CCT Official Launch

Hi Everyone,

So I've been talking about this expansion for a while, but I'm finally at the point where it has come to fruition. Head on over to clearconservative.ca to check out the new site.

I am still in the process of moving over all the feeds etc.. But clearconservative.ca is going to be my new home.

You will notice that the site is not a lot different from the current one, but I am going to be adding features through the coming week and month. I did add a nice feature to share posts on facebook- so if you read something you like, you'll be able to post it directly to your facebook.

This site will also have several additional static pages where I will be placing additional information pertaining to the conservative movement.

I got a little back-tracked on the second site in the CCT network, but stay tuned, it's coming.

Don't forget to change your RSS feeds.
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From Bad to Worse

For many of us welfare is something of a burden, something that most think is taken advantage of and used to substitute work and earning a living. From a distance this could be true in a lot of cases, and indeed many do use it for that purpose. But there are cases where it is needed, and the last hope for many families, especially in these times of financial downturns. Personal experience finds me in that situation now, due to recurring problems with my back. I can no longer work and have been forced to turn to the welfare system to supplement my wife's part time income while we sort out the mess we find ourselves in.

But this is no easy task, and one would think with the government assisting it should be an easy problem to correct. Hardly, and exactly the opposite. The welfare system is not designed to replace a lost income no matter what the reason or circumstance is. And any income brought in to the house is deducted $ for $ off of whatever amount the recipient is entitled to. Which means, if you work they take off any money you bring in off what they give you. They do not replace the money you have lost. So, that means as we try to pull ourselves out of this mess we are only getting deeper and deeper in debt and now on the brink of bankruptcy.

I know that many people have had to do that, and that today many more are going through very similar things as we are. But that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. My wife and I have 5 children, and two of them are under 4. We have been faced with watering down their milk to try and make it last, and let me tell you as a father nothing hurts more, than knowing you are unable to provide for your family better than that. We are trying to get in to emergency housing before the bank forecloses on our house and forces into something even worse than we can imagine, but we are not getting much help from anyone, or any agency. This has been a big wakeup call to me. I thought the welfare system and social programs in Canada were the best in the world, but it is hard to imagine any place having a worse system than this one.

A major part of the problem is living in a rural area and my inablility to drive due to the pain medication. Which means I can't even look for work without driving, and therefore risking my life and others by being on the road impaired on narcotic pain killers. So, not a good plan. Hopefully we will get into housing in the city ASAP so I can use public transit and get back to work. Wish me luck, I'll keep you posted.

"Liberal Supporter" - the life of a modern Canadian Troll

I've picked up a rather persistent troll in the last couple days. I am sure that this same troll is venturing through other BT Blogs. It can be identified by the scent of self-righteousness and a noticeable lack of intellect. Rumours abound about it's preference of meals, though some have suggested it feeds on brown paper envelopes stuffed with cash, taxpayer dollars flushed down the toilet, and failed carbon tax plans. I recently made changes on this blog that will be reflected in the new site to require logins (anon. posts are just becoming too big of an issue, and I don't want to have to deal with deleting a lot of the offensive ones) and the result definitely helps to level the playing field a bit.

Well, "liberal supporter" had his/her own blog, which I have copied a very interesting quote from(I know, shouldn't be feeding the troll, but I've just got to):

"
The anonymous commenters have won, and dragged me kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Not planning to actually log in unless I have to in order to comment someplace.

I have set up comment moderation here for now because I want this blog to be "low maintenance" for me. Even though I make fun of other people who moderate. Tough. I may turn moderation off from time to time.
"

Oh, the irony... it hurts.

And the environmentalists remain mum...

With the exception of greenpeace, I have yet to receive word from any of the environmental groups in Canada on the issue of Dalton McGuinty's new young drivers legislation and it's potential impact on the environment that they claim to be so concerned about. It strikes me that this law counteracts any of the various carpooling initiatives that these same organizations have promoted in the past. At the time that they were trying to encourage carpooling, they were all too happy to request funding from the government, or new legislation.

When it comes time to defend the environment in this case, however, the best answer I get is that the only organization who is willing to take the time to respond doesn't believe that carpooling is a big issue. Instead they want to advocate hybrid vehicles. Well, it seems to me that two hybrids on the road is worse for the environment than one... Further, most people don't drive hybrids - particularly young people with no money. So what greenpeace is saying is that they don't really care if there are more gas guzzling, super polluting, teenage-owned cars on the road - they would rather focus on forcing people to buy hybrids, restrictive environmental legislation and perpetuating the dangerous myth that GHGs are the biggest threat to the environment...

Please note that I truly appreciate Kevin Gamble's personal response to the question. I am impressed that Greenpeace had the courage to respond to a tough question, even if I don't agree with the answer.

The following cowardly organizations have still not responded, two days later... and I'm not expecting any miracles:

> David Suzuki Foundation
> Sierra Club of Canada
> Earthwatch.org
> Canadian Environmental Network
> Sierra Youth Coalition
> Toronto Environmental Alliance
> Friends of the Earth

Feel free to attempt to pull any responses you would like from these guys, maybe you will have more luck.

** NOTE: As part of the CCT expansion, I will also be introducing another key element of the CCT Network - a site dedicated to drawing attention Dalton McGuinty's reckless and failed policies. I managed to grab a perfect domain name for it(I was shocked it was available to be honest) - More to follow on that, as well as the introduction of the CCT Network. ***

Greenpeace responds to Dalton's Driving Law... sort of

Pretty much what can be expected... no surprises here.

At least they responded... unlike the other 10 organizations I contacted - more on that later.

