Liberal Media Getting Frustrated With Iffy Flip Flops?

It hasn't been a very good week for the liberal media in this country.  Tuesday morning the liberal media woke up to a conservative Mayor in Toronto. That's not supposed to happen you know especially in lefty latte sipping Toronto.  A couple of polls come out  with the federal Conservative party surging ahead with their dear Liberal party either dropping or stagnate.  Then you have Iffy virtually kill one of his own members bill on clamping down on Canadian mining activities in foreign countries.  Heck, he didn't even show up himself. Doesn't do much for his credibility now does it?

Rumours swirled in advance of the vote, with some reports suggesting that Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff — who has spoken out against McKay's bill — had ordered party whip Marcel Proulx to tell caucus members not to attend the contentious vote, or to stay away if they planned on voting no. However, Opposition House Leader David McGuinty said he hoped the bill would pass.
Ignatieff told reporters that while he does not support the bill, he favours its principles.
"This is a private member's bill. I've made my reservations about the bill known for months, but I think it sends a very important message about corporate social responsibility," said Ignatieff, who did not vote on McKay's bill.

 Now the  media seems frustrated with Iffy.  No one really knows where he or the party really stands on this mining bill or other issues for that matter.  So yesterday  Liberal cheerleader, Jane Taber wrote a column scolding Iffy. She rarely does that. She always bashes Conservatives so this was a real change for her. In fact The Iceman has a great post on that.

Today the Toronto Star's editorial   also not happy with Iffy.

Where exactly does Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff stand on efforts to ensure that Canada’s mining, oil and gas firms behave ethically abroad? Liberal John McKay’s private member’s bill to hold companies to a higher standard overseas was shot down in a vote in the House of Commons on Wednesday, thanks to only tepid support from McKay’s caucus colleagues. Thirteen Liberals, including Ignatieff, (who has voiced “reservations” about the bill for months) did not turn out to support it. That sealed its fate.
It also left observers scratching their heads. After the vote, Ignatieff issued a vague statement saying he “remains committed” to bolstering corporate social responsibility by adopting voluntary reforms — agreed to in 2007 — that the Tories have failed to implement fully. Industry critics, however, contend that voluntary reforms are not sufficient to prevent abuses.

Where does Iffy really stand on anything?  I think he's trying out dither Mr. Dithers, former PM Paul Martin.

So what does that tell you?  The Liberal cheerleaders are clearly frustrated.  That can't be good for Iffy. 
They had touted him as a savior of the Liberals. He was so intelligent. . He would bring Liberals back to where they so rightly belong, at the public trough.  He'd beat the crap out PM Harper.  He's not doing that. Iffy is just not making a hit with the public even after the Liberal Express Magical Bus tour and now with the open mike stuff. There is no Iffymania with all their help conjuring up all those faux scandals on the Conservatives, Iffy is not making any head way. Every time Iffy makes these stupid moves, the more Canadians see that he's not what the media had touted him to be. It's making his cheerleaders lose their credibility and look foolish even though I think they lost their credibility years ago. 

 The libluving media are singing the blues these days and if you are  a Liberal politician you don't want to disappoint your them, they can turn on you.  Their patience only lasts so long.

Rosie DiManno: Cry Me A River, Omar!

 Obviously one of the more reasonable columnists from the Toronto Star, Rosie DiManno has not much sympathy for Omar Khadr.

Omar Khadr would have been a different person with a different father.
So what? So would we all.
There’s no retroactive mercy for felons who’ve grown up with lousy parents, in deranged households, taught wickedly in the ways of the world. That defence doesn’t work for child molesters, rapists and serial killers, many of whom were subjected to horrific mental and physical abuse, scars that never fade.
I see no reason why it should be asserted as an absolving excuse for the crimes to which Khadr has now admitted — because he had the misfortune of being born into an Al Qaeda family.

She goes on to dispel some of  those excuses that the left make for "poor little Omar."   Why anyone would see Omar as an innocent little babe is beyond me especially now when he has confessed to his crimes and feels happy about killing the US soldier whenever he thinks about it. He has absolutely no remorse. That little twerp wouldn't have hesitated if it would have been a Canadian medic instead of an American. He would have thrown that grenade regardless.  How would have the left reacted?  Probably not much different.  That is sad, really sad.  In fact whether left realizes it or not, it's down right dangerous. If you think about it, they tend to coddle and protect terrorists more than innocent citizens and that folks is scary.

Kudos to Rosie DiManno, she  has it spot on:  "Cry me a river, Omar!"

The Toronto Star Must Be in Mourning

 First of all I would like to express my congratulations to the new mayor elect of Toronto. Toronto Star has had a couple of dark days since  the election of an outspoken conservative as the new mayor for the city of Toronto. As Kelly MacParland so eloquently expresses, the Star's man, Smitherman had lost so badly and the Star had woken the next morning to a dark day when they reluctantly  had to declare that Rob Ford was the new mayor, the man they worked so hard to demonize and smear.  Oh that must have been so hard to do.

