Tactical suggestions for the Tories
Saskatoon journalist Wayne Eyre has some suggestions for Stephen Harper in today’s National Post. Some of his ideas are similar to those found on my Election Issue Wish List.
One of those items is overreaching power of Canada’s various Human Rights Commissions, for which Eyre proposes a solution:
-Join (Liberal) MP Keith Martin’s initiative to kill Section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act — the one that deals with speech that’s "likely to expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt." Section 13 is custom-made for Islamist, and other, anti-free-speechers who — with no hit on their own wallet — can, and do, launch capricious and malicious suits against others.
Mr. Harper had it right in 1999, when he publicly opined that "Human Rights Commissions, as they are evolving, are an attack on our fundamental freedoms and the basic existence of a democratic society… It is, in fact, totalitarianism. I find this very scary stuff."
Of course, in today’s politically-correct world, this is a very delicate area. And throwing your support to an idea espoused by a member of a rival political party may not seem like a great idea during an election. However, I would certainly love to see more discussion on the topic of Section 13. (Are you listening, Steve Paikin?)
(Lots of background on this topic at ezralevant.com)
Eyre also seems to share my concerns about two-tier justice in Canada - especially Ontario. His suggestion of sending in the army to deal with native road blockades may seem a bit heavy-handed, but I would think there is a lot of support for this idea out there (Hello, Caledonia?). Unfortunately, it is another politically-incorrect concept and therefore not likely to be part of any party’s election platform.
Even though it’s not on my list, I like Eyre’s idea of improving the decorum in the House of Commons. It is an embarrassment to the country that our elected members of Parliament are allowed to act in such a juvenile fashion (my apologies to Canadian children).
Finally, on the topic of consumer food safety which was on my list and not Eyre’s, I would like to suggest that the Prime Minister explain to Canadians exactly how his government plans to protect Canadians from any kind of tainted food products. This is of vital importance to Canadians. We rely on Government standards to protect us from dangerous imported and domestic products.
Concern about food safety is a major ‘gut’ issue.
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Afternoon Update: Well, it looks like the Liberals and MSM are getting totally desperate - Liberals accuse Harper of plagiarizing 2003 speech on Iraq - CBC (which must be gloating right now)
When it comes to plagiarism, the Liberals are experts - Steve Janke.
Liberals try to bushwhack Harper with Plagiarism claim - Neil Hrab. (Post)
September 30th, 2008 at 10:07 am
Sorry to go off topic Joanne but I have to vent.
I just watched an overly partisan exchange between Roger Smith of CTV News and a news reader where they talked about a news conference that Bob Rae held either this morning or last night where he played video tapes of two speeches given in March of 2003.
In the first video, dated a couple of days before the other, the PM of Australia talks to his Parliament about supporting the Americans in the war against Iraq. The second video is of Harper giving a speech in the House that contains segments that were practically word for word compared to the Australian PM.
Bob Rae is now accusing the PM of plagerism and in his own little snooty way (casually wiping his nose and sniffing) said that Harper would have been thrown out of high school for such a thing.
That particular comment is nothing more than a cheap attempt to undo any of the good press that Harper received after his high school reunion where he was identified as being the smartest kid, and one of the nicest, in the school. (He even helped the immigrant kids with their assignments)
Roger Smith says that the idea behind this new attack is probably to tie Harper in with the Americans regarding the alliance between them and Australia over the Iraq invasion.
He didn’t mention anything about desparation.
They also talked about an attempt by the Liberals to bring together their greatest minds to come up with solutions to the current economic situation we find ourselves in. The talking head was almost gushing when she mentioned that the round table would include John Macallum who, as she pointed out, used to work in economics for a living. She didn’t mention that Harper is also an economist. Nor did they suggest that perhaps the greatest Liberal minds should be concerned about creating hysteria in a volatile marketplace.
The whole segment could be looked at as almost a primer for the Liberals and the direction they should be going in. They bemoaned the fact that Dion is making decisions himself and that he might not like the round-table idea. No mention of top party organizers resigning in frustration.
I feel their pain because I’m frustrated too.
NeilD
September 30th, 2008 at 10:13 am
Neil - expect the negativity, lies and smears to be ramped up in the next two weeks.
We just have to hope that Canadians are smart enough to see through it.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:16 am
Good grief! The word ‘desperate’ comes to mind.
Never apologize for going O/T, Neil. That is how I get most of my tips - from my readers.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:34 am
so, are you’re all OK with harper plagiarizing howard’s speech?
alberta girl, the video looks pretty clear. how is this a smear or a lie?
is this going to make dion PM? ah…no. however, it doesn’t help harper the day before the french language debates. does it?
on a day when sweater vest dude appears in a photo op walking his daughter to school, it seems rather unseemly that daddy is actually a cheater.