"
Dear Jordan,

Thank you for contacting Greenpeace. Greenpeace is for the use of increased and more accessible public transportation and for less use of the private automobile. So we would encourage people of all ages to make greater use of public transportation. If automotive transportation must be used, increased use of alternative renewable fuels and increased fuel efficiency would be our second choice. These things should be happening, and Greenpeace is trying to bring them about, irrespective how many passengers, no matter what their age, are in any given car.

For Greenpeace International’s European Transportation campaign, Greenpeace in North America does not have a similar campaign at this point in time, please go to the following link:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/cars

I hope the above provides you with an answer to your question.

Kevin Gamble
Greenpeace Canada
"


** UPDATE **

And the environmentalists remain mum...

Deficit time.. or time for some real conservative policy?

With all this talk of deficit for 2009-10 it occurs to me that this is the perfect time for the Conservatives to be pushing more fiscal conservative policies. I know where you could get at least $1B.

Others are quick to attack the GST cut as a major contributor to this potential problem. While the absence of that money from government coffers may be an issue, I think these people are also forgetting that we will have a continued drop in corporate tax rates, as well as planned spending increases going forward. The corporate tax cuts in particular will assist in the creation of additional jobs, and increasing confidence for investors in those companies as many will see additional revenues. This is a good sign for Canadians, and the reduction in the GST means that Canadians still have a little more in their pockets to infuse into the economy.

None of this finger pointing is really very helpful at times like this. What we need right now is a strong, fiscally conservative approach - more than ever. I'm calling on the government to slash spending, freeze it where it can be frozen, and cut out the waste and mismanagement that continues to plague our government. I'm calling on my fellow bloggers to get behind this, to stand up for small-c conservative ideals.

Let's not be a group of disgruntled hacks, lets be a group of concerned Canadians who want action - we want reductions in spending, we want privatization of organizations like the CBC. We don't want Billions going to bailouts, and we don't want left-wing "make jobs" initiatives.

We elected this government to get us through tough times, and we expect them to do so without sinking our country back into the hole we just started to crawl out of. Trust me, if this party cannot do it - we will find one that will, but it has not come to that point yet... and we owe our PM the chance to do things the right way.

Stephen Harper has shown himself to be a great leader, a brilliant man, and a true conservative; let's not all turn our backs on him, let's make sure he understands what we want... fiscally responsible government.

We're tired of bloated spending... reign it in.

** As a side note... the CCT expansion should be complete by the end of the weekend, I've got the domain set up and I'm just in the process of building the site. Official announcement and re-direction to follow. It's an exciting new project combining the blogging I have done here for the past years, and a broader scope of strengthening the conservative movement in Canada. Stay tuned. **

Could Dalton's Driving law be contrary to the charter?

This issue of young drivers has me concerned more than many youth issues have in the past while. I notice as I get older that they seem more and more trivial, but this one hits a sore spot. Having moved from Alberta when I was 15, I had already been driving with my Learners permit since I was 14. In Ontario that all changed, I was no longer allowed to drive even with my Mother, and that year and a half of driving experience meant nothing under Ontario Law. Despite considering going back to Alberta to obtain my license then having it transferred to Ontario, I stayed and completed the steps once again, and today I have my full G class license.

The process was tough, and seemed to be rife with undue stresses - most of us saw the whole graduated licensing thing as a money grab by the MTO, and I think that would be a reasonable suggestion to this day.

As I have studied a bit of law in my days, I have been thinking about how this fits into sec. 15 of the Charter

"
15. (1) Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.
"

The law would explicitly target individuals with the same credentials (G2 license) differently based on their age. It occurs to me that this is discrimination based on age, as a driver under 20 is subject to different laws than a driver who is 20 or older, even if they have the same license class. It is almost certain that Sec. 1 would be invoked in any case against such a claim against it:

"
1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
"

ie. the violation of sec. 15 is reasonable in order to protect the lives of citizens, and can be demonstrably justified.

Although, I'm not so certain that it could be completely justified; that any empirical or other data would stand to support these claims, and I am almost certain that no such data exists that could prove so effectively in a court of law.

Of course, you would have every advocacy group fighting for their day in court, and MADD(who normally I support to great extent) has plenty of resources to get their voice heard that the other side would likely not.

But there is a strong political positive for this, should conservatives choose to seize it. We are talking about a lot of angry young people - many of whom will be voting in the next elections... This is a great opportunity to show young voters that Conservatives believe in their freedoms, and that restricting them shouldn't be done unless their is a VERY strong argument for it - as exists with the argument to crack down on alcohol in the blood. If we as conservatives can make our voices loud about the passenger issue in particular, many young people may start to see that our views are not necessarily out of line with their own.

Some food for thought...

Dalton to teens: Drink and Drive or you're breaking the law...

That's right... the new limitations on young drivers will be forcing young people to limit passengers in their vehicles. The intent is of course to limit crazy racing and drinking and driving. The result will be that of making Dedicated Drivers essentially illegal for anyone under the age of 20. Doesn't seem like a very appropriate message to be sending kids that will inevitably still go out and drink with friends (from 16 and up reasonably).

Nevermind picking your friends up for school in the morning, or carpooling to work. This is definitely an environment friendly policy, as it forces every kid to have a car - instead of the one driving their friends around.

As a teen, I was a very responsible driver(still am). I never got into trouble, never drink and drive, and I always had other people in my car. It was rare that my seats weren't all full - I'd pick up my friends for school, or at lunch we would drive up to another school to visit our friends. On weekends we would head to Port Dover or take a trip into Toronto for a day, never less than 4 in the car.

And what is so bad about that? Why should a couple of bad apples ruin the bunch? And will it even have an impact? Not likely! If a kid is willing to down a bunch of beers and hop behind the wheel, do you really think they are going to care if it is illegal for them to have passengers? If those passengers are willing to get in the vehicle with a drunk driver - think that they will care if they are breaking the limit of passengers? And it goes beyond drinking, it goes to racing etc...

