TOUGH ON CRIME IS UTTERLY STUPID AND COMPLETELY IDEOLOGICAL

First off, it seems that Justice Minister Nicholson has flip flopped on tough on crime as was reported by the Hill Times:

Justice Minister Nicholson pushes crime bill he used to be against As a Mulroney backbencher, Rob Nicholson was against mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes. By HARRIS MACLEOD Published February 1, 2010    3 Comments

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Photograph by Jake Wright, The Hill Times

Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, who is pushing the government's tough on crime agenda and plans to revive the bill on mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes in the next Parliamentary session, did not support the proposed law when he was a Mulroney backbencher.



In 1988, Mr. Nicholson vice-chaired a Parliamentary committee that released a report recommending mandatory minimum sentences not be used, except in the case of repeat violent sexual offenders. The committee found, based on testimony and the U.S. experience, that the law didn't work and increases prison populations.



The report, titled "Taking Responsibility," cited many of the same arguments that led Liberal Senators today to make amendments to the bill, which died on the Order Paper when Parliament was prorogued on Dec. 30 by Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.), although Mr. Nicholson has said it would be reintroduced in its original form when Parliament returns on March 3.









It noted that sentencing guidelines, which remove some of the discretionary powers of judges, "have had the undesirable effect of contributing to rapidly increasing prison populations in the United States." Additionally, it said that both witnesses and committee members doubt the effectiveness and have reservations about the social and financial costs of mandatory minimum sentences, noting they tend to increase court time because defendants fight harder to avoid conviction, as well as causing "distortions" in charging practices and plea negotiations.



Witnesses appearing before the House of Commons and Senate committees studying Bill C-15 said overwhelmingly that mandatory minimum sentences are ineffective in deterring drug-related crimes, and a 2001 government report done by the Justice Department reached the same conclusions.



The bill would require anyone found with as few as five marijuana plants to serve a minimum of six months in prison, with one and two-year minimum sentences for other drug-related offences.



Geneviève Breton, Mr. Nicholson's (Niagara Falls, Ont.) director of communications, said in an email to The Hill Times that the justice system and the drug world are different than they were 22 years ago, and therefore the government's response has also changed.



She noted that the Criminal Code contains a total of 43 offences that carry a mandatory minimum sentence, mostly for firearm and child exploitation offences, but in recent years the Harper government has added to the list.



"Parliament is expected to draft and enact laws that clearly articulate the legislators' intent, which is reflective of the values of the citizens who elected them. It is the role of the legislator to give guidance to the judiciary on maximum penalties, as well as on minimum penalties. For certain offences, our Government firmly believes that a minimum period of incarceration is justified," Ms. Breton stated.



Former PC MP David Daubney, now a public servant at the Department of Justice, was chair of the committee that authored the 1988 report, which is sometimes referred to as the "Daubney Report." He said Mr. Nicholson's views on mandatory minimum sentences today are clearly different from those in the report to which he was a signatory.



"I'm proud of the report, frankly, it was well-received and still is being used in law schools and other places as a well-received blueprint. But times change, and public opinion changes, and governments change," he said.



Mr. Daubney cited a recent Angus Reid poll, which indicated Canadians' attitudes on justice issues are hardening, as a possible motive for Mr. Nicholson's change of heart. The poll found that 65 per cent of respondents had a moderate or strong feeling that mandatory minimum sentences send a tough message to criminals, and that 62 per cent supported the death penalty for those convicted of murder. This even though crime rates in Canada have been steadily falling for three decades.



The Conservative government introduced 17 justice bills in the last session, and the they have made law and order issues a central plank of their agenda. Last week, Mr. Nicholson announced he would be putting forward proposals to stiffen penalties for youth offenders.



The justice minister has repeatedly lashed out at the Liberals, both in the House and in the media, for what he calls the gutting of Bill C-15 by Grit Senators, even though the bill was passed in the House with Liberal support. Many in the Liberal caucus have said they are uncomfortable with the measures in the bill, but there is a fear within the party of being labeled "soft on crime."



Last week Tory MP Brent Rathgeber (Edmonton-St. Albert, Alta.), who sits on the House of Commons Justice Committee, put out a press release attacking statements by Liberal MP Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West, Ont.) that his caucus was grappling with whether to continue their support of all the government's crime legislation.



NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East, B.C.), whose party voted against Bill C-15, said Mr. Nicholson's zest for introducing mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes is purely political.



"This has got to be an evidence-based process, and of course he couldn't show any. All he could say was that he believed that Canadians wanted this legislation. To discover a Parliamentary report that he was a signatory to that comes to the same conclusion that we have, that mandatory minimums don't work for drug crimes, I think that's very incredible. It's reinforcement that what they are doing is not based on any evidence whatsoever. It's a political stance that they're taking that has nothing to do with solving Canada's serious drug issues. It's a politically fabricated response. It's fascinating to see that back in 1988 he obviously came to a more objective conclusion," she said.



