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

The NDP are not ones to waste time when there's a chance to score cheap political points. By moving to remove Conrad Black from the Order of Canada, the NDP are jumping the gun.

First of all, Conrad Black may have been convicted by a jury, but his lawyers have announced that they plan will appeal. Considering that Black was acquitted of ten of the thirteen charges against him, it's not a stretch to imagine a successful appeal on the remaining charges. If Lord Black were to be ultimately acquitted of all charges against him, the NDP motion would be totally unjustified and wrong.

There has currently been only two recipients who've been removed from the Order of Canada. Both of them were convicted of crimes in Canada. Conrad Black has not been charged with a crime in Canada.

Alan Eagleson, who was an agent for over 100 hockey players and worked for the NHLPA, Labatt's, and Hockey Canada, was not removed from the Order until after he plead guilty to his crimes and was in jail. He plead guilty to eight counts in Canada, and many more in the US.

In the case of former Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indians David Ahenakew, the Governor Generals office, when pressed to remove him from the Order, "decided to defer further discussion on the matter until the legal proceedings under consideration by the Attorney General of Saskatchewan are completed."

The Governor Generals office has always taken a passive roll in these cases, as they should. It is not an award given away on a whim, nor should it be taken away in a cavalier fashion. The individuals above were given the right to due justice when charged with crimes in Canada; why shouldn't Conrad Black be given the same right when he's only been charged with a crime in America, and none in Canada?

Why is it that the NDP are so quick to try to destroy a great Canadians reputation? Conrad Black earned his Order of Canada from years of hard work. The NDP can't even wait until the end of the trial to further embarrass Black. Conrad Black is being unilaterally judged by the NDP according to American law, and that's not fair.

Labels: Canadian Justice, Lord Conrad Black, NDP

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

Manitoba's NDP Premier Gary Doer is a big supporter of the Kyoto protocol. In fact, Doer is such a Kyoto supporter, that he's campaigning on making Manitoba the first province in Canada to adopt Kyoto targets in legislation, to be met by 2012.

The problem is that Manitoba's emissions are growing, not shrinking. From 1990 to 2003 Manitoba's Greenhouse Gas emissions rose by 11.5%.

Probably most importantly, Gary Doer and the NDP don't have a plan to reduce emissions in Manitoba. The only plan the NDP has in place too meet Kyoto targets is to generate more hydro-electricity for export to Ontario, which does nothing to reduce emissions at home, but will hopefully provide enough carbon credits to meet our Kyoto targets.

The problem with reducing emissions in Manitoba is that most of our emissions come from transportation and farming, ie. the bulk of our economy. So to meet Kyoto targets, Doer had to come up with a way to reduce emissions without reducing emissions... and believe it or not, the carbon credit trading scheme in the Kyoto accord allows for just that!

The problems with carbon credit trading are detailed by the Financial Times here and here. Basically the problem in Britain is that government incentives to reduce emissions have artificially raised demand for carbon credits beyond what technology can be supplied. This artificially high demand for carbon credits raises the price of a carbon credit through the roof. And too often, because of financial incentives provided by the government, it doesn't matter to the purchaser that the 1kt reduction in GHG he just bought didn't actually reduce GHG gases by 1kt, because he's got his carbon credits and thats all he needs to appear to be the greenest guy on the block.

When Gary Doer talks about the opportunities created by being green, he's really talking about getting rich selling worthless carbon credits. It makes one very wary about Gary's sincerity on environmental issues.

Labels: Britain, Environment, Gary Doer, NDP, Y2Kyoto

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

The Manitoba PC Party wonders if Gary Doer and the NDP got their slogan "Forward, Not Back" from The Simpsons.

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

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

After previously bashing the Green Party's economic platform, I was glad to see the headline Growth trumps environment in China report.

Even Communist China understands human nature better than Manitoba's Green party. But an even bigger concern is the fact that the world's biggest polluter is putting environmental concerns on the back burner for economic growth. Meanwhile back in Canada, the Greens, Liberals, NDP, and Conservatives battle over who can appear to be the Greenest of them all. It would be nice if we could get the same kind of brutal honesty from our own government.

It appears that the Liberals/Greens and the NDP have pushed the Harper government too far while tinkering with the Conservatives Clean Air Act, and the government will be forced to abandon the legislation. Frankly, this will be a good thing in the long run. The Clean Air Act was thrown together in haste for purely political purposes. It would be fair to say that something like Kyoto, which has the potential to devesate our economy, should be an election issue.

