"Voter Suppression Is The Cost Of A Balanced Budget" -Blogging Tories

A "strong stable national majority conservative government"
brought to you by Voter Suppression!

When thousands of Canadians from all across the country get phone calls deliberately misleading them to believe that the location of their polling stations for the election has changed, I get rather concerned.

When constituents of Liberal MP Irwin Cotler's riding get misleading phone calls - at the behest of the Conservative Party of Canada - attempting to convince them that he will retire shortly I get rather concerned.

When there are widespread reports in hotly disputed ridings between Liberals and Conservatives that so-called 'Liberal volunteers' are harassing constituents late in the evening, I get rather concerned.

When Conservative staffer Michael Sona tries to grab a ballot box when students at the University of Guelph are standing in line waiting to vote, I get rather concerned.

Could it be just one overzealous campaign staffer that just snapped and went over the line? Hardly. We're talking about at the very least 14 ridings across Canada. That means at least 14 voter lists with phone numbers as well as geographical knowledge of locations to divert voters.

This kind of voter suppression alarms Canadians. However, there is one breed of Canadians that aren't all that concerned about this: the Blogging Tories!

A CAW Worker's Voice Of Reason informs his readers that he also received a phone call informing him that he was directed to the wrong polling station location "If any member of the media wishes to do a story on this phone call and the possibility the Liberals or NDP may have been involved, feel free to give me a call. In the meantime, I won't hold my breath."

To which I answer: I hope you wrote down the number and reported it. Or maybe it's better for the Conservative Party of Canada if you didn't do that. Because while the deception seems to be a concerted effort by the CPC, no one is claiming it to be smart and ably directed.

Sandy Crux at "Crux of the Matter" tells us this is all to drown out the accomplishments of the Conservatives. I shit you not! The Conservatives will balance the budget by 2014/2015, she says. So what's a little bit of election fraud along the way?

Over at the Halls of Macadamia, our resident crank and crazy kook comments "I guess rainbows & unicorns farting sunshine just weren't getting the job done." under the title "Let Them Eat Hypocrisy".

While Jack Layton wished that this session of parliament contain a more civil discourse, it takes two to tango. More importantly, Jack Layton never suggested that the NDP would be the CPC's cheerleader. That isn't what an Opposition Party does. No, we'll let the cheerleading of a shady political outfit in the hands of the Blogging Tories. No one does it better!

And what say you, BC Blue? "...there’s no way you can convince me that the massive media pile-on and in-depth detail isn’t only being done because it’s about the Conservatives"

This piling-on is essentially every media organization reporting the many emerging stories of widespread voter suppression. What was previously believed to be a few calls made in error turned out to be thousands done deliberately in the goal of suppressing voter turnout. We must be missing important stories such as Tony Clement's Snowman Cupcake at the Huntsville Mall (How appropriate is it that the picture contains a store that is out of business behind a smiling Tony Clement?). So forgive the media for trying to play catch-up to figure out just how large the scope of this scandal really is.

However, my list wouldn't be complete if I didn't list the blogging effort of one Deb Simms who states about voter suppression: "Don’t do it. Don’t even think about doing it. If this is how your mind works, no political party can afford to have you hanging around. Democracy is a serious business. We don’t clown around with the vote."

Fret not Blogging Tories, she's only been blogging a short period of time. She'll fall in line eventually.

Environmental Groups? Yeah, Vic Toews Hates Them Too

He's got a lot of love to give, just not for environmentalists

"Terrorist action occurs when an extremist ideological group plans to carry out a violent attack that reasonably can be expected to kill people or destroy property," (italics mine) said Michael Patton, Vic Toews' communication director in an email to the Globe and Mail.

And this is where the overreach begins.

When Canadians think of Greenpeace Canada, they don't think of them like CSIS, the RCMP or Vic Toews do. They don't see them as 'extremists' and 'radicals'. So why the harsh language? Is it just for show?

Consider the Canadian Anti-Terrorism Act. If you commit an 'act of terror', you are subject to it. Specifically, it allows for the designation of a group as a terrorist organization and that means once you're a terrorist group. Once your group gets that designation, it is a crime to:

1. Knowingly collect or provide funds, either directly or indirectly, in order to carry out terrorist crimes.
2. Knowingly participate in, contribute to or facilitate the activities of a terrorist group.

So let's go back to to the original quote that a terrorist act can simply consist of an ideological group destroying property. What exactly is meant here? Burning down entire buildings or monkey wrenching? The latter describes acts like sabotage to machinery, jamming locks with glue and other acts that are destructive but non-violent. I think that a judge would, hopefully, rule that this isn't in keeping with the spirit in which the law was written. I would hope that life in prison, as is the fate of Momin Khawaja, should not befall someone who has put sugar in the gas tank of a Shell tanker truck or donated money to an environmental group that has done so.

