take five years before there are answers about Adscam particularly the burning questions who knew and when did they know it.

Five years? I could be dead and buried by then so consider myself free to draw my own conclusions: they all knew. They knew what they intended to do when they first set up the sponsorship program. And if I'm wrong, no one will know it for at least five years by which time no one will remember.

Five years? There will be another presidential election (Guiliani-Rice ticket), another summer and winter Olympics, and the people of Iran will have thrown off the mullocracy but Canada will be waiting patiently for answers to questions long forgotten.

Two people, Chuck Guite and Jean Brault, have been charged with a dozen counts of fraud. Chuck Guite is the former head of the sponsorship program and Jean Brault is an ad executive.

In preparation for the judicial inquiry, former PM Chretien has requested standing, as have former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano, deputy minister Ranald Quail and the aforementioned Chuck Guite.

If they are granted their requests, their lawyers will be able to play an active role, including questioning witnesses, or at least those who are still alive five years from now.

Posted by Debbye at 08:14 AM | Comments (0)

Brian Mulroney to deliver Reagan eulogy

June 8 - Former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney will deliver a eulogy at President Reagan's funeral on Friday (Farewell to the Gipper) and Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson will attend to represent Canada. (Leave Saul at home. Please.)

NAFTA was crafted by the two men and has been good economically for both countries. The Liberal Party campaigned against the free-trade agreement and promised to scrap it if elected (one of their many promises they didn't keep) and one of Sen. John Kerry's election promises is to scrap NAFTA.

20:10: PM Martin won't attend the funeral. It sure is hard to improve relations with the US while both keeping your distance so as to placate the more left-wing Liberals and not provide the NDP with new ammunition.

Posted by Debbye at 07:48 AM | Comments (2)

June 07, 2004

Thank you, Don (Updated)

June 7 - To heck with it, I'm going to risk being late to work because I want to hear what is probably Don Cherry's last commentary on Coach's Corner. He made the most of his spot on Saturday, praising the Canadian assault on Juno Beach; in what may come to be seen as perhaps his most enduring legacy, Don has never waited for a casualty to express his support for the Canadian military and never hesitated to use his ability to speak to kids to urge them to remember, admire and respect those who serve.

The past 23 years with Don Cherry have been a delightful education for me. Like many women, I was somewhat astonished at this flamboyantly dressed man and more than uncomfortable with some of his statements. As my boys grew up, though, I felt relief than discomfort that someone other than their father and I was giving them some straight talk about sportsmanship (never sucker punch a guy from behind, kids,) backing up your teammates, and playing your heart out.

Not hard to see why the CBC wants to muzzle him.

By the way, Tampa Bay is ahead 1-0 in the first period.

Don is coming on and I'm logging off. Thanks Don, it's been a great era for Canadian hockey coverage.

June 8 - 18:03: Don comments on the lack of talks about his contract.

Posted by Debbye at 08:58 PM | Comments (3)

June 06, 2004

Canada remembers D-Day

June 6 - Peter Worthington reminds us of things We should remember about the storming of Juno Beach by Canadian soldiers 60 years ago, and Mark Bonokoski reminds us to remember today's Canadian soldiers who serve in Afghanistan, the Golan Heights, and Bosnia.

The problem with lies is the intellectual disconnect necessary to maintaining those lies: if Canada has always been a peacekeeping nation, how does that square with those who served in the Boer War, WWI, WWII and Korea? Clearly the Canadian participation on D-Day was a military offensive, yet the Canadian Prime Minister is in France to comemorate that non-peacekeeping mission.

The lack of financial support for the military and the cynical misuse of funds earmarked for the military (exemplified by charging the military budget for former PM Chretien's purchase of two Executive Jets from Bombardier) resulted in Canada's meagre troop assignment in Haiti, the only other francophone nation in this hemisphere and thus the only place in which a French-speaking military command would be of practical value.

How many young Canadians have enlisted in the US military? How many young Canadians have considered doing so? Both the Conservative and Liberal parties have promised to increase the funding and size of the Canadian military, but to what end?

I'm an American, so I see the military through American eyes. I can't accurately judge how Canadians see their military but I do wonder at the pacifist philosophy of the ruling Liberal Party that seeks to recruit young Canadian men and women to a military that is not supposed to fight.

French President Chirac reportedly warned US President Bush against making any comparisons to the war in Iraq during D-Day commemorations, which of course drew more attention to those comparisons than any words President Bush might have spoken!

We finally learnt on Sept. 11 that evil never dies but merely assumes a new face, yet on this D-Day anniversary we are hearing the usual platitude that they fought so that we don't have to which is also is a lie. The truth is that they fought so that we would be able to continue to do so.

Be grateful to those brave men who stormed the beaches, and do so by remaining true to their cause. That is the only possible tribute.

Posted by Debbye at 11:41 AM | Comments (2)

June 01, 2004

Harper pledges to strengthen military

June 1 - A couple of items about the upcoming election: Soldier fortune in which Harper pledges to increase money and troop numbers for the Canadian military, another poll which shows the Liberals slipping, McGuinty is labeled 'political anthrax' and Martin pulling in Chretien advisors for the campaign.

Harper's plans to improve the military is naturally what got my attention first, and the opposing response was typical:

Steven Staples, a defence analyst with the Polaris Institute, said Harper's policy is geared toward a more American-style combat military.

"If you ask Canadians where the government spending priorities should be, seven out of 10 will say education and health care, and only one in 10 will say it should go to defence spending," he said.

"He's appealing to a very narrow group of people."

Yes, the obligatory not-American card.

Moving along, the military has been whittled down (if not starved outright) because it was claimed it was necessary to divert money to finance health care. Now there's no military and the health care system's waiting times will kill you (unless you can afford to travel south for health care.)

Why counterpose one against the other? There is no reason Canada could not adequately fund the military, good health care and fix the education systems (starting to teach kids to read and write would be my first goal.) All we have to do is find a leadership willing to reform the civil service system, eliminate patronge appointments and conduct regular audits to ensure tax dollars are spent as carefully as we spend the money we have left in our own pockets after taxes.

I get monthly statements from my bank. Unlike the current government, I actually look at them and make sure the accounts are reconciled. If there's a discrepancy, I want to know why.

Doesn't everyone?

Lorrie Goldstein injects some common sense and caution in There's McGuinty's way, and the right way.

Posted by Debbye at 05:09 PM | Comments (6)

The Return of The Coyne

June 1 - Andrew Coyne: The Blog is back with a New!Improved!Look but the same, vintage Coyne dry humour and clarity that makes his blog such a joy to read are unchanged.

I found his piece titled "Adscam, the election and the Conservatives" wonderful mostly because he said what I've been fumbling to say for a long time and clarified something I've had a lot of trouble with up here.

Because it isn't just about the $100 million, nor is it restricted to a few rogue bureaucrats and their sleazy advertising-industry friends. It isn't even about corruption, at least as defined in the Criminal Code. Adscam, rather, is woven into the very fabric of Liberal Party dominance, a web of personal, political and even familial ties built up over the party's many years in power and connected at every point with public money. It is of a piece with the HRDC scandal, the gun registry fiasco, the regional development slush funds, the lot. That is why the Liberals, whether Martinite or Chretienite, are so deathly afraid of the whole business. Whatever its virtues as a scandal in its own right, Adscam is more significant as the entry point, the single loose strand from which one can begin to unravel the rest. I do not mean this only in an investigative sense. It is rather the opportunity it provides to focus public attention, adjust public expectations, and through them alter the structure of Canadian politics.
Reform the civil service, get rid of the patronage rewards after elections, and try to make the government accountable to the people of Canada rather then the ruling Party. Check.

But it's this next bit that lends clarity to the muddle Canada has been in for the last little while, and perhaps even some clarity about our Old Europe allies:

For what is striking about the whole Adscam affair is how unsurprising it was, any of it, to anyone. Everyone knew what the Liberals were up to, and everyone knows there is much worse to come. And yet -- perhaps the Liberals' greatest achievement -- we had all grown accustomed to looking the other way, and having looked away the once, to congratulating ourselves on our sophistication. It was deeply shaming, and like all humiliated people, we learned to drown our shame in cynicism. After all, it wasn't as if there was anything we could do to change it. The Liberals were fixed in power, immovably, eternally. (Emphasis added)
I had never thought of cynicism as shame-based, but it could explain a few things, including (by inference) some of the attitudes of the "Anyone But Bush" Democrats in the USA.

Read the whole thing.

Posted by Debbye at 03:30 PM | Comments (0)

May 30, 2004

The terror threat and Canada

May 30 - Both Canada and the USA face national elections soon. The March 11 bombing attack in Madrid and the impact it had on the national elections there produced a lot of theorizing and speculation and Wednesday, US Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller (ref. 'Clear and present danger') went public with their concerns about the potential for a terrorist attack in the USA given the upcoming US elections.

The inclusion of two Canadians, including the notorious Jdey, forces the thought that Canada may well be the target. (There will be a national election here June 28.)

Shortly after Sept. 11, I asked Mark what he thought the public response would be in Canada if there was a terrorist attack here. He replied that people would complain about gas prices (he's a dyed-in-the-wool cynic.)

Well, Canadians are already complaining about gas prices, so I raised the question again last night, and he responded that Canadians are finally "getting" it and would correctly aim their outrage at the terrorists even though Old Media would use the attack as another plank in their anti-American campaign.

The one thing Westerners (civilisationally, not regionally!) still have had difficulty grasping is that al Qaeda doesn't care which party rules a country: their aim is to destablize and terrify, period. How do I know that? Because al Qaeda told us so.

We also have trouble accepting what al Qaeda says at face value, even though their track record indicates that are stating the unvarnished truth.

That's why appeasement is as fruitless now as it has always been, why US withdrawal from Saudi military bases and the ending of UN sanctions on Iraq (remember bin Laden's justification for jihad against the US?) resulted in an increase of armed confrontation in Saudi Arabia and their open alignment with the Ba'athists in Iraq even though it was Saddam's corruption of the U.N. Oil-For-Food program that caused the deaths of Iraqi babies.

There is an additional complication: the full-blown, outright anti-Americanism led by the Toronto Star and CBC is bound to cause a reaction from Americans. The outpouring of American solidarity with Spain - then an ally - after the March 11 may not be matched if Canada - not an ally - is hit. The fact that Canada's military and security forces are already over-extended and the unfortunate circumstance that an idiot (Anne McClellan) is in charge of Canadian security puts the ruling Liberal Party in a bit of a briar patch: if PM Martin choses to use Opposition leader Stephen Harper's support of the US effort in Iraq as a weapon during the electoral campaign, he further exacerbates relations between the US and Canada but if a terrorist attack happens up here and he calls upon the US to help Canada, more than a few Americans will say "Call France."

It saddens me, but I'll be one of them, or at least I'll be conflicted. Is a docile Canadian citizenry worth the lives of America's sons and daughters? Or are Canadians less docile than they themselves have been led to believe?

Tomorrow is Memorial Day, and it will be sadder this year than in years past. We've lost some outstanding men and women in Iraq and will lose more. We knew going in that the losses would deprive us of the kind of people that make our country strong and could only pray that their sacrifices would inspire others much as President Lincoln articulated in his Gettysburg Address: so "they not have died in vain."

It's hard to keep perspective up here in Toronto, and hard to remember that, despite it's pretensions, Toronto is not the Center of the Universe much less Canada.

But (and this may seem contradictory) there is a different Canadian that co-exists with that portrayed by the media. The hockey game last night is a case in point: Jerome Iginla scored a Gordie Howe hat trick: a goal, an assist, and a fight.

Is a country that cheers Canadians like Iginla truly passive? I don't think so. But then, it's not me that has to get it, it's Canadians themselves who could be on the brink of defining themselves in something in terms other than unlike Americans.

Posted by Debbye at 10:55 AM | Comments (3)

Is Joe Clark delusional or unscrupulous?

May 30 - A real question mark has been raised about former Progressive Conservative leader Joe Clark in this Greg Weston column Clark, McLellan: They had it made. Read the whole thing.

I don't know if it's true; certainly it would explain some of the odd behaviour by the old Progressive Conservative party leadership, but it's based on "unnamed sources" which leaves it short of total authenticity.

Posted by Debbye at 10:30 AM | Comments (0)

May 22, 2004

Reads that make you go "hmm"

May 23 - When you live in Ontario, aka the Center of the Universe, news from Canada tend to end at the borders of the GTA (although some information about the national government does trickle down from Ottawa, we hear or read little about the doings in Ottawa itself.)

As for the west, if it isn't sports-related it just isn't important, right? Uh huh.

I have to get off to work, and am still wading through Bill's latest essay (see below) but if you already got through it here's a bit more:

Terror in the Heartland? by Shafer Parker and some thoughts on the defeatism of Old Media, a David Warren essay, both from the Western Standard.

Belmont Club has Trivial Pursuit and The Wedding Party 2 and Winds of Change has Why is Israel in Gaza. I'm having Jenin horror stories flashbacks. Did you really believe disinformation was a unique Western practice?

I should mention Winds of Change more often because the group puts out an incredible amount of interesting, multi-linked information. There's a number of posts on the Sufism branch of Islam and are starting a regular Hatewatch briefing.

Warning: reading Winds of Change and following their many links can become a (good) habit.

On a lighter note, Rocket Jones has a neat story about the payload aboard an amateur rocket that achieved space.

I'm off work tomorrow for Victoria Day, but looking forward to the Angel marathon running on Space: The Imagination Station (they better show Hero and Lullaby. I'm just sayin' ...)

The big news is that Philly is O-U-T of the playoffs. Boo hoo. I've got family in Tampa, but too bad, cuz. Time for the Cup to come back North.

Go Calgary! and everyone have a good weekend with lots of fireworks and fun. Hopefully the clouds will lift from Toronto for tomorrow night's bash.

Posted by Debbye at 11:17 PM | Comments (5)

May 20, 2004

Anti-semitism in Alberta

May 20 - There's an article by Ezra Levant in the Western Standard to which I'm late linking but no one should miss it: A riot, two firebombings and bin Laden graffiti--in friendly Alberta. That's right, in Alberta.

I wasted days before posting it because I was trying to summarize and isolate key quotes; it defied me, and that's a compliment. It just hangs together too well to pick and chose, and the context musn't be lost.

You might also check out this account of some gays who attempted to join a demonstration in support of the people of Palestine. The article saddened me.

Why don't women and gays recognize the danger aimed directly at them by extreme Islamicism? Probably because that kind of thing lies beyond our experiences in the West - the same kind of upside down reasoning that figures the abuses at Abu Ghraib are equal to the abuses of Saddam.

Here, a woman can get angry if a man opens the door for her. When that's the definition of oppression, how does one comprehend honour killings?

Or maybe it's all right-wing propaganda. Yeah! That's it! Right-wing racist propaganda! /sarcasm

Seeing is not necessarily believing, I guess.

Healing Iraq and Iraq the Model are full of excellent posts and provide a lot of common sense that media pundits should heed.

I have to go in to work tonight, so I'll leave you to read those.

And, sorry Sharks fans, but GO FLAMES!!.

Posted by Debbye at 02:34 PM | Comments (2)

Think of the children!

May 20 - No, really, that's what the Ontario premier said in defence of the latest budget: It's for the sake of the kids.

"I know we are placing a burden on our families," McGuinty said yesterday. "I'm asking our families to think not only of themselves, but also of their children and the kind of health care system that we long to leave to the next generation." (Emphasis added)
I really wonder at our premier's lack of imagination and good sense to invoke an over-worked phrase which would inevitably provoke so much derision in order to justify tax hikes.

Sheesh, is it too much to ask that they pretend to make an effort? Like maybe try to dress old garbage in a new package? Isn't that what we pay them for?

Damian Penny recently wrote me that Helen Lovejoy is responsible for that phrase:

"Oh, won't somebody please think of the children!!!"

So there you have it folks; the Ontario budget is an upcoming Simpson's episode.

Posted by Debbye at 01:16 PM | Comments (2)

May 19, 2004

Budget puts premiums on healthcare

May 19 - It's just too depressing to post about the Ontario budget that was presented today. Cigarettes, beer and renewal of driver's licenses are going up, and in a really nasty move, we will be paying out of pocket for eye exams as well as chiropractors and physiotherapy (Liberals see a need for health premium.)

Jack's Newswatch has a Donato cartoon that pretty much sums up my mood. CTV seems to have a pretty comprehensive round-up of today's dismal budget.

We're going to a friend's surprise birthday party, so I'll be back later.

Posted by Debbye at 07:28 PM | Comments (3)

Court upholds restrictions on electoral spending

May 19 - Court OKs 'gag law' or, as Damian Penny puts it, "But for the life of me, I simply cannot comprehend the idea that less speech from anyone other than a political party is essential to safeguard democracy ..."

Bob at Let It Bleed comments on a column on the subject by the Toronto Star's Carol Goar. Needless to say, he isn't gentle.

Welcome back, Bob!

Posted by Debbye at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

Zerbisias vs. Bloggers and a sad announcement

May 19 - Blog readers are probably aware of some shots exchanged between Toronto Star columnist Antonia Zerbisias and some noted bloggers, including Damian Penny, James Lileks and Kathy Shaidle.

Damian led off with his reponse and links to other responses in Welcome Toronto Star readers, Antoniapalooza! and More Zerb Reaction (including links to James Lilek's and Bob Tarantino's reponses.)

Today, the Star published Damian's response in their Letter's to the Editor with an edit; see Damian's The Missing Scare Quotes.

I hesitated to comment on this because on one level - a level that Zerbisias should be ashamed to occupy - the woman has a point: bloggers who support Operation Iraq Freedom are less happy than we could be. The deaths that have happened this spring have hurt us. How fortunate for Zerbisias that she can sidestep that to rejoice in our grief.

We started with optimism as the new Iraq Constitution was presented only to shock when over 178 Shi'ias were killed, 140 killed in the bombing attacks of the Ashura religious processionals in Iraq and 38 in Pakistan.

Iraqi and soldier bloggers have made news of terrorist attacks very personal for us. That is one of the joys of the blogosphere, but one of the drawbacks: someone you know may be among the wounded or dead.

Does she know that there were insurrections in parts of Iran following the rigged elections there? Or that International Women's Day Marches were attacked by security forces in Iran?

Crackdowns in Iran matter to people who know that Iranian bloggers are in constant danger of exposure and arrest. Zerb, of course, doesn't have that kind of worry gnawing at her.

How about the March 11 terrorist attack in Madrid? Not a real happy event. There were also attacks in Kosovo, Israel, the Hotel Lebanon in Baghdad was bombed killing over 20 people, and the Kurds in Syria had an uprising too that was harshly put down.

A wave of anti-Semitic acts swept the Toronto area beginning that month. That didn't make me happy either, nor did the fire-bombing of a Montreal school.

Canadian Andy Bradsell was killed, as was blogger Bob Zangas and the Men of Fallujah. Fallujah was brought under control with persistence and US military deaths. I felt gratitude and humility, but not joy.

The disgraceful conduct of some soldiers at the Abu Graib prison didn't make me happy nor did the murder of Nick Berg.

Maybe we aren't happy, Zerb, because we actually care about what we read. We care about the deaths of innocents. We don't have your capacity to rejoice when innocent people die because we see things differently: you want President Bush to be proven wrong, and we want to see the end of this scourge called terrorism.

You want President Bush to be proven wrong, and we want to see Iraq take its place as a free country that can confidently take its place in the world and be a beacon of hope for Arabs.

Most of all, our focus isn't about being right, it's about trying to get it right. But then history won't judge you at all, because you won't rate a mention.

I'm bringing all this up now because another member of the blogosphere has had a death in her family. Via Wizbang, Gennie of Dizzy Girl lost her nephew in Iraq. He was a Marine who was hit by shrapnel while handing out candy and frisbee to some Iraqi kids. Read that again, and realize that the kids were present.

He was a hero, and he exemplifies everything that is right about US soldiers and our mission in Iraq.

It's so hard to write about this. It's so hard to log onto a soldier's blog, or a blog from Iraq, or a blog from Iran, and note that he or she hasn't posted for a couple of days and not be afraid for them.

The war has a personal face for most of us, and it isn't fun or happy. But for some reason, we manage to keep posting. And we manage to do it with a lot more class, restraint and compassion that anything you churn out.

Posted by Debbye at 03:30 PM | Comments (4)

May 18, 2004

UNSCAM and Canada

May 18 - Devastating summary of the connection between UNSCAM, the Desmarais family and PM Paul Martin in the Canada Free Press Cover Story (short-life link) starting with these:

First came the shock that United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annans son, Kojo was connected to the ill-fated program. According to the New York Post On-Line edition, family members of former UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali are officers of a Panamanian-registered company in which Benon Sevan, a UN assistant Secretary General, appointed to administer the oil-for-food program, had a connection.

The Post said it got its information about the Boutros-Ghali connection from Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British businessman and advisor to the Iraqi governing council.

Claude Hankes-Drielsma is the man who retained the accounting firm KMPG to audit the UN Oil for Food program which was key to forcing Annan to agree to first an internal and then an independent inquiry on the program.
Just weeks ago, Boutros-Ghali was awarded the prestigious Order of Canada. Only nine foreigners have been so honoured, and even as the former UN Secretary General was receiving the award, some Canadian officials were calling it "strange" because the Rwandan genocide happened under his watch as UN Secretary General.
Remember Romeo Dallaire?
It was under Boutros-Ghalis direction that the UN 420-page Our Global Neighbourhood, which produced the blueprint for global governance, was published.

When Boutros-Ghali left the UN, he went on to head the Francophonie, the organization of French-speaking nations.

It gets worse.

Canadians are also said to have made oil deals with Saddam, and ties with the Canadian Company involved go all the way up to Prime Minister Paul Martins office.

The involvement of Arthur Millholland is unproven; Martin ties to the Desmarais family is common knowledge.
In the Canadian connection, its a man called Paul Desmaris (sic). Desmaris is the largest shareholder and director of TotalFinaElf, the largest corporation in France, which held tens of billions of dollars in contracts with the deposed regime of Saddam Hussein.

Martin replaced Prime Minister Jean Chretien last December. Chretiens daughter, France is married to Andre Desmaris, son of Paul Desmaris.

Martin maintains powerful UN connections through Annans special UN advisor Maurice Strong. In fact, Strong, who also happens to be the architect of the Kyoto Protocol, hired Martin in the 1960s to work for Paul Desmaris Sr.

According to respected Financial Post columnist Diane Francis, "In 1974, Desmaris made Martin president of Canada Steamship Lines and then in 1981, he made him spectacularly rich by selling the company to him and a partner for $180 million. Martins shipping company is estimated to be worth about $424 million, making him the 63rd richest person in Canada."

Shortly after his arrival in the Prime Ministers office, Martin gave the company to his three sons.

The connection between Martin and Desmarais has never been in dispute, but utter the magic word Halliburton to stimulate the "no blood for oil" folks up here, not TotalFinaElf.

But imagine these business connections happened in the USA. But of course you don't have to imagine, because we've been subjected to the phrases "Bush's oil buddies" and "Cheney and his former company Halliburton" relentlessly. Why do Canada's prime ministers get a free pass?

I just don't get Canadian politics or the media. Except for the occasional Diane Francis column in the Financial Post, and to echo a National Post column on this theme by Elizabeth Nickson last January (no permalinks to the original source) this is a story that seemingly generates no interest or outrage.

I'm sorry to say this, but this is perhaps the Great Divide between Americans and Canadians. I'm at a loss to explain it, and maybe I'm wrong, but I just can't imagine that these kinds of business relationships would be ignored by either the media or the electorate in the USA.

Americans are not always that well informed either. Here I am getting increasingly concerned about Bremer's obstruction of the IGC invesigation of UNSCAM, an investigation about which few Americans are even aware (unless they read the NY Post, Wall Street Journal or Washington Times. Or are FNC viewers.)

Roger Simon has an explanation for Bremer's obstruction - of sorts.

Via Instapundit, who has an ouch-worthy conclusion.

Friends of Saddam also linked to this item, and has a category for Canadian connections to UNSCAM.

Posted by Debbye at 03:54 AM | Comments (8)

May 17, 2004

Pizza wars

May 17 - M'kay, I suppose it is a free trade issue, but for pizza lovers its also a quality issue, as in Delissio tastes a lot better than McCain's. Pizza Pizza just got my business back. (Canada turns up heat on frozen pizza)

Posted by Debbye at 10:27 PM | Comments (0)

May 15, 2004

3 arrested in Montreal Jewish school fire-bombing

May 15 - Jews relieved after firebombing arrests (and, I suspect, quite a number of non-Jews.)

MONTREAL'S JEWISH community expressed relief yesterday after police said they had arrested five people in the widely condemned firebombing at a school last month. Police picked up four men aged 18 to 20 and a woman in her early 30s but gave no details on their ethnic background.
According to this at the Western Standard blog, two men were released and 3 held: Sleman Elmerhebi and Simon Zogheib. Also charged for being an accomplice after the fact is the mother of Mr Elmerhebi, Rouba Fahd Elmerhebi. (Update: more details here.)

Via Norman's Spectator, a Globe and Mail article here:

Radio-Canada reported that the four young men are of Middle Eastern origin.

"It's not over. We're expecting more arrests," said a Montreal police spokesman, Constable Ian Lafrenire. Montreal police had been under tremendous pressure to solve the case, which was broadly condemned by politicians and religious leaders of all stripes.

"The more people involved, the more troubling it is. With five people being arrested together, there was obviously some kind of organization," said Jeffrey Boro, president of the Canadian Jewish Congress in Quebec. Mr. Boro, a criminal lawyer, said the possibility of further arrests was even more worrisome. "Five is troubling. More than five becomes alarming."

Posted by Debbye at 09:03 PM | Comments (2)

Terror watch in Canada

May 15 - Khalid Khawaja, who is self-described as a friend of Osama bin Laden's, says Canada deserves bombing because it is a friend of the USA and Canada was mean to the Khadrs (which is grimly ironic, given that many Canadians would say the government was far too helpful.) The article quotes Khawaja:

"Look at these Canadians. They have millions and millions of dollars to fight against Muslims, to send their troops, to send their weapons, and all of them put together, they have objections to giving treatment to this 14 year-old-boy who has been a victim of your terrorism."
This man is behind on the news. We spent those millions and millions of dollars in something called Adscam, and it definitely had nothing to do with fighting anyone, including Muslims, and misplaced some more millions on the Gun Registry, which is about destroying our ability to fight anyone. As for funding of the Canadian Forces ... I only wish the government here was actually funding them instead of consigning them to death by slow starvation.

Would he feel better if he knew that a chunk of the Defence budget went to purchase two Executive Jets for Chretien back when he was Prime Minister? No?

Bin Laden first publicly encouraged attacks against Canada in a statement broadcast on Nov. 12, 2002. In March, 2004, an al-Qaeda manual posted on the Internet ranked Canadians as the fifth most important targets.

But al-Qaeda and its ideological theorists have provided little explanation as to why. Canada did not send troops to Iraq, its foreign policy is not particularly pro-Israel and Ottawa has not been overly aggressive in fighting terror.

The writer is still looking for reasons. That's not a shot at Stewart Bell, in fact far from it, because I too instinctively wonder "Why?" whenever I read about most anything. Granted, I've concluded the answer to be "Because they're evil" whenever al Qaeda comes up, but that was after I asked the question.

To be clear, I think that our willingness to ask Why? is one of the strengths of Western civilization, even though it does at times hamper our ability to respond adequately to what Ghost of a Flea once termed the morally insane.

A top Canadian terrorism expert said Mr. Khawaja's comments were typical of the way al-Qaeda followers view the world, as divided between two conflicting religious and cultural camps: Dar ul-Islam, the perfect Muslim world, and Dar ul-Harb, the immoral rest of the world.

I don't think women's rights and gay marriage exist in the perfect al Qaeda world, but we musn't forget that Straight White Men are the real enemy.

"Canada, as a secular democratic society, is by definition assigned to Dar ul-Harb. From the perspective of al-Qaeda and associated Islamic militants, it is incumbent upon Muslims to wage a jihad, a holy war, against Dar ul-Harb in order to destroy its perceived evils and transform those societies into Dar ul-Islam," said Professor Martin Rudner.

"According to this doctrine, Canada is a religiously sanctioned target for terrorism, suicide bombing and political violence," said Prof. Rudner, Director of the Canadian Centre of Intelligence and Security Studies at Carleton University's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs.

A Canadian intelligence report written shortly after bin Laden first urged attacks against Canada said the country was singled out "in view of its support of the U.S." The more recent al-Qaeda manual explains only that Canada is a "Christian" country. (My emphasis)

So, Canadian Members of Parliament and an aide to then PM Chretien insulted our national leaders, poll after poll has indicated Canadians think we Americans are too arrogant, too patriotic and too religious, and that they hate our president and consider him too religious; in short, the pollsters have done verything possible to indicate that Canada is not a friend of the United States and is suspicious of Christianity, yet Canada is still on the short list as a terrorist target.

According to a translation of an article written by Abu Ayman al-Hilali, a senior al-Qaeda leader and ideologist, the United States, Britain, France, Italy, Canada, Germany, and Australia are "enemies" and attacks against their civilians are justified. Since Western governments are engaged in a war against Islam, he argued, the civilian voters who elect those governments cannot be considered non-combatants and are legitimate targets for terrorists.
Three and a half of the nations mentioned are in the Anglosphere! Read the whole thing to catch the playing of the ubiquitous Victim Card.

Canadian pollsters and the media have managed to alienate Americans while failing to appease Islamofascists. Now that's nuanced politics, and, to paraphrase Lincoln, proves that you can alienate all of the people some of the time! (An older poll revealed that Canadians were confident that, if Canada was attacked, America would rush to defend her. So far as I know, no similar poll has ever been conducted in the USA.)

By the way, observant readers will note that the person interviewed bears the same last name as the Ottawa resident arrested on terrorism charges last March, Mohammed Momin Khawaja, but there is nothing to indicate there is any connection between the two men so please don't ask.

Sorry, I know I'm coming off as really cranky in this post, but it's only because I got even more cranky after reading this.

(Links from Ghost of a Flea's post Appeasement in the Western Standard blog.)

Posted by Debbye at 06:35 PM | Comments (9)

May 11, 2004

Andy Bradsell

May 11 - June, Andy's aunt, sent some pictures that I've posted at the bottom of the page here. One is of Andy and the family, and the other is a wonderful picture of Hunter.

Posted by Debbye at 09:16 PM | Comments (2)

May 03, 2004

Don Cherry, Greatest Canadian

May 3 - The movement to have Grapes greatest Canadian (?) made today's Toronto Sun in a brief article by Brett Clarkson.

Of course, the question "Why?" is harder to put into words, but I think part of the reason is because Don Cherry unabashedly represents the Canadian "Everyman."

He's honest (to a fault), knows right from wrong, is loyal to friend and country, and goes to great lengths to teach youngsters not only hockey skills but good sportsmanship and decent behaviour on and off the ice.

He is a staunch friend to our soldiers, fireman and policeman.

He wears his heart on his sleeve (and on his hats, ties, and jackets.)

The webpage for nominations is here, and Meatriarchy has updates on the drive here and here.

Posted by Debbye at 08:05 PM | Comments (10)

May 01, 2004

The U.S. and Canada on the U.N.

May 1 - Appears UNSCAM isn't going unnoticed by the Bush administration. Glad Jack's Newswatch caught these while I was putting out fires yesterday: 'Hang' U.N. Oil Ra$cals:

April 30, 2004 -- WASHINGTON - The State Department's No. 2 official said yesterday that those guilty of corruption in the U.N. oil-for-food program "ought to hang."
What did I tell you? Give 'em enough rope ...

What I didn't expect was for Canadian PM Paul Martin to distance himself from the U.N., especially so soon after Kofi Annan addressed Parliament to a warm and admiring audience, and the Davos conference where Martin said:

Annan will be the first secretary general of the UN to address Parliament in the organization's 59-year existence. He was invited to the capital before U.S. President George W. Bush, something that Martin said he did deliberately to show "that Canada has a very important role to play in the world."
Yeah, I never got the logic of that statement either.

And what about the U.N. University for Peace that is to be installed in Toronto?

Read this and this and see if you can figure it out.

Maybe Martin took flip-flop lessons from Sen. Kerry ...

May 3 - 13:47: Roger Simon and commenters have more on Martin's speech here.

Posted by Debbye at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

April 29, 2004

Don Cherry, Canadian

Apr. 29 - People living in Canada have doubtless heard of CBC's contest to select the Greatest Canadian, and in whole-hearted agreement with Jay Currie and The Meatriarchy, I am spreading the word:

Go nominate Don Cherry! The nomination form is here, (note it is only open to Canadians living in Canada or abroad.)

16:16: From commenter Nik, it's possible Don Cherry's contract won't be picked up by CBC next season (and the article further notes that there may not be NHL play in 2005 unless they can settle the contract dispute.)

22:00: Paul's aboard!

Posted by Debbye at 01:49 PM | Comments (2)

Sharia in Ontario

Apr. 29 - The Washington Post has taken note of Canada: Canadians Allow Islamic Courts To Decide Disputes. Excerpts:

A 1991 Ontario arbitration law permits such arbitration according to religious principles, just as rabbis in Jewish communities and priests in Christian communities help to resolve civil disputes, said Brendan Crawley, a spokesman for the Ontario attorney general.

"People can agree to resolve disputes any way acceptable," Crawley said in an interview. "If they decide to resolve disputes using principles of sharia and using an imam as an arbitrator, that is perfectly acceptable under the arbitration act."

As the article notes, this is only for civil disputes and sharia tribunals cannot rule for third parties, including children. The key quote is from Concordia anthroplogy professor, Homa Hoodfar, who notes:

"I just feel this is completely 'black box' and nobody knows what is in it, and yet the government is giving the go-ahead for it. They didn't consult the Muslim community. They didn't put out a discussion. Nobody knows what it is."
We can say that about a lot of decisions up here: they just land with no warning or public discussion.

What hasn't been assessed by those who approved the tribunals are the consequences if a Muslim woman elects to let a Canadian civil court arbitrate civil issue such as divorce. Alia Hogben of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women said:

"If I am a woman of faith, and the community of people who see themselves as leaders say that if I do not follow the sharia court here, the Islamic Institute, then I will be tantamount to blasphemy and apostasy," Hogben said in a debate shown on Canadian television. "And you know that in some countries, apostasy means death sentence."

It's a pretty balanced piece, free of hysteria and addresses concerns over the tribunals.

(Link via Right Wing News.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:46 AM | Comments (6)

April 26, 2004

Canadian security

Apr. 26 - In preparation for the upcoming visit by PM Martin to D.C. and in the aftermath of Sept. 11, Canada's first security policy is to be tabled this week (Security on front burner.) Uh huh.

In another related story, RCMP commissioner Guiliano Zaccardelli told an international conference on counter-terrorism that Canadians need to begin to assess how best to balance security and privacy, noting that these assessments have yet to take place among lawmakers as well as citizens:

Zaccardelli said Canadians haven't even talked about that balance.
Is it just me, or was that admission downright embarrassing? at a conference on counter-terrorism, no less.

I predict that the upcoming meeting between President Bush and Prime Minister Martin will be spun by the Canadian media as Martin giving Bush advice and offering expertise in whatever the government's Expertise Flavour of the Week might be at the time (I think we can safely rule out balancing security concerns with privacy, though.) The US government will acknowledge the visit, probably in a press briefing, and there won't be much spin but platitudes aplenty: "The President and Prime Minister had a very fruitful discussion ... it was a valuable exchange of ideas ... they got along quite well ... shoulder to shoulder ... the Terrence-Phillip issue didn't come up ..."

Apr. 28 - 17:55: Here's a brief overview of the security plan and there's more in depth at CTV news including this curious bit:

To ensure that civil liberties are protected as the country strengthens its security systems, a new advisory body will be established, called the Cross-Cultural Roundtable on Security.

It will be composed of representatives of cultural groups and religious communities and will provide a forum for concerns about how security efforts may be affecting Canada's multicultural society.

"The National Security Policy protects our collective security interests in a way that reflects core Canadian values of tolerance, openness and respect for fundamental rights and freedoms," said McLellan.

Posted by Debbye at 02:42 PM | Comments (3)

April 25, 2004

Arthur Millholland confides in the Globe and Mail

Apr. 25 - An article about Canadian Arthur Millholland of Oilexco Ltd., who was on the list of oil voucher recipients. (Friends of Saddam: Millholland Says UN Knew links to Axis of Logic which links to a piece in Friday's Globe and Mail Executive says oil-for-food program was rife with corruption.)

Millholland asserts his innocence and that he would never be party to bribery or corruption. The article concludes with a lofty assertion of high principles and decency:

Mr. Millholland has travelled to Iraq several times and he has been an outspoken critic of the sanctions and the U.S. occupation. He said he got Oilexco into the oil-for-food program as a way of helping people in the country and he resents any suggestion that he was an apologist for the Saddam regime.

He said he welcomed the UN review of the oil-for-food program. "It wasn't a total failure from a humanitarian perspective," Mr. Millholland said. "But the other side of it was the corruption of it. The questions from the diplomatic side is, did they know about the corruption and overlook it and say that it was something that was inherent in the system and it was a lesser of two evils. In other words, if you have kids that are dying, do you stop the food going in to stop the corruption and cause more kids to die?"

Think of the children. How original.

A real reporter would have asked "And when you found no kids had died because of the sanctions but many died due to the expired drugs and substandard hospital equipment, did you feel like a total idiot?"

Or "When you learned that Saddam had a prison just for children, did you feel the slightest twinge of doubt?"

Or even "Can you describe how you felt when the bodies of children clutching their dolls were unearthed in mass graves?"

The reporter, by the way, is Paul Waldie.

Posted by Debbye at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)

Joe Clark, MP

Apr. 25 - Jack Davies has a devastating post on former Conservative leader and (briefly) PM Joe Clark and his recent endorsement of Paul Martin:

Joe Clark, the saviour of all that was worthwhile in the conservative movement. The Liberals loved it and because the Liberals loved it, the media did too. In the service of the Liberal Party and Liberal government, they built his political acumen out of all proportion to what the man is really capable of. It also served their own ends.

He became a legend in his own mind as he began to believe all the nice things his political enemies were saying about him!

Apr. 27 - 12:35: Joe Clark should have stayed Joe Who. Now Paul is on his case... and Bob is running a contest to Name Joe Clark's World.

Posted by Debbye at 09:59 PM | Comments (4)

War on terrorism, Canadian style

Apr. 25 - I'm certainly not going to disagree that it is important for Muslims in Canada to know their legal rights (30,000 pocket guides on how to deal with CSIS circulating among Muslims.)

Mustafa, 26, an Islamic school official in Ottawa, has memorized the guide and says it's a handy tool for his students. He didn't want his last name published.

"It's very important given the (political) climate we are living in," he said.

The guide is free and available upon request, but an abbreviated version can also be downloaded from the CAIR-CAN website. It is part of the group's Ottawa Raid Community Kit, a larger education campaign dealing with the fallout from the RCMP raid on the Khawaja family home in Ottawa last month.

Canadian-born Mohammad Momin Khawaja, 29, faces two terrorism-related charges. Details of his case remain secret, but it's the first time a charge has been laid under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act.

"It's been a huge shocker for the community," he added. "In this case, it is a family well-known in the community."

"So there is certainly this fear that if it can happen to someone who is so run-of-the-mill in the community, then it can happen to me."

What's missing? They mention Mohammad Momin Khawaja, and you might well think I mean the Khadr family who's brazen flouting of their terrorist sympathies and close association with bin Laden, however loathsome, is not in violation of Canadian law.

Maybe you're thinking of would-be LAX bomber Ahmed Ressam, but he's in jail in the US, not Canada, because an American border guard caught him. His roommate in Montreal, Mustapha Labsi, was also said to be trained by al Qaeda, but he was arrested in London and released after serving a 6 month sentence.

Maybe you're thinking of Raouf Hannachi, who Ressem says recruited him. He returned to Tunisia.

And what of fellow al Qaeda trainee Adil Charkaoui, known to Ressem as Zubeir Al-Magrebi, who remains in Canadian custody on a security certificate and may be a sleeper of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group?

Amr Mohamed Hamed of British Columbia was killed at an Afghan al Qaeda training camp in 1998, but not Montreal Abderaouf Jdey, who's martyr suicide note was found in Kabul and for whom the FBI has issued a world-wide warrant for his arrest.

Maher Arar was released by Syria without explanation shortly after the US vetoed a UNSC condemnation of Israel for bombing a terrorist camp in Syria. I thought it was wrong to send him to Syria when he was first detained in the US on principle, and his release from Sytia is not, for me, proof of his innocence (except in the "until proven guilty" sense.)

Does the name Mohammed Abdullah Warsame ring a bell? He too is under inditement in the USA.

The most dangerous Canadian until his capture in Thailand may have been Jabarah who was in charge of al Qaeda operations in Asia and played a leading role in the Bali bombing.

[Apr. 26 - I got up this morning and it hit me: Hambali, who is not a Canadian, was captured in Thailand. Jabarah was taken into custody in a third country, deported to Canada, and from here turned over to US officials to a hue and cry from the media and civil rights groups. His home is St. Catharines. His brother was killed in a shootout with Saudi police.]

The truth about the political climate we're living in is that it makes everyone nervous. The truth about CAIR is a rant for another time.

Apr. 26 - 9:10 Fred points out I forgot Marc Lepine, born Gamil Rodrigue Gharbi, of the 1989 Montreal Massacre. Thank you for the reminder and the link, Fred.

Posted by Debbye at 05:24 PM | Comments (4)

What to wear to concerts ...

Apr. 25 - I'll bet the first thing you thought of wasn't a bullet-proof vest.

Posted by Debbye at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)

April 22, 2004

Go Leafs!

Apr. 22 - I managed to catch some sleep (I worked last night) and it's almost face-off time.

Mark reports that the morning show on Q107 has been having fun with this round of the play-offs. Apparently they've got this ditty going:

We hate the Flyers.
Bobby Clarke is a Maggot.

Okay, it isn't poetry, but it is emotionally satisfying.

Guess you'd have to remember some play-offs during the 70's to get how some of us feel about the Flyers (and I'm not saying it's rational, it just is.)

Next superstition we invoke is putting the Leafs poster up in the window (never ever put it up during the first round of the play-offs. That's bad luck.) Gotta run and do that like now - no, wait, let the Men Do The Work.

I think we're now allowed to say "the Leafs could go all the way this year if they can just get past Philly" but I have to check.

Posted by Debbye at 07:34 PM | Comments (4)

U.N. Oil for Food Program scandal (UNSCAM) hits British media

Apr. 22 - The Oil for Food program scandal (UNSCAM) has been covered by several articles today in the Daily Telegraph (UK) as well as other media in Britain, Canada, and the U.S.

From the Telegraph, UN officials 'covered up Saddam theft of billions in aid for Iraqis':

Saddam Hussein diverted huge sums from the 60 billion United Nations oil-for-food programme for the poor and sick of pre-war Iraq to foreign governments and vocal supporters of his regime worldwide, the US Congress heard yesterday.

Senior UN, French and Russian officials were alleged to have connived at the scandal, said Claude Hankes-Drielsma, who is leading the Iraqi Governing Council inquiry into the affair.

He said some suppliers, mostly Russian, routinely sent out-of-date or unfit food, or sent fewer goods than were paid for and padded out contracts. In that way they created an excess that could be skimmed off by Iraqi officials.

One of those named in Iraqi files as having received bribes on the sale of oil is Benon Sevan, the UN official in charge of the programme. Mr Sevan, who is on extended leave pending retirement, denied the claims.

Mr Hankes-Drielsma, a former leading executive at the London-based auditors Price Waterhouse, said that Saddam and his henchmen pocketed billions in surcharges and bribes.

The biggest humanitarian scheme in the UN's history had provided the dictator and "his corrupt and evil regime with a convenient vehicle through which he bought support internationally by bribing political parties, companies, journalists and other individuals of influence.

"The very fact that Saddam Hussein, the UN and certain members of the Security Council could conceal such a scam from the world should send shivers down every spine in this room today."

The Telegraph also has a scathing leader (editorial) Iraq has enough troubles without adding the U.N. which concludes:
There are enough problems attendant on the birth of democracy in Iraq without burdening the country with an organisation that proved so inadequate in confronting the previous dictatorship, whether over oil for food or defiance of Security Council resolutions. George W Bush and Tony Blair may welcome shedding the odious status of occupiers. But they should be under no illusions that the UN will prove an adequate substitute. Given its record in the Balkans and the Middle East, their continuing faith in that body as providing a unique cloak of legitimacy is astonishing.

Another article, Saddam cronies grew rich on cash meant for the starving, points out the hypocrisy of those on the UNSC opposed to the war:

Yesterday, the United States Congress was told that Iraqi files indicated that some of the most vocal critics of sanctions were on the take from Saddam Hussein, benefiting from monies intended to buy food and medicine.

Such friends of Iraq were granted vouchers to buy and trade Iraqi oil, though such vouchers should have been reserved for oil firms with refineries. The vouchers allowed the bearers to make millions in profits.

One of those named in Iraqi files as having profited from the sale of oil is Benon Sevan, the top UN official in charge of the oil-for-food programme. Another is a former French ambassador to the UN, Jean-Bernard Merimee, according to Claude Hankes-Drielsma, who is leading the Iraqi Governing Council's inquiry into the issue.

He told a Congressional sub-committee that Iraq's suppliers routinely sent out of date, or unfit, food to Iraq, or sent fewer goods than were paid for, in order to "pad out" contracts so they could be "skimmed off" by Iraqi officials. Most of those suppliers were Russian companies.

Those involved have reason to fear, Congress was told.

The fall of Saddam uncovered a mountain of meticulous files in several Iraqi ministries, detailing every last aspect of the bribes and commissions extracted by those in Saddam's pay.

[...]

UN officials, for their part, have called for evidence of the claims being made, and hinted - off the record - that the investigations were being driven by the political animus of Ahmad Chalabi, a Pentagon favourite who is disliked and distrusted at the UN. But Mr Hankes-Drielsma told Congress that the UN had a clear case to answer, which ran to the very top.

"From the information available to date, it is clear that the UN failed in its responsibility to the Iraqi people in administering the oil-for-food programme during the period 1995 to 2003. It will not come as a surprise if the oil-for-food programme turns out to be one of the world's most disgraceful scams and an example of inadequate control, responsibility and transparency, providing an opportune vehicle for Saddam Hussein to operate under the United Nations aegis to continue his reign of terror and oppression."

He added that it appeared to be no coincidence that the countries most involved in the corruption - Russia, France and Syria, to name just three - were among the fiercest opponents of toppling Saddam as they sat in the UN Security Council.

Then, in How the system was abused,
According to Al Mada, the Iraqi newspaper that listed the names of some of the individuals allegedly involved in the scam, French and Russian middlemen formed the largest group.

Russians received more than 2.5 billion barrels of cut-rate crude, some 1.4 billion barrels of which went to the Russian state, according to Iraqi documents leaked to the paper.

French oil traders gained 165 million barrels of cut-rate crude.

The scam worked on two levels. Not only did Iraqi oil purchasers benefit from being able to resell at huge profit but also Saddam distributed "oil vouchers" to corporations, political parties and individuals whom he favoured.

More, in French and Russian politicians 'bribed to relax UN sanctions':
Documents emerging from Baghdad appear to show how Russian and French politicians and businessmen were bribed by Saddam, using money skimmed off the oil-for-food programme. These claims have been denounced by many in France as American propaganda.

UN officials say their programme was audited more than 100 times, although it has never made public the detailed findings.

What is known is that France and Russia's financial interest in Iraq was heavily influenced by Saddam's failure to pay for billions of pounds of arms sold to him on credit during the late 1980s. Many of the weapons were then used to invade Kuwait.

France joined the Allied liberation of Kuwait at the last minute, but its government was left guaranteeing 3 billion in loans to Saddam which he had no intention of repaying.

France's relationship with Saddam dated back to the mid-1970s when Jacques Chirac, the then prime minister, visited Baghdad. Between 1974 and 1990, more than 20 French ministers from all the main parties travelled to Iraq to expand France's commercial interests, which ranged from construction to armaments and a nuclear reactor that the Israelis promptly bombed.

Iraq became France's second biggest oil supplier and France in turn became Iraq's second largest civil and military supplier.

Even when Iraq began to show signs of financial strain during its war with Iran, France helped out. In 1986, M Chirac promised French arms makers that it would guarantee any credit they extended to Saddam.

Even after Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1990 and the US-led war to evict him the following year, the special relationship between France and Iraq continued.

In 1994, Charles Pasqua, the then interior minister, gave a visa to Saddam's right hand man, Tariq Aziz. France's UN ambassador lobbied for the easing of sanctions against Iraq. The fruit of this was Iraq's acceptance of the oil-for-food programme in 1995. A French bank, BNP Paribas, was chosen to do much of the financial administration.

Critics of the programme say it swiftly became a way for Saddam to reward his friends in the West and manipulate the UN.

[...]

In Russia, companies supplying goods and services to Iraq under the UN's oil-for-food programme enjoyed years of inflated contracts and preferential treatment with Iraq.

In return, Moscow used its clout as a permanent UN Security Council member to influence the sanctions programme in Iraq's favour.

Sweetheart deals between Moscow and Baghdad for products ranging from rice to refinery equipment continued right up to the moment American and British forces invaded Iraq last year. In 1997 Lukoil, one of Russia's leading oil firms, signed a deal for exploration and extraction in Iraq's western Qorna region, where reserves were estimated at 20 billion barrels.

In the summer of 2001 when London and Washington were pressing the UN to reduce the list of goods and services permitted under the programme, Russia threatened to use its Security Council veto unless the sanctions were left unchanged for a further five months.

Mohammed Salekh, Saddam's trade minister, said that as a reward, Russia received contracts worth 22 billion, almost 10 times more than it had received in the previous five years.

The Telegraph even links to the U.N. News Centre story of the independent panel that will probe the Oil-For-Food allegations. London NewsNet quotes panel head Paul Volcker on the aims of the panel here, and the London Times has an article (but I'm not a subscriber so I couldn't access it.)

The Toronto Star carries the story, U.N. backs probe of Oil-for-food scandal which makes it look as though Annan always wanted this investigation; the Toronto Sun has UNSC approval of the investigatory panel which has a bit more substance than the Star coverage but not by much.

CTV-Canada has a story about Muslims leaders urging a greater role for the U.N. in Iraq but I saw nothing about the probe.

The CBC - surprise - takes a very sharp tone in UN Security Council approves oil-for-food probe:

Russia and France wanted a discreet internal probe, thinking it was better to keep the corruption charges in-house at the UN rather than have outside investigators poking into the alleged links between Saddam, top UN staffers and Russian and French companies.

Resolution 1538, as it is officially known, may come to be remembered as the official lifting of the lid on a financial scandal that could ultimately dwarf even the worst excesses of Wall Street.

The UN oil-for-food program in Iraq was supposed to be a humanitarian effort. Profits from Iraqi oil sales were to be used exclusively to buy food and medicine for the people of Iraq.

But it seems billions of dollars may have gone missing.

CBS has a story about the independent investigation but hardly the extensive information ABC carried yesterday.

Glenn Reynolds has some links from yesterday as well as today's links to US papers on the scandal, including one that goes into politicians who received money from Samir Vincent and Shakir Alkhalaji who were on the list of those who allegedly received oil vouchers from Saddam.

Austin Bay has an article on The Myth of Oil for Food at Strategy Page.

Something I didn't have a chance to post yesterday is an article by Claudia Rosett in OpinionJournal - The Real World and some ideas how the U.N. could realistically help Iraq.

It seems the U.N. is holding approximately $100 million to cover potential liabilities from the Canal Hotel bombing last August that destroyed the U.N. HQ in Bagdad:

Given that the independent report last October on the U.N.'s security systems in Baghdad found the entire U.N. security apparatus "dysfunctional," and given that the dysfunction was so egregious that the U.N. recently fired the official in charge, it seems strange to reserve that $100 million to help the U.N. potentially cover the cost of its own grievous mistakes. That money was meant to help provide for the betterment of the 26 million citizens of Iraq, not insure the U.N. against its own malfunctions.

As it happens, Iraq-born architect Kanan Makiya was in New York recently seeking funds for the project of building a memorial and a holocaust museum in Baghdad, the better to help Iraq's people understand and come to grips with the atrocities of Saddam's regime. The project would include the cataloguing and preservation of millions of pages of documentation, and the presentation of evidence about the decades of abuse that took place, from which Iraq must still recover. Mr. Makiya is director of the Iraq Memory Foundation (www.iraqmemory.org), which is trying to assemble this project. His proposal states: "The Iraq Memory Foundation is not a project intended to apportion blame or play politics. First and foremost it is designed to allow future generations of Iraqis to glimpse the inner sanctum of the atrocities that were perpetrated during the period of Ba'athist rule from 1968 until 2003."

[...]

For this project, Mr. Makiya is seeking, ultimately, an endowment of some $40 million. That's less than half what is still sitting in the Secretariat's own Oil-for-Food account, and it is hard to imagine a more appropriate use of this money than to help Iraqis document, preserve and confront the full truth of Saddam's abuse. In the interest of fairness, the U.N. might also want to turn over a portion of the remaining $60 million or so for a memorial in northern Iraq, where Saddam used chemical weapons to murder thousands of Kurds, and another portion to southern Iraq, site of so many of Saddam's mass graves. It would be the philosophical beginning of restitution for U.N. collusion with Saddam, and of genuine re-legitimization for the U.N. in Iraq.

Pay a visit to the Iraq Memory Foundation and see what you think.

Dang. This post is long even for me.

Posted by Debbye at 08:41 AM | Comments (4)

April 21, 2004

Iraq (updated)

Apr. 21 - Basrabombs kill at least 68 Iraqis

One car exploded in Az Zubayr and then, 30 minutes later as people gathered at the scene, a second suicide car bomb went off in the same location, police officer Hassan Kahlaf said. He said that the first bomber was dressed as a policeman.
18 children on their way to school are among the dead.

The rage such atrocities arouses is too immense for words. May the bullets of our soldiers find and target the bastards that plan these murders.

20:49 Alaa has a pointed response to the coverage by the Arabiya reporter on the scene. Read it. (End update)

A Dane who disappeared in Iraq April 11 has been found dead.

No information has been released about the man's identity or nature of his death. Did he, like Fabrizio Quattrocchi, show too much courage for his captors?

Another Canadian has been taken hostage. From the Canadian Office of Foreign Affairs:

A spokesperson for the department said Rifat Mohammed Rifat (sic) has been missing since April 8. Ottawa confirmed on Tuesday he is Canadian and has been kidnapped.

He is alive, the spokesperson said, but Ottawa doesn't know who kidnapped him or where he's being held.

Rifat, 41, was last seen leaving work at a prison west of Baghdad, where he was working for a Saudi company doing repairs.

His brother, Ali Rifat, reported him missing.

It's not clear his captors know he is Canadian.

Thanks to Nik for sending me the link. Nik comments in the email
"It's not clear his captors know he is Canadian." But it's pretty DAMNED CLEAR they don't give a f***. (Lightly edited by me.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

Being Too Canadian and Un-Canadian

Apr. 21 - Jim Elve recently learned that his site was too Canadian and told he would have to "cease and desist from what they contend is reproducing the Government of Canada's corporate signature, the Canada wordmark and the Common Look and Feel layout."

In an excellent display of solidarity, two Canadian bloggers have redesigned the look of their site to bring you the Government of PolSpy located in Canaduh.

However, with tabs like "Boondoggles" and "Song Parodies," they come much closer to the "Common Look and Feel layout" that many Canadians believe federal sites should have. Bring it on indeed.

But it seems there's just no pleasing the federal government. The undeclared federal election up here has produced a lot of undeclared federal campaigning and thus inevitable (albeit declared) name-calling and labelling.

One label is that the Conservative Party is Un-Canadian. That has always been implied by the Liberal Party, but to come right out and say it? So much for values as tolerance, diversity, and freedom which are Canadian and which the Liberal Party defends by being intolerant, undiverse and attacking the freedom to disagree with them.

In the USA, the issue of national defense has been attacked as paranoia-mongering by some Democrats and leftists and they continually defend themselves against unmade accusations of unpatriotism. Up here, the issue of Canadianism is defended by the Liberal party and some leftists with paranoia-mongering and they accuse the Oppostion of unpatriotism.

This strategy was unveiled by the Liberal Party campaign co-chair David Herle, and, as Jay posted here,

What's amazing about Herle is his ability to conclude that if you take issue with the Liberal agenda in Canada you are anti-Canadian.

Usually, when a political party sees its agenda and performance as synonymous with the nation it is well past time for that party to spend some time in Opposition. The last thing Martin needs is a senior party operator telling people that Canada and the Liberal Party are, well, the same thing.

Evidently, the Liberals plan to be the Committee on Un-Canadian Activies until election day.

Spin Killer interprets all this succinctly:

If you ask the Liberals a question they can't answer...you are a bigot redneck!

So what are Canadian values? Maybe these? Or how about these? Exactly how do the Opposition parties violate them?

Laurent wonders when waste, mismanagement, embezzlement, theft, fraud, lies, misrepresentations, corruption, cronyism and patronage became Canadian values.

Ouch.

Maybe the Liberals might consider hiring Occam's Carbuncle, who has come up with these campaign slogans (link via Let It Bleed.)

Normally I'd demand the Liberals campaign on the issues, but as a main issue is the Liberal Party itself, that could be a problem.

Interesting times.

Posted by Debbye at 02:24 PM | Comments (1)

April 19, 2004

Rallies for peace in the streets

Apr. 18 - There were 2 peace rallies yesterday appealing for an end to the gun violence that has been plagueing Toronto of late.

The problem remains the same for too many of the cases: no witnesses willing to speak up.

Posted by Debbye at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)

Fadi Fadel on being a hostage

Apr. 18 - Fadi Fadel has spoken out about his time with his captors, who tried to torture him into confessing to being an Israeli, American and / or Spanish spy.

Fadel had been working for the International Rescue Committee in Iraq when he and another associate, Nabil Razouk, 30, an Arab from East Jerusalem, were kidnapped.

There has been no new information on Razouk.

Once his captors saw a photocopy of his Canadian passport, he was taken to the office of Muqtada al-Sadr in Najaf.

Posted by Debbye at 12:04 AM | Comments (0)

April 18, 2004

Bill Graham's peace plan

Apr. 18 - According to this over at the Shotgun, Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham's peace plan is to cut Israel in half.

On the bright side, it could give Paul material for tomorrow. Screeching Bill Graham is one of his favourites.

Posted by Debbye at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian connection to March 11 attackers?

Apr. 18 - The Globe and Mail reports that, according to a Moroccan press report, a Montrealer is a member of a sleeper cell of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group which conducted a terrorist attack by placing bombs on trains in Madrid March 11.

A Moroccan extremist faction suspected of carrying out the March 11 bombings in Madrid had a sleeper cell in Montreal and Ottawa, according to a Moroccan press report.

The newspaper also claimed that Adil Charkaoui, the Montrealer held on a security certificate and alleged by authorities to be an al-Qaeda sleeper agent, is one of two members of the Canadian cell of that extremist group.

Yesterday's edition of Aujourd'hui Le Maroc said the information was given to investigators by Nouredine Nfia, an imprisoned leader of the Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group.

Mr. Charkaoui, the newspaper said, was in charge of logistics, sent a laptop computer to the group, and twice wired $2,000 (U.S.) to it.

The other Canadian sleeper agent was a 28-year-old Ottawa resident who was identified only as "Abdeslam the Canadian," it said.

The article notes that Nfia may have made these assertions under torture.

(I have no memory of where I came to find this link. My apologies if I lifted it from someone without credit.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:50 PM | Comments (0)

April 17, 2004

Toronto Affairs

Apr. 17 - The Toronto City Council has 44 councillors, and its size has been the source of many arguements since amalgamation (Size matters on city council.)

Why did we amalgamate again? Oh right, to reduce duplication in services and save money by reducing the numbers of civic workers and thus reducing the tax load on residents and the need for payments from the province.

The words "dismal failure" spring to mind.

Posted by Debbye at 09:35 AM | Comments (2)

Profiling Joe Katzman

Apr. 17 - Noted blogger Joe Kaztman of the Winds of Change (which I assume is on everyone's list for daily must-reads) was interviewed by Norman Geras of Normblog.

Joe is a Torontonian, which everyone probably already knows, but he also likes two of my favourite authors: Tokien and Bronowski. I'm particularly gratified as it's been a long time since anyone has mentioned the latter, who argued that the imagination is absolutely required in science.

Posted by Debbye at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)

April 16, 2004

Canada. vs. Bloggers II

Apr. 16 - The Canadian government doesn't like to be parodied, and has taken on blogger Jim Elve of BlogsCanada:

Last Thursday, there was a knock on my door and a friendly fellow from Canada Post had a registered letter for me. The letter was from a lawyer with the Department of Justice (DoJ) acting for the Treasury Board.

The Government of Canada has requested that I cease and desist from what they contend is reproducing the Government of Canada's corporate signature, the Canada wordmark and the Common Look and Feel layout.

Surprisingly, the letter was sent from Ottawa, dated April 8 and it arrived here on the morning of April 8. Ottawa is over 400km away. Canada Post can be fast.

Read the whole thing; Jim adamantly denied he copied anything, and points out
If I were to take a $100 million cheque into my bank and the signature read, "Definitely NOT Reg Alcock," I'm fairly certain the bank would know right away that the cheque did not bear the signature of the Treasury Board president Reg Alcock.
At first glance, it does resemble official Canadian websites, but only at first glance. For one thing, it says very clearly "Definitely NOT the Goverment of Canada." For another, it gets right down to business without the obligatory introduction page, Mission Statement, language selection, and all the other fun pages you impatiently click through to get the information you seek. Most importantly, it is not written in bureaucratese.

As I said, clearly not a government site.

It would have been more to the Treasury Board's credit had they asked for some pointers on how to construct a web site that actually greets and meets the visitor's needs instead of the pissy approach.

Jim speculates that the high volume of traffic he's had over Adscam may have triggered the letter, and although it sounds paranoid, I'm actually inclined to believe him because there is a precedent.

Last December, bullying tactics were used in an attempt to shut down the parody site Paul Martin Time which was first reported by Boing Boing here (see posts and media coverage on the threatened lawsuit here.)

The creators of Paul Martin Time made some changes to the website's appearance, but that was not what Mr. Martin's representatives really wanted: they want the web site gone altogether.

The Treasury Board would do well to back off. The web logging community has some experience in acting in unison (for example, publicizing and championing Iranian bloggers when their government caught and arrested them) and however much it may appear that we are divided by a great political chasm, we do understand the right of free speech sufficiently to know that we must stand by and defend one another against censorship and harassment.

Taking on the one site that lists all bloggers in Canada may simply be a supremely stupid move, but if they are actually serious and try to regulate the appearance of web logs, the alarm bells will go off everywhere.

Please visit Jim's site and read his post on this battle. Your freedom may depend on it.

Hmm, Jim reports something odd in this post.

Posted by Debbye at 03:49 PM | Comments (2)

April 13, 2004

Petition to eject Khadrs from Canada

Apr. 13 - An online petition here has been mounted to force two members of the Khadr family to leave Canada. The reaction has been a lot of traffic to the website, threats against the woman who began the petition, Donna Campbell, and even someone turning Canada in to the FBI for harbouring known terrorists.

Abdul Karim Khadr was released last January by Pakistan authorities after being shot in the spine during a shootout with al Qaeda forces and the Pakistan army last October. He is in need of medical care and has returned to Canada to receive it.

He doesn't qualify for OHIP (free health care) until he has been in the country for 3 months, although the Canadian government has not confirmed that to be the case.

His wounds were sustained during hostile actions against a friendly nation (Pres. Musharref was in Canada only a few months ago and addressed the Parliament) and too I don't know if OHIP would cover injuries sustained from such activity.

The reaction by the Oppostion was predictable, but not the widespread sentiment about the return.

It may be due in part to the fact that the Khadr family (brief history here, much more detailed history here) has taken advantage of Canadian openness on far too many occasions. The country was shocked when one of the sons, Abdurahman Khadr, returned to Canada after his release from Guantanamo and admitted that, despite their protestations of innocence, the Khadr's had in fact been activer supporters of al Qaeda, knew Osama bin Laden, and even stayed at his residence.

A great many Canadians had believed they were innocent, so it's not hard to imagine how they felt when they learned they had been played for fools.

Except for Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty, of course. He expressed his views today:

Until Ottawa says otherwise, McGuinty said Canadian citizens Maha Elsamnah, her 14-year-old son Karim and his brother Abdurahman Khadr, 21, are as entitled as anyone else in Ontario to receive health-care coverage or apply for social assistance benefits.
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham also spoke up:
Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said Tuesday in Toronto that the Khadrs have rights as citizens.

"The thing about Canada is that we live in a society of law - we have to deal with terrorism, we have to deal with many problems."

"There is a man out west accused of serial murder that they're investigating but the investigation and the trial will be conducted within the Canadian legal framework and within the Charter (of Rights). The Khadr's have citizenship and they're entitled to that."

There you have it: it's a law enforcement issue.

Posted by Debbye at 10:57 PM | Comments (9)

Fadi Fadel

Apr. 13 - False Story Delays Release? Fadi Fadel, a Canadian held hostage by unknown forces in Iraq, has been reported on Arab television to be an Israeli agent.

"(The tape) shows him giving a different name and saying he's Israeli and this is what we've been trying to correct," [Fadi's brother Ghayas] Fadel said in an interview from his home near Montreal.
The Canadian ambassador to Jordan, John Holmes, held a televised news conference in Amman today to confirm Fadi's identity.

Posted by Debbye at 10:26 PM | Comments (0)

Update on Mahboob Khawaja

Apr. 13 - Canuck blames RCMP

AN OTTAWA man being detained in Saudi Arabia has told his family Saudi authorities plan to keep him in custody until he can be interviewed by an RCMP investigator, CBC News reported last night. Mahboob Khawaja managed to call his son Qasim yesterday afternoon, CBC News reported from Ottawa.
The CBC story is here.

Intial reports on Mahboob Khawaja's arrest from unnamed Saudi sources claimed that he had been arrested at the request of Canadian authorities. Last week, RCMP spokesman Staff Sgt. Paul Marsh said that the force had not been in touch with Saudi authorities over Mahboob or his son Mohammad Momin Khawaja, who was arrested in Canada March 29 in the same sweep that included the arrest of 8 men in Britain.

