Back in November of last year I alluded to the possiblity that we were all being set up for a Good Cop Bad Cop scenario with Don Drummond.
Reader Jon has fleshed out that theory in light of yesterday’s release of Drummond’s report:
…The economist gives his advice on how much needs to be cut knowing that the premier is not going to adopt all of those recommendations and, as a result, instead of having McLiar’s 7 or 10 or even 12% compared to the 3.9% spending cuts brought in by Harris, whom he so viciously attacked from the opposition benches, he will compare his cuts to the 16% recommended by Drummond.
This will also establish a narrative for the Consensus Media to run with. Instead of emphasizing how the cuts are double or even tripple that of Harris’, they too will compare it to Drummond’s recommendations, joining with McLiar in saying “things could be worse, the cuts could’ve been deeper, you know!”
Jon has much more available at the link. Please check it out and discuss here.
Have we all been ‘had’?
* * * *
Update
Brutally frank column by Kelly McParland – Don Drummond catalogues the McGuinty mess in meticulous detail. (H/T Newsbeat 1)
Was Don Drummond merely a pawn? Read this Star column by Robert Benzie:
…But Liberal insiders told the Star the report presents a “worst-case scenario” that could give the government political cover when less dramatic cuts are made later this year.
That is not what Drummond wanted to hear.
“This is not a smorgasbord from which the government can choose only the tastiest morsels and ignore the less palatable,” he said.
Terence Corcoran has a must-read column in the FP – The Big McGuinty switch.
Did Don Drummond know he would be part of a shell-game?
This morning at http://www.cfra.com
8:10 Ontario PC Leader Tim Hudak
8:40 Ontario New Democrat Leader Andrea Horwath
8:50 Bob Chiarelli, Liberal MPP, Ottawa West Nepean and Ontario Infrastructure Minister
Thanks MadMacs!
What really riles me is McGuilty’s overpreening pride in this report which if it hadn’t been for his government’s fiscal irresponsibility and unaccountability resulting in financial calamity for Ontario, there’d be no need in the first place.
Another concern as an Ontarian taxpayer: How much did this report to get us out of the McGuilty-created mess cost us?
Duh-ton’s aggrandizement of himself and his party never ceases to amaze and revolt me.
Oh, and while I’m on the subject of politicians who disappoint, I’m clear that the provincial Conservatives need a new leader. Tim Hudak is almost as AWOL as McGuinty and while he agreed with the recommendation to scrap all-day kindergarten for three-year-olds (hallelujah!), he then got all milquetoasty as he acknowledged this would be difficult for some Ontario parents.
I’d like to see a Conservative leader with the courage of his convictions who takes a firm stand and doesn’t budge from it. Hudak is not that leader. He’s lukewarm, he has no fire in his belly, and when the last election was the Conservatives to lose, given the Liberals’ dismal record, Hudak lost it handily.
Ontarians have been badly served by all of our political leaders. They all must take some responsibility for the fact that Ontario has gone from a thriving, have-province to a dismal, vulnerable, in-trouble have-not province in just a few short years — the years of McGuinty’s government. While the Liberal Government will wear this ignominy, the Conservatives and NDP by standing by and letting this happen bear some responsibility.
Shame on all of them.
sorry Batb but I think Tim gained a lot of seats in the last election for the PCs. A lot of other leaders have got to their majority doing it the same way….small steps.
I don’t know if I would be that hard on Tim Hudak myself. He acknowledged that All-Day Kindergarten would be nice, but asked if we can really afford it? I think that’s a reasonable position. JMHO of course.
yes, and Peter Shurman said it very well. We all want all-day kindergarten, but if we can’t afford it, then we can’t have it.
I don’t want all-day kindergarten!
It’s mostly a cash-grab by teacher unions to keep schools open that are closing because of our low birth rate and, therefore, its main raison d’etre is not the well-being and education of our children but an employment scheme.
It’s also questionable whether three-year-olds would thrive going to school for six or seven hours a day, five days a week. The regimentation required is onerous for a child of three years and what would the ratio of children to a caregiver/teacher be?
The other consideration is, do you want your three-year-old being indoctrinated into the socialist/feminist/LGBTQ agenda at such an early age? As it is, s/he’s going to encounter this juggernaut at the age of five or six. I, for one, would like to see our young people hang onto their innocence for as long as possible, which is becoming increasingly difficult in our public education system.
If my children were still young, I would resist sending them to all-day school at the age of three. I don’t trust the leftward thrust of the educational system and would not want my children exposed to it at such an early and vulnerable age.
JMO!
