Manitoba Public Insurance has adopted a policy where law abiding car owners will not be allowed to legally insure they're cars without government approved immobilizers installed. Cars which are on their list of "most at-risk" vehicles to be stolen will no longer be insured without a government sanctioned immobilizer installed.

As the proud owner of a rusty banged-up fifteen year-old car, which also happens to be on "the list", I find this a little outrageous. My car is not worth the cost of an immobilizer, and frankly if someone wants to steal my car I wish them the best of luck.

I would have no problem with the policy if I were able to find another insurance company, but in Manitoba you can't. In Manitoba you can't legally drive you're car if you're not insured. And you can only insure your car with the government-mandated monopoly Manitoba Public Insurance.

After a series of articles in the Winnipeg Sun by Tom Brodbeck, I'm also quite concerned about the irreparable damage this sucker's going to cause to my car. My car is actually about three different cars Frankenstein'd together, and having some witless hack who usually installs car stereos under my hood doesn't instill a lot of confidence. But my car runs great because the hatchetman behind it is very talented at what he does, but the MPI "certified professional" installing the immobilizer is unlikely to have the same magic touch.

Just for fun, the letter I received from MPI closes with the statement, "Get the theft protection you and your newer vehicle deserve." Clearly this concept is designed to target "newer vehicle" owners, not people who own old cars that are worthless.

If you're in agreement with me, please sign this petition by The Canadian Tax Payers Federation to have this policy reversed. It's a travesty that we have a government that feels it needs to control such minute aspects of our lives.

Labels: Manitoba, Real Life, Winnipeg Crime

As Winnipeg suffers from yet another death caused by car thieves, the government continues to dither and deflect on the issue.

Justice Minister Dave Chomiak is demanding that the Federal government toughen the YCJA. It's a good call, it's definitely a necessary step to put a stop to this epidemic.

Chomiak is barking up the wrong tree. Rather than calling on the Conservative government to introduce the bill, he should be demanding his Federal NDP counterparts to vote for the bill. It's his Dipper buddies who are always watering down the Torie's crime bills when they're not voting against them.

Likewise, Chomiak should be concerned with whats going on in our own backyard foremost. The Winnipeg Auto Theft Suppression Strategy (WATSS) is obviously not sufficient as a deterrent or a prevention strategy.

Prof. Rick Linden, member of the Manitoba Auto Theft Task Force, sums it up best: "Just hours after being released, they'll be back doing it again. We thought that with youth knowing police are following them more intensely it would be a deterrent, but many of these kids aren't deterred at all. It's just part of youth culture in some areas."

The police can only act as a deterrent if the courts will hand down real consequences for the criminal. In the case of youth car thieves in Winnipeg, The Law is a catch and release program where the kids have no reason to fear being caught.

Gary Doer and the NDP need to take some new action on this still-growing problem. Chomiak's comment that, "We've now had several (stolen car deaths) and several is too many", does not instill a lot of confidence. Isn't ONE DEATH too many?

Labels: Canadian Justice, Conservative Party, Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP, politics, Winnipeg Crime, Winnipeg Police

It's a very simple proposition: if someone commits a crime with a gun, that person should spend a period of time in jail.

Most of the Canadian population would agree with the Conservatives gun bill. After all, it was one of their key platforms during the last election, and the Conservatives won.

Unfortunately, Manitoba Liberal MP's don't agree.

Neville said the bill was poor legislation because it stripped the judiciary of its sentencing powers and refused to support it.

"It flew against the advice of many people in the justice system," said Neville, adding sentencing is often best left to judges after they've heard all the evidence in a case and not legislators.

"You have to leave the discretion to the judiciary."

She said her main concern with the bill was an escalating clause that would send criminals to prison for longer sentences with subsequent offences.

Except that judges have been saying for years that new legislation is needed if Canada is to get tough on gun crimes. They've claimed that there are precedents that prevent them from handing down "tough" sentences. The only solution to this problem is new legislation.

The "escalating clause" of the bill which Neville is so opposed to, is one that would have criminals serve longer sentences the second time they commit an offense. As the bill currently stands, for a first conviction of a gun crime, the minimum sentence handed down would be a five year jail term. On that persons second offense, the minimum sentence would lengthen to a seven year jail term. If you keep doing the crime, you keep getting more time. It seems fair.

Not to Anita Neville however. Neville would rather leave that up to the judges discretion, to let the criminals justify there behavior, and get a slap on the wrist. We're not talking about punk auto-thieves, or shoplifters here; we're talking about criminals that point a gun at their victims and threaten their lives. They have absolutely no place on our streets.