Apr. 14 The son, Mohammad Momin Khawaja was indited in a British court as a co-conspirator with the men and teenager arrested in Britain. (Yahoo! News - British teen in court on explosives charges linked to arrest of Ottawa man.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:16 PM | Comments (0)

Get your brain imaged

Apr. 13 - I don't know how I could have missed this ad in the Sunday Sun looking for participants in a brain-imaging study:

"Have you ever used a weapon to hurt another person? If you have ever fired a gun, used a knife, or another weapon to harm someone, then you may be eligible for a brain-imaging study at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health." -- Ad in The Sunday Sun

FIRST OF all, imagine the waiting room.

I kind of expected it was a scam to net criminals, but it is a legitimate study.

Besides, it turns out most of the participants had used baseball bats rather than knives and guns.

Posted by Debbye at 10:05 PM | Comments (1)

PM Martin will meet with Dalai Lama

Apr. 13 - Despite the objections of China, Martin will meet with Dalai Lama.

Apr. 14 16:23: canoe.ca is down, but here's the CBC link to the story.

Posted by Debbye at 09:59 PM | Comments (2)

Toronto Affairs

Apr. 13 - Maybe you have to live in Toronto (or San Francisco) to realize how startling this is: according to a Sun/Leger poll which asked respondents to rate public figures, Police Chief Julian Fantino got the highest approval rating - 65% - compared to Mayor Miller with 51%, PM Martin with 34%, and Ont. Premier McGuinty with 25%.

Posted by Debbye at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)

April 12, 2004

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar

Apr. 12 - The name of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has come up again, this time calling for an Afghan uprising.

This shouldn't be a surprise (which isn't to say that I would have preferred to be disappointed):

In a statement obtained by The Associated Press on Sunday, Hekmatyar calls for an Afghan uprising in a competitive spirit with Iraq. He welcomed the uprising by supporters of the Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, who have been battling U.S. forces in Iraq.

Afghans "like Iraqi mujahedeen, will choose the way of uprising against the occupiers," said the Pashtu-language statement, translated by AP.

Hekmatyar heads Hezb-e-Islami, an Islamic guerrilla faction that fought invading Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s. He has reportedly joined forces with the Taliban against the U.S.-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The statement was in the form of a letter delivered by a Hekmatyar aide, and note that the authenticity of the letter has not been confirmed.

There is more about Gulbuddin Hekmatyar here, here, here, here, and a short biography that only covers up to 1997 here. (By the way, if you chose to do your own google search is name is often inverted, as Hekmatyar Gulbuddin.)

The man arrested for the bombing attack that killed Canadian Cpl. Jamie Murphy on Jan. 27 was said to be a disciple of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

An odd twist is an incidence of kidnapping in Afghanistan:

KABUL (AP) - Dozens of suspected Taliban kidnapped an intelligence chief and two soldiers in a central Afghan province, a local government official said Monday, and there were conflicting reports about their fate.

The three men were abducted Thursday near Chenartu, a town 355 kilometres southwest of Kabul in Uruzgan province, said Fazel Rabi, a senior official in the provincial government. Authorities were negotiating their release, he said.

Another report states that they are already dead, but their bodies would be traded:
But Mullah Hakim Latifi, who claims to speak for the Taliban, told The Associated Press that Hamidullah and the soldiers had been killed. The Taliban, which was ousted by a U.S.-led coalition in late 2001, would swap the three bodies for that of a Taliban held by Uruzgan officials, he said.

[...]

Taliban militants are also blamed for a string of kidnappings, including the abduction last month of a Turkish engineer working on a U.S.-financed road project in neighbouring Zabul province.

No, I'm not inferring a conspiracy or any such as it's more likely that the power of example is at work here, but Canadian soldiers have already incurred Hekmatyar's wrath by arresting some of his associates and I presume they are being extra cautious.

Remember those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 03:37 PM | Comments (2)

April 11, 2004

Anti-Semitism in Canada

Apr. 11 - First Toronto, then Montreal, and now the nation's capitol and national leaders: Threats target Jewish MP and others:

OTTAWA -- A federal cabinet minister says he has received threatening letters and menacing phone calls because he's Jewish. The Hill Times weekly newspaper said the last of those threats against House Leader Jacques Saada, 56, came earlier this year and that other Jewish MPs and ministers have received messages.

"I have received phone calls and also written correspondence which were either threats or direct accusations ... related to my faith and who I am," Saada told the Hill Times. "I think the most important danger would be indifference to those acts."

Posted by Debbye at 09:15 PM | Comments (1)

Canadian hostage Fadi Ihsan Fadel

Apr. 11 - Efforts begin to free captive Canuck. No real details, but some unsettling aspects to the few details that are offered, especially this one:

"He is still alive," said foreign affairs spokesman Sameer Ahmed, adding, no other details could be provided for "operational" reasons. He refused to confirm whether the Palestinian Authority was doing the talking on behalf of Canada. On Friday, Palestinian cabinet minister Azzam al-Ahmed, offered to help track down the kidnappers of Fadel and an Arab-Israeli to "clarify matters with the group that abducted them."
As Muqtada al-Ansr has pledged to be the hand of Hamas and Hezbollah, it is too easy to draw some inferences from rumours so care must be exercised before leaping to any conclusions.

Posted by Debbye at 08:35 PM | Comments (2)

Two Canadian Families

Apr. 11 - Today's Toronto Sun has two articles about families who were affected by the attacks of Sept. 11: the Khadr family, who reportedly applauded as the two towers collapsed, and Cindy Barkway, whose Torontonian husband David died when the towers came down.

IT'S SICKENING that Ottawa allowed family members with links to Osama bin Laden's terrorist network to enter the country, says the wife of a Toronto man killed on 9/11. Maha Elsamnah and her 14-year-old son Karim Khadr, who both have had ties to al-Qaida, were granted entry into Canada on Friday without passports.

"I hope the government will take steps to protect us and monitor their activity," said Cindy Barkway, whose husband David was killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 World Trade Center attacks.

"It's frustrating. They are here taking advantage of our democratic society and they hate us. The government helps the perpetrators and not the victims. It's not fair."

Mrs. Barkway isn't alone in her outrage, as Syed Soharwardy of the Canadian organization Muslims Against Terrorism is also angry.

Abdurahaman Khadr admits his family, former residents of Scarborough, fought with al-Qaida and lived at bin Laden's camp. Elsamnah, in a recent TV interview from Pakistan, said she was proud of her family's connection to bin Laden.

"The interview was shocking, admitting she had ties to al-Qaida. Hasn't the government seen this?" said Syed Soharwardy, founder of the Canadian organization Muslims Against Terrorism. "The Canadian government has a responsibility to ensure the wrong people are removed from our society."

But I wouldn't want you to think that the Canadian government is complacent about the return of two more members of the Khadr family. Canadian Federal agents will grill Khadrs about any recent contact they may have had with bin Laden and which other Canadians might be agents of al Qaeda.

Maha Elsamnah, 47, and her son, Karim Khadr, 14, will doubtless answer as honestly as they always have while on Canadian soil. And then there's this:

"I can't imagine that their movements wouldn't be monitored" if they attempted to cross into the United States, an American government official told Sun Media yesterday on condition of anonymity.
I can't imagine they would actually be allowed to cross into the US, Canadian citizens or no.

Bob MacDonald writes that after 3 months, Karim will be eligible for OHIP, which means that the Canadian taxpayer will be paying for his medical expenses. In truth, it's not about the money, its about the fact that he was injured during hostile actions against an ally. Has Canada formally declared neutrality in the war on terror? Or do they stand with the Canadian troops currently stationed in Afghanistan?

Posted by Debbye at 08:21 PM | Comments (1)

Carl, Canadian: a US soldier in Iraq

Apr. 11 - On the other side of world:

A specialist and team leader in the First Infantry Division of the American army, the 23-year-old son of a Canadian mother and American father drove down to Buffalo and enlisted six months after 9/11. "Carl felt he was needed," his mom Anne said yesterday, as CNN images of more Iraqi battles play in the background. "He was deeply moved by the impact of the attack on the United States and saddened by our government's response to it."
Holidays are extra hard on the families of soldiers deployed in hot spots, and no words can adequately express that. You watch CNN by the hour, and try to send cheerful letters and packages of those sundries we take for granted. This week, Carl's parents are sending him a Maple Leaf's shirt.
He is deployed north of Baghdad in the midst of what is called the Sunni triangle, a flashpoint of insurrection by factions hellbent on driving out the Americans.
He was deployed there in February and is part of the troop rotations that have been the backdrop to the counter-attacks in Iraq.
"They're getting mortars and rockets fired on them every day," says his dad, Carl Sr., with a trace of the drawl of south Florida despite his 27 years here. "He's going to come home with memories that are going to be hard. But he's doing his best to show calm and control for the other men."
This next bit is only too familiar:
What mystifies their son is the lack of support Canada has shown for the Iraq war. "He feels he is serving a good purpose over there and that the people there definitely need help to get out of the situation they're in," his mom says.

But they have seen enough anti-American feeling in Toronto over the last year of the conflict to fear for their safety and have asked that their last name not be published.

When Carl has finished his stint, he wants to come home and become a policeman. One thing that surprised many Americans back home was how many of their police and rescue workers were also in the reserves. It is as though our entire society depends on only a few people to protect us, and their committment is so great as to function in more than one capacity.

What does that say about the rest of us?

Posted by Debbye at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)

April 10, 2004

Maple Leafs Win

Apr. 10 - Of course I watched the hockey game because the Leafs game is the Most Important Thing happening in our home. Tonight they won, and the series with Ottawa is 1-1.

The men here were howling with laughter over Darcy Tucker and his second black eye, saying "he may be a little sh*t, but he's our little sh*t."

Robert Reichel was hailed as doing an uncharacteristically competent job during his penalty killing stints.

I am surrounded by witty, happy people tonight, which is better than glum, sour, scowling types as I was last Thursday. The Leafs lost, for those who don't live in Toronto don't follow hockey. I didn't post anything about it Thursday for superstitious reasons. (There are different codes for each round of the play-offs, so don't assume inconsistency if I seem to violate the codes as the Leafs advance.)

Keeping the homefront peaceful Thursday (or whenever the Leafs lose in playoffs) is actually very easy. There are standard replies (which are not to be confused with converstion.) They far outrank the soothing "yes dear" that men can see right through: Yes, indeed, the refs sucked. Total disgrace. They gave the game away. Yes, I thought that was a clean hit. Totally. Absolutely. McCabe was totally innocent. Completely. Absolutely. "Three blind mice" for sure. I really miss that organ, it could make commentary ... What? Yes. You're right. It was stolen. Yes. Absolutely. Yes. Right. Yes. Works every time.

Just don't bring up how the Jays are doing.

Oh Lord. Don Cherry confirmed the Men's Viewpoint about Darcy Tucker and Robert Reichel. I will absolutely never hear the end of this.

Then he invoked the Dummy Penalty warning. And remember, kids, "The Glass is Your Friend." Don is validating everything husband and son yelled during the 3rd period. He taught them well.

Mark used to be an adult player as well as a minor hockey coach. He and his friends would play at 2 a.m. every Tuesday. That may seem like dedication, but it's actually pretty common among adult hockey players. There's never enough ice time, and the adults get it when they can. Now he coaches baseball exclusively.

First Son played both sports. 2nd Son played both until it occurred to him that being over 6 ft. tall was sufficient grounds to play basketball. No basketball or baseball games begin at 6 a.m.) I always supported my kids' choices.

These days I support their decisions even more heartily. The kids can set their own alarm clocks, drive themselves to their games, and are even old enough to drink legally in every state and province.

Parenthood is a wonderful thing.

Posted by Debbye at 10:58 PM | Comments (3)

Khadr family returns to Canada II

Apr. 10 - Updating the story that two members of the Khadr family have returned to Canada to get medical attention for one injured during a firefight with Pakistani forces, at least one political party has reacted: Oust Khadrs, Tory demands.

Here's some Khadr family history.

The Toronto Sun has taken a decisive stand in today's editorial:

Maha and her daughter, Zaynab, praised Ahmed as a martyr in a CBC interview and denounced the U.S., saying it "deserved" the terror attacks of 9/11 -- and worse. The mother said bin Laden's camps were a better place for her children than Canada's open, permissive society.

Aside from Abdurahman, 21, who returned to Canada and publicly rejected terrorism, the family has effectively renounced everything this country stands for.

Except, of course, for our health care system.

Karim needs medical treatment. So he and mom are back. It is hard to think of a more cynical abuse of the privileges of Canadian citizenship.

Although they will initially have to pay the teen's medical bills because of his long absence from Canada, they will ultimately be eligible for medicare. And Foreign Affairs went to extraordinary measures to help them obtain exit visas from Pakistan and emergency Canadian passports for the trip.

(See the extended entry for more from the Toronto Sun editorial.)

I am an American. The Khadrs have proudly aligned themselves with those who declare they intend to kill me. I am not impartial on this issue.

The April 10 Toronto Sun editorial in full: (one day link)

Welcome back, Khadrs

MAHA ELSAMNAH and her 14-year-old son, Abdul Karim Khadr, should not expect a warm welcome after their return to Canada yesterday. They should expect outrage.

They are, in the blunt words of son Abdurahman Khadr, "an al-Qaida family."

As the wife and son of Ahmed Said Khadr, a high-ranking operative in Osama bin Laden's terrorist network -- the family even lived alongside bin Laden in his training compound in Afghanistan, according to Abdurahman -- they are far from ordinary Canadians.

Ahmed, the father, was recently killed in Pakistan, battling security forces. Karim was shot and paralyzed in the same firefight. Another son, Omar, 17, is imprisoned at Guantanamo Bay, charged with killing a U.S. soldier.

Maha and her daughter, Zaynab, praised Ahmed as a martyr in a CBC interview and denounced the U.S., saying it "deserved" the terror attacks of 9/11 -- and worse. The mother said bin Laden's camps were a better place for her children than Canada's open, permissive society.

Aside from Abdurahman, 21, who returned to Canada and publicly rejected terrorism, the family has effectively renounced everything this country stands for.

Except, of course, for our health care system.

Karim needs medical treatment. So he and mom are back. It is hard to think of a more cynical abuse of the privileges of Canadian citizenship.

Although they will initially have to pay the teen's medical bills because of his long absence from Canada, they will ultimately be eligible for medicare. And Foreign Affairs went to extraordinary measures to help them obtain exit visas from Pakistan and emergency Canadian passports for the trip.

Other Canadians -- say, Bill Sampson and Maher Arar, both of whom got no help from Ottawa while they were tortured abroad -- can be forgiven for wondering why the Khadrs merit such help. They deserve Ottawa's attention, all right, but for security reasons.

Even Abdurahman has said his relatives could pose a threat to national security. But because this is Canada, where we value free speech, free medical care and an open, tolerant society, they will be able to resume their lives in safety and comfort here -- no matter how grossly they have offended those values.

Let them reflect on that. And then let them try doing the same in bin Laden's hateful, evil, repressive, fundamentalist, terrorist world. The sooner the better.

And another thing ...

SO, A Canadian is captured and held hostage in Iraq -- and now Foreign Affairs issues an advisory telling people it's dangerous and not to travel there? Talk about being slow off the mark.

Posted by Debbye at 10:48 AM | Comments (4)

April 09, 2004

Mohammad Momin Khawaja

Apr. 9 - Information about Mohammad Momin Khawaja is coming out slowly. Today, information that Khawaja had access to confidential names and addresses of Canadian diplomats abroad.

Khawaja was arrested last week in Ottawa during the same operation that arrested 8 in the UK and another suspect days later. He worked as a computer programmer under contract with Canada's Foreign Affairs department.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:31 AM | Comments (0)

Khadr family returns to Canada

Apr. 9 - The Khadrs, Canada's first family of al Qaeda, is returning to Canada to get medical care for a son wounded in battle.

Abdul Karim Khadr, 14, is recovering from a bullet that grazed his spine last October. His father, known as al-Kanadi, Arabic for "the Canadian," was among the militants killed in that battle, with Pakistani counterterrorism agents.

Family members have said that if the teenager is ever going to walk properly again, he's going to need the help of the Canadian health-care system.

Members of the Khadr family have lost their share of passports. The fact that over 25,000 passports are missing or stolen annually was a key point in the 2004 Report of the Auditor General on National Security. Initally, the Canadian government had refused to issue them new ones, but gave them "one-time only" passports for the trip to Canada. They are Canadian citizens, so the issue is sticky.
But they stress that taxpayers are not on the hook for the bill. "The family have used their own funds to travel back to Canada," said Reynald Doiron, spokesman for Canada's Foreign Affairs Department.

Abdul Karim has been out of the country too long to qualify for universal health care, so the family would likely have to pay his medical bills as well, at least initially. (Emphasis mine.)

How nice to live in a country that gives aid and comfort to my enemies.
Ms. El Samnah has recently expressed joy that her husband died as a martyr for Islam.

And she has spoken of wanting her sons to be warriors, too. "I like my son to be brave. I mean as I was telling you, if I was in Canada, I would like my son to be trained to protect himself, to protect his home, to protect his neighbour, to really fight to defend it," she told the CBC. "I would really love to do that, and I would love my son to grow with this mentality."

Only in Canada, eh?

Bob at Canadian Comment er, comments.

Posted by Debbye at 11:08 AM | Comments (2)

April 07, 2004

Pres. Bush to meet with PM II

Apr. 7 - The date for a meeting between President Bush and PM Martin has been set for April 30 and will be in DC.

Mr. Martin has said he wanted to meet Bush before calling a federal vote.
No explanation for that statement was offered.

Posted by Debbye at 09:21 PM | Comments (0)

Thinking of the children

Apr. 7 - I really can't be rational on this: Peel cops knew.

I know it's not the fault of the police. They have been denied the proper tools.

More information about Moore here and here.

Posted by Debbye at 02:38 PM | Comments (0)

Anti-Semitism in Montreal

Apr. 7 - A library was set on fire at U.T.T. St-Laurent, a Jewish elementary school in Montreal.

Sari says it well:

... We truly, naively believed that the stories they taught us in Jewish history classes about hatred against Jews were just that - chapters in history books. It never occurred to us that our school was anything but safe.

I feel bad for the students who will have to face the fact that someone set fire to their school. No elementary school child should have that illusion of safety shattered.

There were apparently notes left on the scene which claimed the motive for the attack was retaliation for the death of Hamas leader Ahmed Yassin.

The excuse in for anti-Semitic graffiti and knocking over headstones in Toronto was the Iraq War.

The operative word being "excuse."

The prime minister and Min. of Justice have issued strong statements denouncing this expression of hate, as have the mayor of Montreal and premier of Quebec.

Link via Paul.)

Apr. 7 13:04: Updates on the arson, described as a fire-bombing, from the Globe and Mail, Montreal Gazette (which says, if committed by adults, is a clear act of terrorism and should be prosecuted as such,) and an extremely well-targeted Letter to the Editor of the National Post. Excerpt:

Having thus left Canadians with a clear impression that attacks against Jews outside of Canada are acceptable or tolerable, it is no surprise that anti-Semites in Canada have become emboldened in their attacks against Jews inside Canada.
(Links via Jack's Newswatch.)

Posted by Debbye at 01:12 AM | Comments (5)

April 05, 2004

British, Canadian Terror Link II (Updated)

Apr. 5 - According to the Sunday Times (UK) a communication between al Qaeda forces in Pakistan and the UK which appeared to give instructions for an attack on British soil was intercepted by the NSA in the USA. They alerted British authorities (CNEWS - World: Report: U.S. eavesdropping led to arrests) who arrested the 9 people they already had under surveillance and seized half a ton of ammonium nitrate fertilizer.

According to the Times, Canadian Momin Khawaja played a "pivotal role" in the plot.

The sweep in the UK was called Operation Crevice, and its counterpart in Canada was called Project Awaken.

The operational instructions appeared to come from someone familiar to Americans, Iraqis and Spaniards:

The sender was apparently in the circle around Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, believed to be the mastermind of attacks in Baghdad and Karbala last month in Iraq that killed 280 people during a Muslim religious festival.

The link to Pakistan is also seen as significant because it disproves a view that al-Qaida's command structure had been broken up and scattered by the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan and arrests made around the world in the last 2 1/2 years of the war on terror, The Sunday Times said.

"We all thought there were cells operating in isolation and had been told that the al-Qaida network had been destroyed from the top when suddenly we find a chain of command leading back to Pakistan," a senior Scotland Yard source is quoted as saying.

The assertion that al-Zarqawi masterminded two major attacks on two different continents only last month followed by an assertion that senior level officials thought al Qaeda had been destroyed from the top is either simplistic in the extreme or bad editing.

Have al Qaeda activities been disrupted? Yes. Are they still dangerous? Yes. Should we give up? No.

Is the terrorist counter-offensive finished? Maybe, or at least partially. The rapid deployment of an additional 650 British troops to Kosovo stopped further ethnic cleansing there, and the effectual disruption in Spain of further attacks (with a major assist from the French) in addition the arrests in the UK means that the line in Europe held.

(CNews links via Neale News.)

22:41: Via Jack's Newswatch, this report that Abdul Aziz al-Muqrin, the new leader of the terror network in Saudi Arabia, has issued a threat: one of al-Qaedas top officials has ordered the killing of Muslim leaders if they co-operate with intelligence services and the police to thwart terrorist attacks.

The ultimate goal of the Islamists is to force all Muslims to accept their version of Islam. We know this because they've said it repeatedly, and this latest pronouncement is part of their on-going attempts to terrorize other Muslims.

Apr. 6 - 01:50: From Winds of Change, Italy has detained 106 people, mostly Moroccan, on suspicions of having links with terrorists. Italy has been in a state of alert since the March 11 train bombings in Madrid.

Posted by Debbye at 08:57 PM | Comments (2)

Hessians? Think Again.

Apr. 5 - I wrote the post Andy Bradsell, KIA in Iraq, about an extraordinary Canadian who, with his partner Christopher McDonald, put themselves between a convoy of executives from the power plant and gunmen. Although the convoy did reach the power plant safely, Mr. Bradsell and Mr. McDonald were killed.

We call that service above and beyond.

I would ask that readers follow the link, not for my words but for the words of tribute from Andy's aunt, June Bradsell, and two several of his friends in the comments. Of especial concern is the pain caused by those who grabbed the label "mercenary" to shrug aside Bradsell's heroism, explain their lack of outrage over the events in Fallujah and who even invoked the despised Hessians of the late 18th century, the deployment of whom in colonial America was the cause of much grievance against Mother England.

We call that propaganda. We call that a deliberate distortion of the truth. We call that using a term that attempts to focus emotional images in the minds of Americans from the past as a way of excusing the ugliness of the present.

I've tried not to let my rage write this post, but it finally occurred to me that the fact that Americans started this mercenary nonsense was a good thing because I can take the gloves off when I'm dealing with my countryman whereas I try to be more diplomatic when dealing with Canadians.

The men we've lost in Iraq are among the bravest of the brave. It is precisely because they are there by choice that elevates them to a place of special respect and honour and the military personnel in Iraq consideres them partners, not impediments or competitors.

What don't those who contemptuously call these men "mercenaries" comprehend?

The actions of men like Bradsell, McDonald and those who died in Fallujah speak more eloquently than any words I can summon to describe such men.

What is it propagandists would have us forget? That Bradsell and McDonald deliberately put themselves in harm's way to protect those who are trying to stabilize the flow of electricity in Iraq? That Zovko, Teague, Helvenston and Batalona knew when they drove into Fallujah that they could be ambushed and deployed themselves to take the fire and allow the food convoy to get through?

Actually, yes. That diversion from the mission of contractors like these men and the others who are working in Iraq is exactly what they hoped to achieve. We got to squabbling about the term mercenary and forgot why their presence is vital to restoring Iraq.

Iraq is dangerous. There are many forces there who care very much that electricity flows are disrupted and food is scarce because they want to destablizing the country further. As they have demonstrated for the last 35 years, they care nothing for the welfare of the Iraqi people. Yet, due to the political polarisation over Operation Iraqi Freedom, their stealth tactics have caused many on the anti-war left who believe themselves to support a liberation struggle to say things and take positions that I think they will someday regret.

Many who presumed to speak out angrily on behalf of Iraqis who suffered electrical black-outs have been silent about both the attempts to restore service and those who would sabotage and disrupt those services. Many who anxiously warned of humanitarian disaster in the wake of the war have been silent about attempts to deliberately disrupt the delivery of food and supplies. That's their contradiction, not mine, and there will come a time when the more honest of them will see that their desire to defend their opposition to the Iraq war has led them to violate their own values.

Remember the human shields who piously and nobly headed to Iraq before the war? Mohammed does and quotes from his 2003 journal:

The worse I hate are those human shields. I hate them for their stupidity, what peace they seek? Dont they think for one moment about whats happening here? Were already dead. Whom are they defending? I dont know.
Today there are real human shields in Iraq, and they are contributing to the fight to restore life to Iraq after 35 years of living death. Maybe their importance is illustrated by what happens when they aren't present.

Web logger Bob Zangas, after being Iraq for 6 months with the USMC, returned as a civilian with the Public Affairs office with the Coaltion Provisional Authority. This was his final entry from Iraq. Bob was killed in an ambush on March 10:

Zangas, another CPA employee and their Iraqi interpreter were killed Tuesday evening when Iraqi policemen chased the vehicle in which they were riding, forced it off a road and then executed them with a hail of machine gunfire.

The three had been on a return trip to their fortified compound in Hilla after they had visited a newly opened Women's Rights Center in Karbala. The other American, Fern Holland, had worked as a lawyer in Oklahoma before coming to Iraq.

Bob, Fern Holland, and their interpreter were travelling without escort.

But the underlying question remains on the table: why do men like Bob Zangas and Andy Bradsell put themselves at risk in a country like Iraq? Is it for the money? Adventure? Or are they answering a higher calling?

Greyhawk over at Mudville Gazette answers this and other questions with a number of links to military bloggers in The "Mercenary" Response among which is Grimbeorn who proclaims himself to be a mercenary and explains why he volunteered (note that I tried to excerpt this, but dang! the entire post is wonderful):

All the identified are former members of the US military. So what are they doing in Iraq?

I can answer, as I volunteered for such a deployment earlier this year--although my employer preferred to keep me working at another GWOT project in the USA. I volunteered recently for a deployment to Kabul, about which I've not yet heard.

I would be surprised to learn that these men differed very much in motives. Like them, I joined the military--the USMC--right out of high school, largely for patriotic reasons, though also out of a youth's desire for adventure. My service ended in 1994. On 9/11, I abandoned the career I'd embarked upon and started looking for ways to return to service.

Damned straight. And Beorn is hardly alone: most of us responded to Sept. 11 with a desire to do something, anything, to defend our country and values.
The military has strict caps on how many people it can have, though, at every grade. The USMC, being the smallest, has the least room--and the wave of volunteers that came with 9/11 meant that recruitment was, and remains, topped out. There was simply no room.

There are also age limits, and in the years since 9/11, I've run afoul of them. Even if room opened up now, I couldn't return because I'm too old.

But our service is still needed. I went looking for other ways to serve, since the military was closed to me. I found it in the 'mercenary service,' which allows me to work hand in hand with the US military. I've worked on projects for every branch of the service, and most of the global commands.

Estimates on just how many people like me there are run wild, and no one is really sure. It seems likely to be at least one "contractor" to every five servicemen, but it may be as high as one to one.

Many bring skills that they've gotten later in life, which broadens the range of talent and knowledge beyond what the military itself has to offer. Deployments are not much less gentle than the military's own, although they are softened a bit by being purely volunteer--you can leave, if you really want to. Few do.

This is what US mercenaries are like. They exist at all because the Congress and DOD bureaucracy aren't realistic about the force levels needed, and cling to outmoded concepts like age limits. As with anything else in a free society, where there is a demand that isn't being met, a service appears to meet it. I would rather be in uniform; but since I cannot be, I'll do this instead. (Emphasis added.)

Read the whole thing; I'm actually quoting Beorn quoting himself, and he has a lot more to say about answering the call to freedom in whatever capacity he can and about some of those with whom he serves. A snippet:
Most people in these various defense contractor, "Private Military Company" firms are former military, but there are also many who aren't, people who admire the military but who aren't made to be soldiers. They still want to do their part, and they do. Some of them have skills that are rare in the military, too--I know a lot of Arabists like that, including quite a few non-US citizens who want to be a part of what America is doing, but whose nations aren't in the Coalition--Syrians, Egyptians, and Sudanese. They can't serve in their own nation's armies, but they can still help make a stand against terrorism.
We have, therefore, a collection of people who wish to make a stand. I know just how they feel. Were I several decades younger I'd be there, but I'm stuck in this (ahem) mature body and can only wield my keyboard in this fight. And you know what? It's not enough! My heart burns to be doing more, to stand up taller and higher so I can shout to the world "Let Freedom Ring!"

God, how many of us feel like that! I don't want to stand foursquare behind our troops, I want to stand shoulder to shoulder with them and join in this mighty struggle. And I honour, revere and even envy those who can and do.

Soldier and civilian, contractor and armed guard, all are necessary to this fight. They are engaged in the most audacious and noble enterprise ever known to humanity: the struggle to bring freedom to the oppressed and the fight against those who seek to put forward another Saddam as the bringer of death and cruelty to the people of Iraq.

Those who call civilians like Andy Bradsell "mercenary" might do well to consider what Jason Van Steenwyk calls them: partners.

I should say that I had the privilege to meet many civilian contractors and security professionals from all over the world. Most of them were there supplementing coalition forces security, or providing needed logistical or security services to US troops and to the Iraqi people.

Most of the American contractors I talked to had served 20 years on active duty with the US military in one capacity or another.

Unlike my troops, these guys could have left at any time, just by saying "I quit" and catching a ride to Baghdad or Kuwait. Instead, despite the risks, they chose to stay.

They are, in every sense, our partners. And their families, I'm sure, loved them and missed them and feared for their safety just as fervently as ours.

Anyone who tries to force a moral distinction between our soldiers and these civilians who served alongside us--who dismisses them as "mercenaries" in it for the "pecuniary interests alone," and anyone who buys into that idea, is merely displaying a frightening degree of ignorance.

So it occurs to me that the reason some have targeted the civilians who protect and defend other contractors is precisely that they are there by choice and by conviction. It kind of ruins the image of US soldiers who have no choice to be there and are thus victims of the Bush administration, doesn't it? Of course, the fact that re-enlistment targets have been met ruins that image anyway, but why let facts get in the way of propaganda?

Andy Bradsell was a Canadian. Andy heard the call of freedom and served that call by contributing his skills to advancing that cause. I call him a warrior, not only because he was fortunate enough to have the requisite skills that allowed him to follow the path of a warrior, but because he was willing to fight and die for his beliefs.

Don't you get it? Andy Bradsell stood on guard for thee!

There are so few people like Bradsell, McDonald, Zangas, Holland, Teague, Helvenston, Batalona and Zovko. They will long be remembered for their heroism. That's not a bad place in history to occupy.

Apr. 6 09:26: Warren suggests we begin using the term paladin to describe the security forces in Iraq. I like it.

10:18: Private guards repell attack on US HQ in Najaf:

An attack by hundreds of Iraqi militia members on the U.S. government's headquarters in Najaf on Sunday was repulsed not by the U.S. military, but by eight commandos from a private security firm, according to sources familiar with the incident.

Before U.S. reinforcements could arrive, the firm, Blackwater Security Consulting, sent in its own helicopters amid an intense firefight to resupply its commandos with ammunition and to ferry out a wounded Marine, the sources said.

Read the whole thing. Commandos, mercenaries, armed security guards, call them what you will. Warren is right: they are paladins, champions, fighters for a cause.

Apr. 11: We have another paladin to add to the roll of honour: Michael Bloss:

Michael Bloss, 38, a former paratrooper, died in a gun battle after leading civilian contractors to safety. They had come under fire near the town of Hit, about 110 miles west of Baghdad.
Honour those who serve!

Apr. 21 16:11 There is a Canadian-based honour role of The Fallen for security personnel who have died in the line of duty.

Posted by Debbye at 12:23 PM | Comments (13)

April 02, 2004

Blogroll Changes

Apr. 2 - New address for Jay Currie, so change your bookmarks.

Also, a new blog called The Shotgun is up at the newly launched Western Standard and features some well-known Canadian bloggers: Nicholas Packwood, Damian Penny and Colby Cosh.

Of course, I lure you there by telling you that Mark Steyn has a column up at the Western Standard, but you'll find that out when you go to their main page.

Posted by Debbye at 11:55 PM | Comments (4)

Pres. Bush to meet with PM

Apr. 2 - Martin to meet Bush later this month in Washington, D.C.

Posted by Debbye at 03:05 PM | Comments (2)

Parliamentary Question Period

Apr. 2 - Andrew Coyne has a must-read goody for Americans who've wondered what is this Question Period that takes place daily in the Canadian Parliament and provides a comparison transcript from the British Parliament's Question Period that explains why some of us view Canada's version as a reasonable alternative to the Comedy Network.

(By the way, the mention of oh, oh that you'll read are truly the sounds the MPs - Members of Parliament - make. I'm not kidding.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:26 AM | Comments (0)

April 01, 2004

British, Canadian Terror Link (Updated)

Apr. 1 - To update this post about the UK arrests of eight British men and the Ottawa arrest of a Canadian, Mohammed Momin Khawaja, on terrorism charges, there was another arrest in the UK Thursday evening.

The CNN reports this on the arrest in Saudi Arabia of Khawaja's father, Mahboob Khawaja:

Saudi intelligence sources said the arrest was made at the request of the Canadian government. It was not known what charges, if any, the elder Khawaja might face.
Some odd statements by the families of those arrested in the UK might imply, to an amateur detective type, that the bombing was planned for next week and the perpetrators had an escape route planned. (And yes, this could also all be a terrible misunderstanding and they are all innocent.)

Police in Canada and Britain were exploring any links the men may have had to extremists in Pakistan. Seven of the eight men arrested in Britain on Tuesday are British-born of Pakistani descent. The eighth is a naturalized Briton born in Algeria.

Ansar Khan, whose 18-year-old son Ahmed was among those detained in Britain, has said that his nephew, Omar Khyam, age 22 and also detained Tuesday, traveled to Pakistan in January 2000 after telling his family he was going on a school trip to France.

The family enlisted the help of relatives in Pakistan's military and intelligence services to find Khyam, who was eventually located in a Kashmiri "freedom-fighters" camp and returned to Britain, his uncle said.

The family said that Khyam was attending a computer school at the time of his arrest this week.

Omar Khyam's brother Shujah, age 17, also was detained in Britain Tuesday.

The Khan and Khyam families also said they were approached in recent weeks by a man who identified himself as "Mr. Gould" and said he worked for the British domestic intelligence agency MI5.

After meeting family representatives on several occasions, "Gould" suggested that the young males of the family -- who are now in custody -- should leave Britain.

According to the family, "Gould" said the young men did not represent a threat to national security but had been in contact with people who did represent such a risk.

The family said they had made arrangements for the three -- Ahmed Khan and Omar and Shujah Khyam -- to travel to Pakistan next week.

A spokesman for MI5 denied the claim that one of its officers had contacted the families.

It's hard not to wonder about the implications of this last part.

Apr. 2 - 15:30 British admit they were "liasing" with RCMP. (Their word, not mine.)

(CTV link via Jack's Newswatch.)

21:28: The arrests in Jordan may be part of the arrests in the UK and Canada, according to this article in the Ottawa Citizen by Robert Fife. Excertps:

Officials say the RCMP's arrests this week of Mr. Khawaja in Ottawa and the arrests of nine British Muslims in London -- all of whom are of Pakistani descent -- are just the start of a series of anti-terrorism operations to take place around the globe.

On Tuesday, authorities arrested three al-Qaeda suspects in Jordan for allegedly planning terrorist attacks.

Mr. Khawaja is being dubbed "The Fixer" by several newspapers in Britain that claim he was acting as a mentor for a cell of young British terrorist suspects before he was arrested.

Before the arrests, the British spy agency MI5 had conducted a two-month surveillance operation during which the suspected cell is alleged to have discussed bombing several targets in and around London. Lip readers were used to study films of the cell taken by undercover officers and tracking devices were attached to cars

While the cafe and its owners have no connection with terrorist activity, British newspapers are speculating that the suspects have been using the e-mail to talk with al-Qaeda "mentors" or "fixers" in other countries. Police are looking for communications between members of the cell and "fixers" whose job is to offer help.

Insiders say Prime Minister Paul Martin and Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan were briefed on the extensive file on Mr. Khawaja, 24, a contract employee at Foreign Affairs.

(Link via Nealenews.)

Apr. 3 - 10:34: Canadian Mohammed Momin Khawaja appeared by videolink in court and was remanded into custody until Wednesday. And this report from the CBC implies that the Canadian government didn't ask the Saudi government to arrest Mahboob Khawaja.

Posted by Debbye at 08:45 PM | Comments (0)

Canada The Unready

April 1 - The title of this news article inadvertantly sums up the entire problem: Canadians told: Get 'damn mad' but at who? Canadians are nice and polite, and terrorists would never want to hurt them (or so I'm told) and, judging by the media up here and far too many Canadians, the biggest danger to world peace is the USA.

Anti-Americans might eventually have a moment of truth: what if China or Russia were to offer to send troops here to stabilize a situation?

A passive citizenry digs its own grave.

22:40: Spin Killer nails it in Canada ... a Deer in the Terror headlights.

Apr. 2 14:35: Alright already, this is a link to the "chilling new call to arms from al Qaeda" that names Canada. Trust me, there will be a fuss for awhile, then complacency, and when Canada is finally hit there will be great gnashing of teeth and prolonged wailing of why weren't we prepared?

It's been nearly a year since SARS hit us in two waves, and they still don't have a plan to respond to biological attacks. And we expect them to be ready for what they can't conceive could happen?

Posted by Debbye at 12:24 PM | Comments (4)

March 31, 2004

Arrests in Toronto hate crimes

Mar. 31 - Three people, 18-year old Steven Vandermey and two 15-year olds, were arrested and charged last night on counts incurred by knocking over headstones in a Jewish cemetary and spray painting anti-Semitic graffiti on a mosque, school and homes.

Posted by Debbye at 10:35 PM | Comments (2)

Auditor-General's Report on Security II

Mar. 31 - The Canadian federal government spent 7.7 billion dollars to improve security after Sept. 11.

In a follow-up to this, more information has been published about the Auditor-General's report on the money was spent.

The results are dismal. They aren't necessarily worse than everywhere else, including the US, but the kinds of problems found are in the basics.

One problem found is that the Watch list is out of date and communications between departments to keep it up to date are faulty. It can take months to enter names.

Airport personnel are not properly screened, and about 20% of them had family or other links to organized crime (like the Hell's Angels. That's old news, yet remains uncorrected.)

Departments don't want to share information. And more, but it's depressing and familiar.

Andrew Coyne has a nice summation of the facts, links to the usual shocked and horrified pundits, and plenty of snark.

Apr. 1 - 18:22: The Auditor General's report is available here.

Posted by Debbye at 09:31 PM | Comments (1)

War on Terror vs. Victimhood (Updated)

Mar. 31 - The Mar. 29 (Monday) arrest in Ottawa of 24-year old Mohammad Momin Khawaja, a software developer who works on contract with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, makes for a very interesting supposition:

Mohammad Momin Khawaja, 24, is charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act with participating in the activity of a terrorist group and facilitating a terrorist activity.

According to an RCMP news release some of the activity may have taken place in London, England.

An insert on the CBC page details the charges:
That Mr. Khawaja did:

1) On or between November 10, 2003 and March 29, 2004, at or near the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario and at or near the City of London, England, did knowingly participate in or contribute to, directly or indirectly, an activity of a terrorist group, for the purpose of enhancing the ability of a terrorist group to facilitate or carry out a terrorist activity, as defined in section 83.01(1) of the Criminal Code, thus committing an indictable offence, contrary to section 83.18 of the Criminal Code.

2) On or between November 10, 2003 and March 29, 2004, at or near the City of Ottawa, in the Province of Ontario and at or near the City of London, England, did knowingly facilitate a terrorist activity, as defined in section 83.01 (1) of the Criminal Code, thus committing an indictable offence, contrary to section 83.19 of the Criminal Code.

Mr. Khawaja appeared in court today at 1:30 p.m. in Ottawa at which time he was remanded in custody until Friday, April 2, 2004 at 1:30 p.m. A publication ban on the proceedings was granted by the court.

The speculation is inevitable: were the near-simultaneous raids in Canada and England conducted as a result of coordinated and cooperative investigations?

Robert at Expat Yank continues coverage of the Tuesday arrests of 8 British citizens in southeast England, raids on 24 locations, and the seizure of half a ton of ammonium nitrate here noting that the response of the Muslim Council of Britain was first initiated following the train bombings in Madrid.

A portion of the MCB letter, which was redrafted after the arrests, urges British Muslims to remember that they too must do what they can to stop terror attacks:

The letter asks for the "utmost vigilance" to help "safeguard" the UK.

Sermons will be delivered on Friday saying terrorism has no place in Islam, while booklets being printed will remind Muslims of their obligation to help safeguard Britain's security.

"A terrorist attack will not discriminate between Muslims and Christians", Mr Bunglawala said.

"As British citizens, we have a right to help the safeguarding of this country by co-operating with police."

However he also urged caution because a number of "high-profile arrests in the past of Muslims" had led to no charges or convictions.

The laudable stand taken by the MCB is somewhat diminished though by the BBC report that says that the letter was drawn up as part of the council's long-term plan to combat "Islamophobia". I liked it better when I thought it was drawn up to combat terrorism (although the BBC may be putting their own spin on it.)

Or not: an MCB campaigner said the press coverage of the arrests was unfair:

Inayat Bunglawala of the Muslim Council of Britain picked out one headline which described the police operation as: "Islamic bomb attack foiled".

"First of all we don't know whether it was a bomb attack," he told BBC Breakfast.

"And secondly, to describe it as Islamic is offensive to ordinary Muslims."

Robert notes on the first
But, he's right, technically, one supposes. After all, the chemical hadn't been turned into an explosive as of their arrests.

Actually, that's profound: Is an unexploded explosive actually an explosive?

and on the second
However, it is an unfortunate and undeniable fact of life that all Islamist terrorists are indeed Muslims. They blow up themselves and/or others in the name of Islam. If that is a problem for most Muslims, then one would think most Muslims would want to begin to deal with it.
It might seem that we are still are square one: as Dr. Daniel Pipes noted some time ago, the solution to Muslim radicals is Muslim moderates. Yet public statements by Inayat Bunglawala notwithstanding, there have been quieter (and less publicized) actions by Muslim citizens in places like Cleveland, and the recent elections in Malaysia resulted in a complete rejection of fundamentalist Islamists.

Yet the media by and large remains focused on one theme: Muslims are victims - not of radical Islamists in Muslim countries (which they are) but of Western nations who take action to stop terror attacks by arresting suspected terrorists before they strike.

A BBC website report about arrests made under Britain's Terrorism Act of 2000 is headlined Whatever became of Britain's 500 'terrorist suspects which does eventually refute accusations of racial profiling:

Of the 529 arrested, 77 people have been charged under the Terrorism Act. Only seven have been convicted. Baghdad Meziane and Brahim Benmerzouga were found guilty in April this year of raising funds for terrorism and were each jailed for 11 years. Last year two men were jailed for belonging to a banned network, the International Sikh Youth Federation.

In June this year, three men were convicted under the act of belonging to another banned group, the Red Hand Commandos, linked to the Irish UVF.

Note that the Red Hand Commandos is a banned group, not a terrorist group.

And then this:

Critics say the sweeping powers granted by the law, which lower the normal standards of reasonable suspicion, have been used to target Muslims in particular.

Community groups describe this as "racial profiling", for example considering somebody suspicious because of their style of dress.

But the law has been applied more widely. The trial of three men charged under the act with possessing guns and bomb-making devices to further the aims of the paramilitary Ulster Defence Association and Ulster Freedom Fighters, is due to start soon.

Yet to some, the fact that so many have been arrested then released without charge is evidence of a "fishing expedition" by the police.

I don't know British law so I don't know exactly what "arrested then released without charge" means, but can someone be arrested without charges being laid under British law? Is this the equivalent of "taken into custody for questioning" which, under Canadian and US laws, is not the same as being arrested?

If indeed the "fishing expedition" is to conduct an interrogation, then it isn't that different from the steps taken in any criminal investigation. I tend to doubt that the British police and anti-terror divisions have sufficient personnel to question everyone in Britain because of the apparel and that other evidence is necessary before someone is picked up.

But the MCB letter is also somewhat after the fact given this:

BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner said the raids followed the infiltration of alleged extremist Islamist groups.

He said sources had told him the alleged targets of any bombing were not military or government-related but members of the public.

Infiltration likely means that British Muslims infiltrated and were instrumental in gathering the evidence that led to the arrests and ammonium nitrate seizure.

Algerian journalist Mohamed Sifaoui has lost family and friends in terror attacks. He therefore posed as a terrorist sympathizer and then wrote a book, Inside al Qaeda, which states uncategorically that Britain is the biggest safe haven for hard-core fundamentalists. He also denounces the foolish romanticising of terrorists and the failure to comprehend that they primarily murder Muslims.

And last September, Mohammed Nasim, chairman of the moderate Central Mosque in Birmingham, accused the British authorities of letting British Muslims down by not taking stronger action against radical Islamists in Britain.

Early reports on the arrests of the Lackawana Seven (more here) said that some members of the Lackawanna Muslim community were concerned about the odd behaviour of some of the men so contacted the FBI. That tip led to the discovery of an al Qaeda cell.

There are several reasons to believe the early assertion (not the least being televised interviews with members of the Muslim community in Lackawanna immediately after the arrests) and of course the fact that the defendents pled guilty and thus the US government did not need to call witnesses during trial proceedings but I still find the failure of the media to credit American Muslims with the willingness to confront terrorists within their midst disheartening.

The CBC coverage of the Khawaji arrest has thus far been a repeat of their coverage of the Khadr family - interviews with family members who might not necessarily be objective and insist this has been a dreadful mistake and the police are storm troopers.

They are proving their enlightened state by sympathizing with the victim, and it is that assumption on their part - that anyone arrested for terrorist related activities must be a victim - which most clearly indicates their bias.

The BBC couldn't run the the same show on their side of the Atlantic because half a ton of unexploded explosives is a little hard to explain away, so they are forced to content themselves with portraying all British Muslims as victims who will suffer because 8 Muslims have been arrested.

It aggravates me because the CBC and BBC, in their desire to prove that they are enlightened beyond all other mortals, overlook the primary targets of Islamist terrorists: other Muslims.

We know that they don't mind killing other Muslims. Think of how many Muslims have died in the terror attacks in Istanbul, Riyadh, Mombasa, Casablanca, and Baghdad? Jakarta? Pakistan? Kashmir? Bombay?

After all, what does a word like apostate imply? Something a little stronger than "we'll have to agree to disagree."

We know that the ultimate aim of the Islamists is to purge the world of infidels and that includes Muslims who do not accept the narrow, constricted view of Islam made manifest by the Taliban.

We know this because they have told us this repeatedly through their videotapes, indeed through the very press agencies that would have us believe that Muslims are victimized by Western societies that allow them to practise religion freely and without state interference.

No thinking person should doubt that the vast majority of Muslims support the goals of the war on terror yet the media have done everything in their power to divide those of us who would fight.

We must strive to change this.

22:40: Singapore's Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew says moderates must speak against acts out or Western countries will think they are the only ones fighting terrorism.

21:51: Canadian Mohammad Khawaja's father, Mahboob Khawaja, has been detained in Saudi Arabia according to his son, Qasim Khawaja. The Saudi government has not confirmed the detention.

Apr. 1 00:15: Silence the preachers of hate

Britain's most prominent Muslim leader last night demanded a crackdown on "rogue" Islamic preachers, blaming them for brainwashing young men with sermons promoting holy war against the West.

Iqbal Sacranie, the secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, was backed by the families of some of the eight men arrested in Tuesday's anti-terrorism raids in south-east England.

Read the whole thing.

21:18: Rantburg has a good compilation and solid speculation as to the possible targets of the British cell.

Posted by Debbye at 10:32 AM | Comments (2)

March 30, 2004

Andy Bradsell, KIA in Iraq

Mar. 30 - Canadian Andy Bradsell, a security agent in Iraq, was killed in action on Sunday, March 28. Mr. Bradsell, a former British Royal Marine, died in the line of duty in northern Iraq:

"Andy was in the rear vehicle and they were escorting the client to the power plant," Larson said. "When they were close to the power plant three vehicles with armed men came along side."

Bradsell and his partner sped forward to put themselves between the gunmen and the client.

While they took the fire, the other vehicle sped ahead and managed to pull away safely, but Bradsell and his partner were killed.

Mr. Bradsell was employed by Olive Security, a British security company.

Mr. Bradsell came from Vancouver, and leaves behind a wife and 3 children.

Our deepest respects and condolences to his family.

UPDATE: More information here (brief link life) which is also to linked from Madagascar News.

Apr. 5 - 09:01: The memorial service held on Apr. 2 invoked many images of Andy Bradsell, and he seems to have been an assertive, confident man who was unafraid to be true to himself.

One friend laughingly remembered Bradsell as he was in high school, all tattoos, earrings and tough guy demeanour.

When the teenager's family had a litter of kittens to give away, he grilled prospective owners on the quality of home the animal would have.

It's tempting to compare Mr. Bradsell with other "human shields" except for one fact: unlike those who talked much and did nothing, Mr. Bradsell and his partner, Christopher McDonald, were truly human shields, who deliberately put themselves between the assasins and the convoy they were escorting. My oldest remarked "They knew they could die."

That is the definition of hero.

Apr. 21 16:07 Andy Bradsell has taken his place on the honour roll of The Fallen.

May 11 June sent me this photo of Andy and family to post:

Andy Bradsell.jpg

and this picture of Hunter:

Hunter big eyes.jpg

Posted by Debbye at 07:30 PM | Comments (82)

Greg Sorbara, Ont. Min. of Finance

Mar. 30 - Another chapter in the Greg Sorbara and his not-conflict-of-interest story: Sorbara loses TSE role:

Ontario Finance Minister Greg Sorbara was quietly stripped of his responsibility to oversee the Toronto Stock Exchange after it was publicly tied to an investigation of the company he recently directed. Premier Dalton McGuinty also pulled Sorbara's role as overseer of the Toronto Futures Act that same day, March 4, after news broke that the TSE had advised Royal Group Technologies in December that it did not have to admit publicly it was under investigation.

The rest of the article is background, quotes from Opposition critics, this and that, and this:

Sorbara and McGuinty said the removal of TSE and the Futures Exchange from his ministry was a matter of housekeeping that was done a week after responsibility for the Securities Commission was handed over to Management Board Chairman Gerry Phillips.

Posted by Debbye at 06:00 PM | Comments (7)

Canada vs. Denmark (Update)

Mar. 30 - Cooler heads are trying to prevail: Danes summon envoy over Arctic fight:

Canada's top remaining diplomat in Denmark was called before the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday to discuss the disputed territory of Hans Island, a barren rock in the high Arctic.
The Danes have said they will take exception if Canadian soldiers step ashore at Hans Island.

If it comes to war, the proud but cash-strapped Canadian military will come up against the better armed Danish army and navy and, if the Danes get really nasty, them.

(Post link via Jack's Newswatch, second link from Tuning Spork.)

Apr. 1 11:37: There is no dispute, there is no crisis according to a spokesman for the Danish Navy. Cuts to Canada's military means that there is no spokesman available for a response from the Canadian Navy.

Posted by Debbye at 05:06 PM | Comments (6)

Auditor-General's Report on Security

Mar. 30 - Auditor finds major gaps in security. Really? Let's see:

The auditor general said, for example, border guards should know more about missing passports.

About 25,000 passports are lost or stolen each year, and front-line officers have no access to information about them, the report says.

The report said "watch lists" immigration officers use to screen applicants are inaccurate and poorly updated.

And federal agencies don't share information effectively which causes a number of concerns.

This all sounds hauntingly familiar. Very haunting and very familiar.

How bad is it?

For one, Transport Canada can't fully access the RCMP's criminal intelligence when screening airport workers. Because of that, the auditor general found 4,500 people with access to restricted areas at five major airports have criminal associations worth investigating.
The Auditor-General has access to the criminal intelligence files from the RCMP but Transport Canada doesn't. Huh?

There is good news: a number of departments have been consolidated into under the Public Safety ministry.

There is also bad news: Anne McLellan (the former health minister who tried to kill us during the SARS outbreak) heads the Public Safety Ministry.

Posted by Debbye at 04:49 PM | Comments (0)

More hate crimes in Toronto?

Mar. 30 - This is very strange: Swastikas at blast site:

Swastikas were found spray-painted in the fire-gutted office of a company owned by a Muslim businessman in a Woodbridge industrial strip mall. Police suspect an arsonist was responsible for an explosion at 11 p.m. on Sunday inside one of 19 units at 910 Rowntree Dairy Rd. -- southeast of Hwy. 7 and Pine Valley Dr. -- that blew out windows and doors at the front and rear of Central Pallet.

Once the fire, which caused $200,000 damage, was doused and the dust had settled, two large swastikas spray-painted in black paint were visible on walls in the front offices.

"It appears to be a fire and an explosion. But what came first, we don't know yet," York Regional Police Det. Russ Lauria said yesterday.

Police aren't sure if the blast and fire are related to the recent string of hate crimes in York Region and other parts of the GTA.

[...]

Until they can determine if there is a "correlation" between the graffiti and the blast, police are treating the incident as a case of possible arson.

"I don't know what to think of this," said a distraught and confused Peter Ally, 30, whose company builds and repairs wooden pallets used to transfer cargo.

The married father of two ran his business in the mall for just over a year. He is Muslim, not Jewish.

"Everything I own was in there," Ally said. "I don't know why someone would want to do this to me."

Posted by Debbye at 04:32 PM | Comments (2)

Anti-terrorist raid in London

Mar. 30 - Robert is keeping abreast of developments in the raid that netted half a ton of ammonium nitrate in London, England here. He'll be updating as more information comes out, so keep checking. (Time zones - I guess it's 10 p.m. there?)

He's also following the raid in Ottawa and notes:

When they are arresting people even in Canada, you have to suspect that "things" are really "going on."
CBC Newsworld is responding as we'd expect: they've described the chemicals seized in the UK as "a large amount" - and interviewed one of those questioned in Ottawa who said the RCMP had machine guns when they approached the house. Machine guns? On second thought, I'll let that one pass.

The CBC link for the Ottawa raid is here. It provides little information but makes it up for that with lots of nuanced information.

Posted by Debbye at 04:22 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian Justice (Updated)

Mar. 30 - What's wrong with this picture? The city is undergoing its ritualistic mea culpas over the death of Cecilia Zhang and a monster is sentenced:

A former Kingston escort-agency operator admitted he once pimped his own wife and stepdaughter, and molested children aged four to 17 years old. "These were young males of tender and impressionable years," said Mr. Justice Arthur Gans in sentencing Shawn Bansfield, 47, to the equivalent of eight years and four months for three sexual-abuse offences and keeping a common bawdy house charges.

"You better govern yourself accordingly or you'll spend the rest of your living days in (prison)," Gans said.

Bansfield, who has 49 previous criminal convictions and four prior sexual offences, had never been sentenced to more than a year in jail, said Crown attorney Mary Humphrey.

Bansfield spent 38 months in jail awaiting trial and was given six years and four months credit.

He was given two years less a day on top of that and also sentenced to three years probation.

"If not incorrigible, he's a sociopath and remains a present danger," Gans said.

He then warned Bansfield he faced much longer sentences if he didn't curb his criminal lifestyle. (My bolding.)

Because this time we mean it!

17:50: It gets better and better. Today's editorial in the Toronto Sun posed the question How did we fail Cecilia? and some of today's stories are there answers. The first one is especially rant-worthy.

Posted by Debbye at 03:38 PM | Comments (3)

March 29, 2004

American Girl With Pride

Mar. 29 - America, stand up and salute 14-year old Laura Elfman, the young American student living in Canada who was booed while carrying her country's flag in Montreal last week.

Some of us were pretty het up about that incident, but there was probably another feeling inside, one we didn't talk about, and Laura did exactly what we knew she'd do once we realized this was the second year this had happened to her yet she was carrying Old Glory again.

"Try it again, because you will feel better. It makes you feel strong," she said.

[...]

Laura, who doesn't follow politics, acknowledged that last year she ran off the stage in tears.

But contrary to news reports, this year: "I stood up for myself" and in no way left the stage crying, she said.

"I said, 'Hi, my name is Laura,' and when people were booing, I was talking over them (into the microphone), and I said, 'and I'm very, very proud to be holding the United States of America flag.' "

She said only a few students booed.

Read the whole article, and read between the lines. Wonder at the school administrations efforts to thwart us from hearing Laura's side of the story and the reporter's determination to learn the story from Laura, and as Laura and her schoolmates are minors, that wasn't easy and got her .

The initial report was incomplete. It was written without independent verification and was entirely based on statements by the school personnel.

They forgot she was an American, and they have no idea what that means.

The school wanted the incident behind it, and was also concerned Laura might get teased again, she said. When a reporter showed up at the school, she was kicked off the premises.

For Laura, it was another lesson in standing up for what she believes.

(Link via Neale News.)

"I wanted to say what I wanted to say. Everybody else had their part. Why don't they want to hear from the person who actually got booed?"

Yesterday, sporting her new sequined U.S.-flag running shoes, she sat down with a reporter.

She said she realizes most Canadians don't support what happened to her, and she has received some kind gestures of support, including a $25 gift certificate from a student in British Columbia.

Laura, you have rocked my world. God bless you.

Posted by Debbye at 06:02 PM | Comments (13)

UN Oil for Food Scandal

Mar. 29 - More publications are taking a closer look at the corruption in the UN Oil for Food program (except the Canadian media. Right. Or maybe that should be Left.)

William Safire has another op-ed today on the UN Oil for Food Program and has maybe given the scandal a name: Follow-Up to Kofigate. I'm going to do something wrong and quote the entire column (curse you NYT and your 2-week link life):

Never has there been a financial rip-off of the magnitude of the U.N. oil-for-food scandal.

At least $5 billion in kickbacks went from corrupt contractors mainly French and Russian into the pockets of Saddam and his thugs. Some went to pay off his protectors in foreign governments and media, and we may soon see how much stuck to the fingers of U.N. bureaucrats as well.

Responding to a harangue in this space on March 17, the spokesman for Kofi Annan confirmed that the secretary general's soft-spoken son, Kojo, was on the payroll of Cotecna Inspections of Switzerland until December 1998. In that very month, the U.N. awarded Cotecna the contract to monitor and authenticate the goods shipped to Iraq.

Prices were inflated to allow for 10 percent kickbacks, and the goods were often shoddy and unusable. As the lax Cotecna made a lot of corporate friends, Iraqi children suffered from rotted food and diluted medicines.

The U.N. press agent also revealed that Benon Sevan, Annan's longtime right-hand man in charge of the flow of billions, was advised by U.N. lawyers that the names of companies receiving the contracts were "privileged commercial information, which could not be made public." Mr. Sevan had stonewalling help.

To shift responsibility for the see-no-evil oversight, the U.N. spokesman noted that "details of all contracts were made available to the governments of all 15 Security Council members." All the details, including the regular 10 percent kickback to the tune of $5 billion in illegal surcharges? We'll see.

To calm the belated uproar, Annan felt compelled to seek an "independent high-level inquiry," empowered by a Security Council resolution, as some of us called for.

Nothing doing, said France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sablire. The money for the huge heist known as the Iraq-U.N. account passed exclusively through BNP Paribas. French companies led all the rest (what's French for "kickback"?), though Vladimir Putin's favorite Russian oligarchs insisted on sharing the wealth. That explains why Paris and Moscow were Saddam's main prewar defenders, and why their politicians and executives now want no inquiry they cannot control.

Nor are the White House and State Department so eager for a real investigation, because as the truth emerges, the U.N. may use the furor as cover for refusal to confer its blessing on the new Iraq. Our present and former U.S. ambassadors to the U.N. would have to take issue with Annan if he tried to hide under their wing. Peter Burleigh and Andrew Hillman, our frequent representatives on the "661 committee" so named for a sanctions resolution are not about to be the U.N.'s scapegoats.

If the secretary general appoints a Franco-Russian Whitewash Team, to whom can the world turn?

1. The Iraqi government-in-formation. Spurred by Kurds who have been blowing the whistle on this superscam for five years, free Iraq has hired accountants and lawyers to sift through captured bills and contracts in Baghdad. Former spooks are freelancing usefully. Paul Bremer, our man in Baghdad, has placed a trove of additional half-corrupted tapes and damaged and damaging documents under seal to be turned over after June 30, Sovereignty Day.

2. The House International Relations Committee's chairman, Henry Hyde, whose interviewers are in New York today, will hold initial hearings on April 21. Congress's investigative arm, the General Accounting Office, will testify about the scope of the chicanery that it estimates at $10 billion (including Saddam's clandestine oil smuggling to Syria and Jordan). It's a start that should awaken Senate Foreign Relations as well as Justice.

3. The press, stimulated by U.N. stonewalling, is on the trail.

Al Mada led the way. Already denying the feisty Iraq newspaper's findings are a former French interior minister, a pro-Saddam member of Britain's Parliament, Arab writers and a financier reportedly behind a Scott Ritter film. The Times, Wall Street Journal and Sunday Telegraph have been exposing the outline of what Newsday admits is "the most underreported story of the year." Among magazines, National Review is out front with no interest shown by The New Yorker and Newsweek.

All of us need an embittered whistleblower. If an ex-U.N. type named Shaukat Fareed reads this call me.

Safire is overlooking an important point here: the call for a full inquiry is better coming from Iraq, which suffered because of it, than the US, which may have lost prestige and remains accused of continuing sanctions which harmed the people of Iraq but is still not the primary victim.

From Roger L. Simon is a link to an article in an Australian paper, The Age, Scandal bubbles to surface. The author, Roger Franklin, takes a deeper look at the Oil for Food program and emphasizes this point:

Again, the UN's stonewalling makes it hard to determine exactly how much was fleeced, but there are some tantalising hints. Before Oil for Food was handed over to Iraq, the UN conducted an urgent, last-minute review of thousands of contracts.

Rosett calls it a "house cleaning", but whatever description is used, some 1500 supplier contracts - one in four - were immediately suspended or banned outright from further participation.

So where did the money go? Into Saddam's pocket is a good guess, with lesser amounts creamed off by the operators of front companies, smugglers and, perhaps, even UN officials.

According to the best estimate of the non-partisan US Government Accounting Office, Oil for Food generated at least $10 billion for Saddam's family, and a further $1 billion to pay the 1000-plus UN bureaucrats who were supposed to be keeping it honest.

Again, the focus is on Kofi Annan, who helped set up Oil for Food in 1997 and installed his close friend and fellow diplomat Benon Sevan as its director. Last week, with Rosett's series igniting a firestorm over the UN, Mr Sevan was not answering his phone. According to a UN spokesman, he is using up accumulated leave before retiring.

For his part, a po-faced Mr Annan now concedes "it is highly possible there has been quite a lot of wrongdoing", and has authorised an internal investigation.

Neither Rosett nor congressional investigators hold much hope it will be more than a whitewash. The UN has other matters it would much prefer to talk about, like a $1.2 billion interest-free loan from Washington to renovate its decaying New York HQ. George Bush has rejected the request, saying the UN could have the money at the standard interest rate charged to American home buyers. (My emphasis)

This article also appears in New Zealand News (link via Jack's Newswatch.)

Niles Lathem in today's NY Post doesn't waste time with nuance in 3,000 U.N. Staffers Probed (no, not that kind of probe! Sheesh.):

Investigators probing the United Nations' Iraq oil-for-food program are taking a close look at allegations the scandal-plagued initiative was filled with spies, terrorists and do-nothing bureaucrats earning exorbitant salaries.
[...]
But new questions have surfaced about the presence on the oil-for-food program's administrative staff of a bureaucrat who was widely known to be an undercover agent for the intelligence service of France, a country that had huge financial interests in the program.

Kurdish officials in northern Iraq also made repeated complaints about the fact that Iraq, with U.N. approval, kept Americans, Britons and Scandinavians off the staff that administered the 13 percent of the oil-for-food proceeds earmarked for Kurdish provinces. Only workers from countries perceived to be friendly to Iraq were approved. Howard Ziad, the Kurdish representative to the United Nations, told The Post that Kurdish authorities made repeated complaints to U.N. higher-ups that the staff assigned to his region was riddled with spies working for Iraqi intelligence.

In July 2001, Kurdish security forces arrested a Tunisian U.N. employee with a car full of explosives meant for a terror bombing in Erbil. He was held for four months until the United Nations quietly negotiated his release, Ziad said.

Now the near-automatic oh come on, this is a silly accusation reflex meets a caution: The Kurds have been in the forefront of exposing this program since 1998. Do those who have discounted their claims for the last 5 years have the moral stomach to scoff at them again?

There are many who will point out that the United Nations is still the best vehicle for international cooperation and peace mechanism we have at present and must be maintained at any cost.

But as a wise (albeit fictional) being once said, some things can come at too high a price, and in this instance, a very high price is being paid to sustain a mere illusion, and I'm not simply referring to monetary expenditures but to the ignored hopes and aspirations of the world's oppressed and destitute. I have my doubts that the UN can be fixed, but according to the article Voting Bloc from Reason Online, there is a bi-partisan effort to form a caucus of democracies at the UN which could either force reform or even supersede the UN.

The interesting part is that this is actually getting approval from both branches of government which shape foreign policy: the executive and legislative:

Since 1996, a handful of foreign-policy wonks have been kicking around the idea of a "democracy caucus" at the U.N. Two administrations, first Bill Clinton's and then George W. Bush's, took quiet but significant steps in that direction. Now, according to Bush administration officials, the concept will be test-flown at the six-week meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights that began on Monday in Geneva.
[...]
On Capitol Hill, support is strong in both parties. In 2003 the House overwhelmingly passed a bill, still awaiting Senate action, requiring (among other things) that the U.S. seek a democracy caucus. "It's a very high priority for a number of us who want to push it through," said Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., who is the ranking Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, and whose co-sponsor is House Rules Committee Chairman David Dreier, R-Calif. In the Senate, Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on Foreign Relations, is sponsoring a similar resolution.
RTWT.