I agree batb, I sure wouldn’t send my 3/4 year old child to all-day or even half-day kindergarten. Of course I realize I’d be considered a kook and depriving my child from being socialized. “Socialized” is the operative word here, it’s the excuse for sending diapered little ones for the “early learning” experience the state says is so vital to their development.
Many schools boards can’t afford it, McGuinty can’t afford it but it’s staying, he’ll cut senior’s drug benefits and make sure they have living wills so they can be bumped off if they’re hanging in hospital beds too long.
batb – you’re not alone in your thinking on full-day Kindergarten, and I think that you’ve nailed it re: what this whole program is about – employment for teachers, NOT early education for toddlers.
Great column from your local paper Joanne – and the teacher unions are already grumbling – surprise, surprise!
http://www.therecord.com/opinion/columns/article/672364–drummond-speaks-a-language-liberals-don-t-understand
I’ll have to check that out! Busy morning with my grandson. Whew!
McGuinty’s put a heavy black cloud over this province, not much chance for rays of sunshine to get through, we’re all going to feel the effects.
Then when we hear his MP’s trying to pull the Federal government into their mess or blame the world situation we know what a bankrupt bunch of McGuinty tools and patsies they really are.
Listening to Bob Chiarelli on CFRA just now is enough to make you barf.
I guess SINCE SINCE the lamestream media blame Hudak for Ontario’s demise it will start to put the blame squarely on the Layton NDP for losing the Federal election and therefore are guilty for all the Federal Government policies.
yes it makes sense that we will see condemnation of the Federal NDP.
anyone see ANY logic to the thinking of the LMSM?
ohhhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I get it Tim Hudak is a PC
Prime Minister Harper is Conservative Former Premier Mike Harris was a PC
former Prime Minister Mulroney was PC
yes yes now it is clear
we are NOT stupid Canadians are NOT stupid
thank heavens for SUN TV where news is reported
Premier McGuinty is totally TOTALLY responsible for ONTAR-I-OWES mess
don’t blame Tim Hudak the cities elected Dalton too bad we cannot shift the financial
responsibility too the cities
demand that Dalton act to get Ontario back on track to a healthy economy NOW
fh
As a long time observer of politics, I’ve never seen the rhetoric and spin from the usual suspects on the left so disconnected from reality. The gobbledygook is getting really bad in Alberta too, as our intelligence keeps getting insulted on an almost daily basis.
Anyway, you guys are about to reap the whirlwind from all these years of McGuinty’s incompetence, corruption and pandering. I’m not even sure that McGuinty will be the one that picks your poison. It could be the public sector union leadership that decides to play hardball with massive strikes. The silver lining in that scenario is that spending (i.e. salaries) will be cut big time.
It is a really bad time for unions to rear their heads at such a critical economic juncture, particularly OPSEU which represents the Ontario Public Service, for whom I work. Our contract is up this December 31. I thought after seeing the Drummond Report, and with a minority government led by a party that will be in desperate need to be seen as cost cutters that my union would realize that their collective backs, so to speak, are going to be up against the walls if they even TRY to fight to get more. But ohhhhhhhhhh noooooo, take a look here -
http://www.opseu.org/news/press2012/february-15-2012.htm
These fools running my union are actually going to try and fight for gains when unions every where else are seeing that they are lucky to even keep what they have, even their jobs. It boggles the mind how irresponsible and destructive that public sector unions really are. It is sad to say, but I am finding myself becoming more open to walking away from a job that I have been doing for twelve years just get away from this poisoned environment.
“Ontarians want to see their public services protected and improved; they want to see corporations and high-income earners pay their fair share in taxes; and they want to reduce the deficit through job creation,” Warren (Smokey) Thomas said today.
*SIGH* so that is their answer then; create yet MORE government jobs. Not only is he resisting the need to cut back, to be happy to fight to preserve what we already have now without losing anything, but our union president is advocating the need to spend MORE by just making up jobs for people. What an irresponsible FOOL.
the OSSTF is yipping too today. The other teacher unions will like join the fray as well.
I don’t believe that the taxpaying public will be very sympathetic to the public sector union workers, not this time. Patience is just about running out.
I just got my hydro bill – Thanks for NOTHING Dalton!
It may yet become necessary for the Public and Catholic school boards to amalgamate, it makes sense for all concerned.
Okay Michael, I read your link, and am not much surprised from the pushback by OPSEU leadership. Their job is to defend the interests of OPSEU members. If they DIDN’T talk so tough, they would surely be bounced from their union jobs at the end of their term.
But I’m not telling you anything you don’t already know. Every special interest group whose ox could be gored, post-Drummond, is going to howl as loudly as possible. All their arguments are obviously self-serving.