The truth of the matter is that for three consecutive Liberal governments, the laws of this land were watered down in favor of criminals. If Liberal MP's were to vote in favor of these "tough on crime" laws, it'd be an admission that their reign was a failure. You need to look no further than the Youth Criminal Justice Act for evidence.

The Liberals would rather spend billions of dollars on a gun registry, which has proven to be a failure, while letting the criminals off without taking any responsibility.

In fact all of Manitoba's Liberal MP's voted against the legislation. That includes Tina Keeper, MP for Churchill; and Ray Simard, MP for St. Boniface. For the Liberal MP's from Manitoba it was a free vote, they had no instructions as to how to vote. They voted how they thought their constituents would have wanted them to vote. But even the typically soft-on-crime NDP voted for the bill.

To those folks living in Winnipeg South-Center, contact Anita Neville and let her know how you feel about her "stand" to keep as many gun criminals on the streets as possible. She can be e-mailed at Neville.A@parl.gc.ca or at email@anitaneville.ca.

Update: Right in Manitoba raises another point:

Even more ironic is that just this week we heard Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty demanding that the federal Conservatives toughen up gun laws. Rather than call on the Conservatives Dalton, you may do better talking to you brother David [Liberal MP for Ottawa South] and his cronies!

Labels: Anita Neville, Canadian Justice, Conservative Party, Guns, Liberal Party, Manitoba, NDP, politics, Winnipeg Crime

WinnipegFirst has a story up today about the abysmal failure of the Communist in the Manitoba election.

The highlight of the story, is that halfway through the campaign their only car broke down. Thats right, five Communist candidates in Winnipeg were sharing one car between them. Not even the damn car could finish the campaign as a Communist! Why didn't the community rally to fix the car?

In a province of more than 1,100,000 people the Communist party garnered less than 400 votes province wide. 69 of those votes came from my riding of Wolseley, which did elect a Communist who runs under the NDP banner, Rob Altemeyer. Love thy neighbour? Not bloody likely.

I guess between the 400 Communist supporters in Manitoba, they couldn't get the car fixed. But thats probably because each of those 400 votes came from a lazy waste of skin who wouldn't do any work to save his own sorry life, much less to fix the automobile of a political party who shares their beliefs of leaching off of others.

Update: Speaking of Communists, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez is spending $18,000,000 of hard earned Communist cash to make a movie. Dear Comrades, how does giving Danny Glover $18M to make a movie in Hollywood do anything to better the lives of Venezuelans? And do we really need anymore evidence that Hollywood is unabashedly Communist?

Labels: Communism, Manitoba, NDP, politics, Trough Feeders

The democratic process has once again elected and NDP government in Manitoba. And not only did the NDP win, they won resoundingly. Three straight majorities, and increasing in seats each time is a hell of a feat for Gary Doer (results).

The Dippers won most of the potential swing ridings, leaving the PC's in the dust. Bob Stefaniuk in La Verendrye lost to Ron Lemieux by almost 900 votes.

Unfortunately fellow blogger Steve Andjelic also lost in the riding of Seine River. I hope it's not his last attempt at Theresa Oswald's seat.

So Manitoba loves it's socialist governments, what else is new? We'll see four more years of little accomplishment, and probably a couple more crocus-esque scandals. By the way, what ever happened with that? Hugh McFadyen told us he'd be tough on crime, but he wouldn't even call Gary Doer out on his own crimes!

Basically the PC's downfall came from the complete lack of substance in their campaign. Daily promises are great, if they're backed up with some kind of detailed plan. A headline screaming "Tories promise to bring back the Jets" only works if there's a Who, When, or What behind the story. Otherwise it's just more empty rhetoric, and Gary Doer's proven to be great at that.

The Tory campaign was also lacking any real focus. What were the big issues that were being hammered home with voters? Other than the "revolving door" commercials, the PC's and McFadyen were all over the map.

Doer and the Dippers coasted their way to victory. They didn't even have to work for it. When the opposition can't articulate what they're going to do differently than the sitting government, the incumbants are going to win every time. Doer knew that he wasn't dealing with a real threat, so all he did was blather on and on about selling Hydro.

At least the weather this evening matched my mood. The weather is also another reason why I always try to take advantage of the early voting option. On the bright side a pretty girl came to visit me at work today. Oh, and I got a letter from MPI saying they want to give me free immobilizer. I think I'm going to take them up on their offer just for laughs. My car's not worth as much as the immobilizer.

Labels: Bob Stefaniuk, democracy, Gary Doer, Hugh McFadyen, Manitoba, NDP, politics

I've been spending a lot of time the last week driving around the riding of La Verendrye. It's going to be one of the "close" ridings on Tuesday evening.