Two things strike me: it would be refreshing to have an international organization in which France, Russis and China didn't have veto power, and so far as I can determine, only two or possible three Mid-East countries would even qualify to join, those being Iraq and Israel and perhaps Turkey, although admission to the EU somewhat emphasizes the part of Turkey that is in Europe. Many African nations would have to stop pretending that they are the moral equality of functioning democracies.

And Canada - what indeed of Canada?

PM Paul Martin said at a recent Geneva conference that the The future of the U.N. lies with Canada, and the future of Canada lies with the U.N.. Kofi Annan was lauded by the same Liberal Party government which is now vainly trying to claim ignorance of the misdeeds we call Adscam.

Do Canadians who rely exclusively on Canadian media have any notion that the UN is at the center of a scandal of this magnitude? They are certainly aware that, ten years after the fact, the UN has finally figured out that they failed in Rwanda, but have Canadian sensibilities reached 2004? As a taxpayer in Canada I am furious that my tax dollars have been stolen, but the $100 million misdirected through Adscam is mere chicken feed compared to $11 billion unaccounted for by the UN and that scandal truly resulted in the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives.

The U.N. bureaucracy is just as culpable for what happened in Iraq as for what happened in Rwanda and for is happening in the Sudan. Will they require another ten years to work those out? Can the Sudanese afford to wait?

I want to know if PM Martin actually recognized exactly what he was saying when he proclaimed that Canada's future lay in the U.N.

Yep, Glenn Reynolds and Roger Simon are much faster than I.

But I'm still nastier: Anyone else wondering if Kofi Annan is one of the international leaders who has confided his hope that John Freakin' Kerry wins the presidency?

[N. B.: I'm aware of Reason Online's bias, but then I still read the NY Times and Washington Post too.]

20:59: WaPo link to their mild Oil for Food Program article fixed.

Posted by Debbye at 01:11 PM | Comments (6)

Andrew Coyne

Mar. 29 - What do you call a respected columnist who starts a blog and continually adds improvements like comment enhancements and then even enables music access through his site? Canadians Who Know call him Andrew Coyne and he makes some of us look like code inepts (probably because we are, but I digress.)

Of course his chief charm is his Snark.

All irreverence aside, Andrew Coyne is The Man when it comes to Adscam coverage, and that's in no small part due to his single-minded focus and ability to track events despite the bewildering speed with which this scandal and similar relevations of mis-spending have unfolded.

I've posted less on Adscam than I'd like due to my belief that al Qaeda is launching a counterattack committment to the war on terror and desire to see a full investigation into the Oil for Food scandal. That's my excuse, and it sounds much better than Brain Cell Overload.

Anyway it's Monday and there are ongoing investigations that actually mean something (as opposed to that other investigation going on to the south of here) so check Andrew Coyne each evening and the next time someone piously intones that Canada's future lies with the United Nations Be Afraid. Be Very Afraid. Or kick them in the shins.

Posted by Debbye at 11:40 AM | Comments (6)

March 28, 2004

The financing of terrorism

Mar. 28 - Ottawa links $35-million in cash transfers to terrorists:

Ottawa Canada's anti-money laundering centre uncovered $35 million in suspected terrorist financing in the first nine months of the fiscal year, outstripping the tally for the entire previous year.

The amount reflects the total detected by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre from April through December 2003, forming the basis of 29 case files passed to police or intelligence officials for further investigation.

The figures obtained by The Canadian Press are the latest indication that dangerous organizations continue to try to use Canada's financial institutions as conduits for bankrolling terrorist acts.

Fintrac, as the federal centre is known, identified 25 cases of suspected terrorist financing involving $22 million in all of fiscal 2002-03.I'm not sure from reading this articles that the transfer of funds was detected and stopped. There have long been rumours that the Tamil Tigers received a great deal of their financial support from Canada, for instance, and those holes had been plugged.

(Link via Neale News, which has teamed up with Tabloid News and will keep going after initial reports that it would be discontinued.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

Cecilia Zhang found

Mar. 28 - I don't want to post this. I guess I must because so many us in Canada have posted on Cecilia's disappearence, used Amber Alert scrolls on blogs in addition to the substantial number of Canadians and Americans using email to routinely send out her picture to keep the search for Cecilia active. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to note the final sad chapter. Missing Girl's Remains Found.

Cecilia's picture is literally all over Toronto - on every TTC bus and at every subway station, in stores, and on community bulletin boards.

The city never gave up hope.

Deepest and heartfelt condolences to her family. Cecilia would have been a mere 10 years old on Tuesday.

(Link via Neale News.)

Mar. 29 10:34: This is the link to articles about Cecilia. Rest in peace, child, and may your killer know no peace.

Posted by Debbye at 08:52 PM | Comments (3)

More hate crimes in Toronto

Mar. 28 - The following may not seem like a major red flag until you connect some dots: Cyber hatred!:

Police are investigating a rash of anti-Semitic e-mail around the Thornhill area which is adding to the "unprecedented" number of crimes against Jews in Toronto. The e-mails say, among other slurs, that Jews are spoiled, drugged-up, sex-obsessed sluts who deserve to have their teeth kicked in.

"We just learned about these. They are going to be a part of the investigation into the (recent) anti-Semitic graffiti," York region police Det. Andy Atkinson said yesterday.

They are still trying to pin the vandalism on young offenders, of course, citing that the vandalism occurred during the March break. But then there's this:

The e-mails started to be circulated in early March, about a week before vandals targeted 13 Jewish families along Beverley Glenn Dr., in Vaughan with anti-Semitic vandalism.
[...]
Nationally, anti-Semitic activity -- including violent acts against persons -- was up 27% in 2003, with 584 cases reported, said Anita Bromberg, human rights co-ordinator at B'Nai Brith Canada.

Of the 584 cases, 315 occurred in the GTA. (Emphasis added.)

The emails were generally a private issue in that they weren't initially reported to the police, but if the previously unreported emails are linked to the subsequent vandalism then we may be looking at an organized series of attacks on Toronto's Jewish community rather than acts inspired by other acts. Note that the emails were sent before Spring Break, before the anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom (which has been cited as the "root cause" although it's not clear why anyone would make that connection) and before the removal of Yassin.

What do you do when the facts don't fit the theory? Maybe the police need a new theory.

I don't have time to run a real google search this morning, but I recall a Michael Coren column in 2002 in which he cited an alarming increase in anti-Semitic crimes in that year and I suspect the figures for 2001, 2002 and 2003 will be more alarming than some may want to concede.

Posted by Debbye at 09:45 AM | Comments (1)

March 27, 2004

Michigan doesn't want Toronto garbags

Mar. 27 - Being picky at curb:

Garbage crews will be more picky about what they collect at the curb now that Michigan turned up the heat in its trash war with Toronto, a city works official warned yesterday. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm imposed restrictions designed to stop Toronto trash trucks from dumping tires, pop bottles and other beverage containers in her state.

Michigan's politicians and many other opponents object to their state being a dumping ground for Toronto's rubbish.

Geoff Rathbone, of the city's solid waste department, said collection crews will "absolutely" be more vigilant in leaving garbage that can be recycled at the curb.

Toronto sends 140 garbage trucks daily to the Carlton Farms Landfill in Michigan's Sumpter Township. With no dump of its own, the city ships 1.2 million tonnes of waste to Michigan each year.

As they aren't supposed to pick up items like tires to begin with, this should be raising more than an eyebrow.

Posted by Debbye at 09:47 AM | Comments (4)

More hate crimes in Toronto

Mar. 27 - Toronto's Jewish community aren't the only ones at the receiving end of hatred: Catholics are latest hate target and a Pickering Islamic Centre was torched Tuesday night. The Canadian Jewish Congress condemned the arson.

Community Safety Minister Monte Kwinter says that hate crimes should be treated more seriously under young offender legislation and subject to tougher penalties because of the potential for tuning community against community.

I'm not sure what the last item is supposed to mean given that young offenders' legislation is a mere handslap. Does it now require two hand slaps instead of the one?

Posted by Debbye at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)

March 26, 2004

Rwanda Memorial Conference

Mar. 26 - What happens when UN Sec.-Gen. Kofi Annan and Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister share sanctimony and a platform? Absolutely nothing (unless you count me getting a 3-aspirin headache.) The concept of "happens," which presupposes an ability to "act," doesn't exist in their dimension.

But there were a lot of sanctimonious words from both men over their dereliction of duty which led to the Rwanda genocide (At Rwanda Memorial, Annan Takes Blame for U.N.) but which (surprise!) stopped short of actually suggesting some corrective measures:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday opened a memorial conference on the 1994 Rwanda genocide by accepting institutional and personal blame for the slaughter of 800,000 civilians that was initially ignored by world leaders.

"The international community is guilty of sins of omission," said Annan, who was head of the United Nations peacekeeping agency at the time and had asked countries to provide troops.
Next time try to state what the mission was. Some of us still remembered Somalia.
"I believed at the time that I was doing my best. But I realized after the genocide that there was more that I could and should have done to sound the alarm and rally support," Annan said in a speech to open the "Memorial Conference on the Rwanda Genocide."

It was not the first time that the secretary-general had criticized the United Nations and his own mistakes, but he said the painful memory of Rwanda and ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the mid-1990s "has influenced much of my thinking, and many of my actions" as head of the world body.

Name a subsequent UN action that was influenced by events in Rwanda, just to humour me. Hint: answering a phone call from the next man assigned to a mission similar to that of Dallaire doesn't count. (Come to think of it, you didn't respond when two peackeepers in the Congro were in trouble, either.)
Canada, which has been a leading organizer of much of the U.N.'s self-examination
Is that another way of saying collective but still unproductive naval-gazing?
over Rwanda, said on Friday that the international community had not yet learned how to build structures capable of withstanding such brutality next time.
Because Iraq doesn't count. That genocide was being funded through the UN Oil-For-Food program.
"Or, to put it more starkly, we have learned what we need to do but I suggest, colleagues, we lack the political will
We? Who we? Not my we, although maybe your we.
to achieve the necessary agreement on how to put in place the type of measures
Predator. Hellfire. End of problem.
that will prevent a future Rwanda from ever happening again," Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham told the memorial conference.
As for Canada, events in Rwanda and Bosnia-Herzegovina startled the government into awareness that if Canada was to lead the world in peacekeeping efforts they would need to re-invest in their military after the deep spending cuts that had reduced Canada's once-proud military to sub-standard. /sarcasm

After all, Chretien's purchase of two executive jets from Bombardier came out of the defense budget, remember? /not sarcasm

And millions of dollars were skimmed by person or persons unknown at the DoD for fraudulent invoices from someone who no longer workds for H-P. /not sarcasm

Many thanks to reader Nik for the link.

UPDATE: Mar. 28 - 10:02: Dalliere recounts his anguish. Note this:

Dallaire, 57, has been widely lauded as a hero for his efforts to draw the UN's attention to what was about to happen in Rwanda in early 1994. He warned that unless more soldiers were sent and his orders changed to allow his troops to use force to prevent slayings, then a massive number of lives would be lost.

Instead, the UN cut its peacekeeping force from about 2,500 international soldiers to just 270. Dallaire and other military officers in Rwanda believe they could have prevented what happened if the United Nations had beefed up its peacekeeping force to 5,000 troops. (Emphasis added)

One might say the UN cut and ran when the going got tough.

UPDATE: Mar. 29 - 01:03: Good article from the Economist Rwanda, Remembered.

Posted by Debbye at 05:06 PM | Comments (12)

March 25, 2004

Torontonians take a stand

Mar. 25 - Torontonians made it clear last night tht they view an attack on the Jewish community here as an 'Attack on all of us'.

Nearly 2,500 turned out for an anti-hate rally in North York at the at the Lipa Green building for Jewish services. The rally was attended by Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, Toronto Mayor David Miller and Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino.

Lt.-Gov. James Bartleman met with members of B'nai Brith Canada at the Ontario Legislature and likened anti-Semitism to a "vile disease."

The responses of public figures are important but fairly predictable. What isn't so predictable is the response of private citizens, in this case the owner of Goodbye Graffiti who has volunteered to clean up the hate messages for free.

Sometimes I feel as though the unofficial motto of this town is "Yeah, whatever," but Torontonians do have a sense of community and pride that was made evident in this latest series of hate crimes and the black-out last August.

Posted by Debbye at 11:08 AM | Comments (3)

US Peewee Team Returns to Canada

Mar. 25 - A visit to Canada last year by the Brockton Boxers, a peewee hockey team from Massachusetts, turned into a series of ugly incidents. That visit had coincided with demonstrations against the US war in Iraq, but the treatment of the hockey players was all the more shocking because it was aimed at 12- to 13-years old kids.

Folks in New Brunwick decided to do something about it and invited the team to a tournament in Frderickton, giving them an all-out welcome and a Big 'hi'.

They will be in Frederickton for a two-day tournament and will be visited by hockey great Frank Mahovlich and even get to see the Stanley Cup, which is currently on display in the city.

It's so tempting to focus on the strident tone of remarks from the CBC, Toronto Star and the like where we see anti-Americanism and thus forget other things, like the Friends of America rallies held here last April and the incredible hospitality of Newfoundlaners who suddenly found themselves dealing with hundreds of stunned airline passengers on Sept. 11 who needed beds, food and kindness.

Thank you, Frederickton, for reminding me (and others) of this other side of Canadian-American relations, and to Mader Blog, who reported on the Yes to Liberty demonstration last Saturday.

UPDATE: 20:03: Longer story here

Posted by Debbye at 09:30 AM | Comments (2)

March 24, 2004

Anti-Semitism in Toronto (cont.)

Mar. 24 - Another round of hate targeted Toronto's Jewish community yesterday. A war on hate is being conducted using more strong words and added police patrols as the weapons of choice.

After initial attempts to link the incidents to the anniversary of the Iraq War fell flat, I wonder if the fact that it is allowable for much of the media to spread hate for Israel will become a consideration.

Reza Safai, who was arrested while spray-painting hate messages near Bloor and Quebec Ave., has been released on bail and seems anxious to avoid media attention. Indeed, it is so unfair that a coward someone who chose to act in the dead of night and without witnesses is thrust under the spotlight.

There seems to be an upsurge in such crimes in France as well, although the surprise may be that such incidents are being publicized.

By happenstance, there will be the first commemoration of holocaust victims on Parliament Hill this April 18, a date which intentionally coincides with Yom Hashoah, a day designated in 1951 by Israel as the Day of the Holocaust and which marks the Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943.

Posted by Debbye at 08:19 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2004

Anti-semitism in Toronto and an arrest

Mar. 23 - At least the latest incidents of ant-Semitism have been receiving press attention and, more importantly, there has been an arrest. Quote of the day:

Painter Rafael Gonzalez, who moved to Canada 14 years ago from Argentina, covered the hate message with green paint at a condo project near the suspect's home.

"This is stupid, absolutely stupid," Gonzalez said. "I don't like this kind of thing.

"Next they put (messages) against Spanish people, and then black people."

Exactly. Someone should hire him to speak for Toronto because he is a refreshing change from the pablum talk of it being unacceptable and not acceptable that we hear from our intrepid leaders.

It is unacceptable for a pitcher to fake a pick-off throw to first. It's wrong to spray-paint hate propaganda alongside city streets. Just so we have our terms clear here.

Angua knows which terms fit her feelings.

Posted by Debbye at 03:10 PM | Comments (9)

March 19, 2004

"Yes to Liberty" rally in Toronto

Mar. 19 - From Mader Blog: There is to be a "Yes to Liberty" rally and march tomorrow, Saturday, March 20 in Toronto

Our rally/counter-protest will be held at Nathan Phillips Square on Queen St. W. in downtown Toronto on Saturday March 20th. We ask that those interested in joining us assemble at this location between 12:00pm and 12:30pm. The "anti-war" protest is scheduled to commence at 1:00pm, so we would like to get there prior to their march. We may proceed from the Square to the US Consulate depending on our turnout and how events transpire.
I must work tomorrow and cannot attend, but damn, this is good news.

UPDATE: Mader Blog has a report on the rally and a link to pictures!

Posted by Debbye at 04:38 PM | Comments (0)

APTN discussion of Iraq

I received an email about an upcoming broadcast on APTN (the Aboriginal People's Television Network):

Iraq 1 Year Later: Liberated or Colonized?
LIVE Friday March 19 @ 8 pm et / 5 pt
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
(Read details in extended.)

Coming up this Friday on Contact - it's been one year since the US invaded Iraq. What's changed? Did the war make life better or worse for the people of Iraq, not just now but in the long term? Is the world a safer place because Saddam Hussein is gone?

Critics say the war was about oil, greed and power, that the US and its allies had no right to invade. But supporters say Saddam Hussein had to go, and the Iraqi people were in no position to do it themselves. Now, one year later, people wonder whether Iraq is headed to a new future, and when, if ever, the US will leave.

Join us *live* this Friday at 8 pm et, 7 ct, as we discuss the war and occupation of Iraq. To take part, call toll free 1-877-647-2786 or email contact@aptn.ca during the show.

Posted by Debbye at 03:47 PM | Comments (2)

Nexus of Terrorism

Mar. 19 - I fell asleep on the couch shortly after No. 1 Son left last night. I wonder why? The real question: am I looking too closely, or are there signs that al Qaeda and other terrorists have started a major counter-offensive? Events in Syria and Iran indicate that the forces for freedom are also on the move.

Mar. 2 - Multiple attacks on Shiite commemoration of Ashura in Iraq.

Mar. 4 - Abdul Raouf Naseeb captured in Yemen.

Mar. 4 - Abdurahaman Khadr admits family closely connected to al Qaeda

Mar. 4 - Sunni and Shiite clerics march together in Iraq to protest terrorism.

Mar. 4 - Insurrection in Iran.

Mar. 4 - Abdurahman Khadr says he was a CIA agent in Bosnia.

Mar. 5 - Palestinian civil war begins?

Mar. 8 - Interim Iraq Constitution signed

Mar. 8 - Int'l Women's Day march in Iran attacked by security forces

Mar. 9 - North Korea issues rhetoric, withdraws from meaningful talks

Mar. 9 - Abu Abbas dies

Mar. 11 - Terrorist attack in Spain.

Mar. 12 - Millions of Spaniards demonstrate against terrorism

Mar. 13 - Uprisings in Iran

Mar. 14 - Elections in Spain, appeasers voted in.

Mar. 14 - Two terrorist attacks in Ashod, Israel, kills 10

Mar. 15 - Israel retaliates

Mar. 15 - New Spanish government announces they will withdraw from Iraq.

Mar. 15 - Polish government says Fine, we'll carry on without Spain

Mar. 15 - Uprisings in Syria, Iran.

Mar. 15 - Vandals in north Toronto target homes of Jewish citizens with anti-Semitic graffiti.

Mar. 16 - Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir (aka Kahlid Ali Hajj, "The Poet") killed in Saudi Arabia

Mar. 16 - Group with possible Chechen links threaten French over head-scarf ban

Mar. 17 - Mount Lebanon Hotel in Baghdad hit by car bomb

Mar. 17 - Renewal of violence in Kosovo.

**Mar. 17 - Spain goverment received communique dated Mar. 15 claiming to be from al Qaeda which declared a cease-fire with Spain.

Mar. 18 - Pakistan troops heavily engaged in battle in north, may have surrounded al Zawahiri.

Mar. 18 - Additional troops go into Kosovo in response to renewed violence.

Mar. 18 - British announce additional 650 (+-) British troops to be deployed to Kosovo which will be augmented by US and Italian forces.

**Mar. 18 - Second communique claming to be from al Qaeda threatens further attacks in retaliation for death of Khaled Ali Hajj (aka Abu Hazim al-Sha'ir, The Poet) in Saudia Arabia.

**Mar. 18 - Attempted assassination of Jose Murat, Governor of the State of Oaxaca, Mexico.

Mar. 19 - President and Vice-President of Taiwan shot by would-be assassins and a FARC plot to assassinate the president of Columbia has been thwarted.

Mar. 19 - First of British troops land in Kosovo; an additional 600 German troops are also to be deployed.

Mar. 19 - French restaurant in Bahrain stormed by Islamists angered by alcohol served. Cars of restaurant patrons hit with Molotov cocktails.

**Mar. 19 - Car bomb in Basra kills 3 people, angry residents catch bomber and kill him:

A man who left the vehicle shortly before the blast was caught by passers-by and stabbed to death, said police Lt.-Col. Ali Kazem. Two others spotted getting out of the vehicle were caught by members of the public and later arrested.
Three Iraqi journalists killed, nine wounded in by drive-by shooting, three US soldiers killed by mortar fire.

Mar. 19 - Plans for the Pakistan-India cricket match remain firm. (I see a major political message in this sports event.)

I left some things out, including the letter purporting to be from al Qaeda declaring a cease-fire in Spain and today's bomb threat targeting DC schools.

Do you suppose the seeming simultaneity is what Sec. of State Colin Powell meant when he used the expression a nexus of terrorism to describe the link between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein during his UN presentation last year?

These events may be linked on purpose or they may have inspired one another, but anyone who understands that we are at war might also believe that terrorists are being flushed out into the open.

Others will doubtless say that the events are a direct result of US intervention in Iraq, but there were so many events which preceeded that war that I don't think it an adequate explanation.

**late additions to list

Posted by Debbye at 11:29 AM | Comments (2)

Important stories from Thursday

Lots more on Adscam, but Andrew Coyne is doing such a terrific job I'm going to let him carry this ball.

According to the Chinese ambassador, Canada's lot lies with EU

The Chinese Ambassador in Brussels said the other day, in that big-picture Chinese way, that the creation and success of the European Union is one of those transforming human events that happens every 300 or 400 years.
The article notes that the EU has successfully avoided war. It doesn't note that one of the wars it avoided was the ongoing one in Kosovo.

More anti-Semitism in Toronto:

Police had to be called to York University on Tuesday after a dramatization of an Israeli border crossing by pro-Palestinian students led to a rival demonstration at the politically charged campus.
Is there a connection with what happened yesterday? As Margaret Wente points out, We Can't Afford to Look Away noting that the West is looking away from blatant anti-Semitism in the Arab world.

The insurrection in Syria went into it's fifth day. The death toll is reported to be at least 30. A timely reminder:

Kurds comprise almost two million of Syria's 17 million population although about 200,000 of them are not recognised as citizens of the country as a punishment for seeking to establish an autonomous homeland.
Australia and Japan were mentioned as possible targets on the Al-Quds al-Arabi webiste but both governments said they wouldn't be intimidated. The website also reassured the Spanish government that they needn't worry:
In its statement, Abu Hafs al-Masri said it was calling a truce in Spain to give the socialist government that was elected Sunday, three days after the train attacks, time to carry out its pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq.
How humiliating it must be for the Spanish to be told that the group which has claimed responsibility for killing 202 people in the attack last week is pleased with their election results.
The group appeared to boast it had the power to change governments. The socialists, who have long opposed Spain's military involvement in Iraq, were running second in Spanish opinion polls until Thursday's bombings.

"We change and destroy countries," the statement said. "We even influence the international economy, and this is God's blessing to us. We won't accept to be an object in this world, but a player, a strong player - with God's will."

The statement tells American voters that Abu Hafs al-Masri supports the re-election campaign of U.S. President George W. Bush: "We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections."

The statement goes on to boast that it is anxious to have the Arab world see how dreadful the US really is. Sounds a lot like the Maoist rhetoric I heard back in the 60's.

Many thanks for the links to these stories which were available because I receive Jack's Newswatch by email daily.

Posted by Debbye at 10:45 AM | Comments (4)

Important stories from Wednesday

Mar. 19 - These are some important stories I missed Wednesday:

There was an ugly incident of anti-Semitism here: T.O. police probing anti-Semitic hate crimes in north Toronto.

Part of the rise in anti-Semitism last year is being blamed on the war in Iraq, which produced a spike in hate crimes. The ongoing tensions and violence in Israel is apparently giving licence to hate mongers.
The Canadian media, always ready to Blame America.

More news from Syria about Syria uprisings and Syrian officials blame US for the Kurdiah uprising because US flags were spotted in crowd. I'll own up to such that blame inspiration gladly and gratefully.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda yesterday accused France of direct responsibility for the 1994 genocide of at least 800,000 people in the central African country.

M Kagame claimed that the French government supplied weapons, logistical support and even senior military planners to the regime of militant ethnic Hutus responsible for the slaughter of 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus. (UPDATE: Mar. 24 - See this for seeming verification of the charge.)

France's growing closeness to the Chinese leadership was signalled yesterday when the two countries held joint naval exercises and the European Union said it wanted to scrap its post-Tiananmen Square arms embargo. Hmm, Chretien was visiting China when Adscam broke out.

SAN'A, Yemen (AP) - Nine suspects in the 2000 bombing of the destroyer USS Cole have been arrested, the government of Yemen said Tuesday, including eight who escaped from jail last year.

These and other stories were on my daily email from Jack's Newswatch which I can keep and use the links to refer back to important stories as they develop.

Jack changes the page daily, so bookmark it for your first stop visit to catch Canadian and international news stories.

Incidently, Jack is a veteran, and pays special attention to Canadian troops troops and to the history of the regiments in Canada. In a country that all but ignores it's military unless it makes for a good sound-bite, Jack is a lone voice of support.

You can sign up to be on his mailing list with an email to Jack Davies (contact address at the site.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:29 AM | Comments (0)

March 18, 2004

Hate speech laws 2.0

Mar. 18 - Bill C-250 is legislation to include sexual orientation under laws against hate speech which has engendered a great deal of controversy (Hate Bill 'censors' Canucks) and is now before the unelected Senate for passage.

40 Liberals actually voted against it in Parliament
last fall (the measure passed 141-110.)

I'm against hate speech and against laws that inhibit the freedom of speech. Easy, right?

Posted by Debbye at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

March 17, 2004

More Canadian Mint Woes

Mar. 17 - Brian Legris, the chief executive of the Royal Canadian Mint is also a frequent traveller (Expensive business trips also on the bill.) No total is provided (Crown corporations don't have to divulge expenses) but there is this:

Mint spokesman Phil Taylor could not explain a $1,632 hospitality expense June 6, 2002 claim that Legris filed. There were no supporting receipts or explanations on what Legris spent the money on.

But Taylor said the mystery claim would no longer be approved under improved rules implemented since 2003.

There. Don't you feel better now? Oh wait, there's more!

Mr. Legris lives within a 3-minute walk from work, and in fact deliberately moved so close in order to walk yet still racked up $3,681 for gas, car repairs and parking in downtown Ottawa between February 2002 and December 2003 in addition to his $10,000 per year car allowance. (Don't get me wrong, I don't blame him for driving 3 blocks between December and February; after all, we're talking Ottawa In Winter here.)

Previous story about the highly paid executives at the Canadian Mint here.

Posted by Debbye at 09:26 PM | Comments (2)

Min. of Fin. Greg Sorbara

Mar. 17 - The Ontario ethics commissioner has cleared Greg Sorbara, the Ont. Finance Minister, of being in a conflict of interest when he failed to disclose that he used to sit on the Board of Directors of Royal Group Technologies upon being told the company was being investigated by the Ontario Securities Commission.

Posted by Debbye at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

March 15, 2004

Colby Cosh on Spain and Canada

Mar. 15 - I don't know how long this will be available without a paid subscription to the online National Post but Colby really outdoes himself in his observations about the terrorist attack in Madrid (it was written before the final election tally in Spain) and it's implications for Canada and, I think, every nation including the USA in Spain was the victim, Canada the audience:

... I can't help noticing that, as "tense" as things sometimes get between us and the southern neighbour, compressed dynamite in a backpack never enters into it. Spain was the victim on Thursday, but the intended audience was Canada -- Canada and every other country that is wavering in its determination to support a Pax Americana. To do so carries moral risks, but to acquiesce in the taking of the free world as a hostage is immorality on a much larger scale.


In Spain, opponents of conservative Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar are calling him a "war criminal" and unashamedly endowing him with responsibility for the attacks, because he stood alongside George W. Bush and Tony Blair on the issue of the Second Gulf War. The disarmamentarians and crypto-communists will argue that they don't mean to take away the guilt from those who built the bombs, even as they do just that. It's a recipe for Spain to be rendered invertebrate once again -- as spineless and feeble as Canada. (My bolding)

I think that this tactic by terrorists will, sadly, be effective in Canada (see next post. Canadians have oh so generously given Americans an out by deciding that the president knowingly lied - President Bush, that is, not Clinton or Chirac or any of the other world leaders who too said Iraq had WMD.)

Read the whole thing, and if it has disappeared from cyberspace, check at Colby Cosh's website where he usually posts his columns about a week after they're published in the Post.

(Link via Jack's Newswatch.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

Polls on Canadian attitudes to Americans

Mar. 15 - Take your pick:

The poll says Canadians call U.S. best pal - Yanks pick Brits, but that's only because Americans are ignorant about Canada.

Or are they?

This poll says Bush lied to justify Iraq war, Canada right to stay out Canadians believe the American president deliberately lied. Maybe Americans know Canada better than one might think.

(Links via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

March 14, 2004

Attention: Liberal Party

Mar. 14 - Lorrie Goldstein offers 20 simple rules for keeping our votes. They are all excellent (probably because they are simply common sense rules) but this one is most relevant to the over-use of consultative fees:

5) If your main problems are that your nuclear plants are breaking down and your electrical transmission grid desperately needs repair, no amount of consulting advice - whether Liberal or Tory - is going to help you. You need to fix the problem, not get more advice on how to "spin" the problem.
Greg Weston notes that had the government paid attention to Allan Cutler, the whistleblower who alerted those in charge in 1994 that there were worrisome violations in the awarding of public contracts, Adscam and the whole fiasco might have been avoided.

Posted by Debbye at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)

March 13, 2004

Patronage and Adscam

Mar. 13 - More patronage appointees are culled: Michel Vennet, head of the Business Development Bank of Canada was finally, and I do mean finally, fired.

Technically the controversy over Vennet, Beaudoin and the bank are not part of Adscam so belong to an earlier scandal called Shawinigate but I'm not in the mood to distinguish between rats today. The same arrogance and corruption ties these scandals together and I'm going with what they have in common.

Anyone who's been reading Andrew Coyne might be excused for wondering what took them so long when lesser figures were summarily fired for lesser offenses and because I'm suspicious I wonder if they just gave him time to, er, tidy and clean out his files and computer records. As is noted here, they are suddenly reviewing the Governor-General's expenses or are they trying to change the subject?

Politics of diversion? In Canada? Oh, my!

The latest Adscam revelation: even the small amount of money allotted to the Department of Defense was subject to theft:

So far, only one federal employee, civilian director Paul Champagne, has been fired after auditors discovered national defence had paid $160 million for military computer hardware and support services it never received.

The principal company involved, Hewlitt Packard, has said that Steve Bailey, a sales representative who worked with Champagne, is no longer with them.

[...]

Tory Cheryl Gallant noted the Financial Administration Act limits the signing authority for public servants to $250,000. "How could one person have signing authority for $160 million?" she asked.

Andrew Coyne has more here and here.

Posted by Debbye at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

March 12, 2004

Adscam

Mar. 12 - Martin aides tied to scandal:

Aides to Prime Minister Paul Martin have been linked to an advertising firm involved in the sponsorship scandal, according to newly-released documents. Martin's former chief of staff at the finance department, Terrie O'Leary, and a former legislative assistant, Karl Littler, were both identified in documents in which Groupe Everest was awarded a lucrative contract in 1996.

Littler is now Martin's Ontario organizer and O'Leary remains a trusted adviser.

According to this, the commissions were being funnelled to friendly ad agencies in 1994.


The drip, drip, drip as each revelation comes out . . . what will be the ultimate impact on Canadians?

UPDATE: 15:08: The owner of the Auberge Grand-Mere, Yvon Duhaime, which was at the heart of the Shawinigan scandal some years ago, has been charged with arson.

Posted by Debbye at 01:49 PM | Comments (0)

March 10, 2004

Adscam

Mar. 10 - They even stole from the Boy Scouts? The Scouts in Quebec, L'Association des Scouts du Canada, asked for $250,000 to assist in funding a Boy Scout Milllennium Jamboree and received it, but the Public Works website states the amount contributed was $600,000.

The case joins 720 other files that will come under scrutiny as special counsel André Gauthier seeks to recover sponsorship funds misspent between 1997 and 2001.
Misspent funds. Gotta love the spin!

Groupaction Strategic Communications handled the transaction.

Posted by Debbye at 09:06 PM | Comments (0)

Protest Warriors

Mar. 10 - Caught this at Canadian Comment (note new url) and followed it over to Le Blog de Polyscopique (it's an alphabetical thing). Read both posts and cheer.

Posted by Debbye at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

Copps Out, Parrish In

Mar. 10 - Allegations of wrong-doing are coming so fast and furious that it's hard to know when to laugh and when to pause and consider that, much as one (okay, I) may dislike Sheila Copps, there may well be something very wrong going on here. I won't summarize because it's worth reading the accusations she's made that caused the Mounties to be called in by Copps and reading this gave me some more bothersome thoughts about right and wrong.

Both Sheila Copps and Carolyn Parrish are standing Members of Parliament, and they have had to fight to retain the nominations of their ridings (the Canadian equivalent to districts) due to re-districting (so to speak) for the as yet uncalled national election.

See the Parish-Mahoney and Copps-Valeri skirmish round-ups for a summation of some of the dirty deeds (and there are probably enough childish accusations on both sides to make you do the laugh-cry thing) and then look at this account which suggests that PM Paul Martin's desire to tighten his grip on Parliament by controlling who can run might be a credible theory even though he's also the one who gave a name to and promised to address the democratic deficit.

Is he the party leader or the party ruler?

Granted, each of the two MPs has stuck her foot in her mouth on more than one occasion and each might be considered embarassing to her party if not the nation. In short, not too many people would be that sorry to see them depart the national political stage. But.

I'm remembering that purges often start with the least defensible members so that people (who should know better) are generally so relieved to see the irritants go that they don't worry overly on the hows of the matter. Then the purge of less irritable but independent-minded types begins. So when do you decide that it's better to hang together than hang separately?

This isn't only about the Liberal Party, because it would seem irregularities in voters lists cross party lines.

It would be easier if I just declared that they all deserve to be turfed because they suffer from Condit Syndrome, the name I just made up for someone who exhibited supreme stupidity as in continuing to fool around with an intern even after the Clinton unpleasantness, or, in this case, someone who hasn't figured out that the press smells blood and is avidly chasing any and every story that might lead to a scandal.

I was going to link yet another Coyne post but this is getting silly, so just link to Andrew Coyne and read it daily (he seems to like running a blog as his posts are becoming more frequent during the day and he even apologized when he went several hours without posting. Hey, I do believe he's got the blog bug!)

UPDATE: Ugh, read this analysis of Putin courtesey of Bob (I'm hardly suggesting that Martin is quite that bad but some of the signs are worrying.)

UPDATE: I was checking the British press for information of the train bombings in Madrid and ran across another perspective of Putin here. One quote:

Yuri Levada, a veteran political analyst, described him as a "president of hope, not achievement".

Posted by Debbye at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

United Nations University for Peace

Mar. 10 -

OTTAWA -- A United Nations University for Peace campus is set to be built on the city's waterfront. Liberal MP Dennis Mills was given the thumbs up from Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday to move ahead with his plans to bring the campus to Toronto.

After a historic speech to a special joint parliamentary session, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was introduced to Mills by the PM as the man who would make the university a reality for Toronto.

"It is unbelievable," Mills said. "It is the most amazing thing: United Nations Peace University comes to Toronto's waterfront."

Will the students' cars be liable to be towed? Can they be arrested for shoplifting? Will there be rapid-fire weapons cached in the basement?

Posted by Debbye at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)

Kofi Annan Visits Canada

Mar. 10 - Two articles about Annan's visit: Annan tells us: 'Aim higher' (that's "us" Canada, not "us" US - he wouldn't dare say that to "us" US because he knows we're crazy) and Agonized voices of Iraq scrupulously ignored: UN rarely acts - instead, it talks.

Mark did a lot of yelling about the Oil for Palaces Food Program (like, thoughout dinner and the news) but I figure you already know about the program and the illegal pipelines to UNSC member Syria.

Posted by Debbye at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)

Kofi Annan Visits Canada

Mar. 10 - Two articles about Annan's visit: Annan tells us: 'Aim higher' (that's "us" Canada, not "us" US - he wouldn't dare say that to "us" US because he knows we're crazy) and Agonized voices of Iraq scrupulously ignored: UN rarely acts - instead, it talks.

Mark did a lot of yelling about the Oil for Palaces Food Program (like, thoughout dinner and the news) but I figure you already know about the program and the illegal pipelines to UNSC member Syria.

Posted by Debbye at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)

Maher Arar

Mar. 10 - I don't quite understand why anyone would be "startled" about this: New twist in Arar case when Ottawa Police Chief Vince Bevan revealed that they cooperated with the RCMP in investigating Arar.

This, however, was startling: Monia Mazigh, Arar's wife, will run as an NDP candidate to represent the Ottawa South riding in the as yet uncalled election.

Posted by Debbye at 07:05 PM | Comments (0)

March 09, 2004

Kofi Annan in Canada

Mar. 9 - Kofi Annan spoke before the Canadian parliament (Canada is a pillar of the UN, Annan says) and at a banquet held in his honour.

UPDATE: Jaeger has much more on the Annan visit here (Ctrl+F "Kofi comes to Ottawa")

Posted by Debbye at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)

Adscam and Tall ships

Mar. 9 - Tall ships like Bluenose II have graced the waters of Lake Ontario and San Fransisco Bay and never failed to fill me with awe. The masts towering above the San Fransisco fog seemed to reach into heaven itself, and the sailors scrambling atop to the crows' nests defied both gravity and fear.

Does everyone have a pet heritage project that, when stung, makes them madder than reason would dictate? Count me as one who is more than furious that Bluenose II was victimized in the Adscam sting: out of $2.3M allotted, only $359,000 was received by the trust that oversees the schooner. Lefleur Communications was supposed to handle the transaction.

Posted by Debbye at 12:11 PM | Comments (0)

Adscam

Mar. 9 - Allan Cutler, who was fired (and fought to retain his job) after he filed a complaint in 1996 about the questionable handling of the sponsorship program has been guaranteed that he will keep his job when he testifies Thursday on before the Commons public accounts committee on who knew what and when about Adscam.

Maybe the real scandal is this:

Public Works called in a private auditing firm to probe Cutler's complaint in 1996 but both Cutler's concerns and the audit were kept secret by the Liberal government until they were unveiled by senior public servants testifying at the committee last week.

I'm never going to be able to wrap my brain around this aspect of Adscam. It must have been apparent to whomever was in charge of this thing back in 1996 that the truth was going to come out, but if a conscious decision was made to sit on the truth for as long as possible, I have to wonder why? and who benefitted? The too obvious answer is Chretien, but that doesn't really make sense either as he could face criminal prosecution (unless PM Martin pulls a Ford and pardons him before any charges are laid. Would that pig fly?)

Posted by Debbye at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

Do the Right Thing

Mar. 9 - There was some ugliness at Burnhamthorpe CI yesterday (3 Thugs invade school) but this is the part that leapt out at me:

Students tried to break up the fight but not before the victim was bruised and beaten.
Looks like the kids know what's right even if the school board has dopey zero tolerance rules.

I've noticed more stories about bystanders intervening to stop beatings, muggings and purse snatchers. I don't know if it is really a post-Flight 93 thing or if the media is just covering it more, but I welcome it.

Posted by Debbye at 10:20 AM | Comments (0)

March 08, 2004

Canadians and Americans

Mar. 8 - Peter Worthington cuts to the heart of the matter amidst the recent uproar over revelations by Abdurahman Khadr that indeed the Khadr family did knowingly and joyfully provide support - including from money provided by the Canadian government and citizens - to al Qaeda, and that he himself rejected Al Qaeda and worked with the CIA to infiltrate and expose al Qaeda in Bosnia.

For a profession that claims to have a monopoly on truth, the media hasn't been very happy with it. Maybe they just fail to understand the truth about truth: for you shall know the truth, and the Truth must set him free:

We should be treating this guy as a patriot -- someone who risked his life to do the right thing. Instead, he's viewed as a traitor or pariah -- certainly by his family.
The point Worthington makes can be extended to the Canadian media as well. Which is the worse sin: collaborating with the CIA to bring al Qaeda down, or being involved with al Qaeda? Dollars to donuts, the thing that sticks in much of the Canadian media craw most is Abdurahman Khadr's association with the CIA because their hatred for the US is so implacable that they can no longer look at and analyze events but merely react with excess emotion and fury.

There was a shift in the Canadian media and politics after Sept. 11. Usually subtle anti-Americanism leapt from media heads fully grown and ready for the kill. There was just one problem: we didn't wallow in wondering why they hate us and that was, for outlets like the CBC and Toronto Star, more damning than the actual state of war we found ourselves in, and our decision to fight back was seen as a bigger outrage than the terrorist attacks themselves.

There was a counter-reaction as well. Some of the media recognized the global threat of terrorism and the threat from within that knee-jerk anti-Americanism enabled, and they along with many Canadians became more vocal in their support of the US-led fight on terrorism.

Has the US polarized world opinion? No, the reactions of the world to what has been set in motion has done the polarizing. Those of us from the 60's who left the 60's behind recognize the make the victim the criminal ploy quite clearly because familiarity makes it easier to discern.

The Canadian government in the person of Jean Chretien responded with - silence. Eventually, many Canadians looked south for leadership and found it in the person of President George W. Bush. That infuriated much of the media, but their anger should have targeted the Canadian government's silence rather than the man who filled the vacuum as a leader who voiced hope and confidence.

The Canadian people were deprived of Canadian leadership, and the fault should not be laid at the feet of GWB but on the feckless Liberal Party which refused to lead.

The Canadian media ignored the 2002 attack in Bali just as much as their counterparts in the US. That indifference was a major red flag for those of us who were already critical of the media because they were ignoring a blatant attack on a Commonwealth country - which should have had resonance in Canada - as well as a firm ally of the US.

Why would they ignore it? It should have been a major story, but was treated with less attention than the DC sniper and later with the Laci Peterson and Martha Stewart cases (as well as the Winona Ryder case, the Robert Blake case, the Michael Jackson case, the Super Bowl half-time Wardrobe Malfunction, and well, you get the idea.)

CNN often leads a story off with the phrase "Most Americans are unaware that . . ." and I yell with frustration because, if indeed most Americans are unaware of something, it's because the news media doesn't inform us! How can it be our fault if those we trust to inform us chose not to do so? The answer is that we no longer trust them, and the joke is that they don't realize it.

Enter the blogs. The number of blogs grows daily, and more and more people are accessing the internet for news across their nations and around the world. One thing all sides agree on is that their distrust of the big news media is absolute.

The quest for truth is as old as curiosity. As Captain John Sheridan said, You can't kill the truth; well, you can, but it always comes back to haunt you. Eason Jordan and CNN killed the truth in Iraq before the war, and nobody has forgotten or forgiven that. And that's the one we know about - what about the others?

Today's Globe and Mail has a column by Lysiane Gagnon that unwittingly exemplifies why Canada is an uncertain ally but Canadians aren't. She says in Canadians relate to Democrats:

I'm sure most Canadians will be rooting for John F. Kerry during the tough fight he will have with George W. Bush. The latter is especially hated for his foolish war in Iraq, but even in a time of peace, Canadians feel more at ease with the Democrats for the obvious reason that in Canada, the political spectrum is much further to the left. (Emphasis added)
The opening assumption in this column is quite wild, and her expressed hope that Canadians will be rooting for Kerry is based on an unstated truth: the recent primary returns marked one of the lowest voter turnouts in recent US primary history. Democrats stayed home rather than vote for any of the candidates, and she has persuaded herself that Canadians are like American Democrats? The uncomfortable and unstated truth in this assertion is that Canadians also have been staying away from the polls, perhaps because Canadians, like Democrats, don't perceive that there has been a positive alternative to the status quo in past elections.

That Gagnon employed emotion-laden terms like hatred and foolish is not evidence of journalism but of unadulterated and vicious propaganda, yet an observer would wonder why she indulges in this so openly. If everyone in Canada agrees with her assessment, why beat it into the ground?

The Liberal government of Canada is staggering under non-stop revelations of mis-spending at best and corruption at worst and what is supposed to be the focus of Canadians? The US presidential elections.

That tactic has a lot of names: red herring, politics by distraction, carpet bagging. This tactic has worked well in recent times, but that was before the recent Auditor-General's report that showed the Adscam crisis was worse than anticipated and that spending by government appointees is so carefree because the Canadian tax-payers who foot this extravagance are helpless to stop it. This tactic also worked better before the accusations against the Khadr family were proven to be correct. What's a poor columnist to do?

When in trouble, attack. It doesn't have to be on any real issues, just write so as to hopefully make Canadians smile and remember how superior they are. But as with many tactics, over-use has its limitations, and this one may finally have met its expiration date.

How Canadians respond to these scandals whenever the much-anticipated election is called will be very telling and establish if Canada is truly a sovereign nation or composed of citizens who can't bear the inadequacies and corruption of their own government but, rather than confront it, flee the reality of the Canadian political landscape to immerse themselves in American politics which is one are in which they full of opinions but have no power. Yet by choosing to escape the horror that is Ottawa, don't they sidestep their own complicity in allowing it to continue unchallenged and unabated? How does that square with sovereignty?

I suspect the anti-American card will be played both subtly and flagrantly in the upcoming election. The Conservative Party will be portrayed as one pandering to American interests and the Liberal and NDP Parties as those bravely and courageously standing against the dreaded Americans and the sub-text will be Hey, so the Liberals are liars and thieves! But they stand between us and being Americanized.

How does that square with choosing the government that will best deal with Canadian issues? It doesn't, of course.

At the same time there will be accusations that the Americans aren't paying attention to the election up here whilst never conceding that, because it's an internal Canadian matter, Americans believe it would be rude to get overly involved in the domestic matters of a friendly sovereign nation.

In my angrier moments up here, I have wished that the American media would take the gloves off and attack things Canadian as viciously as Canadian publications attack the US generally and GWB specifically. I wish that Canadians would be treated to the same appalling, personal attacks on Paul Martin as I suffer when the media attacks my president.

I desist, however, because I've lived here too long to know the Cult of Canadian Victimology. Far too many wouldn't recognize that the same tactics are being turned back on them but would wail and bemoan how Americans Don't Respect Them. The capacity for self-delusion in the Canadian media is a bottomless pit of wallowing in shallow sentiment and perpetual indignation yet never addresses the primary question: why should Americans respect Canada?

The answer to what Canadians believe about their strength and future will be revealed whenever the new Canadian government is chosen. If the Liberals are returned to a majority government, it will be seen in part to be due to the success of fear-mongering and paranoia that somehow a Conservative majority can roll back social gains (which in itself indicates total ignorance of the limits of government) and the successful playing of the anti-American card. If they are turfed, then it will be due to the willingness of Canadians to demand more accountability and respect from their government.

The US and relations with the US shouldn't have any real impact of Canadian elections. No elected government up here is actually going to scrap NAFTA despite the rhetoric, and trade is a far more persuasive diplomatic tool than visits to the Crawford Ranch.

No, the real issues in a Canadian election will be completely Canadian, and the electorate here will be quite right if they manage to keep their candidates on topic.

Eleanor Roosevelt once commented that you can't be made to feel inferior without your cooperation. In the case of Canada, it is not cooperation so much as collusion: the media up here won't let go of the American card and focus on Canada exclusively in Canadian terms, but much of the electorate is tired of that tactic especially when they look at the extent to which government spending has gotten out of control due to the failure to admit that Canadians too are liable to be corrupted when the means present themselves.

The concentration of power in the Prime Minister's Office and exclusion of Parliament as the rightful wielder of that power is also a failure to realize that power corrupts and another concern for those who would reform the system. How directly will that issue be confronted?

The hard part is that no matter who or which party is in power, the promise to dismantle the patronage system deprives them of the means to secure power in that they have fewer rewards with which to offer those who support them.

In the Unites States, it took the assassination of a president - McKinley - to finally begin to reform the civil service and reform is still ongoing. What it will take in Canada is anyone's guess, but it is possible that Adscam is the final straw.

In short, if Canadians show some respect for themselves, Americans will reciprocate. If Canadians prefer a government proven to be corrupt, then there won't be a lot of stated and printed ridicule (excluding that from bloggers) but the general consensus south of the border is that Canadians are hopeless - in both senses of that word.

The Canadian media, of course, faces another daunting task when GWB wins: how to reconcile how they can hate the president so viciously without coming out and admitting the truth: they hate America. Of course they hope Kerry wins - that hope is born out of desperation because they have been backing themselves into a corner for 4 years and there is no escape unless the American electorate validates the views of the Canadian media. (Some might think it more relevant that the Canadian electorate validate the Canadian media, but that overlooks that what the media up here desires most is American approval.)

(As for what Canadians think of Bush: I don't care. I don't mean that in disrespectful terms but I am being honest: the future of Canada is in their hands, and the future of the US is in our hands. That's a weighty enough burden for both electorates should they chose to accept that responsibility.)

The reaction up here to the revelations of Abdurahman Khadr which revealed how deeply the Khadr family were involved in al Qaeda have failed to address the most critical flaw in some of the Canadian media: their defense of the Khadr family and the outcries over the "Toronto Teen" - another Khadr family member - imprisoned at Guantanamo were unabashedly set in the context of anti-Americanism, but now they are enraged that they were played for fools: yet whose fault is that? They failed a basic tenet of journalism, which is to pursue the truth rather than an agenda, and that the Khadr family should play on that weakness was predictable to anyone with an ounce of common sense.

So, in another unintentional context, Lysiane Gagnon is right: the one challenge that both Americans and Canadians must face is their capability to judge candidates on the sole basis of the issues.

I see in today's news that Pres. Chavez of Venezuela is also accusing us of being behind his troubles without acknowledging the possibility that they might be self-inflicted. He's playing the oil card too, and although there are probably many relieved to have yet another It's all about the oil issue to sink their teeth into, should events in Venezuela break into open civil war, will the UN asks us to go in and restore order in Venezuela?

The truth that sets us free is usually found within us. We must recognize that our desire to retreat to times and places of seeming comfort and security is delusional because those times and places never existed. We Americans were determined to ignore the truth as was evident in our non-reactions to the first bombing of the WTC, the attacks on our embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, the thwarted millennium attacks, and the successful attack on the USS Cole. Those who chose to blame the Clinton administration are overlooking our own complicity because we didn't make it a campaign issue in 2000.

Those who chose to blame the Bush administration for not rallying Old Europe and Canada to our cause in Iraq are also delusional: those nations were opposed to regime change, and ridding Iraq of Saddam could only be accomplished with a coalition that shared that goal. In what possible way were we weakened by not having uncertain allies? If your ally isn't going to watch your back, you are much better off leaving him at home. That's a truth that anyone who plays computer RPGs (role playing games) knows (along with an excellent appreciation for building up one's hit points and having a diversity of weapons for use in different situations and against different enemies) and that means that our kids understand the basics of military strategy better than many of us.

Sometimes we play Risk and sometimes we play Diplomacy, but playing Diplomacy with proven enemies and without the willingness to use the military option usually results long, fruitless talks (unless you can bribe your enemies outright, but any agreement under those circumstances lasts only until the money runs out.)

Yet things change, and usually these changes are not heralded with major announcements but by attention to events. A critical observer would notice that French and American soldiers are co-operating in Haiti and Canadians will soon join them as will Brazilian and Chilean troops.

The French and Canadians outflanked Sen. Kerry and Corinne Brown! Even more: Canada is sending more soldiers to Haiti than she can actually afford! Whatever bought about this remarkable change?

[Note: For some reason I had written Maxine Waters. I don't know why, but I recognized my error while washing the dishes. The mind is a strange place.]

It's all about Iraq. It's all about the realization by the nations of the world that stability isn't necessarily a good thing, and that if they want to participate in the events that will change the world they have to be part of it rather than sniping from the sidelines.

I can't think of a single more impressive validation of the Bush Doctrine other than the disarmament of Libya, and those who would be critical viewers of the changing world we live in need to take a step back and recognize that the map has changed and there are new ideas and strategies that we barely recognize as yet.

Canada's role in this is revealed is another editorial in today's Globe and Mail, this one by David Malone purportedly about Kofi Annan but which takes the usual swipes at the US without more than a token admission of how Canada figured in the outcome:

While successes were registered in Cambodia, Mozambique and El Salvador, the UN's attempts to implement peace-enforcement decisions by the Security Council stumbled badly in Somalia and Bosnia, contributing to the shocking 1995 civilian massacre at Srebrenica, and to reluctance by key member states (mainly the Americans) to reinforce General Romeo Dallaire's beleaguered peacekeeping mission in Rwanda in 1994.

Blame for international inaction at the time of the Rwanda genocide is widely shared, particularly within the Security Council. Ottawa offered the bare minimum of support to Gen. Dallaire; former U.S. president Bill Clinton, who breezily apologized, never appeared alarmed by his own responsibility in failing to prevent the genocide. By contrast, Mr. Annan commissioned an in-depth inquiry into the UN's role (with which the United States failed to co-operate) accepting personal responsibility for the UN's sorry record (although then-U.S. ambassador to the UN Madeleine Albright's responsibility was surely much greater.)

And what was Canada's responsibility? Gen. Dallaire is a Canadian, and Ottawa ignored him, and that is the fault of the US how? Had the events in Rwanda persuaded the Canadian government that they needed to improve the military and thus peacekeeping capacity of this country I could excuse them, but they didn't and rely upon those like Malone to shield them from their own culpability.

The self-proclaimed "international community" is composed of nations who are too enlightened to get their hands dirty by actually fighting, and from this elevated morality they want us to fight and possibly die? Don't blame us for having contempt for an attitude that is disgusting and contemptible. Old 60's phrases like "cannon-fodder" are being recycled with a twist: the transnationalists of the world still want us to be cannon-fodder but at their beck and call, although they have no claim other than their self-pronounced superiority.

This is the foreign relations policy that Sen. Kerry advocates: the UN does the pontificating, and we do the dying.

Look, how many times do you go out at dawn to boost your neighbour's car before you irritably suggest they ought to purchase a new battery?

We have a saying back home: put your money where your mouth is. Until Canada and other nations invest in their own militaries, the "international community" is a group of talkers who want to decide where American lives will be spent. This is wrong on so many levels that any American who is willing to face that truth should be outraged. They are playing us for fools, and our horror of the events of Sept. 11 and the resultant amnesia that horror produced must not be allowed to destroy our belated recognition of the threats that face us. If we refuse to take the hard but necessary steps to confront terrorism our so-called friends will come to our funeral but will secretly rejoice that we got our comeuppance.

The "international community" is not our friend: it is a parasitic entity that has thrived by ducking responsibility and hiding behind platitudes to make us expend our blood in the hope that it will weaken us and render us more vulnerable to the forces which threaten us.

They believe that once we fall, they will step into the breach. Fools! They are so caught up in their own self-importance and smugness that they won't see that we are all that stands between them and total ruin. Their ambition is no less self-serving than that of any other Evil Overlord and they too have minions who have been brainwashed into adoration and uncritical compliance.

The media in the US and Canada fawn over these elites to such an extent that we are forced to doubt their loyalty and independence, and they are so far behind actual events that we can be excused if we wonder at their intelligence.

Take the French: they have undergone some interesting shifts and are far more aware of the dangers in France from Islamic militants than they let on publicly. I still doubt that banning scarves from schools and public facilities will actually result in the assimilation of the Muslim population, but they have the right to try whatever they think will work and have at least acknowledged that they know they need to deal with the problem. Their greatest difficulty is going to be confronting the fact that racism is much more entrenched than they want to admit, and that unemployment among the Arab youth can only be dealt with if the unions loosen their grip. (The last problem in particular is why I doubt the banning of the scarves solely will achieve the desired result.)

The election of a conservative government in Greece is astonishing and may reveal a reaction in part to the changing landscape of the world post-Sept. 11 and post-Saddam Iraq. Another Socialist-led government has fallen, and the self-image of some Canadians that they are more European than American has suddenly been turned against them with some interesting implications. The political shift in Greece taken in concert with the declining fortunes of Gerhardt Shroeder in Germany may have indirectly proven Gagnon's assertion that Canadians are more like Americans that she may like!

A bit of advice to Gagnon: when you have one foot on one continent and the other foot on another continent, beware of continental drift. You are likely to land in the water.

There is one, main truth that must be stated with urgency and clarity:

Those who would challenge the Bush Doctrine must state alternatives rather than platitudes. Those who are still enmeshed in the blame games and conspiracy theories should, to be blunt, indulge their hobbies off the stage of serious discourse. The conflict in Iraq was a crucible: a new world view is forming right now, and those who can't intelligently and seriously look at the benefits and consequences are little more than distractions and have little to offer.

UPDATE: Looks as though I'm hardly the only one irritated at the external pressure to vote for Kerry. In response to this jaw-dropping announcement Kerry predicts character attacks, foreign support, this from Ranting Profs:

Except how the hell do we even know we're talking about leaders we want a president getting along with, or getting along better with . . . or feeling even slightly beholden to? When did it become even slightly appropriate for foreign leaders to express an opinion on an American election? Why should we believe they aren't evaluating the outcome from within the perspective of their interests -- and without knowing who they are we of course have no way of determining how well their and our interests intersect.

And at what point did it become appropriate for a candidate for office to have contact with foreign leaders? Doesn't Kerry realize the damage that can do? If he leads any foreign leader to believe that he'd be more sympathetic to their arguments and interests -- which clearly he's done -- how isn't that a signal to those countries to hold off any dealings with this administration in the hopes it will soon be sent packing and they'll be able to do better? And if that's the case, then why isn't Kerry now interfering with American foreign policy in a way that could potentially benefit him (by reducing the level of success this administration can chalk up between now and the elections since at least some leaders will be stonewalling hoping for a better deal)? No doubt some of that kind of stonewalling is likely with other governments during any election season -- should Kerry be explicitly encouraging it?(My bolding)

Raymond Chretien, former Canadian Ambassador to the US, publicly expressed his preference for Al Gore in the 2000 election. It wasn't appropriate, but that didn't stop him, and it won't stop those like Mugabe, Castro, Arafat, Kim Jong Il, Assad, and the mullahs in Iran from hoping that a more easily manipulated and pliable president will replace Bush.

Posted by Debbye at 11:31 AM | Comments (2)

March 07, 2004

Expenses, expenses

Mar. 7 - Mark has expanded his rant-worthy topics from the cost of the gun registry to travel expenses.

I already knew his reaction to the Conservative Party leadership debate, so I made the innocent mistake of asking "anything in the news?" before dinner. Wow. It seems because there's been yet another public servant who's been shamelessly exploiting their travel account for much more than a healthy respect for taxpayer money should command: Lucie McClung, commissioner for Correctional Service for Canada, racked up approximately $142,00 in travel expenses between 2001 and 2003.

Dinner was peppered with non-questions like Why Hong Kong? Hasn't she ever heard of the Holiday Inn? How can you go to Hawaii and not remember? Rio de Janeiro because what, the prisons in there are so great - Sure!

Some women and men may already know the best response (with apologies to Keats):

Or if thy lover some rich anger shows,
Emprison his dear hand, and let him rave,
And feed deep, deep upon his peerless eyes.

Goodnight!

Posted by Debbye at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

Lieut. Jay Feyko

Mar. 7 - We rarely hear about the survivors of an attack, even though they carry the scars for the rest of their lives. The Toronto Sun has a story about Lieut. Jay Feyko, the paratrooper who was seated next to Cpl. Jamie Murphy (the Canadian soldier killed in a suicide attack in Kabul last January) and who, although he lost the sight in one eye and will carry shrapnel in his leg forever, is anxious to get back to duty to lead his paratroopers and make some more jumps.

In the blast, a piece of shrapnel the size of a peanut entered his head just below his right eye, cutting his eyeball. It hit his skull and lodged between it and his eye.

"My skull did its job," he said.

Where do we find such men?

Always honour those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 06, 2004

Adscam

Mar. 6 - Isn't this typical: Gagliano threatens lawsuit. I remember when he was appointed Ambassador to Denmark and there was a (brief) storm that he was being hurredly shipped out of town in an effort to deflect the brewing storm over the Sponsorship scandal. Some even pointed out that it was an insult to the Danes and didn't speak well as to how we regard amicable relations with them.

We've already apologised for Alfonso Gagliano. We've apologised a number of times.

I also seem to remember that he was first to have been appointed to the Vatican but they didn't want him (or was that another appointee? So many scandals, so little time . . .)

Posted by Debbye at 10:08 AM | Comments (0)

Ontario Patronage II

Mar. 6 - Political spin Communications is a much more lucrative field than I'd imagined: Gravy train rolls for Grits:

A review committee headed up by former deputy prime minister John Manley recently hired on the company of Chretien's former communications director Peter Donolo.

Since Feb. 5, Strategic Counsel -- for which Donolo is executive vice-president -- has given $6,500 worth of advice about the committee's roundtable discussions and "styling" contents of its report, officials confirmed. (My emphasis)

Styling contents are much more important than Content contents. Got it.

(See next post look at how much other communications needs costs us.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)

Ontario Patronage

Mar. 6 - The most ridiculous thing about this latest scandal is that, given that the LCBO has a monopoly (much as Ontario Hydro,) what do they need a "communications advisor" for? Why bother to pay anyone (Tory pal got $5Gs a month) when the only choice the consumer has is which LCBO store to frequent?

Tory insider Paul Rhodes was put on a $5,000-a-month retainer to provide communications advice to the LCBO. In total, the party strategist secured more than $1 million in contracts from government ministries and agencies during the Mike Harris and Ernie Eves governments.

It's the system, I tell you. No matter who is running the government, there are too many positions available which require no more qualification than being a supporter of the ruling party.

Rhodes was paid $560,238 to provide communications advice to taxpayer-owned hydro companies from 1998 to 2000 and $248,142 for advice to the government's own environment ministry during the Walkerton crisis.
Oh, he did have his fingers in the hydro pie. And Walkerton needed quicker - not more - communication and less spin. In fact, communication might have actually saved lives, but I digress.
The LCBO, hydro and environment ministry all have full-time communications specialists on staff.

Rhodes said he provides crisis communications, helping companies and ministries respond to difficult issues.

Ontario Hydro and the LCBO are having issues? No kidding. Read the article. Contemplate the money they've wasted - our money.

Looked at your hydro bill lately? Nice to know that when you're paying less for the hydro you actually consumed and more on back-debt and hydro you never received that there's yet another "consultant" who is adding to Hydro costs.

I'm not even touching the revelation that they all have communications specialists on staff. The ones at Hydro probably produce those adorable little inserts tucked in with our bills that we read (not) after we recover from seeing how much the damned bill is.

The article says he resigned in October after the Liberals were voted into power here. I wonder who now holds his position . . .

Reform the system. It's that simple: get rid of the useless "positions" in public institutions and give the buying public some relief and hey! if we had more money in our pockets, we'd be able to buy more stuff and boost the economy! Do you have any idea how much I could drink for $5,000 a month?

Posted by Debbye at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

Doggerel Pundit Goes Canadian

Mar. 6 - Found mention of this over at Transplanted Texan: No doubt everyone remembers the new, hitherto unscaled (and unsought) height of lunacy when the Nova Scotia government decided to target the media and force them to stop using words like "nutty" and "lunatic" and phrases like "mental hospital" and "nervous breakdown" as all such are deemed insensitive to people with mental issues. The government not only sent out lists of the proscribed words and phrases and asked citizens to monitor the media and report back to the government but added cash incentives for compliance.

Well, nothing escapes the folk over at Doggerel Pundit (especially when Glenn Reynods, bless him, tips them off) and they have risen to the occasion to commemorate this in Pass the Word.

Nova Scotia has found its own niche in history.

Posted by Debbye at 12:17 AM | Comments (0)

March 05, 2004

Advice for the Liberal Party

Mar. 5 - Glenda has a new post up and lays it on the line for the Liberal Party: Spin too much and you end up biting your own tail. Do read.

Posted by Debbye at 06:23 PM | Comments (0)

The Khadr Family

Mar. 5 - My eldest sent this link about how normal OBL is: Bin Laden Loves Volleyball, Hates Ice. Perhaps other bloggers watched part 2 of the CBC interview on The National last night so I'll be linking them should I find any.

UPDATE: Here's a link to the Toronto Sun on part 2 Canuck: I worked for the CIA.

Double-take - that's indeed what it says. It also says he passed a polygraph:

Key elements of Khadr's story were subjected to polygraph tests and he passed, the network said.
As the network and not Khadr said this, is the implication that CBC administered the tests? I don't even want to contemplate that one . . . now I really want to find out what people who watched the program think. Here's the link to the CBC webpages on The Khadr Family.

Give the CBC some more credit: the main page has links to, among others, the story from last December in which a lawyer for the family in Toronto charged the Canadian government officials were "lying through their teeth" that Abdurahman had been denied assistance at embassies after his release from Guantanamo.

I wonder how much this story will grow. It certainly calls a lot of assumptions into question but I still believe Canadian bloggers should be picking it up instead of me as my admitted bias (read: fury) yearns too much to break free.

UPDATE: A rather sad article in today's Globe and Mail Khadr changes story, now says he was CIA spy. Quickly, I don't think those who believed in the innocence of the Khadr family have reason to feel shame - there are many worse failings than to believe in someone's innocence, and the fact that he and the others in the family were members of al Qaeda and lied about it doesn't reflect poorly on those who trusted them. I think, given my choice, I'd rather believe someone innocent and be proven wrong than believe in someone's guilt and be proven wrong.

The clipped tone of the article is another matter, but I don't expect the G&M to learn humility from this story.

UPDATE: Whatever I may think of the Toronto Star, today's editorial is a model of professionalism in that it lacks the bitterness of the Globe, but I have to wonder: on what basis could the government detain any of the Khadr family? The Star says

If any of the Khadr clan do arrive in Canada, they should be immediately detained until our security services can ensure they pose no threat to the public. Osama bin Laden admirers who hate Americans and back suicide bombers must not be waved through immigration with a nod and a smile.
Just slow down a minute! Unlike those who have been detained in the US (and for which the Star has repeatedly denounced us) there has been no indication that the mother or daughter were involved in money-raising or money-laundering, conspired to provide material support for terrorist-related activities or trained at al Qaeda camps.