There just aren’t enough folks like you, who see themselves as part of the greater Ontario team, understand the dire fiscal situation, and are willing to become part of the solution, instead of remaining as part of the problem.
Unions are taking a hit everywhere, we will be lucky just to keep what we have. So by making such unreasonable demands at this critical economic juncture, and thereby risking a public service strike that will alienate the public more than usual and create a huge backlash when so much is already about to be put on the chopping block, are they REALLY looking out for the “interests of the membership”?
If they DIDN’T talk so tough, they would surely be bounced from their union jobs at the end of their term.
See what I mean? They don’t care about their membership, they are only looking our for themselves. If McGuinty lets them, this union is about to administer the coup de grace to the finances of this province.
And the kicker? When McGuinty first opened up the floodgates for expanding the OPS people were happy to have access to more jobs. But now that those additional people working for the OPS are comfortable with having a job, family, a home, and after being fed a BS line about job security, along comes McGuinty to burst the bubble he created and to hypocritically repent for his spendthrifting ways by cutting those same people off at the knees. I realize that NO ONE is OWED a job, but it was like we were sold a bad bill of goods. Yeah, I was naive; I believed that after languishing after graduation in menial paying jobs that I finally had a career that I could be prouod of, that would be able to settle in until retirement. I figured after paying my dues that my time finally had come. Now I will make sure to advise my children to NEVER work for the government. You never know when an snake oil salesman/idiot like McGuinty will give with one hand and snatch it away years later once you get comfortable.
Listening to Lowell Green on CFRA right now, and he is bringing up one of my favorite topics–interest on government debt. You guys are currently paying around $10.3 billion, going up to over 11 billion next year, and to $20 billion in seven years(when McGuinty predicts he will have eliminated the deficit !).
And keep in mind that these projections assume the interest rate charged by your bond holders remains at these unprecedented low levels. It is mind-boggling that none of your “leaders” campaigned on the deadly seriousness of these increasing payments.
Talk about the elephant in the room. Crapping all over the carpet, stinking up the joint, while the usual oblivious suspects gather around, talking about how they can start a government circus, so as to put the elephant to work.
I was not overly impressed with the report. Rather than recommend drastic cost cutting to big items like health and education, the report seems to nibble around the edges. Raising parking fees and liquor prices is something McGuinty could have thought up himself. Why does he require a high priced report to suggest one OGL headquarters is sufficient?
In health spending he centres in on doctors fees, but to me that is the easy target. There is little analysis of the proportion of hospital spending taken up by maintenance, cleaning, administration, non-proffesional unionized jobs having little to do with health.
Some savings in contracting out these jobs could be made, but the “working family”
group would not be pleased.
There was one line suggesting energy subsidies should be justified by some policy goal, but this was ignored by all news reports. Real savings are possible with some drastic cutbacks to wind/solar FIT subsidies, but this is untouchable as part of McGuinty’s legacy.
I cannot see these measures having a significant effect on the deficit.
an across the board cut in the bureaucracy starting at the top, not the bottom, of 10% would in no way hurt the so called services we get from the government. the only ones affected would be those paper pushers who would actually have to find a job where they produced something other than grief for other people.
Remember four years ago when Finance Minister Flaherty warned the Ontario government that it needed to seriously reconsider the spending / fiscal policies? Remember how he was attacked by the usual suspects for fear-mongering and making an unprecedented intrusion into a Provincial matter? I do not expect anyone to thank him today for trying to bring some sense to the Ontario Liberals at that time.
If Premier McGuinty and Finance Minister Duncan had any sense of integrity, they both should have handed in their resignation papers yesterday.
As I wonder what happened to MGuinty’s promise of doctors making house calls I’m hearing The Don recommends hiking power and water bills, but ignoring one of the culprits, green energy. How the hell are people on fixed pensions going to eat and keep safe from the elements?
i was thinking the same thing. lets increase cost to the taxpayers to hell with the fact that we are already overburdened. cut actual government spending. halt the disaster that windmills are and every other make work project in the province.
Every day I thank my lucky stars for abandoning that hell-hole of a province back in 1978 or my butt would probably be in jail for trying to blow up Queen’s Park.