Well, kids will race with just one passenger in the vehicle, they will race when they are alone. If you take their friends out of their car and put them in their own, they will race AGAINST their friend.

Ridiculous law.

Well, that's what happens when you vote Liberal...

** UPDATE **

Looks as if even some of the "other guys" agree:

Here

Also:

Sign the "NO" Petition Online Here

Join the "Young Drivers Against New Ontario Laws" Facebook group Here

It occurs to me that a promise to repeal the age limits(if the motion turns to law), would be a good plank for the Ontario Conservatives in the next election - Are you listening Mr. Tory et al?

CCT: Could Dalton's Driving law be contrary to the charter?

Right as Rain: McGuinty Thinks we are Stupid

Considering that G2 drivers are already restricted to 1 passenger between midnight and 5:00AM, it seems unlikely that it will stop many drunk drivers in particular. It occurs to me that I can probably count on one hand how many times I've left a party before midnight...

The REAL inconvenient truth

"I'm the oil company, and I used to be the next environment destroying enterprise"

"
Statistics Canada says the country's oil-and-gas extraction industry spent $2.8 billion to protect the environment in 2006, more than any other industry.
"

And those damn Albertans.. just can't seem to get it through their heads that paying 49% of our bills just isn't good enough!

"

Capital investment by businesses in Alberta for environmental protection amounted to nearly $1.9 billion in 2006, almost 49 per cent of the capital expenditures nationally.

"

So long as they take care of our air and water supply...



In other news...

A new study suggests that what we all knew already may just be true..
Next, scientists will be shocked that Depression is over-diagnosed, and Ritalin over-prescribed!

Is there a god? Or was it just one big "gotcha"?

Head on over to the way the ball bounces - where RkBall plays a trick of sorts on the religiously inspired(or uninspired). In the process gets pelted by rhetorical stones . . . It's like the Planters Factory, nuts all over the place.

The whole thing is an appropriate reminder that all too often many people will take out of context the meaning of something said or done. This can be particularly true online, where it is more difficult to read emotion than in person.

It is incredibly aggravating to see the same argument played out over and over again by the "two" sides. More often than not, I find the arguments to be caused by who I call "militant atheists". This unique breed of atheists are not content in simply not believing in god themselves. No, absolutely not; you need to be converted, or you are stupid for believing in a higher power.

Of particular interest is how these same militants will continue on at great lengths about the punishing bouts they have had with theists who are trying to bring them to their religion, all the while they are doing the exact same themselves. It seems to me that every atheist on the left is keeping tabs on the Blogging Tories in particular, lashing out with vicious attacks against members who express religious thoughts - providing unsolicited opinions from their high horses.

Now, I generally try to find fault with both sides in this particular conflict, but I must say I have seen an ever-growing monopoly of hate from the atheists abound. Rk's post has served to remind us of this twisted and dark side to the religious debate.

If you cannot get through an argument without sinking to the level of calling someone stupid because they don't believe everything you do, then you have some serious problems - problems that seem to be commonplace in the left wing community. (An excellent post over at Conservative Minded on this topic).

It occurs to me (and I commented on this to some extent when I was interviewed about the US Election) that we on the right are particularly targeted with this type of mean-spirited and dishonest attack (Good post at Celestial Junk). Never have I seen a right winger say any such thing to someones face; not a single time. On the other hand, I have been called every name in the book by "compassionate" liberals and socialists. Somehow my thoughts make me some form of political anti-christ, on the levels of Bush and Harper. I am a barbarian of sorts, who wants to steal from the poor and give to my rich buddies (never mind that I would fall into that "poor" category, that's an inconvenient fact). I have no conscience, I have no compassion, I am a monster - plain, simple.

The irony being of course, that many of these leftist loons are the same people who blather on endlessly about the "stupidity" of believing in god because it has no basis in fact. This is in contrast, of course, to their "based-in-fact" views on the evils of capitalism, conspiracy theories of big corporations and government, and racism/sexism etc.. of those who are conservative thinkers. (please note, it is rare to find an atheist Conservative who is so disparaging of Christians... an odd trend I have noticed, although I don't know of any studies to back up my statement).

Now, as a "devout" agnostic, I can appreciate the situation that atheists find themselves in; they live in a religious world and are surrounded by those who for one reason or another don't seem to see the light (Or should I say insist on seeing the light?). I too, have acted out against the religious. I was about 7 years old when I crossed a line between distaste for religion and downright contempt and rudeness towards it. This phase lasted about two years. I have grown up since, into a man who is capable of disagreeing with someone on matters unprovable and maintain civil discourse and respect. Perhaps this is just a matter of setting the men and women apart from the boys and girls. Some of us grow up, and some continue to live their lives as children - blaming everyone but themselves, attacking instead of listening, and perpetually increasing their overall irrelevance.

Knut news

It's been some time since I've looked for updates on Knut the polar bear, made famous after his mother rejected him and animal rights activists determined it would be better to euthanize him than leave him alive in custody.

Obligatory video of cute baby polar bear, Knut:



Well, I thought it a good time to update everyone who hasn't been paying attention(like me), as to what is going on.

Sad news, his keeper died at the end of September. Thomas Doerflein had raised Knut, and spent almost every moment with the bear. He died of a heart attack.

There are conflicting opinions about Knut's state of mind; one keeper has suggested that he is attention-starved, even labeling him as a "psychopath". Another has said that he is doing just fine, and he is growing up well. Of course, ordering his "father" to stay away from him probably didn't help the situation much..

