Blue Like You

…Turning Ontario into a ‘WEAKER SISTER’ .

Well at least we’ll have Danny Williams to bail us out.

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Update : One thing Dalton could do is crack down on the illegal cigarette trade , and try to regain control of the lost tax revenue. But Weak Sisters don’t do that kind of thing.

Anyway, who would want to invest in a province where natives are allowed to barricade highways at will, and told they have the legal right to intimidate business developers ? Go west, young man!

Thursday 10:00 a.m. update - 570 News’ Jeff Allen will be interviewing TD’s Donald Drummond next regarding Ontario’s possible future status as a have-not province.

Sunday Update : Lessons heading into a recession - Toronto Sun .

My brother’s keeper? Not if he lives in Ontario - Herald.

Have-not status a blow to the psyche, expert says - Citizen .

And here’s a special little gift via Elizabeth Thompson - New Poll Bad News for Liberals .

Is it possible that this minority government could last the full term?

I just happened upon this editorial by Jacob Brinkman Reaume posted on the National Post blog site - We’re lost in the fog of a moral disaster . Reaume’s premise appears to be that here in Canada we really have very little ground to stand on when attempting to restrict polygamy from a moral viewpoint.

When we abandon the notion of an absolute truth (read ‘God’) , then we put ourselves at the mercy of the State to define morality for us. When it comes to polygamy, the only legal club we could possibly have against it is prosecution in cases of underage girls being forced to have sex. That becomes difficult when the victims refuse to testify or even acknowledge abuse.

The comments following the piece are interesting and demonstrate the wide variance of opinion on this matter. Please feel free to weigh in with your own thoughts here.

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Update : Shane at the Politic has a somewhat related post - Gay rights do not equal cohabitation rights in England.

H/T to National Newswatch for this one - The Original in and out election financing .

Elizabeth Thompson had an ‘aha’ moment today:

…Listening today to one Bloc Québécois MP after another get up to denounce "in and out" financing and praise Elections Canada, those bells started to ring even louder.
The term "in and out" in connection with election financing was first used by my former colleague and classmate Andrew McIntosh to describe a lucrative arrangement cooked up by the Bloc to take advantage of a loophole in election financing laws to extract the maximum amount of taxpayer-funded refunds from Elections Canada. We might never have heard about it if Bloc MP Jean-Paul Marchand hadn’t balked at the obligation to spend the maximum amount possible on his campaign in the 2000 election, prompting a court case, a scandal and a decision to close the loophole…

Quite amusing in view of the Bloc’s fawning confidence motion .

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Update : The Trusty Tory has been doing a great job tracking the hypocrisy of the opposition parties on this matter - Hypocritical Party of Canada .

More at Sandy’s with links to Andrew Coyne and Hunter .

Jack’s Newswatch - Tories Blast Elections Canada .

Reader Rich feels that we’re wasting too much precious time talking about Brenda Martin . Instead, he would like to focus on the economy. Sounds like a good plan to me.

Just to get started, here’s his comment:

"Joanne; Enough of BM rantings, I would like to get an opinion on the state of Canada’s economy.

The LPC keep harping on their 8 (eight) balanced budgets and 8 years of surpluses and critize the CPC for bringing Canada to the brink of deficit. If a government continually does this it usually means that the Canadian people are overtaxed to the max with no services provided. Services like the Canadian Armed forces, Cities Infrastructure, Highways & bridges. Under the LPC what we got was spending of 2 billion dollars to an ineffective gun registry, HRC commissions, CPP that do nothing for the majority of Canadians.

The CPC believe that they are the stewards of tax payers money and if there is any left over after providing for necesaary services, it should be returned to the tax payer in the form of refunds. I for one am glad for the handling of the economy."

Thoughts???

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Update : Ontario will be a have-not province:TD !!!

Campbell’s closing in Listowel, Ontario - The Have-not Province?

And from the Record :

…Falling to have-not status is an important psychological barrier for Canada’s largest province, Drummond added.