Monday was a dark day for George Smitherman, who lost badly in his bid to become Toronto mayor. The next day was even darker -- for the liberal Toronto Star, which had become an unapologetic pamphleteer for Smitherman in the weeks leading to the election. On Tuesday, it had to sheepishly report how badly its own propaganda had failed.
In the unhappy recesses of Star headquarters, perplexed editors were forced to accept that the unthinkable had happened: Rob Ford had been elected mayor. The voters of Toronto, who exist in the Star's imagination as a cheerful, "progressive," multicultural group of bicycle-loving, environmentally aware supporters of mushy Canadian liberalism, had cast their votes overwhelming for a man whom Star columnists had smeared as a neanderthal.

Then Kelly calls out the two most rabid Star columnists for their attacks on Ford.  First Heather Mallick with her usual.

 Having decided that personal attacks were fair game, the Star unloaded columnist Heather Mallick on Ford. Here's what she had to say:

"Voting for Ford is like sleeping with someone to get revenge on your spouse. It seems like a good idea at closing time, which is what an election is. Last call, and you neck down your last shot of good cold vodka. 'Sure, whatever,' is what you say to everything said to you. 'I hate streetcars too!' And you leave the lounge of the Empire Hotel on the arm of some big guy. It is Oct. 26, the day after the election, and you wake in a hard, unfamiliar bed. Your eyeballs are congealed chip fat and your contact lenses have gone crispy. Your liver is en route somewhere. You appear to be missing a tooth. And there's something in bed next to you. It is the sweaty, beer-smelling oik from the bar last night."
Poor Heather must have been scraping off the chip fat with both hands Tuesday. Not only is last night's oik in her bed, but the Viagra is just kicking in.

The reaction from Mallick after the election was well expected.

Then MacParland calls out James Travers for his attacks.

Then there was Star columnist James Travers who warned that "Sudden swings that sweep away the status quo are nothing new. But as World War II reminds, the results are often catastrophic." Toronto voters will no doubt wish they'd listened to Travers if Ford starts sending tanks into Brampton and Pickering.

Then this zinger from MacParland

.Evidently not. Ford didn't just win, he overwhelmed the opposition. The paper couldn't even score a victory out in deepest suburbia, where Mississauga's mayor-for-life, 89-year-old Hazel McCallion, was returned with 75% of the vote and spent election night denouncing the Star to anyone who would listen.

Hazel McCallion and Rob Ford, together. Lord knows what image that raises in Heather Mallick's imagination.

No doubt it must be a stunning defeat for the Star. They hate anything conservative and the new mayor, a conservative  campaigned on conservative  values and they are not supposed to resonate with Torontonians. 
This just simply could not happen, after all, Toronto is supposed to be a bastion of left wing latte sipping liberals. They had worked so hard to prevent this man from winning the Mayors chair but was in the end unsuccessful.  This right wing neanderthal was not supposed to win according to the Star. 
Maybe Torontonians are starting to wake from their slumber. Who knows but  let's hope this carries on to the provincial and federal scene.  Way to go Toronto voters! 

Quebec's Tea Party Movement

Quebec's new grassroots right wing small c-conservative tea party like movement was officially launched on the weekend.  The Quebec Freedom Network conference was a sell out weeks ago which is good news. Maxime Bernier Conservative MP from Beauce spoke saying that people in Quebec are fed up with big government.

"For 50 years we have had a big, fat interventionist government in Quebec at the provincial level, and I think people are fed up with that," Maxime Bernier, Conservative MP for Beauce and a speaker at today's event, said in an interview. "They want to have more freedom through less government." Questioning the sustainability of the once sacrosanct "Quebec model," with its generous business subsidies and extensive social services, has become more common. But even the most vocal critics of the status quo recognize that any substantial change is going to take time.

It's a good start at  for Quebec. It remains to be seen whether or not it will be a lasting thing seeing that Quebecer's are pretty fickle. I hope it  will be lasting and that it will spread like wildfire across the country with the public getting fed up with big intrusive government at all levels, speaking out and demanding change.  Look what influence the Tea Party movement in the US is having.  They have been a big influence in the midterm election cycle and are about to elect quite a few tea party candidates to Congress in about 8 days from now. 
We shall wait and see what happens  but I think such a movement can have impact here as well but it's up to us the grassroots.  Watching what's going on in Quebec will be interesting in the coming months, if change can happen there, it can happen anywhere in Canada and  it has to start somewhere.
 

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Let's Be More Like Britain

We have a $55.6 billion deficit on our hands because of the  stimulus spending during the recession to so call stimulate our economy even though I doubt very much that the stimulus has helped that much to our  recovery.

Now the fight will be on to find solutions to slaying the deficit between the Conservatives and the Libs. The Conservatives have already indicated the corporate tax cuts which is to take affect in January will go ahead. That will leave more money in the  companies' coffers to invest in more capital, hire more employees etc.