I suppose only time will tell how things go for Knut, but there is talk of moving him to a different zoo.

CPC convention '08

Ok... so there's no mountains in Manitoba.

I must say that I am disappointed that I am unable to attend the convention in Manitoba this year. I have been reading through blog posts and facebook entries from my blogging colleagues and friends, and I must say it seems as if this convention has an incredible amount of energy behind it. There are a good deal of serious issues being discussed, and a lot of intelligent and influential people participating.

One of the voices in the mix is the founder of the Reagan-Goldwater Society, Derek Fildebrandt. Derek and I worked together last year, I developed the original RGS website(and admittedly had to leave because professional and educational responsibilities trumped my ability to dedicate the time required). In my time working with Derek I found him to be an intelligent thinker, a dedicated small-c conservative, and a fine leader. Well, Derek has moved beyond the days of campus activism, but he is still an active conservative and remains a man deserving of great respect. Derek has put together an excellent list of the proposals being voted on, in the light of strategic voting. I would check it out at his new blog, Conservtive Demablog.

Another of these voices is that of Stephen Taylor, the well known co-founder of the Blogging Tories. Stephen is somewhat of a blogging celeb, he created what is arguably the most influential blogging community in this country. I've also worked with Stephen on several occasions, most notably in my time moderating the Blogging Tories forums, and I can confirm what most all of us already know - he's the guy to watch during this convention. If something is going on, be certain he will know about it, so head on over to his blog and see what he's saying.

Andrew Lawton is another voice to watch, both during the convention as well as following it. Andrew is the President of the UWO chapter of the Reagan-Goldwater Society, and an intelligent conservative thinker. He has just started a new blog, Pundit Central. Be certain to check out his blog as well.

And of course, there is no ignoring my friend over at OfficiallyScrewed.com. He has been giving his take on the event so far, as well as the lead-up. For tales of the events, head on over and see what he's saying.

All of this action keeps me thinking about the importance of the blogosphere in today's political environment. Not just our importance to ourselves, but also to the greater conservative movement in Canada. We cannot allow our Conservative party to be hijacked by centrist voices again, because we cannot afford another splitting of the right. We have to be louder than the voices that are calling for pandering to the center-left; we have to make the leaders of the party understand that we will not stand for "conservatives in name only" leadership - and that without the small-c conservative base, the party is nothing.

Now none of this is to say that the party is in imminent danger of becoming this, but certainly there appear to be seeds of this in some of the proposals that have been brought up in this very convention.

While we must remain strong as small-c conservatives, I think it is important for the movement to focus on matters of the mind, and not of the heart. We must keep the voices of strong social policy moderated, much as we must keep the fringe capitalist thoughts moderated. I think it is important to keep the conversation on moving this country to the right, without appearing scary. Important issues like senate reform, tax reduction with spending cuts/freezes, two-tier health care, equalization reform, responsible environmental protection, and building trade partnerships are all such issues.

These are the issues where conservatives stand a chance at gaining ground and changing minds. And if the CPC decides to move away from their traditional stances on these issues, they will not stand apart from the Liberals in the next election nearly as much as they might like.

More importantly, we must find outlets to get these words out, beyond the blogosphere. If we are honest with ourselves, we will know that our words online only go so far; we miss a huge chunk of the audience. The best way to combat this is to ensure we get ourselves into the public eye - work with small-c conservative organizations like the Manning Center, or Taxpayers Federation. Start your own local movement- gather friends, family, or just like-minded thinkers, start meeting and formulating plans of action to promote issues important in your community. Get out and protest - all too often we sit back and let the left trump us in this. And don't forget, to show support for your party of preference - organize a rally-in-support of a decision or project. No matter what you decide to do, just keep doing it... keep pushing grass roots reform, it's the only way to achieve what we desire.

Yet another failure of the Justice system

Quebec prisoner released from prison early... because he's FAT.

In yet another in a long line of ridiculous criminal-friendly court decisions, a Quebec judge released a gangster from prison early because he is considered obese. The reasoning is that the prison cannot accommodate his stature, and therefore his rights cannot be upheld.

This is absolutely ridiculous; the fact that this kind of thing can occur underlines a big problem in our judicial system. That problem is lack of accountability of the judiciary. This would never happen in a place where judges were accountable to the public - instead, these judges make these decisions and put Canadians at risk.

The situation becomes overly clear when one delves into the crimes he was convicted of: "conspiracy, drug trafficking and gangsterism". Yet another instance of the rights of prisoners trumping the rights of the law-abiding public. I understand that his sentence would have ended in February, but the very fact that this was allowed to occur sets a dangerous precedence.

I would say this should go to the supreme court, but that probably wouldn't do much but waste buckets of money - and likely end up with a ruling forcing our prison systems to accommodate the obese.

Give me a break.

CCT Welcomes New writers

In preparation of the coming expansion of the site, I opened blogging to new voices. One of those voices is Sean McAllister. Sean will be posting here, along with another potential writer - and likely more in the long-term.

The new site should be ready to go in the coming couple of weeks, and All I'm going to say is that it is going to be a much more comprehensive site - one that will have a good deal of content, and a focus on building the small-c conservative movement in the country. Stay tuned!

Canada, Interrupted

I don't know when it happened or what event transpired bring us to where we are today. It may be that we were blind or unwilling to believe that such things could happen in our Country, that it could only happen somewhere else. We would never allow such things to happen in Canada, because we are civilized, tolerant, and just. Yet it is happening, right here, right now, in the true north strong and free. I think perhaps it has been a long time that most people have said those words, or perhaps don't remember were they came from even.