Labels: China, Communism, Conservative Party, Green Party, Liberal Party, NDP, Y2Kyoto

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

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

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

What were the NDP thinking (h/t)?

Labels: Funny, NDP, YouTube

First Anita Neville got angry because Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre said Winnipeg streets "are ruled by guns, gangs and drugs". Neville was quick to demand an apology (link).

Now Councilor Harry Lazarenko, and NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (aka Judy Alphabet) are demanding an apology from Justice Donald Fraser for his comments about Winnipeg. At a sentencing in Kenora, Justice Fraser said "I am determined we are not going to allow Kenora to drift into the kind of thing we see in the North End of Winnipeg or in the downtown area of Regina."

Though the sentence is fair, the comments surrounding it aren't, said NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis (Winnipeg North).

"We suffer from a mythology, usually by people who don't know better. This is by someone who should know better.

"It's very hurtful to the people living in the area," she said, adding the judge should apologize.

Veteran city Coun. Harry Lazarenko agrees, calling the comments "baloney" and unfair.

"It gives you a black eye. It's like you're condemned because you're living in the North End. To be lambasted, especially by a judge," said Lazarenko, who's lived in the area for over 50 years.

Well, here's a little FACTUAL information for anybody who's interested, courtesy of the City of Winnipeg's CrimeStat program.

From January 1, to February 20 this year, there had been two homicides in Winnipeg. Where? One in the North End, the other Downtown. Between these two districts, they makeup 100% of homicides in Winnipeg in the year 2007.

For the same time period, there have been 44 sexual assaults in Winnipeg's six districts. Of those 44, 9 were committed in the North End, and 16 Downtown, combining for 56% of sexual assaults in Winnipeg. The two districts also account for 55% of the robberies year-to-date in Winnipeg. Not to mention that Winnipeg is known as the murder capital of Canada (aka Killerpeg).

When two districts that make up approx. 33% of Winnipeg's population, but account for almost 60% of violent crime, it's time to acknowledge a problem exists.

What Anita Neville, Judy Alphabet, and Harry Lazarenko need to understand is that pointing out a problem, although it might be "hurtful to the people living in the area", it's still a fact. And the facts won't change just because you don't walk to talk about it. What's more "hurtful to the people living in the area" than saying mean things about their neighbourhood, is the violent crime that runs rampant in these neighborhoods.

People don't move out of these neighborhoods because some politician said bad things about it, they move because their sick of all the crime that they witness happening around them.

But Judy Alphabet and Anita Neville aren't able to acknowledge the crime problem exists, because they both voted against tough-on-crime measures proposed by the Conservative government. Which is a perfect example of why the NDP and Liberals are unfit to govern in this country. It's time to stop lying.

Labels: Anita Neville, Liberal Party, NDP, politics, Winnipeg Police

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

Deputy Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff doesn't like the way that the NDP and Tories are getting along right now.

"There's something nauseating going on which Canadians have to notice," Ignatieff told the Star. "Layton gets up and pretends to oppose a government that he's propping up. He's got to decide what the hell he's doing here."

I don't think that Michael Ignatieff understands a minority government yet. What Layton is doing, is working with governmenet to further his parties agenda. It's why we elect the people we do. It's their job. The fact that he's working with the government only gives him more influence in parliament, which I would imagine most Dippers would like.

In fact, I'm not sure the Liberal party as a whole understands minority parliaments yet. Jack Layton and the NDP propped up the previous Liberal government for months as well, and again managed to punch above his weight in parliament because of it.

The Liberals during their 429 days as a minority government accomplished next to nothing. The Sponsorship Scandal was a major priority for the party at the time, and the only meaningful legislation passed by the Liberals was the Gay Marriage legislation. Their only budget also had given many concessions to the NDP, who supported the budget, and saving the government in the process.

In comparison, Stephen Harper has already had 378 days in government. During this period he has already passed the Accountability Act, recognized the Quebecois as a distinct nation, has dropped the GST by one percent, and has made gains in priority surgeries. Also expected to pass is Harpers Clean Air Act, and the 2007 budget. Both of these pieces of legislation will have Jack Layton's greasy finger prints all over it.

So rather than ragging on Jack Layton and the NDP for getting things done, I'd say Ignatieff and his Liberals should instead try to get in the game.