The Libs on the other hand want to cancel the corporate tax cuts in order to pay for their social programs like their home care plan. which would be a job killer.  Other than that the deficit reduction plans from both parties are much alike   So it's basically tax and spend Liberals.  There are not very bold intiatives, no big spending cuts, or reduction of the size of government  from either party.  We need to further, much further to slash that deficit and pay down the debt than what either party are proposing.

So why don't we take a page out the the British deficit reduction book?  They are much bolder in their plan.  They plan to slash spending and raise the retirement age from 65 to 66yrs.
They are reducing the size of government by cutting upwards of 490,000 public servants positions over the next four years.

LONDON - Britain said on Wednesday it would cut half a million public sector jobs, raise the retirement age and slash the welfare state as part of the biggest spending cuts in a generation.

This is what we should be doing.  Yeah, some wouldn't like it, it would hurt for a while but it would be good for the country in the long run because a smaller government saves the taxpayer a bundle leaving more money in our pockets.   More money in our pockets leaves us to spend, invest and innovate.  Business in the private sector with more money creates jobs.  That in turn brings in more government revenue believe it or not. t's just good for everyone.

BTW. Has anyone ever heard of the forgotten depression of 1920?  Didn't think so. This is how the US got out of that one very quickly and back into prosperity.

The economic situation in 1920 was grim. By that year unemployment had jumped from 4 percent to nearly 12 percent, and GNP declined 17 percent. No wonder, then, that Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover — falsely characterized as a supporter of laissez-faire economics — urged President Harding to consider an array of interventions to turn the economy around. Hoover was ignored.
Instead of "fiscal stimulus," Harding cut the government’s budget nearly in half between 1920 and 1922. The rest of Harding’s approach was equally laissez-faire. Tax rates were slashed for all income groups. The national debt was reduced by one-third. The Federal Reserve’s activity, moreover, was hardly noticeable. As one economic historian puts it, "Despite the severity of the contraction, the Fed did not move to use its powers to turn the money supply around and fight the contraction."2 By the late summer of 1921, signs of recovery were already visible. The following year, unemployment was back down to 6.7 percent and was only 2.4 percent by 1923.

I encourage you to take the time to watch this video.  It's over 40 minutes long but very informative.  It tells the story of the forgotten 1920's depression.

So we  should have learned something from all of this by now.  Have we? I don't know but what all this has proven  is that big government spending and socialism doesn't work. The bills eventually come due and have to be paid.  Only common sense, true conservatism, personal freedom and responsibility.  The ability to create and invent, and the freedom for business to make a profit. That is what works!

So let's try true conservatism for a change. Let's live within our means. Cut spending, aggressively cut taxes, reduce the size of government, allow for personal freedom and responsiblity and that will spark inovation and creativity then prosperity will come back. It's just as simple as government getting out of the way.

The British  train is finally on the right track. The Canadian train needs catch up and  get on that track before we become a train wreck.  It's just as simple as government getting out of the way.  Not just the federal government but governments at all levels must take the same course.  What are we waiting for?   Let's be more like Britain!

Get Rid of Political Party Subsidies

In a time when we must exercise fiscal restraint, getting rid of political party subsidies is a great idea. Besides why should our hard earned tax dollars go towards forced political donations.  Remember what happened in 2008 when PM Harper and Finance Minister Flaherty suggested that in the fall update?  All hell broke loose. That`s when the coalition of the losers exposed themselves.   A poll taken at that time showed 61% supported getting rid of $1.95 per vote subsidy. And it`s just not the $1.95 per vote subsidy. There are other subsidies too that Brian Lilley from Sun Media emphasizes.

An analysis of taxpayer subsidies to political parties by QMI Agency found that tens of millions of dollars are handed over to political parties each year on top of the $27 million they get through their per-vote subsidy.
“One of the crazy aspects of it is they give themselves a larger tax deduction than charities get,” said Kevin Gaudet of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
Gaudet said charities such as hospitals would be considered more important than political parties by most Canadians even if the tax law favours politics over health.
The low-tax crusader is also part of an ongoing campaign to get rid of the $1.95 per vote per year subsidy that each political party gets.
“Political parties should exist solely on their ability to get donations from their supporters,” said Gaudet.
Two years ago the threat of opposition parties losing their per-vote subsidy lead to a revolt and the threat of a coalition. The Harper government backed down over accusations they were simply out to get their political rivals.
Based on an analysis of several years of fundraising numbers, removing the per-vote subsidy would have a crippling effect on the Bloc Quebecois.
A poll taken in late 2008 showed 61% of Canadians agreed with removing the subsidies.
Not everyone agrees though.
NDP Leader Jack Layton has called the Harper government’s threat of removing the per-vote subsidy an “attack on democracy.” Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has said the opposition parties won’t let the Harper government take away the subsidies.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made clear that he will raise this issue with voters at the next election.