Liberal justice critic Dominic LeBlanc (Beauséjour, N.B.) said he agrees with some of what is in Bill C-15, but voiced concerns about the mandatory minimum sentencing provisions. He said his caucus has not yet decided whether they would continue their support of the bill.



Mr. LeBlanc mused that perhaps the discrepancy between Mr. Nicholson's 1988 report and his position today is because of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) preference for "American style solutions" to drug crime.



The Globe and Mail recently reported the government plans to increase the size, and budget for federal prisons in order to make way for the flood of new inmates resulting from the new crime bills. The annual budget for prisons has grown from $88.5-million in 2006-07 to $195.1-million this year, and is projected to reach $211.6-million in 2010-11.



At this point the government is refusing to say how much its crime legislation would cost the justice system, but Parliamentary Budget Officer Kevin Page will release a report examining the expected expenditures in the coming months.



hmacleod@hilltimes.com



The Hill Times


And then we have to, as a society, look at a few things:

1. The crime rate is falling at a time when "tough on crime" is being pushed upon the population. Sure, Nicholson is correct that drug crimes are gonig up - but almost all of that increase relates to cannibis and little else. Hard drug crimes are going down. This begs the question of whether to decriminalize cannibis possession and growing it - licencing the production of cannibis. Government can certainly tax this. The other crime that is going up is sexual abuse of children - and that only marginally. All other crime is falling to levels that rival the 1970s.... so why this approach? Why now?

2. Nicholson, himself, has publicly declared that this kind of law will only produce more prison inmates, who aren't harden criminals when they go into the prison system, will certainly be when they come out. Is that what society needs? I can't think of a better system to manufacture criminals than our current prison system.

3. What will all of this cost? The increased criminal population? The mega prisons?

4. Will harsher sentences reduce crime? Absolutely note. Scores of research reports show that the harshness of the penalties will never reduce crime. Eradication of poverty will go a long way. Increased education levels will help. Increased employment chances will help. Prevention will go a long way. And for those who do commit crimes - simple punishment is not the answer.Rehabilitation is the answer. The Conservative approach of "either you're a good citizen or a bad criminal" stinks of simplemindedness. Destructive simplemindedness. Expensive simplemindedness. All harsh sentences illustrate is that society, as a whole, is just as rotten as the criminals we shut away.

5. We should not ignore the victims of crime, any more than we should ignore the rehabilitation needs of criminals.

The whole Conservative approach is ideological, simplistic, expensive, neanderthal, uninformed, stupid, ill-informed, unenlightened - and little better than many repressive regimes' approach to dealing with crime. What's next? Public executions????

More LayOffs Under CONServative "job creation" plan

With a job creation plan like the one CONServatives keep on foisting on to a gullible population like this one - who needs a job cutting plan!!! Now most the EI centres across Canada are going to be cut leaving more hundreds laid off. The Cape Breton post has just reported that the number of EI centres is being cut from 119 to 22 nationally! And many of these centres are in very small centres helping local populations find work. Imagine one EI centre for all of Nova Scotia!! This is on top of 700 Environment Canada jobs; 700 Public Works jobs and scores of auditor positions - all cut. There's a report that thousands of civilian jobs should be cut from the Dept of National Defence - and "The Year of the Cut" hasn't even begun yet. The year 2012 will see far more cuts - and we still have three more years of this CONServative cutting. Let's hope this is a one term majority PC government! Either that or the last one out of Canada, please turn off the lights.... here's the Cape Breton Post story:

Layoffs planned at local EI centres

Published on August 22, 2011

Published on August 22, 2011

Union urges protests over proposed Service Canada cuts

SYDNEY — Cape Bretoners were being encouraged Monday to raise their voices in protest over the proposed layoff of 80-100 local workers with Service Canada in Sydney and Glace Bay.

Topics :

Service Canada , Public Service Alliance of Canada , Human Resources , Cape Breton , Moncton , New Glasgow