Labels: Jack Bin Layton, Liberal Party, Michael Ignatieff, NDP, Stephane Dion

Gary Doer accussed Hugh McFadyen and the Tories of planning to sell Manitoba Hydro. McFadyen couldn't have been quicker to dodge Doer's denunciation, saying "Manitoba Hydro is completely and totally different (from MTS). It would make no sense at all to sell it."

The topic deserves some debate.

Another approach to ease the transition from the old model would be to recycle the community capital tied up in these organizations into an endowment fund. Manitoba Hydro and the province's hydro-generating potential might provide up to $10 billion in seed money for our own Heritage Fund, an amount that could generate over a billion dollars annually. How many Manitobans would object to selling Manitoba Hydro if it meant a yearly dividend cheque in the mail?

An added benefit would be the overnight creation of a major corporate taxpayer. Crown jewels look nice in a display cabinet, but they tend to gather a lot of dust. TransAlta, the Calgary-based power company that is roughly the same size, pays corporate taxes that are higher than Manitoba Hydro's entire profit, even after distributing healthy dividends to its shareholders.

The privatization of MTS was a success, and Manitobans realize that. Privatization is not a word that induces fear in the citizenry the way it used to.

Labels: Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP

Video of Jack Layton talking about cows with SARS (h/t SDA.

Labels: Jack Bin Layton, NDP

The NDP just wants to regulate everything.

NDP MP Pat Martin is going after ATM companies that charge a fee for transactions.

New Democrat MP Pat Martin said the notion that the two banks would have a stake in non-affiliated bank machines that "gouge" their own clients makes his blood boil.

"Their greed knows no limits," said Martin.

He said he is considering whether to file a complaint to the ombudsman of financial institutions. He will also be pushing for the Commons Standing Committee on Finance to examine the issue as part of its five-year review of the bank act.

I can still remember a time when if you wanted your money from the bank, you actually had to go to the bank during business hours. Today, you can get your money in a variety of convenient ways.

Why is it this way now? Because it's profitable. Banks are able to make more money, because people are willing to pay for these extra services. It's nice knowing you can get your cash at almost any business on any block in the country.

But Pat Martin seems to think that these services should be free. His reasoning being that banks are making lots of money. What Martin doesn't seem to comprehend, is that the reason bank profits are at an all time high, is because people are using banks and their services more than ever.

The Dippers still believe in the quasi-Commie group-think that a business should only be allowed to profit so much. It doesn't matter that profit is the only motive to provide a service, the evil of profit trumps any benefit provided by that service.

Labels: NDP

After Gary Doer's pathetic attempt to skew the numbers by posing a loaded question on the Canadian Wheat Board plebiscite, the Feds now know not to make the same mistake (sub).

The Free Press has learned that Chuck Strahl's Agriculture Department has been preparing a ballot for the key vote that gives farmers three options -- instead of simply asking farmers whether they prefer selling barley on the open market. [...]

But Conrad Bellehumeur, Strahl's director of communications, did not deny there may be more than two questions, saying an "either-or" situation does not reflect the Tory vision for the world's largest barely and wheat marketer.

"I cannot confirm how many (voting) boxes there may be. There could be two, there could be more," Bellehumeur said.

"It (the ballot's wording) will reflect the government's vision to provide freedom of choice to producers."

If we're to use the Manitoba plebiscite as an indicator, this could spell trouble for proponents of the monopoly.

The Feds' question is more honest, and much more in line with the Torie's vision, than the live-or-die options given by the Doer government.

The Doer question forced farmers to choose between the status quo, and "I wish to remove the single desk marketing system from the CWB and sell all wheat through an open market system."

"That would not be the ballot we would use," he (Bellehumeur) said. "It is not an all-or-nothing option."

Strahl has said he will not be bound by the results of the barley plebiscite.

Mike Bast, chairman of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association, which has been among the biggest backers of the Tory plans for the CWB, said a three-option ballot is exactly what his group recommended to Strahl.

"That is the most accurate way to gauge farmers," Bast said.

"I feel that is where the Manitoba plebiscite missed the mark, because it did not give farmers out there that middle ground."

And that "middle ground" just so happens to be exactly what the government's plans are.

Labels: Conservative Party, CWB, Fun With Polls, Gary Doer, Manitoba, NDP

UPDATE: Video Can Be Viewed Here.

