Musical Chairs Belong At Children's Parties, Not In The Senate

I really have nothing to add here. The absolute puerility of the Conservatives speaks for itself:

OTTAWA—The so-called house of sober second thought witnessed the kind of contest normally associated with first-grade birthday parties, as a showdown erupted over seating arrangements this week.

The newly elected chair of the Senate banking committee, Conservative Irving Gerstein, didn’t want the vice-chair, Liberal Céline Hervieux-Payette, sitting next to him.

When he asked her to step away from the head table, she refused.

So Gerstein, elected this week as chair, called a vote to kick Payette out of her seat.

With a Conservative majority on the committee, the motion passed Wednesday and the game of partisan musical chairs ended with Payette being forced to sit farther away.

Will the Conservatives next be claiming that girls have cooties?

Haper's Trade Deal With China: Less Than Meets The Eye

Stephen Harper's pending foreign investment protection agreement with China, hailed as a breakthrough that will one day make a “very practical difference” for Canadian companies seeking to invest here, (more outsourcing?)has been summed up very nicely by an astute Star reader:

We get the pandas. They get the manufacturing jobs. Sounds like a good trade to me!

Is Werner Herzog Really Talking About Chickens Here?

Given Canadians' apparently prodigious tolerance for the abuses being perpetrated by the Harper regime, it seems Werner Herzog's comments in this video could apply equally to our credulous/disengaged/apathetic domestic populace:

Werner Herzog on Chickens from Tom Streithorst on Vimeo.

Protection, Patriotism and Punishment - the Harper Credo

By now, most have heard about Sun TV's faux citizenship ceremony orchestrated by the Harper regime to help promote its brand of Canadian patriotism. Putting aside questions of the ethics of a Canadian broadcaster allowing itself to be a propaganda arm of a government increasingly hostile to the traditional values of Canadians, I recommend Thomas Walkom's article in today's Star.

Entitled What the fake citizenship scheme says about Harper, the article offers the following insights on the deviant path the Harperites are treading:

The old Conservative brand, associated with prime ministers like John Diefenbaker and Joe Clark, emphasized practicality melded with compassion. The new one focuses on pride, patriotism and toughness.

Martial valour is an integral part of this new image. From that stems Harper’s emphasis on the military...

Toughness is expressed by the government’s emphasis on jails and mandatory sentencing, as well as its take-no-prisoners approach to political foes.

But above all, the Conservatives want to brand themselves as the party of patriots.

Recent reports of seismic disturbances in Saskatoon are undoubtedly due to John George Diefenbaker proving restive in his grave.

Liuna Local 183 Continues Its Bad Behaviour

Yesterday I wrote about the scuffle that broke out at a meeting of Liuna Local 183, a meeting that saw members demanding answers to the strange tale of the firing, rehiring, and resignation of John Manadarino, the training centre executive who misappropriated union funds but whose union executive defenders claim is merely the victim of a political vendetta against the executive.

The latest news reveals that the union is now considering legal action against those who were expecting and demanding some forthright anwers from the executive about Manadarino and his current role as the head of the Canadian Tri-Fund, a LIUNA agency that promotes industry safety and employment.

In what sounds suspiciously like the union equivalent of corporate libel-chill,

John Evans, the lawyer for Labourers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local 183, said Monday the union is looking into the conduct of members at the rowdy meeting which prompted the physical removal of the two workers.

“The local is presently investigating and will determine shortly what further action, if any, will take place,” said Evans, who also acts as a spokesman for the local.

Meanwhile, Ontario Federation of Labour president Sid Ryan said he won’t intervene in the affairs of the union, an affiliate of his umbrella organization.

“It’s not going to happen,” he said. “I don’t know nearly enough to wade in.”

Solidarity forever, eh brother?

Tim Harper on Caterpillar's Betrayal of Canadian Workers

As it hauls its billions in profits south of the border, Caterpillar executives should make a detour and stop in Ottawa to drop off the money they owe Canadian taxpayers.

Failing that, the Conservative government should be waiting for them at the border demanding the tax break and handout cash looted from the federal treasury.

But since both scenarios are highly fanciful, it is time for an end to the scattershot, no-strings-attached tax breaks being tossed from Stephen Harper’s government to large multinationals that are using it to drive down the standard of living in this country.

And those are just the first three sentences in Tim Harper's excellent and trenchant analysis of the Electro-Motive debacle, which I highly recommend.

Liuna Fails Its Members

The Labourers’ International Union of North America Local 183 seems to be playing right into the hands of neoconservative forces that would like nothing better than to see right-to-work legislation that would make union membership optional.

The problems at the union, which I wrote about previously, escalated into violence yesterday at a meeting in which members demanded answers about John Mandarino, the training centre executive who showed his contempt for the members' dues in a variety of ways, including misappropriating funds.

In addition to physically removing those who wanted full disclosure about the Mandarino debacle, the union executive threatened legal action against the questioners:

Local 183 business manager Jack Oliveira told the meeting that members who asked questions about Mandarino are linked to the union’s previous leadership and are “politically motivated.” Those leaders lost a close, bitter election fight last summer.

“If there is any undermining of this organization, steps will be taken to stop this once and for all. . . . I will bring charges against you,” Oliveira warned.

At a time when union membership is at an all-time low, Liuna Local 183 seems primarily concerned with concealing cronyism and possible corruption, hardly inducements for workers to surrender hard-earned dues to an organization that seems to have lost sight of its very reason for existence.