“The community needs to understand the effect such a reduction is going to have on the local economy,” said Jeannie Baldwin, regional executive vice-president of Public Service Alliance of Canada, which represents the workers.
“Those workers provide a valuable service and this government has no idea how far removed their are from the community. Cuts like this will be devastating to the local economy,” said Baldwin.
The reductions were announced Friday by Diane Finley, minister of Human Resources and Skills Development, and are to be phased-in over the next three years.
Service Canada now processes employment insurance claims at 120 sites across the country but by 2014, the number of centres will be reduced to 22.
While Finley said no offices will close as a small, front-line staff will be maintained for now, Baldwin said the reduction in staff will only further hurt service delivery to all Canadians.
Baldwin said the plan is to consolidate processing in Moncton, St. John’s, Halifax, New Glasgow and Bridgewater, along with closing the Glace Bay call centre.
Finley said Service Canada has made considerable progress since 2005 to modernize how EI is processed by increasing automation.
“Canadians expect their hard-earned tax dollars to be used as effectively and efficiently as possible,” said Finley, adding that efforts to modernize the EI processes and delivery have already turned in a savings of almost 30 per cent.
“This government got elected on a promise of job creation so this is not a good example of the government working for our benefit,” said Baldwin.
Finley said a workforce management strategy will help with the planned personnel changes, which will include anticipated attrition, reassignments and training.
Baldwin said the union is planning to raise awareness of the issue in Cape Breton through protests and other public forms of opposition.
“We want all of Cape Breton to understand just what it means to have those jobs taken away. These are some of the people who fully support the local economy,” she said.
Joseph Parris, president of the union’s regional council, said Monday that workers he’s spoken to are devastated over the news.
“There is a lot of shock and disbelief here today,” said Parris.
Jim Paris, president of the Sydney and Area Chamber of Commerce, said Monday taking the jobs out of the economy will hurt .
“Those are good, viable, well paying jobs and taking that money out of the economy will result in a downward spiral,” said Paris, adding the chamber hopes the cuts can be mitigated to reduce the effect on the local economy.
Service Canada was created in 2005 to improve the delivery of government programs and services.
The federal government has already served notice to other government agencies of its plan to cut staff positions.
Some 700 workers with Public Works and Government Services Canada will be laid off over the next three years. Five curators at the national art gallery have been given layoff notices along with 50 Environment Canada term employees, including scientists and scientific support staff.
The government is looking for some $4 billion in cuts to balance the budget by 2014.
Sydney-Victoria MP Mark Eyking said Monday the reductions are not acceptable.
“At a time when we have a higher-than-usual unemployment rate, this government should be investing in job creation, not eliminating them,” he said.
Eyking said he plans to press the government for more details on their plan.

Mr. Family Values .... Really???

I find it positively disgusting that CONServatives, those bastions of "family values" are flagrantly battering these beliefs. A key scandal that was covered up (a CONServative value if ever there was one) that involved Vic Toews and his slutting around outside marriage. Several stories captured this low point of CONServative values such as Dan Savage's rant in the NOW | March 3-10, 2010 | VOL 29 NO 27 that in part reads,

No time like the present: I could write about your batshit-conservative prime minister, Stephen Harper, who’s always proroguing the shit out of your parliament. (I don’t know what proroguing is exactly, but like the shit in French on breakfast-cereal boxes, it sounds pretty fucking filthy.) But a better example of conservative batshittery would be Vic Toews. Canada’s unofficial “Minister of Family Values,” Member of Parliament Toews – surprise! – doesn’t like the gays because we’re a threat to the family and the institution of marriage. Toews has described gay marriage ceremonies as satanic “black masses” and insisted that adding gays and lesbians to existing Canadian civil rights statutes would bring the “jackboot of fascism [down] on the necks of our people.”

You know where this is going, right?

It turned out that Toews – who once warned that gay marriage could lead to polygamy – was cheating on his wife of 25 years. After getting a much younger woman pregnant, Toews wound up getting divorced. Another marriage destroyed not by gays stomping around in fabulous jackboots, but by another straight “Christian” shitfuck politician slamming his dick into someone who isn’t his wife.

Toews’s affair became public two years ago, but the scandal didn’t destroy him – he became minister of public safety this January – because the Canadian press sniffed that Toews’s affair and divorce were private. Excuse me, Canadian-press pansies, but a politician who scares up votes attacking the private lives of others, a politician who insists that other people are out to destroy his marriage, can’t be allowed to hide behind “my private business!” when it turns out that the only threat to the politician’s marriage was the politician’s own greasy cock.

Montreal Simon in Montreal writes in his blog....

Of all the nasty homophobes in Stephen Harper's sinister SoCon government, Vic Toews has to be one of the worst.

He opposed protecting gay people from hate crimes. He compared gay marriage to a Black Mass. And over and over again he foamed into his fascist sheriff's mustache ....claiming it would lead to polygamy.

Well wouldn't you know it ? It turns out this champion of so-called family values has a little poly problem of his own.

The 55-year-old Toews' public face of self-righteous morality is now clashing with his troubled private life. An MP dubbed the "minister of family values" by Liberals is embroiled in a messy divorce after fathering a child last fall with a much younger woman.

Can you believe that? The Minister of Family Values impaled on his own quivering petard. Viva Viagra !!!

Of course, I always knew that this wretched bigot was a hypocrite.

He posed as a crime fighter. But was CON-VIC-TED of exceeding his personal campaign expense limits in the 1999 Manitoba provincial election.

But this sordid affair really is the last straw. I mean aren't these religious fanatics supposed to at least get MARRIED..... before they breed with much younger women?

Talk about hypocrisy. So much for the sanctity of marriage. So much for his fake family values.

Lordy. Jebesus save us. First we had Maxime and his biker chick. Now we've got Vicky, his mistress, and his love child. It's like the Fall of Rome on the Rideau. Or Gomorrah in Manitoba.

Look I know I'm a prude. But I really think it's time to put some real family values back on the national agenda. Before these shameless Cons turn our Parliament into a Swinger's Club.

And Vic Toews is someone who claimed that gay marriage would lead to polygamy.... well according to his own practice, straight marriage is already headed in that direction!!!