My impressions from the last week is that PC challenger Bob Stefaniuk will win this riding quite handily. Stefaniuk signs outnumber signs for the NDP incumbant Ron Lemieux 2 to 1. If it's any indicator of how the candidates have fund-raised, it's a significant hurdle for Lemieux to clear.

On Saturday night I was out in La Broquerie for a friends wedding social. Most of the folks I spoke with expressed disappointment with the last four years of Gary Doer's reign. One local small-business person claimed that Lemieux has all but stopped showing his face in the riding.

Lemieux also has his to explain his record as Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation. The abysmal job Lemieux has done on this file is highlighted by the emergency closure of the Portage la Prarie overpass which had become too unsafe to be used. Furthermore, the NDP proudly announced $4 billion for infrastructure which should have been done four years ago. Why didn't Lemieux push for this extra spending when he became the Minister in charge of this file?

History is working against Lemieux as well. La Verendrye went to the PC's for 26 years from 1973-1999 when Lemieux was elected. Before that, it had gone to the Liberals from 1932-1973. Will voters decide that this experiment has gone on long enough?

Change is in the air, all over rural Manitoba, and Ron Lemieux is going to be just one of several NDP casualties on Tuesday.

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D.J. McGuire over at The Shotgun points out some significant flaws in the most recent Probe poll. The first thing that jumps out is that the Liberals have 16% support provincially. If the Liberals could pull down 16% on Tuesday, Jon Gerrard would be extremely pleased, but it just ain't gonna happen.

Probe is way out of line with this poll. Tuesday night will probably come down to the wire. With the long weekend on the horizon, people will have one last chance to get away and see what's happened to Manitoba's roads, lakes and parks under the reign of Gary Doer and the NDP. Hopefully they remember that on election day.

Labels: Bob Stefaniuk, Fun With Polls, Gary Doer, Jon Gerrard, Liberal Party, Manitoba, NDP

With a provincial election right around the corner, most political junkies look forward to debates. In a shameless move, Gary Doer is refusing to debate his opponents.

It makes sense with a record as pitiful as Gary Doer's. While Doer's promises about healthcare go unfulfilled, he's quite content to sit out the campaign and attempt to coast to victory. It would be uncomfortable for Doer to have to face questions about why his government did nothing when they knew that Crocus was being run as a pyramid scheme. Or having to explain to a provincial television audience why healthcare funding isn't reaching the front lines. How much credibility would Gary Doer have with environmentalists when they realize that despite promising that Manitoba will meet it's Kyoto targets, our Greenhouse Gas emissions are growing faster than any other province in Canada?

Gary Doer knows that Hugh McFadyen and Jon Gerrard would have a field day attacking his record, and Doer knows it. So rather than proudly taking responsibility for his career, he tries to hide what he's accomplished.

Labels: Gary Doer, Hugh McFadyen, Jon Gerrard, Manitoba, politics

Another shooting in Winnipeg's West End, for no apparent reason. This time the victim was a 17 year-old girl named Jenna Catcheway, who was minding her own business at the time. Fortunately, her wounds were not that serious (h/t).

The girl said the ordeal began when the group started to throw rocks at a house across from the Agnes Street house where she lives.

After at least one window smashed, she said people came out of the home and chased the vandals around the corner and down an alley.

Out of curiosity, the girl and her 11-year-old brother followed to watch. Standing about 150 yards from the siblings, police said one of the youths pointed a firearm at them and pulled the trigger.

"All we heard was a loud bang and then we looked at my sister's arm and it was bloody," her brother said.

The girl ran home and was taken to Health Sciences Centre's emergency room, where staff confirmed she had been shot. She was released six hours later.

The culprit was one of five gangstas, all of whom were wearing black and white colors. Read more at The Winnipeg Free Press, and Winnipeg First

Labels: Manitoba, Winnipeg Crime

Gary Doer must think that Manitobans are complete idiots. Today, he announced that he plans to open a new Mental Health Emergency Room at the Health Sciences Center, along with promises of more doctors.

The only problem is, Manitoba is already short of doctors, and it's not because of a lack of funding either.

Ask yourself this, if Gary Doer is serious about opening a new ER, why is it that the ER at Miseracordia was converted into a walk-in clinic? Why is the Emergency Room at Grace on the brink of closing down? Why will the ER in Roblin be closed this weekend?

Also a good question, is where the hell are we going to find all of these new doctors Gary Doer keeps promising us? We're already short dozens of doctors, yet Gary Doer keeps promising us more, even though he can't fill the current spaces... what the hell is going to change? Gary Doer's been making the same empty promises for eight years now, and he has been unable to come up with a single new idea.

Healthcare funding has almost doubled since the NDP took office, and all they have to show for it is fewer ER's, and a massively bloated Winnipeg Health Authority. Gary Doer has failed on the healthcare front, and he should keep his idiotic promises to himself, because Manitobans aren't as dumb as he thinks we are.