September 30th, 2008 at 10:45 am
Anyone catch the clip of Mary Walsh (aka Marg Delahunty) from 22 minutes on cbc this am? she had a bonfire,and was burning ’sweater vests’..then put a large photo of PMSH propped at side of fire.The photo wouldn’t burn,so Walsh relates this to PMSH being made of ice…lots of Kyoto crap in the segment as well.there is a little blurb about the skit at Nat.News.
As for the “plagarism” accusations,both Fife,and VanDusen have been smirking,and smearing since Rae trotted this out.this to me,smacks of sheer desparation on part of Libs,and the media are happily smearing right along with Rae.
For pete’s sake,isn’t the economy ’stupid’ way more critical than chasing this garbage?And why hasn’t there been saturation coverage on the Ont.finance minister yanking the legs out from Fed.Libs with his position on the carbon tax?Why isn’t david McGuinty being pursued for a comment? Fair and balanced MY A**!!
September 30th, 2008 at 11:12 am
on another topic altogether I just heard on CFRB that Mary Walsh is holding a blue sweater burning in Newfoundland to protest Harper’s cuts to the arts.
Let’s hope that Mary’s acting has improved somewhat otherwise the justifcation for the cuts to the fatcats are pretty much justified.
Burning things in protest isn’t Canadian or something the CBC endorses is it?
I used to like Walsh when she was on 22 minutes but she’s really pushing the envelop this time.
The blue-sweater burning really bothers me and is very suggestive of something close to hatred isn’t it?
September 30th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Did that fire cause any ghg. Re the plagarsm, from 5 years ago. Boy are those liberals desperate. Of course Jason C is beaming over this.
I care more about what the leaders are saying today, instead of something an opposition member said years ago. Time for the conservative war room to get out the ads showing Rae’s actions as premier of Ont.
Is this an example of how the liberals will act again in a minority HofC. Can’t they face the present and plan for the future instead of living in the past.
Julie Van D is showing how Dion plagariszed Suzuki and stole from him for his greenshift.
Desperate politics.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:17 am
They’ve never hidden their hatred…it’s just morphing into something quite extraordinary at this point. It makes me sick. The lies I’ve heard in the last 2 days only could fill a page. We can only pray that most people see it for what it is. pure trash, lies and manipulations.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:17 am
More bad news, 500 jobs in Ont going to the US. Something about avoiding exchange rate fluctuations etc.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:31 am
Dion speaking on poverty and how he will solve it.
Would some leader please explain what they mean by poverty.
If we don’t really know what they mean, how will we know it has been solved.
Dion is also giving his take on the speech of 5 years ago. I am sure lots of bloggers are out there looking for examples of others using sentences or words of someone else. Quit talking about how Iraq was wrong, accept the fact it happened and work to solve it. Can’t undo what was done.
Iggy also supported the invasion of Iraq. Does dion forget that.
September 30th, 2008 at 11:58 am
whether the speech is 5 years old or 100 years old, are you all OK with harper’s plagiarism?
caz? did you see the vids? how is this a lie?
September 30th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
1) John Howard is a world leader and was certainly a strong voice in the war against Iraq at the time these speeches were given. If the similarities are SO egregious, how come NO-ONE noticed before ?
2)Check out the comments on the CTV piece here. Looks like most people have had more than enough of these smears, innuendos and scandals.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
“so, are you’re all OK with harper plagiarizing howard’s speech?”
Does Harper write his own speeches? Did he write the speech in question?
Personally, I wouldn’t be okay with it, but I still believe Harper is by far the best choice for PM.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
ctv news LED with this non-story at top of hr!As well,played the story x2 within 15 min.last half-hr..along with a big Rae rant..it has gone beyond stupidity.Someone dig up some old Rae-Days propoganda..I’m sure there’s lots.
September 30th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Canadians need to be very afraid of the CBC and CTV’s hidden Agenda. It appears when Bob Rae tells CTV to jump they all shout “How High”. What is with this?
September 30th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
I have been trying to read the comments on the Globe article on “Harper’s plagiarism” here. There are apparently 260 comments, but for some reason I cannot access them. Can anyone else ?
Can they possibly be so anti-Rae, from the G & M readers no less, that the editors don’t want people to see them ????
September 30th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
The longer this election campaign goes on, the more disgusted I am with the left in this country.
They are a bunch of no-good, EVIL, AMORAL socialists, the lot of them. They bring out the abortion issue. Only a matter of time before Alberta gets insulted again. The welfare artists (yes Mary Filth Walsh, that means you) whine and holler and throw fits. The MSM colludes with the left. This country is in serious trouble. If this is what passes as being Canadian, then I don’t want to be Canadian anymore. I’m sick to death of all of them.
Stephen Harper is the only leader who is fit to be PM. Period.
And that’s it for me today. My blood pressure can’t take much more of this crap. Gardening, here I come!