Even the Calgary Herald has a problem with Mr. Toews and his double standards:

Toews as judge would be galling

To become Otta-washed is to acquire a sense of inflated self-importance, warped parliamentary perspectives and tax-funded entitlement.

By The Calgary HeraldMay 17, 2008Be the first to post a comment

To become Otta-washed is to acquire a sense of inflated self-importance, warped parliamentary perspectives and tax-funded entitlement.
It invariably contaminates even politicians who initially swear to humbly serve their voters and act on real priorities.
The Liberals perfected it and readers accuse some journalists of having it (including me), but symptoms suggesting the Conservatives have caught it went epidemic this week.
There are little signs here -- and a billboard-sized indicator there.
That second bout of runaway travel costs, specifically her $1,300 one-day limo rental in Toronto, suggests that Heritage Minister Bev Oda believes in hosing taxpayers.
The outrageous record-high $22,573 airline ticket for Foreign Affairs Minister Maxime Bernier to attend a two-day conference in Laos with three staff last November was a signal he's willing to take taxpayers for a ride.
Sticking with Bernier, news that his former gal pal was dating shady characters with biker gang connections as recently as 2005 -- not 1999 as originally reported -- sheds a harsh new light on this as a potential security risk and, as such, rates a serious government investigation instead of a shrug.
And the government's stalling over the promised inquiry into the Mulroney affair and the PMO's slow release of an investigation into a diplomatic leak are troubling signs their political conscience has gone missing.
But nothing -- NOTHING -- will bolster voter cynicism about the Conservatives more than if Prime Minister Stephen Harper elevates former justice minister and current Treasury Board president Vic Toews to a Court of Queen's Bench judge's job.
Winnipeg Free Press reporter Mia Rabson has discovered that a federal selection committee is checking out Toews for an imminent appointment.
The mind reels. If the Conservatives under Harper stood for anything while in Official Opposition with Toews as the justice critic, it was a clean bench kept clear of patronage deadwood.
Whenever a loyal Liberal was rewarded with a courtroom to call their own, nobody screamed louder than MP Vic Toews.
"It's just one more illustration of how who you know gets you to the bench," Toews fumed after former justice minister Irwin Cotler appointed his chief of staff to the Federal Court.
Toews demanded judicial appointments derive from provincial recommendation lists because, he sniffed, "the evidence is overwhelming that politics plays a significant consideration" in judicial appointments.
For the Conservatives with law and order as their policy signature, tainting a senior bench with a sitting cabinet minister would represent a betrayal of political ethics.
It's difficult to fathom why the Conservatives would risk so much political karma on such a move. While the former Crown prosecutor is arguably qualified for the job, there are plenty of card-carrying Manitoba Conservatives with untainted credentials salivating for a bench seat.
About the only decent theory for Mr. Harper's apparent desire to rid himself of Mr. Toews is, frankly, an area I'm loath to tread.
But the 55-year-old Toews' public face of self-righteous morality is now clashing with his troubled private life. An MP dubbed the "minister of family values" by Liberals is embroiled in a messy divorce after fathering a child last fall with a much younger woman.
That's his business, frankly, yet it might explain why Mr. Toews was demoted to the Treasury Board and immediately cloaked by invisibility, stewing in question period silence while his junior parliamentary secretary juggles tough questions on election financing irregularities.
But if a judicial appointment is being used to ease a problem minister out of government, it only increases the galling patronage of the appointment.
And if they brazenly go ahead and hand him the $232,000-plus job and announce it in the dead of summer when nobody's looking, it will underline the optics of this government behaving no differently than any other. Justice Vic Toews would be a huge sign this government, even having become thoroughly Ottawashed, is still dirty.
dmartin@canwest.com

© (c) CanWest MediaWorks Publications Inc.

 

And lastly, there is a news story that has Vic Toews and his mistress patronizing a gay bathhouse....

 

This news story is from "The Wicked Club" based in Toronto:

 

Vic Toews , Mr. Hypocrisy visits Gay Bathhouse.

In political circles, attacking someone for their private life is off limits......except when it comes to Vic Toews. Toews, who is from Steinbach Manitoba , the most Christian city in Canada , is one of the biggest homophobes on the hill.

In 1999 , Toews , Mr. Crime Fighter himself, was charged and convicted of exceeding his campaign expense limits in the Manitoba provincial election.
In 2009 scandal hit Mr. Toews.

In political circles, attacking someone for their private life is off limits......except when it comes to Vic Toews. Toews, who is from Steinbach Manitoba , the most Christian city in Canada , is one of the biggest homophobes on the hill.

In 1999 , Toews , Mr. Crime Fighter himself, was charged and convicted of exceeding his campaign expense limits in the Manitoba provincial election.
In 2009 scandal hit Mr. Toews.
www.canada.com/calgaryherald/columnists/...71e38a84163e&p=1

The Minister of Family Values had an affair with a young lady who worked for Conservative MP Joy Smith. Toews, still married to his wife and being the good Steinbach Christian that he is, impregnated the woman, who was rewarded by being turfed by Joy Smith and the Conservative Party.

