Blue Like You

Archive for April, 2007

Does anyone else out there resent Al Gore telling Canada what to do about the environment? I can barely tolerate David Suzuki’s squawking, but the sanctimonious Goracle???

Well Mr. Gore, stick this in your global warming pipe and smoke it.

One thing you’ve got to give Lorrie Goldstein - he doesn’t play favourites! This is probably the most balanced editorial I’ve read to date on the Afghan detainee story.

But let’s put the blame game aside, ferret out the truth and get on with a responsible solution. And while I’m at it, where’s the rest of NATO? Why are we left hanging with all these problems?

I would like to join Dr. Roy in wishing our Prime Minister a very happy birthday today. The previous post also contains some birthday wishes from various readers towards the end of the thread.

Like Dr. Roy, I must admit I had my doubts about Stephen Harper at the beginning. Even when canvassing in the last election I ran into people who said they didn’t think Mr. Harper was the right man for the job.

However, over the last few years I have not only had the pleasure of hearing him speak in person several times; I have even shaken hands with him, had my photo taken with him and had that photo personally signed by him with my favourite gold Sharpie. It doesn’t get much better than that for a Blogging Tory.

So today I want to thank Stephen Harper for following his inner convictions and trying to do his best for our country. He’s here to get the job done. No, he’s not perfect. None of us are. But I truly believe that he is working for Canada; not for his own glory. That is why I support him and respect him.

Happy Birthday, Prime Minister!

I just want to thank Lorrie Goldstein for his column this morning - What Did You Decide, Dion?

At first I thought he was going to talk about whether or not the opposition will attempt a motion of non-confidence since the recently-announced environmental policy is a “scam”.

But no, Lorrie was referring to the Liberal ad where Dion is celebrated as having “led 182 countries to a long-term agreement to fight climate change.”

The actual meeting results were a bit more sketchy according to Robert Henson’s account in The Rough Guide to Climate Change. Goldstein does give credit to Dion for keeping the meeting process from falling apart. But what else did Stephane Dion accomplish as Environment Minister, other than running meetings with flair and watching “Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions increase at almost twice the rate of the U.S.”?

I can’t think of a thing.

But that’s not actually why I’m so grateful to Lorrie for this morning’s editorial. The real reason is that he finally deciphered what Dion said in the end of the commercial as he triumphantly pounds his gavel on the desk to the thunderous applause of those around him. - “Decided”.

I honestly thought he said “Silence”. Silly me.

Thanks Lorrie.

Yesterday Premier Dalton McGuinty defended the FLICK-OFF campaign by saying that some people are being ‘a bit too FLICKING sensitive’.

But McGuinty, who proudly donned a bracelet emblazoned with the slogan earlier in the day, said he can’t understand how it could offend “the modest sensibilities of some Ontarians.”

“I might expect my mother to complain about this,” McGuinty told a gathering of radio and television news directors in Toronto.

So I wonder if Dalton’s mother has also joined Liberal media strategist Ben Chin’s list of Ontario residents who are “out of touch”?

Joel-Denis Bellevance relates a story in La Presse that suggests that the former Liberal government was keenly aware of warnings of torture in Afghanistan (H/T National Newswatch).

This is a translated version of the article, so it reads the way Stephane Dion speaks English, and is therefore somewhat difficult to follow, but well worth the effort.

Bellevance makes the point that the present government is surely to blame for a lot of confusion this week, but the Liberals may not have been lily-white in the affair themselves.

And here’s your weekend quiz courtesy of ChuckerCanuk: Am I a Liberal..?

This is a gut-wrenching story from the Star - Plunged into darkness.

Simply put, Moses Han went blind because he didn’t have the $1,300 to fix an infected tooth. The infection eventually caused him to lose his sight.

Dental care is not included in Canada’s medicare system so provincial health insurance does not cover it. There are some options for treatment. For those on social assistance and the Ontario Disability Support Program, there’s basic coverage, but no preventative treatment.

I have long wondered why basic dental care is not covered by the public health care system; especially for those who can’t afford it and have no private insurance. An infection can not only cause blindness, but other major problems such as affecting cardiac function. Preventative treatment could save a lot of money in the long run.

Canadian citizens should not have their health compromised due to major dental problems.

No surprises with John Baird’s environmental plan. He had no choice but to straddle that difficult line between trying to please the environmentalists and safeguarding the economy. Of course he received few kudos for his efforts.

I concur with Chantel Hebert, Don Martin and the incredibly insightful ChuckerCanuk that now is the time for the opposition to either put forward a motion of non-confidence or forever hold their flicking peace.

Speaking of Dalton, one wonders what climate-change nightmare is in store for us:

“It falls short of Canadian expectations. I think we can reach further and we intend to do that here in Ontario when we put out our climate change plan,” he said at the opening of the Green Living Show at Exhibition Place.

Gulp! With that let-them-eat-tofu majority government of his, there’s no telling what might happen to this poor province’s economy.

And from the Goracle: Al Gore says Tories’ Green Plan ‘A Fraud’.

Mr. Gore acknowledged he is not a Canadian citizen and said he has “no right to interfere in your decisions.”

- Then don’t!!!

Baird fights back.

Lotto-gate, ‘Corner Store Trust’-gate, Colle-gate, ‘FLICK-OFF’-gate…

The Ontario majority Liberal government is having to spend a lot of bothersome effort trying to divert public attention away from these pesky nuisances.

Accountability? Who needs that when you have a majority? You just vote down any attempt to be examined for questionable actions.

The public? They’re so self-absorbed they don’t even care what you do right, Dalton?

The first rule of politics for the McGuinty government is when confronted with an attack, fling back any mud you can grab. Anyone watching Oral Questions in the Ontario Legislature yesterday would know what I’m referring to. The government refuses to be accountable to the opposition and therefore by extension to the taxpayers.

But I always thought that being in charge of the public purse is a sacred trust - That it should be respected; not used as a party coffer.

However, I digress. In today’s Sun Christiana Blizzard relates how she was told by former CityTV reporter-turned Liberal media strategist Ben Chin that she was “out of touch” as was radio host Bill Carroll and the entire CFRB audience; the overwhelming majority of whom felt that Minister Broten should resign. Chin later apologized and said that he meant that John Tory was out of touch.

Well here’s a wake-up call, Ben. You can add a lot of MSM pundits and bloggers across the whole political spectrum to that list of folks who are out of touch. Also the National Post. I’m sure there are others.

So who’s really out of touch? I’ll let you decide. I’m just a dumb taxpayer who probably can’t be trusted.

The McGuinty Liberals have used their majority to prevent an investigation by the Auditor General regarding the process of grants being doled out by Citizenship and Immigration.

I watched Question Period this afternoon and I was absolutely astounded and angered by the obfuscation and snide attacks by George Smitherman and eventually Minister Colle when he finally decided to show up at 3 p.m.

What a travesty of democracy! Every Ontario citizen should be watching this disgusting display of antics before they vote in October. I am appalled.

Globe - “Colle-gate” affair has managed to put Liberals in a box. (Subscriber only).