It`s true it would cripple the Bloc. They`re just lazy. They don`t want anything do with the ROC but will gladly take our money.  It would cripple the Liberals as well. They were used to being funded by big money by big corporations and stealing taxpayer money when they're in power (adscam etc). The CPC would be hurt the least. They know how to fund raise by getting small donations from a large number of donors.
The NDP on the other hand back in 2008 could have helped themselves out by siding with the Conservatives which would have basically crippled the Libs instead of being involved with loser coalition.  The public would have supported them.  They would basically be poised to become the official opposition with Jack and Olivia moving into Stornoway.  I guess the possibility of seeing a way to fast track into power by over throwing a duly elected government got in the way.

I`m glad this will be an issue come next election.  How are the opposition parties go on the campaign trail justifying why they should take our money to fund their parties especially in a time when the government should be cutting the deficit?

Are We Ready for a Conversation On Healthcare Reform?

As deficits are mounting in our Provincial and Federal governments, something has to be done to get the finances under control.  Our universal health care program for one is totally unsustainable if we keep going on with the status-quo.  It seems that the more money that is thrown at it it just seems to get worse.  Wait times are astronomical for most tests and treatments. We have a shortage of doctors and nurses. In fact upwards of 17% of Canadians don't have a family doctor.

In Alberta here health care eats up 40% of the government's total budget and in the future if we don't make any changes, more and more of the budget will go towards health care never mind other things like infrastructure that we so desperately need.  Budget 2010, health care costs pushed our Alberta budget to a whopping $4.7B deficit. Health care  spending rose 16.6 percent.

The Feds have steadily increased transfer payments over the years as well. So where is all the money going?  I beg to say it is going primarily to the beaucracy, the unions (nurses unions etc.)  So what do we do?  We can't keep going on like this, something has to give.

It 's good to see that the federal government is finally looking to at least starting an adult conversation on the matter.  Have they already signaled  it with Max Bernier?  Could be. Or is he just going rogue? I hope not. But any case, I hope at least it's a positive indicator from the government. It is long overdue that's for sure. We do need reform in this country not just in health care but in general way the we do government. Government cannot be all things to all people. Someone has to pay, if not now but eventually with our children and grandchildren footing the bill.  We don't want to burden them with our hefty bills.  I don't want to see our future generations used as slaves! It`s not fair to them. We have to get out of this entitlement mentality.

So let the conversation begin!  At least it's a start!

Another Lobby Group Attempting to Stifle Free Speech

Seems like lobbying against free speech in Canada is in fashion these days.  You had Aavaz, Care2, now Friends of Canadian Broadcasting. is attempting to stifle free speech.  Spokesman, Ian Morrison wants SunTV quashed because it will "make us fearful, frail and divided." Are we all supposed to be robots to the liberal mantra instead of having an alternative source that we may think for ourselves?

In an e-mail appeal to supporters, Friends spokesman Ian Morrison pleads, “... make an investment right now so that we can oppose the powerful forces that wish to make us fearful, frail and divided.” The e-mail claims that the group is “working hard to protect the public interest” and that they need to expand their reach ahead of CRTC review of the Sun TV application.

As Brian Lilley  also states, Friends of Canadian broadcasting raises millions of dollars but discloses hardly anything of what they do with the money. Plus the organization nor Ian Morrison are registered as lobbyists even though they are lobbying both the CRTC and the Minister of Heritage not only to stop SunTV but other issues as well.  Friends disputes the idea that they are required to register. Friends of Canadian Broadcasting also claim they are non partisan and that their mission is to defend and enhance the quality and quantity of Canadian programming. OK.  So why are they trying to stop SunTV then?
If they were truly interested in "protecting public interest" they wouldn't be opposing this new channel.  They would  welcome it and  encourage more and diverse opinions so that the public can have more choice.  Obviously they don't really want  more and better quality Canadian media especially if it gives an alternative point of view.

Be Grateful for PM Harper and His Team

I pray everyone had a great Thanksgiving.  We are truly blessed in this country as is stated in this Finacial Post article.
 I say we should be thankful for PM Harper and his government.  They are responsible for guiding us through a very tough recession.  Even though our economy is still fragile, we are better off than many other countries that's for sure.   Are they perfect?  No.   Sure they've made some mistakes. Who's asking for perfection anyway?

Consider the alternative.  It gives me shivers down my spine.  Who knows where the coalition of the losers would have taken the country had they had the chance by now?  The deficit would probably be at least double of what it is today. Unemployment would be a lot higher than 8%.  We'd probably  have the green shift, 360hr. EI, universal child care program, Kelowna accord and who knows what other God forsaken big spending social programs. 

Where would we be in our foreign policy? They can't even agree who the real instigator is in the formation of the loser coalition never mind a cohesive foreign policy.  Gilles and Jack both want to take credit. We'd end up be a laughing stock on the world stage.   Immigration?   Give us your terrorists, your criminals, your despots, your pedophiles etc.!  

