I got into a conversation with a loyal Tory supporter after last week’s provincial budget. When the topic turned to whether or not the Redford government should rack up debt to pay for schools, hospitals and roads, the Tory insisted that borrowing over $4 billion for infrastructure was “a good idea.” Besides, he added, “if Alberta weren’t a good credit risk, banks wouldn’t lend to us.”
Oh, wouldn’t they? Banks are still lending to Ontario and Quebec, and those provinces’ finances may as well have been managed by untutored chimps for the past decade.
They’re still lending to Greece, for crying out loud. Read more…
You’ve heard about the Robocall story and trouble for the Conservatives all day. We broke the story on Sun News regarding a man that some Conservatives are pointing to. The stories from Kris Sims in Ottawa and Tanara MacLean are below.
Fake election calls tied to Tories rile opposition
Feds investigate Guelph staffer in fake calls debacle: Sources
by Kris Sims
OTTAWA - The Conservatives are investigating a party staffer who worked on the campaign in Guelph, Ont., after reports connected the party to an Edmonton phone-dialing company that made fake phone calls directing voters to non-existent polling stations during the last federal election, two senior sources tell QMI Agency.
Michael Sona was the Tory who took issue with a special ballot box that was set up by students at the University of Guelph prior to the official election day, saying the polling was illegitimate.
Elections Canada eventually allowed the student votes to be counted, but cautioned against impromptu votes in the future.
Sona is currently working as an executive assistant in the Parliament Hill office of MP Eve Adams and did not return requests to speak with QMI.
An unmarked business is seen at #5-9353-50 St., in Edmonton on February 23, 2012. The address matches the company listing for RackNine. RackNine is now involved with Elections Canada, which made a connection regarding robocalls. TOM BRAID/QMI AGENCY
‘Robocall’ company wants culprit caught, charged
Tanara MacLean
EDMONTON — The CEO of an Edmonton call centre used to send out bogus “robocalls” during the last federal election wants the perpetrator caught and charged.
“We are committed to ensuring that those who misused our services will face the full penalty of law, and will continue to work proactively with Elections Canada and all law enforcement agencies to help identify the culprits,” Racknine CEO Matt Meier said.
The national political world was aflutter Thursday as news broke that Elections Canada is investigating after numerous Guelph, Ont., residents complained about receiving calls on election day in an apparent effort to prevent Liberal voters from casting a ballot.
I give the Conservative Party a hard time for spending too much and generally not being conservative enough.
In some ways that is true but have they delivered in other ways?
For 2011, especially since getting their majority, the answer is yes.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has put out his own list of accomplishments for the year that just ended but here are a few of the key conservative minded actions that spring to mind for me.
Ending political welfare. The per-vote subsidy that made political parties lazy and unresponsive to the voters of this country and insulated them from angering their core supporters will be gone by 2015-2016. Legislation ending the subsidy has already passed but the parties are slowly being weaned off the money and will get smaller amounts each year until the subsidy is gone.
They saw the light of common sense and released the names of those on their wanted list of suspected foreign war criminals. These were people that officials admitted should not be in the country, had been ordered out but that were still in Canada. At first officials would only admit there was a list of suspected war criminals but not say who they were. After much pressure, common sense won the day.
Ending the insane rules that would see farmers from certain provinces jailed for daring to sell their wheat to the customer of their choice. The Canadian Wheat Board still exists for those that want to use its centralized system. For those that want freedom, they now have that choice.
While much attention has been paid to Bill C-10, the omnibus crime bill, the government has passed C-2 (the mega-trials bill), this bill will make it easier to conduct the mega-trials now associated with organized crime without infringing on the right to a fair trial.
While the bill to end the gun registry has not been passed yet, it has been introduced and will pass early this year.
Immigration. On this file the Conservatives continue to push for ever higher numbers of newcomers while keeping those skeptical of high immigration onside by cracking down on fraud, cleaning up the system and putting Canada first.
Another thought for those, often myself included, that like to say this government is not conservative enough. Imagine what Canada would be like if they were not here:
A government run daycare system infringing on provincial and parental rights.
The Court Challenges Program would still exist paying for left-wing activists to take the government to court and use the courts to accomplish the social change Parliament would reject.
