Questions About CBC and Ekos

This would answer a lot of questions concerning those Ekos polls that usually show results different than most other polling firms. There are allegations that CBC has violated it's own polling rules with Frank Graves and Ekos polling firm. Brian Lilley has discovered.

OTTAWA — CBC is fending off allegations it is violating its own polling rules by using Frank Graves and EKOS Research to perform their political polling.
Graves uses an automatic dialing system called IVR that has respondents to his polls punch numbers to make their selections rather than speaking to a human questioner. That method is not approved by Government of Canada polling guidelines nor CBC’s call for bids on the polling contract.
“Graves uses methodology not approved by CBC. How did they miss that," Conservative spokesman Fred DeLorey asked.
Graves became a lighting rod for Conservative criticism after a newspaper quoted him as advising the Liberals to start a culture war to defeat the Conservatives. He later also admitted to donating to the Liberals.
An access to information request to have CBC release the EKOS contract was denied.
CBC spokesman Jeff Keay defended the use of IVR, calling the technology “cost-efficient, fast and suitable.”
Keay also told QMI Agency that while they are not bound by government polling rules, most contracts do follow government standards.

Are you surprised?   I thought not. It sure does put into doubt the credibility of all Ekos polls. It is no secret that Graves is a Liberal supporter so is the CBC.  So why wouldn't they work hand in hand to promote their party of choice and why won't they release any information through access to information?  What more is there that they are hiding?  At least at the Commons committee  the NDP and the Bloc voted with the CPC to investigate CBC.  The Liberals abstained.  I wonder why!  Maybe we'll get some answers at that committee, I hope.

Thanks to Brian Lilley for his series on the CBC.  Hopefully he will carry on with his quest and share what he's learned on  SunTV news channel once it's on air. I fear he hasn't even scratched the surface yet.  All Canadians need to know what's going on at the taxpayer funded broadcaster that we put so much money into.  I urge all of you to go and read all of his columns in the Sun on this issue.  It's about your money after all.

Please Pray for Former Premier Ralph Klein

Today we hear that popular former Alberta Premier Ralph Klein is seriously ill.  He has COPD (emphysema) which is lung disease that has no cure so far. 

He  was mayor of Calgary in  when he hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics and did a great job at that as a matter of fact.

He was a very approachable premier who wasn't afraid to hang out with regular Albertans. He's a straight shooter and not afraid to tell you like it is. His greatest accomplishment was in his first term where he took on an economy which had been left devastated by Trudeau's  NEP and other factors.  We had a debt and deficit that he successfully  was able to turn around. He stood up for Alberta  against the minions in Ottawa. Some days when Ed Stelmach and Co. screw up I pine for the old Klein days.

Now that he's ill the least we can do is pray for him and stand behind him as he battles this horrible disease.  
God's speed and I pray that God will see fit to heal you of this.   There are many who are in your corner and support you. Don't forget that God still does perform miracles.

Chantal Hebert Pushing for Lib-NDP Coaltion

  With the Conservatives trending upward in the last few polls lately and the Libs going down or spinning their wheels, Chantal Hebert is suggesting  the Liberals and the Dippers should listen to their elder statesmen and  get together because it would improve their standing.

If NDP and Liberal leaders Jack Layton and Michael Ignatieff had taken the advice of their elder statesmen and looked for a way to pool forces earlier this year, the result of their joint efforts would likely be doing better in the polls than their separate parties.
Instead, the end of 2010 finds the two main national opposition parties on opposite ends of a teeter-totter. They are each ensuring that the other does not go up very high or for very long.

She later warns that if they don't  there will most likely be a majority Conservative government after next election.

Like the then-Reformers, some New Democrats continue to believe they will eventually overtake the Liberals or, short of that, at least gain enough ground to have a strong hand in any future negotiation with a minority Liberal regime.
They are all more likely to end up sitting side by side across from a majority Conservative government.

I think even with a Lib/Dipper merger they would have a tough time. I sense the mood of the  public is now changing. They are moving more to the right looking for , smaller government, lower taxes, spending cuts, less red tape, reform of the  criminal justice system, reform of the immigration system etc.

A majority Conservative government is something this country needs especially if there will be difficult decisions that will have to be made in the near future about how to get our country out of deficit and debt, deal with the looming health care crisis, pensions etc..  Canadians find the Conservatives more trustworthy when dealing with those issues more so than the Libs or the Dippers. If the Libs and Dippers don't offer credible policy to deal with those issues, they will be climbing an uphill battle.

CBC Staff Earn More Than You!

So you are working hard earning less than those at the public broadcaster and yet you have to pay them more than you're making yourself. How much sense does that make? Brian Lilley has found out through Access to Information that CBC staff make 39% more than the average Canadian with our money.  We still don't know though how much we're paying elitist anchor big wig, Peter Mansbridge. I will bet it's more than enough to pay for his  elitist lifestyle.

Full-time employees at CBC earned an average of $55,712 in 2007, compared to an annual income of $40,092 for employed Canadians – meaning CBC employees were paid 39% more than the average Canadian.

I don't know how far Conservative MP Paul Calandra will get when he requests a study into CBC's reaction to access to information at the ethics committee.  My bet is the opposition parties will probably shoot it down. For some reason they don't want the CBC to be held accountable even though taxpayers throw over a billion dollars every year into that useless state network that hardly anyone watches or listens to.

On Tuesday, Conservative MP Paul Calandra will ask members of the Commons access to information, ethics and privacy committee to support his call for a study of CBC’s reaction to access to information.

 While CBC recently took out ads to trumpet openness there have been ongoing battles over access, including CBC fighting the information commissioner in court to keep some information secret.

Shame on the CBC! How hypocritical of them fighting from being held to account but at the same time they're always howling at how the government is not being accountable the way  they, the sanctimonious public broadacaster  would like!
Time to shut it down, sell the hard assets such as infrastructure,equipment etc. Peter Mansbridge and others can go look for a real job. There is no need for a public broadcaster anymore. CBC is a waste of taxpayer funds and I'm sure we can find more a worthwhile use for those hard earned tax dollars. Say, put those funds towards paying down the debt and deficit for instance.

My, The Liberals Are Childish!

If anyone one missed it, our PM, the Right Honorable Stephen Harper brought down the house last night at the annual CPC Christmas party not with a barn burner of a speech but a mini rock concert.   A good time was had by all. The PM seem like he was in his element.
  He's entitled to let his hair down once in a while  and loosen up have fun but this morning Liberals couldn't leave partisanship alone. They're upset he didn't sing anything in French as Jane Taber reports. Unbelievable!

1. Cranky Liberals. Upstaged yet again by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who took to the stage Wednesday night at the Conservative caucus Christmas party, the Liberals were up early grumpily emailing reaction.
“Not even one song in French,” a senior Ignatieff official told The Globe and Mail on Thursday morning. “One week after Quebec’s artistic elite (over 100 songwriters and singers) came to Parliament Hill on C-32. It shows that he is clueless about Quebec culture.”

Common on, are the Liberals so childish and petty that they would turn this into a partisan issue?  I mean like I said our PM works hard  he even have an without the Libs picking fault.  It shows they're jealous and  proves how bitter and angry the Liberals are.  It's Christmas time they could at least set partisanship aside show some Christmas spirit and give the man some credit but no.  And they call Conservatives mean spirited, well what do you call that?  It sure looks like they are the ones that are mean spirited.

It like Jane says at the end of the segment:

So can we expect Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff to belt out a French tune or two at the upcoming Liberal Christmas bash?

 Liberals should lighten up.
If anyone one missed it you can access the whole concert at Eye on the Hill blog.  Thanks to David Akin for posting it!