They lied about the activities of the father, husband, sons and brothers. But unless it was in court or in front of a formal inquiry, I don't think they've actually broken any Canadian laws and cheering as the planes hit the towers, while repugnant and something that makes me spitting mad, isn't illegal.

It's awkward, it's tricky, and nobody (especially the media) likes being taken for fools, but this is still a country of law and due process, and I would have expected the Toronto Star and Globe and Mail to remember that.

Posted by Debbye at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

March 04, 2004

Bans and . . .

Mar. 4 - Jay of The Freeway to Serfdom seems a tad exasperated with more nanny-state measures in Canada in Bans, and the Banning Banners Who Ban Them.

(Link via Let It Bleed.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

Abdurahman Khadr

Mar. 4 - Canadian Abdurahman Khadr admits al-Qaida link. Read the article, I'm not in the mood to be objective or nice today, but if our enemies are actually as simple-minded as this guy and his family, we are in better shape than I thought:

"Everybody loves to die for his religion. Every Muslim dreams of being a shaheed for Islam, like you die for your religion. Everybody dreams of this, even a Christian would like to die for their religion."
This is, after all, Canada, wherein no history class can admit that white men actually made any valuable or important contributions. However:

It strikes me that there are two kinds of people reading that quote: those who instantly think of names like GEORGE SMITH PATTON and those who have perfected the bobble-head routine.

Some Canadian comments from Burnside, Paul and Jaeger.

Posted by Debbye at 12:42 PM | Comments (0)

March 03, 2004

Toronto Matters

Mar. 3 - You know what to do when someone swears they aren't making something up, right? Well, Let It Bleed says I Swear I am not Making This Up and made me look, and he isn't. I swear.

Posted by Debbye at 08:08 PM | Comments (0)

Nova Scotia Madness

Mar. 3 - What do you call it when the government asks citizens to watch TV and scrutinize the news for using such dreadful terms as "psychotic." "madman" and "nervous breakdown" and will pay them when they report such language transgressions? The Transplanted Texan calls the Nova Scotian government on their latest and possibly most bizarre enterprise ever and does a lovely fisking.

Posted by Debbye at 06:35 PM | Comments (0)

Canadians in Haiti

Mar. 3 - Defence planners 'scramble' as Martin's Haiti demands evolve

Defence officials were "scrambling" to meet government's changing demands until Prime Minister Paul Martin finally acknowledged Wednesday that Canada's military commitment to Haiti may be less than desired.

"We're stretched quite thin and so we're looking at our capacity to go there and we're looking at the length of time that we think it would take," Martin told a news conference in Peterborough, Ont.

"We're not going to have the capacity that we would like, but we are going to be able to make an important contribution."

This is sad. Canada's once proud armed forces could once have made an important contribution, but now will be hard pressed to send even a token force to the only other French-speaking country in this hemisphere.

Spin away, Mr. Former Finance Minister, and remind Candians how you proudly balanced the budget by destroying the armed forces and rendering the health care system dysfunctional while the gun registry budget soared by 1000% not to mention misplacing HRDC funds, purchasing new jets for the PM out of the defence budget and misappropriating overpayments into the EI program.

Adscam is just another in a long series of treating taxpayer dollars with no respect for the taxpayer.

Posted by Debbye at 05:25 PM | Comments (0)

Oh no, not the Mint!

Mar. 3 - It's becoming a tidal wave! (because we're too close to spring to use the word snowball!) Now the Canadian Mint is being audited because in a time when the mint was losing money, top officials received a 45% salary increase even though staff members were being laid off due to shortages of money.

The Mint is a Crown Corporation and therefore does not have to make the audit public. The audit came about due to a whistleblower who learned that, after he was laid off in 2003, 12 others were laid off and 59 others were offered early retirement but the salaries of the top executives continued to grow.

Figures from the Mint show that between 1999 and 2003 the president's salary rose from $181,700 to $240,900. Vice-presidents got a $63,000 boost to $201,000 in that time period, while directors got a similar $60,000 raise to $189,662.

During the same period the financial fortunes of the Mint changed drastically. In 1999, it posted a $23.1-million profit. By 2003, that dropped to a $6.6-million loss.

Will public outrage finally force some reforms in how Crown Corportions are administered? PM Martin has made indications that future patronage appointments will be subject to vetting by Parliament during a meeting with Smith Falls' civic leaders yesterday.

In another development, warrants were opened to justify the RCMP raid on the BC legislature late December and it turns out the raids were conducted as part of an investigation into a breach of trust:

The summary prepared by special Crown prosecutor William Berardino says RCMP are investigating whether two government officials were offered promotions or employment opportunities for passing unauthorized confidential information to "persons interested in government business for the purpose of obtaining a benefit."

The case initially focused on one official and concerned proceeds of crime and corruption, the brief says. It led police to identify the second official and one other as persons of interest. The information used to obtain search warrants for the legislature referred to a B.C. government bulletin from Dec. 17, 2003, and the B.C. Rail Fairness Report done for former transport minister Judith Reid.

That report found the sale of B.C. Rail was conducted properly.

Posted by Debbye at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)

UN Chastises Canada

Mar. 3 - UN rips addict haven in B.C.. The UN is calling Canada to account for allowing a safe injection site in Vancouver for claiming the haven is contrary to international agreements to control drug abuse.

I wish the UN would focus on things like child slavery than how Canada choses to try and deal with the difficult problem of drug addiction.

Motes. Beams. Grr.

Posted by Debbye at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

Adscam

Mar. 3 - Who knew what and when they knew it seems to also be a why they did what they did and who knew they did it: Ex-official: Chretien accessed slush fund:

Former prime minister Jean Chretien dipped into a federal slush fund reserved strictly for his pet projects to create the sponsorship program, according to a senior public servant. Peter Harder, former treasury board secretary and comptroller general, said Chretien signed the submission launching the sponsorships in 1996 to ensure it got funding from a special pot.

"It was to access funds that were under his control in the fiscal framework," Harder told the Commons public accounts committee probing the AdScam scandal.

Harder, who held his position from 1995 to 2000, said it was "rare" to see the ex-PM's signature on a submission for cash, adding Chretien usually only backed those for Privy Council funds.

Harder, now a foreign affairs deputy minister, said the creation of sponsorships in 1997 was hidden by the Liberal government within the federal communications budget.

Why did the government feel it necessary to hide a program that is supposed to promote unity? I'm bewildered.

Posted by Debbye at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)

March 02, 2004

SARS (still)

Mar. 2 - Nurses bore the brunt of SARS fears according to a Study:

The researchers, from Toronto's Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre, found personnel higher up the hospital pecking order -- hospital administrators, supervisors and doctors -- suffered less distress and were less fearful for their lives than workers lower down the power structure who were on the front lines.
They needed a study to tell them that? How much did they pay for this insightful, hitherto unknown insight?

Posted by Debbye at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)

Quick Hits

Mar. 2 - Canada assailed for failing to step in and save Aristide. Indeed. Who might fall next if Canada doesn't take a firmer line and flex soft diplomatic muscles for all they're worth - Mugabe? Chavez? the Iranian Council of Guardians? Shame! Blame France Canada? No, because PM Martin thinks that the rebels should consider sharing power with Aristide (because that has worked so well in Ivory Coast?)

Blacks angered by gays' metaphors:

"We find the gay community's attempt to tie their pursuit of special rights based on their behavior to the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s abhorrent," Bishop Andrew Merritt of Straight Gate Ministries and several other Detroit pastors said recently in a statement supporting traditional marriage. "Being black is not a lifestyle choice."

[...]

Black Americans have been liberal on many social issues, "but not this one," according to Star Parker, a California-based conservative leader.

The homosexual "marriage" issue "is where we get off the bus," she said.

Several black pastors are gathering today in San Francisco for the first of several rallies to denounce same-sex "marriage." Others are planning rallies in Boston on March 11, when Massachusetts lawmakers reconvene to consider an amendment upholding traditional marriage.

Democrats play it safe on gun issues but both Sens. Kerry and Edwards were making a rare appearance in the Senate today to vote for renewing the ban on assault-type weapons and to strengthen controls over gun show sales. Kerry will avoid talking about it with his usual response - I was in Vietnam, you know - but Edwards will have to negotiate this one a bit more carefully maybe saying it's the President's fault that we are using assault-type weapons in Vietnam Iraq. Or something.

Chalk another stupid and harmful stunt up to Jackass: 15-year-old seriously burned trying to copy TV stunt. It's called Jackass! That's a clue! What do they learn in schools these days?

(The above were gleaned from Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 12:29 PM | Comments (0)

Toronto Matters

Mar. 2 - A different approach to ending crime to think about: according to David Kennedy, a Harvard criminologist and director of the Boston Gun Project, says "Ceasefire works"

But where Kennedy and the chief part is over what to do about it. Fantino has tried a conventional crackdown, using specialized task forces aimed at guns and gangs and street violence, along with a few immigration and parole violator sweeps.

"Everybody does that -- it doesn't work," Kennedy said.


Instead, he recommends something called Operation Ceasefire, which brings together all the law enforcement agencies -- police, prosecutors, parole and probation services, along with social services and community groups.

The key is to gather as much intelligence as possible about the social networks -- Kennedy dislikes the term "gangs" -- and groupings who are committing the crime, then tell them in face-to-face meetings the next violent crime by one of them will see all members of the group -- their friends -- punished.

That's backed up with offers of help and support to get clear of drugs and crime and a relentless approach to enforcement if the offer is spurned.

The result is something Rochester, N. Y. district attorney Mike Green calls "reverse peer pressure."

It seems simple, really: give the relatively small number of gang members a warning, an alternative, and enforce the warning if they fail to heed it.

I think people who live in communities in which the sounds of gunfire and the shock and grief that arise from the deaths deserve a more serious, immediate response than after-school basketball games.

I think my workmate who runs "gunfire drills" so her young children will know to dive under their beds or otherwise take cover when they hear the sounds of shots deserves more than empty, predictable words from our pitiful city leaders. (UPDATE: Link tag fixed)

Of course I have no idea if this approach would work. If I was that smart, would I be running this small blog from my home? I'd be rich and famous, don't you know, making tons of money off the lecture circuit and landing huge grants for consultations as well as royalties from my scribblings.

I only know that I am sick and tired that my tax dollars are spent on efforts that are known not to work.

Posted by Debbye at 11:53 AM | Comments (0)

Haiti

Mar. 2 - PM Martin has pledged Canadian troops to help Haiti and thinks that, although the Canadian Forces are stretched "very thinly," there will be enough available troops to do the job.

Talk is cheap and grabs the headlines, but how many American troops are they counting on to transport, outfit and supply them?

Sorry, Canada, but I wish President Bush had stayed out of this one and let France and Canada put their troops where their mouths are (with profound apologies to the many Canadians who are appalled at the state of Canada's military. Maybe being embarassed in the international arena and at the UN would be what is needed to get the Canadian government to take the plight of the military seriously.)

I guess a truly objective appraisal of events in Haiti should include Aristide's reported claim that he was kidnapped and forcibly removed from Haiti but I remember former Liberian president Charles Taylor's excessive delays and can't get as upset as maybe I should at the prospect that there might be even a kernal of truth in his allegations.

Posted by Debbye at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

Greg Sorbara, Ont. Min. of Finance

Mar. 2 - According to the Ontario Securities Commission, there was no rule against Sorbara talking to Ontario Premier McGuinty or the ethics commissioner to disclose his potential conflict of interest with the inquiry into Royal Group Technologies.

Why would Sorbara need to talk to anyone? The minute he learned of the investigation he must have known he was at least in the appearance of a conflict! The suggestion that he might require an ethics commissioner to tell him so reflects very poorly on how the concept of ethics is often perceived.

Is it too much to ask that the Ontario and Canadian governments select their Ministers of Finance with at least some appreciation of how essential it is that they be above reproach? They control how we, the people's, money is spent. Shouldn't a basic understanding of ethical behaviour be a job requirement?

Posted by Debbye at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)

Adscam

Mar. 2 - Although PM Martin has requested that those who didn't blow the whistle earlier come forward now, it only serves to underline the danger of not having protections for whistle-blowers in place. According to this report, not only was money of the budgets for other projects cut back to fund the program, Alfonso Gagliano, the Cabinet minister in charge of the sponsorship funds, was directly involved in deciding who got funds, and others observed the by-passing of procedure:

Both Quail and former public works deputy minister Janice Cochrane told MPs that in hindsight they see grave problems in the sponsorship program.

Cochrane said she was "never able to receive a satisfactory answer" to why the program was being run outside the normal checks and balances.

Who can doubt that many civil servants took their lesson from the treatment of the former president of the business Development Bank, Francois Beaudoin, to heart?

Posted by Debbye at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

Adscam

Mar. 2 - Another Instalaunch for The Globe and Mail and Margaret Wente's latest column in which she calls Jean Pelletier, Chretien's "Silent Executioner," on his arrogance:

There's only one explanation for Mr. Pelletier's bizarre remarks. He has pushed so many people around for so long that he thought nobody could ever push him back. For the past decade he was the PM's man, doing the PM's work. He had the habit of unchecked power, and old habits die hard.
On one hand, I'm glad to see Glenn helping expose the wretched state of how the Liberals run roughshod over anyone who tries to expose their thuggery, but on the other I'm saddened that the possibility of a spring election up might result in actually giving the Liberals a mandate which will make Canadians look incredibly ____ (fill in your own blank - I can't actually find a word.)

I think Glenn's motive, however, might be more that of taking aim at Americans who have been too admiring of Canada's public image without looking below the surface, so please put a hold on any return fire.

UPDATE: Could we please stop using the phrase street-fighter to describe Chretien? It insults street-fighters. Chretien was more a mobster, or thug. who wielded power by hiding behind those like Pelletier.

Posted by Debbye at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

March 01, 2004

Adscam: The Basics

Mar. 1 - Some background and players for framing questions that need to be asked to learn Who knew what and when

Posted by Debbye at 09:22 PM | Comments (0)

February 27, 2004

Paul angry

Feb. 27 - Paul angry. Paul mad. Don't f*** with Paul when he's expressing concerns about Canada's ability to defend herself and her borders.

And, well said, Paul.

Posted by Debbye at 12:26 PM | Comments (0)

Yes, that Carolyn Parrish

Feb. 27 - It's only libel if it's untrue, right?

Parrish, in turn, is threatening to sue Mahoney and some of his supporters for libel over an advertisement tells local Liberals they must choose between "a rude, careless, vulgar Carolyn Parrish or a reasonable, professional and strong MP, Steve Mahoney."
There's more to the story but that paragraph made me laugh.

UPDATE: Guess who was the parliamentary secretary for Alfonso Gagliano of Adscam fame? As Paul so aptly puts it, I love Karma and we deserve answers!

Posted by Debbye at 11:11 AM | Comments (0)

Adscam

Feb. 27 - The evidence for the Adscam who knew and when they knew it continues to morph into who knew and pretended not to know it: Early audit saw flaws which flatly contradicts early suggestions that a rogue band of civil servants are the culprits and Cabinet really, really didn't know there were signs of wrongdoing in the awarding of sponsorship grants.

Note the dates:

An insider blew the whistle on blatant mismanagement of the government's sponsorship program in 1996 with a complaint so serious that the feds called in an outside auditor, a Commons committee heard yesterday. Prime Minister Paul Martin has insisted he wasn't aware of just how seriously mismanaged the $250-million program was until Auditor General Sheila Fraser found in 2002 that Groupaction Marketing billed taxpayers three times -- or $1.6 million -- for the same report.

But the Ernst & Young audit, tabled yesterday at the Commons committee tasked to dig through the sponsorship scandal, was handed to the Grits six years before then.

The audit detailed serious problems ranging from an "appearance of favouritism" during the selection of ad agencies, to meddling from the Privy Council Office.

[...]

According to newly declassified cabinet documents, former public works minister Alfonso Gagliano gave the sponsorship program a glowing endorsement in 2001, a year after a second damning internal audit.

Treasury Board Deputy Minister Jim Judd told the committee that Gagliano's assurances provided "some sense of security that the problems were being addressed."

That same year Treasury Board cancelled rules that required quarterly reports on the advertising and sponsorship activity of the government. (Emphasis added)

The ethical way to handle suspected graft is to eliminate the means to detect and track it! As the current PM sat on that Treasury Board, he has some explaining to do.

But there is another twist that has become a rallying point for the Opposition:

An unnamed minister is quoted in newly declassified minutes of a June 10, 2002, cabinet meeting as saying the $100-million commissions raked in by ad agencies were legitimate expenses. Only months prior the auditor general has accused public servants who handed out sponsorships of breaking every rule in the book.

Liberal House Leader Jacques Saada told the opposition that the minister's identity will only be revealed at a public inquiry. The opposition parties vowed yesterday to keep hammering at the Liberals for the name.

Because getting the name is just sooo important, but addressing the fact that maybe the system is the culprit and seeking to reform that evidently isn't a concern.

I wonder how much more credibility the Opposition parties would garner if they stopped aspiring for sound-bite publicity and actually tried to conduct themselves in ways that would convince the electorate that they are capable of leadership. And yes, that goes for parties on both sides of the border.

Show. Us. Respect.

There will probably be a national election up here sometime this year, but the issue is when. Andrew Coyne has some thoughts as to the timing of an election and his commenters, as always, are having a spirited and thoughtful debate. My personal concern is that if a national election up here is called too close to the presidential election down there, American issues rather than Canadian ones would dominate, but that's admittedly due to the fact that I am overly sensitive to how the unlike America mantra makes an inevitable appearance even in debates of strictly internal Canadian matters.

Posted by Debbye at 10:35 AM | Comments (0)

Greg Sorbara, Ont. Min. of Finance

Feb. 27 - Yet another ethics issue in Ontario, this time with the current Liberal government and Finance Minister Greg Sorbara. Royal Group Technologies, for which Sorbara served as a director until he was appointed to the provincial Cabinet, is under criminal investigation, and despite calls for his resignation from the Oppostion, Sorbara is staying as Finance Minister.

The OSC [Ontario Securities Commission], the RCMP and Canada Customs and Revenue Agency are conducting various investigations into the finances of the Woodbridge-based building parts maker.

Despite being told of the investigation by the commission in December, Sorbara said yesterday he didn't tell Premier Dalton McGuinty about it until a company news release made the matter public late Wednesday.

McGuinty said Sorbara was legally bound not to share information about the investigation with him until it was made public this week.

Prior to Sorbara's announcement, the premier had expressed concerns about the province's own stock watchdog initiating the investigations.

[...]

Sorbara was a member of Royal Group's board and chaired the company's audit committee until he was named to McGuinty's cabinet last October. Company officials confirmed he resigned his seat on the board at that time.

[...]

While details of the investigation are scant, the company has disclosed that the OSC is looking into connections between the company's controlling shareholder, Vic De Zen, and a St. Kitts resort, casino and spa, also controlled by De Zen.

In the past five years, the resort has bought $32-million worth of goods and services from Royal Group.

"Mr. Sorbara was not on the board when the company was warned of the investigation," said Royal Group's general counsel Scott Bates.

Sorbara, as Finance Minister, was responsible for the OSC until yesterday when Premier McGuinty transferred responsibility for that post to another cabinet minister.

Posted by Debbye at 09:32 AM | Comments (12)

Haiti

Feb. 27 - France calls for Aristide to quit. Opposition leaders in Haiti have made it clear that Artistede's removal is the only condition under which they will negotiate a settlement.

France had already called for the international community to assemble a force to restore order and urged Aristide consider stepping down.

[...]

The Security Council later adopted a statement expressing its deep concern in regard to the deterioration of the political, security and humanitarian environment in Haiti.

So if the international community is unwilling to form a force, will France? They interceded in Ivory Coast, another former French colony, when conditions there deteriorated.

Canada's PM, Paul Martin, has vowed to help Haiti, but Defence Minister David Pratt says that additional military units are unavailable for deployment anywhere. Canadian forces in Haiti have begun evacuating Canadian nationals from the island and are standing by to evacuate more if necessary.

One possibility to peacemaking in Haiti would be the Solomon Islands approach: the neighbouring countries could assemble a force to intervene.

I'm glad the president is keeping the US out of this. It has been entirely too easy for the international community to talk about the need for action but to mean that they expect us to do the hard work. If there really is an international community, let them demonstrate it by their deeds. Thus far the UN has indicated that it won't authorize a peacekeeping force until a political settlement has been reached by the contending parties.

Posted by Debbye at 08:08 AM | Comments (0)

February 26, 2004

Patronage Appointments

Feb. 26 - One of the startling side-benefits of a scandal is how much more evidence tends to come to light about other instances of wrongdoing, even in (gasp!) Ontario (Hydro deals anger Tories - but let us be perfectly clear: the Tories are angry at . . . the Tories, or in particular, Mike Harris, for awarding the untendered contracts to political operatives.)

Freedom of Information documents released this week reveal that publicly owned Hydro One paid out $5.6 million to the companies of key Tory strategists Paul Rhodes, Leslie Noble, Michael Gourley and Tom Long, all influential players in the governments of Mike Harris and Eves.

[...]

And sources told Sun Media that many Tory MPPs are seething behind the scenes, distraught that the revelations are damaging their hard-won reputation as good fiscal managers.

Maybe after all the hand-wringing and lamentations are concluded some real leaders will look at reforming the system to close the obvious loopholes and opportunities for graft and corruption?

Posted by Debbye at 07:18 PM | Comments (0)

Adscam

Feb. 25 - Use of the word Adscam is popping up in unexpected places, including this story about the Conservative Party leadership campaign in today's Toronto Sun, Belinda cash hurts party, rival beefs:

OTTAWA -- Conservative leadership frontrunner Stephen Harper says the financial muscle rival Belinda Stronach is flexing in Quebec could tarnish the party's image in a province already rocked by the Adscam sponsorship scandal. The Stronach campaign has repeatedly said it's bound by the same rules as the other leadership candidates and it's playing by them. (My emphasis)
It is even popping up out of context. Is that the next level of acceptance?

Posted by Debbye at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

Abdullah Khadr

Feb. 26 - Anyone else find the wording in this article downright weird? Canuck 'suicide bomber' alive:

A Canadian accused by the Taliban of being the suicide bomber who killed a Canadian corporal in Afghanistan last month denies he was behind the attack, CBC-TV's The National reported last night. Abdullah Khadr met with the CBC at a secret location in Pakistan to prove he was not the suicide bomber who killed Cpl. Jamie Murphy.

"If I was the suicide bomber, I wouldn't have been doing this interview with you right now," Khadr told CBC in Islamabad.

It was less of an accusation and more of a celebration, but I can understand where Khadr is coming from. Sort of.

The CBC story and interview are here.

Posted by Debbye at 04:03 PM | Comments (0)

February 25, 2004

Adscam

Feb. 25 - A column by Chantal Hebert of the Toronto Star, I got $50K from Liberal 'slush fund', reveals something that I think we all suspected: the federal Liberal party in Quebec were not the only ones who fed from the slush fund we call Adscam - the federal sponsorship program.

Posted by Debbye at 08:58 PM | Comments (0)

Missile Defense Vote

Feb. 25 - Liberals break ranks during missile defence vote

According to the above, 30 out of 71 votes in support of a Bloc Quebecois motion against participating with the USA in talks about a missile defense program were from the Liberal Party caucus (155 MPs voted against the motion.)

Allowing more free votes in Parliament should prove extremely interesting for constituencies as well as giving Canadians as a whole a closer look at the different political viewpoints within the Liberal caucus.

Posted by Debbye at 10:40 AM | Comments (0)

February 23, 2004

Adscam

Feb. 23 - Auditor General Sheila Fraser is naming some names: Who got what.

Not surprisingly, Groupaction is involved:

Groupaction got $6.7 million in two uncompetitive ad contracts.

One, for $5.4 million with Justice Canada, was given despite protests from Justice officials, who twice informed Public Works "they were not satisfied with Groupaction's work." The other, a $1.3-million deal with Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, was given months after Public Works canceled a competitive process to pick an agency.

Groupaction was paid $795,000 for two contracts for which there is no evidence services were actually provided - one to promote the federal gun registry and another to sponsor, among other events, car races and horse shows.

The CCRA was involved? Anyone else up to their eyeballs with their employer's fiscal year end as well as readying their income tax returns? It's getting hard not to take these revelations personally.

Posted by Debbye at 01:43 PM | Comments (0)

Adscam - It's about our money, idiots

RECAP: Jaeger wrote Nous sommes en direct de la Rue des Pussies.

Laurent wrote We're All Catholics Now in response and Jaeger wrote We're All Catholics Now?. I'm putting them up at the top here because these posts have been a fascinating analysis of political and social changes in Quebec and thus Canada over the past 50 years.

Colby Cosh pointed out when the extent of outrage over Adscam became apparent that, in a twisted way, the aims of the Communication Canada program had been achieved: the country seems quite united--against the Liberals-- and we've seen the true nature of the government.

Tom Brobeck says it's all about trust:

What some Liberal MPs don't seem to understand about the Paul Martin scandal is that it goes well beyond the $250 million squandered on a bogus sponsorship program.

It's not about Quebec versus the rest of Canada -- a charred old chestnut some people in Ottawa are still willing to roast.

And it's not really about the extent to which the prime minister knew of the bogus contracts.

What this story is really about, and what the anger toward the Liberal government is about, is trust.

Paul Martin and the Liberal government broke the public trust.

[...]

Anyone who thinks this is just about the funneling of $100 million into bogus commissions to Liberal outfits doesn't understand politics.

You've got to go through the body count to even begin to understand what all the fuss is about.

It's the Human Resources "billion-dollar boondoggle," where hundreds of millions of dollars went missing and contracts were given out to companies where rules of engagement were completely ignored.

Paul Martin was the finance minister and vice-chair of Treasury Board during those years. Did he not pay attention to where all the money was going?

It's the billion-dollar, soon to be $2-billion, gun registry -- a program with questionable benefits that's gobbling up tax money faster than they can print it. Anne McLellan was the justice minister through many of those years. Did she have no handle whatsoever on the costs? She's now the deputy prime minister.

It's the employment insurance scandal, where billions of dollars are going missing every year. Paul Martin has charged workers and employers $44 billion more in EI premiums than he's paid out. And the money has been lost in general revenues.

Those were decisions Martin made. He balanced the books with EI money. And people got ripped off.

There's the advertising scandal exposed in Auditor General Sheila Fraser's report where -- among other things -- contracts were going out when no work was done at all.

Martin was in charge at the time. Where was the due diligence?

Then there's the sponsorship scandal where Liberal-friendly communications firms were getting 40% commissions for doing virtually no work at all.

What strikes me is that, although the stated aims of Communication Canada may have seemed superficial, Canadians were willing to pay for the program because they are genuinely interested in keeping Quebec in Confederation. That the program turned out to be an opportunist method for the federal Liberals to repay past contributors betrayed that interest, and, I think, hurt Canadians to the quick. The attempt to pass it off as Quebec corruption was a totally unprincipled act: those who claim to desire unity appealed to francophobia in an attempt to save their own hides.

People who speak about the lesser of two evils might want to re-think what they call evil.

So what next?

Andrew Coyne has been hosting a Constitutional debate here and the question of if Martin will call an election in the spring or wait until the investigation into Adscam is concluded here with Jay Currie's thoughts on the probable timing of the election here.

Posted by Debbye at 04:03 AM | Comments (0)

February 21, 2004

Quebec

Feb. 21 - Jaeger has written about the "Francization" of Canada in Nous sommes en direct de la Rue des Pussies that needs to be read more than once.

... Up until 1968 the British model of decentralized free institutions suited Canada fine, even when the Prime Minister was a French Canadian. Until then if there was a conflict between French and Anglo ideas it tended to be the Anglo majority that would triumph. That only changed when we elected a megalomaniac who decided to remodel the federal government into something more amenable to the French intellectuals on the left bank of the Seine. The French intellectuals and their fellow travelers may sneer at McDonald's fast food, but when it comes to government they insist on SuperSizing and centralizing it. ..

[...]

And when it comes to governing philosophy, size matters. It is not entirely incorrect to generalize that Quebec politicians will lean toward the interventionist, dirigiste, l'tat c'est moi philosophy as is fashionable in France, and Albertans won't. That wasn't true in Laurier's time, but it is in ours. And it is certainly true that bloated, interventionist governments attract charlatans, hucksters and crooks like moths to a flame. So if that's the type of Quebec-bashing people want to engage in, I say bring it on. ..

Terrific, fact-based post about the political environment in Quebec.

Laurent has replied to Jaeger's post and argues that Canada has undergone Catholicization in We're All Catholics Now:

... I think the key to understanding the last decades of change in Canadian politics is not French vs. Anglo but Catholic vs. Protestant. Quebec and Canada may now be quite secular, but the cultural habits of thought and action shaped by centuries of religious belief and practices simply don't go away overnight.
Another post that needs to be read more than once.

UPDATE: And Jaeger responds.

Posted by Debbye at 01:46 AM | Comments (0)

February 20, 2004

Chretien: Teflon; Martin: Velcro

Feb. 20 - Margaret Wente's column If Chretien was Teflon, Martin is Velcro gets an instalaunch.

Posted by Debbye at 11:51 AM | Comments (0)

Bloc and Conservatives could form minor govt?

Feb. 20 - Fascinating post at Le blog de Polyscopique which jabs the NDP over-eagerness to form a minority government with the federal Liberal Party but makes a point that is, in retrospect, perfectly obvious (which is probably why it has been overlooked):

Maybe a Conservative-Bloc coalition (which would be vaguely reminescent of the Conservative-Nationaliste alliance which formed the Borden government in 1911) could endure as long as the Bloc did not have emotive social-democrat reactions and realized that an agenda of reducing the size, budget and influence of the federal government is perfectly compatible with an agenda of greater provincial autonomy.
He also notes the difficulty of keeping such a government focused, but the possibilities are intriguing.

Posted by Debbye at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

Toronto isn't Hobbiton

Feb. 20 - Anthony wants Mayor Miller to realize he's not in the Shire anymore. Excellent post.

Posted by Debbye at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

February 18, 2004

Administrative failure

Feb. 18 - A 2000 Audit alleged fraud changes the current answer to that all-important question: what PM PM knew and when he knew it:

OTTAWA -- A 2000 public works internal audit that Prime Minister Paul Martin says only highlights the sponsorship program's "administrative failures," in fact details double-billing by ad agencies and alleges fraud. The 1,180-page audit points out specific instances in which ad agencies billed for items they didn't produce or expensed travel that wasn't linked to the sponsored event.

Martin has insisted it wasn't until a 2002 auditor general's report, which found that public servants broke the rules when they handed Groupaction $1.6 million for three almost identical reports, that he realized how serious the problems were in the $250-million sponsorship program. But the internal audit is filled with examples of questionable billing practices by ad agencies and secret deals between those firms and public servants.

According to the probe, taxpayers paid the Gosselin ad firm to produce different signs for the 1999 Toronto and Vancouver Molson Indies. Auditors found that the same sign was used twice.

Administrative failure. There ought to be a google for that. (busy sounds) Yes indeed: 2,210,00. Who knew?

At least some government types in Ontario are alert:

Ontario bureaucrats are rushing to reform a $1-billion research fund -- modelled after a similar federal program -- after the provincial auditor exposed its nearly complete lack of government oversight. Economic Development and Trade Deputy Minister Don Black said yesterday the Ontario Innovation Trust and other research grant-giving agencies will be opened to greater public oversight before the March 2005 deadline.

"A year from now is far too long," Black said. "Obviously what we had in place was not working."

New Democrat MPP Gilles Bisson complained that changes come far too late. "I think the horse left the barn already."

Black and other ministry officials were before a legislative committee explaining how the five-year-old innovation fund could pay out hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars with no cabinet or ministerial scrutiny.

We all know what happens when there's no accountability, right?
Instead, an arms-length, non-profit subsidiary called Innovation Institute Ontario administers the $1-billion fund.

That same subsidiary was later awarded a $1.35-million contract to administer Ontario's $750-million Research and Development Challenge Fund without the normal public process of a request for proposals.

Not only did the auditor find apparent conflicts of interest within that organization's board, the office found miscalculated grant payments of up to $277,000. The auditor also reported a lack of proof that grants were being awarded in a fair, open way.

Columnist Mike Strobel has reassuring words for Canadians, though, that Adscam is Scandel-lite by, you know, American standards. Except that we don't routinely vote the bums back in with the pathetic better the devil you know excuse. We have a system which reduces patronage in the civil service which, though flawed, is considerably better than anything Canada has.

We vet our appointees at the Congressional level, including our Supreme Court judges. We also elect our Senate. The pork-barrellers up here don't even have to steal, they just have to bide their time to get life-long appointments and cushy pensions.

How do they get away with it, you ask? François Beaudoin knows what they can do to whistle-blowers. M. Beaudoin was recently vindicated, but how many have his resources to fight it all the way up to Quebec Superior Court?

There is no protection for whistle-blowers here, you see, but for the inquiry into this scandel, they are being guaranteed protection if they come forward. What about the scandels that have yet to be uncovered? Up. The. Creek.

Still wonder why taxes in the US are considerably less than in Canada? It's not about the free health care system, it's about the extravagent patronage system.

Posted by Debbye at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)

February 17, 2004

Conan apologizes

Feb. 17 - NBC's Conan O'Brien Issues 'Apology' to Quebec. Read it and laugh.

Posted by Debbye at 11:53 PM | Comments (0)

Conan's Canadian Visit

Feb. 17 - Some extremely news-worthy items lately have been hard for me to post about. I never started this blog with the intention of ridiculing Canadians because I have a great deal of respect for them, and I recognize that vicious, mean-spirited criticism of the leaders of this country implicitly criticizes the people who elected them.

Although I chose not to become a Canadian citizen, I am a member of the tax-paying public up here so there are issues in which I consider the Federal government to be fair game.

The recent corruption scandels and what Stockwell Day has termed the government's nonchalant approach for cost over-runs have given rise to a different kind of discussion up here, though, and as I believe that there are some issues that are best handled and discussed between Canadians I've steered somewhat clear of it.

My kids travel under a Canadian passport, so the failure of the Canadian government to protect their citizens abroad is also one that comes under my list of concerns.

I didn't comment about the hype before the Conan O'Brien visit to Toronto. I found the whole affair sordid, bewildering, and depressing.

I was surprised to read (courtesy of Smug Canadian) that Polyscopique thought I was cheering. He's wrong. The whole reaction - including the discussing of it in Parliament, of all things - to the brand of humour expressed by a puppet served only to make me more bewildered and more depressed.

But the post does mean that I maybe I should set the record straight by clearly explaining my attitude.

So here it is: I feel disgust for the Canadian government. I feel that they insulted Americans by pitching and spending money on the notion that bringing Conan up here would mean that all was forgiven and hey! we like you (and your money) again. If that is equal to cheering, with then we need to come with up some new definitions for feeling contained anger and resentment when one is treated like a cheap whore.

The Feds believed that Americans would respond to excessive fawning and drooling over an American!Entertainer and that indicates how shallow and superficial they really believe we are, and the bandwagon that the media hopped aboard means that they too share that evaluation.

Americans have their feelings hurt and that's why they're staying away. Let's just lavish insincere flattery on them, pretend that our PM and their President are, you know, friendly, and for extra measure we'll pretend we like their humour and they'll be so happy they'll rush up here and spend lots and lots of money.

Hmm, as I write this I'm suddenly realizing just who the real whore is.

Fuck. Off. And. Die. Yeah, I think that pretty much sums up how much I cheer this latest innovation to lure American tourists to Toronto as well as cheer the rantings of some stupid plastic puppet. It's going to take a lot more to fix this one, and your government has actually made it worse.

Canadians don't get Americans. In fact, many refuse to do so, because we've told you a million different times and in a million different ways that if you want to be our friends, you can do so by disagreeing without being disagreeable. And I'm not referring to your entertainers, like say Rick Mercer, but to your media and your government spokespersons. They are your public face, Canada. Cope with it.

For the record, I think that the FCC investigating a Wardrobe Malfunction was also absurd.

I don't know enough about Conan or Triumph's uh, voice to know to what extent they realized what the Feds were trying to achieve. I don't even know if he believed the cover story that it's all about SARS.

Members of the Canadian federal government insults Americans and a doggie puppet insults Qubeckers. Is there a difference?

I wonder how Quebeckers feel that the federal government believed that, if enough money was spread around, Quebeckers would quickly drop their separatist aspirations and if I'm the only one who wonders at the irony that Quebeckers and Americans have something in common. (Please note I used the word wonder, not asked.)

I don't comment on the unique relationship Quebec has with the rest of Canada nor do I comment on aboriginal issues because my instincts are American and I recognize that they render me incapable of truly understanding, commenting on or representing Canadian views on those issues.

The relationship Canada - and Canadians - have with the United States - and Americans - is of a different category. When some people in Quebec boo my national anthem at a hockey game, I shrug off-line. When some people in Quebec throw rocks at a kids minor hockey team bus or hurl anti-American insults at kids while they're playing a hockey game, however, I will speak out. The targets were kids, and such behaviour is over the line by anyone anywhere.

When a Muslim hijacks a Montreal memorial service for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to spew his hatred for Jews, I will speak out. There are insults and transgressions that I will not overlook and I don't really care if Canadians understand how we feel about Dr. King but I do care if I fail to rise to challenge and condemn those insults as well as defend Dr. King's memory. I can't stop you from revising your own history, but keep your hands off mine.

I ignore trolls, flames and cross-posted blog wars. I spent too many years on Usenet to fall for those tired old tricks.

I might add that when I find posts that may have a different view than I but are thoughtful and based in facts I'll also link it because I still think it important for Americans to know that what they read in the papers or on this blog about Canada and Canadians isn't the entire story.

Other Yanks living abroad know fully, as do I, that sticks and stones do hurt, but we also know we'll survive. If you need some wanker who will crumble when you toss accusations (!) like "right-winger" or "conservative" my way, you picked the wrong person because, like most of my countrypeople, I don't care.

Dinner's ready so I retain my right to fix the massive spelling, contextual and malapropisms I'll find later!

Posted by Debbye at 05:02 PM | Comments (0)

Blog babies

Feb. 17 - Of course it's not a war, but there are some cute baby pictures up these days!

Smug Canadian is a new daddy and the photo looks as though Ada is growing weary of the flash going off (just hang in there, darling, it will cease when you're about, oh, 10-years old) but Max and Talia, Bruce's recently turned 1-year old twins are old enough to pose and get into the spirit of things.

Yes, bloggers do indeed have real lives.

Posted by Debbye at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

February 15, 2004

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar operative arrested

Feb. 15 - Kabul - Canucks nab terror suspect who is described as a "key player" from the terrorist organization of Afghan rebel Gulbuddin Hekmatyar. According to Kabul police chief Gen. Baba Jan, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar has linked with outsted Taliban and terrorists and are responsible for a number of terrorist attacks in Kabul.

"These organizations are one and the same, but Hekmatyar is now the greatest threat, more dangerous than (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar or (Osama) bin Laden," Jan said, adding Hekmatyar is more familiar with Afghanistan's power structure and the streets of Kabul than either of his two insurgent counterparts.

He also controls more skillful fighters.

"His agents have infiltrated every level of Afghanistan society, so when something happens here, you know he has a hand in it," he said.

Canadian troops have been undertaking more raids of late, which means they are in more dangerous situations.

Remember those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)

Hockey rule changes

Feb. 15 - Anthony has a good post looking at some of the proposed rule changes in hockey and some suggestions of his own (Shooting Wide.)

Anyone else see Coaches' Corner last night? Don pulled off subtext quite nicely, I think. I told you 7 seconds wouldn't be enough for the CBC Censors! (Either that, or the CBC actually indulged in a play to improve rathings. I speculate, you ignore.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

More Conan

Feb. 15 - My sides are killing me from laughter over Paul's latest take on the Continuing Saga of Conan This BS is getting out of hand... II. If my humour antennae are working properly, he's fisked a satire. Priceless.

Posted by Debbye at 03:06 AM | Comments (0)

February 14, 2004

New blog baby!

Feb. 14 - There's an addition at Smug Canadian's house and a picture! (C'mon, she's adorable so Just Say It: Awww.)

Posted by Debbye at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

Conan in Canada

Feb. 14 - Janet Who? Don Who? Joe Wormington puts it in perspective:

You know it's controversial when Ed the Sock is offended. Did Parliament really spend time talking about this whole Triumph the Comic Dog insulting Quebec thing on Conan O'Brien? Anything rather than to talk about the missing millions, I guess.
At least the premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, is showing some common sense - he didn't find the Triumph skit funny, but is able to be philosophical about it.
"Ontarians have a wonderful relationship with the people of Quebec," the premier said. "I just don't think it's incumbent on me to tell scriptwriters ... what to write and what not to write."
This contrasts with former NDP-leader Alexa McDonough, who, as Damien points out, has finally found a government expense she doesn't like.

As Dana notes:

Second, would you politicians and professional agitators please give it up with the PC crap already? Triumph tore into Hawaii a while back, and no one south of the border thought anything of it.
There are a number of good points in that post, by the way, so read the whole thing.

What do most people think? Much the same as people everywhere - a little of this and a little of that.

Since I loved seeing AC/DC and the Isley Brothers at SARStock last summer, I would be a hypocrite if I complained overly about the money spent to bring Conan here, so I'd rather bitch about how expenses for the Governor-General's trip to Russia, Finland and Iceland magically grew from $1 million to $5.3 million. How can you overspend your budget by $4.3 million? Also, I can't find a link, but just before my favourite man left the house he was ranting that costs for the Gun Registry have risen to $2 billion, up from the original estimte of $2 million. (We have a Division of Rant Labour in this house, and the hiding of the cost of the gun registry is Mark's.)

UPDATE: The link is here.

This fixation on entertainers period is insane. They're entertainers! Sheesh, we put up with the lunacy of media pundits every day, and I'm supposed to care about the ravings of a freaking doggie puppet, a medallioned breast, or if those who wears visors are wimps? When they come down from Mount Sinai with stone tablets I'll pay attention.

You either like Conan or you don't (or, like me, you've never even seen the show) but he doesn't speak for Americans or Canadians and I'm certain the dog puppet doesn't speak for other dog puppets like Finnegan. But some perspective: the name Triumph The Insult Dog is a clue, you know?

Of course, when this broke yesterday and I saw "Triumph" emblazoned in the headlines, I thought they were talking about the rock band. Yes, that does age me some.

Posted by Debbye at 10:19 AM | Comments (0)

February 13, 2004

Damien vs. The Star

Feb. 13 - The stuff that happens when I'm on a work marathon - The Star vs. Daimnation! is not a cute story, it is a real and potentially serious attack on blogging in Canada.

Canadian blogger emeritus Damien Penny is being threatened by the Toronto Star with a lawsuit for copyright infringment if he doesn't remove a post in which he quoted from a column in the Toronto Star which compared Bush to Hitler.

Damien does a fine fisk to be sure. I can see why the PC crowd at the Star might want to shut him down and why it's important for the blogosphere to partake in his defense.

I've noted in my own referrals that both the CBC and the Toronto Star check up on articles that use them as sources (which I found extremely funny as my state of permanent blogspottedness means they would have to keep reading until they found whatever of theirs I used) and although I knew they were pretty full of themselves this is ridiculous.

CORRECTION: The Star didn't come right out and threaten Damien with a lawsuit, they just insisted he remove the post.

Posted by Debbye at 07:57 PM | Comments (0)

Andrew Coyne

Feb. 13 - Andrew Coyne has a new url and it's really, really easy to remember.

Posted by Debbye at 06:22 PM | Comments (0)

Toronto Affairs

Feb. 13 - I know that everyone means well, but what the city plans to do (Chief hunts ideas, not cash) about "teenage delinquency" is to keep doing the same stupid things that have never worked:

Mayor David Miller said he didn't hear anything new from Fantino during the 45-minute, closed-door meeting, but agreed with the chief that fighting crime will have to begin at the community level with initiatives like social programs.
Remember the lyrics to "Officer Krumpke" from West Side Story? We loved that song, because it pretty much summed up how all of us felt about Do-Good Adults Helping Troubled Teens back in the day.

Teenagers will not go anywhere near something that is a poorly disguised babysitting service. It might be useful for kids aged 12-14, but past 15? Forget it.

One of the more amusing aspects in my involvement in minor sports are the number of coaches who piously say they regard themselves as role models. (I usually manage to keep from retorting that kids tend to pick their own role models and how a coach may regard him or herself is irrelevant, but narcissism is a chronic disease after all and I've learned to shrug it off.)

Teens today are no different than we were: they prefer to keep their distance from adults and especially from Social Program-type Adults. Trust me on that one.

What to do? I'm actually not altogether sure. I still think a stronger parent role is the key, but I don't think you can regulate or legislate that.

Another aspect that we aren't looking at closely enough is the reduced role of men in the family. I do think that mothers guide the development of the girls and the fathers guide the development of the boys, but my evidence is anecdotal, not scientific, and questions some of the underlying assumptions of the latest incarnation of feminism.

What I do know is that my kids are now beginning to grant grudging respect to the fact that their father was such a hard-ass. I could lecture them stiff, but Dad could lecture them into an advanced state of rigor mortis. They still resent him, of course, but they've grumpily started to see that maybe Dad had some good points to make and wasn't so wrong and stupid after all. And it only took from half their lifetimes (the youngest are about to turn 21.)

Maybe if the schools and media stopped telling the males in this part of the world how totally useless, barbaric and worthless they are, men would be able to value the fact that they are men and rejoice in their maleness. Given that our genders are an important part of our identities, isn't it logical that how we regard ourselves as men and women an important part of individual self-esteem?

Posted by Debbye at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)

Conan in Canada

Feb. 13 - Is everyone outside of Canada clear on the fact that Conan O'Brien is hosting his late night show from Toronto? It's been big news up here for over a week, subject to high level hob-nobbery and part of the effort to stimulate tourism here. (He is supposed to prove that Toronto is a terrific city and isn't still in the throes of the SARS virus. Whatever.)

Much press has been devoted to contentions that Americans are scared of SARS and that's why they are staying away with less attention paid to the dollar exchange and perceptions that Americans who read the Canadian press or can access CBC-TV might think that Canada is less than hospitable.

So the timing of an article today which has backers of the move enthusing what a success it will be seems either off or spot on target given that last night's show trashed Quebec and Quebeckers. [Disclaimer: I didn't see it. I'm not even sure what time it's on except that it's past my bedtime.]

The second link frets that Conan's comments might impact Quebec tourism to Florida. I don't think the writer wants to know how Floridians regard Quebec tourists much less drivers on the main highways from Quebec to the Sunshine State. Talk about ducking the real question, which is how many people in the US and Canada cheered Conan's remarks?

There are a lot of differences between Canadians and Americans, and one of them is how vocal people in the two countries are over grievances. Canadians talk about them a lot - for example the four friendly-fire deaths in Afghanistan two years ago - and Americans don't.

But the fact that we don't talk about some things doesn't mean we forget about them, as was proven by the sentiments that led to declaring war on terrorism: we clearly hadn't forgotten the unfinished business of Gulf War I, the first attack on the World Trade Center, or even the attack on the Marine barracks in Beirut over 20 years ago.

So I figure Americans remember with perfect clarity the treatment a kids' hockey team received last year in Quebec, and enjoyed hearing - finally - someone trash Quebec. And because we live in an ironic world, that might actually stimulate tourism to Toronto.

I only know from my own circle of friends how Canadians regard Conan's remarks, but I've already had three phone calls this morning urging me to be sure and read all about it. And they weren't offended in the least.

I'm just sayin'.

UPDATE: This Globe and Mail article has more information as well as some on-target quotes from Don Cherry about the show.

Some comments from other Canadians: Bruce reminds us that the $1 million spent to bring Conan here is taxpayer money and mocks the CRTC; Smug Canadian suggests that a healthy democracy is supposed to be able to tolerate jokes about itself; Damian Penny says Canada is having an existential meltdown.

UPDATE: Now Yahoo via Reuters is carrying the story: Canada condemns "racist" Conan O'Brien TV show. When did Quebeckers become a "race?" Doesn't the frivolous and incorrect use of that word diminish real racism?

Posted by Debbye at 07:52 AM | Comments (0)

February 11, 2004

Auditor General's Report

Feb. 11 - I've given up writing anything coherent about the Auditor General's latest report.

Sure, it's my tax money they've lost/stolen/abused. Sure, it's about events that go back several years and the trail is probably cold, but it's one of many boondoggles from the Palestinian Authority, the European Union, allegations that Chirac's party was involved in redirecting public funds to itself and the failure of the UN to investigate corruption in the Oil for Food Program.

I'm stuck at the notion that Canada certainly is becoming more European, and I don't know how to write about that without being really, really nasty.

UPDATE: Colby Cosh has quite an impressive post about the mess, and suggests that, in an odd way, the Communications Commission may actually have succeeded in its mandate:

But in an odd sort of way, the sponsorship program may have accomplished exactly what was intended for it. It was meant to create national unity and teach Canadians about the true nature of their government. Today the country seems quite united--against the Liberals--and as lessons in Liberal administrative practices go, it is hard to imagine a better one.
Ouch.

Posted by Debbye at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

February 10, 2004

Canadians in Afghanistan

Feb. 10 - Lt.-Gen. Rick Hillier takes command of the 6,000 person NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan but says Canadians will not operate outside of Kabul where they currently patrol.

Meanwhile, DNA testing should confirm or refute a Taliban claim that the bomber who killed Canadian soldier Cpl. Jamie Murphy last January 27 was in fact the son of a Canadian:

KABUL (AFP) - Photos of the head of a suicide bomber and DNA testing of his remains would be used to determine whether the man responsible for the deadly attack on a Canadian patrol was the son of a Canadian al-Qaeda member, an official said.

A Taliban spokesman has told AFP that the bomber, who walked up to a Canadian peacekeeping patrol on January 27, killing one soldier and a civilian, was Mohammad Abdullah, an Afghan from south eastern Khost province.

The spokesman claimed that Mohammad Abdullah is the son of a Canadian citizen from Egypt named Abdul Rehman who was killed in October during a Pakistani Army operation.

He could be referring to Ahmed Said Abdur Rehman Khadr, identified by Pakistani authorities in late January following DNA tests, but the Canadian defense ministry is still uncertain.

One of Khadr's five sons, Abdullah, has not been seen since the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

Meanwhile, the Khadr family will have to pay the expenses to bring the 14-year old son, Abdulkareem, to Canada. Abdulkareem was paralyzed when he was shot in the spine during a firefight with Pakistani forces and his Toronto family wish to bring him here:
The government official said authorities are limited in what they can do for Abdulkareem Khadr and would normally only consider assistance when all other possibilities of private funding are exhausted.

"This does not apply to him because the family as a whole had resettled in Pakistan. You don't start being interested in your Canadian citizenship simply because it suits your needs."

The young Khadr has lived outside Canada for at least five years, said the official, and it's doubtful he would even be eligible for the Ontario Health Insurance Plan.

"It's not an automatic resumption of medical coverage."

Khadr is a probably a stretcher case who will need medical escort and possibly a private plane or air ambulance, likely costing more than $30,000.

The father, Ahmed Said Abdur Rehman Khadr, was arrested in Pakistan in connection with the Egyptian embassy bombing in Islamabad but former PM Chretien personally intervened and secured his freedom in 1995.

Posted by Debbye at 11:55 AM | Comments (0)

Auditor General's Report

Feb. 10 - According to a "source," Audit will flail feds:

OTTAWA -- The Liberal government is bracing itself for what many expect will be the most scathing report yet from the auditor general, scheduled to be released today. Auditor General Sheila Fraser will report on the way the federal government handed out ads, sponsorship and conducted public opinion research. Of particular interest to Fraser is the involvement of crown corporations, such as VIA Rail, in the programs.

"I won't sugarcoat this: The report is dreadful (for the government). It makes some very serious allegations which we will have to respond to immediately and in a robust way," one official said.

"This is going to be much, much worse than people had expected ... On one level all we can do is put up our hands and say 'Sorry.'"

On another level, why can't we say: "You're fired"?

Posted by Debbye at 10:59 AM | Comments (0)

Youth sports in Toronto

Feb. 10 - Youth sports associations continue to take financial hits (Kids' hockey tix may rise) as the city is proposing to charge higher fees for rinks and some family day-trip sites:

Toronto's economic development committee adopted a plan yesterday to hike hourly ice rink rentals by 3% -- from $133 to $137 in the case of competitive youth hockey.
That may not seem like a lot, but that is per hour and youth hockey uses arenas from pre-dawn to post-dusk seven days a week. (Many arenas here operate 24-hours a day, with older players using the 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. slots for adult hockey. The adult leagues pay substantially more to rent ice.) We haven't seen the figures we'll pay this year for baseball parks, but rumour has it they will rise substantially.
Committee members recommended other revenue boosters:

- Weekday parking fees at waterfront parks -- $1 per hour to a maximum of $5.

- The same fees on weekends at regional parks, including High Park, Edwards Gardens, James Gardens, Sunnybrook Park and G. Ross Lord.

- Increasing the cost of adult fitness sessions -- typically nine classes -- by $5 to $50.

- Boosting fees for city-run day camps by $5-$30 a session -- one or two weeks.

When combined, the new fees would provide the city with $846,000 this year. Councillors face a $344-million shortfall as they work at balancing this year's proposed $6.7-billion budget.

One of the biggest source of revenues used to be from bingo halls where the parents would volunteer to work as runners, but the opening of the casino at Woodbine and Casin-o-rama to the north of Toronto has caused the older halls to close.

As I posted earlier, youth sports associations are non-profit and offset costs by registration fees, sponsorships and fund-raising activities.

Posted by Debbye at 10:56 AM | Comments (0)

2003 Report cites Jewish targets in Ottawa

Feb. 10 - According to a July 2003 report prepared by the federal research division of the U.S. Library of Congress, a 1999 plot to attack Jewish targets in Ottawa foiled as well as attacks in Argentina and Paraguay but the report doesn't say which targets or how the plot was foiled. The planning took place in the Tri-Border area where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet.

[The report] ... also details how Hezbollah operatives in South America have funnelled large sums of money through Canada to finance operations in the Middle East.
Humanitarian operations, no doubt. Hezbollah and the Tamil Tigers were long misunderstood - by the Canadian government, at least.

Yes, I am still pissed off that my tax dollars went to fund the activities of Ahmed Khadr, the Tamil Tigers and other terrorists.

Posted by Debbye at 10:26 AM | Comments (0)

Don Cherry

Feb. 10 - Cherry fans seeing red during a phone-in segment on Fan 590:

During last night's two-hour segment of Grapeline (Coast-to-Coast Live) on the Fan 590, Cherry tap-danced around the latest controversy that surrounds him, one that prompted his employer -- the CBC -- to announce they will broadcast Coach's Corner on a seven-second tape delay when it returns to the air Feb. 14.

If Cherry's fans expected him to pop off on the subject last night during the phone-in show, which also featured Brian Williams, they were greatly disappointed.

Cherry declined to bash the CBC, but didn't censor callers who chose to do some bashing:
The Cherry that people love and expect came to the fore when one caller suggested:" I think it's time you tell them (the CBC) to stick their visor --"

At that point Williams jumped in: "There's going to be no bashing here tonight."

That got Cherry's hackles up.

"Just a minute, whoa, whoa, whoa," he blasted. "Wait a minute. Let's get something straight here. I said right off the bat we are not going to censor anybody. If they want to bash me, they can bash me. If they want to bash anybody else, they can bash them.

"We're not going to say whoa, whoa, whoa you can't say that or I'm getting off here. I'm telling you right now."

Posted by Debbye at 10:17 AM | Comments (1)

February 08, 2004

Canada's Illegal Arms Race

Feb. 8 - Interesting series of reports in the Sunday Sun on the Illegal arms race.

One interesting thing in these articles is a refutation of the assumption that most illegal weapons here are smuggled in from the USA. The article says that the majority of them are obtained in Canada through theft of stores and private collections.

Posted by Debbye at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)

February 07, 2004

CBC apologizes for Cherry

Feb. 7 - CBC apologizes for Don Cherry comments about European, francophone players:

OTTAWA (CP) - The CBC has placed controversial hockey commentator Don Cherry on a seven-second tape-delay leash and publicly reprimanded him over what management called an "inappropriate and reprehensible personal opinion" expressed on air.

The announcement came Friday from Harold Redekopp, executive vice-president of CBC Television, and capped a day of Cherry-baiting invective that rivalled some of the former NHL coach's colourful public pronouncements.

"Mr. Cherry's role on Coach's Corner is, and has always been, as a hockey commentator," Redekopp said in a release.

"However, during the Jan. 24 show, he unacceptably stepped beyond that role by expressing an inappropriate and reprehensible personal opinion as part of his discussion about the use of visors.

"CBC Television categorically rejects and denounces the personal opinions Mr. Cherry expressed during the segment. Comments such as those expressed during the show cannot be repeated and will not be tolerated."

I kid you not. Cherry as commenting on the the wearing of face shields by hockey players, and that isn't about hockey? He pointed out that the only ones who wear them are European and french players, and, more importantly, pointed out that the perception that players are better protected has led to more, not less, cheap shots and more, not less injuries (I actually saw that Coaches Corner spot.)

This goes back to comments he made that implied Europeans and French hockey players are "sucks." (For non-Canadians, "french" means Quebecker up here.)

This is an epidemic, folks. this man has also been forced to impose a 7-second delay.

Don Cherry gives a good rant, and I guarantee more viewers will watch Coaches Corner tonight just to see if they bleep him.

Our tax dollars at work, folks.

UPDATE: Arrgh, I forgot to make my point!

What good is a 7-second delay inasmuch as Cherry's remarks were made January 24, and it took them nearly 2 weeks to get upset?

Posted by Debbye at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

February 03, 2004

Canadians obsessed with the USA?

Feb. 3 - It's hard to read (much less post) an article like this without wanting to take a few swipes of my own, but I'll just let it stand on its own merits: Canadians to Bush: Hope You Lose, Eh. (Hat tip to Nik, who sent the link with the subject line "More Maclean's BS.")

UPDATE: Let it Bleed is astonished that this is Canada's Most Pressing Issue.

Posted by Debbye at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)

Martin's $161 million bank error

Feb. 3 - From the Montreal Gazette:

In Ottawa, the bank error in favour of Paul Martin's shipping company was $161 million more than the first reported figure of $137,000 in contracts to Canada Steamship Lines.
That is not a misprint.
But Martin's problem isn't the money, as curious as the accounting or administrative error might be. It's that in the government game of Monopoly, he was both the banker and a player.

Fortunately for him, more than two-thirds of CSL's contracts with Ottawa were awarded by the Tories before the Liberals took power in 1993, or since Martin left the government in 2002. CSL received only $46 million in federal government work during Martin's nine-year tenure as finance minister, and his business interests were presumably in a blind trust during the entire period.

So Martin's companies did better under the Tories than under the Liberals. And as a man of unquestioned integrity, he would never have knowingly placed himself in a conflict of interest. If there had ever been a cabinet discussion relating to contracts for CSL, no one doubts that he would have recused himself.

In opposition and as a government backbencher, Martin was perfectly entitled to be aware of, and even involved in, the business dealings of his companies, ownership of which he transferred to his sons last year to avoid any suggestion he would be conflicted once he became prime minister.

Unfortunately for Martin, the question is whether he was able to avoid even the appearance of a conflict during his nine years as finance minister. So the important number isn't $161 million, but the $46 million awarded to CSL during his tenure as chief financial officer of Ottawa Inc., and whether he participated in any discussions or decisions around it.

The answer is, probably not.

The Globe and Mail doesn't take the same conciliatory approach as the Montreal Gazette, however. Comparing it to Watergate (the obligatory Amer-Con reference) the Globe notes that the error streches the PM's credibility:
One piece of sticky tape over a door latch in the spiffy Watergate Hotel in Washington eventually did in the presidency of Richard Nixon.

One so-called "administrative error" may not do in the prime ministership of Paul Martin, but it has already driven a hole in his credibility. It could also be a thread that unravels more interweaving of Mr. Martin's business and political interests.

In the case of Watergate, it was not the initial break-in but the efforts to hide it that eventually led to Mr. Nixon's demise. Similarly, there may have been nothing untoward about the activities of the companies in Mr. Martin's blind trust. But the way that information has been handled raises the question of whether there was deliberate obfuscation.

To take the Prime Minister's words last week at face value, the notion that a $161-million discrepancy could be dismissed as an administrative error is just not credible. Nor is Mr. Martin's claim he knew nothing about it until the opposition caught it.

Two persistent journalists unravelled the Watergate saga. In the case of the Martin contracts, it was two persistent researchers for the Reform/Canadian Alliance Party who have been tracking Canada Steamship Lines and its subsidiaries since Mr. Martin became finance minister.

Given the political situation, with Mr. Martin having been fired from the cabinet but the odds-on favourite to become prime minister, there is no way this dossier would have stayed on the desk of some low-level clerk or number cruncher at the Department of Public Works and Government Services, which handles most government contracting.

The $137,000 answer, as incredulous as it was given there were at least 548 contracts given out by the department, would have to have been signed off at several levels, at least up to an assistant deputy minister, maybe even to the minister's office. (Emphasis added)

PM Martin signed over control of his company to his children upon becoming Prime Minister in order to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Posted by Debbye at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

February 01, 2004

Toronto Affairs

Feb. 1 - Good column today by Lorrie Goldstein:

But [Toronto City Councillor Michael] Thompson also argues the difference between losing a young person to a life of gangs and guns and keeping them out of its clutches can start with something as simple as whether the school gym is open after hours, so kids can play basketball inside instead of being out on the streets.

It can start with a prohibitively high user fee for a community or recreational facility - or whether such programs exist in the community at all. It can depend on the length of time it takes a young person who wants to get off drugs into treatment - the longer it takes, the greater the risk.

If the problem with the left is that it doesn't want to talk about black crime, the problem with the right is that it doesn't want to talk about the issues Thompson is raising.

Amalgamation in Toronto resulted in bad news/worse news for youth programs. Whereas youth baseball associations, for example, in the old City of Etobicoke (and Scarborough) always had to pay user fees for diamonds, those which operated in the former City of Toronto didn't, and those associations were forced to raise fees for their programs substantially once user fees were imposed.

Whereas youth groups like Girl Guides or basketball associations in Etobicoke had to pay no or minimal fees for use of school facilities - classrooms and gyms - before amagamation, the fees after amalgamation jumped so high that many programs had to be cancelled unless they could find an alternative meeting site, something that was easier for Girl Guides than the basketball associations.

It is impossible now to find daytime supervised youth programs during the summer for kids over 12, which coincidentally is the same age when it is legal to let kids stay home without adult supervision. Before amalgamation, the former City of Toronto staffed and funded community centers which provided coaches to teach skills and facilities for supervised pick-up basketball and baseball games among other activies, but the funding has been cut yearly and although the programs have been maintained due to volunteers the facilities are endangered.

The decision to streamline programs and user fees across Toronto was to charge everyone the maximum rather than look at the value the programs provide for Toronto communities and encourage their growth by reducing or holding fee levels.

I'm just touching on a particular sore point for me as I am involved in youth sports, but the column goes into much more depth about steps the city could take that would focus on root causes now and is well worth reading.

Posted by Debbye at 06:02 PM | Comments (0)

Norman Steinberg

Feb. 1 - The TV and sound system purchased by ethics commissioner Norman Steinberg has been moved from his office and relocated to a federal boardroom.

Posted by Debbye at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

January 31, 2004

Cpl. Jamie Murphy

Jan. 31 - I've seen referrals to my site for people who wish to send messages of condolence to Cpl. Murphy's family. Although I don't have an actual link for them, here's the link for the Defence Communitty for the Canadian Forces and you can send messages to the soldiers in Afghanistan (Operation Athena) or the message board and express your sympathies and support there.

Never - never forget those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)

The case of Maher Arar

Jan. 31 - Good article that answers some questions as to how the public inquiry into the Maher Arar case would proceed as there are other tangential inquiries as well as a lawsuit pending.

U.S. Ambassador Paul Cellucci insisted in a recent speech that the US proceeded alone in its decision to deport Arar to Syria, but other questions have arisen, including an allegation that Canadian officials declined to take custody of Arar because they lacked evidence with which they could charge him for terrorist-related activities and, the big question, exactly what (or who) tipped US authorities that he was suspected for terrorist-related activities.

Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill's home and office were raided by the RCMP in an effort to ascertain who provided her with documents regarding to what Arar disclosed to Syrian officials, and an inquiry has been called to investigate that action by the RCMP as well as a review of the Security of Information Act.

Arar has sued US Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft and other officials for his deportation to Syria on the grounds that they knew he would be tortured. He has also filed suits against the governments of Jordan and Syria, and is considered filing suit against the Canadian government.

Arar holds dual citizen status with Syria and Canada. If what I have heard is correct, Syria does not allow its citizens to renounce their citizenship, so Arar doesn't have a choice in that matter.

However, early on this case (going back over a year) it was said by media reports that Arar holds a Syrian passport as well as a Canadian one, which I'm guessing would raise a red flag for national security officials.

Arar was arrested and deported to Syria via Jordan in 2002 back when Syria was viewed as an ally in the war on terror.

Posted by Debbye at 01:13 PM | Comments (0)

January 30, 2004

The Star and Its Malcontents

Jan. 30 - Let It Bleed goes where others fear to tread: The Star and Its Malcontents. Who says Canadians can't fisk with the best of them?

Posted by Debbye at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

The Star and Its Malcontents

Jan. 30 - Let It Bleed goes where others fear to tread: The Star and Its Malcontents. Who says Canadians can't fisk with the best of them?

Posted by Debbye at 09:11 PM | Comments (0)

January 29, 2004

British and Canadian Parliaments

Jan. 29 - Andrew Coyne has an interesting post up about some of the differences between the British and Canadian Parliaments in The Mother of All Parliaments. Good reading, although I never thought anyone would find something that hockey players and MPs have in common. (Also mentions Winston Churchill, master political theatrician.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:08 PM | Comments (0)

Canadians in Afghanistan

Jan. 29 - The terrorist attack yesterday in Afghanistan that resulted in the death of a British soldier caused the Canadian military to scale back a planned procession to the airport which was to have honoured Cpl. Jamie Brendan Murphy, who was killed the previous day in a terrorist attack, for his final journey home (Farewell to 'a brother'.)