Read what Liberal leader Dr. Jon Gerrard has to say on the subject. See, he's an actual doctor who's worked in the profession, whereas Gary Doer is just another college dropout with union thugs to keep him propped up.

Labels: Gary Doer, Jon Gerrard, Liberal Party, Manitoba, NDP

Watching hockey tonight, I couldn't help but laugh how TSN waded into the so-called Shane Doan "controversy", if you can call it that. The whole TSN panel absolutely ridiculed Jack Layton, and more importantly defended Shane Doan (former Winnipeg Jet). The highlight of the segment was when Jeremy Roenick (an American) called Jack Layton was "an idiot".

Also TSN keeps bringing up the idea of 4-on-4 in overtime. Bad idea. The playoffs is all about endurance, and if you can't handle a few quadruple overtime games on the way to the holy grail, then you just don't cut it.

Jagr had one of his best games of the playoffs tonight. Jagr is remarkably a changed man since putting the 'C' on his sweater. He's (finally) learning to use his skill to make the guys around him better.

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The Canucks were so close tonight. But why oh why do they have to get all spastic when the pressure's on? And more importantly why can't we score on the mother (explicative deleted) god (explicative deleted) son of a (explicative deleted) unholy (explicative deleted) eating POWERPLAY? The Canucks are 4-58 on the PP in the playoffs, and I believe 1-25 in this series against the Ducks.

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The Canucks lost, but the AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose came up big with a 4-1 win in game 7 against the Grand Rapids Griffins. The Moose went up in the first, followed by a scoreless second period. The Griffins tied it up midway through the 3rd. The Moose went ahead with two goals late in the 3rd, and cemented it with an empty-netter to win 4-1. Bring on the Hamilton Bulldogs!

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The Toronto Raptors pulled out a nice win tonight. They dominated the first three quarters of the game, but let it slide in the 4th and ended up winning in a close one. They got into a lot of foul trouble, and from what I saw the refs were calling the game real tight.

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The Winnipeg Blue Bombers have chosen the Asper stadium plan. Damn good thing too. The St. Boniface idea would have been a bust simply because the neighborhood has a serious odor problem. Seriously, it stinks. And the idea of having it at The Downs was even worse. I drink far too heavily at football games to make that trek safely. The current location is pretty excellent. If it sees some development, especially with the old arena space available, it could be turned into something quite fantastic.

Labels: Jack Bin Layton, Manitoba, NBA, NDP, NHL, sports, Winnipeg Jets

Any Manitoban knows that Hugh McFadyen is a right of left of center leader. He's hardly a true blue Conservative. But this musing from prominent and respected (even by me) Liberal, and blogger Warren Kinsella just tore up any chance Hugh had of getting this bloggers vote.

Now that the Manitoba election has been called, I can disclose that Hugh McFadyen is a friend. We used to work together at Brokeback Consultants. When he told me, in confidence, that he was leaving to return home to Manitoba, I told him he was crazy. If he stayed, I told him, he'd be Ontario's Premier in no time.

Now, of course, I see that I had the right church, but the wrong pew.

After seeing that comment, I wish Hugh was the Premier of Ontario. And I wish Manitobans had a choice that wasn't on the left side of the political spectrum. I'm gonna spend E-day getting drunk and cursing the world.

Labels: Liberal Party, Manitoba

Canucks beat Dallas in Game Seven!

After the first period, I admit I was feeling a little dismayed. The good-guys just could not get a handle on the puck in the first period. Maybe game-seven-nerves, whatever.... the first period was one of the most embarrassing moments in Canucks history.

The second and third periods were close to brilliant for the Canucks. During the last two periods the Canucks kept the Stars on the ropes. Many offensive chances turned into many power-play opportunities for the good guys.

And on this note, Roberto Luongo is every Canucks fan's dream. I could not help but think through the entire game, "what if that was Dan Cloutier"? Roberto is my new hero.

Speaking of heroes, Naslund was looking like his old self in the third period, and taking control of the game again. Hopefully we'll see more of that as the playoffs progress.

It's also nice to see all the former Manitoba Moose players, like Alex Burrows and Kevin Bieksa kicking ass in "the big show". Randy Carlyle was brilliant with the Moose, and is still brilliant with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim. I can't wait for Wednesday!

Labels: Manitoba, NHL, sports

The only reason why Green Party candidates across Canada have yet to break through is because of the whacko-fringe aspect of the party. All too often the fringe aspect of the party takes over.

