Summits Put Nation Sovereignty Back In Style

These summits were a win for the PM. It seems that nation sovereignty is back in style. The UN could very well be loosing it's influence. Thanks to PM Stephen Harper ,with his competence,statesmanship and common sense, has been able to influence world leaders to see  that one size does not fit all. Each country should tailor their responses to the different challenges they face according to their resources and needs.They all agreed to deficit and debt reduction but to do it in their own way.
Another example is the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit.  There was no consensus, each country went away more or less to cut their so called emissions in their own way voluntarily.

The Globe and Mail. talks about how the nation-state is back in the light of the G8/G20 summits. 

The nation-state is back, or rather, it never really went away. In the context of the G8 and G20 summits, sovereign states have now clearly resurfaced in a new form, with numerous complex groupings and linkages among states. The International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization will continue to furnish particular services, but large, unwieldy, all-inclusive multilateral bodies on the United Nations model will not be the way forward.
It was notable at the Toronto summit, for example, that the United States and South Korea strengthened their bilateral trade and military relationships, and that Canada and India entered into a nuclear agreement. By contrast, the schedule for the completion of the international Doha Round trade negotiation was left open-ended.

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The middle-power theory of Canada was a concept of the comparatively idealistic Pearsonian period. But it may apply even better in the more perplexing multipolar world in which Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shown some deftness in positioning Canada.

Canada is no longer a country with little or no influence. We have been punching above our weight and are being noticed again.  PM Stephen Harper is in large part responsible for that and we should be proud.. We are no longer moving in concert with what the UN (Israel, global warming etc), or special interest  dictates. We are all sovereign nations and it should stay that way. 
These summits were clearly a win, win for everyone. That's what makes all the socialist, one world lefties all in a tizzy.  They are losing.  The losing on global warming.  They losing on one world wealth distribution.  They're losing on providing abortions for everyone.
That suits me quite fine.

Kudos to John Ibbitson for Kudos to the PM

John Ibbitson from the Globe, unusually gives the PM kudos this morning for accomplishments that were made at this weekend's G8/G20 summits.

While much of the chatter around the G20 summit has focused on fake lakes, billion-dollar budgets and burning police cars, the greater reality is that Stephen Harper guided the leaders of the world's largest and most influential economies to an accord – call it the Toronto Consensus – that surprised even the leaders themselves.

The leaders agreed on targets for deficit and debt reduction, maternal health initiative, and the best of all was killing the global bank tax.

Mr. Ibbitson then takes on the detractors.

Opposition politicians – and those who just don't like Mr. Harper very much – will continue to lament these blemishes. Otherwise, they would have to acknowledge what the Prime Minister has accomplished over the weekend, both at the G20 and at the G8, where Mr. Harper secured an agreement to increase funding for maternal and child health.

The way I see it, these back to back summits were a resounding success if you take out the thugs who caused all the chaos in downtown Toronto. We should count our blessings that we have PM Harper at the helm of our country.  PM Harper is a true statesman,works well with and is very well liked and respected by his counterparts.
 Thank you to Mr. Ibbitson for the unusually  positive  piece on PM Harper and his accomplishments.

Speaker Miliken to Step Down?

Rumors are floating around that Speaker of the House, Peter Miliken is going to step down..

Local Liberals are tight-lipped about whether Peter Milliken's traditional summer barbecue for his supporters is going to be his last. 
Milliken has called a news conference to follow the annual members-only barbecue at his house near Elginburg.

Milliken has not only never held a news conference after the annual garden party, but no Kingston reporter can recall him holding a news conference, ever.
Even when he chooses to run for re-election, he makes his announcement with a written statement.

Local federal Liberals have been selling party memberships for weeks and there is only one reason they would be doing that -- to elect a successor if Milliken has chosen to step aside.

He could announce that he will not stand in the next federal election, but that may not be until 2012

 Does the CPC have chance at winning that riding?  Possibly, I don't know.   Will he announce he's stepping down or he is going to say?  What is this mysterious newser going to be about? Stay tuned folks, it will  be interesting to see!

Wildrose Alliance Convention

This weekend is a major milestone for the Wildrose Alliance Party, a true conservative party in which policy will be set. It will be the first Annual General Meeting since Danielle Smith took over as leader late last fall. The party has been steadily growing in numbers, funds and popularity. So much so that it has become a real threat to Ed Stelmach's PCs.
  This weekend in Red Deer, policy will be debated and voted on as they get ready to gear up for a general election that is expected to be held in approx. 2yrs.
Members will also get a say in how Danielle Smith is doing as leader.  I know as a member but not able to attend the AGM, think she's doing a great job as leader and will make a fantastic Premier. I believe change is in the air and Albertans are going to throw the PCs out after 40yrs in power.

As the Wildrose Alliance's members decide what policies will guide it toward the next provincial election, Smith will have to navigate a balance between far-right and moderate voices and show the party is about more than oil royalty issues.

I  hope the policies that are decided on will lead us into the next election with a win in the end.  Good luck guys!  I'll be there in spirit.

Sidenote: Former PC MLA for Fort McMurray, Guy Boutilier has joined the Wildrose Alliance caucus.
Welcome aboard, Guy!

Heads Should Roll

Should it be CBC heads or CSIS Director Richard Fadden? Norman Spector points out that CBC sat on that interview for some time.

Here in Canada, on the other hand, we’ve just seen the worst in journalism, with the CBC’s broadcast of an interview in which CSIS Director Richard Fadden states that a number of Canadian politicians are influenced by foreign states. Now, politicians and pundits are criticizing Mr. Fadden for making this statement. And calls for his resignation are being heard across the land.
How does the broadcast of this interview reflect the worst in journalism, you ask?
Buried within Colin Freeze and Ian Bailey’s fine report of the interview fallout in Thursday’s Globe and Mail, we read: “The timing of the CBC interview was not Mr. Fadden’s choice. This spring, CBC approached him to repeat remarks he had made at a private, but videotaped, speech at the Royal Canadian Military Institute. The public broadcaster kept the interview in its back pocket until it broadcast the exclusive this week.”
In other words, CBC sat on the explosive interview for weeks, if not months. And it chose to make the interview public on the eve of a state visit to Canada by China’s President Hu, and on the eve of a summit to be attended both by him and by the Prime Minister of India.
Shame on the people who made that judgment. Heads should roll all right – heads at the CBC.

Even though CBC had sat on that interview, Fadden shouldn't have made a statement like that in public that he later backtracks on.
Makes you wonder why CBC waited to to air that interview on the eve of the G8 and G20 summits. Worst in journalism? Norman Spector is right on.
Heads roll? You bet! Again, Norman Spector's got it right, heads at CBC should roll. CSIS director Fadden? I think so. He's got some splainin' to do so does CBC for that matter as far as I'm concerned. Kudo's to Globe and Mail and Norman Spector for calling CBC out!

Update: Dave Rutherford talks about this on his show. It is a must listen. Starts about 9:00am goes to on after the bottom of the hour news.