Marlene Jennings looks foolish yet again

I chatted with marlene jennings at the Tory convention briefly. I told her that I have been trying to get my mother to stop voting for her in NDG for years. She replied my mom has good taste. We laughed together and went our separate ways.
Apparently Jennings was upset about access problems at the cnvention. Perhaps she should see the log that is the grit problem before complaining about the Tory mote.

"My frustration at being kept out of these meetings is nothing compared to what Conservatives across Canada must be feeling," said Ms. Jennings. "Party members who can't afford to be delegates have no idea what is happening at their own convention.
"Liberals have never run such a closed show and never will," she said.

Note that last line. "Liberals have never run such a closed show and never will."

Hmmm. Two days later leadership hopeful Bob Rae stalked off from a candidate forum in Mississauga because it was not open to the public. Michael Ignatieff, who stayed, said he saw nothing wrong with candidates discussing issues "free from prying eyes."

Wait a minute! Didn't Marlene Jennings say a situation like this would never happen?

Intrigued, we offered her the chance to comment, via phone and e-mail. She hasn't had time to get back to us yet.

The Montreal Grand Prix

I am not a big race fan. The one time I attended the race I got a bad headache and left. I must say the Grand Prix has been very generous in contributing to a charity I am involved with. I was very troubled by the millions being spent to satisfy Ecclestone. I am glad this will not be the case. It is great for tourism, but it is hard to justify spending yet another $175 million of public money on a car race.

Politicians were wise to let the Grand Prix go
The Gazette
Published: 4 hours ago
Some people complained about the air pollution and the engine noise, but most Montrealers really liked the Grand Prix, we believe. Besides the extra money injected like so much high-octane fuel into the local economy, there was the undeniable glamour of it all. Cynics grumbled about "Eurotrash" but the allure of the event, even for those who don't know a Ferrari from a Freightliner, was obvious.
And now it's gone. Mayor Gérald Tremblay, along with federal and provincial officials, did the only thing they could responsibly do, turning down an "unreasonable" demand for $175 million in subsidies over five years, plus certain advertising revenue worth up to $20 million a year. Unreasonable seems too mild a word.
That demand came from Bernie Ecclestone, the CEO of Formula One racing and Public Enemy Number One in Montreal today. That's not quite a fair reaction, we think. We agree with the mayor that Ecclestone's counter-offer was unreasonable, but F1 is his toy, and he can bring it over to our house or not, as he sees fit. He has deprived us of a fine party but he's within his rights to do so.

The grits and the smear

The National Post takes Iggy to task for his runaway smears against HM PM Harper and the Tories. It is interesting they mention the grit smears against Stockwell Day. The anti Evangelical bigot( and ageing spin doctor) Kinsella was the architect of those smears and is now on board with iggy. I guess we see Kinsella is at it again. Except this time Warren, your party has no money to try and propagate your vile vitriol. The Tories have learned from your viscious attacks on Stockwell Day's faith. There is much that can and will be said about iggy. Iggy suddenly decided that all his writings until last year were wrong. He is intellectually dishonest. he hasn't bothered living in Canada for many, many years. That is just the beginning. Now he is making outright smears against the Tories. I hope you heard Irving Gerstein in Wiinipeg. The Tories are very solvent. The Tories will not let iggy or any grit get away with smears. Shame on you iggy. Kinsella of course has no shame.


Ignatieff takes the low road
National Post
Published: Friday, November 14, 2008


It's a desperate-seeming strategy, even if certain tired elements within the Liberal party -- ageing spin doctors seeking to recapture their glory days of smearing Stockwell Day -- haven't gotten tired of it. Why, one wonders, is Mr. Ignatieff taking tactical cues from the Adscam-era demagogues who gave his party such a bad name in the first place?

Canadians have had more than two years to form their opinion of the Harper Conservatives, based on their performance rather than the overheated accusations of their opponents. Voters rendered their verdict last month, returning the government with an increased mandate while docking the Liberals 19 seats.

Mr. Ignatieff would be wise to learn from that. The challenge for the Liberals is internal, in particular the party's inability to connect with Canadians and formulate policies that reflect their concerns. It is a party sadly lacking in innovation, energy and bright ideas. Mr. Ignateiff's task, should he become leader, will be to remedy that, while simultaneously repairing the party's perilous financial state.

Slagging the Tories as a bunch of lying racists serves no purpose, and is an insult to all Canadians. If this is the kind of campaign that Mr. Ignatieff has in mind, all we can say is: Advantage, Bob Rae.

Good, but not good enough!

Though I would have been happier with a much longer sentence, but 4 years is more than I expected from our criminal loving judges. The Crown should have asked for a longer sentence. he will be able to serve this sentence in a provincial jail perhaps only on weekends. Given he has double credit for his 19 months in prison, this bomber will still be out soon. His lawyers wanted a sentence in the community. We should also get rid of this double counting for time served before trial.
This was a jihadi plot in support of the Toronto jihadis. There was no need for hate crime legislation here. The statute allowed for a longer sentence without the hate crime label.

Montreal firebomber gets four years for ‘terrorism’
Sue Montgomery, Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, November 17, 2008
MONTREAL -- Azim Ibragimov wasn't charged with terrorism, but that's what a Quebec Court judge called his crimes of firebombing a Montreal Jewish school and community centre.

In a judgment applauded by B'nai Brith and the Canadian Jewish Congress, Quebec Court Judge Gilles Cadieux sentenced Ibragimov Monday to four years in prison, and three years' probation.

The maximum sentence is 14 years.