The heightened security concerns have caused the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force to order that foot patrols cease and alll Iltis jeeps to be parked until further notice.

Soldiers and local authorities in Kabul have tightened security and increased police foot patrols as the investigation into the attacks continues.

The US is planning a spring offensive to track down remnants of al Qaeda and the Taliban, according to a senior DoD official.

Never forget those who serve.

UPDATE: The Daily Telegraph story on the bombing death of the British soldier is here.

The soldier was the fourth British serviceman and the 24th member of the Nato-led Isaf to be killed in Afghanistan. Spokesmen for the deposed Taliban claimed responsibility, but gave different names and nationalities for the bomber.

One described him as "Saad", an Algerian-born British national in his twenties. Another said he was 28-year-old Sayed Mohammad Ahmad, a Palestinian with an Algerian passport. Abdul Latif Hakimi, a Taliban spokesman, told a news agency: "It's just the beginning. More such attacks will take place. Hundreds of our men are ready to carry out such attacks."

The soldier's name has not been released yet.

Posted by Debbye at 11:34 AM | Comments (0)

Blame Paris (Hilton)

Jan. 29 - Blame Paris: the real reason Americans are boycotting Canada is finally revealed: well-known activist Paris Hilton to protest Canada's seal hunting.

Posted by Debbye at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

January 28, 2004

Canadian named as recipient of oil vouchers

Jan. 28 - According to a story in today's Globe and Mail, a Canadian businessman was named as one of those who received free oil for backing Saddam. Arthur Millholland, president of Calgary-based Oilexco Inc., is said to have received one million barrels of oil.

The allegations of bribery were published in an Iraqi newspaper, Al-Mada, which cited documents obtained from the former State Oil Organisation, or Somo, which the Daily Telegraph (UK) describes as the commercial arm of Saddam's oil ministry.

The Daily Telegraph article focuses on the international nature of the scandal

Saddam Hussein bribed his way around the world, buying the support of presidents, ministers, legislators, political parties and even Christian churches, according to documents published in Iraq.

The list of those who allegedly benefited from Saddam's largesse spans 46 countries.

According to the newspaper al-Mada, one of the new publications that have emerged since the removal of the dictator, Saddam offered each of his friends lucrative contracts to trade in millions of barrels of Iraqi crude under the United Nations oil-for-food programme.

The 270 individuals and organisations alleged to be in his pay included the sons of a serving Arab president, Arab ministers, a prominent Indonesian leader, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation, the party led by the Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky and even the Russian Orthodox Church.

There's more, so read the whole thing.

Will this latest allegation force the UN to open the books of the Oil for Food program?

Roger L. Simon has been in the forefront of those urging the books be opened. He posts on this latest development, Naming Names, and also links to Merde in France which in turn links to the Le Monde article about the French connection, so those with working French might want to check it out.

Tim Blair links to the complete list and the translation of the complete list. No Australians have been named but some Austrians (which might explain why initial reports were conflicting) but George Galloway's name appears several times.

One cautionary reminder: we've been down this road of documents recovered in Baghdad provide evidence of corruption and perfidy only to see it fizzle when the documents turned out to be forgeries, so handsprings and whoops of joy are postponed until confirmation.

But, as Capt. Sheridan said, You can't kill the truth. (And yes, I know what his follow-up was, but work with me here, okay?)

UPDATE: Enter Stage Right has more, including a good memory back to an earlier rumour about Swiss bank accounts. Maybe the deal wasn't for actual oil after all, but for the proceeds of undocumented oil sales.

Posted by Debbye at 04:53 PM | Comments (0)

January 27, 2004

Toronto Affairs

Jan. 27 - Things are not sweet and lightness here: today's Toronto Sun lists 8 gun-related incidents including the two homicides that occured from Friday to Monday in Toronto the Good: Deadly danger.

City Councillor Giorgio Mammoliti is calling on Mayor David Miller to declare Gun violence an emergency and have it foremost on the three-day council meeting which began today. He's calling on the mayor to hire 600 more police officers.

The fact that the courts do not seem to see gun-related violence as deserving of more stringent sentences is still the bigger part of the problem, though, and is probably the main reason witnesses are reluctant to step forward.

Lorrie Goldstein points out that This is a way a city dies, First with a bang, then a whimper.

Look, folks. I'm an American. I've seen too many American cities writhe in death convulsions because those purporting to be our leaders were too easily intimidated by accusations of racism and too happy to distract attention to "root causes of gang violence" rather than take action. Do the families of the dead care much about our solicitude for "root causes" while making funeral arrangements?

Does a baby have to be killed in cross fire before people wake up?

I think Canadians could handle learning from our mistakes. IMO.

Posted by Debbye at 12:18 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian KIA in Afghanistan

Jan. 27 - Bomber kills Canadian in Kabul

KABUL, Afghanistan -- A suicide bombing in Kabul has killed one Canadian soldier and wounded three others, a spokesman for the NATO-led security force said.

One Afghan civilian also died, and eight other people were treated for injuries at local hospitals, police and doctors told The Associated Press.

The suicide bomber reportedly threw himself on a vehicle that was part of a small International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) patrol convoy operating in the Afghan capital.

The attack happened about 2 km from Camp Julien.

The Globe and Mail is calling it a suicide attack, as is the the CBC.

Corporal Jamie Brendan Murphy, 26, of Conception Harbour, Nfld., was killed while on patrol in Kabul in an Iltis. Lieut. Jason Matthew Feyko, 30 of Peterborough, Ont., Cpl. Jeremy Gerald MacDonald, 30, of Burnt Islands, Nfld. and Cpl. Richard Michael Newman, 23, of Heartland, N.B., were injured. The injuries are said not to be life-threatening.

Never forget those who serve.

UPDATE: I just finished watching the press conference on CBC Newsworld, and just in case anyone besides the reporters missed this point, the bomber jumped on top of the Iltis. I doubt the vehicle they were in made a difference. I'm not even going to comment on some of the other probing questions.

And to any Canadians who are irritated that CNN television is ignoring the death of the Canadian soldier, I agree! but heck, no one has ever claimed that CNN would prioritize actual news events over a day full of celebrity lawbreakers or idle speculation (ref. the story of the bombing in Bali which was pretty much ignored so they could interview armchair experts and listen to their (inaccurate) profiles of the Washington sniper. Aargh.)

UPDATE: Canadian Comment doesn't mince words:

Last night Corporal Jamie Brendan Murphy of Newfoundland was killed while on patrol in Kabul. A murderer jumped on their vehicle strapped with explosives killing Jamie and injuring Lieutenant Jason Matthew Feyko, Corporal Richard Michael Newman, and Corporal Jeremy Gerald MacDonald.
I'm thinking that messages of condolences should be left on Canadian sites like Canadian Comment.

UPDATE: This speculates that the homicide attack was payback for the recent nightime raid on suspected terrorists and drug lords. (See here for the link describing the raid.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:56 AM | Comments (0)

January 26, 2004

Pakistan to release Abdulkareem Khadr

Jan. 26 - Pakistan to release wounded Abdulkareem Khadr for return to Canada

OTTAWA (CP) - Pakistani authorities are prepared to release a 14-year-old Canadian boy wounded in combat alongside al-Qaida fighters, a source said Monday, but it could take officials in Ottawa and Islamabad two weeks to work out the logistics.

Abdulkareem Khadr was hit in the spine by a bullet Oct. 2 and is paralysed from the waist down. He is being held at a hospital near Islamabad. "The young man has expressed a wish to come back here," said a Foreign Affairs official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

[...]

The official said Canada will issue a passport to the young Khadr, who has family in Toronto. But there remain at least 20 questions that must answered before he can be repatriated, not the least of which is: who's going to pay for his transport?

It is likely Khadr is a stretcher case who will need medical escort and possibly a private plane or air ambulance, the official said, estimating transport alone at more than $30,000.

"Is it going to be automatic medical coverage by OHIP?" he said. "It's going to be an expensive operation.

"That kind of money - I don't know where it's going to come from. The family will have to be canvassed."

My assumption is that once he is in Canada, his medical costs will be covered by the health care system. The issue of who is going to pay for the costs incurred in transporting him to Canada is somewhat sensitive because the father had been given money by the Canadian government for purported charity work which turned out to be used to fund terrorism. He was a money man for al Qaeda and they called him "Al Kanadi" (the Canadian.) (Use Ctrl+F " Ahmed Said Khadr" in October archives for more information.)

To recap: Ahmed Said Khadr, the father, was killed last October in a firefight with Pakistan security forces.
Omar, 17, a brother, is being held at Guantanamo for killing a US media in Afghanistan.
Abdurahman, 20, was captured in Afghanistan, held at Guantanamo, released and eventually returned to Toronto last December.
Abdullah, 22, is believed to have operated an al Qaeda training camp and his whereabouts are unknown.

Posted by Debbye at 10:28 PM | Comments (0)

Calls for inquiry into Arar case

Jan. 26 - The politicians in this country are a wonder: MPs call for Arar inquiry:

OTTAWA -- MPs of all stripes called for a sweeping review of post-Sept. 11 anti-terrorism legislation yesterday, and a public inquiry into Maher Arar's deportation to Syria. Liberal MP Carolyn Parrish said MPs of all federal parties will work together when Parliament resumes next week to take on the RCMP for raiding Ottawa journalist Juliet O'Neill.

Parrish blames Canada's anti-terrorism laws passed in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks for giving the Mounties the powers to conduct the surprise raid on O'Neill.

Parrish said those laws were hastily drafted and deserve a "slow second look."

"I think the review is inevitable," Parrish told CTV's Question Period. "It's time for it to be reviewed and dumped."

Firstly, yes, that Carolyn Parrish.

Secondly, too bad they didn't take that slow, second look before voting for it, but for heaven's sake, why pretend to review it if you really plan to dump it? Stop.Wasting.Our.Time. Will the Canadian electorate readily accept the "we're too incompetent to know what we're doing" excuse? (Probably.)

Thirdly, there was the equivalent of an Official Secrets Act in Canada before the Security of Information Act. Every country has such legislation. We don't exactly know the nature of the documents she is said to possess, but there is a process by which materials can be reviewed and, unless they are deemed to it compromise investigations or national security, be released for publication. Therefore, the possibility remains that she possessed documents that contained sensitive material beyond what she released about Arar.

It's too bad that the media feel victimized, but maybe they should have focused on the provisions of the Security Act instead of indulging in whining about legislation in another freaking country.

Fourthly, that other freaking country I'm referring to has had more leaks from intelligence and military sources to the media than I would even begin to try to count, and as of yet no reporter has been served with a search warrant at work or home. Canadian pundits haven't pulled any punches in declaring the USA is a totalitarian, fascist regime. Will this shut them up?

Two words: Robert Novak. He published the name of a CIA employee and/ or operative and hey! he still has his rolodex.

Second to the lastly, the inquiry into the detention and deportation of Arar should be interesting because he has sued the US, Jordanian and Syrian governments. IANAL, but wouldn't testimony in one tend to prejudice testimony in the other? Which gets priority when there's an inquiry and pending lawsuits?

Lastly, it may be a mistake to try to post during commercials for the Dennis Miller show on CNBC. It seems to heighten my proclivity for snarkiness.

The Dennis Miller Show has some things to work on (he even said that in closing) but I'm going to give it a chance. His feature guest tonight was Arnold Schwarzennegger, and the discussion group was Naomi Wolf, token liberal, David Horowitz (no intro necessary) and David Frum (ditto.) By the way, they discussed "David Kay said there were no WMD in Iraq" and didn't bring up any "they were transported to Syria" speculations, so that last may be a case of too much dot connecting.

Posted by Debbye at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

January 25, 2004

Khadr's family grieves

Jan. 25 - Anytime you lose someone is cause for grief, even if he was a terrorist and money-man for al Qaeda (T.O. relatives grieve for Khadr) and I'm trying to retain some sympathy but his family makes it hard:

"This just continues the ongoing suffering we have endured."
Ahem, it might help to consider that removing him and his activities from the planet might prevent others from true and actual suffering.

Posted by Debbye at 11:37 AM | Comments (0)

Globe and Mail looks at US troops return from Afghanistan

Jan. 25 - The Globe and Mail has its take on the story of 100 soldiers arriving home from Afghanistan after completing their six-month tour of duty, and the Toronto Sun has its take. The Globe and Mail might considered to be more "respectable" than the Sun, but the content convinces me that appearances are deceiving. Read it for yourselves and decide.

Welcome Home! and Thank You seem better sentiments than delving into their psychological profiles, but I'm just an Air Force brat. What do I know?

Posted by Debbye at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

January 24, 2004

Clinton supporting Stronach?

Jan. 24 - A big caution should accompany reading the following from the New York Post Online Edition: Gossip but it is giggle-worthy:

January 22, 2004 -- BILL Clinton's liberal politics go right out the window when it comes to women. Now that auto parts heiress Belinda Stronach has announced she's running to lead Canada's Conservative Party, our northern spies tell us the 37-year-old Magna CEO can count on her old friend Bubba's help. "Clinton is expected to give Belinda council for her bid to become Conservative leader and, if she wins that job, taking on the governing Liberals in the national election," says the source. Clinton's office had no comment. (Original emphasis)
Now, I would actually like to see this happen strictly for scientific reasons as I wonder if the Clinton curse applies up in Canada.

(Link via The Owner's Manual.)

Posted by Debbye at 04:40 PM | Comments (0)

Ahmed Said Khadr confirmed dead

Jan. 24 - The rumoured death last year of Egyptian-born Canadian citizen Ahmed Said Khadr has been confirmed by DNA testing.

Posted by Debbye at 03:15 PM | Comments (0)

January 23, 2004

Al Qaeda in Fallujah?

Jan. 23 - Rantburg reports on the capture of a deputy, Husam al-Yemeni, of al Qaeda leader Abu Zarqawi and the suspicion that there is an al Qaeda cell in Fallujah.

Fox reports that another possible al Qaeda member, Hasan Ghul, was also detained in Iraq.

UPDATE: The Washington Times has more background on Ghul including his connection to Khalid Shaikh Mohammad.

Things are really getting sticky: the Iranian government has announced it plans to try 12 members of al Qaeda (although they won't release their names) but an allegation has been made by a witness that Iran was involved in the Sept. 11 attacks during proceedings in the German trial of Abdelghani Mzoudi who is being tried for as an accomplice in the attacks.

NY Times columnist Maureen Dowd has no problem with climbing out on a branch and sawing it off, but I've been rubbing my hands with anticipation since she trashed the Australians, and they are responding. Heh.

A Canadian citizen who lives in Minneapolis, Mohammed Abdullah Warsame has been indited for providing material support to al Qaeda.

Posted by Debbye at 09:39 PM | Comments (0)

Maher Arar

Jan. 23 - Allegations that the US offered to return Arar to Canada are being made:

OTTAWA - The U.S. offered to deport Maher Arar to Canada, but sent him to Syria instead after the RCMP said it did not have enough evidence to detain or charge him if he was sent home.

Intelligence sources say the RCMP and U.S. officials were in regular contact after the 33-year- old software engineer was arrested in the fall of 2002 at New York's JFK airport en route from Tunisia to Montreal.

Sources said the U.S. offered to send him home if the RCMP would charge him, but the Americans were told Canada did not have enough evidence against Mr. Arar, who was a target of an RCMP security investigation.

Public Safety Minister Anne McLellan denied the accusation - sort of:
''We have absolutely no knowledge that there was any information provided to Canadian officials that Mr. Arar was going to be deported,'' she said.
M'kay, I'm somewhat jaundiced on the subject of former Health Minister Anne McLellan because she dropped the ball so badly during the SARS crises in Toronto, and her strident defense that "it is a learning process" startled people like me, who thought that, what with the anthrax scare of 2 years ago and continuing rumours about bio-weapons, Canada might have a plan to contain infectious diseases.

PM Martin has said he would wait until the investigation of CSIS and RCMP involvement in the Arar affair is completed before launching his own investigation.

I'll say it again: it was wrong to send him to Syria. Had he been sent to Guantanamo there would have been an outcry, but at least the US would not have been guilty of knowingly sending him to a country known to torture prisoners.

Interesting sidenote: this article was written by Robert Fife, who wrote a rather extensive article on Arar's alleged terrorist connection to a plot to bomb the US Embassy in Ottawa last July.

Posted by Debbye at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)

Elizabeth Nickson on the press

Jan. 23 - Elizabeth Nickson
observes:

What if we had a real press? One that was actually competitive, and free-thinking, not skewed by the need to suck up to bureaucrats and MPs? And be honest now, hundreds of millions of dollars can trigger extreme amounts of sucking up. If the press were free here, it would mean actual stories would be told, that you wouldn't have to force yourself to buy a Canadian magazine out of patriotism, you'd actually want to because, strange new concept, it was interesting.

It was a great shame for journalists all across the country, for instance, that the Bloc Quebecois, not our so-called media, had to break the story about the revolting 40% increase in federal government spending over the past five years. There was a 90% increase in the Justice Department budget, 129% in legal services alone. What on God's green earth would they be doing with that money?

Why don't we know more about the connection between the Desmarais family, TotalFinaElf, the Bank Paribas, Jacques Chirac, and the UN's Oil for Food program? Given the relationship between the Desmarais family and Chretien, did that have anything to do with our refusal to join the war in Iraq? If this were the States, that story would be front and centre for months. Why do we not know more about the $250,000 the Canadian government gave to Human Concern International, an Ottawa-based organization headed by Ahmed Khadr who is reputed to have links with Osama bin Laden. Khadr used the money to open refugee camps in Pakistan that CSIS now says were used to aid Islamic fighters waging holy war in Afghanistan.

Let me tell you why we don't have a free press. If we did, things would change for our plushy elites pretty fast. As economist Roger Cass observed in his December newsletter, the C-Wave, the free and vibrant discussion of ideas in the States has meant that the Democratic party is shrinking. From over 50% of registered voters identifying as Democrats in the late 70s, they now stand at 34%. Conversely, the number of registered Republicans has risen, from 20% in the late '70s to 33% today. Even-steven. A free and vital exchange of ideas. A close observation of government operations, actual reporting on what works and what doesn't.

(Link via Relapsed Catholic.)

Posted by Debbye at 12:45 PM | Comments (2)

Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire testifies in Rwanda genocide trial

Jan. 23 - Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire continued to testify yesterday in the trial of those held responsible for the genocidal massacre of Tutsis in Rwanda and said that World leaders allowed genocide to happen citing the limited UN mandate, small number of troops, failure of Belgium to share intelligence, and indifference by world leaders, specifically mentioning France, Belguim and the U.S.

The Belgian withdrawal from Rwanda following the deaths of 10 of their soldiers caused Somalia Syndrome to come to mind (ref. the Weekly Standard piece Showstoppers) and the inability of the UN to be effective wherever there is a conflict. Sure, it'll go in as soon as all danger has passed, but that's hardly comforting to the dead. Do I even need to mention the Congo and East Timor?

So this item in today's paper about Kofi Annan's acceptance of an invitation to address the Canadian Parliament is both troubling and laughable:

Martin, who met Annan privately at the World Economic Forum in this Swiss Alps resort on Friday, said the invitation to Annan was the first he has made to a world leader because he wanted to underline the importance of the United Nations at a crossroads in its history.

"If the United Nations doesn't work, we are severely hobbled," he told a news conference.

Pardon? If the UN doesn't work? There are two criminal trials going on right now about massacres that happened because the UN doesn't work. Mass graves continue to be uncovered in Iraq because the UN failed to act. The situation in East Timor is fragile because the UN is too timid to engage in food distribution because, well, they're timid.
Martin said in a world where superpowers like China and India are emerging to rival the economic might of the United States, the United Nations will be critical over the next decade in trying to determine how the world is governed.
Now the UN is going to have a role in how the world is governed? Why? By what authority? So a bureaucratic organization in which the majority of countries are not run democratically and are outright kleptocracies will be telling democratic countries what to do?
By inviting Annan to speak to MPs and senators, Martin wants to express the role that Canada can play in achieving change at the United Nations.

"Canada has a very important role to play in the world, it is a proactive role and it is a role that carries a wide number of areas," he said, citing the AIDS crisis in Africa and establishing the rule of law in failed states as examples of areas where Canada has made a difference.

Do the experiences of Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie in Bosnia and Ltd. Gen. Romeo Dallaire in Rwanda count for nothing? Both men were in charge of peacekeeping missions which in essence failed because the UN refused to be proactive and Canada didn't back up its soldiers. The sick part is that the bobble-heads that will be happy because the right words were invoked even though everyone knows they are empty (the words, I mean, not the bobble-heads. No, make that both. What good is a rant without hyperbole?)

Let me get this straight. The Canadian military has been so decimated by cuts that it cannot provide a force even to clear snow in Toronto, but Canada thinks it has an important role in shaping how the world is to be run. Because that's what the world really needs, you know, more impotent nations sitting on the sidelines and criticizing those who do act.

You can't talk the talk with credibility unless you can walk the walk with action, and that means taking risks and standing up for something. Canada chose to sit out Iraq because it wasn't sanctioned by the UN. Fair enough. But an important sub-text in the controversy of the US going into Iraq without UN approval was that the US is expected to be the peacemaker of the world when member nations of the UN are too feckless and cowardly to act - and too freaking cheap to support their own armies.

Well thanks but no thanks. Put your money where your mouths are - literally.

Consider: PM Martin is attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, where Iranian President Mohammed Katami happens to be.

Please tell me the investigation into the death of Zahra Kazemi has been discussed. Canada has an important role to play in that particular situation as well, PM Martin, and the prior investigation helped expose the growing split between the Council of Guardians and the elected government. Can we say "Golden opportunity? Proactive role to play in the world?" Sigh.

OT UPDATE: Jay Nordlinger has some interesting comments about both Clinton and Khatami at the World Economic Conference.

UPDATE: And the online headline of the Toronto Star is Canada's Future Tied to UN, PM Says.

DAVOS, Switzerland - The prosperity of Canadians is tied to the rejuvenation of international organizations, especially the United Nations, as the world faces a critical decade that will redefine global relations, Prime Minister Paul Martin said today.
And, become I'm a bitca:
In his speech to a room that was less than half full, Martin said business leaders must get on board with UN efforts to improve both the economies and the social conditions of the world's poorest countries.

Posted by Debbye at 09:53 AM | Comments (2)

January 22, 2004

RCMP raid office, home of reporter Juliet O'Neill

Jan. 22 - The Security of Information Act passed in 2001 has finally come under scrutiny in Canada after a raid was conducted by the RCMP on the home and office of Ottawa Citizen reporter Juliet O'Neill [Toronto Sun link here, and link (of indeterminate life span) to the Ottawa Citizen here.]

>From the Citizen:

The story that triggered yesterday's searches was published on the Citizen's front page on Nov. 8. Ms. O'Neill wrote that Mr. Arar had come to the attention of the RCMP while they investigated an alleged al-Qaeda logistical support group based in Ottawa.

Most of the members of the cell are now in prison abroad, but the very existence of the group was one of the reasons the Canadian government was so vehemently opposed to a public inquiry into the Arar affair, she wrote.

One of the leaked documents she referred to in the article describes "minute details" of Mr. Arar's seven months of terrorist training at a camp in Afghanistan, allegedly revealed by Mr. Arar to Syrian intelligence agents during the first few weeks of his detention.

[...]

Ms. O'Neill cited a "security source" as saying a public inquiry might also put the spotlight on reports that the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa -- and Parliament Hill -- had been identified as potential al-Qaeda targets in the capital.

The search warrants, signed by Justice of the Peace Richard Sculthorpe, specified that the criminal leak took place between Dec. 13, 2002, and Nov. 9, 2003, the day after Ms. O'Neill's original story on the Arar case appeared in the Citizen.

An appendix quoted Section 4 of the Security of Information Act listing the offences in question: wrongful communication of information, receiving secret information, and retaining or allowing possession of a secret document.

It stated that Ms. O'Neill "did receive a secret document or information, knowing, or having reasonable grounds to believe, at the time she received it, that the document or information was communicated to her in contravention of this act."

Furthermore, it said, Ms. O'Neill "did obtain secret document or information and neglected to restore it to the person or authority by whom or for whom or whose use it was issued, or to a police constable."

The provisions of the Security of Information Act is just as if not more stringent than the Patriot Act and has a sunset clause of 5 years rather than 3.

Robert Fulford of the National Post writes

Deep inside Ottawa's security services, one helpful but anonymous public servant has lately been trying to reveal precisely what lies behind the bizarre case of Maher Arar, a story that has been baffling the country for months. Most of us should be grateful to that person for telling Juliet O'Neill of the Ottawa Citizen why Arar was suspected of terrorist connections in the first place.
He goes on to point out that the security officials in Ottawa are not among those who are grateful. Referring to a similar but unrelated case on the legality of protecting a source, he says
The National Post was before Justice Benotto to oppose a warrant granted earlier that would have compelled the Post to hand over documents relating to stories Andrew McIntosh wrote about Prime Minister Jean Chretien's possible financial connection to the Grand-Mere Golf Club in St. Maurice.

[...]

To comply with the warrant, he and his editors would have had to violate that promise. Such a violation might sometimes be necessary, Justice Benotto acknowledged, but in this case the Crown presented no evidence of compelling need. On balance, the rights of the journalist took precedence.

"To compel a journalist to break a promise of confidentiality would do serious harm to the constitutional entrenched right of the media to gather and disseminate information," she wrote -- an opinion seldom heard in a Canadian court, and for that reason likely to be quoted for many years to come...

It looks as though the protection of whistleblowers has been upheld in the courts here, but the O'Neill case will involve a determination if secrecy was for security reasons or, as some believe, to protect improper actions by the RCMP in tipping US officials to Marer's suspected terrorist ties.

In a related story, Maher Arar has sued the U.S. government for the deportation and Jordanian and Syrian governments for torture he says he was subjected to in those countries. (Because nothing is ever easy, Arar happened to be released right after the US vetoed a UNSC resolution condemning Israel for bombing terrorist camps in Syria.) The US still maintains that Arar is a terrorist.

Posted by Debbye at 07:42 PM | Comments (0)

Toronto Tourism down

Jan. 22 - I was skeptical that the reason 3.6 million Americans cancelled or reduced trips to Toronto was entirely due to concerns about SARS, but I was astonished that the comments in the Sound Off! section were equally dismissive.

Terrorism concerns were the official explanation in 2002, and SARS was the official explanation for 2003. I'd rather stay in a holding pattern on this one because I don't have any data or information that contradicts the official one, but I'm sticking with skeptical. For now.

Posted by Debbye at 06:17 PM | Comments (0)

January 21, 2004

Youth hockey under attack

Jan. 21 - Dodge ball and musical chairs were banned in California, so I guess it was only a matter of time before hockey came under attack, but in Canada? Nooo! Read The war against fun continues at Daimnation!.

Posted by Debbye at 09:58 PM | Comments (0)

Colby Cosh explains Canadian politics

Jan. 21 - Colby Cosh has written Part II of his Explanation of Canadian politics which is a must reading for Americans who want to understand Canada and particularly how and why Canada has come to be a one-party state. (Link to Part I here.)

Colby is pithy. Very pithy. He packs meaning into every word, so read it more than once to get the full meaning. He is also quite funny - if you find yourself doing a double take at a particular phrase, he meant to do that!

A key difference between the American and Canadian systems of governance is contained within the Canadian Parliamentary system of government, which among other things means

a) no fixed terms (although elections are to be held every five years at a minimum, they can be suspended by a 2/3 vote in Parliament in time of war, invasion or insurrection,)

b) strict party discipline (voting as the party dictates rather than as your conscience dictates or constituents wish, which makes more sense when taking into account that a failure by the House to pass legislation proposed by the government is a non-confidence vote and means a new elections has just been called: Referendum Canadian style,)

c) the executive and legislative branches are merged (the Prime Minister and Cabinet ministers are elected members of parliament and thus also part of the both branches) so there is no Constitutionally mandated separation of powers; also, there are traditional regional quotas for the Cabinet,

d) there is an Upper House known as the Senate, but it's by appointment only and there is no system by which appointees are vetted or approved by the Lower House, known as the Commons,

e) there is a Supreme Court but it too has no system by which appointees are vetted or approved by the Commons,

f) the Notwithstanding Clause which permits, when specifically invoked, a province to pass legislation which is contrary to two key sections of the Charter of Rights concerning personal liberties and legal rights (rights are not held to be inherent,)

g) the right to ownership of private property is not enshrined in the Charter,

h) there is daily practice called "Question Period" during which members of parliament ask Cabinet ministers questions about probes and ongoing business, but is more an opportunity to ask Very Pointed Questions and usually challenges the ministers handling of any given situation from the obscure to the ones of national interests; viewers (it's televised) get to see how quickly MPs can think on their feet. Sometimes it gets a bit, um, contentious, and it totally unlike the tepid grilling by Congressional committees.

A caution: although the Canadian governing system is different, it's just that - different. Like any system of government, it has its strengths and weaknesses, and is dependent on the calibre of leadership by its elected officials.

UPDATE: I fixed the alphabetical sequence, with my usual excuse that I don't proofread well on a monitor.

Posted by Debbye at 08:22 PM | Comments (0)

Memorial service for MLK used for anti-Israel rant

Jan. 21 - I've been staring at this story for the better part of a half-hour trying to get my temper under control but folks, it ain't gonna happen.

Some asshole in Montrel decided that the best way to commemorate Martin Luther King Day was to take shots at Israel and the Irsraeli consul-general in Montreal had the good sense to protest peacefully by walking out on the rant. (Now that action was a tribute.)

One guess as to how Dr. King would regard the homicide-bombers. One guess as to why the fools who had the audacity to hold a ceremony honouring Dr. King felt it necessary to include someone who does not honour Dr. King.

Rahman said yesterday he has no regrets or apologies to offer, because "from my vantage point it was also a political event."
Opportunism, much? Why again was he even invited? Oh yeah, to be inclusive. All they needed was the KKK for a full house - three Kings and two Jack(asses).
"As a Muslim, I don't make a separation between religion and politics," he said in a phone interview. "Religion and politics are intertwined and there is absolutely no separation for me at all.

"I was there as a representative of my faith community, and I said what was most pressing on my heart.

"If other people were offended by it, it just proves my point - that sometimes people who espouse liberal values, when it rubs them the wrong way, it reveals their liberalism doesn't go very deep at all."

I'm letting that whole "offended" thing pass because I got bigger stuff on my plate, but I'll remember that quote. It should come in handy.

As an American (and someone who actually remembers the King years and heard him speak on multiple occasions) I deeply resent those who would hijack his name for their own fu**ed up agendas. He was and is an American hero, and while it's too bad the "Palestinians" have proven themselves incapable of producing a leader of his stature, maybe they can't because they haven't a grasp of the ideals Dr. King represented.

I'm not talking only about non-violent protest, I'm talking about the stength and courage it took to stand before the police in Selma, Alabama, without indulging in rock throwing and other provocative acts that are selfish in nature as they seek to elevate the individual act above the power of a mass movement.

Politcally correct Canada may chose to forget that he was the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, but I won't. (That's not to say I object to a Jew or Muslim speaking at a ceremony to honour him, in fact, far from it.)

Dr. King judged on the content of one's character rather than the colour of one's skin. Consider Rahman judged.

(Link via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 12:59 PM | Comments (1)

Whistleblower protections

Jan. 21 - The Public Service Alliance of Canada president is urging PM Martin to protect whistleblowers and tighten controls over free-spending public servants, saying that the excesses are making all federal employees look bad.

The problem perhaps lies with patronage appointees being considered "public servants." Their loyalty is going to be to those who appointed them, and they are often appointed as a reward for their loyalty.

A department is only going to function as well as its head allows, yet the head often is stymied by entrenched public servants who are determined to keep the status quo and the solution often translates to more regulations which means more public servants to enforce regulations which means more members of the Public Service Alliance and that in turn makes their motives somewhat suspicious.

Wasteful and profligate spending is hardly new nor is it restricted to Canada, but it has harmed something Canadians hold very dear - the health care system, and that is making people mad.

Posted by Debbye at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

MFP inquiry to end early

Jan. 21 - It looks as though Toronto Mayor David Miller will accede to a request from the person leading the inquiry, Justice Denise Bellamy that the MFP inquiry end early in order to focus on the second part of the inquiry which is to look at the city's dealings with two US based consulting firms.

The computer system for Toronto was supposed to cost $43 million but the costs grew to $102 million in large part because the previous City Council passed approval of a contract that they didn't read and because the former City Treasurer, Wanda Liczyk was either an easily manipulated idiot or corrupt.

Posted by Debbye at 09:12 AM | Comments (1)

January 20, 2004

Norman Steinberg, Ethics Czar

Jan. 20 - Irony again: Poobah praised:

OTTAWA -- Public Works' embattled ethics czar Norman Steinberg, who billed taxpayers over $22,000 for a state-of-the-art entertainment system, was awarded the "strong ethical performance" award last year by the Liberal government. Steinberg and his team of auditors were honoured by former public works minister Ralph Goodale for their good work in uncovering mis-spending in the now-defunct federal sponsorship program.
The worst part? As I read this article and the one from yesterday, I couldn't help thinking that what Mr. Steinberg spent is peanuts compared to others.

Posted by Debbye at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

Police connections to organized crime

Jan. 20 - There are three articles in today's Sun (Wound widens, Cop 'willingly' laundered money: RCMP and Unfair trial feared) about the current investigation of police corruption which indicate that earlier announcements on the findings of the probe may have been understated.

I don't know, maybe I've seen The Untouchables too many times, but I've always assumed that organized crime and large scale drug operations had to have, well, accomplices on the police forces (including the RCMP,) in the judiciary, at the airports, and in Customs at the very least.

It goes without saying that although it's good that this kind of corruption is exposed and excised, it is going to hurt the credibility of all the honest law enforcement personnel most.

UPDATE: Toronto police chief Julian Fantino responds and says the investigation is not over and internal police charges are pending against more officers.

Posted by Debbye at 10:38 AM | Comments (0)

January 19, 2004

Canadians in Afghanistan

Jan. 19 - Canucks bag 16 in Kabul drug raid in a departure from previous actions. Excerpts:

KABUL -- Canadian soldiers launched an early morning raid yesterday on a compound in Kabul, arresting suspected terrorists and seizing drugs, cash and weapons in their first offensive action since arriving in Afghanistan last August. After quietly surrounding the compound in the city's south end, it took just seconds for the armed soldiers to scale its three-metre-high, mud-brick walls and rush the buildings inside.

Nearly 200 soldiers, in concert with Kabul police, launched the raid with the hope of capturing some of the city's most notorious drug lords.

The raid ended with the arrest of 16 men, ranging in age from 16 to 70, who are suspected of participating in the thriving drug trade that fuels terrorist organizations in Afghanistan.

Canadian military officials, citing intelligence sources, linked at least some of the men to Gulbuddin Hikmatyar, founder of the radical Muslim terrorist group Hizb-I Islami Gulbuddin, an organization with long-established ties to Osama bin Laden.

Two AK-47 assault rifles were seized during the raid, along with several large plastic bags stuffed with unknown quantities of money and drugs.

One soldier was injured during the raid. Never forget those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 11:02 AM | Comments (0)

Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie on History Channel

Jan. 19 - Did anyone else watch Timelines: Century of Conflict last Saturday on the (Canadian) History channel? We saw it by accident, as Mark was channel surfing, and paused when I asked "is that Maj. Gen. Lewis MacKenzie?" Both MacKenzie and the program were outstanding and much of what was said goes to the heart of the debate over the viability of the U.N. (especially when they send peacekeepers into zones - Bosnia, Rwanda - that are determined to continue warmaking as well as the political and military failure in Somalia.)

In today's news is an announcement that Lt.-Gen. Romeo Dallaire will testify today in the trial of 4 Rwandan army officers who are said to have "masterminded" the slaughter in Rwanda:

Several months before the mass killings began, Dallaire had warned the UN about escalating hostilities and had sought to raid a Hutu militia arms cache. He was overruled by UN headquarters in New York.
500,000 people are estimated to have been butchered in Rwanda in 1994.

UPDATE: As Paul points out in the comments, Dallaire himself believes that the true figure of the massacre was likely 800,000 people, and it was done without guns. I should also like to point out that machetes were the weapon of choice in last year's massacres in the Congo.

Posted by Debbye at 10:48 AM | Comments (0)

Norman Steinberg, Ethics Czar

Jan. 19 - (Don't blame me for the plethora of happy spending news items, I just record what's in today's paper.) Public Works Ethics Commissioner Norman Steinberg tab $86Gs for attending 33 conferences. Money quote:

He said he travels a lot to talk about values and ethics, but would prefer staying in Ottawa.
Hmm, I suspect his speeches went over a lot better abroad than they will this week.

Posted by Debbye at 09:59 AM | Comments (0)

RCMP lost track of millions

Jan. 19 - RCMP lost track of millions of dollars worth of items purchased for the G-8 summit in Alberta in 2002, which leads me to conclude I simply must get a government job.

The RCMP lost track of millions of dollars' worth of items purchased for the G-8 summit in Alberta, a newly released report reveals. An internal review team found the Mounties were left scratching their heads about what they actually bought for the June 2002 event, how much they had, and in some cases where it was.

"We have identified several weaknesses with respect to the management and tracking of the inventory during the G-8 summit in Kananaskis," the audit report says.

Ya' think? This is the federal police force here, and it took them over a year to realize that millions of dollars worth of inventory was missing?
Items worth more than $1,000 are supposed to be listed according to price, quantity and date of purchase. In this case, however, a list was compiled only after the summit rather than from the moment of purchase.
This wasn't exactly a last minute meeting, and disruptions at previous G8 summits made it a high priority security nightmare even before Sept. 11. How did they get to bypass silly things like Purchase Requisitions with the mandatory approving signatures, receipts, and line entry bookkeeping?

Forget the job, I want these guys to do my taxes. And if I'm audited, I can emit a silly giggle and admit that I have identified several weaknesses with respect to my management and tracking of my deductibles etc. and demand they forgive any back taxes I may owe.

And people really think that the government can do a better job as administrators of our money than private citizens and corporations?

Posted by Debbye at 09:41 AM | Comments (0)

Army uniforms that fit

Jan. 19 - The one-size fits all uniform has given rise to of a lot of army jokes, and at least one song:

The clothes that they give you they say are mighty fine
But me and my buddy can both fit into mine.

(Argh, I can't remember who wrote it, although I'm fairly certain I heard Leadbelly sing it)
The Canadian Armed Forces is determined to shed that particular image (Privates on parade for new uniforms):
"It can be very expensive in the long run," he said. "My estimate is we're going to save millions on this."

So Meunier designed a computer system at the military research labs in Toronto that scans the body of stripped-down soldiers with the help of two digital cameras and determines what size is needed in more than two dozen pieces of clothing and equipment in seconds.

He said the soldiers strip in a booth and the photos are later deleted from the system.

So far the military has bought four systems at $50,000 each and is placing an order for another eight, for a total of $600,000. The military plans to have a system at all its major bases within two years.

I'm guessing the millions of dollars they used to spend was due to their willingness nowadays to replace ill-fitting boots and uniforms. That really would be progress!

More seriously, it may be that Canada is beginning to look at the military more seriously, as well as international relations as a whole:

[Canadian Def. Min. David] Pratt said the government is working to develop a new set of international policy priorities, with Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham leading the review.

Pratt said "the outcome of this review will be a modernization of Canada's defence, development and trade and investment strategies."

David Pratt is said to have supported US action in Iraq, and Bill Graham is, well, Bill Graham, best known for a) accepting the Iranian official explanation that Zahra Kazemi fell down and hurt herself and b) assumed the Saudis were being honest when they assured him that Bill Sampson couldn't possibly have been tortured because that would go against the teachings of the Koran.

In other military matters, it seems that the military won't be denied upgraded equipment despite the federal spending freeze as the Stryker program remains on track.

Posted by Debbye at 09:15 AM | Comments (0)

Visiting ships had feds worries

Jan. 19 - Canadian federal officials began to keep tabs on US Coast Guard ships in Canadian waters shortly after Sept. 11 due to concerns that they could be terrorist targets (Visiting U.S. ships had feds worried.) That seems like common sense, but what struck my whimsy was the closing quote:

The surveillance was discontinued soon after it started and a coast guard spokesman denies there was any imminent threat.

Posted by Debbye at 08:52 AM | Comments (0)

January 18, 2004

Intelligence Screw-ups in Air India case

Jan. 18 - Sometimes reading the news from the US and Canada gives me a raging headache, especially when I have to read about the same screw-ups in both countries: RCMP owns up to mistakes that slowed the costly Air India investigation:

Canada's spy agency [CSIS] has been roasted for destroying evidence against several co-conspirators without disclosing information about it to the RCMP. But new details about how the RCMP allowed petty personality conflicts and bureaucracy trip up the investigation are now coming to light.
329 souls were blasted out of the sky in a bomb that was put aboard a plane leaving Vancouver in 1985.

Posted by Debbye at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian Supreme Court to rule on spankings

Jan. 18 - The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether parents and educators are allowed to use physical force - including spanking - in disciplining children. No surprise that a great many people are lined up on either side of this debate (Advocates want rules to be clear.)

Posted by Debbye at 09:29 PM | Comments (1)

T.O. Muslims support right to be veiled

Jan. 18 - T.O. Muslims join fight for veil:

Chanting "Whatever we wear, however we pray, human rights are here to stay," about 150 Toronto Muslims yesterday protested the French government's plan to ban religious headgear from its schools. The protest outside the French consulate on Bloor St. coincided with rallies staged around the world yesterday, including one in Paris that drew at least 10,000 people.

From Baghdad and Beirut to London and Stockholm, demonstrators condemned the law as an attack on religious freedom.

[...]

In Ottawa, more than 150 people marched on the French Embassy and 50 came out in Montreal.

Sarah Elgazzar, a spokesman for Montreal's United Muslim Students Association, said the bill is "dangerous. It could deny people access to education and jobs. I'm afraid the same thing could happen here."

In London, 2,400 people demonstrated near the French Embassy. About 2,000 marched in Stockholm.

In the Mideast, the largest turnout was in Beirut -- 2,500 people marched.

These numbers seem incredibly small to me.

UPDATE: Fox has more. Jay Currie notes that a Globe and Mail mentioned that the organizer of the demonstration was Hezbollah-sympathizing Muslim Party of France and that's why many didn't attend, but the Fox article says that ... the huge Union of Islamic Organizations of France, a fundamentalist group, gave its blessing and encouraged people to take part.

The small numbers in the Arab world are what piques my curiosity. Does the Arab street only turn out when demonstrations are government sanctioned, is it apathetic in this matter, or are there other considerations involved?

Posted by Debbye at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)

Norman Steinberg, Ethics Czar and big spender

Jan. 18 - Who says there is no irony? 19Gs TV for head of etchics

OTTAWA -- The chief of ethics for Public Works billed taxpayers for a $19,000 plasma TV and almost $60,000 worth of computers and software since 1999, Sun Media has learned. According to documents obtained under the Access to Information Act, Norman Steinberg, director general of audits and ethics at Public Works, bought a state-of-the-art entertainment system for $22,181 in 2002. That includes a Pioneer gas plasma TV, a Yamaha amplifier, speakers, a DVD player and a VCR.

And to enhance the enjoyment of the 50-inch wall-mounted TV in Steinberg's office, eight chairs and a two-seater sofa were bought for $6,400, invoices show.

Steinberg also replaced both his office computer and his laptop -- a $3,200 Sony VAIO Picture Book -- three times since 1999.

Steinberg explained the TV purchase stating that he uses monthly Webcast viewings to train staff, and that the expenditures are less expensive than sending staff away for training seminars.

UPDATE: Evidently, Mr. Steinberg allowed himself to go on training seminars, spending $86,000 on 33 conferences.

Posted by Debbye at 09:01 PM | Comments (0)

George Radwanski sage continues

Jan. 18 - Criminal investigations have begun in a case that started last September Cops probe George Radwanski, the former privacy commissioner of Canada (see here for links to back taxes written off by CCRA, accusations of bullying subordinatores, and highlights of the Auditor General's Report on Radwanski and others.)

In this new investigation, some are predicting that it will lead straight to the Prime Minister's Office because Chretien appointed Radwanski, although I suspect it unlikely that Chretien wouldn't be allowed to shrug it off:

"I believe this investigation will lead the RCMP right to the door of the PMO, who hired Radwanski in spite of having to know about his tax status," said New Democrat Pat Martin, one of the MPs who helped crack open the Radwanski scandal.

"They allowed this situation to fester and deteriorate until the government operations committee stumbled upon it," added Martin.

Although the criminal probe has been confirmed, it is not known how many people are being investigated.

Radwanski used to be the editor of the Toronto Star.

Posted by Debbye at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

January 13, 2004

Gigantic grow operation

Jan. 13 - The spirit of free enterprise is alive and well up here, and the proof is in the gigantic grow operation found in an abandoned factory just outside of Barrie (about a half-hour drive from Toronto) that looks to set a new record for marijuana grow houses (Roach motel.)

"It's not the distinction the City of Barrie was hoping for," Barrie Police Chief Wayne Frechette said yesterday.

"I was astounded with the sophistication and size of this operation," he said.

That really is the point, isn't it? Someone ran a tight, well-disciplined operation indicating a flair for business that we tend to think of as a good thing but he/she will get jail time because they applied that talent to an operation outside the law.

If they'd just pay for their own hydro, darn it.

Posted by Debbye at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

January 10, 2004

Toronto Affairs

Jan. 10 - More weirdness in Toronto: Man busted in German consulate fire:

A drifter will appear in court this morning accused of setting a fire at the German consulate and then attacking firefighters who arrived to douse it. Fire crews were called to the consulate on Admiral Rd., near Dupont St. and Davenport Rd., at 2 p.m. yesterday after neighbours spotted thick black smoke and large flames.

A man managed to get through the consulate's iron gates and, using an accelerant, set fire to the back of the building, Toronto Police Det. Dave Barwell said.

"He literally blocked the gates so the firefighters couldn't get through to fight the fire," Barwell said. "When they did get through he attacked a police officer and a firefighter."

Neighbours said the man spoke with a German accent.

"One officer ran around the back of the building and came back with this guy and he was taken away," Shawn Nicholson, 32, said, adding the man had a tackle box with him.

A firefighter sustained minor injuries when a roof collapsed on top of him.

The article notes that "terrorism has been ruled out." I think what they mean is that organized terrorism has been ruled out, but I would consider an attack on a building which is a consulate to be terrorism even if a German citizen (which has not been established, please note) sets fire to the German consulate. But then, does it qualify as domestic terrorism? If the consul is considered German soil, maybe so.

Maybe what I'm really feeling is that new realities don't automatically re-define terminology. If someone sets fire to a consul, is it arson or a case of something else, say disguntleness terrorism?

Posted by Debbye at 10:13 AM | Comments (1)

Blame British Columbia

Jan. 10 - The weather is always a great conversation opener, and it's a long-time joke that Americans blame the cold front from Canada whereas Canadians blame the cold front from the Arctic, but now there's a new culprit:

It's the same cold snap that began in British Columbia 10 days ago and moved east.
Yeah! Blame British Columbia!

Posted by Debbye at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

January 09, 2004

Snowball-free zones

Jan. 9 - Murdoc links to a story that is utterly embarassing because it's true (Oh, Canada...oh, oh, oh...). Yes indeed, schoolyards in Toronto have long been Snowball-Free.

Soon they'll be Fun-Free.

Posted by Debbye at 02:07 PM | Comments (1)

January 07, 2004

Crossing the line

Jan. 7 - Toronto Sun: Editorial/Letters (one-day link.)

Letter of the Day

ON NEW Year's Day, I went to cross the border at Niagara Falls into Buffalo. My friend and I (both 28) were in a van loaded with kids' clothes and toys and in the process of taking it to my friend's parents' place in Pennsylvania for storage.

We were sent to an Immigration office and interviewed by an agent who would not let us pass. He would not believe that my friend was not moving to the States to work illegally, even though his wife and kids were at home.

We were then told that we had to have our fingerprints and picture taken with their new electronic system. "Blame the criminals that could have been caught if this system was implemented years ago," was his reasoning.

When is this violation of people's rights going to end? I am no criminal, I have a perfect record, and now I am in the mass U.S. database. How long can things like this continue under the guise of "War on Terrorism" and "Homeland Security"? Will they not be happy until the entire world is tagged and catalogued and under surveillance?

Freedoms once taken for granted could soon become a luxury enjoyed only by the rich, the criminals, and the rich criminals. Slowly our rights are dissipating and there is no way of stopping Big Brother. Welcome to the age of fear and oppression, a fire ignited not by Islamic terrorists, fanatical Muslims, or even Osama himself, but by what once was a beacon of freedom and democracy; the good ol' US of A. (The writer is a man from Newmarket.)

The Toronto Sun responded with this:
(Unfortunate, but even before 9/11 U.S. officials took a dim view of anyone who crossed the border with a load of belongings, while claiming they weren't planning to stay. That's their job)
Which is exactly why they were stopped and, I suspect, the letter writer knew it was so but couldn't resist a pretext to take a shot at the Creeping Police State Mentality and Paranoia of the good ol' US of A.

I am astounded and begining to get angry at the continous whining and muttering about the new procedures at the border.

Sir, you and your friend (clearly not a US citizen) do not now nor have you ever had the "right" to go to the United States just because you are citizens of Canada or any other nation except the United States. You do not now nor have you ever enjoyed any "freedom" to pass the border into the United States unless you are a citizen, and anyone who took it for granted that non-citizens had the right to cross the border, as the letter writer says he did, took for granted something that never existed and, in fact, never pretended to exist.

A similar thing happened to me and a friend back in 1976, and I would have been allowed to proceed but not my companion. If the letter writer is a citizen, he was granted the right to proceed without his friend. He was not denied entrance.

If the letter writer is sincere and truly doesn't understand why non-citizens would be allowed to cross the border with a van full of clothing and other belongings then he is seriously a tool.

But this isn't only about Sept. 11 anymore. The use of the words freedom and rights invoked by the letter writer on behalf of a non-citizen who isn't on American soil are worrisome.

Much as people actually believe there is something called international law, it appears that there are people who think totally without reason or foundation that everyone is entitled to the enter the United States just because they want to.

I understand completely that people don't like jumping through hoops, but unfortunately it is now part of entering a sovereign nation.

The United States does not belong to the people of the world, folks, it belong to us, the citizens of the United States. It's We, the People, not Everyone Else, the People.

And make no mistake: Today, in this world, there is a We and a Them and a great many Youse.

I'm sorry, but that's how it is. Nobody likes it, and we are resolved to do what we can to stop the use of terrorism as a tactic and, in too many case, a strategy and even a principle.

The war on terror (despite the horrible name) is actually a real war to many people and the battlefield is our country. We don't know everything that might be involved because no one can see the future, but that isn't a reason to stop but rather a reason to proceed, learn, and eventually defeat terrorism.

We want it end too, you know. All the security, all the checks, and most of all the reality that we, the people, are threatened by hostiles. We want to go back in time to when we went to football games without a care in the world but we can't. Neither can young girls performing New Year's Eve in the Phillippines, shoppers in Algeria, people in the Kashmir region or surfers enjoying the beaches of Bali.

Join us in fighting terrorism. Stop this murder of innocents, say it is wrong, and talk about it with people. Put your idealism and energy to a good cause. If it saves one life, won't it be worth it?

No, I really mean it. If one person can be spared the searing agony of the kind of burns the victims suffered in Bali, won't it be worthwhile? If people don't have to jump from 90 stories because they have no way out and the fire is at their backs, isn't it worthwhile?

Dear God, there are also victims of terrorism who live yet endure life-changing injuries and must simply endure. They hurt as much as victims of land mines and drunk drivers, yet who is their advocate?

Is inconvenience for many at the border and needing to plan ahead (a good idea for any endeavour) really that important in the greater scheme of things?

I wonder if the people behind Ahmed Ressem are angry that they were inconvenienced or were grateful for the professionalism of Customs Inspector Diana M. Dean. There is precedent, you know.

So people don't get the wrong idea about people in the Toronto area, there was another letter in today's Sun:

DURING A flight to the U.S. just before New Year's, I was searched, had my luggage and shoes x-rayed, was forced to prove where I was born, lived and worked and then had my luggage hand-searched again before being allowed to board the flight. I had to produce my citizenship and photo ID no less than 4 times before getting on board. My point here is that anyone who screams racial profiling is simply stirring up the pot. I am a 45-year-old white Canadian male and don't find this treatment offensive, quite the opposite. Most people feel safer. We certainly do not condone racial or religious profiling. But we cannot and should not forget who is taking credit for the 9/11 tragedy while at the same time promoting more hatred and killing of innocents. No matter who you are, or where you're from, get used to it folks, I doubt it's going to go back to the way it was. God help us all if it does. (This letter writer is a man from Mimico.)
By the way, the Sun's response was
(Well said. For a different view, see today's Letter of the Day)
My son recently returned from Puerto Rico, and nodded his head at each point of the second letter writer's recount of security measures (except mine had to provide full ID only three times.)

The last word goes to the speaker of the Quote of the Day from the NY Times:

"I prefer that we are reproached for having too many security measures than too few."

-- Nicolas Sarkozy, the French interior minister
January 2, 2004

UPDATE: Murdoc adds some perspective on what are the responsibilities of the US government.

Posted by Debbye at 06:09 PM | Comments (0)

January 06, 2004

Common sense toward mad cows

Jan. 6 - Sometimes folks in Washington can show uncommon bad sense: in response to the news that DNA Tests Confirm Sick Cow Came From Canada, two senators, Democrat Senate Leader Tom Daschle and W. Virginia Sen. Robert Byrd, are urging that "country-of-origin" labelling be implemented on most meat and produce.

I thought the Dems were supposed to be the soulmates of the Liberal Party of Canada, yet here they are trying to differentiate (temporarily) good American beef from unsafe - in their minds - Canadian beef for all eternity. What will the neighbours think?

BSE is not an election issue, Senators. Neither is the flu, SARS, or most of the aggravations that plague us on any given day. And it's not about Canada-US relations actually, however silly some have been about it. It's about our mutual food supply and our mutual self-interest to ensure that it's safe. Get off the Senate floor and consult with your constituents, the ones who have been happy to have access to a larger gene pool which makes for better cattle.

But the news from DC isn't all ridiculous, and sometimes, folks in DC can also show uncommon good sense: Dr. Ron DeHaven, the Agriculture Department's chief veterinarian, responded

"It's a North American issue. Has been. Continues to be."
Now that's pithy. Maybe he reads Eden at Just Between Us Girls who made the same point in her post Dec. 27 (scroll down or enable search function keywords "It was only a matter of time") or maybe, maybe he doesn't know that an election is 11 months away and is just trying to tackle the problem and solve it with more than a knee-jerk packaging gimmick.

Too bad his statement didn't have any nuance.

Posted by Debbye at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

Red Sea air crash has Canadian connection

Jan. 6 - There appears to be a Canadian connection to the Red Sea airplace crash: Crash pilot's children here.

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- Two young Brampton women grieved yesterday for their father, who was the pilot of the Boeing 737 jetliner that crashed into the Red Sea Saturday, killing all 148 people aboard. Ekram Hamid, of Montreal, identified the pilot as his estranged son, Ashraf Hamid.

"It's a sad day, it's unfortunate," Ekram, 70, told the Montreal Gazette. "His passion was flying. He loved to fly. I just wish he had chosen another career."

Ekram said a Canadian Foreign Affairs official called him Sunday morning to tell him his son had died.

The article also states that, according to a French embassy official, searchers have picked up a signal that could be from the black box of the Boeing 737.

According to this, a hitherto unknown terrorist group has claimed they attacked the jetliner:

A caller saying he represented a radical Islamist group in Yemen, Ansar el-Haq (Apostles of Truth) telephoned Agence France-Presse in Cairo to say the aircraft had been downed in an "attack."

The caller warned of future attacks against Air France flights unless the French government rescinded a law that bans Muslim students from wearing headscarves in public schools.

[...]

The 10-year-old Boeing 737 aircraft, leased by Egyptian charter company Flash Airlines, had made a planned left turn before suddenly -- and with no warning -- turning to the right and then diving into the sea.

The crew did not contact air-traffic control, apparently having no time to do so. The high-speed impact shattered the aircraft and its passengers. So far the recovery effort has found nothing to point to the cause of the crash.

The article notes that none of the wreckage or human remains recovered thus far indicate signs of an explosion, and also chronicles a brief history of problems with the rudder on other Boeing 737s flying at low altitudes.

(Globe and Mail link via Jack's Newswatch.)

UPDATE: Two black boxes have been recovered (Jan. 18-04)

Posted by Debbye at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

January 05, 2004

Tony Clement may run for Conservative leadership

Jan. 5 - Looks like former Ontario Health Minister Tony Clement has been reading his mail. He is considering taking a run at the leadership for the newly formed Conservative party.

(Via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 05:38 PM | Comments (0)

Inside a rendering plant

Jan. 5 - Jack is going where no one wants to go and taking a look inside a rendering plant. For example, did you know that some plants use the carcasses of euthanized cats and dogs?

(Via Jack's Newswatch. Also, note new url.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)

January 04, 2004

2004 World Junior Hockey Champsionsips

Jan. 4 - Expect people in Canada to be somewhat distracted tomorrow from noon until 2 p.m. or so as Canadian and American juniors face off for gold in the 2004 World Junior Hockey Championships.

When it comes to hockey, I root for Canada. This is where I learned to love the game, and that's the way it is.

Go Canada!

Posted by Debbye at 08:14 PM | Comments (0)

January 03, 2004

Go Team Canada!

Jan. 3 - It's over 11 C here and I simply can't express how guilty I feel. Honest.

Apparently temperatures are supposed to drop back down next week, so we're just enjoying it while we can.

Canada is ahead of the Czech Republic, for anyone watching the tournament. Do American sports channels carry live hockey at 7:00 a.m.? Just curious.

I'm out of here, so take care.

Posted by Debbye at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

Patronage, nepotism in the civil service

Jan. 3 - A report from the Public Service Commission has found that indeed, it's not what you know but who you know if you want a job in the civil service:

Managers in the federal public service continue to hire people they know -- including spouses, siblings and cousins -- rather than comply with rules to ensure all Canadians have a fair chance at government jobs, according to a report from the Public Service Commission.

In a review of hiring across the public service, the commission found that in 51% of placements it was unable to conclude competency and fairness were respected, because key documents were missing. They were missing even though the commission requested the documents "well in advance" of its on-site visits.

[...]

The September, 2002, report is based on an analysis of close to 1,000 hirings across Canada at several departments: Fisheries and Oceans, Human Resources Development Canada, the International Joint Commission, the National Library, the National Archives, the Office of the Information Commissioner and Privacy Commissioner and Veterans Affairs Canada.

While a nine-page summary of the report had been made public, the findings in the full 147-page document were released only last month to Ottawa researcher Ken Rubin under the Access to Information Act.

[...]

On Dec. 12, the Prime Minister created a new Public Service Human Resources Management Agency reporting to Denis Coderre, the President of the Privy Council. The agency is charged with working with unions and public servants to implement sweeping new legislation passed just before Parliament prorogued that aims to reform the public service.

The Public Service Commission itself has often been criticized as one of the root causes of bureaucratic patronage because of the long delays it takes to fill government positions. The commission is primarily responsible for hiring people into the public service and for ensuring that government departments are hiring based on merit. The report states managers complained the commission is too slow, does not keep its potential staff inventories current and does a poor job of screening employees.

There are some very good reasons why the private sector views nepotism and patronage unfavourably, but no good reason why the Canadian civil service has failed to implement reforms except for the obvious: the ones in charge of implementing such reforms are abusers themselves.

This is a problem not only at the federal level but at the provincial level as well.

(Via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 08:14 AM | Comments (0)

Toronto aids Bam earthquake survivors

Jan. 3 - One of the things about living in a city like Toronto is that you always seem to know, within a few degrees of separation, someone who is directly affected by a disaster like Bam, so these catastrophes inevitably have a personal connection. GTA aid for Bam has been swift and enormous.

There's an onsite report on Canadian Red Cross activities in Iran here.

GTA residents can go to the David McAntony Gibson Foundation website, contact Rahul Singh at 416-998-7813, or telephone the Red Cross at 1-800-418-1111.

Posted by Debbye at 07:15 AM | Comments (0)

January 02, 2004

Canadians in Afghanistan

Jan. 2 - Soldiers at Camp Julien in Kabul took part in a polar bear swim Making a splash. The swim took place as Governor-General Adrienne Clarkson was visiting Afghan Pres. Karzai.

The Loya Jirga constitutional convention continues to be contentious as they grapple with the degree of powers granted to the presidency and how the different ethnic groups will share power. Tribal conflicts have long dominated Afghanistan.

Yesterday's meeting was hastily adjourned when opponents of Karzai began to organize a boycott.

Posted by Debbye at 09:09 AM | Comments (0)

January 01, 2004

BSE linked to Edmonton plant

Jan. 2 - Blogger was down yesterday evening (DNS issues, they say.) That's my excuse for being so late in posting this article from Dec. 31 which says Investigators link mad cow to Edmonton plant.

EDMONTON - Canadian food safety investigators have established a tentative link between an Edmonton rendering plant and North America's two cases of mad cow disease, The Journal has learned.

The city plant may have provided contaminated materials to feed mills which mixed feed for both the Alberta-born Holstein at the centre of the current U.S. mad cow investigation and the Saskatchewan birthplace of a diseased cow from northern Alberta discovered in May.

The mixing of the contaminated feed would have occurred before August 1997, when both Canada and the U.S. banned feeding cattle parts to cattle.

The rendering plant complied with the ban when it took effect but until then, it produced the same protein meal for hogs and cattle as was done by similar plants throughout North America.

Mad cow disease is widely believed to incubate for at least three years in an animal, which is why investigators are spending so much time tracing what it ate in its early years. However, two infected cows found this fall in Japan were 23 months old and 21 months old. (Emphasis added)

When the BSE case was discovered in Alberta last summer, the Daily Telegraph (UK) provided a number of off-site links about BSE including some from scientists who disputed the conventional wisdom as to how, or if, the disease is transmitted to humans and if the disease can be transmitted from cow to cow though feed and/or birthmother. I hoped those links would re-appear at the Telegraph (they didn't) but Fox News is carrying a similar story questioning the science behind those assertions although the article implicitly contradicts the Telegraph assertion that scientists in the UK continue to investigate the disease and question the original premises on which the science is based.

The Alberta case had been tentatively declared a spontaneous case mostly because the other leads had dried up. The current investigation of the feed mill indicates something significant: far from closing the book on the Alberta case, the agriculture departments/ministries of the US and Canada had continued to cooperate in the investigation.

I'm tempted to say that the intelligence and professionalism in this area is because it involves farmers and ranchers, who tend to be more practical than urbanites, but that is a prejudice which lies in my Kansas roots and besides, I can't prove it.

Oh, and for those who have expressed satisfaction in the what goes round comes round vein about the swift banning of US beef exports, I had preserved a Sept. 4 column by Licia Corbella of the Calgary Sun here (if blogspotted, it's in the Sept. archives key word BSE) that responded to cries that Canadian beef exports were being unfairly targeted by Japan because the fact is that Canada banned Japanese beef after cases were discovered there 2 years ago.

There are some things Americans can learn from Canadians on this issue. One, continue to enjoy your beef. Two, because of the border closure, there were some terrific sales on beef products. Get your freezers ready.

UPDATE: It seems the feed mill was already under scrutiny before the BSE case in Alberta due to a February report identifying labelling problems with feed bags.

Posted by Debbye at 09:14 PM | Comments (0)

Syria entry for Russian arms into Iraq

Jan 1 - A Dec. 30 article in the LA Times on how Banned Arms Flowed Into Iraq Through Syrian Firm is full of surprises, and most gratifyingly, specifics.

These are representative of how adept the Saddam regime was at circumventing UN sanctions:

- Russia's Millenium Company Ltd. signed an $8.8-million contract in September 2002 to supply mostly American-made communications and surveillance gear to Iraq's intelligence service. The company's general manager in Moscow later wrote to suggest "the preparation of a sham contract" to deceive U.N. weapons inspectors, documents show.

- Slovenia's STO Ravne company, then a state-owned entity, shipped 20 large battle tank barrels identified as "steel tubes" to SES in February 2002. The next month, Slovenia's Defense Ministry blocked the company from exporting 50 more tank barrels to Syria. Overall, STO Ravne's secret contract called for delivering 175 tank barrels to Iraq.

Naturally, I headed straight to see what Roger L. Simon would have to say about this latest evidence of corruption in the Oil-for-Food program.

I don't mean offense when I say that Simon's response was predictable (he's been a steady champion of the need to investigate that program) but the source of the story is interesting:

One of my favorite new website/blogs THE AMERICAN THINKER has an interesting article on the LA Times scoop regarding Syria's funneling arms to Saddam.Evidently this expose originated with a reporter for the German news magazine Stern. The reporter, for reasons we can only guess at, turned his information over to the LAT who then spent three months corroborating it.
Intriguing much? The American Thinker clears up some how this investigative report came to be placed in the hands of the LA Times.

Further surprises are in the comments, and the (unfortunately unverifiable) reports from people who have experience working with the UN.

One of the commenters supplied a link to an Opinion Journal Sept. 2002 piece about the program by Claudia Rosett. She puts things into perspective with her first sentence:

Who is Saddam Hussein's biggest business partner?

The United Nations. The same U.N. whose secretary-general, Kofi Annan, stands as one of the chief ditherers over removing Saddam. Here are the ingredients of a conflict of interest.

(LA Times link via Instapundit, American Thinker link via Roger L. Simon.)

UPDATE: The Globe and Mail here reports on the Canadian connection.

Posted by Debbye at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

December 31, 2003

Pundits sum up 2003

Dec. 31 - There's some good links over at Jack's Newswatch from Canadian columnists some year-end summations.

Rosie di Manno of the Toronto Star has Out with the crass, the cretinous declaring that 2003 was the year of living stupidly. She reminded us of things we'd much rather forget.

Gillian Cosgrove of the National Post writes about The dubious, devious and dumb of 2003. Note the reminder at the top of the page reminding us that as of January 24, only paid subscribers will be able to read the subscriber-challenged NP online.