"It gives the signal that Ontario is not the mighty king of the economy anymore,” he said. "It’s one of the weaker partners, but again it’s not so much Ontario’s being weak as the other provinces are really roaring along.”

So…. Is it Jim Flaherty’s fault for slagging Ontario or Dalton’s for not listening to his advice ?

Thursday Update : Carbon Tax a fuels paradise . - Lorrie Goldstein .

And from the Post : How Stephen Harper ruined our national balance sheet - Ralph Goodale .

I could have predicted this one - Patience running out for tiresome Ms. Martin:

…Ms. Martin went to trial this month, no doubt after diplomatic arm-twisting from Canada. But even they couldn’t deliver the innocent verdict she sought. Guilty, declared a Mexican judge. Cue tears and more bitter fury at footdragging Canadian authorities, even while they cut a cheque to cover her $3,500 court fine.

Last week, the Harper government dispatched no-nonsense MP Jason Kenney to expedite her transfer back to Canada.

It’s a process than can take nine months if both sides agree, yet Ms. Martin could set a record for speedy departures if she’s released this week. Not good enough, fumed Ms. Martin after a meeting with two MPs, the Canadian ambassador and a few embassy officials. She wants a flight home now, wants to be spared the standard handcuffing while in transit and wants parole upon landing …

In my opinion there is only one thing the Canadian government is guilty of - doing too much for Brenda Martin.

Christian Horizons has come under a great deal of unwanted publicity lately due to a decision by the OHRC that ruled that the Christian organization must pay lesbian Connie Heinz $23,000, plus interest. I discussed this story a few days ago , and I’m still not sure where exactly I stand on it.

However, today the Record had an interesting editorial that alluded to the ramifications of this type of ruling - and the dangerous precedent that it might be setting:

What last week’s ruling really shows is how the delicate balance between personal and religious rights in Canada is in continual need of adjustment. The ultimate outcome of the ruling against Christian Horizons could be a series of uncomfortable questions about other religious groups that perform services for the general public. Will someone, for instance, in the wake of this ruling question the right of Catholic hospitals in Ontario to refuse to perform abortions? Would the tribunal hear such a case?

Lorne Gunter also has a few thoughts on this situation. What he finds most disturbing is that Christian Horizons must, among other things, now undergo Human rights training, which Gunter equates to thought-control:

…Worse yet, all CH managers and employees must undergo a "human rights training program," which, of course, is a euphemism for government-approved, state indoctrination aimed at re-educating unacceptable beliefs out of employees’ heads…

Christian Horizons is still pondering the ruling and may appeal. Otherwise, they may be forced to either comply with the ruling, or simply stop delivering the services to the general public and help only Evangelical Christians, which would allow them to stay in touch with their own religious beliefs.

The Ontario opposition parties are pushing to defund CH , even though their services cost the government less than what could be provided otherwise.

A difficult situation. I’m sure we’ll see other similar cases in the future.

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Update : Here’s another example showing how Canadian Human Rights Commissions are looking out for you - Alleged hijacking of website by rights officials ‘disturbing’.

Interesting case here where a gay bar tried to ban a woman and was charged by the Quebec Human Rights Commission . H/T Ezra Levant

Works both ways, I guess.

Wednesday Update : Evangelical and Catholic Groups Call for Curbs on Human Rights Commission after Anti-Christian Ruling - Lifesite .

Blue Like You (Joanne’s Journey ) has undergone some significant changes - most notably that this blog is now powered by WordPress.

I’m still getting used to the differences between WP and Blogger , so your patience is greatly appreciated.

I would like to express my extreme gratitude to Sandy and Cynapse for their never ending encouragement, assistance and endless patience in this endeavor. A big thank you also goes to my IHTG . who certainly earns his keep providing I.T. support to our family. And thanks to Stephen Taylor for his patience in addressing BT Aggregator changes for me.