Such is the case in Manitoba. Green Party of Manitoba leader Andrew Basham takes the party to the fringe with his economic policies. Hell, the party theme is "Rethinking Progress: Well-being NOT growth". In this article Basham delivers a few killer-quotes like, "I don't look at it as running against Gary Doer, I look at it as running against the paradigm of growth economics." And why would an aspiring politician want to knock economic growth? "Economic growth actually costs a lot of jobs, it doesn't create them as we like to think," Basham said.

If the economic platform isn't confusing enough, try the parties "six pillars" on for size:

• Ecological literacy
• Rebuilding democracy
• Creating ecological communities
• Protecting the commons
• Bringing the economy home
• Establishing a sustainable energy future

But we wish Andrew Basham the best of luck in the next election, if for no reason other than he's taking on none other than Gary Doer in Concordia. With Basham and Ken Wadwell challenging Gary Doer, they may just steal enough votes to take down Doer. But God save us all if the Green party were ever to get into power.

Labels: Gary Doer, Green Party, Manitoba, politics

When you see the words "Liberal" and "tough on crime" in the same headline, you know it'll be funny.

Getting tougher on car thieves is the main plank in the Manitoba Liberals' justice platform.

Jon Gerrard, on the first day of the provincial election campaign, says his government would impose an automatic lifetime ban on holding a driver's licence for anyone convicted of two auto thefts.

Here's an idea for Doctor Jon: Throw the bastards in jail!

The fact that the Liberal's actually believe that the absence of a drivers license would deter a serial car thief makes me wonder if Mr. Gerrard wasn't smoking on the Legislative Buildings front lawn with all the potheads on April 20th.

Come to think of it, he does seem a little confused:

Gerrard says poverty and mental-health issues are the root causes of many of Manitoba's crime problems. He would fund support for children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder and provide adequate community centre facilities to keep kids off the streets.

Jon also doesn't buy into Anita Neville's head-in-sand approach to crime:

The Liberal leader says Winnipeg is no longer a safe city. Winnipeg has a national reputation as the car-theft capital of Canada.

Will Anita Neville demand an apology from Jon Gerrard for sullying Winnipeg's good name? Not likely, they're good friends. Anita Neville actually chaired Jon Gerrard's 1999 campaign. They also both like to blame crime on so-called root causes.

Labels: Anita Neville, Canadian Justice, Liberal Party, Manitoba, Winnipeg Crime

Every once in a blue moon the Winnipeg Free Press prints something worth reading. An editorial in todays paper takes Gary Doer and the NDP to task for their antiquated business sense.

When the Winnipeg Free Press wants an honest debate on the future of Manitoba Hydro, it should be pretty clear that the public would be willing to entertain the idea. When Gary Doer uses the privatization of MTS to portray the PC's as scary, he's being dishonest and eventually voters will figure it out.

Labels: Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP, Winnipeg Free Press

The city has finally sold The old Metropolitan Theater in lovely downtown Winnipeg.

Heritage Winnipeg is heralding the sale as a huge success. Of course success is all relative. If success is having a valuable property such as The Met sit vacant for twenty years, I'd hate to see their idea of failure.

Success also doesn't mean profit. The rumored $100,000 price tag for the property is a fraction of what the City could have gotten for the property - if they would have torn the theater down twenty years ago.

I'm all for keeping old buildings in the city, they do have great character. But people in the city complain about not having enough development downtown, but at the same time groups like Heritage Winnipeg are there to explicitly stand in the way of development, by restricting what people can do with old properties downtown.

Labels: Manitoba, politics

You know Anita Neville is worried about her chances in the next election. When a Liberal MP starts making accusations of racism to members of the opposition, you know they're worried about something.

From Sunday's Free Press:

When it comes to prime ministerial visits, Stephen Harper appears to be giving Manitoba the cold shoulder. [...]

Winnipeg South Centre Liberal MP Anita Neville said she believes Harper isn't spending more time in Manitoba because he is focused on potential electoral gains elsewhere in the country.

Neville also wonders if the fact Manitoba has a high aboriginal population may be playing a role in his travels.

This is why Anita Neville has lost all credibility in Winnipeg South Centre. She takes a legitimate issue, such as the PMs travel schedule and turns it into a joke. Instead of using the opportunity to raise issues of local importance, she takes cheap shots at the Prime Minister, and accuses him of being racist.

As the Blonde Conservative points out, there really just isn't much for the Prime Minister to do in Manitoba these days.

If Neville wants to accuse the PM of not caring about Manitoba, fine. But she'd have to ignore the hundreds of millions of dollars that the feds are contributing to the floodway expansion, the human rights museum, and the increased transfers from the Conservatives' last budget.

Labels: Anita Neville, Dirty Liberals, Manitoba, Stephen Harper

I'm not sure how I missed this. Winnipeg Sun columnist Tom Brodbeck now has a blog.

