Another Victory for the Star: The Harper Government Blinks

The Globe and Mail arrogantly proclaims itself to be 'Canada's national newspaper' and 'Canada's paper of record.' It is a self-proclaimed designation that I have longed disagreed with, so much so that I eventually cancelled my long-standing subscription to it some time ago, substituting the Toronto Star, Canada's largest-circulation newspaper. And I have never regretted that decision.

Unlike the Globe, which is happy to make facile and incomprehensible endorsements of Stephen Harper whenever an election is pending, The Star has a solid record of success in a diversity of situations ranging from prompting the Ontario government to investigate the scandal-plagued Ornge medical helicopter service to being responsible for the initiation of a restaurant inspection system in Toronto that has become a model for cities across Canada.

The Star's latest achievement is getting the government to change its mind on the case of Sayed Shah Sharifi, the brave Afghan interpreter whose life was at risk from the Taliban due to the help he extended to our troops in Afghanistan. His application for a visa under a special program to grant visas to Afghans “who face exceptional risk or who have suffered serious injury as a result of their work for the Canadian government in Kandahar province” was rejected, and after 18 months, he is finally getting justice, thanks to The Star and the dogged efforts of reporter Paul Watson exposing this injustice at the hands of the Harper regime generally, and Immigration Minister Jason Kenney in particular.

The public outcry has been loud and sustained. As a result, the Harper government, as they say, blinked, and while I am usually not one to gloat, victories of any kind with this regime are so infrequent that I do believe I shall indulge myself a bit. You can read the full report of this victory here.

Perhaps there is also a lesson here for all of us about what can happen when we shed our cloaks of indifference and disengagement and fight for causes truly worth our passion.

The Funeral of Shelagh Gordon

For anyone who believes that it is the size of your wallet, the house you live in, or the title of your job that gives your life worth and meaning, I strongly suggest a viewing of this video from The Star.

As well, you can read the story of Shelagh Gordon, written by Catherine Porter, here.

Patrick Brazeau - Now Why Does that Name Ring A Bell?

I don't know whether the 37-year-old is the youngest to be rewarded by the Harper regime with a Senate seat, but a Google search led me to this 2009 posting about his, ahem, 'creative' fiscal practices.

F-35 Lies From The Department of National Defence

Much to my surprise, the National Post has been doing a good job lately in covering Conservative misdeeds. While the Canadian taxpayer has been subjected to so many falsehoods and a great deal of subterfuge about the true cost of the F-35 jets over the past year-and-a half, The Post's John Ivison offers information about next month's report on the jets from Michael Ferguson, the new Auditor-General, that promises to shake up some people.

We can only hope that the report finally 'shoots down in flames' the Harper lie that the jets will only cost $75 million each.

The Smoke From That Gun Is Turning Into An Overpowering Stench

Despite the Harper regime's steadfast denials over involvement in the voter suppression crimes and their attempts to divert suspicion onto the Liberals and NDP, evidence is mounting suggesting their complicity in the felonies:

An investigation by CBC News has turned up voters all over Canada who say the reason they got robocalls sending them to fictitious polling stations was that they'd revealed they would not vote Conservative.

Although the Conservative Party has denied any involvement in the calls, these new details suggest that the misleading calls relied on data gathered by, and carefully guarded by, the Conservative Party.

You can read the entire story here.

Is Liuna Local 183 Trying To Stifle Dissent?

As I have indicated in past posts, Liuna local 183 seems to be the poster boy for bad union behaviour. Not only has it made some very questionable decisions that work to the detriment of the union movement as a whole, but now, it seems it may using the strongest measures possible to stifle discussion and dissent.

As revealed in a Star story today, the union leadership is seeking the expulsion of 13 workers who disrupted a meeting while asking questions but getting no satisfactory answers over the employment of John Manadarino, a disgraced union employee who still retains employment through his management of the Canadian Tri-fund.

If the members are expelled, they will lose their livelihoods as they will no longer be able to work on unionized construction projects.

The question people have to ask themselves is if this sanction is justified, given the physical disruption that occurred at the Mandarino meeting, or whether this is the union equivalent of corporate libel chill.

Crass Manipulation About Iran's Nuclear Intentions

Those who believe that the public is being as crassly manipulated about Iran as it was by the lies that served as prologue to the Iraqi invasion will find two recent articles of interest.

The first, entitled No defensible reasons to attack Iran, by Gwynne Dyer, pierces many of the fallacies being used to incite fervour for a war with Iran, while the second, Are We About to Get Embroiled in a Nightmare War With Iran? by Noam Chomsky, suggests who the real renegade states are.

For those who believe in the importance of critical thinking, I recommend both for perusal.

UPDATE: Click here to read Fareed Aakaria's thoughts on Iran.