If you happen to notice anything not working or problematic, please let me know either by clicking on the contact page, or leaving a comment.

Some of the previous posts and comments have not quite made it through the transition, but I’m looking forward to lots of new discussion here. Anyone with WordPress experience is more than welcome to offer tips and suggestions.

This is a work in progress. Thanks for your support.

Have you seen that commercial yet from a well-known big-box store where the woman screws in a CFL bulb, and the box in which it was packaged suggests that the earth might have a crush on her because she is so eco-friendly? She blushes and stammers in return. (Never mind that it’s ‘Mother Earth’ that she’s flirting with… Yeah we won’t go there.)

This is becoming an increasingly common media and activist ploy - ascribing human attributes to inanimate objects or non-human life forms in order to garner public sympathy and increase activist support. I assume the theory is that if we can identify with something in human terms, then we will be more inclined to accept the message.

And so we to try to “Save the planet” instead of trying to save the people on the planet. Instead of trying to be good stewards of the earth so that we can continue to sustain ourselves here, the focus is on getting rid of the human filth that degrades the earth. Barbara Kay alluded to this mindset in a recent column, Hug the Earth, kill the humans:

…Watson is the symbol of a movement that originated in a desire to improve the planet’s physical condition, but transmogrified into the zero-sum dogma of eco-spirituality, in which the object of worship is the environment, and the messianic goal its return to a pre-civilization Edenic state. In this scenario, Earth is perennial victim, mankind eternal villain, the consumption of natural resources original sin. No emotionally manipulative appeal is beyond the pale for this pagan religion’s demagogues, even the shameful appropriation of racist tropes. Alpha eco-spiritualist novelist Alice Walker claims, “the Earth is the nigger of the world…”

In today’s Sun, Michael Coren also sees this as a worrisome trend:

… Here lies the point. Life matters much, much more than the planet, which is merely a place on which humans live. We need to care for Earth not because of it, but because of us. Pure self-interest. If humanity did not exist, to hell with the planet. It’s a means to an end. We’re the end; Earth the means.

Problem is, fashionable thinking has reversed the equation. The planet is to be saved because it is precious in itself and we, dangerous intruders, are the problem. Earth is to be revered, loved and even worshipped. Like some perverse replacement theology, Mother Earth takes on the role of real mothers and fathers….

And even more perverse is the notion that animals are more valuable than human beings. Bishop Fred Henry notes:

…As PETA founder Ingrid Newkirk has said, “When it comes to pain, love, joy, loneliness and fear, a rat is a pig is a dog is a boy. Each one values his or her life and fights the knife.”

Nevertheless, it turns out that some animals are more equal than others. One would expect that consistency would demand the condemnation of poisoning babies in the womb with a saline solution or cutting them up with surgical tools but Newkirk and Singer don’t believe that human beings have the right to life…

I suppose the most frightening aspect of all of this is the mass brain-washing done in our public school system:

Dear Mother Earth,

What is our earth? I know it is the animals. What we can do? We can pick up the garbag and we can take care of the animals. Why is it important? to love you? I love you Mother Earth. If we don’t love you everything wil go away.

Perhaps the school system should focus more on spelling than scaring kids into submission.

This morning’s Sun editorial encapsulated most of my personal reaction regarding the surprise TTC strike.

The union acted very irresponsibly by not giving any warning. As I watched the Toronto news stations near midnight, reporters were giving the information to many young women as they were planning to head home via a bus or subway. Several were in shock. I have a young niece who lives in downtown Toronto and I was immediately concerned for her safety.

The supposed reason for not giving a 48 hour warning was apparently to protect workers from abuse, but I suspect that transit users will have a few choice words for the drivers once this situation is temporarily resolved.

It should be a lesson for both David Miller and Dalton McGuinty though. Their union friends will just keep demanding more and more. They will never be able to satisfy their demands, and it will come at a huge cost to the taxpayer and transit user - both financially and in terms of safety.

At some point, they may need to make a tough choice.

And that time may well be now.