Nice lead up to Mark Steyn's column in the Jerusalem Post (it may require quick registeration, and the paper is well worth the time.) He has some thoughts about predictions: The great, the good, the wrong.

The editorial in today's Calgary Sun (limited link life alert) has High Hopes but it's mostly because 2003, which they describe as "reeling from crisis to crisis," has finally ended.

Those those crisis had another common thread and Walter Robinson isn't happy that Some of our leaders are missing.

Posted by Debbye at 06:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 29, 2003

Bam earthquake update

Dec. 29 - Everybody wants to help victims of the Iranian earthquake. The article describes efforts being made in Toronto and encourages people to contribute to the Red Cross:

Last night a spokesman for the local Iranian community said an umbrella organization called the Bam Iran Earthquake Relief Committee has been formed in an effort to coordinate the fundraising efforts of over 25 Iranian-Canadian organizations.
Another article notes that concerns about the government and black marketeers have altered fundraisers strategies:
Mistrust of the Iranian government is "widespread through the Iranian diaspora across the world," said Sam Norouzi, a member of a Montreal coalition working to bring relief to people in the southern Iranian community of Bam, destroyed Friday in a strong earthquake.

Donated supplies shipped by families were sold through the black market during an earthquake in the early 1990s, he said.

This time, many members of the Iranian community in Canada are funnelling their money via the Canadian Red Cross to avoid a repeat of the situation.

Never give up hope! A young girl pulled alive from rubble. The article also notes that 3 men pronounced dead stirred in their shrouds.

According to this Fox report, a provincial government spokesman said that 25,000 bodies have been recovered. Aftershocks continue to tumble the few remaining walls and compares the city of Bam to a moonscape.

Posted by Debbye at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)

December 28, 2003

Ouch

Dec. 27 - I've been trying to resist the temptation, but I just can't. Go here and think "South Park:"

Canadian Ambassador: "We've already apologized for Bryan Adams. In fact, we've apologized a number of times."

Are they prophets or what?

Posted by Debbye at 10:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 27, 2003

Reconstruction Contracts in Iraq

Dec. 27 - This should provide plenty of ammunition for those who already think Canada is an amoral nation of free-loaders: U.S. policy on Iraq reconstruction bids is not justified, Canadians say.

A strong majority of Canadians feel the United States is not justified in refusing Iraq reconstruction contracts to companies from Canada and the other countries that did not support its war effort there, a new poll suggests.

Seven in 10 Canadians - 71 per cent - believe that Canada should not be excluded from bidding on projects to rebuild the Middle Eastern country, according to a survey conducted by Ipsos-Reid for The Globe and Mail and CTV.

Residents of Quebec are the most adamant, with four out of five of those polled agreeing that the United States was not justified in making this decision.

Almost as many British Columbians - 77 per cent - offered the same opinion, as did 69 per cent of Atlantic Canadians.

Obviously, I don't know how truly accurate this poll is, nor how maniupulative the questions. But we have the interpretation of the poll from the good old Globe and Mail, ever the revisionists:
Companies from countries including Canada, Germany and France - critics of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq - were told that they need not apply for any of the $18.6-billion (U.S.) worth of new contracts being awarded to rebuild the country.
Critics? More like obstructionists. More like used a corrupted oil-for-food program to help Saddam and his bloody regime get around UN sanctions in exchange for lucrative oil contracts despite the costs to the Iraqi people the program was supposed to protect.

More like Oil. For. Palaces. Tatoo that and wear it with all the shame it deserves.

More like acted as a go-between for Saddam and North Korea for the illegal purchase of missiles. (Hey there UNSC member Syria, how much is oil costing you now that the illegal pipeline is turned off?)

More like sold Saddam weapons and plastic shredders to use against Iraqis and keep him in power.

More like supplied Saddam with enough money to keep his torturers and police state apparati in clover.

More like sent military experts to advise Saddam on his military planning.

Tell me: as Canada did not support the Iraq War, just what justifies Canadian bids on those contracts?

Canada's PM Chretien travelled to UNSC member Mexico to enlist their support against regime change in Iraq. (Read the article, it may stimulate a few memory cells.)

Chretien (who is also connected by marriage to a family that controls majority interest in France's TotalFinaElf) collaborated with the countries of the Axis of Weasels, Syria and Saddam Hussein to maintain the pretenses of the oil for food program all the while circumventing the stipulation that the proceeds be used to purchase food, medical supplies, and those things needed to keep the electrical and water supplies functional.

The UN took a 2.2% cut to help foster the illusion. Kofi Annan personally signed off on all expenditures under that program, yet the proponents, including PM Martin, of the "international community" have the balls to proclaim themselves best suited to conduct a trial of Saddam in the international court dominated by frigging Belgium?

A change in faces in the Cabinet does not reflect a change in policy, PM Martin, except to the deliberately delusional. It's still the same Canadian Parliment, a majority of which voted not to support the US and only reluctantly, and with much prodding from the Canadian Alliance, voiced lukewarm support that Saddam had been removed as more mass graves were uncovered.

PM Martin, in the name of Canada, is whining that Canadians want a) US tax dollars and b) to turn Saddam, the man Chretien and Parliament tried desparately to keep in power, over to an international court run by the very people who collaborated with Canada's former PM Chretien to keep Saddam in power with the approval of the Canadian Parliament.

Weasels they were, and weasels they remain.

Yet Chretien, in the name of Canada, had ordered Canadian ships in the Persian Gulf not to detain Saddam or any members of his family if they were caught fleeing Iraq despite a truckload of reports from international human rights organizations that accused them of torture and murder.

That is all way, way beyond "criticism."

Canada wants better relations with the US? On the surface, the Martin government will get it. But if Canadians want better relationships with Americans, which would mean restoring trust, it keeps getting more elusive. The US electoral system and our separation of powers guarantees that the will of the American people will be heard in Washington DC, and no elected official forgets that.

Like it or not, this poll is guaranteed to earn contempt from Americans, because the perception will be that when it comes to lucrative contracts paid for by US taxpayers, 71% of the "morally superior" Canadians are eager to hop aboard the gravy train.

Furthermore, too many Americans know that when it comes to self-defense, Canada is too freaking cheap to spend money on her own defense capabilities so US forces will have to babysit provide security for any Canadian contractors in Iraq.

How can Canadians convince Americans that they are worth it? I live here, and even I can't be persuaded that US soldiers should risk their lives to defend greedy Canadian contractors.

Damned right I want that money to go to countries like Bulgaria and Thailand. Bulgarian and Thai soldiers were killed today, and I am grateful for their sacrifices and to their people. We share something with them we don't share with Canada: the willingness to bear the heavy burdens.

We know who are friends are, who we can count on, and who stands tall in this world. I am overjoyed that we are building stronger and closer relations with them as well as with the British, Australians, Italians, Danish, Poles and Spanish, and if I regret that Canada is not numbered among them, it doesn't mean I'll overlook Canada's lack of moral imagination and give her a pass.

One last time: the US is not the one on trial. The rest of the world is.

Nothing can long withstand those who passionately love freedom. If the day comes when we do fall, we'll go down fighting and give future generations such examples of courage and determination as to light their souls with our passion.

UPDATE: I usually enjoy Ralph Peters' columns, but this one has me fuming because it appears the US is again stiffing the Poles. I have an idea: let's not do that. We're still trying to shake off the stench of Yalta. (It is an excellent column, by the way. I just hate the message.)

(Globe and Mail link via Neale News, FrontPage Mag link via Instapundit.)

Posted by Debbye at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

BSE cow from Canada

Dec. 27 - Please note that this is a tentative conclusion: Mad Cow Was >From Canada; U.S. Exports Down. It's nice to see the investigation is proceeding so well:

Based on the Canadian records, the cow was 6-years-old - older than U.S. officials had thought, DeHaven said. U.S. papers on the cow said she was 4- or 4-years-old.
Huh? Am I the only wondering if they are talking about the same cow?

UPDATE: Evidently not.

Sorry for being so irritable, but we went through all this in Canada just last spring. The one clear fact that emerged was that there were precious few facts: most of what was being said about the disease was speculation: they aren't sure how (or even if) the disease is transmitted from cow to cow, if it can jump cross-species (referring back to elk in Alberta stricken with lung wasting disease,) and if it can occur spontaneously which in turn would render much that has been done to stop the spread of the disease (including the wholesale slaughter of herds) an expensive public relations act which had no real effect in containing the disease.

As I commented yesterday, they still don't know how the Alberta cow became infected. That just might be the starting point for a new series of investigations to test current scientific theory about the disease.

The age is significant because the United States and Canada have banned feed that could be the source of infection since 1997.
Ah, usage of the word could which implies some doubt, but remains the number one solution for prevention of the disease.

I really, really hope that the federal, provincial and state meat and argricultural agencies have been conducting ongoing tests and discussions since last spring when the disease hit the beef industry in Canada.

UPDATE: Paul and Jack have some other thoughts on this.

UPDATE: Maybe one of my New Year's Resolutions should be not to fall behind reading Glenn R.'s blog. Here is the link to his round-up of the Washington BSE case links, including one from a Canadian government agency stating that the Alberta case was determined to be spontaneous (science types might be especially interested in that link.)

UPDATE: The Toronto Sun has a brief Q & A about mad cow disease. As I stated early in this post, Canadians have already been through this. The best solution is don't eat cow brains (which is totally easy for me because there are just some things I won't do anyway. It's just a part of my cultural bias. No offense to Capers, but I don't eat fish heads either.)

Here's a link to the UK Dept. of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs webpage for BSE.

Posted by Debbye at 12:35 PM | Comments (0)

December 26, 2003

The Scrawler's picks for 2003

Dec. 26 - The Scrawler weighs in with his choices for Honourable mention for the stars of 2003:

Not going to knock those choices but if Scrawler were choosing, I would have given our Canadian men and women in the armed services the honour in what was a year of war -- whether the government in Ottawa wanted to acknowledge it or not.

The troops in Afghanistan certainly know they are in a war and when I was in the Persian Gulf, onboard both HMCS Regina and HMCS Iroquois, the understanding was this was serious and dangerous business.

The troops do us proud and for that I'd give them the number one spot. But that's me.

Not only you, Joe, not only you.

Read the column, his other choices for honurable mention. He invites email for other contenders, so I'm firing off mine for Dr. Donald Low, who's professional demeanour certainly helped reassure me during the SARS crisis.

Posted by Debbye at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)

December 25, 2003

Canada. vs. Bloggers

Dec. 25 - Beau Jon Sackett, another American in Canada, sent me this link from Boing Boing: Canadian Liberal party trying to shut down political parody site with crappy Trademark claims which refers to this report at the Paul Martin Time website.

Canadians should read the two links and compare the parody site with the official one (link below) and make their own judgements. I take paraodies for granted: as an American, I am more likely to be annoyed when something isn't satirized than critical when it is. (How else can we explain the popularity of The Daily Show, which is an equal opportunity satire?)

The intimidation tactics used by the webmaster at the official Paul Martin site, Paul Martin Times, including his (false?) assertion that he tracked them down by breaching the privacy terms at privacy.ca, should get media attention and become a national scandal, but as I've commented before, the Canadian media is much more comfortable commenting on and criticizing US affairs than Canadian affairs.

In other words, until the Canadian media can find a way to blame John Ashcroft and the Patriot Act, most of them will ignore attempts to repress free speech in their own back yards and divert public attention to what's happening in their neighbours' back yards.

I've fussed before that so much focus on US concerns do Canadians a disservice (as well as my own weariness at how relentlessly the US is brought into nearly every controversy in Canada.)

Canada has so much more to offer her people than ducking responsibility by invoking what the US does or does not approve of. I may be an American, but I don't think that how the US feels about decriminalizing marijuana use should be relevant to Canadians, and attempts to make that a factor in the discussion up here should be viewed with suspicion. As someone pointed out long ago, did the legislation passed in Oregon regarding marijuana possession change US relations with that state?

When freedom of speech in Canada is under attack, the first priority for the Canadian media must be to investigate and publicize it. Will they?

Posted by Debbye at 12:20 PM | Comments (0)

December 22, 2003

Tiger Williams supporting the troops

Dec. 22 - Some interesting observations in this article on Dave "Tiger" Williams' visit to Kabul about reconstruction progress in Kabul and how the people living there feel about the presence of Canadian and other forces.

The forces at Camp Julien held a ball hockey tournament in memory of the two soldiers killed last October by a land mine:

To help out, the Maple Leafs donated 2,000 t-shirts and the Vancouver Canucks gave 2,000 ball caps for a raffle to raise money for a Canadian Mine Awareness program.

"It doesn't only benefit the charity itself, it benefits everybody that's over here, trying to help out the people of Afghanistan," said Cpl. Steve Posthumus of Burlington, Ont.

"So far they've cleared a 60,000 square foot ( 5,570 square metres) area (of landmines), and that's 60,000 square feet that is safe to walk on for the troops that are over here."

A number of hockey jerseys, hats, headbands and pins were also donated by Team Canada, the Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Leafs and Canucks, with many of the items autographed by Williams, former Canucks goalie Kirk McLean and Olympic Women's Hockey Gold medalist Cassie Campbell.

McLean and Campbell are also in Kabul with Williams.

Hockey figures in Canada have been very active in supporting the troops. I don't know how well known Don Cherry is to non-hockey fans in the US, but his strong denunciation of the Sept. 11 attacks as well as his staunch support last winter of the US in Iraq eclipsed anything said by any national leader, and Wayne Gretzky, Mark Messier and Tiger Williams have been among those active in reminding Canadians that the soldiers are in harm's way and letting the troops know that they are appreciated.

UPDATE: The Toronto Sun has an update and picture of the rink (Hockey night in Kabul) and a bit more information on the raffle and jersey auction held to raise money for the Mine Awareness Program.

Posted by Debbye at 09:52 AM | Comments (0)

December 21, 2003

More reaction to Libya's announcement

Dec. 21 - The reaction to Libya's announcement is muted, but a columnist at the Toronto Star actually asserts that Saddam takes heat off Bush (which reflects how she sees the world) and makes this astonishing statement:

None of the countries opposing the war at the U.N. - nor any of the millions of people who joined street protests around the world - ever doubted that the U.S. could use its superior military power to crush Saddam's regime and, ultimately, capture him. Rather, the debate centred on Washington's allegation that Saddam possessed weapons of mass destruction that posed such an imminent danger to the world that an invasion had to be launched immediately. (Emphasis added.)
Still re-writing history, are we? FOAD, bitch.

Nobody doubted that Saddam had WMD, including the pompous Toronto Star. And the president never claimed the threat was imminent, but precisely the opposite (that's been cited too many times to have to do it again, but I'll stick in the link when I get home.)

So long!

Posted by Debbye at 11:47 AM | Comments (0)

Tiger Williams supporting the troops

Dec. 21 - These days, one Canadian in Afghanistan is former Maple Leaf Tiger Williams (Vancouver playing time recognized but overlooked.)

Posted by Debbye at 11:35 AM | Comments (0)

Time Magazine's Canadian Newsmaker of the Year

Dec. 21 - Time Magazine has named the Canadian Newsmaker of the Year: This will tell you who.

UPDATE: Here is another (and more permanent) permalink.

Posted by Debbye at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

Licia Corbella from Afghanistan

Dec. 21 - Another dispatch from Calgary Sun editor Licia Corbella: Khaki Christmas in Kabul. Arghh, the clock is ticking on me, so read the whole thing!

Posted by Debbye at 11:30 AM | Comments (0)

Operation Booster Shot

Dec. 21 - Some time ago I posted an item about EMS stations gathering things to send to Canadian soldiers stationed overseas and today found these in the Letter to the Editors of the Toronto Sun Toronto Sun: Editorial/Letters (I'm posting the whole thing because this link has only a one-day life):

The birth of 'Operation Booster Shot'

THIS FALL, three paramedics of Toronto EMS - Sarah Zourdoumis, Marco Colabella and Steven Henderson - had an idea. After receiving a letter from Sarah's brother (who is serving in Afghanistan), it was brought to our attention that morale on the Canadian base was low. So we took it upon ourselves to begin a morale-boosting mission for our Canadian troops.

With this, "Operation Booster Shot" was born. Collection boxes were placed in the 40 or so EMS stations in Toronto and the donations began.

We collected snacks, candies, "Canadiana" and, most importantly, Canadians were able to send their good wishes to our boys and girls serving abroad.

With a bit more effort, we were able to convince some corporations to empty some of their pockets too. Mac's convenience stores opened their warehouse to us, Costco Downsview opened its wallet and the Toronto Blue Jays joined in too!

On Oct. 29, we set out for CFB Montreal to deliver an ambulance full of donations, packed to the brim! Today, six weeks after delivering our load, we would like to share with you the letter below, sent to us by Sarah's brother, Cpl. Aesop Zourdoumis.

Marco Colabella

Sarah Zourdoumis

Steven Henderson

The letter they mention follows:
SO THE other day I make it to the mess hall just in time for breakfast and one of my bosses gets hold of me and says in a rather gruff tone, "Get up to the orderly room. They've been looking for you."

"Uh-oh," I think. What did I not get away with? After wracking my brain I sheepishly ooze my way up to the office and poke just my head in the door so as to make a quick escape if the yelling starts.

"Get in there!" a voice sounds from behind me.

Crraaaaaap. No escape. Just have to ride it out. I cross through the doorway and instead of being met with a flurry of shouting I get handed a box. Then another. Then another until I'm holding five in total.

"Somebody out there must care about you," I hear. I take a look at what I'm holding and sure enough, a whole lot of somebodies do.

The first load of packages from Operation Booster Shot had arrived. I struggle them back to the tent and take a closer look. "Good God! There's enough sugar here to put us all in a diabetic coma," I giggle. Nobody complains, they just start eating. Through the brief pauses in our pigfest we start to open the rest and discover mountains of candy, enough writing instruments for every soldier to scratch out about 15 letters, several games for the mess that are fiercely Canadian and, near and dear to everyone's heart: books on hockey.

More digging and we discover sun hats, keychains with Canadian flags and a whole lot of baseball caps. We've got time for one more so we open the largest. Tucked within we discover a small black teddy bear that immediately finds its way into my sleeping bag (I think he was cold), and a ballcap emblazoned with the EMS logo.

A brief struggle occurs and the cap ends up on someone's head as they run for daylight. I turn back to the boxes and find the colours - Canadian flags covered with signatures and thank-yous. The fighting stops and everyone takes a closer look.

"Those need to go in the mess," someone says. Suddenly everyone's lost interest in killing each other over the hat and is examining the flags.

Very little is said after that. I think everyone was simply taken by surprise by the amount of unsolicited support from the home front.

A while later, we're driving to a heavy weapon containment site outside the city where we have to photograph and catalogue some Scud missiles. The silence breaks and gives way to discussion of how to pass out all those sugary treats. Nobody's thinking too deeply about the local threat or that the area off-route is mined or that we're in Afghanistan.

Everyone is smiling and light-hearted and feels a little better about the job and that we're almost coming home. Without saying it, every person present knows where this change in mood has come from. Every one of us feels that much more pride knowing the folks back home have us on their minds.

We do the job and make our way back to camp. After dinner, we head to the mess to discover a crowd around the small bar.

A bit of pushing and we discover that in our absence Cpl. Boudreau has hung the smaller of the three signature flags above the bar. A glance to my left and I see three soldiers perusing the 2004 hockey yearbook, sitting directly under a Canadian flag marked proudly with "45 Station." To my right, at the opposite end of the mess tent is Cpl. Ash, trying to figure out if he can get the largest of the three flags into his pocket before he gets pummeled for it.

Wisely, he leaves it up.

I look around and the mood has visibly changed. There's more smiling and more laughing and, yes, one or two good natured wrestling matches over the damned EMS hat. But it isn't the big load of loot that's done it. It's the fact that someone made such an effort to care about someone so far away.

>From all the soldiers at Camp Warehouse to all the Toronto paramedics and their families back home, I can't thank you enough. Your efforts couldn't possibly be forgotten.

Cpl. A.S.R. Zourdoumis

Afghanistan

(We're all proud of you. Merry Chistmas, and come home safe in the new year)

Canadians do remember those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)

December 20, 2003

Licia Corbella from Afghanistan

Dec. 20 - Another dispatch from Calgary Sun editor Licia Corbella from Kabul: Smiles and waves win fans.

Don't forget to send your thanks and holiday greetings to the Canadian troops here.

Posted by Debbye at 11:17 AM | Comments (0)

Air India trial

Dec. 20 - It has been hard to keep on top of the trial of those accused of the 1985 Air India bombing attacks because news has been sporadic and convoluted, and one thing missing has been context.

This article, Gandhi plot tied to Air India case tells of the involvment of the accused with a 1985 plot to kill then-PM of India Rajiv Gandhi in NYC and some of the background and aims of the group that planted bombs in the luggage of Air India Flt. 182 that went down over the Irish Sea and another that detonated in a Tokyo airport killing two baggage handlers.

The attempt on Gandhi's life and the Air India bombings happened in the same month.

It's well-worth reading, especially as time has dimmed our memories.

Posted by Debbye at 10:11 AM | Comments (0)

December 18, 2003

Licia Corbella from Afghanistan

Dec. 18 - This is bittersweet: Near riot for gifts at camp. Samaritan's Purse, an evangelical Christian aid organization, put together shoeboxes with toys, candy, toothpaste and other sundries for distribution to kids at a refugee camp in Afghanistan but there was a near riot as children and adults fought for the gifts.

"We had a plan to have the adults help us control the movement of people," said Maj. Steve Whelan, in charge of the military unit that distributed the boxes. "But clearly ... they overwhelmed us very quickly. It was a mob scene."

Several times, soldiers had to wave off adults, who beat the children with sticks and tightly wound blankets as they advanced on the flatbed truck.

No one suffered serious injuries as the children appeared to accept what, for them, is considered normal treatment by adults.

"It's a bit overwhelming," said Godfrey Vandeleur of Vancouver, who helped organize the delivery. "I feel happy to give them out, but then you also feel a bit sad when you see them fighting for the boxes."

Licia Corbella, editor of the Calgary Sun, is in Kabul and writing about her experiences there. Her description of the distribution is here centers on the response of the child who received the box she and her children had packed in Calgary.
This 10-year-old boy lives with five sisters and four brothers in a ramshackle structure at the internally displaced persons camp (IDP) known simply as "the big one."

That, of course, is bad enough, but two months ago, Anjomudin had his left leg amputated below the knee after he was run over by a truck carrying bricks to a neighbouring shack.

Nevertheless, if he thinks he's lucky, I'm certainly not going to tell him otherwise.

"This is the best day of my life," he declares.

What made yesterday so special? For the first time in his life, Anjomudin was given a present -- a shoebox packed to the brim with toys, school supplies and hygiene items.

The box he received was the one my six-year-old boys and I put together back in Calgary and it was jam-packed with goodies.

Toy cars and trucks, three balls, school supplies galore, socks, gloves, stickers, sugarless gum, hard candies, a stationery kit with scissors, glue, an eraser, ruler and doodle pad bought by my boys, a harmonica, a yo-yo, toothpaste, a toothbrush, soap and much more.

But Anjomudin was not alone. Santa came to many good little boys and girls yesterday -- more than 1,450 of them -- on this stinking, dirty hillside.

But, rather than red, Santa -- or rather, many Santas -- wore camouflage green, a big smile, and an assault rifle strapped across his chest.

The shoeboxes are organized by the Christian aid organization, Samaritan's Purse under its initiative called Operation Christmas Child, that will put some seven million shoeboxes into the hands of the world's poorest children this year.

And for all of those Scrooges out there who object to a Christian aid organization helping Muslim children, all I can say to you is bah, humbug.

May I second that? (I'm going to anyway!) Samaritan's Purse does not proseletize when the shoeboxes are handed out, but it's a Christian based organization and the politically correct in Canada find that objectionable.
Master Warrant Officer Wayne Bartlett, 40, says the recent return to Kabul of Afghan refugees is proof that peacekeeping is making a difference.

"When I got here in August, this camp had just 70 or 80 people in it," says Bartlett.

"Now, there's 1,400 kids alone. I think that just shows the confidence Afghans have in Kabul now and the ability to start a new life."

At that, Bartlett, a father of Natasha, 16, and Emily, 12, shows a couple of little boys how to work a toy truck.

"I'm not going to be home for Christmas, so doing this helps," says Bartlett, who has helped hand out shoeboxes three times in Bosnia, once in Somalia and once in Rwanda.

It takes a special kind of person to care so much about others. He sounds like quite a guy.

Posted by Debbye at 04:41 PM | Comments (0)

December 17, 2003

Keith Magnuson

Dec. 17 - Nice tribute to Keith Magnuson at The Meatriarchy.

A sad day indeed.

Posted by Debbye at 12:19 PM | Comments (0)

Martin freezes spending

Dec. 17 - Paul Martin has announced a massive freeze on federal spending although he is going ahead with the purchase of helicopters, but according this this analysis by Greg Weston, its part sham because the Purse strings not so tightly knotted.

Posted by Debbye at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

Fact-checking PM

Dec. 17 - Fact-checking PM Paul Martin just got easier with Martin Watch. The site says it will be using the Globe and Mail as its base resource.

UPDATE: Francoise has changed the name to Fiberal Watch -- same url. (Blogroll changed.) (He only did it because I knows I tremble in fear before My Template!)

It's on the blogroll along with Premier Liar (which got a mention in a recent Lorrie Goldstein column.)

The Martin site is brought to you courtesy of Francois, also know as French Libertarian in Quebec.

Posted by Debbye at 07:39 AM | Comments (0)

December 16, 2003

Carnival of the Canucks

Dec. 16 - Go to Switching To Glide: Carnival of the Canucks #1 right now!

Posted by Debbye at 11:10 PM | Comments (1)

Irwin Cotler strikes out

Dec. 16 - It seems my hope that Irwin Cotler's appointment as Minister of Justice could be a good step were ill-based. Trudeaupia has a fine fisking of the "perfect Trudeaupian idiot" and his notion of letting the UN deal with Saddam. (Ctrl+F "Idiot du Jour".)

Posted by Debbye at 10:13 PM | Comments (0)

Reconstruction contracts

Dec. 16 - I am really, really confused. Americans are depicted as as grasping, greedy and downright unscrupulous business types who are utterly bankrupt morally and only out for a fast buck, but when it comes to blatant opportunism, it turns out that Martin names his price:

In his first conversation with Bush since being sworn in as PM, Martin protested U.S. policy that bans non-coalition countries from bidding on reconstruction contracts. He reminded the U.S. president that Canada is a "major participant" in the war on terror, dispatching 2,000 troops to Afghanistan while contributing $300 million along with policing and judicial experts to assist the fledgling democracy.
So he admits that the war in Iraq was part of the war on terror! Then why didn't he support the war in Iraq?
"I believe that Canadian companies can and should qualify. I obviously made that point to the president and we agreed that we would ask our officials to look at it and that we would discuss it further in Monterrey," he said.

Bush's call yesterday was to congratulate Martin on becoming PM and to confirm a face-to-face meeting in Monterrey, Mexico, in mid-January.

The president calls to congratulate Martin, and Martin's first response is to say that he believes that American taxpayers should finance Canadian businesses.

Has it even occured to those Canadians protesting the US decision to wonder who will get the reconstruction contracts from the Canadian funds - footed by Canadian taxpayer dollars - pledged to Iraq and Afghanistan?

In other news, the French and Germans figured it out themselves. They've chosen to discuss the best way to appear magnanimous with their eyes firmly on the prized reconstruction contracts.

And to think how much they sneered at the "Coalition of the Billing" when allies were signing up to support us in Iraq.

UPDATE: It seems I'm a bit behind the times. The correct phrase now seems to be Coalition of the Pissy. What name are we supposed to give to individual members? (Don't answer that! My mother read this sometimes.)

Posted by Debbye at 12:39 PM | Comments (0)

December 15, 2003

Steyn Speaks

Dec. 15 - New Mark Steyn column in today's Daily Telegraph (UK) Payback time for the axis of weasels and spells it out:

On Iraq, France, is on the other side - Saddam was their man, to the end. Germany is in a state of semi-derangement - a third of Germans under 30 believe that America organised the 9/11 attacks, a statistic only a polling point or two behind the excitable young men of Pakistan's North-West Frontier.

Canada thinks that it can enjoy north American prosperity without contributing to north American defence. And Russia is already undermining the next American goal - under cover of the anodyne EU/IAEA position on Iran, it is continuing to assist the mullahs' nuclear programme.

So it's not (just) payback, it's also about the next round of problems. One can think of several terms for folks who behave in these various ways, but "allies" isn't one of them - unless "allies" is now a synonym for, respectively, saboteurs, poseurs, nutters and enemies.

Posted by Debbye at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)

December 12, 2003

Mohammad Warsame

Dec. 12 - The man reported yesterday as being detained in Minnesota as a possible link to Moussaoui has been identified as a naturalized Canadian citizen (that's American wording, not Canadian wording) from Somalia, Mohammed Warsame. The report is sketchy, but he is suspected of attending an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan and sources say he has provided information about Moussaoui.

It appears to be a joint statement from Canadian and US officials:

Mohammed Warsame, 30, was taken into custody earlier this week, said Reynald Doiron, a spokesman for Canada's Department of Foreign Affairs in Ottawa, Ontario.

[...]

Dorion said the Canadian government, informed in a one-page form letter faxed to its Minneapolis consulate on Tuesday, was satisfied that Warsame was being afforded his rights.

"We know what needs to be known," he said. "And he has access to an attorney."

He has a lawyer, and Canadian officials have spoken to him, but that's not likely to stop the Toronto Star from screaming bloody murder.

Canoe news has a report here on a press conference held by Warsame's wife at the Somali Justice Advocacy Center in St. Paul in which she denied her husband has nothing to do with al Qaeda, and that she didn't know Moussaoui or whether her husband had been to Afghanistan. It was also reported that she spoke through an interpreter.

Sigh. Looks like Bill Graham is still Foreign Affairs Minister (but I'm sure he can handle this situation) and Irwin Cotler is Justice Minister. [Wow. Do read the Cotler link; I found it through a quick google, and am astonished to find a Liberal using the word "Orwellian," defending Israel and disagreeing with Kofi Annan. This could get interesting.]

My kids travel under Canadian passports, so I consider Graham fair game. Some things are personal.

Posted by Debbye at 08:24 PM | Comments (0)

Goodbye, Chretien

Dec. 12 - There is an excellent analysis of the departed Prime Minister of Canada (SO LONG, JEAN) from Peaktalk, a Dutch blogger who lives in Canada.

As I read it (more than once actually) I realized that I had forgotten my biggest grudge against Chretien. Peaktalk reminds us that the man had always been viewed as a street fighter, and I suddently remembered my earnest assertions in emails to friends and family back home that Canada would be solidly with the US because people up here hate terrorism and Chretien is one formidable man.

I was wrong, at least regarding the solid part, but Peaktalk argues very persuasively that had not events of Sept. 11 taken Chretien (and indeed, us all) off guard, history would regard him differently. Yet actions speak louder than words and Canada has been a solid ally in Afghanistan, so even if the former Prime Minister didn't regale us with long speeches and dazzling oratory, the deeds have, or should, speak for themselves.

There are some things I'll never forget about Sept. 11. I'll never forget how quickly the airplanes were grounded and the borders were sealed in both Canada and the US. I'll never forget the town of Gander, which took so many strangers into their homes and hearts. I'll never forget the readiness of the Canadian Air Force to shoot down a passenger plane that was not responding to radio (thank God it didn't come to that.)

That fast response happened on Jean Chretien's watch. Give the man his due: he and Canada were there when the US most needed them.

It kind of makes Canada's actions regarding Iraq a little less significant.

I've tried to set boundaries in how much I would say and how far I would go when commenting on Canadian issues. I think I did that in part because I am angered at how overly involved much of the Canadian media is in all things American, including things that really are none of Canada's business, and because there is sometimes an attitude that we Americans ought to do things, like elect a President that Canadians will find acceptable.

That cuts both ways. Earlier this morning, the headline of a news agency that rhymes with DNN heralded that Canada has a new "pro-American" Prime Minister. Now there's a wonderful example of utter stupidity. It isn't about whether the PM is pro-American, it is about whether he is pro-Canadian and about what his vision of Canada is. I've never taken issue with Canada to take whatever course she deemed best for her and her people, I'm just suspicious when anti-American (or pro-American) sentiment is fanned to justify policy rather than reason and logic.

So now Canada has a new Prime Minister and the Cabinet shuffle means new people will be speaking about Canadian affairs.

Canada also has a newly united Conservative Party, which may have its mettle tested earlier than they'd like should Martin call a general election.

Democracy, as they say, is a work in progress.

Posted by Debbye at 03:49 PM | Comments (1)

Bush to Europe: Forgive Iraq Debt

Dec. 12 - Bush sends debt-relief message to Europe:

President Bush yesterday said forgiving Iraqi debt would be "a significant contribution" to postwar reconstruction efforts and suggested that such a move by France, Germany and Russia might be enough to permit those countries' companies to compete for prime contracts to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure.
Heh. Will they blink?

Posted by Debbye at 09:38 AM | Comments (0)

December 11, 2003

McGuinty's acumen

Dec. 11 - I questioned Dalton McGuinty's political acumen in an earlier post in which he claimed he was snubbed due to American ignorance because his scheduled ringing of the opening bell at the NYSE was usurped by the Chinese Premier, and now he claims it wasn't a lie but just a joke:

"I attempted to use a little bit of self-deprecating humour within the confines of a scrum and it was blown out of proportion," the Premier told the legislature the same day headlines appeared declaring "McGuinty says NYSE snubbed him for China."

"I was treated with the utmost respect, accorded warm and gracious hospitality by the folks at the New York Stock Exchange and everybody else I encountered," said the Premier, who was in New York on Monday but who according to his own staff was never scheduled to do any bell-ringing.

"I look forward to returning," Mr. McGuinty added, "whether or not I can get to ring the damn bell."

According to this article, however, McGuinty was half-right about the high level of Ontario-US trade:
Statistics provided by the provincial Economic Development Ministry show two-way trade in goods between Ontario and the United States was worth $356-billion in 2002. U.S.-China trade was worth $225-billion, while U.S.-Japan trade was $277-billion. U.S.-Mexican trade was slightly higher than the Ontario total at $364-billion.
And he endangered that trade with a stupid joke because . . . ?

Jay Currie (Ctrl+F "Blowback") thinks there is more credibility to the conclusions of the Fraser Report which blames political reasons for reduced Canadian-American trade than I. If Jay's right, then more unfavourable press from Canada is going to make a bad situation worse.

The fact that McGuinty lied/joked about his NY trip isn't going to help Canada's attempt to get the US to revisit their decision on awarding Iraq contracts either.

So is McGuinty stupid or calculating? If he is actively trying to sabotage trade, there's not a lot Ontarians can do to stop him for at least 5 years, which is more than enough time to permanently damage Ontario's economy.

Unless the federal and provincial Liberal Parties seriously believe that Europe, and by implication France, will become Canada's biggest trading partner, what is the gameplan? If they haven't one, then why do they persist? A bad economy can only help the new Conservative Party especially as reduced trade will not only hurt the economy but force a new spotlight onto government spending excesses, boondoggles and corruption.

Interesting times.

Posted by Debbye at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

John Manley

Dec. 11 - John Manley is something of an enigma. His strong statements as Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister immediately after Sept. 11 were well-received, but the PM was decidedly silent on the subject. Soon after, Manley was removed from Foreign Affairs and assigned to the post of Deputy PM, which many interpreted as a demotion.

Bill Graham's performance in that post has been dismal. His weak responses to the abuses suffered by Bill Sampson in Saudi Arabia (although not actually any better than Manley's), Zahra Kazemi in Iran, Bruce Balfour in Lebanon and Maher Arar in Syria have been contrasted to his recent strong responses to the detentions of Canadian nationals by the US and Israel.

His ruffled indignation at the US and Israel didn't fool anyone in Canada (it was exploited, which is different!) and has only brought into sharper focus the delusion that "soft diplomacy" is anything other than acquiescence to human rights abuses in the Mid-East.

It's a known known (Rumsfeld TM) in baseball that if you put in a weak fielder, the ball will find them. It happened to Anne McLellan, who should have been out of harm's way in the Health porfolio until she was bushwhacked by the SARS emergency.

But PM Chretien surely realized that Foreign Affairs was a much more critical portfolio after Sept. 11, so putting Graham in to play shortstop was calculated and Graham can be assumed to have followed Chetien's wishes in all the above matters. I have to conclude that Graham did not make any mental errors but adhered to the game strategy of the team manager.

Would Manley have functioned better than Graham? Not if he was obedient, I think.

Initially, Graham tried to brush off the Kazemi interrogation-to-death, but was forced to respond due to strong coverage of the death by the press (give the CBC its due in this one) and widespread public outrage, and I think further abuses of Canadians in some Mid-East countries received a higher profile because of the Kazemi death.

He-who-will-be-Prime-Minister-tomorrow, Paul Martin, hasn't indicated that he is dropping Graham (or McLellan) from his Cabinet (which I find worrisome) but has offered Manley the post of Canada's Ambassador to the US, who is said to be sitting on the job offer. I wonder what Manley's thinking, and wonder if the fact that he doesn't relish serving as Martin's mouthpiece in the US is a factor. He is on record questioning the restrictions on Iraq contracts [he's also Finance Minister now - long story] and tied Canada's aid to Iraq and Canadian presence in Afghanistan to Canadian firms being awared reconstruction contracts in Iraq, the last of which should be a non-sequitur as Canada claimed the war on terror wasn't connected to Iraq in forming its decision to join the Coalition of the Unwilling (that and the lack of a UN resolution sanctioning military action.)

At one time I would have thought him a good choice for Ambassador to the US, but he's done a fair amount of twisting and turning in the past two years and gave a disappointing performance in the Liberal Party leadership race. Maybe he needs some time off to evaluate who he is and what he stands for.

Posted by Debbye at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)

Canadians in Afghanistan

Dec. 11 - There are some additional Canadians in Kabul these days, such as Rick Mercer and Tom Cochrane who are there to entertain the troops.

The entertainers have three shows scheduled for the troops. All the while, video cameras will be rolling to provide the backdrop for a TV special Mercer is preparing, to be aired in Canada Dec. 21.
I'm marking my calendar.

Always remember those who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 08:37 AM | Comments (0)

December 09, 2003

Bill Graham

Dec. 9 - Jaeger calls Cdn. Foreign Affairs Min. Bill Graham an
unbelievable idiot for good reason. (Ctrl+F "unbelievable" if blogspotted)

Posted by Debbye at 10:10 PM | Comments (0)

Chirac lauds Chretien

Dec. 9 - This is just so sweet! Chirac gives Chretien warm send-off:

PARIS (CP) - French President Jacques Chirac gave Jean Chretien an exceptionally warm retirement send-off Tuesday, calling Canada's departing prime minister a "prestigious and exceptional statesman" and saying Canada-France relations have never been better.

At an opulent state dinner Tuesday evening in the French capital, Chretien responded in kind.

"It is entirely appropriate to close my 40-year political career here in France, the country where Canada's recorded history began - the history of my Canada," he said in a toast to 136 guests, including about 40 from Canada.

Sounds like Chretien got a warmer send off in France than in Canada.

Smoke is starting to arise from my computer, and I don't dare quote any more. Baby doesn't like French president, not at all.

Posted by Debbye at 07:00 PM | Comments (0)

Dalton McGuinty

Dec. 9 - What is Ont. Prem. Dalton McGuinty up to? McGuinty suggests American trade ignorance behind Big Apple snub except he knew he wasn't scheduled to ring the opening bell at the NYSE:

TORONTO (CP) - Premier Dalton McGuinty suggested on Tuesday that he didn't get to ring the bell to start the day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange this week because ignorant Americans snubbed Ontario in favour of China, but his complaint appeared to be based on his own ignorance.

The Liberal premier, who was on Wall Street on Monday selling the province to a business audience, said he was supposed to have had the honour of starting the trading day.

Lined up by who? Anonymous official sources, perhaps?
"I had been lined up to give the honour of ringing the bell but I was displaced when the premier of China showed up with an 18-car cortege and pre-empted me," McGuinty said before a caucus meeting on Tuesday.

"Here's the point: Guess who does more business with the U.S.? Ontario or China? We do more business with the U.S. We do more business with the U.S. than does Japan or Mexico."

As the article points out, McGuinty is dead wrong on both counts. The US has a larger bilateral free trade ageement with both China and Mexico and does more trade with them than Ontario, and the Chinese premier had been scheduled to ring the opening bell for months.

But then, the story people remember most is the one they hear first, and McGuinty knows it. Gee, he couldn't be trying to stir up a little anti-Ignorant Americanism, could he? Because that is going to be the result for those who only read his complaints and not the facts.

The point he wanted to make, he said, is that the Ontario and the United States have "very strong economic ties."

"It's a matter of us doing a better job of promoting a good understanding of our connections," he said.

Fraudulently claiming you were snubbed is a really good way to attract investors, doncha know, not to mention building trust and impressing people. They've already written him off as a political hack and waving the Ignorant Americans flag just confirms it.
What's not in dispute is the significance of trade between Ontario and the U.S., accounting for almost half the provincial economy and more than a million jobs in the province.

More than 90 per cent of the province's exports head to the United States and 70 per cent of the imports come from the U.S.

Ontario is in fact the U.S.'s fourth largest trading partner after Canada, Mexico and China, accounting for close to $1 billion a day in two-way trade.

There may be another reason why the premier wanted to elevate the profile of Ontario's trade relations with the US, however, and that lies in a recent report by the Fraser Institute for which they interviewed Canadian exporters who believe there are huge problems in trading with the US due to worsening relations between the leaders of the two countries.

According to the press release:

December 1, 2003
Vancouver, BC - As Paul Martin prepares to improve relations with the United States, a new study dramatically reveals how costly deteriorating ties have been to Canada's economy. The Fraser Institute's 2003 Trade Survey, The Unseen Wall, released today, shows that a remarkable 96 percent of Canadian exporters surveyed believe that Canada/US relations have worsened over recent months and - far more worrisome - two-thirds believe it has damaged their ability to sell to the United States. [The complete report is linked at that page in .pdf form.]

As a result, a significant number of Canadian firms reported moving production to the United States or ceasing export activity.

"As protectionist sentiment builds in the United States and even business friendly media run anti-trade features, this survey shows how much bad relations have cost Canadians in prosperity and jobs," says Fred McMahon, principal author and director of the Institute's trade and globalization centre.

In the Executive Summary of the report:
... [the Institute] classified informal trade barrers under three headings:

1. discriminatory regulations and policies on health, product packaging, and environmental conservation.

2. cumbersome customs clearance and inspection procedures; and

3. policies on domestic content requirements, particularly "buy national" policies.

The opening paragraph of the press release has one major flaw: the report relies on the perceptions of Canadian exporters but lacks any confirmation by those American companies that Canadians lost sales to American companies for political reasons.

There are many reasons companies might choose to locate to the US. Other possibilities are the high rate of employers contributions to payroll taxes, the higher Canadian dollar, and the report alludes to but doesn't examine the costs involved in extra paperwork and lengthy waits at the border.

Security at the US-Canada border was the subject of two Washington Times articles this week. The first, Guarding America's Borders, focused on upgraded security measures on the largely undefended border, and the second, Detroit Bridge focus of trade, looked at the largest points of entry for trade into the US:

The Ambassador Bridge and the nearby Detroit-Windsor Tunnel, as well as the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, Mich., about 60 miles northeast of here, handle about a third of all the trade crossing each day from Canada into this country. (Emphasis added)
This article too details the improvements and added personnel to handle security yet keep the border open. Nevertheless, the waits are lengthy and expensive.

I did the payroll for a small company as well as Accounts Payable and saw how high were not only the employer contributions for CPP (Canada Pension Plan) and EI (Employment Insurance,) but also the rates for Workers Compensation and the Ontario Health Tax, which are payed solely by the employer based on a percentage of the gross payroll.

Simple economics, really. How competitive are Canadian prices in US dollars after you factor in wages, taxes and extra costs in shipping when the Canadian dollar is high?

I'm not discounting American anger over the comments made by Ducros, Dhaliwal and Parrish, and the activities of soon-to-be Ex PM Chretien went beyond saying "no thank you" about Iraq, and but I live here and am probably more aware of and care more about the slurs than most Americans inasmuch as France and Germany were much more vociferous in their denunciations and commanded most of the headlines.

There was also the small matter of Chretien's comments right before the G8 meeting in Evian in which he boasted about how much better the Canadian economy was than that of the US. Whereas I doubt American investors and businesses were so miffed they decided to turn down any promising opportunity, Chretien did tempt the fates with that one. (Had he added "what could possibly gone wrong?" it would be a sure bet.)

The one thing I am sure of is that any business will look at the bottom line when making decisions, and neither hurt feelings nor pique are likely to influence their purchases, all things being equal. If it is true that companies are relocating and exports are hurting, the reasons are most likely economic rather than political.

One possible factor is the state of the Canadian military, but I doubt it. Any enemy that strikes at Canada will face the US military and probably the UK and Australia will rise quickly to the defense of Canada, as will as NATO. We might even have UN approval for that one.

Premier McGuinty may have had his reasons for pretending to have been snubbed during his visit to NYC, but somehow I doubt that improving business relations with the US was one of them.

One thing that hasn't slowed down is the all important trade in ideas. And that's the one that counts.

Posted by Debbye at 05:06 PM | Comments (0)

December 08, 2003

Premier Liar McGuinty

Dec. 8 - Shortly after the election, Dalton McGuinty began to renege on the promises he had made (except the one to increase taxes on cigarettes.)

Now a website is up to keep track of broken promises at premierliar.com.

(Via Right On! Blog)

Posted by Debbye at 08:56 PM | Comments (0)

December 07, 2003

Conservatives Unite

Dec. 7 - I'm going into work early today, so only have time for the top stories.

Delegates for the Progressive Conservative Party voted overwhelmingly for union with the Canadian Alliance and a united right party is born (A happy union.) Despite the rhetoric, I suspect most Canadian conservatives (small c) are more interested in a party that reflects Alliance views than those of the Red Tories, and it is my hope that the Alliance will remain the dominant partner in this effort. Here's a little history about the two parties, and Sir John A. MacDonald, founder of the original party.

Posted by Debbye at 08:28 AM | Comments (0)

December 05, 2003

Montreal matters

Dec. 5 - Hooray! Paul is back and reminding us that Montreal can match Toronto any day in a one on one for freaking unbelievable stuff although no one matches him when it comes to laying down a good fisking.

Why didn't the National Post just name the damned union? (I'm fairly certain its name isn't the blue-collar union.)

Posted by Debbye at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)

Chretien on Africa

Dec. 5 - Doesn't it just figure that in his final days as Canada's Prime Minister, Jean Chretien would not only make sense but fail to blame the West for all the ills of the world?

The PM, attending his last Commonwealth leaders meeting [in Nigeria], said African nations have to help themselves.

He said nervousness would disappear when they can assure business they have "an honest system of justice, that the decisions of the courts will be implemented, that human rights will be protected, and that elections will be fair."

He also told his audience they must "stop this bloody conflict that you have too often in some parts of Africa" and restore political stability.

"There's nothing more nervous than a million dollars," the outgoing PM lectured. "It does not speak French, it does not speak English, it does not speak German and it moves very fast."

Normally I would point that that Chretien's personal fortune is several million dollars, he too doesn't speak any of those languages and his speed is subject to personal whimsy, but my mind is boggled at this truly frightening prospect: Is it possible that he's always been lucid?

Posted by Debbye at 01:52 PM | Comments (0)

Counterfeit cigarettes seized

Dec. 5 - No, really, police seized $2.6-million cartons of counterfeit cigarettes in a warehouse raid yesterday in Toronto (Smoke stash seized)

A Canadian tobacco company warns that the seizure of $2.6-million in counterfeit cigarettes is just a puff of things to come. Police from the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit said yesterday they uncovered 43,000 cartons of cigarettes, ecstasy and fake high-end clothing in a Markham Rd. and Sheppard Ave.-area warehouse after receiving a tip.

The cartons were shipped from China and packaged to pass for legitimate Canadian brand cigarettes.

There's actually a warning at the end of the article by Imperial Tobacco Canada's head of public affairs Yves-Thomas Dorval that the counterfeit cigarettes are not subject to quality control.

It was a given that smokers would look for and purchase black market cigarettes just as soon as the new provincial govenment promised to increase taxes on cigarettes raising the price to $80.00/carton during the electoral campaign (they are phasing it in, so the first increase raised the price by $2.50/carton) but the RCMP didn't think the brisk black market that forced the NDP government in the early 90's to drop the tax increases would re-appear, claiming they were confident that security measures initiated after Sept. 11 would stop the trade.

So tell me why they are confident that they can stop and intercept power boats speeding back and forth across the Great Lakes when they can't even stop huge shipments from China?

It's called supply and demand; throw in the additional sweetness of sticking it to the tax-happy government and smokers will beat a path to your door.

Posted by Debbye at 01:27 PM | Comments (0)

Ontario Power Generation

Dec. 5 - Everyone in Toronto was acutely aware that restoring service at the Pickering facility was way behind schedule last summer during the blackout. Most people in Canada are appalled at the salary and perk excesses of patronage appointees, and the following links goes to indicate that it's a tri-partisan problem.

Starting with the news item that's aimed at the Tories' use of political patronage appointments, Electrocuted:

A new report exposing billions in cost overruns and up to seven years in delays to restart four Pickering nuclear units prompted Energy Minister Dwight Duncan to show Ontario Power Generation's three top bosses the door yesterday. "It's a horrible mess, but I can't sit here and whine about what's gone on in the past," said Duncan, adding the project is still costing taxpayers $25 million a month. (Emphasis added)

The public power company's chairman, Bill Farlinger, CEO Ron Osborne and COO Graham Brown, all appointees by the former Tory government, resigned upon request yesterday. Severance terms were not released.

Which is not to say that Toronto media don't have their share of unnamed sources:
Ontario Power Generation [OPG] brass who resigned yesterday following a highly critical nuclear report won't walk away empty-handed. According to OPG annual reports, the departing executives have collected millions of dollars in salary and bonuses over the last few years.

Energy Minister Dwight Duncan suggested that government lawyers would be reviewing those bonuses in light of the Pickering nuclear report's damning revelations.

Review is good, but avoiding arbitration should the Energy Minister tries to take back the bonuses will be probably deemed cheaper. That's not snark, that's reality.

So, am I the only one thinking about Eleanor Clitheroe and friends today?

During Clitheroe's tenure, no bookkeeper, accountant, civil servant or administrative chief at Hydro One ever noticed that the same employee costing us $330,000 in limousine rides was taking some $214,000 in car allowances. If any of them did notice, they kept mum. During the entire Clitheroe reign, there were no enterprising reporters ringing alarm bells.

Indeed, now that's [sic] she's persona non gratis, it's easy to forget that all of the money spent by Eleanor Clitheroe was approved.

Read the whole thing because my allusion to friends was not in reference to Clitheroe's friends.

Patronage appointments are a booming industry up here, and employed by all the parties (the Bloc Quebecois and Canadian Alliance are exempted thus far because they haven't held federal or provincial power -- yet.)

Toronto Sun columnist Christina Blizzard recaps the mess and notes that

In the past, both the Ontario Hydro and OPG boards were thin on engineering expertise and thick with political appointees.

[Former Fed. Energy Minister and provincial Tory appointed to investigate problems at Pickering Jake] Epp recommended that the government "Review the composition of the OPG board of directors and ensure that there is appropriate expertise to provide a greater focus on effective utility operations."

The article also states that the current provincial Energy Minister, Dwight Duncan, intends to take the politics out of the OPG, a fairly routine response but never implemented.

If it sounds familiar to Americans, that's because the same problems and attempts to reform the civil service has been a long and contentious struggle in our own history. Everyone knows it's a form of corruption, but political parties have been slow to risk confronting and ending it.

Theodore Roosevelt described a NY assemblyman as having "the same idea about Public Life and the Civil Service that a vulture has of a dead sheep."

The 1881 assassination of Pres. Garfield by a frustrated patronage-appointment seeker shocked the nation, and, although the Pendleton Act was passed in 1883, it took several years and changes to the Act before the civil service actually operated under a merit system and the process is still far from complete.

All out-of-power Canadian political parties insert civil service reforms and some means to enforce ethics in Parliament in their platforms, but actually implementing change remains elusive. The only real constant has been the mud-slinging and accusations which enliven Question Period but achieve nothing.

Posted by Debbye at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)

Canadians in Afghanistan

Dec. 5 - War On Terrorism - Kids boost morale of Canadian soldiers which indicates that truly, the children shall lead the way:

KABUL (CP) - "Dear Peacekeeper: Please Don't Die."

Simple messages of hope such as this can be found in holiday greetings from young children in Canada that are reaching appreciative Canadian Forces soldiers in Afghanistan. Thousands of Christmas cards, letters and coloured-in posters have been delivered to the troops in Kabul, with hundreds more streaming in every day.

"I got at least 40," a smiling Sapper Paul Zuwerkalow of Barrie, Ont., said Thursday.

[...]

Messages have also come from Girl Guide troops, family members and business people, offering wishes that the soldiers come home "safe, happy and uninjured."

While many letters and cards are addressed to specific soldiers, thousands simply read "Dear Peacekeeper."

Seeming governmental indifference to Canadian troops is not matched by how Canadians feel, and the failure to fund the military has resulted in more respect for the troops and their steadfast adherence to duty as well as their adaptive ability to jerry-rig (remember how they painted their blankets to provide desert camo on the first Afghanistan deployment?)

I don't have numbers, but I saw many messages from Canadians posted at the
"Operation Dear Abby" website at the beginning of the Iraq war.

How about a bit of reciprocation, people? Anyone and everyone can send their good wishes to Canadian soldiers here.

God bless and protect they who serve.

Posted by Debbye at 10:07 AM | Comments (0)

Precision Guided Humour

Dec. 4 - This week's Precision Guided Humor Assignment was to come up with definitions for The Liberal Dictionary (Canadian alert: small l liberals.)

Anti-American: Righteous victim or one who supports the rightful claims of righteous victims
Appeasement: Consulting the international community
Canadian Alliance: The Official Opposition in Canada, but isn't based in Ontario or Quebec and thus irrelevant.
CBC: Canadians think of it as the home of Hockey Night in Canada and Coaches Corner. It isn't necessary for Canadians to watch, like or agree with CBC news and commentary since it's government funded.
CBC Radio: Anti-capitalism radio station funded by government.
CBC Radio-French: Anti-capitalism French radio station funded by government. Since most Anglophones don't know French, classic music lovers listen to it so they can enjoy the excellent non-lingual music without being indoctrinated by the commentary, so the Canadian government is redoubling it's efforts to force get people to learn French.
Censorship: Invoke when necessary to promote progressive views; denounce when people ignore progressive views
CNN: Anti-capitalism news agency owned by a capitalist
conservative: Backward greedy Philistine [Ant. liberal]
Conservative: A member of the same party as no one in Canada as it hasn't been formed yet
Diversity: Building a power base
Europe: The coolest fraternity on campus
Fox News: Pro-capitalism news agency owned by a captitalist
Fundamentalists: Deluded fools who actually believe in religion [Urgent: Exhibit sensitivity for religion around Muslims, as they are still too backward to have reached our level of enlightenment.]
Haliburton: Beautiful forested cottage country with excellent fishing; N of Toronto
Halliburton: Oil cartel with dark, secret agenda and insatiable oil lust
Jingoism: Mental defict which causes those afflicted to support their country's right to wage war as a last resort to defend their interests
Lie/Liar: Useful accusation which rarely causes journalists to do fact-checking
liberal: Enlightened compassionate visionary [ant. conservative]
Liberal: A member of the same party as the Prime Minister who reigns in Canada
Libertarian: Dangerous faction that really hates unnecessary regulation
Mainstream: Dangerous element of society
Oil: [see: ooooilll!!!!!!!]
Patriotism: Vulgar display of affection for imperialist country
Progressive Conservative: A Canadian party which is rapidly becoming extinct. Once led by Joe Clark, a liberal who refuses to join the Liberal Party.
Quagmire: Swamp, bog, fen. Usage includes demoralizing citizens and soldiers, gets respect in Old Europe and Toronto Star.
Taxation: Mmm, taxes . . .
Tolerance: We state our views. They agree.
U.N.: Active international body entrusted to ensure respect for human rights and dignity, stop genocide, and maintain peace
Vast Right Wing Conspiracy: A useful accusation to levy which requires no proof or evidence. Most effective when said in a lowered voice.
Weapons of Mass Destruction: Fox News, fundamentalists, jingoism, patriotism, vast right wing conspiracies, SUVs, Big Macs, and Ann Coulter.

UPDATE: Oops, forgot to be bilingual and have inadequate percentage of CanCon. Added CBC-French Radio and CBC proper.

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!

I'm late finishing this one, but the bonus is I get to link to people who are actually witty! (If the link is suffering from blogspotted fever, hit Ctrl+F and type in keyword.)

Marc of Idiot Villager
Silverblue of Ramblings of SilverBlue
Roxette of Hoppings of Roxette Bunny
Physics Geek of physicsgeek (Use search for "assignment")
Nick of The Conservative Cajun (Use search for "homework.")
CD of Semi-Intelligent Thoughts
Don of Anger Management
Harvey of Bad Money

Posted by Debbye at 12:02 AM | Comments (1)

December 03, 2003

Trust me: Russia won't ratify Kyoto

Dec. 3 - I don't know which is funnier: Chretien's faith that Russia will endorse Kyoto even if it means putting a death-lock on it's future economic growth, or that Putin's economic adviser couldn't resist the old stand-by of blaming competition from the USA for his decision, or that Canada is still willing to handicap its economy to please Old Europe even though they can't even meet their targets, or that even though the Fed. government still doesn't have a plan, PM-elect Martin says he is for total implementation of it.

On the not-ready-yet-plan, do the math from the first link: I figure there's a whopping 25% decrease to work out.

It's estimated that Canada must cut 240 megatonnes from its projected emissions by 2010 to meet Kyoto obligations. A federal plan released last fall provided cuts of 180 megatonnes, leaving a 60-megatonne gap.

John Bennett of the Sierra Club said environmentalists have many ideas on how to close the gap.

I'll hazard a guess that wearing warm, fur coats and using wood-burning stoves isn't one of them but bicycling in mid-winter is.

More importantly, pray for no more forest fires while you desist from clearing the dead brush away from your home because those emissions will also screw up Canada's quota figures.

Actually, fully meeting Kyoto targets isn't necessary. All Canada has to do is purchase "credits" from specified nations and pretend that the money goes to actually develop conditions for the people in that country rather than end up in the pockets of the corrupt elites that run those countries. And who will pay to purchase these credits? The Canadian tax payer, of course.

Rumour has it that when Herb Dhaliwal announced his departure from politics, he cried out "you can take my SUV keys from my cold dead hand."

Easy for him to talk; he hails from Vancouver. Here, where we have that white stuff called snow, cold dead hands are a by-product of waiting for a bus in December (we try really, really hard to avoid the dead feeling even though we admit to numbness and stiffness.)

What do I know about global warming? Less, probably, than paleontologists, geologists, and people who study tree rings, yet the data they put out indicates that global warming and colding trends took place long before the industrial revolution.

My guy has his own theory and blames global warming on those damned dinosaurs and their farting. That's his story and he's sticking with it. He says it just goes to prove that anyone can do junk science.

Mark Steyn, as always, has some on-target comments about Kyoto.

UPDATE: Guardian and Styen links via The Canukistanian.

Posted by Debbye at 01:18 PM | Comments (0)

Canadian Forces near collapse

Dec. 3 - The situtation is hopeless, according to this: Canadian Forces near collapse, study says. (Fuller article here with brief link life.)

"The problem will rapidly disarm foreign policy as Canada repeatedly backs away from international commitments because it lacks adequate military forces," said the report, entitled "Canada Without Armed Forces?", released today.

It says the problems can't be solved overnight, because it takes years to purchase major weapons systems and years to train combat-ready soldiers, sailors and fliers.

After listing the shortages accumulated by years of neglect, the report concludes that:
"There is not much Canadians can do to save this situation, at least not in the term of the next government or even the government after that," the report says. "The descending slope is too steep and it will take too long to turn it upwards for tomorrow's government to benefit from altered policies."

The new government can only start the recovery, but the report says the recovery has to start now if there is to be any hope of restoring the military.

I wonder how self-serving this report is. Canada has promoted itself as a peacekeeping nation (as opposed to a peacemaking nation) for decades, and the reliance on soft diplomacy would seem appropriate for a country without a military.

Perhaps the economic architects of the Federal government have looked at the bleak forecast of social democracies in Old Europe and think they can avoid that trap by cutting unnecessary funding, and they see the military as the easiest thing to forgo.

Yet the hypocrisy is astounding. I've read Canadian bloggers and commentators aplenty -- including those who run the Toronto Star -- who insist that Canada's nearest neighbour, the USA, is a Dangerous Rogue Nation which must be stopped and GWB is the Biggest Threat to Peace ever, so of course it's logical that Canada has chosen to forgo military capability and rely on the Dangerous Rogue Nation to defend it.

I'm not being sarcastic: Canadians really do assume the USA will defend them against attack primarily because both countries know it would be in the best interests of the USA to do so, but every sensible Canadian must know that this reliance on the Big Bad USA for defence isn't going to inspire respect for Canadian views.

One thing is for sure: if Canada ever needs troops to stop Quebec or Alberta from separating, you'll get a faster response from the UN than from the US.

Another things I can guarantee is that no American soldier will be deployed to dig Toronto out of a snowstorm!

Paul is livid.

UPDATE: He warned you! Go Paul!

Posted by Debbye at 11:44 AM | Comments (0)

December 02, 2003

Khadr

Dec. 2 - Report in the Toronto Sun in which Khadr says that in 1998, he attended an al Qaeda Terror boot camp, Camp Khaldan, which is one of several financed by Osama bin Laden. Its alumni include Ressam (the would-be millennium LA Airport bomber,) a Saudi who blew up a U.S. embassy, and two of the terrorists who bombed the World Trade Center in 1993. But Khadr said it was traning for fighting for the Taliban, even though you need a special letter of recommendation to get in.

So is it a boot camp or a West Point?

More questions have been raised than answered, including whether Khadr attempted to contact Canadian embassy officials.

There's also this:

He said he paid smugglers thousands of dollars to be escorted to the various countries, before being given a travel document to return to Canada last weekend.
I seem to be asking where did the money come? from a lot lately.

UPDATE: Margaret Wente of the Globe and Mail reports that at his press conference, Khadr looked smug, not traumatized. On the money question:

How, you may ask, does a penniless young man with no documents get across all those borders? No problem. "It's very easy if you have the money and you know the people," he explained. He had friends in Kabul who gave him money. Then he got himself smuggled. It costs $500 (U.S.) to be smuggled from Pakistan to Turkey.
UPDATE: CSIS intends to grill Khadr about his weapons training at an al Qaeda camp to determine is if he was there at the same time as Ahmed Ressam.

Posted by Debbye at 04:12 PM | Comments (0)

Clifford Krauss

Dec. 2 - Clifford Krauss write in today's NY Times that Canada's View on Social Issues Is Opening Rifts With the U.S.

It seems Canada is closer to European sophistication than the US.

Bite me.

Posted by Debbye at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 28, 2003

The (in)effectiveness of gun control

Nov. 28 - A report in today's Toronto Sun features a new study by The Fraser Institute on the effectiveness of restrictive firearm legislation in 3 Commonwealth countries: Australia, Canada and Great Britain, with results that are more devastating than even a could-be gun-totin' person like me would have thought probable.

To be honest, I chiefly oppose firearm regulation and registration on philosophical grounds: so long as I comply with the responsibilities that accompany ownership and use of a firearm, I see no reason to be restricted much less deprived of my inherent right to possess firearms. I'm pro-choice! It's not that I want to carry a gun, I just believe I have the right to choose.

This study casts that right in a different light which concludes that depriving law-abiding citizens of their rights has been accomplanied by an increase in violent crime, which was a reasonable, logical suspicion but until this report could not be proven based on actual fact. [Isn't it telling that private citizens are able to distinguish between proven and unproven yet a government cannot?]

Short version: If I am believed to be capable of defending myself, someone with ill intent is going to steer clear of me. If I am believed to be an easy target, I have just become potential prey.

That has always been a logical premise, and it seems it has been proven in the negative sense in that citizens of those Commonwealth countries studied which have restricted firearm possession have been victimized because they are indeed perceived to be incapable of defending themselves.

The report, The Failed Experiment: Gun Control and Public Safety in Canada, Australia, England and Wales, can be read in .pdf format online. The Executive Summary on that page states that

The widely ignored key to evaluating firearm regulations is to examine trends in total violent crime, not just firearms crime. Since firearms are only a small fraction of criminal violence, the public would not be safer if the new law could reduce firearm violence but had no effect on total criminal violence.
Affirmation of the adage Never bring a knife to a gunfight.
The United States provides a valuable point of comparison for assessing crime rates because the criminal justice system there differs so drastically from those in Europe and the Commonwealth. Not only are criminal penalties typically more severe in the United States, often much more severe, but also conviction and incarceration rates are usually much higer. Perhaps the most striking difference is that qualified citizens in the United States can carry concealed handguns for self-defence. During the past few decades, more than 25 states in the United States passed laws allowing responsible citizens to carry concealed handguns. In 2003, there are 35 states where citizens can get such a permit.

The upshot is that violent crime rates, and homicide rates in particular, have been falling in the United States. The drop in the American crime rate is even more impressive when compared with the rest of the world.

So violent crimes committed with knives, for example, have also been reduced in the US because the Justice System heavily penalizes those who commit such crimes not because we're vicious, but because we regard such crimes as intolerable in a civilized society.

The US government and justice system are based on the philosophy of "Social Contract." Citizens have the right to bear arms for non-criminal purposes, and that right is counter-balanced with harsh penalties when the terms of that contract are broken.

This report has special significance for Toronto because there is a mini-controversy in which the Toronto Star claims that violent crimes are down, and takes issue with Police Chief Julian Fantino's call for a public inquiry over concerns that violent crime is up (Jack is all over this one, and News Junkie Canada brushes aside accusations of being too blunt (heh) and weighs in.)

