Sounds... like a "bully"...

"I'm the leader, and I don't want any more indiscipline..."

I can't believe Dion actually said this. I can still remember the shouts of "bully" whenever Harper had the audacity to defend his opinion. I wonder how Dion rationalizes these comments in light of previous comments.

The emperor has no clothes, he's on fire, he's lost three limbs, he's blind, and he thinks he's smarter than everyone else.

Sell-Out

That's what Harper's government just did with this cash infusion:
"Our Government is committed to the federalism of openness, an approach to federal-provincial relations that relies on respect for jurisdiction and productive collaboration to get things done for Canadians," Prime Minister Harper said.
(...)
"I want to congratulate Premier McGuinty and his Government for developing programs that will use these federal funds to strengthen the Ontario economy, improve public safety, and expand the public transit system," said Prime Minister Harper.

Tell me again where "public transit" and the "Ontario economy" falls again in the BNA act of 1867? Definitely not in the federal government's jurisdiction that's for damn sure. It's definitely not in line with Harper's "federalism of openness" that relies on the principle of "respect for jurisdiction" - not that McGuilty's Fiberals care about jurisdiction anyway.

A good chunk of this cash is being used on Liberal state funded make work projects under the guise of funding for "public transit." If they really wanted to solve the public transit problem they would privatize the 401 so they could start charging tolls and reduce the congestion caused by people that don't need to be on the road but chose so anyways because it's "free".

Now that's more in line with "conservative" principles of individual responsibility when it comes to public transit.

This is a sell out plain and simple.

Deficit Anyone?

With the Senate set to review whether or not they will pass a private member's bill that would effectively put the federal government into a deficit situation, the genius Hervieux-Payette had this to say:
"You'd think they could be humble enough to admit they went overboard,'' Hervieux-Payette said of the Tories.

The Tories according to Hervieux went "overboard" in characterising the Senate as "Lazy", "incompetent", and "partisan."

I disagree. I think they didn't go far enough. The Senate is irresponsible, irrevelant, and corrupt. The institution has not bothered to be a place of "sober second thought" in over a generation as far as I'm concerned. It's unelected, unaccountable, and not in line with the Canadian principle of Responsible Government which is what this Country was founded on.

Canadians have gone from wanting the Senate to be reformed, to many wanting it abolished.

It's the Senate and it's Liberal puppet master that should show some humility. Canadians will not be forgiving if they force Canada into a deficit over a purely partisan issue.

It's also important to note that this private member's bill made it through the house of commons in a Conservative parliament. I wouldn't doubt that this was due to new rules that this Government either implemented to deal with private member's bills or oversaw.

Either way, it's a far cry from the cynical suggestions of some that power is becoming more concentrated in the PMO than when the Liberals were in power.

PS - I dont' know what possessed Liberal MP Dan McTeague to author such a bill. He is usually a reasonable guy from what I've seen of him. Somehow I don't think he ever thought this bill would get this far.

To the Courts!

I've always been the first one to say that the first guy to sue in politics is the first guy to run out of arguments... I guess now I have to eat my own words:
Mr. Harper filed a notice of libel suit Monday against Mr. Dion, two other top members of his caucus and the party. Court documents obtained by CTV and The Globe and Mail say two articles published on the Liberal website were “devastatingly defamatory” to the Prime Minister.

This Cadman circus is a joke. It's only intent is to stir up controversy - because scandals are great for the media. People buy more papers. People watch more news. People will buy that damn "Like A Rock" book now for sure.

In the end the facts are that Cadman said himself before he died that "no offer was made"... ie no bribes by either side.

His wife's comments must be interpreted in that light. There's no rhyme or reason for Chuck Cadman to lie to the public over any of this, and surely no reason to lie to his wife. It's a high probability that an insurance policy offer was made, but it's likely it wasn't made by someone acting on an official capacity by the Conservative Party of Canada, and even more likely it wasn't never serious. That's the only way to reconcile the facts. But hey who cares about the facts anyways!

Scandal! Scandal! Scandal! Sex-er-I mean Scandal!

Bottom line about the suing - this is bogus. It's only intent is to Shut up Dion on this point. The Liberal Party was stupid enough to repeat the comments they are legally capable of making in Parliament outside of parliament.

That's something the Liberals for years dreamed of catching a Conservative doing. They would never have flinched to do the same. And I'm sure some officials in the Conservative Party are justifying this move on that premise.

The problem is just 'cause the other would do it if the tables were reversed, don't make it any righter.