The page is company-sanctioned, so I won't be expecting it to be much different than his usual column. The timing is also interesting, seeing as there is an election writ just waiting to be dropped, and Tom is no fan of the NDP.

Labels: etc, Manitoba, NDP

There were two great posts in the Manitoba blogosphere today from Daily Rants and another from An Unapologetic Winnipeger. Put together, they show how out of touch with the average Manitoban the NDP really is.

Daily Rants brings up an unfortunate quote from Tom Nevakshonoff, NDP MLA for the Interlake. After 9/11 Nevakshonoff is quoted as saying, "I was so happy when those planes hit the towers, they deserved it. Too bad they didn't kill more Americans".

It's no secret that many in the NDP don't like Americans, for whatever reasons. But to wish death to Americans is unacceptable for a sitting MLA. Did it occur to Nevakshonoff that 24 Canadians died in the attacks of 9/11? Does he wish that more dual Canadian-American citizens had died that day too? For chrissake, even Saddam Hussein offered his condolences, and he was a genocidal tyrant!

It also leads one to question Mr. Nevakshonoff's basic business sense; ie. it's not a good idea to wish the destruction of your largest trade partner. In 2006 total Manitoba exports were about $11.5 billion 75% of that, or $8.7 billion. But an economic genius is not what one should expect from an Eastern European Studies graduate. If there's any truth to this rumor, Tom Nevakshonoff should be finished.

On a similar theme of backwards NDP logic, Unapologetic Winnipeger points out a page on Who Is Hugh?, a site to smear Hugh McFadyen put up by the Manitoba NDP.

The NDP tries to smear Hugh for having the support of successful Manitobans. Hugh's list of donors include members of the Richardson family, the Asper family, and Randall Moffat. These people have done more for Manitoba's economy than all the hand-outs Gary Doer and the NDP could ever dream of.

That Gary Doer and the NDP hang with the likes of Tom Nevakshonoff, while criticizing Hugh McFadyen for having the support of Manitoba's best and brightest, says a lot about the NDP vision for Manitoba. That vision is not very bright.

Labels: Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP

Yesterdays final round of the Masters was another gem. As is the norm at Augusta National, the tournament was decided on the back nine on Sunday.

Zach Johnson held off charges from Tiger Woods, Retief Goosen, and Justin Rose on the back nine on Sunday. Johnson, a relatively unknown player with only one PGA Tour victory previously, was as cool as a cucumber until he three-putted the 17th hole for bogey, and hit a horrible approach to the 18th green, but saved par with a brilliant chip from the right-side of the green. Retief couldn't buy a putt when he needed one. Justin Rose was a roller-coaster, making a total of three double-bogies during Sunday's round, including the killer on the seventeenth hole. Tiger's chances were blown when he hit his second shot on the par-five fifteenth into the water, and after failing to convert a birdie chance on the par-three sixteenth.

But Tiger's not the only golfer who got screwed yesterday. The folks in Selkirk will be without their golf course for several weeks. While the rest of Selkirk is still under flash-flood warning, and much damage has been done already; Gary Doer showed up on Friday to promise funding for repairs, meanwhile doing nothing to actually stop more flooding.

The sad thing is that this flooding is caused by ice jams. Apparently the provincial government can spend billions of dollars protecting Winnipeg from spring flooding, but is completely stumped when it comes to ice. While Selkirk floods, Doer does nothing. Blow it up Gary!

Labels: Environment, Gary Doer, Manitoba, sports

The thugs and gangsters really are taking over this fine city of Winnipeg, despite what Anita Neville has to say.

The judicial system in Manitoba has been ruined by social activist judges for years already. Every day you read the paper here, you'll see a killer getting off with time-served, or a serial pedophile recieving house-arrest. All the while, the police are too busy to prevent any crime because they're chasing chronic car thieves all around the city.

The last layer of defense for law-abiding citizens was the Crown, who prosecute criminals. But the thugs and scumbags are starting to undermine that department as well (link):

A senior Crown attorney is under police protection after four men allegedly armed with knives forced their way into the woman's Winnipeg home early Saturday - just hours after she got a phone message saying, "We're going to kill you."

It's an obvious attempt to undermine not just the Crown attorney's who prosecute cases, but the entire justice system. It's a clear message to judges, jurors, and prosecutors alike: "We can get to you".

The likely response in Manitoba will be, "No harm, no foul." Since the woman didn't get hurt, all is well. Unfortunately all is not well. While the woman may be fine physically, she's certainly going to be a little more stressed out on the job now. Particularly when she's prosecuting gang members, and it could easily cause her to slip up in her work.

And affect her work it will, this was no subtle warning to her. The woman has apparently lost her voice from screaming during the incident, and it has yet to return. These weren't street-punks that were sent to her home either, they were experienced criminals.