The Fraser Institute's press release not only calls the legislations "a failure", but makes what many opponents of the registry cite as the main crititcism:

Disarming the public has not reduced criminal violence in any country examined in this study. In all these cases, disarming the public has been ineffective, expensive, and often counter productive. In all cases, the effort meant setting up expensive bureaucracies that produce no noticeable improvement to public safety or have made the situation worse. Mauser points to these trends in the countries he examined: [England and Wales, Australia, and Canada.] (Emphasis added)
Good old entrenched bureaucracy. Admitting the gun registry is useless and abandoning it would mean a reduction in civil service jobs, and for them, it is deemed better to continue making the same errors than admitting failure, right? We're talking about a special interest group that never shows it's true face. Who runs these countries anyway, the Parliaments or the civil service? In who's interests are these countries run, those in the civil service who want to protect their useless jobs, or citizens, who are entitled to to protect their lives?

If we were discussing a fad treatment which made claims not only that it cannot prove but can be demonstrated to be false, wouldn't the fraud squad be called in?

The press release on the report cites that in England and Wales,

Both Conservative and Labour governments have introduced restrictive firearms laws over the past 20 years; all handguns were banned in 1997.

Yet in the 1990s alone, the homicide rate jumped 50 percent, going from 10 per million in 1990 to 15 per million in 2000. While not yet as high as the US, in 2002 gun crime in England and Wales increased by 35 percent. This is the fourth consecutive year that gun crime has increased.

Police statistics show that violent crime in general has increased since the late 1980s and since 1996 has been more serious than in the United States.

They are very critical of the confiscation and destruction of legally owned firearms in Australia, citing it cost over $500 million and the police services bureaucracy including that which oversaw the registry increased by $200 million. Armed robberies, on the other hand, have increased 166% since restrictive legislation was introduced in 1997.

The release calls Canada's gun registry "a farce."

The contrast between the criminal violence rates in the United States and in Canada is dramatic. Over the past decade, the rate of violent crime in Canada has increased while in the United States the violent crime rate has plummeted. The homicide rate is dropping faster in the US than in Canada.

The Canadian experiment with firearm registration is becoming a farce says Mauser. The effort to register all firearms, which was originally claimed to cost only $2 million, has now been estimated by the Auditor General to top $1 billion. The final costs are unknown but, if the costs of enforcement are included, the total could easily reach $3 billion. (Emphasis added.)

“It is an illusion that gun bans protect the public. No law, no matter how restrictive, can protect us from people who decide to commit violent crimes. Maybe we should crack down on criminals rather than hunters and target shooters?” says Mauser.

Now my American dander is really up. I am not a victim. I am a human being, and I have the right and obligation to defend myself and mine.

Blame it on Sept. 11 if you wish, because the fact is that one of the legacies of that day was the extradordinary actions of the crew and passengers aboard Flight 93 and the decision of those ordinary citizens to act to defend their country, their familes and themselves.

We rambled along in the 90's thinking the government should do everything we were too lazy to do, and it was a huge mistake. The blinders are off, and we have to assert that we are willing to take responsibility for ourselves as free people, including our own self-defense.

UPDATE: This should really infuriate the weasels at the Toronto Star: Chief Fantino wants the 3 young murderers of a 12-year old tried in adult court. Their weapons of choice were knives and baseball bats, and it seems these young offenders had a hit list of between 13-15 additional targets.

Posted by Debbye at 08:57 AM | Comments (0)

November 27, 2003

Sharia in Ontario

Nov. 27 - I'm really not sure what to make of this post about Sharia in Canada, or, more properly, in Ontario, from Damien Penny. Read the comments, too.

Although Damien doesn't think it is much of a problem because Ontario courts would still have the power to strike down any offensive decisions, I still wonder about the effect of having two tiers of civil arbitration structures. There's also the small matter of enforcement, which can involve the government should wages be garnisheed or seizure of property be deemed necessary.

As we have a Liberal government in Ontario now, I think any MPP who asked such questions would be treated in typical Liberal fashion: booed, accused of racism, and, in short, the questions wouldn't be addressed.

UPDATE: Jack comments and provides more information. I too didn't see anything about this meeting in the local media.

Posted by Debbye at 12:26 PM | Comments (1)

Clinton defends Chretien

Nov. 27 - Via Neale News, a National Post article Clinton defends Chretien and the decision for Canada not to support the US in Iraq. He explains that

Republican complaints that Canada, France and Mexico were soft on terrorism by refusing to join the war was unjustified and failed to take into account Chretien's strong belief in getting authorization from the United Nations, Clinton wrote.

[...]

Clinton praised Chretien as a valued friend, "whose intelligence, experience, common touch and common sense made him an extraordinarily effective leader."

Looks as though Clinton has learned to not publicly support people until they're out of office. Even he recognizes he's a curse!

More seriously, what binds Chretien to the UN? Maybe the fact that neither of them are required to be accountable? The ethical behaviour of Chretien and his Cabinet is of scandalous proportions up here, but there is no way to punish them unless Chretien choses to do so.

As for Chretien himself, we can write conflict of interest in huge honking letters whenever the names Bombardier and TotalFinaElf come up, but to no avail. The only ethics constraining Chretien are that which he places upon himself.

Roger L. Simon has a post that warms my cockles, demanding that the UN open the books and show where the money for the Oil-For-Food program went. As he points out, the funds required to maintain that vast police state and reward those who committed torture during Saddam's regime as well as the money now funding the terrorists in Iraq came from somewhere, and let's not forget the billions of dollars in both US currency and gold that were secured by US forces as attempts were made to smuggle same out of Iraq by the truckloads. (Be sure and read the comments, and link here for Gerard Van der Leun's devastating account of the French and Bonn banks' lending practices to any country known to be antagonistic toward the US.)

There is no legal requirement for the UN to account for the money it spends, and you don't have to be a genius to figure out that that guarantees corruption.

Accountability is the necessary partner for freedom, and, as an American citizen and Canadian taxpayer, I object to tax dollars being spent on any organization that doesn't have to account for that money.

Go Roger! As he points out, we have a right to know, as do the people of Iraq who were cheated out of food and critical medical supplies by the UN and Saddam.

UPDATE: Paul has some rather pointed comments about Bubba's defense of the PM in He just won't shut up . . .

Posted by Debbye at 10:55 AM | Comments (0)

November 25, 2003

Abdul Rahman Khadr

Nov. 25 - The US released 20 prisoners from the Guantanamo Bay facility including a former Toronto (Scarborough) resident Abdul Rahman Khadr.

According to Reynald Doiron, spokesman for the Foreign Affairs Office, Khadr reportedly went to a country of his own choosing. "Privacy concerns limit our ability to provide information on his current whereabouts," Doiron said. Khadr could return to Canada someday as a matter of right.

Oh goodie.

The man's father, Ahmed Said Khadr, is a known operative of al Qaeda and although he was reportedly killed by Pakistan forces during a raid on an al-Qaeda camp in Waziristan, Pakistan. last October, although it has not been substantiated. (If blogspotted, go to Oct. archives and use the search function (Ctrl+F for IE users) and key in Khadr. The original source was the National Post and their links live for only 2 weeks, poor things.)

Abdul's brother Omar, known to some as the "Toronto Teen" and to others as the murderer of a US Army medic in Afghanistan, was injured and captured and is still presumed to be held at Guantanamo.

Posted by Debbye at 04:44 PM | Comments (0)

November 14, 2003

Balancing the budgets

Nov. 14 - The Canadian Surplus shrinks to $1.6B for the first half of the fiscal year (April-September) which is somewhat less than the $4.6 billion recorded in the same period last year.

In Ontario, it seems there was a slight miscalculation by the incoming Liberal government for a projected deficit (as in the departing Tory government had balanced the budget as they had claimed) and there would in fact be a small surplus instead of a shortfall of $5.6-billion for the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2004.

[Finance Minister Greg] Sorbara had said a day earlier that a final accounting would show 2002-03 ended up in the red to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars despite boasts by the Tories of a $524-million surplus.

"I double-checked my information and I wasn't entirely accurate," Mr. Sorbara said in an interview.

While the projected excess has "shrunk very significantly," there is likely still "a small surplus, not a deficit," he said, adding the books have yet to be closed on the year.

But even as one hand gives, the other is quick to take away. Toronto taxpayers may need to pay out over $1 million in severance pay to departing city councillors and their staff.
"Oh, my gosh," said budget committee member Jane Pitfield, who never figured the payouts would be so high. "Taxpayers would be shocked that so much money is being wasted."
I think Torontonians are way beyond shocked, but thank you for thinking of us.
"This is just highway robbery," bristled penny-pinching councillor Rob Ford, adding that councillors and their staff take the job knowing it could last only three years. "I guess we're not in such rough shape after all," said Ford, referring to the city's financial situation.

Councillors and the mayor are entitled to a month's pay for every year of service, over and above their pensions, up to a maximum one year's pay.

Note the inclusion of the phrase "above their pensions." Yes, they get a sizeable pension for being on the job for three years, but that's a scandal older than me.

Posted by Debbye at 07:53 AM | Comments (0)

Maher Arar

Nov. 14 - Canada's Solicitor General Wayne Easter is going to warn US Att. Gen. John Ashcroft that the US must respect Canada's values and human rights standards in the way it handles intelligence from the RCMP or CSIS. This is in response to the deportation over a year ago of Maher Arar, a Canadian citizen from Syria was was picked up at a New York airport during a stopover en route to Canada.

Arar is suspected of being a terrorist and of plotting to bomb the American Embassy in Ottawa. While under detention in Syria, Arar claims he was tortured (I tend to believe him) but was abruptly released and returned to Canada the day after the US vetoed a UNSC resolution condemning Israel for bombing a terrorist training camp in Syria. (The timeline is true, the connection is mine.)

The Canadian government had shrugged off criticism and accusations of torture while Arar was in Syria, but belatedly

Prime Minister Jean Chretien has lambasted the U.S. for sending the Canadian citizen to Syria, and asked two key cabinet ministers to find out if Canadian officials shared information with the U.S.
What took him so long? These questions were raised in the Commons at the time of Arar's deportation and immediately after his release and shrugged off. Forgive me if I regard this as cynical political posturing. Many people, including me, expressed deep reservations about the deportation when it happened, arguing that if he really was a terrorist, he belonged in an American or Canadian jail, not in a country known to abuse human rights.

The part that irritates me is not that criticism is directed at the US (I too am critical) but the failure to criticize countries that have held Canadians -- Iran, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia -- and hold them now -- Egypt -- with nary a peep from those sworn to uphold Canadian values and human rights standards.

The Canadian government has not criticized the Syrian government for holding him without charges and torturing him. We're told this is soft diplomacy. Makes a lot of sense to use hard diplomacy with the US and soft diplomacy with dictatorships because . . well, actually, it doesn't. Using soft diplomacy with known violators of human rights is simply not consistent with Canadian values and human rights standards but is consistent with hypocrisy and more suggestive of a European approach.

The are still a lot of questions about the deportation of Arar, the biggest one being why the US would deport him. According to the Toronto Sun,

American media reports have also suggested Arar was the subject of a CIA "extraordinary rendition," which sends terrorist suspects to rogue nations to extract information through torture.
Other possibilities raised were that it was part of some sort of exchange, either of prisoners or of information. Or even a good-faith gesture when there were still hopes that Syria would actually be a partner in the war on terror.

The other big question is why the Syrians wanted him. In my nastier moments I've thought it was maybe to give him a medal or develop a working relationship with him as Syria's partnership in the war on terror is uneven at best and blatant double-dealing at worst. Arar left Syria when he was young, so it's doubtful it was for anything he actually did while in Syria.

All in all, this affair does manage to cast a better light on the facility at Guantanamo. A number of Middle East countries, particularly Saudi Arabia, have demanded that their citizens be returned to face justice in their home countries, which would include detention without charges, torture, and possbily execution and the US has refused to comply.

As for the threatened scolding, I think John Ashcroft can handle it. It might have meant something in September, 2002, but a year late is more than a loonie short.

Posted by Debbye at 07:05 AM | Comments (0)

November 13, 2003

Merge Alberta and Saskatchewan?

Nov. 14 - Maybe I mocked discussions over merging France and Germany prematurely because there is an article about two think-tank men who are seriously weighing benefits of a merger between Alberta and Saskatchewan.

While melding oil-rich Alberta with agriculture-based Saskatchewan could help the economies of both provinces decades down the road, a study into the idea of uniting Wild Rose Country with the Land of the Living Skies found there are likely too many political barriers -- especially since Albertans have little to gain.

"It really would be a trade-off as opposed to an absolute benefit," said University of Calgary economist Herb Emery.

"While it would make Saskatchewan a 'have' province, it would cost Alberta money. So the question is: Why would Alberta want to do this?"

In a report released by the C.D. Howe Institute Wednesday, Emery and fellow U of C economics professor Ronald Kneebone, concluded creating a "super-province" out of Alberta and Saskatchewan could eventually lead to benefits related to a larger population and economy and less repetition in government and bureaucracy.

That sounds familiar; hmm, wasn't that why Etobicoke was forced to amalgamate with Toronto? That hasn't turned out very well . . . now Toronto is massively in debt. Oh well, they'll just raise taxes again.
Such a merger would also put about $200 a year into the pockets of Saskatchewan residents while taking away about the same amount from Albertans, as Alberta would have to assume Saskatchewan's debt while sharing its oil and gas revenues with almost one million more people.
I was happy to assume that the proponents of this merger don't follow socio-political news in Canada, but I was wrong.
While Emery and Kneebone looked at the economic implications of erasing the border, they noted the political differences between Saskatchewan's long-time New Democrat government and staunchly Tory Alberta may prove to be too much to overcome-- a sentiment echoed by Saskatchewan Premier Lorne Calvert.
Is it just me, or did Emery and Kneebone overlook a fairly strong streak of rugged individualism in Alberta that isn't matched in Saskatchewan? At attitude and way of life that is totally at odds with the social democracy favoured in the latter province?

On a serious note, the "brain drain" out of Saskatchewan is a big problem, as it's the only province that regularly loses more people than it gains, usually to Alberta, mostly due to lack of opportunities for young people.

Saskatoon activist Wayne Eyre, who is an advocate of a single government for all four provinces, said while a merger may not be possible at the moment, many Saskatchewan residents believe the province should adopt Alberta's more business-friendly attitude.

"The NDP didn't get a majority of the popular vote in the last election. We have rich uranium, oil and gas, potash and diamond reserves and lots of abundant, affordable ranchland and there are many thousands of people who say the government should get out of the way and let people rock 'n' roll," Eyre said.

How ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm, after they've seen Calgaree?

(Via Neale News.)

Posted by Debbye at 03:13 PM | Comments (0)

November 12, 2003

Project Mercury

Nov. 12 - Project Mercury was started by a Canadian soldier, Master Cpl. Russell Storring, who had been deployed in Rwanda in 1994 and had seen all to much suffering there. These days he is a kids' saviour. He enlisited his mother to organize a drive to gather clothes and shoes for orphans in Afghanistan.

In August, [Master Cpl.] Storring, a 29-year-old father of three, started Project Mercury Hope, an initiative to collect clothes, toys and school supplies for orphans in Kabul.

Storring called his mother and asked her to encourage friends and family to donate items for some 1,200 children.

[...]

After her son's initial plea for help, Atkins gathered 26 boxes of supplies and sent them to Kabul. This week, a military flight from CFB Trenton will carry two triwalls of footwear, five with clothes and 1 1/2 each of toys and school supplies overseas.

Storring was born to be a soldier, his mother said. His father, Floyd, who died four years ago, was a World War II veteran.

"Russell was 3 or 4 and he knew he wanted to be in the army. He wanted to be just like dad," Atkins said.

Atkins herself is president of the Canadian Legion in Tamworth, about 50 km northwest of Kingston.

The project is named for Mercury, the Roman messenger god and the symbol of the signal unit of the army.

Most good ideas inspire others, and this one affected Traci Mohamed, a grade 7/8 teacher at Kennedy Public School in Scarborough, who saw a TV interview with Master Cpl. Storring and decided to help, rallying students and teachers in the process. They gathered over 60 boxes of supplies which will be delivered to a local legion this week.

Ah, the underappreciated Legion again! And we thought they only sold poppies once a year and sponsored youth baseball teams!

For more information on the project visit Mercury Hope. Please note that they will not accept money, but do request that monetary donations go to the Red Cross Fund for Afghan Children (website linked at Mercury Hope.)

There are some good people who really do think of the children.

Posted by Debbye at 05:44 PM | Comments (0)

Remembrance Day, but what do they remember?

Nov. 12 - This is a bit of a ramble. These thoughts have been swirling for a few days, and I'm trying to give them coherence and form. I'll probably read this tomorrow and wish I had said things differently or said more or less.

I found it very hard to post yesterday. A couple of Paul's posts had really hit a nerve with me. There was, contained in this post about the CIBC bank, Ikea and other companies who initially refused to allow poppy sales for Remembrance Day the fact there isn't a single Canadian war movie, which, given the well-deserved reputation of Canadian courage and steadfastness in battle, is an appalling lapse.

Sheesh, I learned about the Canadian army's courage at Vimy Ridge and Dieppe in high school in the US, and the current Minister of Defence, John McCallum, didn't know the difference between Vimy [Ridge] and Vichy [government.] The steadfast determination of the Canadian armed forces is such that every Canadian can hold their head high with pride, and I don't get why we would deprive our children of that legacy.

In yesterday's sole entry, I mentioned a hockey rink Canadian soldiers in Korea built which they called Imjin Gardens and the reason the story tickled my fancy was because it reminded me of a MASH episode in which Cpl. Klinger traded food items (fruit cocktail?) with a Canadian soldier and in parting mentioned a future trade involving hockey pucks. I didn't mention it in the original post because it seemed out of place on Remembrance Day, but in retrospect I maybe should have because it was a telling piece of history about Canada and how Canadian soldiers bring bits of home with them that made it into pop culture.

Canada, as does the United States, offers a very unique heritage to her citizens: by virtue of being here, everyone, regardless of birthplace, is entitled to take as their own the past, present and future of this wonderful country. It is by no means mandatory that one should do so, but the offer is there for everyone.

So when I say the same blood flows through all Canadians' veins as flowed on Vimy Ridge and at Dieppe I mean exactly that: it isn't the heritage of a blood line but of a philosphical and heartfelt line, and that can be a very powerful thing simply because it is taken voluntarily.

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the National War Memorial was vandalised in the early morning hours of Remembrance Day, but it still burns. It is beyond cliche to say that our soldiers fight so that others can protest against the government of the day without fear of reprisal, but to deface a monument dedicated to the brave men and women who were willing to sacrifice all so that we could have cozy, pseduo-intellectual debates about war requires a special kind of arrogance and smugness that I hope I never encounter in the flesh.

Nevertheless, that act of disrespect saddened me beyond any of the memorials that day because it is a danger sign that signifies disrespect not only to those who have served their country but to this country itself, and that is an outrage. In fact, it was almost an act of self-hated.

Freedom is not just another word for nothing left to lose, it's the name we give for everything that is worth fighting for, and once we lose our freedom, we've lost everthing. Canadians have known this in the past, and I believe they know that today. It's just a matter of finding the Canadian way to express it.

Freedom of spirit and of mind are such great gifts, and the thousands that flood our shores every year prove that.

One of my referrals was someone wanting to know how Americans feel about US soldiers who are still in Iraq. Words cannot convey how I feel -- humble, grateful, awed, fearful for them, fiercely proud of them, and all the love and support I can direct towards those who are not my children but are as my children because they are both future and present and every one of them possesses a calling and purpose that makes me feel insignificant. They proceed from a line unbroken before Valley Forge and are a part of me.

I could ask how Canadians feel about their soldiers still in Afghanistan, but I think I know. I think Canadians are far greater and better than the prattling of the mainstream press here would indicate, and I think the Liberal elite that rules Canada is not worthy of her.

I alway try to post whatever I can glean about the Canadian military in Afghanistan and the other coalition forces in both Afghanistan and Iraq because I think it matters.

I think that some day, maybe not tomorrow but some day, our kids and grandkids will demand to know what we did and thought during this historical period and I think we'll all want to be able to answer that we did our best.

In many ways, Canada is in far more a transitional period than the US. I knew what the US would do because I know my people and I know how we think, but I was way off the mark in predicting what Canada would do.

I had thought that, given the history of the FLQ and how many people in Canada today have come as refugees from terrorism, that Canada would stand squarely against allowing terrorism to take root in North America. Then Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley had made some very strong remarks shortly after Sept. 11 but was then demoted up and the fence-sitting began.

But the government's dithering did not affect the Canadian people, and despite what Americans may read in the Canadian media and what Canadian politicians may say, I think that Canadians, like their American brethren, are re-evaluating a great many things including their military, patriotism, political correctness, immigration and judicial systems and, the biggest question of all, asking "What kind of people are we?"

Neither Americans nor Canadians want to lose what they are. We're both just trying to clarify matters a little. Most Americans might reply that we are the same, only more so.

I don't know the answers for Canadians, but I am pretty sure that it will be "Made In Canada" and maybe, finally, it won't be prefaced with "unlike Americans" because it needn't be.

You are all so much better than you realize. There is so much heart and courage in you, and anyone who doubts that should take an honest look at how Canadians play and love hockey, because it's all there: holding the line, heads-up gamesmanship, fierce competitiveness, endurance, taking it to the boards, and never quitting. If Mario Lemieux gets cross-checked, you just know that some gloves will be coming off.

Is it really a surprise that the usual "Canadians aren't flag wavers" mantra is always discarded for Olympic and World Cup hockey events? I think not!

My kids were born and raised in Canada, and my dearest wish for them is to love and revere this wonderful country. That is my wish for all Canadians, because you deserve no less.

Posted by Debbye at 04:27 PM | Comments (0)

November 11, 2003

Remembrance Day

Nov. 11 - Letter of the Day in the Toronto Sun (one day link):

FOR ME, Nov. 11 has always been a special day. But this year it will be extra special because of a man I knew as "Uncle" Billy. He served with the RAF during WW II.

Assigned to a bomber squadron of equally young strapping airmen, he was shot down no less than three times: In the Irish Sea, North Africa and Poland - the latter being the most significant. At that time, the Soviet Army had the Germans in retreat. Alone and in hostile territory, Uncle Billy survived several days of freezing cold temperatures, feeding mostly on moss. At one point he was hunted by a pack of wolves and found refuge in a tree for a day or two. (The wolves kept vigil at the bottom of the tree, before being used as target practice by retreating German soldiers. Thankfully, the Germans never thought to look up the tree).

Eventually, Billy was taken into Soviet custody. They were not convinced he really was a British airman. In fact, they suspected he was a spy. Subsequently, he was cruelly interrogated and subjected to appalling living conditions.

For several months, even after he was reunited with another member of the bomber's crew and his identity confirmed, he was kept captive with little or no improvements to his living arrangements. Eventually, he was returned home. His family had been told he was dead.

He wrote a fascinating book of his experiences after the war. On the first page he describes the ritual the members of his squadron had before a mission. Nothing more complicated than "So ... See you down the pub later." After a mission, the squadron members would meet at the pub for a pint and take stock of who'd been lost.

Uncle Billy died this past July at the age of 83. Recently, his sister showed me a binder of photographs he had taken himself. The most poignant being the photos of the boys who had not returned, labelled simply with their name, nickname and the date they were killed or went missing. Without exception, the men in these photographs were in the prime of their lives.

Lest we forget. Thank you, boys.

David La Thangue
Oakville

Korean vet Tom Somers related the tale of a hockey arena named Imjin Gardens to Thane Burnett:
"The Imjin Gardens" sign put up there was complete with a maple leaf and Canada insignia in the upper right-hand corner. It started with a ring of sandbags, which gave way to an actual boarded arena.

And like any rink here in Canada, it had a canteen which served hot coffee and doughnuts, and even a heated dressing room. Hundreds of men would watch the games -- trucked in from the trenches.

Two tales, one from WWII and the other from Korea, of men who did their duty to God and country and, like so many others of their kind, saw nothing extraordinary in that.

In Afghanistan today, hundreds of Canadian soldiers stood at attention during a ceremony to unveil a stone memorial to 6 fallen comrades in Afghanistan. The inscription on the plaque reads Dedicated to those Canadians who gave their lives in the service of peace while serving in Afghanistan. So why is Canada in Afghanistan again?

"We're here because we were attacked that day," added [Lt.-Gen. Rick] Hillier, who will take over command of ISAF operations in Afghanistan in February.

"Twenty-seven Canadians, I believe was the total, who died on 11, Sept., '01," he pointed out.

Hillier had a few words of reprobation for people who he believes have forgotten the Canadian lives lost in the 9-11 attacks.

"It's sad that that has not been reflected around our country."

I can add nothing to that.

The troops were treated to fresh pizza after the ceremony courtesy of Mike Cyr of Boston Pizza International Inc. (or hit Ctrl+F, Nov. 7 - Canadians in Afghanistan if link blogspotted.)

Do we detect a pattern here? In first the story, Billy wanted nothing more than to stay free and get home. In the second and third, homesick soldiers have improvised so as to have a bit of home in places as diverse as Korea and Afghanistan.

In all three cases, however, yearning for home didn't mean that the soldiers doubted the value of their presence or of their mission.

So why is military action by Canadians treated like a shameful secret in the education system? Why do television programs about the military refer to the futility of war rather than the futility of life under Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, the Ottomon Empire, Saddam Hussein, the Taliban . . .

You can visit the Canadian Legion Website and both The Canukistanian and The Essay have posts up on the Legion and its other activities.

Posted by Debbye at 07:20 AM | Comments (0)

November 03, 2003

A future for Chretien at the U.N.?

Nov. 3 - This is sure to help the United Nations regain some of it's lost credibility and relevance: PM out early for UN post?:

MONTREAL -- Prime Minister Jean Chretien is ready to accept a foreign post with the United Nations which could prompt him to leave office before his February retirement date, a Montreal newspaper reported today. Chretien was offered the job, likely with an African development agency, by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, according to LaPresse. Annan also asked Chretien to sit on an advisory council to promote institutional reform.

However, a spokesman with the prime minister's office's would neither confirm or deny the report. "His plans will be known when the time is right," Steven Hogue said.

The Liberal government in Canada under Chretien's leadership is a source of unending scandal as millions of dollars have simply disappeared, more millions have been inappropriately spent, conflict of interest charges are affecting the Cabinet, and reports from Auditor-General Sheila Fraser indicate that contracts have been awarded without due process.

The armed forces are using dated and dangerous equipment, but the Prime Minister took money from the Defence budget in order to purchase flying palaces for his own comfort. He's a gem, this Chretien; a real freaking gem.

In a sick, perverted way, Chretien and Africa are a perfect fit. The corruption of African govermments have reduced that continent to horrific levels of famine, poverty and disease. In Canada, Parliamentary powers have been subverted and redirected to the PMO (Prime Minister's Office) under Chretien and he is going to advise on institutional reform? Maybe advice on how to be more despotic?

The boondoggle spending in Canada will be a mere training ground for the opportunities offered by the UN, and there will be little fiscal oversight or accountability!

Today Canada, tomorrow the world! Like I said, a perfect fit.

UPDATE: Dang! Paul reports that rumours of Chretien's early departure are untrue.

Posted by Debbye at 09:02 AM | Comments (0)

October 29, 2003

Justice for Kazemi elusive

Oct. 29 - The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi continues to be a political fight between the reformists and hardliners in the Iranian government. The official Iran report on Kazemi death highlights this:

TEHRAN -- Iran's reformist-dominated parliament accused hardline Tehran prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi yesterday of illegally detaining a Montreal photojournalist and then covering up facts surrounding her death in custody in July. Zahra Kazemi, a Canadian of Iranian origin, died July 10, about three weeks after she was detained for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison during protests against the ruling Islamic establishment.

An intelligence agent charged with her alleged beating death has pleaded not guilty to "semi-premeditated murder."

The parliament holds Mortazavi responsible as the head of the Tehran prosecutor's office.

The reformists control the intelligence agencies, and the hardliners control the judicial agencies.
Parliament accused Mortazavi of covering up facts about Kazemi's death -- he said she died of a stroke -- and having no evidence when he accused her of spying and having no permission to work.

The report said Kazemi was beaten by judiciary officials in Evin prison, north of Tehran. It said 20 guards who witnessed and reported the beating were forced to change their reports.

The report leaves little option for the court but to summon Mortazavi for questioning in the trial.

One of the demands of the Canadian government has been for the return of Kazemi's body to Canada and her son, Montrealer Stephan Kachemi. This has not yet been done.

It's hard to tell how much pressure the Canadian government would have put on the Iranian government to pursue this investigation had not Kachemi, Reporters Without Borders, the Canadian media, bloggers and the Official Opposition kept this issue in the forefront, but it is important to keep the pressure on. Kazemi is one of several journalists who are imprisoned in the Middle East and, had she not been a dual citizen of Canada, her death would probably have been ignored.

We tend to take freedom of speech and freedom of the press for granted, and nothing highlights this more than the incessant whining by lefties that they are being "repressed" when, in fact, the fact that they aren't in jail proves that there is no repression except in their own minds, but, more seriously, their whining insults those who actually are being repressed, tortured and jailed for asking questions, taking the "wrong" photographs and speaking their opinions as free people.

The best way we can aid those who are being repressed is to keep the death of Zahra Kazemi an issue. I think that's the best tribute we can pay to her and her belief in freedom.

UPDATE: The story in the Daily Telegraph says: Yesterday, a parliamentary commission dealing with press freedoms, attacked Teheran's chief prosecutor, Said Mortazavi, who has a reputation for jailing journalists and closing down newspapers.

Posted by Debbye at 08:19 AM | Comments (0)

October 26, 2003

Terror watch

Oct. 26 - There's been a lot of strange symmetry this week with a round-up of terrorists in and from Canada in yesterday's National Post combined with (unofficial) allegations that Maher Arar gave names to Syrian interrogators and the rationale behind the re-routing of El Al flights away from Toronto Airport.

That there are people in Canada who have been trained by al Qaeda is hardly a surprise: after all, why would Canada be any different in this respect from France, the UK, Australia, Gemany, and the United States?

What bothers me most is government reluctance to publicly address the issue. Toronto Sun columnist Gary Dunford was more irritated than humourous today in his column Flying in the Dark:

REMAIN CALM: Like most, I say we should be told absolutely nothing about why Israeli jetliners have avoided Pearson airport for three days. Canadians, like mushrooms, grow best in the dark.
The story behind the diverted El Al flights from Toronto, according to this, was a telephone threat to an Israeli security agency to bring down an El Al airplane at Toronto Airport report. Officials are unsure if the phone call was made from a pay phone or a cell phone. (Airport security officials spoke on condition of anonymity. Sigh.)

The good news: somebody is apparently examining and seeing if dots connect:

Security officials are also trying to determine if a rocket launcher found in a postal shipment is linked to the threat.

The Mounties and CSIS are tracing the origins and destination of a German-made rocket launcher, found by Canada Customs officers among 14 caches of weapons, entering the country at a Mississauga postal plant from April 2001 to March 2003.

The weapon is designed to be fired from the shoulder and can be outfitted with heat-seeking missiles.

Meanwhile, B'nai Brith Canada is urging members of the Jewish community to be careful in light of the El Al alert.

According to this, Canada's Minister of Transport, David Collenette is considering re-routing more El Al flights destined for Toronto to other Canadian cities, which may seem to solve the problem in the short term but doesn't adddress security concerns. That's about as official a comment on the diversion we're likely to get.

Now this: Canadians warned to avoid travel to Saudia Arabia because intelligence reports indicate that terrorists are planning future terrorist attacks. The warnings specify that Americans, the British and Canadians should be especially vigilant around the upcoming Ramadan:

"It is the Embassy's assessment that terrorist groups may place special operational significance on the upcoming month of Ramadan and American citizens are therefore urged to be particularly vigilant during this time."
According to this, one reason the warning was issued was because explosive belts were found during a raid in Saudi Arabia.

An unusual warning was issued by the FBI to Muslims in the US:

On Friday, the FBI urged extra vigilance for possible terror attacks and violence against Muslims in the United States during Ramadan.

In its weekly bulletin to 18,000 state and local law enforcement agencies, the FBI said it has no credible information that an attack is being planned by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network or any other terror group during the month.

But attacks overseas have been timed in the past to coincide with symbolic dates, the FBI said, adding that "the possibility of such an attack in the United States cannot be discounted."

Is the FBI warning about attacks on Muslims from non-Muslims or Muslims? Al Qaeda certainly has no scruples about killing Muslims, as has been evidenced most recently in Indonesia and Saudi Arabia, and it's no secret that many American Muslims are actively trying to root out terrorist cells within their own communities, something al Qaeda would want to punish. I'm just speculating, but when I see a non sequitur like the above my anteannae go hippity-hop.

Or maybe it's the persistant whispers from the Netherlands and Australia among other places that there is a quiet struggle within the Muslim communities that overtly seems to revolve around whether women should or not should wear headscarves, and more ominously, what to do about women who chose to forgo them, and this fairly well-circulated report by Theodore Dalrymple on the public housing ghettoes in France (ghetto is my terminology), and some further musings from Mark Steyn.

(If you follow only one link, make it the one to Mark Steyn. It may startle you.)

(NP and Dalrymple links via Right On!.)

UPDATE: MSNBC has an article on the harsh life of Muslim women in Paris, which is considerably more on target than the pathetic NY Times article A Crime of the Young Stalks France's Urban Wastelands.

UPDATE: The threat to El Al is officially over. Officials are remaining tight lipped.

Posted by Debbye at 11:24 AM | Comments (0)

October 17, 2003

Precision Guided Humour

Oct. 17 - The last precision guided humour assignment with The Alliance was to imagine what I would say if I had the floor at a press conference with Jacques Chirac.

I couldn't come up with anything (which is to say I couldn't come up with anything I'd want my mother to read) but it took me awhile to figure out why I was totally blocked.

Actually, once I stopped fretting about it, it turned out to be very simple: I live in Canada, which too is a member of the Axis of Weasels thanks to the PM here, one Jean Chretien, who has surrendered Canadian sovereignty to the Chirac wing of the UN.

The questions I might pose to Chirac would be nothing compared to the questions I would level at Chretien, yet asking Chretien "How could you betray every value of Western civilization" has already been answered: he is an arrogant, self-serving bastard who is more interested in reminding everyone that he's a French-Canadian with strongs ties to France and family ties to the French conglomerate oil company TotalFinaElf.

Chretien has reduced the military budget in Canada to a point that puts Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan in danger because they have inadequate armour on their transports.

He uses the international forums of the UN and G-8 conferences to attack Pres. Bush and the USA, and continues to try his best to enrage the American public.

When the UNSC was contemplating a second resolution, Chretien visited Mexico to persuade them to vote "no" should a second resolution be presented.

Chretien has, as Jay Currie put it in his post French Poodle, reduced Canada to being Chirac's bitch.

What could I possible ask Chirac except "How did you do it?"

Not very scathing or witty, but still fully aware of immense betrayal.

BUT other Alliance members fared a lot better with their responses.

Posted by Debbye at 03:24 PM | Comments (0)

Adnan El Shukrijumah and a "dirty bomb"

Oct. 17 - Despite the carping about the sieve-like Canadian border (disclosure: I'd be carping about problems within the US more if I resided there!) and so on, I do think that Canada has been a partner in the War on Terror and this Washington Times report by Bill Gertz illustrates that there has indeed been cooperation between the two countries: Al Qaeda pursued a 'dirty bomb':

A key al Qaeda terrorism suspect was in Canada looking for nuclear material for a "dirty bomb," The Washington Times has learned.

Adnan El Shukrijumah is being sought by the FBI and CIA in connection with a plot to detonate a dirty bomb -- a conventional explosive laced with radioactive material.

According to an FBI informant, El Shukrijumah was spotted last year in Hamilton, Ontario, posing as a student at McMaster University, which has a 5-megawatt research reactor. U.S. officials believe El Shukrijumah, whose photograph was posted on the FBI's Web site in March, was in Hamilton trying to obtain radioactive material.

One U.S. official said El Shukrijumah is a key North American al Qaeda member who is useful to other Middle Eastern members of the terrorist group because of his knowledge of the United States and his ability to speak English.

El Shukrijumah was identified by the informant after his photograph was made public by the FBI in March. He is believed to be part of an al Qaeda cell in Canada and the United States that was planning a dirty-bomb attack. The status of the bomb plot is not known.

Spokesmen for the FBI, CIA, Canadian Security Intelligence Service and Royal Canadian Mounted Police declined to comment on El Shukrijumah's stay in Canada.

[...]

In addition to El Shukrijumah, the informant said that at least three other al Qaeda terrorists were seen in Hamilton in 2002. They include Anas al-Liby, one of the FBI's most wanted terrorists, Jaber A. Elbaneh and Amer El-Maati.

Anas al-Liby is connected to the 1998 embassy bombings in West Africa, and El Shukrijumah is believed to be a ring-leader (similar to Mohammed Atta) and was in Florida at the same time as Jose Padilla, who is currently being detained on suspicion of trying to make a "dirty bomb."

The Toronto Sun carried the story here.

Posted by Debbye at 11:22 AM | Comments (0)

October 14, 2003

Ahmed Said Khadr possibly killed

Oct. 14 - Early reports indicate that Ahmed Said Khadr and one of his sons were killed by Pakistan security forces during a raid on an al-Qaeda camp in Waziristan, Pakistan.

A press release issued by the Islamic Observation Centre in London and circulated on an Arabic Internet site announced the death of Mr. Khadr, calling him a "founding member" of al-Qaeda.

"God bless him and we hope that his soul will be accepted by God," said the British-based Islamic centre, which has close links to Egyptian terrorist groups including Mr. Khadr's Al Jihad.

Canadian officials were unable to confirm the deaths yesterday but said consular authorities were looking into the matter. Mr. Khadr's family in Scarborough was unaware of the reports.

"Our officials in Islamabad are investigating the reports regarding Ahmed Khadr," Jennie Chen, a spokeswoman at the Department of Foreign Affairs, said yesterday.

Canadian intelligence officials believe Mr. Khadr is a senior al-Qaeda member closely tied to Osama bin Laden. Three of his Canadian sons -- Omar, Abdurahman and Abdullah -- are also suspected members of al-Qaeda.

When Mr. Khadr was arrested in Pakistan for his alleged role in the 1995 bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, Jean Chretien, the Prime Minister, intervened in the case. Mr. Khadr was released shortly thereafter.

The press release said Mr. Khadr and his son were among 12 al-Qaeda and Taliban members killed in an exchange of gunfire. It did not name the son but he is believed to be Abdullah, who once ran an al-Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan. Omar and Abdurahman Khadr are currently being held by the U.S. military at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The report from London did not indicate when Mr. Khadr was killed, but on Oct. 2, Pakistani forces launched a major raid in Waziristan, where some believe bin Laden and his deputy Ayman Al Zawahiri are hiding. At dawn, soldiers backed by Cobra helicopter gunships surrounded five mud compounds that had been taken over by al-Qaeda and Taliban members. They refused to surrender and fought back with grenades and machine guns.

By the end of the day, 12 al-Qaeda fighters had been killed and another 18 were captured. Pakistani soldiers seized grenades, rockets, guns and anti-tank mines from the compounds.

Major-General Shaukat Sultan, a spokesman for the Pakistani military, said the dead were "foreign elements who were most likely involved in attacks against coalition forces in Afghanistan."

The assault occurred the same day Canadians Sergeant Robert Short and Corporal Robbie Beerenfenger were killed in Afghanistan by a land mine authorities suspect was placed by pro-Taliban guerrillas.

The Islamic centre said Mr. Khadr, also known as Abu Abdurahman Al Kanadi, was among those killed in the operation in Waziristan, where hundreds of fighters loyal to al-Qaeda have fled since the fall of the Taliban. "He and others were killed during an exchange of fire between mujahedeen [holy warriors] and Pakistani forces," it said.

"God bless him, Abu Abdurahman was running a charity, Human Concern International, in Afghanistan. This is a charity based in Canada and he's an Egyptian who bears Canadian citizenship and he's about 55 years old."

Mr. Khadr was born in Egypt, but moved to Ottawa in 1975 and studied computers at the University of Ottawa. He married a Palestinian-Canadian and they had six children, four boys and two girls, most of them Canadian-born.

After the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in 1979, he joined Human Concern International (HCI), an Ottawa-based Muslim charity financed by the Canadian government, and brought his family to Pakistan, where he was supposed to be running refugee camps.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service, however, says the camps were actually mujahedeen bases, used by Islamic fighters entering and exiting Afghanistan. HCI "was one of many organizations that were helping refugees fleeing to Pakistan from Afghanistan and supporting the mujahedeen freedom fighters who waged war against the Soviet occupying forces throughout the 1980s," a CSIS report says.

Mr. Khadr returned to Canada in 1992 after he was wounded by shrapnel near Kabul. Once he had recovered at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital, he returned to Pakistan with his wife and children.

In November, 1995, members of the Al Jihad terrorist organization blew up the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad, killing 17 people. Mr. Khadr was arrested for allegedly financing the operation.

But he was freed after Mr. Chrétien, under pressure from Canadian Muslim groups, took the highly unusual step of intervening in the case during a meeting with Benazir Bhutto, then the prime minister of Pakistan.

Mr. Khadr came back to Canada, left Human Concern and formed his own aid group called Health and Education Project International, which was based at the Salahedin mosque in Scarborough. But he soon moved his family to Jalalabad, where he was reportedly in close contact with bin Laden.

A month after the attacks of Sept. 11, Canada placed Mr. Khadr's name on its list of designated "terrorist entities." His son Abdurahman was captured in November, 2001, by Northern Alliance troops who swept south to oust the Taliban. The following July, Omar Khadr, then just 15, was caught near Khost after a firefight with U.S. forces. He killed a U.S. medic with a hand grenade before he was captured. Khost is just across the border from Waziristan.

The RCMP's National Security Investigations branch launched an investigation into Mr. Khadr and his fundraising activities in Canada in the fall of 2001, but no charges have been announced.

The press release announcing Mr. Khadr's death was posted on the Abu Dhabi-based Internet site alsaha.com, which is closely monitored by the CIA and FBI because it often posts credible information on Islamic terrorist activities. The posting was detected by the SITE Institute counter-terrorism research centre in Washington, D.C.

Posted by Debbye at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)

October 09, 2003

Maher Arar

Oct. 9 - Maher Arar returned to Canada after detention in a Syrian jail. However, there are still no answers as to why he was detained, why he was sent to Syria instead of remaining in US custody, and why he was released. There were no answers forthcoming in the Commons:

"We do it in order to protect the privacy of individuals involved and ... to protect the integrity of investigations that are ongoing," he [Solicitor General Wayne Easter] said.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham sidestepped a question on whether Secretary of State Colin Powell told him if the RCMP shared information with the U.S.

"Secretary Powell ... said that the American authorities had acted within their jurisdiction ... based on information which they had received," Graham said. (Their ellipses)

The questions still remain: based on what information and from what source?

An Ottawa Citizen report had alleged that Arar was an al Qaeda agent and involved in a plot to bomb the American embassy in Ottawa.

According to this, there may be an investigation run by the RCMP's Public Complaints Commission.

Many believe that Arar was picked up by US officials on the basis of information relayed to them by the RCMP.

Posted by Debbye at 07:54 AM | Comments (0)

October 08, 2003

Accused in Kazemi case enters plea

Oct. 8 - Mohammad Reza Aghdam Ahmadi, who has been charged in the beating death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi, entered a plea of innocence yesterday in Tehran.

Tehran Deputy Prosecutor General Jafar Reshadati said Tuesday that Ahmadi was the only interrogator who spent long periods of time alone with Kazemi, refused to answer some questions about her treatment and gave contradictory statements.

Reshadati told the court a prison doctor confirmed June 26 that Kazemi was in good health and had responded to questions in writing. Hours later, she was rushed to the hospital with fatal injuries.

"Now, the accused should explain how a healthy person in his control who responded to questions in 18 pages by her own handwriting is then transferred to hospital and finally dies," Reshadati said.

Ahmadi's lawyer, Ghasem Shabani, told the court the indictment was flawed and showed "serious and deep contradictions" with documents provided by the Intelligence Ministry.

Shabani requested and received more time to study the inditement. No date was specified for resumption of the proceedings.

The case is becoming another struggle between reformists and hard-liners in Iran: the Intelligence Ministry is controlled by the reformists, and the judiciary is controlled by the conservatives.

The Intelligence Ministry has said that Kazemi was beaten by a prison official, who would have been a judicial agent. They have threatened to "expose all the facts" if the charges are not withdrawn.

Canadian Ambassador to Iran Phillip Mackinnon attended the trial. He recently returned to Iran after being withdrawn by the Canadian government.

Kazemi's body has still not been returned to Canada despite the request of her son, Stephan Hachemi.

Reporters without Borders issued an appeal Sept. 26 for an independent enquiry including international experts.

Posted by Debbye at 07:02 PM | Comments (0)

October 06, 2003

Maher Arar released from Syria

Oct. 6 - This very interesting in that it has happened so soon after the arrests of US military personnel who were suspected of spying for sources within Syria, the Israeli strike at a terrorist training camp, the emergency UNSC meeting called at Syria's request to condemn that strike, and the refusal of the US to drop its support of Israel: Canadian Maher Arar, held by Syria as a suspected terrorist, been released without explanation.

Arar had been intercepted while returning to Canada during a stopover in NYC and deported by US authorites to Syria. He holds dual citizenship with Canada and Syria, but was said to be travelling under his Canadian passport.

It's never been clear what triggered the detention or deportation, and the extent of involvement by Canadian security forces.

He had been accused of having links with al Qaeda, and Syria had reported been planning to trial him for membership in the banned organization Muslim Brotherhood.

Syria was accused of torturing Maher.

There was a news report in the July 25, 2003, Ottawa Citizen by Robert Fife titled "Al-Qaeda targeted U.S. Embassy" (the original link is dead, but a copy of the article is available here):

Ahmad Arnous, the Syrian ambassador to Canada, said yesterday he did not have personal knowledge of the al-Qaeda intrigue, but confirmed Syrian intelligence has provided useful information to the CIA and CSIS.

Mr. Arnous said Syria even shared classified information with the CIA and CSIS on Maher Arar, a Syrian-born Canadian citizen who U.S. authorities say has ties to al-Qaeda.

Mr. Arar, a 32-year old Ottawa engineer who was the target of a joint Canada-U.S. investigation, is now in a Syrian prison because of alleged links to terrorism.

Sources say Mr. Arar was tracked when he left Canada last year for a vacation to Tunisia. On his return home, he was arrested Sept. 26 by U.S. immigration authorities while changing flights at New York's Kennedy Airport and deported to Syria on Oct. 8 even though he was carrying a Canadian passport.

"There is some kind of co-operation between all countries friendly with Syria, including Canada because even on Mr. Arar there was a communication between the security people in Canada and Syrian anti-terrorism people," Mr. Arnous said.

Mr. Arar was first sent to Jordan for 10 days where the CIA has a special interrogation site for al-Qaeda agents.
In April, U.S. Ambassador to Canada Paul Cellucci, told a private audience that Mr. Arar was under surveillance long before his arrest and deportation to Damascus.

"Mr. Arar is very well known to Canadian law enforcement. They understand our handling of the case. They wouldn't be happy to see him come back to Canada," Mr. Cellucci said.

Last month, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien wrote to Mr. Arar's wife, Monia Mazigh, promising to fight for the return of her husband to Canada, although Foreign Affairs acknowledges they have not been able to see Mr. Arar since last April.

But a U.S. source said the Canadian government "knows much more about Arar than they are telling Canadians," saying the RCMP quietly asked the U.S. government to arrest Mr. Arar in New York City and deport him.
"Arar had been monitored for a long time. Canadian authorities knew about him long in advance before his arrest. He had been in Afghanistan with al-Qaeda," a source said.

Mr. Arar's wife denies her husband was ever in Afghanistan and insists he is not linked to al-Qaeda or any other terrorist group.

The Syrians also arrested another Ottawa man, Abdullah Almalki, last summer when he was travelling in Syria. Mr. Almalki remains in a Syrian prison, but little is known about him or the reasons for the arrest.

Foreign Affairs says two other Canadian men are also being detained overseas, but each has asked the department to keep his identity secret for reasons of privacy. One, who holds dual Canadian-Syrian citizenship, is being held in Syria. The other man holds Canadian and Egyptian citizenship and is considered by authorities to be a serious security risk.

According to the New Yorker, the Syrians compiled hundreds of files on al-Qaeda and penetrated al-Qaeda cells throughout the Middle-East and in the Arab exile community.

I wonder how involved PM Chretien was in obtaining Arar's release. Chretien also used his personal influence to release an accused terrorist held in Pakistan, Ahmed Said Khadr, who was later revealed as a money man for al Qaeda and who ran Human Concern, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.

The CIDA cut off funding after Human Concern financed a bombing in Pakistan that was orchestrated by al-Qaeda's #2 man, Al-Zawahiri.

Ahmed Said Khadr has not been seen since Sept. 11, and has been named as a high-ranking al Qaeda member by the UN. Two of his sons were detained in Afghanistan and are currently in custody, one of which is at Guantanamo and known as the "Toronto teen." PM Chretien has declined requests that he intervene to secure the younger Khadr's release and have him returned to Canada.

Posted by Debbye at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

October 02, 2003

George Radwanski

Oct. 2 - The cost thus far in the audit of former Privacy Commissioner George Radwanwski's office is $800,000.

True to form, the critics rushed to weigh in:

NDP MP Pat Martin called it a "horrendous cost" that could have been avoided through stronger control mechanisms to keep small agencies like the privacy commissioner's office in check.

"Having the auditor general do this ... expensive, comprehensive audit is the crudest of instruments to ensure scrutiny and oversight," he said. "This would be virtually negligible if there was a concrete process for these smaller agencies."

Radwanski is a victim, not a dirty unethical cheating lying pompous son-of-a-registered-gun arrogant thief. What we need is more regulations, because that always works. Thieves will never find the loopholes!
Canadian Alliance MP Paul Forseth said the Radwanski mess signals the need for better protection for public service whistleblowers as well as tighter system oversight.

"But the culture is denial, the culture is that everything is okay and that the Liberals who are in charge are great managers," he said. "In fact, this is showing the Liberals are terrible managers."

Isn't that what the Liberals said when it was a Progressive Conservative-led government? But heck, we're talking about a government that still won't establish ethics and conflict of interest guidelines. We're talking about a government wherein Cabinets appointments are made according to region and gender, not knowledge. Qualifications? Pfft. 'Tis to laugh. How hard can it be to stroke Chretien's ego?

The true denial is that the habitual patronage appointments without regard to character or qualifications plus a civil service culture that is less employee and more voting block creates problems.

The civil servants who knowingly allowed the gun registry to run over budget by $ 99 million were promoted. And MPs are worried about $800,000?

Posted by Debbye at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

MPs unite in anger over Kazemi

Oct. 2 - Here's something you don't see everyday: MPs unite in anger over Iran. A motion by MP Sarkis Assadourian (Brampton - Lib) calling for a return of Zahra Kazemi's body from Iran was unanimously approved by the House of Commons.

Canadian Alliance MP Stockwell Day raised objections to the return of Cdn. Ambassador Philip MacKinnon to Iran.

Posted by Debbye at 08:59 AM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2003

George Radwanski

Oct. 1 - The ongoing investigation into departmental expeditures under former Privacy Commissioner George Radwanski, who was forced to resign last June, continue with a damning report from Auditor General Sheila Fraser. Starting with the now ubiquitous luxurious, over-the-top entertainment expenditures, it also charges that Radwanski played favourites, ran the department with bullying and threats, and, by bullying those who would have brought financial abuses to public attention, created a climate of fear and intimidation.

The Auditor General has recommended that the RCMP investigate a pattern of civil servants cashing in vacations while taking time off and improper cash advances of $15,000 to Radwanski (one of which has not been repaid.)

Sheila Fraser urges that steps be taken to see that the money improperly acquired be repaid:

Blaming the Treasury Board Secretariat and Public Service Commission for allowing bad behaviour to go unchecked for years, Fraser insisted the rampant abuse by civil servants is "not the norm." She recommended the government rectify the wrongs of the bad apples by knocking down undeserved hires or promotions, and ordering repayment from those who abused public money.

She estimated about $200,000 is recoverable -- including half from Radwanski. Officials could also go after $350,000 in questionable payments through over-classed jobs or performance bonuses.

In an interview yesterday, interim privacy commissioner Robert Marleau said two executives have already paid $80,000 in restitution for vacation pay, and a third is expected to submit $120,000 within days. He also plans to recoup cash for improper travel and hospitality claims but added he won't make heads roll -- at least for now.

As people may remember, this investigation began when it was discovered that Radwanski has altered financial expenditure reports, and gained momentum when it was revealed that one day prior to his appointment as Privacy Commissioner in 2000, Radwanski had been forgiven a debt of $540,000 which he owed in unpaid taxes.

Posted by Debbye at 07:51 AM | Comments (0)

September 30, 2003

Canadian Ambassador returns to Iran

Sept. 30 - The Canadian ambassador to Iran, Phillip MacKinnon, will return to Iran with instructions to keep an eye on Iran's ongoing nuclear program, the investigation into the beating death of Zahra Kazemi and push for a public trial of the person accused of causing her death, and to press for a return of her body to Canada.

So now he's an expert on the development of nuclear programs. That's a lame attempt to sell his return due to an urgent reason.

Just last week the Canadian government was threatening to suspend foreign aid.

Doesn't it really mean that the Foreign Affairs Ministry is still hoping this issue just "goes away?" "Soft power" indeed. Canada is trying for a Guinness World Record spot as the Most Indifferent when her citizens are arrested and tortured.

Kazemi's death last July gained international attention in great part due to the efforts of her son, Montrealer Stephan Hachemi. There are two petitions at the Project Free Iran website addressed to world leaders which calls them to join in calls demanding that the current regime step down and that the UN oversee a referendum in Iran and free elections.

There is also a lot of news updates and analysis about Iran on that page. Good one to bookmark.

Among other things is the claim that over 120,000 political prisoners and freedom loving Iranians have been executed in Iran over the past 2 decades. Inasmuch as the number of those who were tortured and executed in Iraq under the former regime turned out to be much higher than we suspected, this isn't a claim that can be easily dismissed however much we might wish it weren't true.

Posted by Debbye at 08:30 AM | Comments (0)

September 23, 2003

Intelligence agent charges in Kazemi death

Sept. 23 - An Intelligence Ministry agent has been charged in the death of Zahra Kazemi in Iran last July.

In a statement from the Tehran prosecutor's office Monday, veteran judge Javad Esmaeili charged the agent with the "semi-premeditated murder" of Zahra Kazemi.

The agent was one of two Intelligence Ministry officials charged in connection with Kaezmi's death last month. The prosecutor's office had rejected those charges Sept. 1.

At the time, Tehran's deputy prosecutor general, Jafar Reshadati said the original probe into the crime was incomplete and needed to be opened for reinvestigation.

The second agent linked to the case was acquitted, the prosecutor's office said in its statement Monday.

According to the statement, Esmaeili concluded that there was no government conspiracy behind the crime.

"The crime is attributed to one of the (Intelligence Ministry) interrogators and the reasons have been presented in the lawsuit against the accused."

Kazemi died in an Iranian hospital in early July, after reportedly suffering head injuries while in custody. The Montreal-based photojournalist had been arrested for photographing student-led protests outside a Tehran-area prison.

Initially, the hardline Tehran prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, was quoted as saying Kazemi had died of a stroke. But a presidential-appointed committee discredited his account, finding instead that she had died on July 10 -- from head injuries sustained while in custody.

Iran's investigation of the case has since exposed deep internal divisions within Iran -- between reformists, who loosely control the Intelligence Ministry, and hardliners who control Iran's police force, judiciary and security agencies.

I don't think I'm out of line if I ridicule CTV for contending that Kazemi's death exposed the internal divisions in Iran. The internal struggle in Iran between moderates and hardliners has been considered newsworthy for a couple of years now, and Iranian President Katami has publicly expressed frustration many times when even mild reforms have been approved by the Parliament but vetoed by the mullahs.

CTV, of course, is hardly the only Western news media that consistently underestimates the yearning for freedom in Iran (and other countries, I might add.) Most of us had already clued into the fact that Iranians were not totally supportive of the mullahs when they staged an imprompteau rally in sympathy with the Sept. 11 attacks, and Australian Tim Blair's post Compare and Contrast hits the nail pretty squarely on the head when he quotes Canadian Duncan Beatty(now living in California) who recently traveled to Iran:

Many of the people in the cabs in Tehran had the similar thoughts. "Tell George Bush to come and get rid of the mullahs for us." I was shocked by the openness of that statement. With one fellow I tried to discuss it with him in more detail to see if he really meant it or was just talking. I told him that if George Bush came and got rid of the Mullahs, it would not be to help the people of Iran; he would be coming for the oil. The fellow replied, "He can have the oil, its not doing us any good anyway and at least then we would be free."
The sweet air of liberty. Why does the media fear it so?

Posted by Debbye at 09:00 AM | Comments (0)

September 19, 2003

Americans wake up

Sept. 19 - Americans are beginning to wake up. Far too many of us have accepted the judgement that, unlike other nations, the USA alone pursues policies that are advantageous to her and her people.

Americans are beginning to realize that, although we and our governments are far from perfect, we are certainly not alone in the pursuit of self-interest but may be unique in that we are not only aware of our shortcomings but even discuss them publicly.

We've gone from accepting the scolding of imaginary "international community" and have begun to see the UN for what it is: a bureaucratic organization where the majority of the members don't even pretend to respect human rights yet think they have moral authority to lecture and dictate to us.

This is an organization in which Libya can chair -- without intentional irony -- the UN Human Rights Committee and that committee can strip Reporters Without Borders of observer status because they held a peaceful demonstration which protested the naming of Libya as chair of that committee.

Further, the UN found itself unable to rise to the challenge Saddam posed as expressed in Pres. Bush's speech to the UN in September, 2002, that it assert its mandate and finally confront Saddam:

Are Security Council resolutions to be honored and enforced or cast aside without consequence?

Will the United Nations serve the purpose of its founding or will it be irrelevant?

The French have probably done the most to erode American idealism about the UN. Their threats of exercising their veto not only over pre- and post-war Iraq but also to removing the sanctions on Libya over the Lockerbie bombing unless they received additional money from Libya above their previous settlement for a different bombing raised even more questions about the actual purpose as well as integrity of the UN.

Thanks to The Canukistanian for sending me this WSJ Opinion Journal link Do You Feel Lucky, Paris? by Daniel Henninger.

A recent Gallup poll confirms some of the changes that many of us hoped for: Sept. 11 finally got a lot of Americans to wake up and look a bit closer at the true state of the world, and they have drawn their conclusions. (Follow the link for the statistics; the UN's approval rating has dropped significantly.)

A few excerpts from the Opinion Journal article:

Shortly after the [Iraq] war was over, a high official from France's Parliament visited our offices hoping to let bygones be bygones. He said we were all joined in the war on terror and that our countries' long-term interests coincided. He was visiting American editorial boards and going to Washington to see key members of Congress in the belief that if he could convince these influential people--the U.S. networking equivalent of les grandes ecoles--Franco-American relations would revive.

Whereupon he was told: "Sir, there is really not much that we or the members of Congress can do for you. France's problems now are not with America's policy makers but with America's comedians." [Their emphasis]

Nope, no gag order for Jay Leno. And one has to wonder what on earth the French thought their strategy would accomplish except to provide more material for the comedians.

One result of the list the French circulated purporting to prove that they were being slandered was for journalists to point out those articles (usually by themselves) which had been left off and to write even more in hopes of being included on that list. This was a fairly predictable reaction, but I have to wonder: do the French really understand so little about us?

And then there's this:

Well before Iraq, one of the elite criticisms of the U.S., heard mostly in Europe and in the American academy, has been that the U.S. is compulsively trying to "impose its values" on the rest of the world. . . But from Germany and Japan after World War II and on up to Kosovo, Afghanistan and now Iraq, I am aware of only one "value" America has tried to impose and it's not Mickey Mouse. It is democracy, or at a minimum, liberty.
The one place the US maintained troops against the wishes of the people is South Korea, or at least they objected until we actually began to withdraw. Go figure.

But one thing is clear: Americans are seeing the UN and its institutions as if for the first time, and they are shaking off an undeserved legacy of shame and humiliation. We have chosen the option to continue to work to improve ourselves and our country and yes, even the world, but it will be about the things we care about and in the ways we think will work. That is not going to include enriching the coffers of the renowned tyrants and butchers. Those days are over.

We are also seeing Europe differently and now realize that, contrary to their belief, Belguim and France do not speak for all of Europe. There's some new kids in town, and they are not only newer but stronger in their support of democratic institutions and human rights because they had been deprived of them for so long.

(I'm not going to explain the Dirty Harry reference in the title; read the entire article.)

I think the knock-out punch to the UN could come if a free Iraq were to demand an accounting from those who ran the UN Oil-For-Food program and and an explanation not only for the palace trappings but for the weapons and military equipment that the Russians, French, Chinese and, to a lesser degree, Germany imported as food and medicine. And, less we forget, Kofi Annan signed off on all the invoices in the program.

The UN Security Council lost more credibility when Def. Secy. Rumsfeld confirmed that US military forces had turned off the pipeline that was shipping Iraqi oil illegally to UNSC member Syria. By the way, does Syria occupy Lebanon with UN approval? Of course not. Does the UN care? Riiiight.

Information about the workings of the UN, which had never exactly been concealed, is beginning to achieve a prominence that should make wiser UN members a bit nervous. It may take awhile, but the US electorate does have the power to turn off the money taps to the UN which would pretty much spell the end of that institution because the other members are unwilling to support it financially. Even the prospect of moving it to Toronto was dropped when Toronto Mayor Lastman pointed out that it should be done only if the Canadian government was willing to underwrite all expenses.

TotalFinaElf, the Oil-For-Food program with UN oversight (and a 2.2% commission for the UN for that oversight), pre-war sweetheart contracts with Saddam on untapped oil fields by France, Russia and China, and failure to take action that would have forced Saddam to comply with UN resolutions seem to point to some pretty damning complicity, but the Bush administration has not exploited that information yet (although the information has appeared in both the NY Times (linked above) and Canada's Financial Post in a column by Diane Francis (FP link is dead.)

Canada's credibility has been damaged by its connection to the oil company TotalFinaElf. A sizeable oil exploration contract with Iraq was obtained when Saddam was in power by TotalFinaElf, and the majority shareholder in that company is Montreal's Paul Desmarais, whose youngest son, Andre, is married to Chretien's daughter, France. Desmarais has connections to Paul Martin, former Mulroney cabinet ministers and even former Ontario premier and NDP leader Bob Rae. And Chretien's nephew Raymond is Canada's ambassador to France. (Canadians might be very surprised if they read the linked article about Mr. Desmarais and his associates.)

You see, it wasn't the war in Iraq that was "all about oil", it was the opposition to the war that was about oil. Coming to terms with that is going to further lessen the influence of the UN on the United States.

Posted by Debbye at 07:19 PM | Comments (2)

September 14, 2003

Zahra Kazemi (cont.)

Sept. 13 - A coalition of several journalism and human rights groups, including Kazemi's son, Stephan Hachemi, is pushing the Canadian government to pursue all legal avenues to obtain justice for Zahra Kazemi, the photojournalist killed while under detention in Iran last summer.

Specifically, the groups want Ottawa to:

- Investigate all cases of torture of Canadians abroad in accordance with the Criminal Code.

- Present Kazemi's case to the United Nations and ask it to lead an investigation through its Human Rights Commission.

- And submit an appeal to the International Court of Justice concerning violations of the Vienna Convention that prevented Kazemi, who had dual Iranian-Canadian citizenship, from getting proper consular protection.

Catherine Duhamel of the International Judicial Resources Centre said the coalition does not have wild expectations.

"It's a start," Duhamel told a news conference. "Two laws in Canada concerning Mrs. Kazemi's case are applicable. Why not use them? Start using them and see what happens."

Why not indeed?

Posted by Debbye at 09:46 AM | Comments (0)

September 02, 2003

Ottawa requests UNHRC to take up Kazemi case

Sept. 2 -- The investigation into the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi is to be reopened as Charges have been dropped in Kazemi file against the two interogators because the inditements were incomplete.

Meanwhile, Ottawa has asked the UN Human Rights Commission to take up the Kazemi case.
It's nice to know that that the UNHRC, chaired by LIBYA, and which voted to deny consultative status to Reporters Without Borders, will be on the case.

Posted by Debbye at 12:45 PM | Comments (0)

September 01, 2003

Bruce Balfour released

Sept. 1 -- A Lebanese court has found Bruce Balfour not guilty of colllaborating with Israel and he may be free as early as Tuesday.

Another Canadian citizen, Grant Livingstone, who stood trial in absentia on the same charge was also found innocent.

Canadian Citizenship and Immigration Minister Denis Coderre met earlier Monday with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and said Canada respected Lebanon's judicial system.

Coderre said he also met with Balfour at the suburban Roumieh prison, east of Beirut, who appeared to be in good health.

There is nothing in this article to indicate why Min. Coderre handled this instead of Foreign Affairs Min. Bill Graham. You, of course, are free to speculate.

Posted by Debbye at 05:39 PM | Comments (0)

August 30, 2003

Why you should live in each province

Aug. 30 -- I was inspired to search through my mailbox to retrieve this gem sent by some dear friends on Cape Breton Island.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN EACH PROVINCE!