Just think about this.  Gilles would actually be running the show.  What ever is good for Quebec!  Yup Quebec would have more power over ROC than they have now.  They have way to  much power right now the way it is.  How does that sit with ya? The coalition of the losers?  Canada would become a basket case.

So yeah, get on your knees and thank God for PM Harper and his team. We are blessed to have them in office at this time.  They have done pretty well considering all the obstacles. Minority government, a contentious opposition, a hostile media, etc.  They are deserving of a majority next time around I think. They will have earned it.

Join me in thanking God everyday for PM Harper and all of his team.   Pray for wisdom as they weigh through all the obstacles they have to face each and everyday. They need it. Each day is an uphill battle.
 

Another Group Outside Canada Has a Petition Against SunTV

What's with international activist organizations who want to interfere with Canadian business?  Here's what I received in my email last night . It was a petition to sign to stop "the hateful  SunTV News."  First it was Aavaz,org.  trying to stop free speech now there's another activist group.  Care2.com.  Care2 is an organization that seems to concentrate on environmental and human rights issues and is based in the US according to their website .  This petition has nothing whatsoever to do with the environment or human rights.  It has to do with stifling free speech much like the one Aavaz had put out.

The email I received says it wants to keep the "hate media out of Canada" and wants you to sign a petition.  They also seem to believe that PM Harper is behind this.  They go on to repeat the lie that Larry Martin dreamed up that the PM was manipulating the CRTC by pushing Konrad von Finckenstein the CRTC chief out  in order SunTV gets granted the license they want.
Looks like they're located in California.
Care2.com, Inc.
275 Shoreline Drive, Suite 300
Redwood City, CA 94065

 Here is a screen shot of the email I was sent

Who is behind this petition?  I don't know but if you go to the Care2.com website you will notice an ad there by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation    Are they behind this round of petitions?   Who knows but don't forget TD is infested with  Liberals. Liberals would not want other voices who would probably not cover for them like the current media does. Liberals involved with TD are  Don Drummond, who worked for Paul Martin while he was Finance Minister in the Chretien government.  Frank Mckenna former Liberal Premier of New Brunswick, and Ed Clark who was deputy minister who helped construct the must hated NEP.
I don't  really know if TD is actually behind this but since it's an American organization and TD has an ad on their website it does set off red flags.  One has to wonder.

In any case this group like Aavaz and others is just another nutty activist organization who wants only the left to have a voice.  To me that is not free speech.

It seems like there are those out there who are truly afraid of SunTV or what they call Foxnews North and that it will be full of hate speech even though SunTV has yet to air even one program yet.  It seems to me that these groups are the ones with hate and want to stifle free speech.  They don't want other voices for the public to choose from.  Are they afraid that maybe for a change the public will get some semblance of honest and truthful reporting?
SunTV will go ahead I'm sure and Canadians will finally have choice in news coverage. What a great day that will be when they finally go on air!

Iffy's Corporate Tax Pledge Threatens Economic Recovery

Gee thanks, Iffy is causing uncertainty in business investment in Canada. The Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters say that Ignatieff is threatening the economic recovery. The recovery is shaky to begin with do the the US economy and the Obama policies.

Canadian business investment needed to sustain an economic recovery is threatened by Liberal Party Leader Michael Ignatieff’s pledge to scrap planned corporate tax cuts because companies may find it difficult to plan, the head of the country’s manufacturing lobby group said.

Well, there you have it.  Iffy intends on canceling the tax cuts in order to pay for his home care plan. In turn you have uncertainty in companies.  They can't plan, they don't know what the future holds for them.  Iffy's plan would be a job killer because companies would have to lay off employees and government revenues would drop due to less income tax, GST being collected.  Nice plan eh?

The thing is his coalition partners agree with this plan. To have a healthy economy, you need a healthy private sector.  You have to set the proper conditions for the private sector to thrive.  That means low taxes, and less regulation.   Do we want to let the coalition take over and cancel the  corporate tax cuts which would kill investment and kill jobs and that  would in turn kill the economy?

 

Ignatieff's "I Feel Your Pain" Goes Too Far

The Liberal leader in trying push his Family Care Plan uses his family tragedy in his email that he has sent .  John Ivison calls it "manipulative, undignified and in poor taste." 

 This email from Michael Ignatieff to his mass-mailing list went out this afternoon. Titled “This is personal,” it strikes me as manipulative, undignified and in poor taste — using the Liberal leader’s own personal tragedy to wring votes from Canadians. I know Ignatieff is trying to establish a personal connection with voters but this was a poor decision, more likely to make people feel uncomfortable than sympathetic.

Here is what is in the email  Ivison  refers to.