Now the Minister of Family Values has struck again, this time making an appearance a couple weeks ago on "Co-ed night" with another young lady at a Winnipeg Gay Bathhouse called "Aquarius" . Toews arrived with the woman while wearing a hat and sunglasses and the couple rented a room where Toews stayed in the entire evening while his young lady friend cruised the bathhouse looking for playmates. We are told a husband and wife couple joined Vic and his friend in their room for over an hour before Toews left on his own a couple hours later. We don't know the details of what went on in that room......we will leave that to your imagination.

Normally, the private life of politicians is off limits. But when a man who is so opposed to gay people attends a gay bathhouse, it just has to be exposed. What do his loyal church-going followers have to say about this ? We hope Vic had fun anyway. Now only if he would stop being such a bigot we wouldn't have to spill out more of his private life.

CONServatives and their disgusting stance on Asbestos

The CONServatives have a disgusting stand on asbestos in that they continue to support its use and expert to predominantly Third World countries, who also have poor environmental protection laws. This is no better than saying cigarettes are fine while being a key exporter to third world countries...

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Tories slammed after telling asbestos widow to stop using their logo

By Robert Hiltz and Tristin Hopper, Postmedia NewsAugust 15, 2011

Claude Lortie, a supervisor at the site of Mine Jeffrey Inc., looks at the 2.5 kilometre-wide asbestos mining pit, in the town of Asbestos, Que., in April 2010.

Photograph by: Dario Ayala, Montreal Gazette

A widow warned to stop using the Conservative Party logo in ads for her anti-asbestos website can now count the mayor of Sarnia, Ont., among her many supporters.

On July 29, Michaela Keyserlingk, who is fighting to put an end to the export of Canadian asbestos, received a cease-and-desist email from Conservative Party executive director Dan Hilton. Since receiving that email, Keyserlingk said she has been astounded by the "endless letters" she has received.

"I'm just wondering how I can thank everybody," she said.

Upon hearing about Keyserlingk in media reports, Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley wrote an email to Hilton Sunday calling his actions "absolutely shameful."

"I invite you to come to Sarnia . . . and see the devastating impact asbestos has had on countless lives of the people of this community and why it is morally wrong for Canada to support and promote the export of asbestos," Bradley wrote. Sarnia, Bradley said, lost many lives in the 1960s and '70s due to workplace asbestos exposure.

In 2007, Keyserlingk's husband, Robert, was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a cancer that attacks the internal walls of the lungs. As a non-smoker and marathon runner, Keyserlingk's doctors soon traced the illness to a string of summers he had spent as a naval cadet. Living on a ship in close-quarters with asbestos-insulated pipes, Keyserlingk had inhaled enough of the fibres to lay the seeds of an asbestos-linked disease 40 years later. He died of the disease in December 2009.

Since the death of her husband, Michaela Keyserlingk has started a website pointing to the dangers of asbestos — www.canadianasbestosexports.ca. Keyserlingk used the Tory logo in a banner ad to promote her site.

"Canada is the only western country that still exports deadly asbestos!" reads the banner's text, which is nestled between a "Danger" symbol and the Conservative logo.

"It has come to our attention that your organization is currently using a trademark of the Conservative Party of Canada in your advertising material," Hilton wrote in an email to Keyserlingk. "This usage is unauthorized and must cease immediately. . . . Please govern yourself accordingly."

She says she replied to Hilton's email and said she would stop using the logo if someone within the party explained the government's position on exporting the known carcinogen.

"I would really like to hear from somebody from the Conservative Party, who also has some influence, to tell me why they keep on supporting (asbestos export). I can't understand it," Keyserlingk said.

In an email, party spokesman Fred DeLorey said a letter is sent whenever the party's logo is used without permission.

"I am delighted that someone in the Conservative Party of Canada is finally reacting after years of work by chrysotile asbestos victims," wrote Keyserlingk in a reply. "(Hopefully) we could come to some agreement before the ads get replicated too often."

"It is a step we are required to take whenever we discover there is an unauthorized use of our logo. We have nothing further to add to this," DeLorey said.

Her husband was a "true blue" Conservative, Keyserlingk said. He served as president of the Ottawa Centre Progressive Conservative riding association and spent many an election door-knocking for candidates in the city's suburbs.

In 2010, soon after her husband's death, Keyserlingk received a hand-written note from then-Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff promising that his party would no longer support the chrysotile industry. The next day, she said, she found out that the Liberal Party had backed a motion to continue providing government funding to the Chrysotile Institute, an asbestos advocacy group.

As claimed by Keyserlingk's banner ad, Canada is the only country in the G8 that continues to produce asbestos — although the mineral is virtually banned for domestic use.

In late June, Canadian delegates successfully blocked the mineral from being added to a UN-sponsored list of hazardous chemicals.

At the same time, Prime Minister Stephen Harper travelled to Thetford Mines, Que., site of Canada's only asbestos mine.

Former transport minister Chuck Strahl has blamed asbestos exposure for his lung cancer, for which he had to resign earlier this year.