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN BRITISH COLUMBIA

1. Weed.
2. Vancouver: 1.5 million people and two bridges.
3. The local hero is a pot-smoking snowboarder.
4. The local wine doesn't taste like malt vinegar.
5. Your $400,000 Vancouver home is just 5 hours from downtown.
6. A university with a nude beach.
7. You can throw a rock and hit three Starbucks locations.
8. If a cop pulls you over, just offer them some of your hash.
9. There's always some sort of deforestation protest going on.
10. Cannabis.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ALBERTA

1. Big Rock between you and B.C.
2. Ottawa who?
3. Tax is 7 percent instead of approximately 200 percent for the of the country.
4. The Premier is a fat, alcoholic who is easy to make fun of.
5. Flames vs. Oilers.
6. Stamps vs. Eskies.
7. You can exploit almost any natural resource you can think of.
8. You live in the only province that could actually afford to be it's own country.
9. The Americans below you are all in anti-government militia groups.
10. You can attempt to murder your rich oil tycoon husband and get away with it.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN SASKATCHEWAN

1. You never run out of wheat.
2. Ten months of winter and 2 months of poor skating.
3. Cruise control takes on a whole new meaning.
4. Your province is really easy to draw.
5. You never have to worry about roll-back if you have a standard shift.
6. It takes you two weeks to walk to your neighbour's house.
7. YOUR Roughriders survived.
8. You can watch the dog run away from home for hours.
9. People will assume you live on a farm.
10. Buying a huge John Deere mower makes sense.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN MANITOBA

1. You wake up one morning to find you suddenly have beachfront property.
2. Amusing town names like "Flin Flon" and "Winnipeg".
3. All your local bands make it big and move to Toronto.
4. The only province to ever violently rebel against the federal government.
5. Hundreds of huge, horribly frigid lakes.
6. Nothing compares to a wicked Winnipeg winter.
7. You don't need a car, just take the canoe to work.
8. You can be an Easterner or a Westerner depending on your mood.
9. Because of your licence plate, you are still friendly even when you cut someone off.
10. Pass the time watching trucks and barns float by.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN ONTARIO

1. You live in the center of the universe.
2. Your $400,000 Toronto home is actually a dump.
3. You and you alone decide who will win the federal election.
4. There's no such thing as an Ontario Separatist. Separate from what? You are the centre of the universe.
5. Your grandparents sold booze to the States during Prohibition.
6. Lots of tourists come to Toronto because they mistakenly believe it's a cool city.
7. The only province with hard-core American-style crime.
8. Much Music's Speaker's Corner - rant and rave on national TV for a dollar.
9. Baseball fans park on your front lawn and pee on the side of your house.
10. Mike Harris: basically a sober Ralph Klein.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN QUEBEC

1. Everybody assumes you're an asshole.
2. Racism is socially acceptable.
3. The only province to ever kidnap federal politicians.
4. You can take bets with your friends on which English neighbour will move out next.
5. Other provinces basically bribe you to stay in Canada.
6. The FLQ.
7. Your hockey team is made up entirely of dirty French guys who can't skate.
8. The province with the oldest, nastiest hookers.
9. NON-smokers are the outcasts.
10. You can blame all your problems on the "Anglo bastards".

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEW BRUNSWICK

1. You are sandwiched between French assholes and drunken Celtic fiddlers.
2. One way or another, the government gets 98 percent of your income.
3. You're poor, but not as poor as the Newfies.
4. When listing the provinces, everyone forgets to mention yours.
5. The economy is based on fish, cows, and ferrying Ontario motorists to Boston.
6. No one ever blames anything on New Brunswick.
7. You have French people, but they don't want to kill you.
8. Everybody has a Grandfather who runs a lighthouse.
9. Just as charming as Maine, but with more unemployed fishermen.
10. You probably live in a small seaside cottage with no television.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NOVA SCOTIA

1. The only place in North America to get bombed in the war by a moron who set ammunitions ship on fire. (Halifax Explosion)
2. The province is shaped like the male genitalia.
3. Everyone can play the fiddle. The ones who can't, think they can.
4. If someone asks if you're a Newfie, you are allowed to kick their ass.
5. The local hero is an insane, fiddle playing, sexual pervert homo.
6. The province that produced Rita MacNeil, the world's largest land mammal.
7. You are the "only" reason Anne Murray makes money.
8. You can pretend you have Scottish heritage as an excuse to get drunk and wear a kilt.
9. The economy is based on lobster and fiddle music.
10. Even though it smells like dead sea animals, Halifax is considered Canada's most beautiful city.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE ON PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

1. Even though more people live on Vancouver Island, you still got the big ass bridge.
2. You can walk across the province in half an hour.
3. You were probably once an extra on "Road to Avonlea".
4. This is where all those tiny red potatoes come from.
5. The economy is based on fish, potatoes, and CBC TV shows.
6. Tourists arrive, see the "Anne of Green Gables" house, then promptly leave.
7. You can drive across the province in two minutes.
8. It doesn't matter to you if Quebec separates.
9. You don't share a border with the Americans, or with anyone for that matter.
10. You can confuse ships by turning your porch lights on and off at night.

TOP 10 REASONS TO LIVE IN NEWFOUNDLAND

1. The poorest, drunkest province in Confederation.
2. If Quebec Separates, you will float off to sea.
3. In the rare case when someone moves to the Rock, you can make them kiss a dead cod.
4. The economy is based on fish, seafood, and fish-related products.
5. If you do something stupid, you have a built-in excuse.
6. You & only you understand the meaning of Great Big Sea's lyrics.
7. The workday is about two hours long.
8. You are credited with many great inventions, like the solar-powered flashlight and the screen door for submarines.
9. If someone asks if you're from Cape Breton, you are allowed to kick their ass.
10. It is socially acceptable to wear your hip waders on your wedding day!

Posted by Debbye at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)

Another questionable federal contract

Aug. 30 -- I don't get Canada. No, really. We've been bogged down in Toronto over a scandal over computers that cast a lot of doubt on the integrity of civil servants, but it's the elected officials taking the heat because evidently it's a bigger crime to be fooled by civil servants than to do the fooling.

Now there's a similar scandal on the federal level forcing the Feds to reopen bidding on contract to move staff

The unusual decision comes one month after the Canadian International Trade Tribunal determined that public servants evaluating the bids for the lucrative contract drew up the criteria to favour Royal LePage Relocations.
Now I'm already thinking jail time or, at minimum, termination without a recommendation and disallowing Royal LePage from ever bidding on a government contract again but from what I read, the federal government's solution (drawn up by civil servants, no doubt) is to spend several months to draft new criteria for the project and have interested parties re-submit their bids, and if Royal LePage doesn't get the new contract, the feds will pay penalties for cancelling a rigged bid.

I don't get it. See opening sentence of previous paragraph.

I'm not throwing stones here. I am all too well aware that suspicious, smelly things that walk, talk and quack like corruption exist in the US too, but when caught there is this thing called the law that kicks in to at least give an appearance that some integrity is expected from our civil service.

Posted by Debbye at 11:00 AM | Comments (0)

August 27, 2003

Iran threatens to exclude Canada from investigation

Aug. 27 -- Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, a government spokesman for Iran, has said that there is no obligation for the Iranian government to inform Canada of what the investigation into the death of Zahra Kazemi has learned. The Iranian government has cited the fact that Kazemi was a dual citizen and on Iranian soil when her death took place 3 weeks after her detainment by authorities.

Although there have been reports that two people have been arrested for her death, the Canadian Office of Foreign Affairs has received no official notification.

UPDATE: According to this, Iranian officials have reversed their earlier decision to exclude Canada from the investigation. But if I'm reading between the lines correctly, various officials in Iran are actually reversing one another which is not exactly a shock to anyone who has followed the power struggle between the elected Parliament and the unelected mullahs who are determined to keep Iran an ayatollocracy.

It also comes as more details slowly emerge about the two women charged with the "semi-intentional murder" of Ms. Kazemi, whose mysterious death has not only strained relations between Iran and Canada, but has exposed a growing rift between the Islamic country's hardline judiciary and elected reformers.

The rift grew even larger yesterday, as Iran's reformist-controlled Intelligence Ministry vehemently denied that two of its employees were responsible for Ms. Kazemi's death.

On Monday, the prosecutor's office in Tehran announced it had charged two intelligence agents. The office did not name the accused, but human rights organizations have been told that both women were present during the initial interrogation that followed Ms. Kazemi's arrest on June 23.

Some reports have described the accused as medical workers -- one a nurse; the other a personal caregiver -- while others insist they were security agents.

But the Intelligence Ministry -- all but accusing the judiciary of a cover-up -- insisted that its office is innocent of any crime. A spokesman even threatened to reveal what really happened to Ms. Kazemi unless the charges are dropped.

"The government considers the Intelligence Ministry clean and clear of any charges," said Abdollah Ramezanzadeh. "This should be rectified. Otherwise we will announce all we know in defence of the prestige of the government and what we know as facts."

I don't know if that actually makes anything clearer . . . and no, Mrs. Kazemi's body has still not been returned to Canada.

Posted by Debbye at 07:47 AM | Comments (0)

August 23, 2003

Overseas Wars: A Review of Overseas Terrorism in Canada

Aug. 23 -- In this followup to this report about the 19 men detained by the RCMP, I was reminded of this which referenced an article about The MacKenzie Institute's report "Overseas Wars: A Review of Overseas Terrorism in Canada" in the National Post (link dead; go to links here and here) which stated that there are 10,000 terrorists in Canada and another National Post article (and another dead link) about the anger of Ontario law enforcement officials that 59 known war criminals are at loose in Canada, probably in Toronto, but the federal government won't release photos to help track them down because it would violate the war criminals' privacy.

According to The Public Safety Act an amendment to the Immigration Act contains a provision

suspending or terminating refugee determination proceedings if there are reasonable grounds to believe that the claimant is a terrorist, senior official of a government engaged in terrorism or a war criminal.
I'm actually not making a point so much as trying to gather loose threads and see what they indicate, but the extent to which Canada is committed to the War on Terror still seems contradictory.

Also, I am going to blogroll Israpundit.

Posted by Debbye at 11:50 AM | Comments (0)

August 20, 2003

Hapless and Screeching Bill Graham

Aug. 20 - Too bad for Foreign Affairs Min. Bill Graham that I read this after I was braced by Bill Whittle's glorious essay on Responsibility, so if you like the Minister, be prepared for some insultin'.

Both he and PM Chretien react to the bombing of the UN offices in Baghdad in ways that make me (temporarily) despair for this wonderful country:

Prime Minister Jean Chretien, speaking at a Liberal caucus meeting in North Bay, expressed condolences to Klein-Beekman's family and called it "absolutely unbelievable" that anyone would attack a UN office.

"These people are there to maintain peace and help people to build back their society ... It's so incredible that you're attacking the UN," he said. "The UN has only one mission -- to bring about peace, settle disputes, bring people together."

Yes, and the Canadian army wants to go only to places were it can spread peace and happiness. And everyone loves the UN - not. Has he forgotten that al Qaeda was stopped from bombing the UN HQ in NYC in the mid-90's?

The UN and its's peacekeepers have certainly not been safe as reported here, and although this may be the first time a successful attacks against a UN office was hit, it was mere months ago that 2 peacekeepers were killed in the Congo which prompted Canada, among other nations, to bolster the mission there.

The money quotes, though, were uttered by Bill Graham:

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham also found it troubling that the UN had been targeted by Iraqi dissidents.
More troubling than charges that the Saudis tortured Bill Sampson, and the Syrians are torturing Maher Arar? What about the murder of Zahra Kazemi at the hands of the Iranian government?

Furthermore, why does he assume this was done by Iraqi dissidents? Most of us recognize al Qaeda, and even analysts are cautiously accepting the Flypaper theory, calling Iraq a magnet for terrorists who have poured in especially from Syria and Saudi Arabia.

"It's an indication, I think, of desperation on their behalf. I think it's an indication also that we in the world community have to be determined to rebuild Iraq as a free and democratic country where this won't happen." (Emphasis added.)
September 11 happened in a free and democratic country, idiot. In fact, the aim of terrorism is to have such events happen in free and democratic countries, or haven't you noticed that al Qaeda has focused on countries like Indonesia and East Timor which are trying to become free and democratic? And what about Israel, which alone of the countries in the Middle East is free and democratic?

Is everyone out there hoping and praying that the international news media organs don't carry these remarks?

Posted by Debbye at 10:18 AM | Comments (0)

August 16, 2003

Blame Game for Black-Out

Aug. 16 -- The Daily Telegraph (UK) nails political leaders on both sides of the border with pinpoint accuracy: It's all your fault, Canada and US tell each other.

Canadians' long-standing love-hate relationship with their neighbour has soured recently amid Canadian opposition to the war in Iraq.

President George W Bush and Mr Chretien have a cool relationship, not helped when the prime minister's press aide told a reporter the US president was a "moron".

The British can be masters of the understatement.

Meanwhile, back in the real world (i.e., unpopulated by politcians and pundits,) my neighbours are proving to be among the world's finest: when it started raining, people whooped and hollared in gladness, then surged outdoors for some relief from the heavy, humid heat that we woke up to. And they are now busy arranging car pools for the beer store.

Guess they didn't read the doom and gloom outlook in today's Toronto Star and realize that they are supposed to be apprehensive and fearful.

UPDATE: The Toronto Sun tells that my neighbourhood isn't the only one that decided to party:

Spontaneous parties erupted all over the city Thursday night as many Torontonians chose to gather in the streets rather than sit in their darkened homes. Eric Brazier, 25, was on his way home with a friend during the largest blackout in North American history when he stumbled upon one such impromptu party on Yonge St. just north of Eglinton Ave.

Posted by Debbye at 10:45 AM | Comments (0)

August 13, 2003

Gun battle in Riyadh

Aug. 13 --

A gun battle erupted in Riyadh yesterday during an operation to hunt down Islamist militants.

Four members of an elite security force and a suspected terrorist were killed and several people were wounded during an operation in the southern Al-Suwaidi district of the Saudi capital.

[...]

The shootings came amid continuing tension in Saudi Arabia. Raids by security forces are reported every few days. According to official figures, 12 militants have been killed and more than 200 arrested since suicide bombings at three residential compounds in Riyadh on May 12.

[...]

On Sunday, police arrested about 10 suspected Islamist militants after another shoot-out in Riyadh. Police found hand grenades. A security source said the men were fugitives but it was not clear if they were linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qa'eda group.

The release last week of six Britons convicted of bomb attacks has prompted strong anti-British feeling and the government said the 10 suspected terrorists arrested on Monday were believed to have been plotting an attack on British interests in the kingdom. (Emphasis added)

I've read variations on that last paragraph several times over the past few days. It's hard to tell if the people there are angry because they too have relatives and friends who have been held and tortured unjustly or if they believed the confessions of the 6 to the bombing death of a British banker were true.

I wonder if Canadian Foreign Affairs Min. Bill Graham would like to explain why the Saudis are not angry at Canada after the pivotal role his department played in getting Bill Sampson released. (/sarcasm)

Actually, he what he really needs to explain is this:

Canadian William Sampson, who spent 31 months in a Saudi Arabian prison, repeatedly told Canadian officials that he was being tortured, according to documents obtained by the CBC. Reports that Sampson, who was released on Friday, had been tortured were treated only as allegations by the Canadian government, which said it had received assurances from the Saudi government that international law governing the treatment of prisoners was being observed.

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said as recently as last Friday that the conditions of Sampson's imprisonment were not known, but that the issue was a concern.

But documents obtained by CBC-TV's The Fifth Estate highlight three occasions on which Sampson told visiting Canadian officials that he had been abused by his captors.

"William said he had been physically abused during the past 10 months," read one report filed by Canadian diplomat Jean Gobeil who met with Sampson on Oct. 16, 2001.

Posted by Debbye at 06:38 AM | Comments (0)

August 11, 2003

Hapless Bill Graham

Aug. 11 -- Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said nothing noteworthy in his keynote address at a conference sponsored by the Couchiching Institute on Public Affairs yesterday.

Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. He said Canada did all it could to help Bill Sampson and Mr. Sampson was released, he is still trying to get the Iranian government to release Zahra Kazemi's body, and that the Syrian Foreign Minister hasn't yet returned his call to answer allegations that Maher Arar has been tortured in a Syrian jail.

There was no mention in the article of Canadian Bruce Balfour who is currently being held in a Lebanese prison.

He is aware that Canadian troops are in Afghanistan, so maybe I should cut him some slack.

Posted by Debbye at 11:43 AM | Comments (0)

August 08, 2003

Bill Sampson released!

Aug. 8 - According to this from Daimnation, Bill Sampson and five British citizens who were also accused of carrying out bombings have been released and may be in England already. Sampson and UK citizen Alexander Mitchell had been found guilty and sentenced to death.

Let me think: Regime change in Iraq, Riyadh bombings, Sept 11 report, hostile attitudes toward the Saudis, continuous Canadian, UK and US diplomatic efforts to free Sampson and the others ... nah, no connection. (UPDATE: I can't believe I failed to include fall of Saddam regime.)

According to this, they've landed safely in England.

One nightmare over.

UPDATE: Steven den Beste has some thoughts on the arrest and release of Bill Sampson over at USS Clueless Denying failure. Also, be sure to follow his link here for the transcript of a 1998 speech by Ralph Peters which is an incisive assessment of "failure factors" in countries that have consistently failed to become competitive.

Posted by Debbye at 12:28 PM | Comments (0)

August 06, 2003

Order of Canad awarded to Chretien's son-in-law

Aug. 6 -- From the Toronto Sun Order of Canada for PM's buddies.

OTTAWA -- Canada's governor general has honoured some of Prime Minister Jean Chretien's closest advisers and supporters -- including his son-in-law -- with the coveted Order of Canada. Among the 109 names made public yesterday were retired veteran Liberal MP Herb Gray,the PM's son-in-law Andre Desmarais, retired astronaut Marc Garneau, Chretien's former chief of staff Jean Pelletier and former Liberal cabinet minister Lloyd Axworthy.

(Follow the link for Desmarais which will also take you to the goodness of posts from Winds of Change, Mrs. du Toit and be sure to check out this in case your forgot how closely tied PM Chretien is to international oil companies.)

To re-iterate, this is the same son-in-law who is a chief co-executive of Montreal Power Corp and whose father is the biggest shareholder in TotalFinaElf, the French petroleum company that had sweetheart deals with Saddam Hussein (not that the relationship affected PM Chretien's decision to denounce the War in Iraq.)

What did the reflective PM say last year on the anniversary of Sept. 11? Something about arrogance, greed, or something?

Posted by Debbye at 09:39 AM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2003

Zahra Kazemi

Aug. 5 - Paul has an update on the Iranian investigation into the murder of Zahra Kazemi You can just taste that Iranian justice.... Yep. The Iranians have learned some things about due process from the West.

Posted by Debbye at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 01, 2003

Bruce Balfour

Aug. 1 - According to this, Calgarian Bruce Balfour will face a military court in Lebanon Aug. 11 on a charge of collaborating with an enemy state, namely Israel, because he had once visited there. (The article also thinks it was Mr. Balfour's fault because he "knew" the rules.)

The Cedars of Lebanon website has a useful compendium of articles from Canadian newspapers on Mr. Balfour's detention (scanned, unfortunately, so no links). It seems that the Lebanese were waiting for Mr. Balfour to arrive because they had prior knowledge he had visited Israel before.

It has been confirmed that the Lebanese government never informed the Canadian Embassy of the arrest.

Reynald Doiron, spokesman for Foreign Affairs, said he couldn't discuss the charge until the Embassy in Beirut receives a written copy of the it from the Lebanese prosecutor (which was to be delivered by today.)

The website has posted the charge against Mr. Balfour which was directed to the Beirut Canadian Embassy July 30: a petition for arrest was filed March 24, he was arrested in absentia on April 2, an Accusation Act was filed April 15, and he was arrested upon his arrival at the Beirut airport July 10.

Encouragingly, The RCPL, a Lebanese-Canadian organization, has gotten involved and sent a letter to Foreign Affairs Min. Bill Graham:

This letter was addressed to the Canadian Minister of Foreign affairs M. Bill Graham to ask him to intervene more efficiently to liberate a Canadian citizen illegally arrested in Lebanon.

As CA MP Stockwell Day pointed out, Canada pledged $7 million toward the expenses of the recent Francophone summit held in Lebanon.

Would expressing Canadian disapproval of the detention of Mr. Balfour by withholding the money be considered acceptable in the exercise of soft diplomacy?

Posted by Debbye at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)

Reynolds on Canada

Aug. 1 - I guess it was inevitable that the weirdness that passes for the Canadian government would finally be noticed by the Blogfather. In From the "Well, Duh" Department, Glenn Reynolds noticed that the burial of Zahra Kazemi generated a bigger diplomatic storm from the goofs in Ottawa than her murder.

He then links to an article about Chretien's efforts to free Syrian-Canadian Maher Arar. This is so very depressing.

Actually, it's a good thing he doesn't know the half of it. Stephan Hachemi, Kazemi's son, deserves most of the credit for his tireless efforts to obtain justice for his mother despite attempts by "Screeching" Bill Graham (TM Paul) to shut him up.

What is happening with the cases of Canadians Bruce Balfour, who is now in jail in Lebanon, and Bill Sampson, who's under a death sentence in a Saudi jail? They aren't generating a diplomatic breeze much less a storm.

Posted by Debbye at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

July 29, 2003

Progress slow in Kazemi case

July 29 - From the Toronto Sun, Progress slow in Kazemi case:

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham provided little assurance yesterday that progress is being made in the investigation into the death of a Canadian photojournalist. "What we want to do is make sure that those who are responsible for this tragic death are apprehended and punished for it -- whoever it is," Graham said yesterday of reports the lead prosecutor in Iran was involved.

[...]

"We wish to use the case both to open further democracy in Iran and also the protection of journalists," said Graham, whose son Patrick spent time in Iraq covering the war. But Graham has yet to speak with the Iranian foreign minister or confirm the reports surrounding the arrest of five security officials. (Emphasis added)

By George I think he's got it! Finally. This is, and has always been, the crux of the issue. (Maybe he finally learned the difference between international laws and covenants and why calling on Iran to adhere to a law that doesn't exist or a covenant they haven't signed put Canada's case internationally on shaky ground.)
Graham is expected to meet with Hachemi who has called on the Canadian government to impose trade sanctions, charge the lead Iranian prosecutor with engaging in terrorist activity and involve the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Stephen Hachemi has been relentless in his pursuit of justice. Maybe whenever we start to whine "There's nothing we can do" we should stop short and remember him. He's pulling people together to fight a stone-walling Ayatollocracy (TM Paul), and everyone who believes in freedom of the press should be cheering for him.

Over at the Reporters Without Borders website they are calling on Canada to take the initiative:
Reporters Without Borders urged the Canadian government to take the initiative of setting up an international commission of enquiry and to pressure the Iranian government into accepting the commission.

"It is clear now that only an international enquiry will be able to identify who was involved," [Reporters Without Borders secretary-general Robert] Mnard said. "The Iranian regime clearly has no desire to shed light on this case and prosecute those responsible for this murder."

[...]

A total of 21 journalists are currently in prison in Iran, 13 of whom were arrested in the past 40 days. This makes the Islamic republic the biggest prison for journalists in the Middle East. Thirteen of the detained journalists are being held by Mortazavi's staff and Revolutionary Guards in the same centre where Kazemi was interrogated.

These detainees are denied all rights (such as visits from their lawyer and family) and are kept in deplorable conditions. Reporters Without Borders is very concerned about their fate, especially as their relatives have referred to physical and psychological torture in a letter to President Khatami.

In another statement, they have issued a Call for European Union to break with Iran over journalist's death:
Reporters Without Borders called on the European Union today to break off the "constructive dialogue" it has conducted with Iran since 1998 until officials responsible for the death of Canadian-Iranian photographer Zahra Kazemi earlier this month had been brought to trial.

It said it was "unthinkable" that such talks could continue while such a serious crime remained unpunished. It also called on the EU to back Canadian efforts to have Kazemi's body returned to Canada and for an international commission of enquiry to be set up. (Emphasis added)

[...]

A total of 23 journalists are currently imprisoned in Iran, making it the biggest jail for journalists in the Middle East. Thirteen of them are believed to be held by Mortazavi's department and by the Guardians of the Revolution, in the same place where Kazemi was interrogated. They are not allowed visits from family or lawyers and are held in very bad conditions. Reporters Without Borders is very worried about their plight. Their families have written to President Khatami saying they have been physically and psychologically tortured.

Speaking of Reporters Without Borders, there was a disturbing development at the UN last Thursday:

Reporters Without Borders's consultative status with the United Nations commission on human rights was suspended on July 24 for one year at the request of Libya and Cuba because activists with the organisation staged a protest during the inauguration of the commission's last session in March against the decision to let Libya chair the commission. (Emphasis added)

Reporters Without Borders insists that granting the chair to Col. Gaddafi's regime has been a disgrace to the commission.

[...]

Reporters Without Borders today publishes a report which details the excesses, shortcomings and accelerating decline of this commission, which dictatorships such as Cuba and China have taken over in order to strip it of all substance.

The reports proposes a series of reforms that are essential if the commission is to be rescued : limiting the right to vote to those states that have ratified the main international human rights covenants, naming an independent human rights expert to chair the commission, and abolishing the so-called "non-action" motions that have repeatedly been used to block debates.

The results of the vote on the suspension of the consultative status of Reporters without borders :

In favour (27) : Azerbaijan, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burundi, China, Congo, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Iran, Jamaica, Kenya, Libya, Malaysia, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.

Against (23) : Andorra, Australia, Chile, El Salvador, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Peru, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Sweden, Ukraine, United Kingdom, and United States.

Abstentions (4) : Argentina, Ecuador, Japan, and Senegal.

Posted by Debbye at 10:13 AM | Comments (0)

July 28, 2003

How Trudeau fought terror

July 28 - A must read at Daimnation! How Trudeau fought terror, and why Cultural Protectionism doesn't work as he reminds us with a quick tour of history that Trudeau's legacy of fighting terrorism during the FLQ crisis differs greatly with Sheila Copps' views of appeasement and how her "cultural protectionism" views have impeded access to information in Canada.

It's not only instructive but hard hitting, so wear a helmet.

Posted by Debbye at 10:09 AM | Comments (0)

Hachemi calls for case to go before ICC

July 28 - From the Toronto Star, Take case to world court, Kazemi's son says.

MONTREAL - The son of slain photojournalist Zahra Kazemi wants the Canadian government to take the case to the International Criminal Court.

In a letter sent Friday, Stephan Hachemi and lawyer Marlys Edwardh asked Ottawa to charge Saeed Mortazavi, Tehran's chief prosecutor, under the Criminal Code with engaging in "terrorist activity" outside Canada in relation to a Canadian citizen.

"It would seem clear that his conduct was in whole or in part for political, religious, or ideological purposes, etc. to intimidate a segment of the public with regard its security," the letter states.

Hachemi and Edwardh also asked the government to consider imposing trade sanctions against Iran and to use the court to ensure Kazemi's body is brought back to Canada.

Hachemi dismissed reports that five security agents were arrested in Iran this weekend. He called the arrests a "diversion" to throw the Canadian government off track.

"The Iranians have done that in similar cases; they arrest a few implicated agents so they can cover Mortazavi and cover high-ranking officers," Hachemi said yesterday. The International Criminal Court has the power to bring his mother's body back to Canada, he added.

Good for him. Keeping the pressure on both the Canadian and Iranian governments is essential.

(via Neale News because you know I don't read the Toronto Star!)

Posted by Debbye at 09:25 AM | Comments (0)

Canadian Bruce Balfour held in Lebanon

July 28 - From the National Post Canadian held in Lebanon:

A Canadian citizen has been detained for the past three weeks in a Beirut prison in Lebanon without any formal charges, CanWest News Service has learned.

Bruce Balfour, a 52-year-old Calgarian, was stopped on his arrival at the Beirut airport on July 10 and brought to the Rumy prison, where family and friends say he is being held without formal charges.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said a staff member from the Canadian Embassy in Lebanon visited Mr. Balfour in prison on July 24 and a diplomatic note has been sent to the Lebanese government requesting further information about his detention.

Marie-Christiane Lilkoff said the Canadian government is trying to find out the reasons for Mr. Balfour's detention. She did not know whether there had been any delay by the Lebanese government in informing the Canadian Embassy of Mr. Balfour's detention, as is normally done in these cases.

[...]

Mr. Balfour's sister, Laura Mackenzie, said the Canadian consulate in Beirut was not made aware of Mr. Balfour's detention until 10 days after the fact when "an informant" in Lebanon contacted friends in Canada about his situation.

In a letter written July 22 to the Canadian ambassador in Lebanon, Mr. Balfour says he was arrested at the airport because Lebanese computerized records indicated he had once visited Israel.

You should read the article in its entirety because there are differing opinions as to how effective the Canadian government has been in this case before jumping to any conclusions, but it is very troubling that we don't know on what charges or suspicions he is being held.

Posted by Debbye at 08:06 AM | Comments (0)

July 27, 2003

Security agents detained in Kazemi death

July 27 - This could be good news. From the Toronto Sun 5 held in Kazemi case:

TEHRAN -- Five Iranian security agents have been detained in the death of a Canadian photojournalist who died in police custody, the state-run Tehran radio reported yesterday. The officers were detained Friday after "comprehensive investigations" into Zahra Kazemi's July 10 death, the radio report said, quoting a statement released by Iran's judiciary.
But the propaganda war goes on:
Meanwhile, the Iran government summoned Canada's charge d'affaires yesterday to protest the shooting death of an Iranian teenager in a Vancouver suburb and the youth's father threatened to sue the police officer who pulled the trigger.
Maybe it's customary in Iran to use a machete to charge someone who's holding a firearm. What's that old joke about bringing a knife to a gunfight? Anyone charging at me with a machete is going to be shot. Period. We call it self-defense.
Gilles Poirier was summoned to Iran's foreign ministry to discuss the July 14 shooting of 18-year-old Keyvan Tabesh by a plainclothes officer in Port Moody, a diplomat said on condition of anonymity. He did not elaborate.
UPDATE: This news may be premature. According to the CBC, Canada waits for Iran to confirm arrests in Kazemi case because they haven't received official confirmation of the arrests from the Iranian government.
Iran's state-run radio reported on the weekend that the men had been rounded up after "comprehensive investigations" into the fatal beating of Zahra Kazemi while she was in police custody. (Emphasis added)

All five had been "in close contact" with her during her detention, the report said. Their identities were not released.

Ottawa said it had not yet received confirmation of the arrests. A spokesperson for the Foreign Affairs Department told CBC News that if true it would be "a welcome development."

Posted by Debbye at 10:01 AM | Comments (0)

July 26, 2003

The Iranians sure know Canada

July 26 - I am really angry. From CTV.ca: Graham promises to investigate death of Iranian which was their response to Canadian inquiries about the death of Zahra Kazemi.

This is beyond outrageous and every city and province should condemn it:

Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham rejects Iran's comparison of the death of an Iranian teenager in Vancouver (actually, Port Moody) to the killing of a Montreal photojournalist in Tehran, but said he is willing to hold an investigation into the death.
(Emphasis added)

This is so wrong. The Vancouver police are perfectly capable of holding their own inquiry, and "Screeching" Bill Graham (TM Paul) presumes to not only butt in but to implement measures in the inquiry:

Establishing a homicide investigation Putting the officer involved on leave Results of investigation will be reported to Crown attorney to see if charges should be laid Holding a public coroner's inquest into the circumstances of the death The opportunity for Iranian officials to be present during the investigation The body of the victim has been returned to Iran
I need a drink. No, really. Words of anger and outrage are choking me but I can't get them out and, after all, how does one sputter indignantly from a keyboard?

I wanted to be wrong when I wrote last Thursday in Counter Punch from Iran that Canada would meekly agree to an investigation.

Anytime a police officer is forced to shoot and kill someone there is automatically a local inquiry held, right? Such inquiries do not, however, fall under the auspices of the Federal government but under the local governments where the use of force occured.

I'm repeating myself because it is an important point; the Vancouver police will doubtless go along because of the international implications, but would it have hurt the Feds to tell Iran that they can attend the inquiry that the Vancouver police will hold? Would it have hurt the Feds to affirm the integrity of Vancouver? Are they really so stupid that they don't recognize that they have just maligned Vancouver?

Canada has just slapped Vancouver in the face by giving the impression internationally that the Feds have to get involved to ensure justice. Arrogant, say-anything-to-appease-at-all-costs idiots.

How do you say "Sell-out" in Canada?

Now for that drink before I get really angry.

Headline and link via Neale News

Posted by Debbye at 08:55 AM | Comments (0)

July 24, 2003

Iran 4, Canada 0

July 24 - Iran understands how to play the game by Canadian rules: Iran accuses Canadian police of killing Iranian:

Wire services cited Iranian state radio accusations that police in Vancouver had 'attacked' three young Iranians on Tuesday, and killed one of them identified as Keyvan Tabesh.

A young Iranian emigre was, indeed, killed in Vancouver - although it occurred several weeks ago. Port Moody police say that a young man identified as Mr. Tabesh was shot dead by an out-of-uniform police officer as he ran at the officer waving a machete.

Mr. Tabesh was shot dead after his car was followed into a dead end by a police officer responding to a radio call. With no escape, Port Moody spokesman Constable Brian Soles told The Globe and Mail, two of the occupants of the car jumped out and ran at the policeman. Constable Soles said the officer fired his gun when he felt he was under attack.

Family members have apparently been told that the officer who shot Mr. Tabesh was off-duty; police have conceded that the man was not wearing his uniform and was not driving a marked police car.

"There may be an issue about whether the police officer identified himself," Constable Soles said. "He has a responsibility to do it, if he is able to."

In any case, he added, Mr. Tabesh was about to attack someone.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman in Tehran suggested that there is a lack of freedom in the Canadian media, saying that controls are imposed by the Canadian government and that "the strong censorship of this story creates more ambiguities." (Emphasis added)

The spokesman called for "an explicit and transparent and satisfactory explanation" and the punishment of those responsible, a near-echo of Ottawa's demands in the Kazemi case.

I would say that the Iranian government has effectively employed four of Canada's biggest Achilles heels: the substitution of red-herrings and unsubstantiated accusations for political debate, a weak foreign affairs department, news blackouts in criminal justice proceedings and the attitude of Canadian media toward police agencies.

Even though the deaths of Zahra Kazemi and Keyvan Tabesh are linked only by the fact that both are Iranians killed by police, this accusation turns eyes back to Canada. Canada appears to be the pot calling the kettle black. A nice diversionary tactic!

Iran 1 - Canada 0

The Iranian government has just launched a propaganda war against Canada, and its up to the Foreign Affairs Dept. to mount an effective response. Since the only foreign government it routinely criticizes is the USA, do they have the tools and cajones to respond effectively or will they use Old Europe's model on how to deal with countries other than the USA? French Pres. Chirac just went on vacation but maybe he can be persuaded to lend his expertise in this matter.

Of course, Canada could try to enlist the support of American-based Iranian exiles to broadcast the facts of the Vancouver affair back into Iran, but Canada's good friend Cuba is jamming signals into Iran.

Iran 2 - Canada 0

Unlike American press (heh), information and testimony before and during trials is often blacked out to protect the privacy of the accused. This pious stance conflicts with openness in the judicial system and many Canadian journalists do feel that the suppression amounts to censorship and have stated such.

Iran 3 - Canada 0

The politically correct media and police oversight boards often take the approach that when the police use deadly force it was because they failed in some way to subdue a suspect. They don't, or can't, take into account the frame of mind of someone who is determined to avoid capture, wants to go down fighting, or is blinded by the desire to kill.

I'm betting Canada is going to meekly promise to look into this.

Iran 4 - Canada 0

It has gone international. From Reuters Iran Accuses Canadian Police of Killing Iranian:

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran accused Canadian police on Thursday of the "criminal" killing of an Iranian, ratcheting up a diplomatic row that began with the death in Iranian custody of a Canadian journalist this month.

Iranian state media said Canadian police in Vancouver had attacked three young Iranians, killing one and injuring one of the others. It identified the dead man as Keyvan Tabesh and demanded those responsible be brought to justice.

Iran and Canada are at odds over the death in Tehran this month of Zahra Kazemi, 54, a Canadian photojournalist of Iranian descent. Canada recalled its envoy to Tehran over the incident and said it would review its ties with Iran.

"Why have Canadian police, who should safeguard the security of the people, committed this disgraceful crime which scared Iranian citizens living in Canada?" it quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi as saying.

There was no immediate comment from Canada. (Emphasis added)

We should cut Canadian Foreign Affairs office some slack here given the difference in time zones. The Globe and Mail story was posted online at 6:03 a.m. EDT.

Iran's state media said the Vancouver incident happened on Tuesday. But Canadian media have reported that Tabesh, 18, was shot and killed by a policeman in the Port Moody suburb of Vancouver on July 14 after an apparent road-rage incident.

Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper in a July 18 article said Tabesh's parents, who live in Vancouver, had strongly criticized police for the shooting of their son. The newspaper said Tabesh was brandishing a machete when he was shot.

[...]

The official IRNA news agency quoted Asefi as saying Canadian media had censored the Vancouver incident. "The strong censorship of this story creates more ambiguities," it quoted him as saying.

Checkmate.

Posted by Debbye at 10:32 AM | Comments (0)

July 23, 2003

Mark Steyn on Kazemi

July 23 - Mark Steyn has a new column at his website just for us in Canada SteynOnCanada. His latest is called "Playing Both Sides: The Western Jihadi" and includes:

A couple of weeks later, a Montreal photo journalist, Zahra Kazemi, was arrested by police in Iran [CORRECT] (sic) and wound up getting questioned to death. She had done what my wife recommended - contacted the Canadian Embassy in Tehran - and a lot of good it did her when she was arrested for photographing a student demo and beaten into a coma. By the time her son, frustrated by his government's unruffleable equanimity in the matter, got the story out to the media, it was too late. On hearing of her death, the Canadian Foreign Minister expressed his "sadness" and regret".

Would it have killed him to express a little anger and disgust? ... With a straight face, he passed on to reporters the official Iranian line that it could be just an "accident". According to Reuters, the unfortunate accident has "marred previously harmonious relations between Iran and Canada".

(Via Right On! Blog)

Posted by Debbye at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

Mark Steyn on Kazemi

July 23 - Mark Steyn has a new column at his website just for us in Canada SteynOnCanada. His latest is called "Playing Both Sides: The Western Jihadi" and includes:

A couple of weeks later, a Montreal photo journalist, Zahra Kazemi, was arrested by police in Iran [CORRECT] (sic) and wound up getting questioned to death. She had done what my wife recommended - contacted the Canadian Embassy in Tehran - and a lot of good it did her when she was arrested for photographing a student demo and beaten into a coma. By the time her son, frustrated by his government's unruffleable equanimity in the matter, got the story out to the media, it was too late. On hearing of her death, the Canadian Foreign Minister expressed his "sadness" and regret".

Would it have killed him to express a little anger and disgust? ... With a straight face, he passed on to reporters the official Iranian line that it could be just an "accident". According to Reuters, the unfortunate accident has "marred previously harmonious relations between Iran and Canada".

(Via Right On! Blog)

Posted by Debbye at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

July 22, 2003

Canada "asks" for inquiry into Kazemi's death

July 22 - At last, the kitten (TM (The Canadian) meows at the tiger:

Inquiry called into photojournalist's death:

OTTAWA (CP) - Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham called on the Iranian government Monday to take swift action against those responsible for the apparent beating death of a Canadian photojournalist after her arrest in Tehran.

"Those responsible for this horrific act must be prosecuted," Graham said after an Iranian government report said Zahra Kazemi, 54, had complained of punishment from her guards before she eventually died of a fractured skull.

"The treatment of Ms. Kazemi, as detailed in this report, was a flagrant violation of her rights under international human rights law and a breach of obligations that Iran owes to the international community," Graham said. (Emphasis added)

"We now ask the Iranian government to take the next step and proceed with the full and swift prosecution of those responsible." (Emphasis added)

Ask? ASK? Oh, that's right, it's a kitten talking to a tiger.
Kazemi died in hospital July 10, nearly three weeks after she was arrested for taking photographs outside a Tehran prison, the report said.
When was the Canadian government notified that she had been arrested, was being detained, and taken to hospital?

Would we even know about this if her son, Stephan Hachemi, not gone public?

After her arrest, she was interrogated by police, prosecutors and intelligence officials for 77 hours, then was taken to the hospital, the report said. She spent 14 days in the intensive care unit of Baqiyatollah Azam Hospital before she died. The hospital is controlled by the Revolutionary Guards, a hardline security force. (Emphasis added)
Would that be the same leather-clad motorcyclists that have been disrupting the demonstrations and kidnapped 3 students after they met with government officials? The ones even the civilian police fear?
She died from a "fractured skull, brain hemorrhage and its consequences resulting from a hard object hitting the head or the head hitting a hard object," said the report.

A translation by Canadian officials said there were no other signs of physical abuse and that the cause of death was a "blow to the head by a hard object and no sign of assault and battery."

[...]

Graham expressed frustration over delays in repatriating Kazemi's body to Canada, despite the "agreed-upon wishes of the family."

I'm so glad he feels empowered to express his feelings. Frustration is a feeling. So is outrage. How about a little outrage, Graham?
On Sunday, prominent reformist legislator Mohsen Armin accused government security agents of beating Kazemi to death, echoing accusations from her family and friends.

Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said Monday any decision on whether the body should be returned to Canada will rest with the court.

This news report was filed Monday, July 21. The decision was made yesterday, or won't be made until July 28? Since CNN carried this story (without Graham's milquetoast response) on Sunday Report: Canadian photographer died after 'physical attack', I think they mean July 28.
Kazemi's son Stephan Hachemi, who lives in Montreal, called for an autopsy in Canada.

"There's no reason at all to keep the body," Hachemi said on Monday.

"Unfortunately, my mother has been detained while she was alive and now they still detain her while she's dead."

Posted by Debbye at 08:42 AM | Comments (0)

July 21, 2003

Zahra Kazemi (cont.)

July 21 - There are overtones in this article about Stephan Hachmi's quest for justice for his mother, Zahra Kazemi (Son: 'Take action' in Iran killing) about the lack of government action that I find very disturbing:

MONTREAL -- Increasingly frustrated and impatient, the son of a Canadian journalist who died after she was beaten while in police custody in Iran said yesterday the federal government is being too passive about helping bring Zahra Kazemi's body home. "I don't like their strategy," Stephan Hachemi said in Montreal.

"I'm criticizing but I've gotten no results. That's the problem. They're saying, 'We're going to have justice', 'The prime minister is going to make justice.' Yes, bravo. I say ... I want them to walk the walk, they just talk the talk. Take action, take measures."

Hachemi, Kazemi's only child, said he's tired of being told by Canadian officials to be patient and to stop being so vocal in the media.

He accused the government of wanting the issue to fade from the public spotlight.

"All I'm asking for is for my rights to be defended," Hachemi, 26, said. "I'm still alive and it's my right to have my mother's body brought back and (the Canadian government) won't defend it. That's what a Canadian means to them. That's how they defend our rights."

Is Chretien worried that making a fuss will hurt his plans to become A Very Important Bureaucrat at the U.N.? Because there certainly aren't any valid reasons for not pressing this issue as hard as he can.

Zahra Kazemi is a photojournalist who was killed in Iran. The fact that she is a Canadian is an opening for this government to push for the human rights of all the journalists now in Iranian prisons, and since, according to the previous article in the Toronto Sun Online Next stop: PM at UN cites

The prime minister's efforts to push a plan tying foreign aid for African nations to their records on human rights and democracy has won him friends on that continent. (Emphasis added)
Chretien's shamlessness is blatant, and I deeply resent the fact that this self-serving hypocrite tars all the good and decent people in Canada.

Posted by Debbye at 01:28 PM | Comments (0)

July 18, 2003

Paul means business

July 18 - Frozen in Montreal has an update on the ongoing investigation into the death of Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi in an Iranian prison (or was it in hospital?) That's The Problem with Ayatollocracies..., they never bother to hire anybody to do decent spin ...

He also has an insidious plan that's guaranteed to make the regime tremble.

Posted by Debbye at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)

Vigil to be held for Kazemi

July 18 - The CBC is keeping the beating death of Zahra Kazemi on the front burner. A report filed today headlines Canadian beaten with shoe before death in Iran and further notes that "A prayer vigil will be held for Kazemi in Montreal on Saturday night."

The report provides no details on the vigil.

Posted by Debbye at 11:33 AM | Comments (0)

Terrorism in Canada

July 18 - RCMP: Suicide bombings here seem 'logical'. Isn't that just ... peachy. The article does convince me that Canada needs some kind of specialized unit that looks at integrating the intelligence gathered by different agencies like CSIS, the RCMP and local police departments to gain an overall view of how terrorists function here.

In a newly declassified intelligence report, the RCMP says it "seems logical' that migrants from regions where suicide bombings occur might import the deadly tactic to Canada.

"Canada is a culturally diverse nation, with sizeable populations from regions where suicide bombing is used by extremist elements (e.g. Middle East, Sri Lanka)," the report says.

"It seems logical that members of these ethnic/religious groups would bring their conflicts and tactics with them to Canada," the RCMP writes in Suicide Bombings -- Canadian Perspective.

The brief was distributed on March 18 by the RCMP Criminal Intelligence Directorate. A copy was obtained by the National Post under the Access to Information Act.

The report notes suicide terrorism is practised in Lebanon, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan and Algeria -- countries that are among the leading sources of migrants to Canada.

Although al-Qaeda and Palestinians use suicide terror, the "most prolific suicide bombers" are the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a Sri Lankan terrorist group also known as the LTTE or Tamil Tigers, it says.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service has repeatedly asked Cabinet to outlaw the Tamil Tigers under Canada's Anti-Terrorism Act, but the Liberal government has refused to do so, leading to accusations Ottawa is soft on terrorists.

Maybe because the Tigers had received federal funds through Sheila Copps's many programs? (The funding was cut off after Sept. 11, and shortly after that the separatist Tamil Tigers began peace negotiations with the Sri Lankan government. The timing could be coincidence, or it could mean that Canada was generating a lot of the funding for that civil war.)

Thousands of Tamil guerrillas have migrated to Canada, bringing with them such LTTE tactics they used in the jungles of Sri Lanka as extortion and intimidation, as well as weaponry, notably AK-47s and explosives.

The Post revealed in June, 2000, that up to 8,000 members of what police call "Tamil terrorist factions" were living in the Toronto area and that they had "extensive paramilitary training."

The violence and gunplay in the Tamil community have been blamed on gang warfare, but is the report indicating that there could be more to this? Consultations with the Toronto Police would be informative.

The migration of terrorists out of conflict zones such as Afghanistan, and the formation of international terror networks, has brought suicide terrorism to the Western world, the RCMP says.

"The suicide bomb is the poor man's cruise missile: it is a cheap, guided bomb that explodes at the target," the RCMP report says, adding the Sept. 11 attacks showed it could be done in North America.

"To date there has been no suicide bombings or attempts in Canada," the RCMP report says. But it notes that conventional terrorist bombings have long been used, although they have "primarily targeted property."

Sikh extremists in Vancouver blew up an Air-India flight in 1985 killing 329 people, while the left-wing Squamish Five bombed hydro-electric facilities in British Columbia and what they thought was the factory of a cruise missile subcontractor in Toronto, it says.

And a bomb placed in the luggage of another Air India flight exploded in Tokyo. That flight also originated from Vancouver.

The report concludes optimistically, saying most migrants from war-zones want to leave behind the violence of their homelands. Under the heading "Ways to Avoid Suicide Bombing" the report says Canada's democratic society makes such violent methods unnecessary.

That's why I was stunned that the Canadian government was so non-committal about supporting the War Against Terrorism. There are a lot of people here who have first-hand experience with the devastation of terrorist acts, and you'd think the government would strongly affirm that there's no way these murderers would be allowed to operate here. But instead we got "There are no terrorists in Canada" from PM Chretien.

"Canada has a long history of dealing with conflict in non-violent ways. In a society where access to the means of political influence are relatively open and there is little oppression of minorities, dissidents are largely prepared to work within legitimate avenues to achieve political objectives."

Not mentioned in the report, however, are instances where migrants to Canada have helped carry out suicide bombings in other countries, particularly Tamil Tigers front organizations in Toronto, which raise money that has financed suicide attacks in Sri Lanka.

Ahmed Khadr, an Egyptian-Canadian aid worker close to Osama bin Laden, is suspected of involvement in the 1995 truck bombing of the Egyptian embassy in Islamabad. Abdulrahman Jabarah, a Kuwait-Canadian, was recently shot dead in Saudi Arabia. Saudi authorities said he was part of an al-Qaeda cell responsible for suicide truck bombings in Riyadh that left 29 dead. His brother Mohammed Mansour Jabarah plotted al-Qaeda suicide attacks in Manila and Singapore.

Ahmed Khadr was in a Pakistan jail, but PM Chretien intervened and got him released. His older son is in an Afghan prison, and his younger son, known by some as the "Toronto teen," is in Guantanamo. Mohammed Mansour Jabarah is in US custody and a very key figure in Southeast Asia terror cells.

According to Part 2 of a CNN report of Nov. 7, 2002 Uncovering Southeast Asia's jihad:

Intelligence officials say that just like Hambali, Khalid Sheik Mohammed has been busy setting up networks and plots across Southeast Asia.

He too is now in US custody. So is his laptop computer.

They say that just one day before 9/11, he sent Kuwaiti-born aide Mohammed Mansour Jabarah to activate sleeper cells in the region.

Twenty years old and holding Canadian nationality, Jabarah's links go to the top.

Shortly before he left for Asia, he met with Osama Bin Laden.

One intelligence report obtained by CNN spells out Jabarah's role:

"Jabarah, a personal choice of Osama bin Laden because of his mastery of the English language, was dispatched on 10 September 2001 by al Qaeda operations officer, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to assist in carrying out bombing activities in the Philippines and Singapore."

Referring back to the RCMP report:

A year before the 9/11 attacks, Jane's Intelligence Review warned that suicide terrorism was spreading globally and would likely "affect Western Europe and North America in the future."

Not unreasonable, especially given the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center. attacks on our embassies in Africa, the attack on the Cole, kidnappings and random shootings, and the aborted Millennium bombing of LAX by a Canadian, Ahmed Ressam.

So how long is the Federal government going to dilly-dally on this? Will it take a terrorist attack on Canadian soil before they move to protect Canada and Canadian citizens?

Posted by Debbye at 09:48 AM | Comments (0)

July 17, 2003

Iran admits beating led to Kazemi's death

July 17 - From CBC News Iran admits beating killed Kazemi:

OTTAWA - Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi died of a fractured skull, but it may have been an accident, Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham said. "
OK, so there is a headline which contradicts the first sentence in the report. That proves I'm copying this from the CBC website, right?
Graham said he learned about her death in "an open and frank exchange" on the phone with Iran's foreign minister, Kamal Kharrazi, on Wednesday.
The dateline on this article is Wed., July 16. Did Graham learn about it a week ago or only yesterday? (Surely that bit of vagueness was unintentional.)
Graham, speaking from France where he is on vacation, said the minister assured him that the perpetrators, if any, would be prosecuted.

He's vacationing in France. Nah, too easy.

Graham said Canada must be satisfied that the Iranian investigation is open and transparent.
Or you'll do what?
"If crimes have been committed, we're pushing the Iranian government to punish those who committed the crime," Prime Minister Jean Chretien said earlier Wednesday. But "we have to know all the facts" before acting, he added.
Chretien wants facts, not proof. How many facts does he need before a thing is proven? He too is promising to act after we know all the facts, but what will happen if we don't know the facts? Since not enough facts means it will be unproven, does that mean we won't act? Is there a loophole here? Where's my aspirin?
Skeptical reporters repeatedly asked Graham how he could trust the Iranians, since democratic reformers led by President Mohammad Khatami are struggling with conservative Islamic militants.
Could some of those skeptical reporters possibly be from the CBC? (Not that I blame them for being actutely interested in this issue; any Canadian news agency should be alarmed at the limpid response of the Feds.)
Graham acknowledged there is a concern "whether or not the secret police and security services ... will follow the orders of the government," but Kharrazi left him with the impression that the government wants to ensure the law prevails.
NOTE: Ellipses! Did they Dowdize the quote? Heh.

We already know that there is an ongoing power struggle in Iran between moderate reformers and hardline Islamic mullahs. The elected, moderate reformers pass laws and the unelected mullahs strike them down. We also know that the hardliners have their own security forces which use weapons of fear and surprise, have fanatical devotion to the mullahs, wear nifty black leather jackets and face scarves, ride motorcycles, and kidnap people. Sheesh, even the Iranian civilian police are afraid to confront them.

Just how long has Graham been on vacation, anyway? I'll take Mel [mayor of Toronto] Lastman's rant at the W.H.O. over Graham's lily-livered, submissive behaviour any day. Mel may have been incoherent, but at least he was OUTRAGED.

Graham repeatedly said the Iranian investigation must be given time to run its course, which could take several days. If Canada is not satisfied, Graham said the government will act, though he didn't say what the government would do.
Again the ominous threat of unspecified action after an unspecified number of days/weeks/months/years.

Here's a simple question: where's the body? Despite repeated calls for Zahra Kazemi's remains to be returned to Canada for an autopsy, there have been conflicting reports as to whether she has already been buried.

Graham said the authorities have the body. Despite Iranian reports that the body will not be returned to Canada, Graham said "that's not what the foreign minister said to me."
So what did the foreign minister say to Graham? Either Graham doesn't say or the CBC doesn't report it.
He [Graham] said there appears to be a dispute between Kazemi's son and her mother. Hachemi wants his mother returned to Canada. His grandmother wants her buried in Iran.
Appears to be a dispute? How clear does the son have to be to make it clear that there is a dispute?
Graham said the body will stay with the Iranian authorities until the family works out what it wants done.
ASIDE: I feel cheated. There isn't a single death quote in the entire article. I wanted death quotes and ellipses.

Maybe Graham should read the CNN webpage which reports:

Kazemi's only son, Stephan Hachemi, who lives in Montreal, said Iran's government had acknowledged his mother had "been beaten to death."

Hachemi has demanded Iran return Kazemi's body to Canada and disputed a report from IRNA that Kazemi's mother, who lives in Iran, has requested she be buried in Shiraz.(Emphasis added)

"My grandmother wants exactly the same as I do, to have the body of Zahra Kazemi to be brought back to Canada," he said, adding that his grandmother was "under a lot of pressure" and was "forced" to make a "false declaration."

"It has been clear between us and all the members of the family that (Kazemi) won't be buried in the land of the people that murdered her," Hachemi said. "She belongs with me, her only child."

Well said! I doubt there is anyone in Canada who doesn't agree with him (what with Graham being in France and all!)

The CNN webpage also states:

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister John Manley earlier warned that the issue could be a "setback" for his country's neutral relationship with Iran.

What constitutes a "setback" in a neutral relationship? Is he saying that this issue could move Canada's relationship with Iran to something other than neutral, like maybe not-neutral? It's unlikely relations would become either hostile or friendly, right?

Paul Martin, who is in an undisclosed location, has been typically silent on this subject.

UPDATE: David Warren weighs in on the Zahra Kazemi case and points out the sad, sad truth about whether travelling under a Canadian Passport offers any protection:

I wish it did, but it doesn't. As long-time Canadian travellers know, if you get into trouble abroad, you go to the American embassy, or the British, or the Australian, whichever's nearest. The Canadian who uses his own embassy to do anything more than renew his passport, or perhaps collect mail, is inexperienced. He shouldn't be travelling in dangerous places.
No blogger in Canada (or the USA) should let the government off the hook on this.

The Canadian also adds his voice:

"The Bill Grahams in our government can huff and puff all they like but they are kittens amongst tigers - and the tigers know it!"

Posted by Debbye at 09:44 AM | Comments (0)

July 16, 2003

Canadian photojournalist death due to beating

July 16 - Journalist was beaten:

TEHRAN (CP) - Iran confirmed Wednesday that Iranian-born Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi died of a brain hemorrhage due to blows she sustained.

Officials for Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham and his department also were unavailable for comment.

But Tanya Churchmuch, the Canadian president of Reporters Without Borders, said "an awful lot of lies were told over the last few days. It confirms what we really always knew."

Also Tuesday, Amnesty International joined calls by Iran's Islamic Human Rights Commission and other rights organizations for an independent investigation into Kazemi's death.

One would think Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham would at least comment on that if only to whisper his support for the investigation.
[President Mohammad] Khatami has said the closure of more than 90 newspapers without trial in the past three years and imprisonment of several dozens of writers and activists in mostly closed trials without jury by the hard-line judiciary were open violations of the constitution, but said he was "powerless" to stop them.
Zahra Kazemi was a Canadian citizen. That means her beating death while under detention is a matter for the Candian government to investigate and protest. The support of NGOs is welcome, but they shouldn't have to take the lead in this matter.

Posted by Debbye at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

Child rapist returns home

Isn't this infuriating? Child rapist back home:

PETERBOROUGH -- A pedophile who served more than five years for the kidnapping and rape of a four-year-old girl was released yesterday and ordered to live with his parents under one of 19 court-ordered conditions. Coulson Woolner, 28, was escorted out of court by four officers and declined comment as he headed for his father's car. "

Woolner underwent psychological assessment and was deemed an untreatable sex offender because of his refusal to take sex-drive reduction medication.

I feel outraged over the timid length of the sentence. This man broke into the bedroom of a four-year old, abducted her, forcibly confined and sodomized her. And he only gets 5 years total for these three serious crimes?

I don't really believe sex-drive medication is going to help this creep because I don't think these are sexually-motivated crimes, nor are any such crimes that involve an unwilling partner.

This is about control, sadism, and viciousness. The only reason we tolerate a state infringing on our freedoms is because we recognize that we need laws to protect the general public from predators like Woolner and Jacobson.

If the state won't protect us, what good are they?

UPDATE: The Canadian has me truly scared in a post that reminds us of the BC court decision that ruled child pornography was "art" and recent efforts by The American Psychiatric Association to reclassify pedophilia as "normal":

All that will be needed is some taxpayer money--the court challenges program--and a few hungry judges and activist, politicized judges and this too--pedophilia as lifestyle--will come to pass. Watch and see."

Posted by Debbye at 10:27 AM | Comments (0)

July 12, 2003

Bush good for Canadian nationalism: poll

July 12 - From The Globe and Mail:

"OTTAWA, July 12 -- U.S. President George W. Bush is the most unpopular American president in recent memory among Canadians.

"More than 60 percent surveyed have an unfavorable opinion of him, said a poll by Environics Research Group."

Sometimes I wonder at the near-stalker attitude towards the US exhibited by Canadian pollsters. It seems I am constantly reading this or that poll about how Canadians feel about the US. Don't they ever ask what Canadians think of the proposed United States of Europe or Australian-led intervention in the Solomon Islands?

Yeah, I get a little defensive about this. I have no doubt that Canadian tongue-waggers would scream bloody murder should US polls report unfavourably about Canadian domestic matters and rightly so because it would be none of their business.

"Relations between Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien have been strained over the U.S. decision to invade Iraq, among other issues, but most Canadians blame the U.S. president for the worsening climate, reported The Globe and Mail."

But here is the astonishing evaluation of what the poll means:

"'George Bush as president will probably be the best thing that ever happened to Canadian nationalism,' Leebosh said. 'He totally personifies the essence of the side of the United States that Canadians tend to dislike -- the anti-intellectual Texan in a Stetson, social conservative.'" (emphasis added)

Were that actually true, and I doubt it is, it would be pathetic. It would mean that Canadians can only nurture love and pride in their country so long as they maintain a hate-on for the US President.

Canadian Alliance leader Stephen Harper said "'Canadians' views about George Bush or other American figures, while interesting, I think should be irrelevant to Canadian government policy vis-a-vis the United States. Canadians don't vote in American elections,' he said."

This article was also picked up by UPI and printed in today's Washginton Times Canadians vote Bush least-liked leader

You just gotta know Pat Buchanan is furiously composing a response. Expect to see the phrases "Blame America" and "Soviet Canuckistan" in the very near future.

Posted by Debbye at 10:53 AM | Comments (0)

July 10, 2003

Influence of the American left on Canada

July 10 - The Canadian has been investigating the sorry state of the educational system in Canada and how the values being taught in schools are in contradition to traditional ones. He writes: "For over 40 years students have been hearing a left wing philosophy in this country that goes clear back to the Vietnam War and a 'stampeding herd' of pony-tailed Liberal 'profs' that thundered north to Canada rather than serve their country."

I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I'm not going to be too quick to dismiss it either. I moved here in 1974 to marry a Canadian so my relocation wasn't a rejection of the USA and I have no insight on those who came here for other reasons. I might be able to see it better if I knew during which years this migration peaked and how many came here.

I would tend to think that the drift to the left occurred much earlier than the 60's. The Soviet Union gained legitimacy when they became our allies during WWII. The crimes of Stalin were either ignored or went unreported because outwardly, at least, we (the Allies) downplayed our distrust of them in order to defeat Hitler. It was a hateful, necessary policy, and I think it a source of regret for many Western countries because the Eastern bloc countries paid the true price.

Skip forward to 1968 when Trudeau was in office. (Note please that Trudeau was in office so something must have already happened on the Canadian political scene.)

A lot happened in the world that year. Sen. Eugene McCarthy, a moderate peace candidate, did surprisingly well in the New Hampshire primaries. A very tired LBJ announced he wouldn't seek re-election. There was the Prague Spring and Dr. King was murdered. There was riots, and my high school in Berkeley, CA, walked out en masse the following day because if the Bd. Of Education wouldn't cancel classes we would. The 1968 Civil Rights Bill was finally passed (of added significance because Title VII outlawed discrimination against women but added a new charge, conspiracy, to those who traveled across state lines with the purpose of causing a riot intended, by the way, to be used as a tool against the KKK and their ilk.) There was the Tet offensive and a Jordanian who didn't like Robert F. Kennedy's stance on Israel murdered him. There were demonstrations in Paris over the peace talks between the US and North Vietnam. The student demonstrations in Paris led to a General Strike in France. The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City took place just after some violent demonstrations there, and the Russians invaded Czechoslovakia. The Democratic Party convention was held in the midst of rioting by, among others, anti-war activists, Yippies and Bobby Seale (of the Black Panthers.) There were student uprisings in Germany, Italy and Japan. In Canada there were massive anti-war demonstrations too (far smaller than the ones held to protest the Iraq War). It seemed as though the entire world was on fire except for Russia and China. (In retrospect, I should have thought about that more, but I didn't.)

I may have some of the events in the wrong order because the memories are gushing out. Even now as I read it I find it inconceivable that so much happened in the space of only one year, and I suspect I forgot a few things.

In some respects, Americans encountered her first major case of self-hatred that year most especially because two beloved and highly respected men were slain. We asked ourselves what kind of people we were that our heroes could be cut down like that. Grim anger set in, and there were no answers or light to guide us. Nixon vs. Humphrey? It was easy to explore alternative politics and many of us did.

How did each of those events impact, if at all, in Canada?

I guess all countries have reactions to events that they can't really share with outsiders (no offense). None of you will ever be able to understand how I feel about Dr. King's death. You may empathize, but that is light years away from deep-to-the bone knowing.

Now, by the same token, I will never be able to fully appreciate the shock and impact on Canadians triggered by the events in Quebec in 1970. I had lived under martial law a few times in Berkeley but I found it inconceivable that, up here, the entire country was placed under martial law. I remember reading about the FLQ and what happened up here, but it is not a part of my emotional memory.

But I don't think that those events in Quebec can be blamed on imported American subversives. I think you have to accept it as Canada's alone, and even if you blame De Gaulle you must allow that the ground was fertile.

The Canadian also states his belief that "Something really nasty is going on south of the border. It started when Chretien and his gang thumbed their collective noses at Bush and the USA (shades of those "feet get thee gone" profs that buggered off 40 years ago). NOW it is beginning to sink in as the Canadian cattle industry is in tatters, the softwood lumber file has become a disaster - and we hear today that our defence industry contributions are under the gun.

I don't believe that the problems with the softwood and cattle industries are entirely the result of the Liberal government's attitude to Washington but probably more due to protectionist lobbies in the US and a bureaucracy that is ponderous and weighed down with regulatory procedures that Canadians are all too familiar with up here. Separation of powers makes the President far less powerful than many Canadians realize.

As for the defense industry contracts, I am totally with the US Congress on this one. It comes down to one very simple fact: The US-based industries in the US are under the watch of the FBI and they are responsible to Congress. We are at war, and concerns about industrial sabotage and spying are on high alert for obvious security reasons.

Production facilities in Canada are under the watch of the RCMP and they are responsible to Parliament (or to the Minister assigned to that portfolio, I guess). The findings of the The MacKenzie Institute (if the report still isn't on their website, link to the National Post article) make it clear that terrorists are operating openly in Canada and that the Federal government is reluctant to shut them down. I regret the loss of Canadian jobs can't sanction endangering American lives to safeguard Canadian jobs.

The point is that this is not being done in revenge for Canada's refusal to join the US in Iraq or the rudeness of Canadian officials.

Please believe that Americans remember Canada's honourable role during the 1979 takover of our embassy in Tehran. We remember the down-home goodness of Newfoundlanders on Sept. 11. There may be some hurt feelings right now but there is not the degree of outrage that we feel toward the cough*French*cough and although many wonder what is going on up here most are content to let bygones be bygones.

Posted by Debbye at 01:44 PM | Comments (0)

July 09, 2003

The MacKenzie Institute's report "Overseas

The MacKenzie Institute's report "Overseas Wars: A Review of Overseas Terrorism in Canada" at the National Post 10,000 terrorists in Canada: report contained some deeply disturbing information and conclusions.

The institute's president, John Thompson, said in an interview that:

He blamed Canada's failing immigration policies, as well as a lack of enforcement of existing laws, for having allowed the country to become home to terrorists and their front groups. Besides being a refuge for former guerrillas, the study notes that 15 out of 80 identified international terrorist groups have significant supporters or members in Canada.

Although the threat of substantial terrorist violence in Canada seems low, it is only a matter of time before the country is attacked, the report warns.

Furthermore,

Part of the problem, according to Mr. Thompson, is that front groups for such organizations have courted politicians on the federal and provincial scene, bringing them much- needed votes from ethnic communities. As a result, politicians are reluctant to act.

Part of the problem, according to Mr. Thompson, is that front groups for such organizations have courted politicians on the federal and provincial scene, bringing them much- needed votes from ethnic communities. As a result, politicians are reluctant to act.

Mr. Thompson said at the same time, these front groups accuse anyone who suggests there is terrorist infiltration of ethnic groups of being racist or holding "un-Canadian" views.

"'We have allowed the agents of the violence experienced in other nations to come here, mercilessly dominate their fellows from their home societies, and preach an Orwellian message that we must tolerate their intolerance, and that it is racist and condescending to question their motives and actions,' the report states. 'Worse still, some of our political leaders have accepted this message.'"

I'm removing some comments I wrote earlier in anger. Read the article and decide for yourself. Eventually the report will be published on the institute's webpage The MacKenzie Institute.

Still wonder why the US Congress wants defense contracts awarded stateside?

Posted by Debbye at 03:37 PM | Comments (0)