Our Country, our home and native land, is being subverted and destroyed right before us. Our values, laws, and dearest beliefs are being challenged and squashed without a fight. In 2007 a young 16 yr old girl was murdered by her father because she wouldn't wear a scarf around her head. Not that a young woman being murdered by her parents is a unique thing, it does happens and the reasons for it are varied, and horribly wrong. But this is different. Apparently it is justified. By them, and us. We did not arise in outrage that a life could be taken for such reasons.
It is argued that her crime was against God and that punishment was mandatory. Any god that demands death for such actions is no god in my mind. But alas, I digress.

There are many who believe that this is right, and many who say otherwise. It is not up to me to force my beliefs on another being. But it is up to me, and all of us, to decide what we will allow in our Country, and what we will not. The killing of any human being, for any reason, is a crime, Period. I'm not going to get into discussions about war or abortion, that is a whole different subject. We are dealing with the killing of people over religion. It doesn't matter what religion it is, it is unacceptable. Across the world in history such things have happened, but not as a way of life. The hijab is a word that most of us have never heard until recent years, and to now know that is a reason to kill just makes me want to vomit. Just exactly why are we in Afghanistan again? Are we not there fighting and dying to stop exactly this sort of thing? And now it is happening right here on our communities and we do NOTHING! I believe it is time we stood up and said no, not in Canada.

The Kalb Report: with Bill O!

Excellent...

Audio available here

The folly of Blog wars..

Much like any other war, these blog wars that have been starting of late are not only divisive, but unlike many real wars are fought without cause or reason. What drives these participants to such viciousness? Is it simply an attempt to slow their own decline into irrelevance? Or is it more?

One thing is certain; we can hardly expect our politicians to get along(or our children for that matter), so long as we cannot have even a modicum of civilized discussion. Can we not disagree without resorting to ad-hominem attacks, or worse yet, comparisons to tyrants? Perhaps Godwin's law holds some water; the eventual decline of discussion will reach a point where someone will be compared to Hitler. It seems all too often that this particular attack is leveled on those on the right(despite rather obvious political and economic differences), but we are far from innocent in all of this I am afraid.

It is almost a mob mentality of sorts, a sinking to the lowest common denominator. And we, as bloggers owe it to not only each other, but also to our readers to rise above such petty and childish behaviour. It stands only to reason that engaging in such discussion(if it can be called so), does little to further our credibility, and even less to earn respect.

From our side, all we can do is ignore the trolls. Leave their pettiness and childishness on their little piece of the world, and let them sink into the bowels of irrelevance. We should not encourage these people by acknowledging them, we should ignore them simply because they have shown themselves to be petty and ignorant.

I would call upon all bloggers to take a break from the attacks, if even for only today. Today should not be a day of partisan attacks, or of personal feuds. Today we celebrate the lives of our fallen veterans, we give thanks and remembrance to those who fought(and continue to fight) to protect our rights and freedoms. The same rights and freedoms we are enjoying through our blogs. If there is a sense of decency in you, you will put aside your differences for even one day to come together in appreciation and respect of our veterans and current serving members. We owe them much more, but that would be a good start.

And who's to say... you may find that civility really isn't that bad after all.

Lest we forget...

This is one of the better videos I have seen, an excellent tribute to our soldiers past and present.

While we are always supportive of the brave men and women who serve and have served, today is a particularly important time to show it.

We are all proud of you, we will never forget.

Betting on the Canadian Dollar...

2009 may prove to be a good time to invest in American stocks, assuming the Canadian Dollar remains low. While currently the stock market in the United States is extremely volatile, many commentators are suggesting that it should stabilize in the first quarter or second quarter of 2009. If this begins to ring true, it may be a good time to invest in American stock - particularly strong, stable stocks (XOM - Exxon Mobil is one of my favourites). Indeed, with Exxon, this investment would be worthwhile right now, with oil prices low. As the economies of the world begin to heat up again, the prices will rise and along with them, profits.

The real key will be holding on until the Canadian dollar can come back up to par (down), a 5% gain could quickly turn into a 20-some % gain. Just something I've been pondering about for the last while. Any thoughts?

**UPDATED**

Thanks to Reid in the comments for pointing out the error I made. This should have read more along the lines of buy while the dollar is up, and sell when the dollar is low(hence looking forward to 2009, when the prospects of our dollar going up are better). Apologies for the mix-up, and thanks to Reid for keeping me on my toes!

Video: Con te Partiro

Just because it's a great song...

Video: What we Remember: A tribute to soldiers everywhere

Constitutional Reform and the 21st Century

21 years ago, with the formation of the Reform party, the idea of real and valuable constitutional reform was invigorated. Although it took several years for the Reform to gain a footing as a powerful voice in Canadian politics, much of what they put forward has remained dominant in the small-c conservative political world of Canada. Among them, the idea of a triple-E senate. Equal, Elected, Effective. Yet, 21 years later, we still see no real action on this front.

Even at a time where we are facing our second Conservative government, we see little real action on the constitutional reform front. That is not to say that the topic has faded, in fact, it has gained strength to the point of gaining mainstream notice. It has moved from a western desire to a populist talking point.

For all the talk of senate reform, you would expect that some actions were being taken to finally create a truly democratic senate, free of the political cronyism and ineffectiveness that plagues it to date. The Prime Minister has expressed his full support for the principles of a triple-E senate, even finally appointing the second elected senator(after appointing another of course). But for all his purported support, he has failed to even convene a discussion on the topic with provincial leaders. He hasn't proposed a referendum on the topic.

With the events of the 2008 election, it is becoming glaringly obvious that Quebec is maintaining it's irrelevance through their continued support of the Bloc, and no amount of pandering to them seems to make any difference. There is little doubt that such changes would be difficult to achieve with Ontario and Quebec in the equation, but the fact that discussions have not even taken place on the topic is somewhat disappointing.