The Canadian Parliament buildings are currently undergoing an $850-million renovation that, among other things, will strip the buildings of asbestos.

rhiltz@postmedia.com

twitter.com/robert_hiltz

thopper@nationalpost.com

© Copyright (c) Postmedia News

Claude Lortie, a supervisor at the site of Mine Jeffrey Inc., looks at the 2.5 kilometre-wide asbestos mining pit, in the town of Asbestos, Que., in April 2010.

Photograph by: Dario Ayala, Montreal Gazette

PEOPLE IN GLASS HOUSES SHOULDN'T THROW STONES

Another example of CONServative hypocrisy.... While much has been made of Nicole Turmel's 4 year membership to separatist parties in Quebec, all of a sudden a CONServative cabinet minister admits to 8 years of separatist party membership in Quebec!!!! As Harper has stated - Canadians will only accept a party whose belief in Canada is without question - how has itself a questionable anti-Canadian undercurrent within its own ranks!!! If Turmel is anti-Canadian, so must Denis Lebel, Minister of Transportation! The CONServatives are just plain stupid in their inability to know who their MPs are or are blind hypocrites for pointing fingers when their own party is just as guilty!!!

Would the PM please shut up: Senior Conservative cabinet minister was BQ member for 7-plus years

By David J. Climenhaga

| August 9, 2011

This just in! Senior federal Conservative cabinet minister was member of Bloc Quebecois for seven-plus years!
Well, it's not April 1, and it's in the Globe and Mail just now, so presumably the fact Prime Minister Stephen Harper's transport minister, Denis Lebel, was a member of the theoretically separatist Bloc Quebecois for more than seven years during the 1990s means the federal Conservatives are either breathtaking hypocrites or they’re incompetent buffoons who didn't do their due diligence.
By the sound of the Globe's report, there wasn't much secret about Lebel's long sovereignist involvement, or his generous personal donations to Quebec's separatist movement. But that was before Prime Minister Harper came along with his great economic plans for Canada, and Lebel saw the light, or so his spokesperson told the Globe yesterday.
Guaranteed, this story wouldn't have rated two inches on page B97 but for the fact the Conservatives have been raging for days about Acting Opposition Leader Nycole Turmel having once been a member of the BQ … just like the prime minister's esteemed cabinet colleague.
Turmel, of course, was appointed to her current position so that NDP Leader Jack Layton could take some time to recover from the obviously serious cancer that has beset him.
The federal Liberals, desperately facing extinction, opportunistically piled on. One can hardly blame them after their historic rout in the May 2 federal election. But if there are no federal Liberal MPs from Quebec with a PQ/BQ taint, rest assured it is only because there are only seven Liberal MPs left in that province.
As was written in this space last Friday, one can understand and sympathize with Turmel's association with the Bloc -- she is, after all, a social democrat and until Layton's Orange Wave crashed through Quebec before the federal election, the Bloc and the Parti Quebecois were the only social democratic shows in the French-speaking part of town. But Lebel is a neo-Conservative whose spokesperson says he's an admirer of the PM's economic wisdom. So what's his excuse?

What this really shows is that both the BQ and PQ were mainstream parties in Quebec for a very long time, and many people with political ambitions no doubt joined them because that was the only way to have a realistic hope of political success.

This may seem opportunistic, but how is it different from the large numbers of otherwise reasonable people who are lifelong Conservatives in Alberta? The Conservatives have been the only show in this particular one-horse town for more than 40 years, so what do you expect people who want to build a better world to do if there's no other way to attain office?
Harper could on the morrow surprise us and prove he really means what he says by firing Lebel from cabinet. If he does, he'd better dump Minister of State for Small Business Maxime Bernier too, seeing as that Tory grandee also served as an aide to separatist Quebec premier Bernard Landry.
The trouble with that kind of thing, of course, is that it could easily turn into a witchhunt. It would surely do the Conservatives no long-term good in Quebec -- which, for all their bravado about needing only Ontario and the West may be necessary for them to stay in power in the future.
Probably a better outcome for the future of the country is that the prime minister just grow up and shut up about this particular issue, lest he be revealed as the unprincipled hypocrite many of us suspect him of being.
If he does, I expect most of us who don't like him or his politics will be willing to forgo our sense of schadenfreude at the deliciously ironic sight of him trying to wiggle off the hook and explain Lebel's political history.
Then we can all get back to what we should be doing -- to wit, surfing the Orange Wave!

BAIRD AND CLEMENT ARE COMPLETE ASSES FOR TRYING TO HIDE MISDEEDS

Senior CONServative Cabinet members said that they didn't know anything about the G8 slush fund when in fact not only did they know, Tony Clement apparently ran a secret committee that worked at defining projects with municipal leaders, but he also decided how to spend the ill-gotten border funding slush fund!!!! Can anyone say "Liberal Sponsorship Scandal?" Here, we have the CONServatives treating taxpayer monies as their own personal purse to 'buy' votes - so it wasn't BAIRD who decided all project funding, but actually CLEMENT had an active participation too! Liars all.