But is this an excuse to target these groups? This isn't an isolated quote from the Harper Government. 

The groups that have been targeted by this government have never advocated violence. In Canada, our environmental groups are dedicated to raising awareness, lobbying, research and a fraction of them commit acts of civil disobedience. There's nothing 'radical' or 'extreme' about them.

I'd argue that it's unfair to lump even the foreign environmental groups that have committed destructive acts - namely arson - with violent killers.

When there's an oil spill, energy companies pay a fine and move on. When they don't follow environmental standards and laws, they also just pay a fine and move on. Communities suffer, aquifers are contaminated and animals die but CEOs aren't sent to jail for any of this. 

With all this in mind, I recommend you check out the documentary "If A Tree Falls" on CBC Sunday at 10pm. It deals with the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and what led to some very ordinary people to take part in a lot of property destruction. Spoiler alert: the desire to crackdown on environmental groups, limit debate and speed-up the regulatory process is a bad idea.

Here's a preview:

The Curse Of The Rented Pandas

A "strong mandate" to bankrupt Canadian zoos.

For a species that is world-renowned for their lack of sexual appetite, Canada is going to find out what other nations have discovered already: pandas love to screw with your budget.

"If we can't renegotiate, they absolutely will go back," said Dennis W. Kelly, the former chief executive of Zoo Atlanta and current Director of the National Zoo in a story with the New York Times in 2006.

The financial details of the 10-year Canadian panda lease were, in typical Conservative fashion, not released to the public but its outline is similar to the American deal:

...zoos lease each pair for $1 million a year. If cubs are born, the annual fee increases by an average of $600,000. In addition, each zoo has agreed to pay another million or so each year to finance research and conservation projects...

Throw-in a yearly $200,000 all-vegetarian diet and a four person entourage and you've got an expensive pair of animals.

The zoos are expected to pay for all this and "fully recover the costs from new sponsorship and an estimated one million or more additional visitors each year when the pandas arrive" according to Postmedia.

History suggests otherwise.

It's not only the American zoos that have had trouble remaining in the black with the arrival of new pandas, Australia required government subsidies to keep the Adelaide Zoo open to the tune of $2 million. And whatever millions in corporate sponsorship the American zoos got from FedEx, Fujifilm, Home Depot and UPS just didn't cover the costs. While Zoo Atlanta's current financial situation hasn't been reported, it's very likely that any zoo that agrees to partner with Groupon or have a Donate Bamboo section on their website isn't in the most secure of financial footing.

What about the throngs of panda fanatics that will snap up those expensive zoo tickets to witness these lovable pandas?

"Year three is your break-even year. After that, attendance drops off, and you start losing vast amounts of money. There is a resurgence in attendance when babies are born," says Chuck Brady, the chief executive of the Memphis Zoo. Of course, if your pandas don't breed, how likely is it that the federal government will step-in to cover the 'unexpected additional costs of the pandas'?

So for Stephen Harper to bask in the glow of successful financial deals he never negotiated, here's something he could have done: worked out a financial deal for pandas that won't break the backs of the Toronto and Calgary zoos.

Of course, this was always more about optics than it was about benefits to Canadians...



But Canadians aren't supposed to think about the details: we have cute pandas! Never mind the 300 Tibetan monks that were seized and detained by Chinese authorities in April 2011 to protest ever-growing repression in the region. I'm sure enforced "legal education" isn't as bad as it sounds. Nor should you think about the more frequent self-immolations by Tibetan monks that are occurring in the area as well.

However, if you believe that poorly researched and hastily negotiated panda deals are endemic of the overall Conservative credo of political improvisation and ineptitude as evidenced by the "evolving" F-35 jet plane debacle, the "snoop and spy" bill, fake immigrants for Sun News and self-induced confusion over Old Age Security, you may be rather irritated by the Harper Government.

So next time a pundit tries to describe the Conservative Party of Canada as being politically savvy, I expect most Canadians to repeat what every frustrated zookeeper has said to the male panda as he pointed to its female counterpart: FUCK THAT!

Federal Government Cuts: Julian Fantino Replaced By Tape Recorder

Fantino had to relinquish his Canadian pin and gave it to the tape recorder

A cassette tape recorder - technology 30 years old - has made Conservative MP Julian Fantino's job redundant.

"There's just no point in having him around when we have a tape recorder available. The Canadian taxpayer saves over $157,000 per year and the Conservative Party of Canada renews its commitment to remaining on message," Treasury Board President Tony Clement told reporters as the first wave of government cuts were made. The announcement was met with grim acceptance by his Conservative colleagues who all saw the move coming.

"It's a disappointment to see a fellow Conservative replaced by a tape recorder but we just needed its consistency and reliability and Julian Fantino just wasn't able to provide this for his constituents," said Minister of Human Resources and Skills Development Diane Finley.