September 30th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
Mary T. and all - that story about more bad news and the loss of 500 Ontario jobs is probably the news that greeted 500+ workers at Volvo in Goderich Ontario who were herded into a meeting this morning to be told that the big boys are moving the company to the USA by at least 2010.
You can read about it at http://www.1049thebeach.ca.
To most of us while we wished it wouldn’t happen, ask any one on our streets today and folks will tell you that we saw it coming for years. What did we do about it? What did our local, provincial or federal government do about it? Nothing….just kept crossing their fingers when we were warned over, and over and over again. The last union contract perhaps was the clincher and was too rich for this company. Rumour on the street at that time was that the workers had a choice, either their jobs or their union.
Once in a while it just might make sense for small towns like ours to have even a remote economic development plan, and a contingency plan for the “what if”. We have neither….whose fault is that?
The same folks who crossed their fingers and who were in a leadership position…that’s who.
Oh, and guess what….all the stunts the Liberals and Mary Walsh are pulling, and accusations about Harper stealing John Howard’s speech doesn’t phase me one bit. These are signs of a desperate party or parties getting in the way of some real and necessary vision and planning for our economic future.
That of course is Stephen Harper. Because my town sure can’t trust the Raes and Walsh’s of this world because as for funding the arts, ask any one of those workers at Volvo today how important that is and you’re lucky if you don’t get your head knocked off your shoulders. Mention Bob Rae and you’re lucky if you’re not tossed out of town.
September 30th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
CTV is really disgusting today. First Rae and his accusations of plagerism. Now, on the CTV website a story about the PM patting his daughter on the shoulder.
Disgusting!
Desperation on the part of the Libs and their supporters in the MSM.
September 30th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
Just a question: why hasn’t the msm been focused like a laser on all the 9-11 ‘truthers’ in the ndp?and the close friendship between Layton and the head of this loony group? CBC national had a wee bit on about it last eve…guess what..only one or two very softball questions for Jacko,he denies the close ties,but Barry says they did share some ‘beliefs’ even caught on video.
and now on ctv..Dan Matheson almost yelling at top of news..THE PRIME MINISTER IS IN HOT WATER!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:11 pm
Seems Bob Rae has some plagairism ‘issues’ in his own past!See latest post from AGWN!
September 30th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Wow! I have a lot to catch up on here. I was helping my Mom with her gardening, and come back to all this.
Sammy, thanks for your tip. Link here to Steve Janke.
I’ll have to do some reading…
September 30th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Newstalk 570 discussing the whole situation now. (Listen live).
September 30th, 2008 at 3:12 pm
If I was PM i would tell Bob Rae he should have no worries about the PM plagiarizing his economic policies as premier of Ontario.
I see Jeff, has returned to his usual self. Jeff, care to explain about Dion plagarizing David Suzuki with Project Green in 2004?
September 30th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Jeff, care to explain about Dion plagarizing David Suzuki with Project Green in 2004?
Or stealing the ‘Green Shift’ name?
September 30th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
Jack Layton ripped off part of a Barack Obama primary speech as I recall.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:53 pm
500 people of a 7000 person town just find out that their futures are being yanked and we’re still in the gutter topics the Liberals dig up.
No one cares. If the MSM cares I’m pretty sure that the ears in my community will be tuned to the guy who can help them most…..and it’s not Dion, Rae, Iggy, Jack.
Only one guy counts now.
September 30th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
How about Layton trying to look like Obama, rolled up sleeves etc. He still reminds me of the video professor on tv.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
Wow. Harper staffer quits!
September 30th, 2008 at 4:25 pm
OH OH, Paul Wells just interviewed on cbc about this problem and he used the term lipstick on a pig and did not credit the originator of the stmt.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Right, Mary T. Let’s get on their case!
New post up, BTW.
Sol, thanks for the insight into the Volvo situation. Very little about it in MSM so far.
September 30th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
all CTV and CBC cares about it seems is gutter politics…not the crisis facing my town…or any other town in this country.
Really glad that Harper has asked for a full hour during the debate to focus only on the economic situation.
I wonder if the other parties will agree?
September 30th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
suzuki was consulted. the green shift is legally licensed.
anything else?
September 30th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
Is this what you mean by consulted Jeff?
“Pierre Sadik, senior policy adviser for the David Suzuki Foundation, acknowledged there were several similarities between the Dion Web site and the foundation’s paper but said that’s a “non-issue” for him.
“We’re delighted any time a politician picks up our proposed solutions to Canada’s environmental problems.”
By the way, that statement was made “after the fact”, when the media realized that parts of Dion’s plan were in fact taken from Suzuki’s website.
And surely you don’t even want to go there re:gren shift license. You forget about the lawsuit, comments made by Liberal’s in regards to Ms. Wright? Garth Turner’s blog posting. Liberal’s denying they were using the name without permission, and then finally agreeing she owned the name? Paying the license agreement to avoid further embarassment during the election campaign?
Any of that ring a bell Jeff?