ZERO-IN-2 DEFICIT ELIMINATION
Rather than eliminate the $16.3 billion deficit, heading for $30 billion by 2017, and massive debt that his train wreck is producing, comrade McGuinty the serial tax hiker, continues to cave into the Big Union Bosses’ every command while snubbing tax payers. He has increased spending by 68% since 2003, increased debt by $100 billion since 2003, massively increased the size of government, and extraordinarily amplified the influence of Big Unions. Our Statist premier repudiates any suggestion of stop building The Socialist Republic of Ontario; an example of welfare statism. He fails to recognize that the government does not add value to the economy. It confiscates value from the economy by imposing taxes on one citizen and redistributing cash to another. Or it borrows money that would otherwise be used by investors and redistributes it elsewhere to consumers who refuse to care for themselves. Nothing is stimulated
Since the best mode of stimulus is a resilient balance sheet, abolishing the deficit expediently in the next two years would permit the economy to roar ahead, attract foreign capital, and create jobs, as it did in the late 1990s when the Federal deficit was eliminated allowing the economy to roar ahead. McGuinty’s massive increase in spending, debt, and taxation is resulting in Ontario’s ominous plummet into European- mode debt ratios. He has increased Ontario’s debt to $240 billion, an increase of 54% since 2008 which represents 37.6 of GDP.
A fiscally responsible premier would insist that deficit elimination in two years be mandated as his highest priority without any tax increases since a fiscally intelligent premier would realize that Ontario has a spending problem and not a revenue problem. Ontario tax payers are paying $9.7 billion this year of interest on the debt. Even intelligently challenged Comrade McGuinty should be capable of comprehending that adding debt now is not our debt, but our children’s debt which will infinitely lower their standard of living.
Rather than serving as the political arm of Big Unions, an authentic fiscal responsible premier would therefore immediately downsize government by eliminating superfluous departments, privatizing programs, privatizing some of the peripheral health care services especially testing services, selling crown corporations such as The Lottery and Gaming Corp, Ontario Place, TVO, Hydro 1 and the LCBO, laying-off tens of thousands of superfluous provincial employees, freeze wages and benefits for the remaining ones including teachers and all hospital employees for 3 years. The Canadian Federation of Independent Business calculates that Ontario government employees receive salary and benefits that are approximately 27% higher than equivalent private sector employees. A fiscally responsible premier would also eradicate the parasitic unions and arbitrators, eliminate some boards and commissions, as well as immediately terminating the money wasting green program. A responsible premier would also cut welfare payments by 20% for all employable people.
But the thing that stands out about Ontario are how starkly in the wrong direction its headed.” says William Robson, president and CEO of the C.D. Howe Institute. He further comments that Ontario has taken “a very relaxed approach back to balance, and we’re very vulnerable”.
Obviously, the itinerary for reinstating economic expansion, increasing productivity, and competitiveness is by implementing fiscal and structural amendments instead of continuing to transform Ontario in a version of Greece.
unfortunately the voters think this is just fine.
A responsible premier wouldn’t have led us into this mess in the first place. And the blame has to be laid squarely at the feet of the sheeple in Ontario who elected him and his government THREE times! Once was bad enough but three!? Also, thank the main stream media for relentlessly demonizing what the Harris government had the courage to do a decade ago (and which now looks tame next to the Drummond report’s recommendations) with their totally biased reporting. Tim Hudak may not be the small c conservative that some would like, but he would be infinitely better that Daltonus McGuintynopulous. Hell, anyone would be better.
Michael Harkov 9:52 am
“Ontarians want to see their public services protected and improved; they want to see corporations and high-income earners pay their fair share in taxes; and they want to reduce the deficit through job creation,” Warren (Smokey) Thomas said today.
Michael, sounds like Obama’s plan to me.
Do you really think that it perturbs Dalton.. no way, what he has is a sucker like Drummond after all the years to clean up Dalton’s creative mess and not Dalton himself.
In other words if the unions come after him for cutting their perks etc , Dalton without blinking an eyelid will say ” look man it isn’t my fault I am told by Drummond to clean up the unions perks.” Just as long Dalton deflect the blame from himself to Drummond; just as Dalton blames Mike Harris for his own mess.
But, you folks know better. unfortunately there isn’t enough ground media to make Dalton taste his own medicine.
Pingback: “Don Drummond catalogues the McGuinty mess in meticulous detail” « Newsbeat1
See that pingback just above for a link at Newsbeat 1 to a terrific column by Kelly McParland at the National Post.
Cheese it! McGuinty’s Caledonia Police Force is on the beat.
…-
“Ontario police called in to probe ‘financial irregularities’ at ORNGE”
“TORONTO – Ontario Provincial Police have been called in to investigate ORNGE, the province’s troubled air ambulance service.
A source says government officials who were sent in to look at ORNGE’s books have asked police to probe some “financial irregularities.”"