Julian Fantino's short but memorable stint in federal politics was marked by erratic and puzzling behaviour that  doomed his political career early on. Despite his failure to show up to election debates within his own riding, he was narrowly elected in a by-election in 2010.

It isn't without irony that Julian Fantino's federal politics career will best remembered for the following words:

I think they [the Liberals] intended to hurt my campaign. The things they said ... a lot of them were absolute lies. They keep repeating [them]. I call it the Hitler Theory. You tell a lie often enough you hope that some people will believe it.

Of course, repetition of dubious facts was exactly what he was called on to do. He's repeated variations of this sentence 8 times since December 13th, 2011.

Canada's participation in the development of the F-35, along with our closest allies, ensures that the Canadian Forces will have the best equipment to achieve mission success.

It seemed that his ability to take his cues from talking points was, in his own words, "on track" to make him a star in the Conservative Party. But the pressure of reading the same thing day after day proved too much for the MP for Vaughan who ended up calling the purchase of the F-35 jets boondoggle a "holy and decent" effort from the government. Calling the purchase "holy" was the clear sign of his breakdown.

The duty to record the talking points and play them during Question Period in Parliament will fall on Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay who was rumoured to be against the move towards the switch to the tape recorder.

"It's true that I privately lobbied for some time with the Prime Minister for a parrot instead of a tape recorder. I thought that while it would be a larger initial investment over a tape recorder, it would serve a dual purpose as a pet. Also, I had concerns about the tape recorder malfunctioning in Question Period. This could result in a Fantino-sized disaster," said Peter MacKay.

It has been suggested that Prime Minister Stephen Harper chose the tape recorder over the parrot due to concerns that Justin Trudeau would go full-pirate in the House of Commons and get the parrot to divulge information outside of the traditional talking points. This was too big of a risk for the Prime Minister.

While some may feel sorry for Julian Fantino, rest assured that his public pension of over $118,000 per year will cushion the blow.

When reached for comment regarding his dismissal, Fantino was still in shock at the news and simply said "The F-35 is a plane for now and for decades to come. Our plan is on track and we will continue to work with our allies on this plan."

Vic Toews And The Fruits Of A Poisonous Tree

It may save lives so it's ethical and hence why we call it "Ethical Torture"

I really wanted to blog about heart disease champion Leona Aglukkaq deciding that reducing the amounts of trans fats in the Canadian food supply - which increase the risk of coronary heart disease more than any other macronutrient - was out of the question.

Heart disease is only the second leading cause of death of Canadians. She won't be satisfied until it surpasses cancer and Aglukkaq doesn't seem to care that heart disease is 1.5 times higher within the Inuit community.

But no, this is about Vic Toews and the decision by the Harper Government™ that CSIS may use intelligence derived from torture.

Sure, he muttered all the traditional arguments that this would be only in 'exceptional circumstances' and that we can't ignore threats when 'Canadian lives and property are at stake'. This all seems really sensible and reasonable until you realize that the scenarios from which this can be beneficial don't exist but the dangers of relying on information derived from torture are very real.

Much of the parliamentarians have argued against this policy decision based on its legality. I'm going to attempt to explain the philosophy behind it.

To begin, I'd point everyone to the Creekside blog and the very necessary point that torture has never proven to yield any intelligence that has protected America from a terrorist attack. But I'll take a different angle on the matter and assume that intelligence can be gleaned from it.

The reason governments shouldn't rely on information derived from torture because it is ipso facto fruit of a poisonous tree.

That is to say, the tree is tainted and consequently the fruit is tainted as well. We know torture to be evil so the results that originate from it are just as toxic. If Canada accepts information derived from torture, it loses its credibility if it were to condemn the practice. And if you can't condemn torture without everyone charging you with hypocrisy, any claim of supporting human rights is tainted. It can only be said that you support human rights when it suits you. You simply can't condemn a regime that tortures people if, as a country, you find some of the information that other torturers provide as valuable.

Canada is now saying torture is not OK unless it yields good results. The only way to find out if the results are "worth it" is by torturing those you believe possess key information. This utilitarian philosophy is used in justifying some of the worst atrocities known to man. In its inception, I'm sure the Khmer Rouge torture of suspected spies was borne out of noble intentions. They were trying to root out the subversive elements within society that could potentially create violence. Seems reasonable enough, no?

However, if allied countries were to torture people, we'd be forced to ignore it. We can't condemn something when we tacitly approve of its results. And if other countries take Canada's example and look the other way when regimes are committing acts of torture, there will be no repercussions for those governments; no consequences could be imposed on them.