One of the four suspects, Alphonse Stanley Traverse, has been convicted of manslaughter. While on parole he plead guilty to breaking and entering. He has charges pending of assault and uttering threats and was out on bail at the time of this weekends incident.

Winnipegers might remember Alphonse Traverse from a couple years ago. He's one of those "Worlds Dumbest Criminal" types. He was in the news for breaking into a home and stealing almost $5000 worth of goods. The only problem was, his victim owned a pawn shop, and Traverse tried to sell the stolen goods there. Whoops.

Labels: Anita Neville, Canadian Justice, Manitoba, Winnipeg Crime

On Monday, the Black Rod posted an excellent piece, Free Press Fairy Tales and Fish Stories. He details a few of the errors that they've made in the recent past with headlines and facts. Which is why this piece in the Winnipeg Free Press today is hilarious.

The headline reads "Manitoba winning war with Alberta", with the byline "Many who headed west returning home". Talk about an attention-getting headline, I didn't even know we were at war with Alberta!

Here's a summary of the statistics backing up the headline:

Alberta's net gain from other provinces is still big, 11,813 in the last three months of 2006 alone. But the rate of growth appears to be slowing. In the last three months of 2005, Alberta had a net gain of 17,059.

Manitoba, on the other hand, lost 24,548 people to other provinces in 2006, and only gained 16,718, posting a net loss of 7,830.

No more mention of Alberta vs Manitoba stats, that's it. Can somebody PLEASE, PLEASE explain to me how a net LOSS of 7,830 OVER A YEAR is better than a net GAIN of over 17,000 in THREE MONTHS?

Labels: Fun With Polls, Manitoba, Winnipeg Free Press

I've always said that those involved at Universities are some of the stupidest people in this country. I took issue with the PC Madness at the U of Winnipeg just two days ago. The University of Manitoba engineering students are now pushing the envelope of common sense!

March 8th, 2007

Engineering students at the University of Manitoba voted 64 per cent in favour Wednesday night of hiking their own tuition fees by a whopping 38 per cent.

Global TV Winnipeg said the increase was approved in a two-day referendum that left the student body divided on the issue.

This was a sign, to some, that students were starting to realize that the quality of their education correlates to it's expense. Thus, by raising their tuition fee's, they were taking personal responsibility for their own education. Well, that's what I thought.
March 29, 2007:

CHANTING and singing, many with faces painted red, more than 100 University of Manitoba engineering students rallied at the Legislature on Thursday to demand higher government funding.

They poured off two school buses, lugging along placards and effigies of the faculty's red lion symbol. [...]

And they lustily bellowed "we can, we can, we can, we can demolish 40 beers," as though that would persuade the Doer government to unlock the provincial treasury.

The engineering faculty says it needs $3.5 million more in annual funding to maintain a quality education for its 1,100 students.

Seriously, this should be criminal, it's tantamount to extortion! It's further evidence that the tuition freeze needs to go, now!

Labels: Funny, Manitoba, NDP, Trough Feeders

Transexual activists at the University of Winnipeg are demanding "gender neutral" washroom be installed on campus (link).

The activists' are trying to frame the issue was a human rights concern.

"It's a human right to pee," said Rune Breckon, a transgender student enrolled in women and gender studies at the University of Winnipeg.

For Breckon, who doesn't wish to be described as either a man or a woman, going to the washroom has proven awkward -- people constantly stare and sometimes make comments.

"They'll come in, stop and look, then go back and look at the sign," said Breckon.

"When I go into the women's washroom, because that's where I feel more comfortable, I'm told to leave. When I go into the men's bathroom, I'm told to leave because I don't look like a dude. But I just need to pee."

There already are two single-stalled washrooms on campus that would provide exactly the privacy the tranny's are looking for. But as with all leftist activists, it's just never enough.

I can't wait to see the line-ups at Winnipeg Stadium when Rune Breckon sets his sights on the stadium's infamous troughs.
Update: The Winnipeg Free Press caught onto this one a little late.

IMAGINE that you can't walk into either a men's or women's washroom without feeling uncomfortable and unwelcome.

Imagine that you're a person who prefers to be called "they", because neither "he" nor "she" really defines you. [...]

U of W communications director Robin Alford said that protecting each person's dignity will be the priority for U of W.

U of W will be able to design its new $30-million science complex with gender neutral washrooms, Alford pointed out.
Belik said that one solution might be single-stall washrooms that could accommodate wheelchairs, a mother breast-feeding, a transgendered person, or a family with a baby or toddler.

But it is vital that no person be "outed" by being seen to use such facilities, Belik said.