NDP Press Releases

New evidence of Conservative’s slush fund politcs

Clement funnelled work through constituency office to avoid oversight

August 15, 2011

OTTAWA – New documents reveal that Tony Clement used the G8 Legacy money as a $50 million personal slush fund and devised a system that would skirt transparency and accountability. This evidence obtained by New Democrats through municipalities in Muskoka contradicts the story given to the Auditor General by government officials.
New Democrat Ethics critic Charlie Angus says these new documents raise major questions as to whether the Conservatives engaged in a cover-up to prevent the AG from learning the true extent of the Muskoka slush fund.
"This stinks of a cover-up. Even at the height of the sponsorship scandal Canadians knew they could count on the Auditor General to get to the bottom of the spending,” said Angus. “Why didn't the Conservatives tell the AG that they set up a private, parallel system outside the normal checks and balances of the bureaucracy? Tony Clement's fingerprints are all over this file."
The documents reveal the elaborate lengths Clement went to set up his own funding process to distribute $50 million. The projects were chosen by a small-group of mayors at meetings chaired by Clement. They wrote their own criteria for the projects, nominated projects for approval and then rubber-stamped the results. On top of all that, Clement used his constituency office to handle the intake of project proposals.
"The AG was unable to find any paper trail. This is because the AG wasn't told that the paper trail was in Tony Clement's constituency office. The AG was told that federal civil servants were not informed about how the money was being spent. And yet the documents show senior civil servants participating alongside Tony Clement in private meetings where the money was divvied up. Where is the accountability?
Angus says Clement broke all the rules when it comes to the G8 Legacy fund and that Canadians deserve answers. Since spring 2010 New Democrats have been calling for accountability into handling of the G8 / G20 summit.
“Haven’t we learned any lessons from the Liberal sponsorship scandal? Canadians deserve better. Sadly it seems the Conservatives took all the wrong lessons from the Liberal sponsorship scandal— they're just trying to make sure they don't get caught, rather than making sure it doesn’t happen again.”

 

 

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This is only the first two months of a four year term....

What Canadians are experiencing is a four year "Amateur Hour" of self-serving CONServative ignorance and arrogance. What follows is only two months' worth of sleazy politics....