After that comes the utilitarian argument pointing out that if this intelligence will be used to save 500 Canadian lives, will it then be ignored when it will save only 5 lives? How come? Why only 'exceptional circumstances'? If the information is useful to save Canadian lives, why are we using it so sparingly? After all, Dick Cheney notes that 'enhanced interrogation techniques' are "safe, legal and effective".

The next logical step is: why isn't Canada using these methods to protect its citizens instead of depending on other regimes to protect us? If we gladly accept the "benefits", why continue with the charade suggesting that we aren't complicit in all of this and simply expand the practice domestically?

This logic leads down a slippery slope and forces you to take a stand: you do not eat fruits of a poisonous tree. But with the Harper Government™, it seems Canada is willing to look the other way when it comes to torture.

So much for John Baird's affirmation of "no more going along to get along."

Twitter Wars: Ditchburn vs Levant

Pictured: Ditchburn (left) and Levant (right)

Who knew Canadian Media Twitter Wars could be fun? Who knew that was even a thing?!

Well it is. And it's spectacular!

Let me set the scene. Jennifer Ditchburn, who works for the Canadian Press, writes a story about government bureaucrats posing as new Canadians for an Oath of Citizenship ceremony. There are some compelling questions that remain unanswered as to the media practices at Sun News and the level of compliance that the government will go to accommodate the media, especially Sun News whose VP is the former director of communications for Stephen Harper.

Consequently, Sun News sends out professional troll Ezra Levant to defend the "honour" of the network.



The attack on Jennifer Ditchburn in Ezra Levant's bizzaro world are these:

1. Ditchburn appears on a CBC political panel show and therefore is employed by the CBC. The CBC is somehow a de facto villain and this eliminates all her credibilty.
2. He babbles about her Access To Information (ATI) request. This is the not-so-interesting part...
3. Rambles on and on about the CBC until he says "government and media don't mix". Oh my...

Primo, Ditchburn is as much an "employee" of the CBC as she is of CTV and Global. She's appeared on CTV's "Question Period" and Global's "The West Block". Secondo, it's a newsworthy ATI request to find out about ties between the media and government but Levant's segue into the CBC's refusal to divulges personal financial information is a non sequitur. Terzo, tell Kory Teneycke, Krista Erickson or Brian Lilley that "government and media don't mix".

Then comes Sun News's David Akin on his blog implying that Ditchburn should have known the Sun News producer in charge of the segment through the ATI documents despite the fact that the name itself was redacted when attributing the quote: "Let’s do it. We can fake the Oath". So then, this exchange on twitter:

Them's fighting words, right Ezra?

Looks like Ezra is going ham here! What say you, Jennifer?

Oh snap! No collaboration with the CBC, she says. But Ezra isn't done.

"She" is Dayna Gourley. A Sun News producer now working for the CBC.

Get buck, son! Ditchburn schools that fool by pointing out that the spheres of TV news producers and that of print journalists are far apart.

By that logic, every political analyst that's ever appeared on TV is also an employee of all the networks they've appeared on? I hope Jennifer Ditchburn never appeared on Al-Jazeera English or else Levant would likely call her a terrorist.

Oh dip! Ditchburn suggests that Sun News were able to identify the news producer through the ATI request because it was common knowledge in the Sun News organization that they had staged the ceremony.

Douchecanoe keeps attacking Ditchburn's "link" to the CBC.

Dagger! An all-out salvo!

Ezra calling JD a hustler that's making bank through the CBC! Sorry Levant but that dog don't hunt as Chantal Hébert disclosed that the prestigious "At Issue" segment pays out $500 a week. It isn't bad but it won't pay the mortgage alone, will it? However, Ezra inadvertently makes a good point. What's the corporate culture like at Sun News? Has Gourley done anything similar at Global or City TV? Was there anything specific to her departure from Sun News other than better pay and benefits? Is Sun News as oppressive as its Quebec counterpart, LCN? I know I'm curious about all this.

It's been done over in Quebec through SRC's Enquête but why shouldn't the ROC find out as well?

"Let’s do it. We can fake the Oath" Sun News

Sun News Oath of Citizenship Ceremony

There's nothing quite as inspiring and patriotic as watching Canadian bureaucrats fake the Oath of Citizenship for a Sun News photo op and propaganda news segment.

It was Jason Kenney's staff that "directed departmental officials to add a last-minute citizenship ceremony at the network to their list of scheduled events".

Between the Conservative political operative Brian Lilley, venom-spewing Krista Erickson and the ex-tobacco lobbyist Ezra Levant, is there anything that Sun News can do to surprise us?

Apparently, propaganda isn't enough. Making shit up is the order of the day at the network that brands itself as "hard news and straight talk".

But it's great that Jason Kenney's staff thinks that bureaucrats should facilitate deception.

Come to think of it, I have a hard news story for Sun News that I think they'll love. They should run a story about how the government is wasting taxpayers money by having bureaucrats appear on fake news channels.