More Insenaty!

And here we go again and again and again. Liberals all for senate reform, but it's gotta be full on reform or they won't do it, which is very, very difficult, while lambasting the Conservatives for having the gonads to forge ahead, despite being in a minority.

You see, to have full reform, you gotta "open the constitution" which you'll hear the same Liberals say, "Well, once you open up the Constitution, you play into the hands of the separatists."

But Liberals believe the Conservatives are playing partisan games instead of seeking meaningful reform.

They propose a term of 12 to 15 years so the Senate can maintain its traditional role of providing long-term perspective.

"The job is to study, to question legislation and question experts," said Quebec Sen. Serge Joyal. "If you have a bunch of newbies in the two chambers, the administration can manipulate them the way they want. The government can manipulate Parliament."

UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Joyal insists the Liberals "are not opposed at all to reform," they simply believe the legislation the government wants passed is unconstitutional.

Let me ask you this then, Senator Joyal:

When have the Liberals EVER sought senate reform?

INSENATY NOW!!!

Raise taxes but not necessarily raise taxes and True Patriot Love but not necessarily patriotism

Well, Interim Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff is at it again, saying one thing one day and qualifying it the next.

"We will have to raise taxes," but not at the expense of hurting the recovery from this recession, Mr. Ignatieff, on a four-day tour of Southwestern Ontario, told a meeting of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce.

And then...

"But let me repeat, so there's no doubt about it. No Liberal party with a brain in its head is going to raise taxes in the middle of a recession."

Asked about tax hikes during good times, Ignatieff said: "Hopefully not then either."

Now that's leadership.

And now he has a book out called "True Patriot Love". Aw.

A review from Macleans...

Ignatieff proposes patriotism as the sustaining motif in this grand lineage that reaches down to him. On one level this is merely a convenient way to package campaign fodder for a man who, after all, hopes the next federal election will make him prime minister.

You know, when I was away from Canada for 7 months on a work contract, did I miss my home? Of course.

So I can sympathize with Ignatieff touting his patriotism being away for 30 years from the very country he wants to lead.

As you can see in the video below, his patriotism is unwaivering...



And you can read more of these Iggyisms on the following blog:
http://www.bluelikeyou.com/ignatieffiggyisms/

I love Lucy

Former Price Is Right host, Bob Barker, is makin' waves about our Lucy the elephant at the Edmonton Storyland Valley Zoo.

From Zoo

I first met Lucy when I was a kid and she was on Al Oeming's farm near Edmonton. I often pay her a visit every couple of years at the zoo because I think she remembers me somehow. Whenever I go watch her outside then head inside, she always follows me in and comes over to where I am. I don't know why, people, I'm just telling you.

Here's a video of her rocking. I'm told that she's actually dancing and showing off.

More Insenaty!

But Christopherson, MP for Hamilton Centre, who has not yet seen the proposed legislation, said the Conservatives are "missing the opportunity for real action."

"This is nothing but another sideshow, a distraction from the real issue: How do we make the Senate accountable to the people of Canada?" Christopherson said in an email statement sent to CTV.ca.

"Setting term limits for patronage appointments will only let the Conservatives spread out their patronage among even more of their friends - it won't ensure that senators make their decisions based on the will of Canadian electors."

Read more here.

I like how the NDP critic ..um.. criticizes but then offers no solutions of their own.

I like how LibIntLead Michael Ignatieff says Harper broke his word and cannot be trusted, yet when have the Liberals done ANYTHING on Senate reform?

INSENATY NOW!!!

Ignatieff removes leading Ukrainian Canadian from shadow cabinet

Seems there are a lot of Ukrainian-Canadians upset with Liberal Interim Leader Michael Ignatieff's decision about removing a very active Liberal MP from his shadow cabinet, and some remarks he's made in the past...

"Isn’t nationalism just an exercise in kitsch, in fervent emotional insincerity? Especially so in Ukraine. It has been part of Russia for centuries."