I understand that there may be some political implications in raising the prospect of another constitutional debate, but it is high time that the conversation begins in earnest. This is not another Charlottetown accord, and nor should the discussion have anything to do with Quebec's specific wants; this is simply about repairing our senate, improving accountability, and protecting democracy. I am calling on not only the PM, but the leaders of all parties, to get these talks moving. And to the Premiers, who will without a doubt play a critical role in the process.

Term limits for senators sounds nice, but it really isn't changing the reality of appointments of party-friends to what is supposed to be a place for "sober second thought". It is my hope that the CPC convention will make this point obvious to the party leadership.

It is important for us all to continue our work towards this goal with grassroots movements. This should be a corner-stone of our talking points, something that we believe in, something that is right, something that is horribly overdue.

Over-compensation used to mean buying a muscle car...

Now it's litigation...

"
Red Tory said...
Ehh. whatever. I've already capped everything here and will likely file suit next month.

I'm quite looking forward to exposing this dickweed and costing him a pile of money for his malfeasance and stupidity.

But in the meantime there are more interesting and fun matters to attend to.

Don't think however for a moment L4E that you're off the hook. We'll get back to you in due course...
"

H/T to Raphael (with some thoughts on the whole situation)

The ever so kind and caring Red Tory... "looking forward to exposing this dickweed and costing him a pile of money for his malfeasance and stupidity." Because you know... those lefties are so compassionate. Ridiculous? Just read the other comments, it gets better.

Liblogs... Always good for a laugh, be it toward tired talking points or over-the-top rhetorical fights.

I suppose I had best consider retaining counsel now... or finish that law degree pretty fast!

Sad day when you have to threaten legal action over some pathetic comments on a blog. Sad, but all too common these days. Although RedTory has every right to be upset, this threat of litigation seems rather over-the-top. Then again, my skills and abilities sell themselves, and googling my name and finding Canadian Cynic's harsh words against me hardly concerns me... Maybe it's just a side effect of ridding myself of fragile ego at a young age?

Vote it off

Have your say on which of the list should be removed from the list:

"VOTE IT OFF! We invite you to tell us what topic from this list of 101 people, events, places, symbols and accomplishments that you think does NOT deserve a place on this list. View the list below and "


1

Stephen Harper (78 votes)
2

Céline Dion (29 votes)
3

Pierre Elliott Trudeau (28 votes)
4

Don Cherry (17 votes)
5

David Suzuki (9 votes)
6

René Lévesque (7 votes)
7

Olympics (5 votes)
8

Tim Hortons (5 votes)
9

Fleur de lys (5 votes)
10

Anne Murray (3 votes)
11

Peacekeeping (2 votes)
12

Toronto (2 votes)
13

Snow (2 votes)
14

Jean Chretien (2 votes)
15

Queen Elizabeth (2 votes)
16

Canadian Beer (2 votes)
17

Canadian Flag (1 vote)
18

Canadarm (1 vote)
19

Universal Health Care (1 vote)
20

CN Tower (1 vote)
21

Diversity / Multiculturalism (1 vote)
22

Vimy Ridge (1 vote)
23

Quebec (1 vote)
24

Grey Cup (1 vote)
25

Avro Arrow Project (1 vote)
26

Hydroelectricity (1 vote)
27

Medicine / Science / Tech. (1 vote)
28

Immigration / Policies (1 vote)
29

Bluenose (1 vote)
30

Bombardier (1 vote)
31

Friendly / Polite Country (1 vote)
32

Canadian Elections (1 vote)
33

Maple Leaf (0 votes)
34

Hockey (0 votes)
35

Beaver (0 votes)
36

Canada Day (0 votes)
37

Niagara Falls (0 votes)
38

The Rocky Mountains (0 votes)
39

Wayne Gretzky (0 votes)
40

Parliament Hill (0 votes)
41

Ottawa (0 votes)
42

Frederick Banting / Insulin (0 votes)
43

RCMP/ Mounties (0 votes)
44

Quebec City (0 votes)
45

Terry Fox (0 votes)
46

Confederation (0 votes)
47

Bell / Telephone (0 votes)
48

World War One and Two (0 votes)
49

Constitution / Charter (0 votes)
50

Stanley Cup (0 votes)
51

Calgary Stampede (0 votes)
52

Canadian National Railway (0 votes)
53

Plains of Abraham (0 votes)
54

John A. Macdonald (0 votes)
55

Montreal (0 votes)
56

Wilderness (0 votes)
57

Tommy Douglas (0 votes)
58

Loonie (0 votes)
59

Freedom (0 votes)
60

Maple Syrup (0 votes)
61

Moose / Caribou (0 votes)
62

Wildlife (0 votes)
63

Lester Pearson (0 votes)
64

Expo 67 (0 votes)
65

Bilingualism in Canada (0 votes)
66

Vancouver (0 votes)
67

Democratic Nation (0 votes)
68

Quebec Winter Carnival (0 votes)
69

Banff National Park (0 votes)
70

St Lawrence Seaway (0 votes)
71

Curling (0 votes)
72

Rememberance Day (0 votes)
73

Maurice Richard (0 votes)
74

Trans-Canada Highway (0 votes)
75

Canada goose (0 votes)
76

Great Lakes (0 votes)
77

Chateau Frontenac (0 votes)
78

Environmental Conservation (0 votes)
79

Oil (0 votes)
80

1972 Summit Series (0 votes)
81

National Anthem (0 votes)
82

Montreal Jazz Festival (0 votes)
83

War of 1812 (0 votes)
84

2010 Vancouver Olympics (0 votes)
85

Charlottetown (0 votes)
86

Repatriation of Constitution (0 votes)
87

Victoria Day (0 votes)
88

The Prairies (0 votes)
89

Polio Vaccine (0 votes)
90

Winter (0 votes)
91

Halifax (0 votes)
92

Hudson Bay (0 votes)
93

Pierre Berton (0 votes)
94

Victoria (0 votes)
95

Quebec Referenda (0 votes)
96

National Parks (0 votes)
97

Olympic Stadium (0 votes)
98

Juno Awards (0 votes)
99

Rideau Canal (0 votes)
100

Aid to Other Countries (0 votes)
101

Space Explorations (0 votes)

Bill O'Reilly on the View..