Based on what the opposition parties have called for over the last three years we would have a 45-day work year where after just 45 days of full-time work you could collect EI for a full year. If you think the deficit is high now, just imagine what it would have been like otherwise.
And while I complain about spending by this government on a regular basis, the opposition parties, had they been in charge would have spent more, more, more. How do I know this? They told me so.
It has been an interesting year for conservatism in Canada.
We saw the federal Conservatives win a majority government in May, a feat we were told could not happen.
Even some in the Conservative Party were honestly predicting a minority on election day.
At the provincial level we saw the Progressive Conservatives snatch defeat from the jaws of victory in Manitoba and Ontario, the conservative-minded Saskatchewan Party win re-election in November and a changing of the guard in terms of leadership in Alberta where Allison Redford took over and Kathy Dunderdale served out her year as PC Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, even winning re-election.
Perhaps no man though was more of a lightening rod for liberal criticism than Toronto Mayor Rob Ford.
Ford is the man from the suburbs we were told would never win in left-wing Toronto. But he did that in November 2010 and then spent most of 2011 being attacked for his views on privatizing government services, closing down libraries and at times it seemed he was attacked just for his very existence.
Ford is in a long running feud with the Toronto Star, which only makes him more likeable in my eyes.
During the debate on library closings Ford and his brother Doug, a city councillor himself, were both criticized by Margaret Atwood. Well that just puts him in good company with Sun News. Atwood complained about our very existence and promoted a petition to have us blocked before we even got to air.
But what is really important about Ford is that he has won in Toronto while speaking plainly and actually advocating conservative principles.
He wants lower spending, lower taxes, he actually advocates privatizing some government services.
Ford is consciously anti-establishment.
Compare what he advocates to what establishment conservatives always claim, be they in Toronto or elsewhere.
They will claim that to win in the cities you’ve got to advocate more government spending, not be controversial, that you sell out your principles, that in essence you become a liberal. A progressive.
Being lukewarm didn’t work out too well for Ontario’s Tim Hudak or for Manitoba’s Hugh MacFadyen.
Rob Ford has proven that there is an appetite for smaller government, even in Canada’s biggest city and that you don’t have to pretend to be something you are not in order to win.
The chattering classes keep saying he’s unpopular and that he shouldn’t be listened to but then again, they predicted he wouldn’t win anyway.
Conservative minded Canadians should be watching and learning from Ford. From his election win to his first year in office to see how it can be done.
The Conservatives recently congratulated the Communist Party of China on their 90th anniversary. Mao Zedong was the party's murderous leader for many years.
I’ve heard of fiscal conservatives, defence conservatives, social conservative but never communist conservatives.
Not even commie loving conservatives.
It appears though that Conservative Party President John Walsh may belong to the later, formerly unknown, category.
Walsh is quoted in the Chinese press as sending warm wishes to the Chinese Communist Party as they celebrate their 90th anniversary. Unless it is all lost in the translation. Walsh better hope that’s the case or he’ll have some real explaining to do.
Here’s the headline, translated from Chinese
Some foreign leaders, parties congratulate the 90th anniversary of founding of the Chinese Communist Party.
Here is what the paper, through Google translate, quotes Walsh as saying.
“Canada’s Conservative Party National Committee Chairman Walsh said in a congratulatory letter: “July 1, 2011 the 90th anniversary of founding the Chinese Communist Party, Conservative Party of Canada willing to work with political parties around the world to work together to celebrate and witness this important special significance time, we appreciate the Chinese Communist Party and the Conservative Party of Canada is committed to developing positive relationships, and look forward to the future relations between the two parties has been growing.”
I know plenty of Tories yucked it up when we pointed out during the election that Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff paraphrased Mao, the murderer of millions of people.
I think it’s actually worse for a national party president, one affiliated with the government to congratulate an oppressive regime on the founding of their party 90 years ago.
The Communist Party of China, through its revolution and its policies, is responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of Chinese citizens. Some were killed due to their politics, some in prison camps for counter-revolutionaries and millions of others just starved. That doesn’t even count the millions of girls aborted or strangled upon birth due to the combination of China’s one child policy and the culture’s preference for boys.
Perhaps Walsh thought he would gain the support of Chinese-Canadians. Perhaps he didn’t think.
Whatever it is, something isn’t right here.
Walsh, and the Conservative Party, have some explaining to do.
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