Jay just reposted a list of things that a "real tory" party would implement. Some of them make sense, like getting rid of the CHRC. Others, like abolishing the CBC, are the usual conservative claptrap spouted by people who've never lived in the boonies where the CBC is the only local link to the outside world - the CBC goes where it's not profitable to go, as a service to Canadians, and provides actual Canadian content in the highly USicized world.

Some of the points I agreed with - doing away with tax-free status for churches, for example. Others are bewildering - stopping immigration from non-democratic states? Like, say, Vietnam? China? Russia (technical a kleptocracy)? Pakistan (it's only democrat...ish)? Oh! Does Iran count? They used to be a democracy until the US installed the Shah... How about democracies like Malaysia and Singapore who aren't secular or don't believe in freedom of anything but the vote? How about all the places in Africa where people get elected mainly because their opponents keep disappearing?

What I really think the point meant was "Only allow immigration from white, western-European states, because we can't trust those darkies with their weird religions and alien ways." Please, correct me if I'm wrong.

Vote conservative, Newfoundland OR WE WILL DESTROY YOU. I mean... er... or we will listen to you even less than we already do! And nothing times nothing is nothing! FEAR THE MIGHTY EFFECTS OF MULTIPLICATION.

This great new ad that's floating around with Stephen Harper talking about being a father really cracks me up. Wait, he loves his kids? WOW. I know it's surprising, but as Sting so wisely pointed out, even Russians love their children too.

So, to mark the lamest most panderingest ad so far in Election '08, I call for a campaign slogan contest!

Here are my entries:

1. Stephen Harper: doesn't hate his kids after all!
2. Stephen Harper: We know he's human, because even he has children!
3. Stephen Harper: his sperm are motile!
4. Stephen Harper: Somehow finds time to talk to his kids, unlike the rest of you lazy slobs.
5. Stephen Harper: more than just a firm handshake - also, music lessons.
6. Stephen Harper: The Daddy that Canada needs. Because we've been sneaking out with that unsavory Dion fellow and it has to stop, young lady.
7. Stephen Harper: Reproductively successful.
8. Stephen Harper: He may break promises to the country, but he is an adequate parent!

Er, ok, I'm all out.

Foul fowl:

What should the election be about? Some say the federal Liberals should still be accountable for a sponsorship scandal that happened more than a decade ago when the party was attempting to fight separatism in Quebec. We rightly sent them to the political penalty box for the foul.

Now people are dying of listeriosis because Stephen Harper's Conservative government deregulated Canada's principal meat-packing plant as a test project for further deregulation. I'd say his team deserves a game misconduct penalty and he deserves a lifetime suspension from ever playing again.

Eugene Parks
Victoria

I quoted it in its entirety because it needs to be screamed from the rooftops. h/t Impolitical.

Now, perhaps I need to take a refresher course in Canadian federal law. Because, the last time I checked, the only way politicians can change the laws of our country is to pass legislation, or to pass an act repealing legislation. Apparently, however, I missed the day where they taught us that it's as simple as giving a speech:

... emissions have increased to the point where the Conservatives argue targets are now impossible to reach without triggering economic devastation. As for the Liberal private member's bill, the government argues that it was effectively nullified when the Commons approved last fall's Throne Speech that said Canada's Kyoto targets can't be met. (emphasis mine) - Globe and Mail

Ok, so, hold on a minute. The conservative position is that you don't actually have to pass any legislation, you simply have to give a speech that outlines your legislative and policy agenda for the next session of parliament.

Why bother holding parliament? We'll just have a throne speech each year. And then we can adjourn and go skiing.

The wRong Horrible Stephen Harper has filed his Statement of Claim against Dion. I fail to see how being accused of involvement in setting up a $1 million insurance fund for Cadman in any way leads to $2 million worth of damages to Harper's reputation. And that's above and beyond punitive damages, which are a mere $500,000 to ensure the Liberals have learned their lesson.

This huge amount reminds me of SLAPP suits. I mean, if you're Catherine Zeta Jones and a newspaper runs photos that make you look fat you don't get so much.

Presuming Harper's reputation is lily white (which the law must, even if I don't), how has this slander caused him to lose $2 million? Will clients avoid him once he is toppled from power? Will Boards of Directors think twice before appointing him? In fact, the kind of behaviour that Stephen Harper was accused of on the Liberal website (knowing about an attempt to bribe somebody, that is) is the kind of behaviour that I imagine many corporations give their CEOs bonuses for engaging in. And I think the presumption that $2 million represents lost salary as PM is really discounting how many Canadians weren't going to vote for him before the Cadman affair.

Maybe Stephen Harper should be thanking Stéphane Dion and the Liberal Party. And maybe he should look into suing the real culprits who are damaging his reputation: the people who publish unflattering photos of him. It might be money better spent.

Centralizing power in the PMO corrupts democracy, Gomrey says.

Well, duh?