Labels: Dirty Liberals, Human Rights, Manitoba, Trough Feeders

Spring fever and election fever abound in the Manitoba blogosphere. With a federal election pending - and the provincial election to follow - the local blogs are working overtime.

A quick summary of whats going on:

The Black Rod is posting more frequently than ever. He's dissecting the Crocus scandal, and doing a hell of a job detailing the absolute failure of fighting crime in Manitoba under the NDP. He's also doing excellent weekly coverage of whats happening in Afghanistan. Oh, and he throws shots at the Winnipeg Free Press for good measure. And hey, why not?

A Proud and Unapologetic Winnipeger has announced that he's going to run for the Manitoba PC Party (link) in Seine River. The man is passionate, and thats a great starting point for a new career. His name is Steve Andjelic and you can visit his website.

Jim Cotton is systematically dismantling any platform they may potentially roll out. Jim is rather impressive because he, unlike most Manitoba bloggers, realizes that this province needs actual change and not just a change in leadership. I hope to have a link to the Freedom Party of Manitoba soon.

The Blackberry Addicts have been posting furiously of late. Unfortunately they're lacking their usual insight into all-things NDP. They have resorted to rabidly attacking the media over the Crocus issue, and making the government appear very weak.

Andy Fletcher has been keeping his nose on the Crocus storm. Otherwise, he's been relatively quiet, which makes one wonder if he's got some new gossip brewing in the hopper.

Rene has started a new blog at Right in Manitoba. Much like this blog, Rene blogs about all things Canadian with no real focus on any particular issues.

Comments Closed has been quite of late, but seems to be revving up again.... just in time for election season. We're looking forward to his insights in the provincial election, and hopefully digging up some dirt on the Dippers.

Comments Closed said he thinks that YouTube will only swing a dozen or so voters. I think he's slightly mistaken there. It's just a matter of time until some YouTube video catches the attention of the MSM in Manitoba, or some nefarious blogger reveals a new scandal, and this whole thing will blow wide open.

The Lemon Chicken has finally shut down. Shae's apparently moving to Victoria to terrorize the locals with his brand of anti-Conservatism.

Labels: Manitoba, politics

I don't touch off here often enough about the provincial politics in Manitoba. Aside from the newspapers, a few good blogs (most of which are listed to your left), politics in this province doesn't have much of a web presence. Even with an election right around the corner the wise guys, and the government mouthpiece have been pretty quite lately. I guess the combatants have to "feel each other out" before any good fight.

But it appears the first blow has been delivered by the PC Party. Via Jim Cotton we have a real-life internet attack ad in Manitoba. The PC's go after Gary Doer and the NDP over the Crocus Scandal on YouTube. And it's long over due...
Just as an aside, I should point out that as it stands, I have no intention of voting for the PC Party in Manitoba. Since the change of leadership, there has been a complete lack of, well... leadership. The PC Party seems to be trying to position itself as NDP-Lite, meanwhile the absolutely power-less Liberal party has been putting the boots to Doer. And if a libertarian-loon like myself can actually imagine voting for a "Liberal" party, you know the guys on the right are in trouble.

The only thing that really matters is that Gary Doer and the NDP suck.

Update:The PC's and Liberals are definitely coordinating their efforts. Liberal leader Dr. Jon Gerrard released his own YouTube video about Crocus yesterday.

Labels: Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP, politics, YouTube

If anybody in Manitoba is looking at buying a bed, they should buy it from Best Sleep Center. Why am I plugging a matress company? Because of this commercial, possibly the greatest radio ad EVER. I caught this from Jim Cotton.

February, thirty-five below, the slowest retail month of the year, the shortest month of the year, and hard enough to pay the rent this month for small business and our tired government wants to give us all a day off. According to them the planet is about to boil, and they gather in a room and come up with, I know - a holiday! That will get us re-elected!

Its so damn obvious, but Dave Keam is the only one with the guts to say it.

What I find most surprising is that Gary Doer and the NDP only proposed a one-day holiday. It's February, it's Reading Week for us University types, so why not give all of Manitobans a reading week, huh Gary? Doer has absolutely zero concern for the business that drives our economy, and will sell them down the river in a heart-beat if it'll buy him one or two more Union votes.

Update: Either Gary Doer's going to have the wind pulled from his sails, or Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan (who just introduced their own February holiday) will be having extremely lazy winters.

Peggy Nash, MP for Parkdale-High Park, was expected to table on Thursday a private member's bill that asks the federal government to make Flag Day, Feb. 15, a legal federal holiday.

It should be noted (since the CBC article doesn't even mention it) that Peggy Nash is a member of the NDP. As the wise and profound Jim Lahey - Trailer Park Supervisor once said, "The shit apple doesn't fall far from the shit tree".

Labels: Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP, politics