Joseph Gabay, vice-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said the community was so traumatized by the attacks in 2006 and 2007 that some parents withdrew their children from the attacked school, Skver-Toldos Orthodox Jewish Boys School.

Marois has a death wish for her party?

Pauline Marois seems to have taken leave of her senes. She is proud of having removed thousands and doctors from the health care system , while health minister. Indeed she said she would do it again. Charest was smiling today. At the convention I spoke to many of the Quebec delegates. many of them beliee duceppe will jump to the PQ after a Maois defeat. That is looking more and more likely. Duceppe is the Bloq's major strength, so I wonder how the Bloq will do without him.

Marois comment on health care propels Charest into better mood
'Unanimous in Quebec' that retiring nurses and doctors was an error, Liberal leader says
WILLIAM MARSDEN, The Gazette
Published: 15 hours ago
Looking exhausted after a string of flight delays caused by bad weather, Premier Jean Charest suddenly regained his humour and fighting spirit yesterday after hearing that PQ leader Pauline Marois told The Gazette she had no regrets about retiring thousands of medical staff in the late 1990s, causing vast shortages of doctors and nurses.
"I couldn't believe my ears when I heard what she had said," he told an impromptu press conference gathered outside his campaign bus.
"Nobody for a second today believes that it was the right decision. We still today live with the consequences of the retirement packages of doctors, nurses and technicians."

He then repeated his stump line that "it takes 10 minutes to retire a doctor and 10 years to train another specialist."
He said "there are a lot of Quebecers who are falling off their chairs today on hearing Pauline Marois say that she has no regrets and would do it all again. I think everybody will be shocked."
"If Madame Marois thinks that what she did was a good decision there is good reason to be uneasy about what she would do if she were premier."
He added that "it is unanimous in Quebec and everywhere else outside Quebec that what she did at the end of the 1990s was a huge error."
In the late 1990s, Marois retired 1,500 doctors, 4,500 nurses and many other health professionals.
With health care becoming the dominant issue in the campaign, Charest has been quick to lay the blame for long hospital waits as well as a shortage of family doctors squarely on Marois's shoulders.

Tara Singh Hayer a Canadian Martyr

As someone who lost friends on Air India Flight 182, I want to salute a brave man who tried to bring justice for the 329 murdered Canadians on that flight. May you RIP Tara Singh Hayer. You are a hero. Your family and all Canadians should be proud of you. Were that our politicians be as honourable.
Could Hayer’s assassination have been prevented? In Loss of Faith, Bolan suggests the answer may be yes. Following the first attempt on his life, the RCMP ignored or bungled the numerous clues suggesting the hit was part of a larger conspiracy. Moreover, Bolan notes darkly, penetrating radical Sikh organizations brought the police up “against powerful people with connections to the highest political levels in Canada.”

What Bolan means is that Hayer wasn’t just a stick in the craw of Canada’s radical Sikhs, but also the slew of cynical politicians who rubbed elbows with all factions of the Sikh community in the sleazy game of ethnopolitics. In December, 1998, just a month after Hayer’s funeral, none other than Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appeared at a fundraising dinner attended by Ripudaman Singh Malik and various other Flight 182 suspects. In recent years, Liberal leadership contenders have been encouraged to make the rounds of the country’s less reputable Gurdwaras in search of warm bodies to bring to conventions. Even as recently as 2007, B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell, Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts and assorted other politicians attended an openly Khalistani Sikh parade whose participants included well-known alumni of notorious Air-India-era radical groups.

This sort of event is not only a disgrace to Canadian values, but also to the memory of Tara Singh Hayer. A Canadian patriot, he died in the fight against terror and radicalism. Not many of us would be prepared to make that kind of sacrifice. But surely we can at least avoid shaking hands with his enemies.

Taxes on the" Wealthy"

An interesting article about tax burden on the so called wealthy. The gap between the US and Canada on taxes should get better with obamessiah in power in the US and a relatively conservative government in Canada. I still say lets have a flat tax! Cutting taxes will stimulate the economy. Its a better idea than giving huge loans to failing businesses.


Wealthy taxed more in Canada than U.S.
Eric Beauchesne , Canwest News Service
Published: Monday, November 17, 2008
OTTAWA - Upper-income Canadians are more heavily taxed than upper-income Americans, but not as heavily as most of their European counterparts, according to an international tax report.

For example, a Canadian earning the equivalent of $100,000 US would pay $28,780 US in federal and provincial income taxes on those earnings - $1,800 US more than the $26,980 US an American would pay, but less than the $29,070 US a British taxpayer would pay, and the $35,700 US a German would pay, said the report Monday by consulting and accounting firm KPMG.

"In other words, depending on the U.S.-Canadian exchange rate, the survey indicates that an individual will pay about $34,000 Cdn in tax on about $118,000 Cdn in income," it said.
Of 72 countries compared, Canada ranks 30th from the top, with a tax burden at that income level that is lower than in European countries but higher than in the U.S., the report said.

The survey, which focuses on the highest rates of tax payable, found that though those rates are similar among many countries, the level of income at which the top rate kicks in varies widely, ranging from a low of about $6,000 US in India to almost $700,000 US in Switzerland.

Chicken scratch

This is true of many doctors including me. I now try and print my prescriptions. Electronic solutions are coming.

Indian court raps doctor for bad handwriting: reports
Sat Nov 15, 6:32 PM

MUMBAI (AFP) - An Indian doctor has sworn a legal undertaking that she will improve her handwriting after judges complained that they could not read her spidery scrawl, media here said Saturday.
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The radiologist from Thane, in the greater Mumbai area, had been asked to file a report in the case of a man who claimed that his underage daughter had been forced into marriage by a neighbour.