John — My mother got sick with Alzheimer’s when she was in her 60s — early, in other words — and my dad took care of her at home. I’ve never admired my father more than when he looked after my mom, but it killed him, basically. It was tough, even with my brother, Andrew, stepping up, and our family and friends helping. Like my Dad did, millions of Canadians care for family members at home when loved ones fall ill. They are a silent workforce, providing $9-billion in unpaid work each year. Many must use personal savings to survive, miss work or quit their jobs. Over half have household incomes under $45,000. Like the loved ones they are caring for, many of these caregivers are in the fight of their lives. Yesterday, I announced a new Liberal Party policy to change that.
Canadians want to shoulder the responsibility of caring for their ill parents, grandparents, spouse or young children. But they also want a government that stands with them, a government that chooses families over corporate tax breaks. That’s why the new Liberal Family Care Plan will introduce:
A new six-month Family Care Employment Insurance Benefit, similar to the EI parental leave benefit, so that more Canadians can care for gravely ill family members at home without having to quit their jobs; and A new Family Care Tax Benefit, modeled on the Child Tax Benefit, to help low- and middle-income family caregivers who provide essential care to a family member at home.
Replacing the current six-week EI program, the Family Care Employment Insurance Benefit will let families claim up to six months in blocks over a year long period, and share it with other family members. Meanwhile, the new Family Care Tax Benefit will help low- and middle-income family caregivers defray the cost of providing essential care to a family member at home. The new benefit will provide families that qualify with a tax-free monthly payment worth up to $1,350 per year. During difficult economic times, governments — and Canadians — must choose. Stephen Harper and the Conservatives choose a $6-billion annual tax break for corporations. We choose families. We’ll keep the corporate tax rate where it is now, 25 percent lower than in the United States, and use some of the savings it provides to pay for the Liberal Family Care Plan. I know this policy will help countless Canadians struggling to provide care for sick loved ones at home. Please visit www.liberal.ca/liberal-family-care-plan to watch the video, share your caregiver stories, and read the full brochure to learn more about the difference this policy could make for your family.
Thank you.
Michael Ignatieff
To contact the Liberal Party of Canada, please reply to this email. Our mailing address: 81 Metcalfe street, suite 600 Ottawa ON K1P 6M8

David Frum is bang on, on  the so called empathy of Ignatieff in 2006 particularly commenting on Iffy's book "Scar Tissue" when Iffy was first seeking the Liberal leadership which was won by Stephane Dion later that year.  Iffy talked about his mothers condition in that book.

It is a work by a man without empathy trying to understand those who possess it; of a man who has arrogantly separated himself from the suffering human race grappling with the realization that he belongs to it; of a man who has despised the unbeautiful and the unclever confronting the possibility that in the ways that ultimately count most, one particular unbeautiful and unclever person is his own better.

Iffy feels your pain?  Wants to help your friends and family while using his own family?  Right!   To use your own family for your own personal gain?  That is is pretty low.  He doesn't have an empathetic bone in his body. He's cold, detached and pretentious. You don't use a family tragedy to further your own political agenda.
John Ivison is right in his description of this as manipulative, undignified and poor taste.  Don't buy into it!

SunTV and the Future of The Media in Canada

Karl Peladeau  has an excellent article about SunTV News and the future of the media in Canada but the most striking in his article was this.

If we want to keep our democracy strong, we need to have the largest amount of available resources together to orchestrate and deliver more relevant information to the public.
To do so, we need to have the largest amount of distribution channels to reach both incumbent audiences and the new audiences that have adopted the new technological tools.
We are well positioned to move in this direction.
If we miss this challenge, Canadian democracy will become weaker, with fewer voices and less diversity, and more influence from the status quo fanatics only there to defend their own interests.
That would be a very sad day for Canada

Amen! I agree!  We need information from all  perspectives and to use all tools  that are available to get that information out to make sure our democracy stays strong. Above all we need information that is relevant to our everyday lives. The current media has been deteriorating for years now in their reporting.
They seem to give only one side of a story(Liberal) and not allow the other side to get their message out (Conservative). Roy Green has said many times that reporters today are not reporters but repeaters. I think he's right. They seem to repeat Liberal talking points all the time.

The main stream media loses credibility and ratings everyday with the faux scandals, horse races, or drive by smears and spin they engage in against anything conservative everyday.  They fail to talk about the issues that the public really cares about hence that's why only a few pay attention to them anymore. That turns the public off.

We need a media with credibility that doesn't spoon feed us,or tells us how we must think and informs us about what's really going on.  As Karl states it's there's something wrong when more Canadians watch Larry King than Power and Politics.

For instance, isn’t it shocking that a third of Canadians who watch all-news television watch CNN? I don’t want to get into criticism of the two existing all-news networks, but when Larry King draws more Canadian viewers than Power and Politics, there is something wrong.
What we see here is an opportunity for Canadians to have another choice.

