Tim Speaketh Yet Again

I doubt that Ontario Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak has ever met a neoconservative nostrum that he doesn't like. The latest pontification from the lad who would be Premier comes from his 'bold' assertion that Ontario must subsidize electricity costs for manufacturing if the province is to keep and attract jobs.

Claiming his plan would be cost-effective (simply end the 'subsidies' to wind and solar power) the lad is sure that Ontario would thus win at least 300,000 manufacturing jobs from the five million new jobs that the Americans are going to get. (Sorry, Tim didn't deign to explain where either figure comes from, such is the ardent faith of the free market advocate).

Also missing from his strange figures is acknowledgement that Ontario currently offers heavy industrial discounting under its Industrial Incentive Electricity Progrtam. Nor does he explain that despite tax rates that are lower than those of the U.S., business is sitting on its profits instead of creating and retaining jobs.

And how would he deal with pesky unions who have an unseemly habit of wanting living wages and benefits? Well, as he has previously announced, a flourish of the legislative pen would enact right-to-work laws, thinly disguised as 'workplace democracy' that would eventually end unions in the workplace.

A bold man of vision. A leader who is not afraid to make the hard decisions. Neither of those descriptions will ever apply to young Tim.

The NDP - Just Another Political Machine - UPDATE

Although I will likely vote NDP federally in the next election, I am under no illusion that the party is much different from its two major competitors. Indeed, I see it as occupying the middle ground that the Liberals once laid claim to, and quite frankly, compared to the latter's leader's apparently policy-less platform, Thomas Mulcair looks statesmanlike and intelligent.

Of the NDP in Ontario, the province in which I reside, I am less certain. While leader Andrea Horwath has made noises about doing politics differently, increasingly she and her party appear to represent nothing except the same old backroom machinations aimed at maximizing seats at the expense of principle. A strong case in point is found in today's Star column by Martin Regg Cohn. Entitled NDP fights for its soul in Scarborough civil war, it tells the rather sordid tale of how disgraced former Toronto City Councillor Adam Giambrone, wending his way back from political purgatory, essentially 'muscled out' Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra, the very person he thought best to contest the upcoming Scarborough byelection.

But at the 11th hour, Giambrone had second thoughts — concluding that he was the best choice. He telephoned his fresh recruit, Chhabra, to confess that he would challenge her for the nomination.

In no time, Giambrone rounded up a posse to push him over the top at the weekend nomination meeting.

Unfortunately, these new supporters did not appear on a printed list of members signed up before the 30-day cut-off, and 12 names are being contested. Given that she lost by only two votes, the betrayed candidate, Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra, by all accounts an ideal choice, is prepared to take legal action to invalidate the nomination that Giambrone 'won.'

Party leader Horwath appears to be missing in action on the whole issue.

Unquestionably, when party democracy takes a back seat to political expediency, it cannot bode well for the future.



UPDATE: Amarjeet Kaur Chhabra has announced that she will not be pursuing legal action over the subversion of her bid for the NDP Scarborough nomination. She said that while she remains “disappointed” in the NDP over the debacle, she is letting the matter drop because the Aug. 1 vote is so close.

He Said, She Said ....

Yesterday I wrote a post detailing a CTV report on the obstruction from the PMO over its refusal to hand over an email pertaining to the the Wright-Duffy Senate payoff scandal. The RCMP was reported as having been trying to obtain it for two months.

It seems the PMO has now moved into high propaganda gear, claiming it has not been asked for any such email:

Contrary to CTV’s reporting, our office has not been asked for this email,” spokesperson Julie Vaux said in an email statement.

“As we have always said, we will assist investigations into this matter.”

However, Vaux refused to say whether the RCMP has asked for other emails or documentation regarding the $90,000 cheque Wright wrote to Duffy or whether the Mounties have interviewed anyone at PMO.

Sounds to me likes its time for a supoena, which apparently would be a first:

Reg Whitaker, University of Victoria professor emeritus who has studied and written about the history of the RCMP .... said he’s unaware of any instance in the history of the RCMP when it had to resort to legal instruments to compel criminal evidence from a sitting prime minister or his office. Nor could he think of any justification the PMO could use for obstructing the investigation.

But then again, many sad precedents have been set by this government, the likes of which Canada has never before seen.

A Politician To Respect

Although she is not one of ours, Democratic Senator Elizabethan Warren is one of those rare politicans who commands respect. Calm, even unflappable, and eminently logical, she handles herself with great aplomb in the following video as she defends her efforts to bring back the Glass-Stegall Act, legislation that was enacted as a response to The Great Depression to create a firewall between investment and commercial banking. It was repealed by Bill Clinton in 1999, and is widely blamed for the 2008 financial crisis that eventually engulfed the world.

Canadians can only wish we had that calibre of politican here in a position to influence public debate. As good as our Eliabeth May may be, I do not see The Green Party rising to prominence in near future.

Sometimes Mockery Is The Only Fitting Rebuke

H/t The ChronicleHerald

If the Prime Minister Obstructs Justice, Isn't It Still A Criminal Offence?

CTV reports the following:

The Prime Minister’s Office has been withholding from the RCMP an email about the $90,000 cheque Stephen Harper’s former chief of staff wrote to Sen. Mike Duffy...

RCMP investigators have been trying to obtain the email ever since CTV News first revealed its existence two months ago.
The prime minister’s communications director, Andrew MacDougall, confirmed that the email exists.

The story, with accompanying video, goes on to reveal that one of the key architects behingd the deal to silence Duffy and pay off his debts, Harper’s former legal counsel Benjamin Perrin, has not made himself available to be interviewed by our federal force.

Liberal MP Rodger Cuzner has suggested that the RCMP obtain warrants to get the email, but Robert Fife reports that the Mounties would prefer to see the PMO voluntarily provide all of the relevant information and require anyone with knowledge of the Wright-Duffy deal to come forward.

Fat chance of that happening.

Pat Robertson Offers His 'Expert' Opinion On Trayvon Martin

There seem to be no limits to Pat Robertson's prodigious intellect. One wonders when God will 'call him home' for the rest he so richly deserves.