Jack Laytons ignorance knows no bounds (#), but at least we can all get a good laugh out of him:

The federal NDP leader left agricultural producers at Manitoba Ag Days in Brandon looking at each other in wide-eyed wonder Wednesday morning after a speech about farm issues in which he repeatedly referred to the "SARS" crisis that affected the Manitoba cattle industry.

"Another important issue is SARS. I was just talking to a cattle producer today who said the situation is worse now than when we were in the middle of SARS," Layton said.

Of course what Jack was referring to was BSE, not SARS. Maybe Jack's handlers shouldn't let him use such confusing acronyms.

Next thing you know, Jack'll be spinning a tale about how the Rolling Stones came and saved Toronto by opening the border to BSE infected Canadians. What a Schmuck!
* * *
UPDATE: Ol' Taliban Jack will be speaking at the University of Alberta tomorrow, and I suspect a few Alberta farmers may have some questions for him:

Mr Layton will be discussing tuition and housing issues with student representatives on Friday afternoon. Following this meeting, he will be giving a 10–15 minute talk as well as participating in a question and answer period that is open to the general public-not just University of Alberta students and faculty. Attendees are encouraged to bring up any topics of concern that may be on their mind.

"The intention of this event is not for [Mr Layton] to bring issues to us, but for youth to bring issues to him," Hay added.

The session is being hosted by the U of A NDP Campus Club and will take place at 4:30pm in the Alumni Room on the main floor Students' Union Building.

Labels: Funny, Jack Bin Layton, Manitoba, NDP

More proof of Manitoba's short sightedness:

Following the arrest of a Winnipeg caretaker the province is urging landlords to check for criminal backgrounds and bond caretakers before handing over keys to apartment suites.

"Most landlords already do it, but I would say it would be prudent for all landlords to take those measures," said Roger Barsy, director of the provincial residential tenancy branch. [...]

The province is taking the step after a caretaker was arrested last week, as was reported in the Sun, for allegedly letting himself into suites and stealing alcohol and women's underwear.

There are no regulations or legislation mandating the bonding and background checks on caretakers, but landlords are on the hook if cash or property disappears from tenants' suites, Barsy said. [...]

Tory justice critic Kelvin Goertzen said the province should introduce a new law requiring the screening of all caretakers before giving them keys to tenants' suites.

Okay, I'm just begging for an actual reason why we'd want such legislation, somebody please help me out here!

First of all, the caretaker in question clearly broke the law, was arrested and charged, and will pay whatever consequences deemed appropriate by some bleeding heart judge. This is supposed to deter caretakers from breaking the law.

Secondly, the landlords are on the hook for any property stolen, even though it should be the caretaker in this instance. This is the landlords incentive to do background checks on caretakers.

For one, this proposed law would drive up the cost of getting "quality" caretakers simply by disqualifying a percentage of those people who would take such a job.

Also, those living in buildings where there is a high turnover of caretakers would likely be left in the dark (perhaps literally) when their landlord can't find a "suitable" caretaker in a short period of time.

The problem here isn't that we need a new law. It's that we need to enforce the ones we currently have. Caretakers are put in a position of trust, and when that trust is violated they should bear the full consequences of the law.

It blows me away sometimes how this province likes to create new laws, while the justice system refuses to apply the current laws on the books. Are you listening Mr. Geortzen?

Labels: Canadian Justice, Manitoba, NDP

I would bet that this guy is a card carrying NDP member. Jack bin Layton would be proud:

Several members of the 1st Battalion The Royal Canadian Regiment's Charles Company told The Globe and Mail they were abandoned while pinned down by heavy Taliban fire on Sept. 3. Four Canadians soldiers died that day in fierce battles with insurgents.

One soldier told the Globe in an interview in southern Afghanistan that his superior left him there to die. The unidentified NCO was later returned home and is now out of the army. There is no information on whether he was investigated or charged.
(snip)
Master Cpl. Ward Engley of Charles's 8 platoon told the Globe that the NCO "left me there to die." He said the officer was "hiding behind a wall" and wouldn't come out long enough to give him the radio when he asked for it.

"Our grenades were duds," Engley explained, "and we were running low on ammo, but he couldn't even hand me the radio."

Thank God that the rest of our boys are made of better stuff.

Labels: Afghanistan, Jack Bin Layton, NDP, Treason