He's right again there. There is a vacuum for real news in this country and SunTV can fill that vacuum. So bring on SunTV News who I hope will bring us fair and balanced coverage, allow all sides and engage Canadians pertaining to the issues that matter most to us, the average citizen.  Give us the all the facts and the truth and allow us to think for ourselves.  If they do that,they will be a breath of fresh air and will be good for Canada.  Go SunTV!

The Lunacy of the Left

The left has gone nuts! First you have enviro-wackjobs  who advocate killing you if you don't comply with their agenda in this ad below.  This video "No Pressure"  is disturbing and chilling.   It was produced by a UK organization, 1010 global.org. who encourages eco-facism.


Then you have a lefty UK pundit advocating smothering your baby if he or she is suffering





Then the same pundit goes on to say abortion is "the act of a loving mother"


How extreme can these loons get? I sure don't want to find out and I hope this lunacy gets doesn't go any further or I'd hate to think what might happen.

Larry Martin Seems To Be Afraid

Libluvin journalist, Larry Martin seems like he's afraid these days. First he comes out with a book  that portrays PM Harper as an iron fisted control freak who hates Liberals. He likes to try to make the Conservatives look bad at every turn by the way.
  Today in his column I sense real fear on his part.  Fear that Liberals are losing their grip and influence on the provincial scene and it that will spill over to the federal scene. Oh, dear! He believes the troubles of the Liberal governments in BC, Ontario, and Quebec is a reason why Iffy can't get any traction despite the phony plaid shirts, the phony poses with Tim Horton's cups on the Magical Liberal Express tour.  It might have a bit of an influence but I think Ignatieff and his team do enough damage to themselves without the help of the provincial cousins.

The caving of the three Liberal fortresses may have consequences beyond their jurisdictions. Tidings at the provincial level don’t often reverberate with much impact at the federal level. But when the Liberal brand name takes a hit in three great domains in the same time frame, it surely can’t help. It may be among the reasons why Michael Ignatieff is not getting much liftoff despite all his hard work through the summer.

Martin goes on to lament the troubles of the three Premiers who he calls successful. Successful? Huh? 
 Larry is clearly afraid that the public is starting to wake up and see the light, that the Liberal socialist agenda has failed. Poor Larry!

Federal Liberals can’t quantify how much they’re being hurt by the plight of their provincial leaders. They say Quebec is where it’s being felt most. And they don’t like the luckless irony of it all. Three of the most successful Liberal premiers to come along in decades are detrimental to their federal hopes.

Larry, accept it. Change is a comin'.  I sense the public is starting to look for change at all levels, more fiscal  accountability,  smaller government, less government spending, lower taxes, more individual freedom, in other words, more conservatism.

Related: CanadianSense gives his perspective on the same article.

Intellectuallism vs. Wisdom

 Could the reason the Iffy Waffle is not resonating with Canadians is that he's smart but not wise?
Monte Solberg is spot on again in his  commentary pointing out that being an intellectual is not the same as being wise. He says Iffy may be smart but not necessarily wise.

Lately several commentators have criticized the Conservatives for being anti-intellectual, citing the attacks on Michael Ignatieff’s Harvard background.
I certainly can’t speak for all Conservatives, but in my case it’s totally true! I’m guilty as charged. I’m anti-intellectual.
However, in my defence, I draw a sharp distinction between meddlesome intellectuals, and those sensible and learned people who, conservative thinker Russell Kirk argued, should really be described as scholars.
Conservatives are not opposed to people who spend their lives doing research, writing, teaching and reading books. Society is immensely better off for their contributions. Personally, I would be quite happy to read books all day in my unscholarly way.
The real problem is those people who read the wrong books, arrive at the wrong conclusions, and who would foist their weird theories on the rest of us. You know, garbage in, garbage out, followed by now we have to live in the dumpster.
Those commentators don’t seem to get that being intelligent is not necessarily the same thing as being wise. Yet we’ve all met that well-educated person who would be proud to be called an intellectual and was, in fact, a pontificating fool.
That’s why Conservatives believe we should rely on humanity’s experience to guide our lives, as opposed to listening to intellectuals. Intellectuals are always prepared to toss out the wisdom of the ages for a new system that some social scientist cooked up last week. They think that makes them progressive.
Thank goodness that, most of the time, intellectuals just find ways to make government bigger, which is bad enough. Sometimes, though, intellectuals are wildly successful and we end up with everything from communism and the Soviet gulags, to the belief all cultures are equal, at least until someone gets stoned to death.
Now, understand that I am not at all suggesting Michael Ignatieff falls into that unpleasant category where all the murdering took place. I’m just saying intellectualism isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. At best, it’s big government busybodies telling us how we should live. At its worst, it’s a scourge.
In Canada, the last intellectual prime minister we had was Pierre Trudeau and both Liberal and Conservative governments have spent years undoing his ruinous economic policies, and reversing his centralizing tendencies. His once ballyhooed policy of official multiculturalism is clearly destined for the dustbin.
Only the Charter has survived, more or less unscathed, though it vomits up new surprises almost every week.
In the end, I’ll take wise and measured over brilliant intellectual any day, and, right now, so will the Canadian people.
The Liberals have figured that out too. That’s why the Liberals are trying hard to cover up Harvard Iggy by putting him in that plaid shirt and teaching him to say “double-double.”
Unfortunately for him, it’s not working. In Question Period he’s still as dry as toast. He still seems to be without humour, the human touch, and, by definition, humidity.
Being as objective as I can be, he still comes across as the same lecturing intellectual, no matter how many times he poses with that cup of Tim Hortons’ coffee.