"Into this inauthentic void streams nationalist emotionalism," he continues, "striving to convince them that there always was a Ukrainian nation; that it has been suppressed for centuries; that it has at last found its freedom, and so on. The reality is different."

"My difficulty in taking Ukraine seriously goes deeper than just my cosmopolitan suspicion of nationalists everywhere. Somewhere inside, I’m also what Ukrainians would call a Great Russian, and there is just a trace of old Russian disdain for these "little Russians.""

My late grandfather, who proudly fought for the Ukrainian Army against the Russians after World War I (a period of time he wouldn't talk about) wouldn't be too happy about those statements. Not happy at all.

And neither am I.

Spread the word.

Taser Phaser

So RCMP officers need to tone it down then...

Under the amended policy, an officer is only permitted to use a stun gun if he or she is in physical danger or the public is in danger.

It means Mounties can no longer shock people who are simply were "actively resistant" to officers' orders, the commissioner said.

Where's "the line" though? I don't think this permission will really change anything.

Dog the Bounty Hunter uses pepper spray quite effectively I might add.

Update: The Edmonton Police Service isn't changing their position on Tasers.

Lump of Coalition

Don't you find it interesting how quickly the Liberal/NDP/Bloc coalition was put together and then how quickly it was torn apart?

Yet when it was alive, Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe said, just last week, that it was "stronger than ever".

When the federal budget was released, NDP leader Jack Layton said a coalition gov't would better address the needs of Canadians.

Really, Jack? Or should we call you Jack Shit from now on?

Hmmm... how quickly you released radio ads attacking your former ally, Liberal interim leader Michael Ignatieff, you know, the one who would have given you a cabinet post. Must have had those ads ready for proofing around the same time you said a coalition gov't would work better together.

And Jack says at every turn that Prime Minister Stephen Harper can't be trusted?

Riiight.

Put a lump of coal into the coalition kettle and let's call it black, shall we?

"The Coalition is dead." Long live the coaltion!

“The coalition is dead. It's finished. It's over,” said [Bloc Quebecois leader] Mr. Duceppe.

Just last week, Duceppe said, "The coalition is stronger than ever." What happened?

Now that the Liberals are "reluctantly" supporting the budget (as predicted), NDP Leader Jack Layton now says he can't trust Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff. (Does Layton trust anybody anymore? Sour grapes?)

Ok, so what does this mean now?

It means the Conservatives will be in power all year long, propped up by the Liberals, as Ignatieff wants regular budgetary updates from Harper.

It's too bad. I wished Harper and Flaherty would have soured the budget enough so that the Liberals couldn't support it and possibly force an election in which the Conservatives would have a better chance at winning a majority against the notion of a separatist-Coalition.

And that's why the Liberals dumped Dion so quickly and put in Ignatieff. Although they all signed that coalition promise document for the Governor General (including Ignatieff), it really wasn't binding after the prorogue anyway.

I don't think though, that Ignatieff has said anything significant to win over soft-conservatives. In fact, I think this budget really strattles the middle, forcing to push the opposition Liberals to the left more because, well, they have to oppose something!

If there weren't any middle class tax cuts, it would just be like a Liberal budget ... or heck, a coalition budget. Earlier in the month though, Ignatieff was FOR a middle class tax cut, then hearing that it would be in the budget, scrapped that idea and said he was against it.

Harper's long time goal is to replace the Liberals as the natural governing party. Every political move he's made is indicative of that strategy.

Now the question is, does Stephen Harper want to REPLACE the Liberals, or BE like them?

Except for the middle class tax cut, this budget makes me think so.

So while the old Liberal/NDP/(Bloc) coalition is dead, a new one begins, but it's really the old old one when Dion was leader of the Liberals.

So now we simply wait until Michael Ignatieff rebuilds the Liberal party until he's comfortable fighting an election .... and we'll wait ... and wait...

Long live the coalition!

O

Got a fuzzy feeling inside? Yeah, me too.

MLK