Its a cut in a couple areas... but a great watch

Canada's overlooked health care problem...

Scraped knees and other nonsensical reasons to visit a hospital.

If you've been to a hospital in the past year, and had to wait in long lines to get the privilege of seeing a doctor, you know that there is something wrong in Canada's wondrous State-provided health system. It is not only systemic disarray, or a crippling lack of doctors. Nor is it solely due to power-hungry unions and hospital staff eager to get rid of you. It is at the same time all these things, but hiding under the surface is something even more sinister... hospital misuse at the hands of the citizens who use them.

Imagine for a moment you are sitting in a hospital waiting room, vomiting into a plastic bag, speaking incoherently, and suffering from an extreme headache. The doctors are concerned enough that they ask you to stay, but you are forced to wait in the line behind some irresponsible parent who brought their little boy in because he fell and scraped his knee. The knee has stopped bleeding and the boy is alright, even cheerfully playing with a toy his parents brought for him. The doctor patches it up reluctantly, and he escorts the family out. That kid got a lollipop for the traumatic experience, and all you get is a cat scan and a spinal tap.

You would be pretty upset at those people wouldn't you? And you know that doctor is... he has better things to do with his time than patch up frivolous wounds that are best left to polysporin and a band-aid; like ensure that you don't have spinal meningitis, or an aneurysm, or any other multitude of potentially life threatening afflictions.

These types of occurrences happen on a daily basis, and you can verify that with any front line medical workers you may happen to know. The reality is that these types of ridiculous hospital visits are exacerbating the wait-time problems that exist in hospital emergency rooms. They are encouraging doctors and nurses to push people out the door instead of ensuring that they are cared for properly. In addition to the above experience in the 90's, I was forced to insist on an ultrasound last summer because I visited an Ottawa-area hospital after having been vomiting for over 72 hours straight. I had sharp pains in my stomach that had radiated to my lower-right quadrant. An immediate relative of mine had undergone a similar set of events and I had read up on the problems with the help of google; and I had diagnosed myself with appendicitis. The doctor figured I was just another case of "not that sick", and attempted to usher me out with a prescription for antibiotics. It was my insistence that he conduct the proper test that may have very well saved my life.

And you may be saying that this is a rare circumstance. Well, I'm here to tell you that it is not. Many people I know can tell you similar stories, some with much worse outcomes. Now, far be it for me to suggest that this is caused simply by frivolous hospital visits. Doctors need to be responsible for their diagnosis of health problems, or at the very least the attempt to find the causes before dismissing patients. One cannot, however, overlook the added stress that these patients put on the already ailing health system.

This topic came up most recently(and inspired me to write this long-winded affair) in the Blogging Tories Forums, and I set down a proposal for reducing this. I am sure that others have made similar (possibly even identical) proposals; but that is simply because the system makes sense. It may not be the nice thing to do, but it is the right thing to do. The betterment of the many is superior to the betterment of the few.

The proposal is simple; start charging user-fees (say $20-$25) for hospital emergency visits that do not result in hospitalization. Hospitals can offer pre-pay service through an account at the hospital if they so desire, ensuring that those who need the hospital services will be able to obtain them. In addition, the fee would be waived with a referral note from a physician.

There are real benefits to this aside from the obvious reduction in wasted hospital visits. The economic side of this is positive, in that unlike publicly run hospitals, most physicians offices and walk-in clinics are privately operated. This means that the amounts earned here are directly taxed by the government, so the government can recover some of the tax money that was spent for service delivery. Secondly, this provides these doctors with opportunities to make additional revenue; something that could have a profound effect on keeping them from jumping south.

Regardless of whether you agree with the proposal, something needs to be done about the wait-times and substandard service Canadians are receiving across the country. This is a provincial problem and it needs provincial solutions. The federal government cannot keep dumping money down the drain into a health care system that is fundamentally broken, and getting worse year after year. With the baby boom generation reaching retirement age, the strains on our health care system are bound only to increase; while the collective input to the tax system is going to only decrease. This may be a drop in the pot when it comes to the overall problem, but it is something that can help nonetheless. If you disagree, don't just troll my comments section; tell me your solution.

I don't see any peg-legs or eye patches...

And where are the rapiers, cannons, and parrots?

How dare they call themselves pirates without the proper garb? I'm sure that respectable pirates around the world are offended by this whole debacle.

Been looking for an update on this one; I've heard rumours that these tanks may have been destined for the Sudan, but haven't seen any news on this since the 9th of October.

Anyone know anything?

Time to ban knives I suppose...

A rash of recent high-profile knife related acts has washed over the world... Strangely silent are the normal crowd of fanatical gun-control advocates. One has to wonder what the difference is?

Here and Here

I can hear it now:

"Knives don't kill people, guns do"

What does Elections Canada and a Football Ref have in common?

Draw your own conclusions ;)

Oh this is classic!