I agree with Monte, I'll take wise over intellectual any day too!
Here is just the latest example of Iffy's smarts that aren't particularly wise.

  OTTAWA — Come Jan. 1, federal Liberals will face a gaping $1.8-billion hole in their election platform.
That's because the new year will ring in a 1.5 percentage point cut in the corporate tax rate.
The imminent reduction has Liberal strategists wrestling with how best to make up the resulting loss of tax revenue, which the party has been counting on to pay for leader Michael Ignatieff's promises to invest in things like child care and homecare.

What he and his party want to do would be job killing that's for sure. To roll back the tax cuts would force companies to not hire new employees even most likely cause them to lay off the ones they have.  Not smart or wise!

There is a reason he's not resonating with the public and that is he doesn't have the real life experience that regular people like you and I have.  He's an elite ivory tower academic Russian aristocrat who has never had to struggle to pay the bills or put food on the table.  Yes he's written books, studied and worked at Harvard etc. but that's all he knows. He's arrogant, and condescending.  He doesn't talk to us, he lectures us.  Monte's right no matter how many plaid shirts or how many Timmie's coffee cups he poses with, he'll always be an elitist intellectual.

A successful politician has to be wise not just smart to play the game these days.  That describes our current Prime Minister.  He's both smart and wise. He always catches his opponents off guard wading through the political mine field in a minority government. That's why he's been able to stay in power for the last four years.  He's more in touch with the Tim Horton's crowd than Iffy will ever be.

My husband always quotes this Bible verse each time we pray for PM Harper and his team:

Matthew 10:16 (King James Version)

 ¹⁶Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

For those of us who believe in power of  prayer, pray that PM Harper and his team have the wisdom of Solomon as they  wade through the political mine field each day as they are sheep amongst the wolves.   

Iffy- Why Doesn't Anybody Like Me?

People were supposed to come clamoring to worship at his feet by now.  That just hasn't happened.
 The Liberal leader is at a quandary as to why Iffymania is not taking place.  He spent the summer on a bus with his plaid shirt traveling all over the country trying to be one of us and yet he can't get traction.

Michael Ignatieff spent the summer on a bus touring the country. He travelled 40,000 kilometres and he shook more than 15,000 hands – and yet he can’t figure out what he’s doing wrong.
Behind the closed-doors of his caucus meeting Wednesday, the Liberal Leader appeared “frustrated,” according to an MP who attended. His frustration seems to be over the fact that despite his Herculean efforts to try to connect with Canadians this summer, he hasn’t.

 Michael Ignatieff was brought to Canada from his comfortable position at Harvard in a promise that he would be anointed Prime Minister shortly after he would arrive.  He was parachuted into a riding in Toronto where an ethnic female minority candidate was forced to step aside so Iffy could take his place.  Then after the disastrous election results of the Liberals under Stephan Dion and teaming up with the socialists and separatists to overthrow a  duly elected government that fortunately failed, Iffy was crowned leader without the grass root Liberal members having a say.  Now he expects the Canadian public to fall in love with him and crown him Prime Minister and we are not prepared to do that.  He wonders why.

Well first of all he might have a look in the mirror.   Most people don't know what he actually stands for because he keeps flip flopping on everything. Most find him arrogant and condescending even though he tried to bring himself down to our level during the summer.  It  didn't work.  The public are as not stupid  he or his handlers think.  We saw right through that phony facade.

He might also look at his own party. The Liberal party is empty  of policy, morally bankrupt and believe they are entitled to run this country. They supposedly have been developing policy for the last two years, you'd think they would have some by now. Remember the Thinkers Conference for example? It was to produce new bold ideas. Nothing came of it.  He commissioned Scotty Brison and Tipsy John Mcallum to come up with an alternative budget in 2009. Never heard a word.   Where's all these policies, eh?  And when they don't have the reins of power they act like rabid animals, All they do is mudsling, the faux scandals and fake outrage over everything. The public does not like that either.

All he does is smear PM Harper and doesn't offer any alternatives.  Iffy and the Liberals are in a time warp stuck in the sixties.  They keep regurgitating the same old big government type of stuff like universal day care, etc.  Times have changed.  The public don't want those things anymore.  They want prudence, accountability,  lower taxes, smaller government etc.   The Liberals have not caught up with that fact.  They're blinded by their own hunger for power they can't see past their nose.  That's why you and your party can't get traction, Iffy!