1. May 2, 2011 – Conservatives win a majority government. Now starts the slow shift toward the Conservative "hidden" agenda that gives added privilege to the privileged and further oppression  to the oppressed.  Much was mentioned that the throne speech did not belie any "hidden agenda" - yet "hidden" means exactly that - not apparent! The hidden agenda is now what is said, but HOW goals are achieved. The CONServative methods are underhanded, self-serving, "entitled," disingenuous, narrow-minded and simply sleazy. Within two months, there are several examples - over four years, most assuredly, there will be hundreds forming a deep pattern. No wonder this government was found guilty of contempt of parliament - not through some "pesky" opposition manoeuvres, but because the government lied and withheld information from the House of Parliament and, therefore, from Canadians.
2. May 18, 2011 – Harper names 38 cabinet ministers to form new cabinet; the second largest cabinet after – only after another Conservative cabinet of Mulroney in a time of “austerity”
3. May 18, 2011 – Harper appoints 3 Conservative senators to the Senate – these three were recently defeated by the population’s vote in the election of May 2, 2011 doing an end run around democracy. Harper has been saying he wants to reform the Senate to make it, too, an elected House – great first step! And it’s been 120 years since a senator quit to run for political office and then rehired them when they failed to gain their seat. And then these same newly minted senators resist Harper's attempts to implement Senate reforms! The ingrates!!
4. May 29, 2011 - Prime Minister Stephen Harper was asked by Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to block G8 leaders from supporting a Palestinian state based on 1967 borders, an Israeli newspaper said on Saturday. English-language newspaper Haaretz said that Netanyahu phoned Harper on Tuesday following the Israeli prime minister's speech to U.S. Congress, where Netanyahu insisted his country would not return to the "indefensible borders" that existed before the 1967 war. And Harper was the only hold out at the G8 Conference in France – he disagreed with the rest of the G8, including Obama, at the behest of Israel, highlighting Harper’s anti-Palestine and pro-Israeli stance. A position he has maintained.
5. June 6, 2011 – Elimination of the per vote subsidy for all parties with representation in the House of Parliament. Creates an undemocratic approach whereby the wealthy have an easier time of maintaining power because of huge coffers smaller parties can’t generate.
6. June 9, 2011 – G8/G20 Auditor General’s Report about the spending on these summits made public. Scathing response to the lack of a paper trail regarding to the 50 million that was spent on “legacy” spending. Parliament not informed about spending. Parliament was told that 50 million was for border infrastructure/security; however, the government intentionally siphoned off 50 million from border security to build summit legacy projects. Why the bait and switch? No public servants were a part of this process, removing any accountability or transparency. They knowingly lied to Parliament to they steal from one dept to cover for something else. And they had to hurry – to build toilets 70 km away and for the fake lake in Muskoka, of all places! Auditor General says this is a violation of the rules. The AG wants a paper trail! Imagine that!! Baird says they didn’t mislead Parliament – which begs the question why would the government follow the AG’s recommendations??? Tony Clement is now the minister in charge of making government cuts to find 11 Billion in cost savings – to get rid of governmental waste. So, during the G8 Tony benefits from a 50 million slush fund for pork barrel projects in his riding to getting rid of government waste! Such irony!
7. June 11 – Conservative convention in Ottawa – has affirmed as party policy that marriage is between a man and a woman. Thankfully, this is not government policy – yet! Also, interesting when electing a leader there is a move to make ridings proportional so that larger ridings get more votes than smaller ridings – essentially undermining any leadership hopeful from smaller ridings. For now, it’s one member/one vote – sounds like democracy to me!
8. Harper and James Moore fly down on an armed forces jet at $10,000/hr to watch the Vancouver/Boston Stanley Cup game in Boston (assuming 2 hours each way – not including having jet in Boston over night – that’s $40,000!). Moore and Harper, after taking some public heat agree to each pay $500 for borrowing the jet!!!
9. June 14 – Harper Government refuses to attach any sort of warning to asbestos sold internationally in order to protect the asbestos industry in Canada and protect 200 jobs in Asbestos, Quebec. Despite asbestos being a known carcinogen.
10. June 20 – Harper government set to pass back-to-work legislation against Canada Post workers despite negotiations ongoing. Last week the Harper government, within hours of an Air Canada strike, decided it was going to pass back-to-work legislation against front line Air Canada workers despite ongoing negotiations. This approach puts the federal government in the position of labour arbiter rather than legislation. Further, this kind of approach undermines fundamental labour laws in this country, allowing both sides to negotiate a settlement among themselves rather than the government impose legislation.
11. The Afghani detainee issue is back in the media when 40,000 documents are released publicly - BUT many of these pages are completely redacted making the documents useless. Such silliness. Such petulance. Such arrogance. It is unlikely that Parliament will ever get the full picture on the Afghani detainees and torture. Because of the amateurish foot dragging and stalling of the CONS government, it's not unreasonable to assume that there was Afghani detainee torture. Otherwise, why not simply come clean? Another example of CONS contempt for Parliament and the Canadian people.
12. The Canada Post back-to-work legislation highlights the not-so-hidden agenda of the CONServatives. Despite the long-fought negotiations between Canada Post management and the CUPW union, Harper and his government decided to impose a wage rate below what Canada Post management had offered and had also included in the bill that an arbitrator will choose either the entirety of management's position or the union's position without negotiation. This back to work bill is simply an attempt to bust the unions by a so-called non-interventionist, neoliberal government (apparently that's the case only when it serves the CONServative interests). Here are the key issues that arose during this bill:

•  Harper and the CONServatives are defacto working as Canada Post management by overriding the wishes of Canada Post by writing in a lower wage rate than management was offering. If Harper wants to truly cut costs, he could just get rid of Canada Post management and continue to run Canada Post directly. They're doing that now with the back to work legislation.
• Harper likes to suggest that the market should resolve itself under the auspices of neoliberal and conservative management principles, yet unilaterally interferes with the market mechanism of labour negotiations.
• Free labour negotiations are a constitutional right in this country - something Harper, through this back to work legislation - and some of the terms in the bill - have completely trampled. I bet a constitutional challenge will be made against this legislation, as there should be. I suspect the legislation is inherently illegal - but Harper simply doesn't care as long as he gets his way.
• Harper and the CONServatives are utterly utterly naive if they think that the back to work legislation is going to make labour/management relations all warm and cozy - if anything this legislation has made things far worse and there will be a new militancy arise.
• The NDP as opposition and as a party has always been supportive of union rights. The CONServatives have always been supportive of wealthy/corporate individuals. For Harper and John Baird to rise up on their hind legs to proclaim the CONServatives support and be here for ALL Canadians. Well, we know that's not true. The CONServatives party policy has recently affirmed that marriage is narrowly construed as being only between a man and a woman - so gays and lesbians are excluded. Women's centres and programs have been cut under this party, so women are largely unsupported. First Nations are hugely ignored by this government. And, of course. workers' rights have been completely underminded by this government. Easily, that's more than half of citizens in this country are being unsupported and ignored by this government, so Baird is an utter liar. Harper is an utter liar. The CONS have the right name for their party.
• That the Harper Government is concerned about the Canadian economy. Really? Well, CUPW was carrying out rotating strikes to help minimize the effect on postal delivery. It is Canada Post Management, presumably with some input from the Canadian Government (the owners of Canada Post) who locked employees out and completely shut down all postal delivery. The CONS are hypocrites and liars and are in complete contempt of Canadians.

Finally, the filibuster is over and the CONS can go home to plan new manipulations of the Canadian government, media and people. Over the summer, as things pop up (as they most assuredly will - this is amateur time with Harper and his key puppets: Baird, Clements, Kenney, Oda and the rest ....