Leave it up to a commenter on the CTV website to have the stupidest comment of the day:

"
Bread is now almost 4.00$ a loaf.....last year it was 2.69$????? You tell me what the problem is?
"

$4.00 a loaf!? One has to wonder where this joker is buying bread; mine costs around $2.50(tops) a loaf. Shouldn't buy that bread with gold flakes :)

The initial article is about "poverty and inequality", with a complete emphasis on the latter. In fact, it basically states that the poverty determination is complete and utter garbage. Yet another OECD bogus study. All these OECD studies are socialist-driven; you do better as a nation if you have more socialist schemes.

Gotta love the time frame though: 1995-2005 . . . but I thought the Liberals could do no wrong??

hmmm...

**UPDATE**

A close second place finisher:

"Kev
I went $30k in debt and 3yrs of my life getting an education in a highly techical field. So far the best thats been offered is $8.75 per H by your beloved hiring agencies. I'm back diggin ditches for $9 fully qualified in the electronics industry...still hungry and now in debt...yea that worked!
"

$8.75/hr? I haven't made that little since I was a part-time automotive tech at Walmart... at the age of 18! And I don't know a single person who makes that much. I've made over twice that, and I haven't even finished University! I think its pretty hard to find a job at less than $10.00/hr. - particularly after having been on the job hunt just this summer. But maybe it is just me...

Our slanted schools, and one step in the right direction

We all know that schools in Canada are institutes which further propagate liberal thought. It is of little surprise to any who have attended a Canadian school that I would make that assertion; there is a systemic monopoly of thought in Canada's Secondary and Post-Secondary education institute. This problem is a direct result of a number of factors: Course availability/requirement, a near-militant teachers union which insists on becoming political, a break-down in the management structure and refusal on the part of the governments of this country to enforce reasonable working practices in cases where educators inappropriately advocate political positions to young and impressionable pupils.

Despite my frustration as a post-secondary student with the overwhelmingly left-wing attitude at these institutes, it is not of great concern to me. I do feel that young people will tend to be more idealistic, and notice that many of those rabid left-wing students do eventually moderate or change their views once they enter the real world. Of greater concern to me, are the problems with political positioning in Secondary schools.

From 2000 to 2003 I attended Brantford Collegiate Institute and Vocational School, a Secondary(9-OAC) school in Brantford, Ontario. I ran into good and bad teachers, those who encouraged free thought and those who stifled it. Although I was perhaps not the most "dedicated" of students (I didn't like homework much), I consistently behaved in class, and always did well in tests. I managed to finish in Feb. of 2003, half a year ahead, by finishing OAC classes a year early. I spent a good deal of time in BCI arguing with teachers who insisted on pushing their political views on myself and my fellow students. I often found myself being attacked by several of my peers for my views, and several teachers encouraging them or even joining in. I had tough skin, and I wasn't about to let any of them dictate my viewpoints. In more than one class I was punished for my political views, something I later proved by submitting the same paper to both my Grade 12 and OAC English classes (I took them concurrently), receiving an A in OAC, and a D in Grade 12. I brought this to the attention of the administration, which looked into the matter, and eventually forced the teacher to re-evaluate(ending the situation with a result of a B-) My sister also attended this school for a brief time, getting stuck with this same teacher who punished her for my earlier actions.

This kind of thing happens all too often in our Secondary school system, but the worst part is that most of the time this goes un-noticed by administrations. Further, many of these young people simply don't feel they can argue their own beliefs and are thus suppressed. Even I felt quite alone in my ideals until I started blogging here, which I think has solidified my confidence. There is little that can be done about these types of things, short of reducing the effectiveness of the teachers unions; they hold entirely too much power and that makes it almost impossible to rid schools of bad teachers. Parents need to encourage their children to respectfully stand up for their positions on topics, to not just blindly follow everything teachers tell you, and also talk to them seriously about their own political beliefs and offer them a foundation(although I would avoid trying to force particular beliefs on them).

Now there is one way that we could benefit our nation, and also build the foundations that would help support more right-wing thought in these schools.

The compulsory credit system in use in Ontario offers the following:

4 credits in English (1 in each grade)
1 credit in french
3 credits in math
2 credits in science
1 credit in Canadian History
1 credit in Canadian Geography
1 credit in the Arts
1 credit in Health and Physical Education
.5 credit in Civics
.5 credit in Career Studies

1 additional credit in English, or a third
language, or social sciences and the humanities,
or Canadian and world studies

1 additional credit in health and physical
education, or the arts, or business studies

1 additional credit in science (Grade 11 or 12)
or technological education (Grades 9–12)

It is interesting to note the disproportionate focus on the Arts, and this is something that was pointed out to me by a fellow blogger this past weekend during our Blog get-together. I would propose that there be a requirement to take either Economics OR Business studies. By grouping Business Studies with PhysEd, it reduces the likelihood of students choosing it.

Studying business or economics is important, if only for strengthening the abilities of those who decide not to attend post-secondary school. Perhaps more understanding of business/economy would encourage more young people to start their own businesses, particularly those who choose to take technical studies. Further, these classes are more naturally geared to right-wing thought, as opposed to the arts which are geared more to the left. This is not only a good way to balance the monopoly slightly, it is more about improving the state of students who graduate.

Times like this indicate how little people understand about the economy. If this were something that all students studied in high school, at least that understanding would increase. I think our whole country would be better off if everyone had a better idea of how our economy and business works.

There are many other steps that need to be taken, and I think only legal action will be able to make this happen. It is difficult, as I find that those on the right tend to be less litigious, but Canadians are paying for our students to attend schools, and that money going to political advocacy should be something all Canadians are concerned about. The attempted brain-washing going on in some of these schools is disgusting, politics has no place in our Secondary schools. All the more reason for parents who have the option, to choose charter schools. I attended the first in Canada, the format is excellent for ensuring curriculum is followed, but with parental oversight.