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/ontario-police-called-in-to-probe-financial-irregularities-at-ornge-139452033.html
I am still waiting for the LMSM to show outrage over NOW publishing a picture of Mayor of Toronto front page with a pistol to his head
mind you it was “??????????tasteful after all the gun was in Mayor Fords right Hand”
what a bunch of losers our LMSM is
fh
Dalton has gotten away for too long that he expects from many who put him back (without much of topic to his own Ontario disaster) , to keep him safe and sound from backlashes etc by deflecting his mess to another story maybe to the private life of Hudak or SH or Harris. Dalton is not a fool that is why he struts around as he pleases because he knows the media police will surround him.
Hudak should be pointing out the fact that Harris made cuts to clean up Bob Rae’s mess. McGuintyhas to make cuts to clean up his own mess.
Excellent point!
last night on The Agenda Don Drummond made mention of the fact that the Harris gov’t did try to change the channel on waste and spending in Ontario but, said Drummond the Harris programs were too short-term and not sustainable. I’ve always felt that Harris should have done more and done it quicker. Too bad.
Something else that’s interesting is that remember when Rob Ford announced his budget and planned cuts? Remember the unions being pissed and marching on Toronto City Hall in anger? Turns out that the cuts that Drummond recommends are much, MUCH larger in percentage than Ford’s yet….where ARE the unions? It’s because Dalton’s a Liberal and the unions know what we already know, that Dalton’s NOT going to do much of anything to tick them off. That’s why we’re not seeing the equal treatment by unions.
I said earlier on Sandy’s blog that I think that Harper will benefit from the Drummond report strategically.
I note Mayor Ford’s popularity is trending up, it may go waaaay up when the mess McGuinty has us in sinks in. The Tronna folks might realize some things just may not be affordable at the Municipal level either.
Please. please let this tragedy guide dog owners with infants and children.
It was 19 years ago, that friends of ours lost their 6 year old son to ’2 friendly family pets’. The dogs loved the boy, no history of being mean.
No dog larger than the child should be anywhere near a baby,
and 2 dogs make a ‘pack’, and they WILL pack attack, regardless of their nature.
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/alberta/kills+newborn+baby+Airdrie/6163377/story.html
How tragic! My heart and my prayers go out to this family.
The other night I watched a program on how those huskies that not been killed by the owner had been adopted and how long it took to make them family pets. They showed a couple from Airdrie, with a husky. Hope that is not the family in this horrible case.
Here’s a link to Drummond’s recommendations. VERY long but it’s very interesting I think that when he was first elected to government McGuinty made close to 250 promises – Jim Flaherty at that time kept a running total of all the ones McGuinty broke. Not sure what happened to that list but it would be interesting indeed to take a wager on how many of THESE 300+ recommendation Dalton acts on…or not.
Actually, if Hudak plays this right, he could also benefit from what McGuinty does not do and simply use the Drummond recommendations for himself.
http://www.fin.gov.on.ca/en/reformcommission/chapters/appendix1.html
I am repulsed by Don Martin’s nastiness. I just can’t watch him anymore. There is nothing funny about his sarcasm anymore, he just comes across as a bully.
It just got worse Fay! He had on Newman from QP,and they were just mocking Vic Toews..coming up more mocking of the “Harper Gov’t” with Jeff Simpson and Craig Oliver,or as I like to refer to him,the ‘aged Carrot Top!’
To all you ball fans,breaking news Gary Carter has just passed away from brain cancer.RIP.
Remember the tape(between Raitt and another lady) left in the bathroom somewhere and that Fife had it aired without bothering to return it to its rightful owner.
I just can’t watch Don Martin . There is no attempt at fair or balanced anymore.
Good God..listening to Dipper-leader wannabe Brian Topp just now on P&P and I just want to smash my head into a brick wall! COULD YOU GET ANY STUPIDER? The man has the charisma of a Klik sandwich,without mayo.
Nothing of Dalton? See? what I told you, the media will come out in full force to find anything to deflect Dalton’s disaster.
It’s really going beyond reason and tiresome to have journos, such as Donny Martin and the likes, who always know so much about everything and feel qualified to give us their opinion on everything that’s wrong with the Harper government bills and how they’re able to bring in their “experts” to back up their opinions.
Maybe they are required to sign something, agreeing to move to and stay on the ‘dark side’ when they are hired by that network. The bunch of them are not worth the price of admission or effort to surf any longer.
As for Drummonds’ report, maybe this is the type of report that should be presented BEFORE an election, not AFTER.
Many of these suggestions and criticisms have been made by everday, mainstreet people for a few long years now. The only thing is, they are conservative minded people and the gravy train folks seem to be the only ones heard in Ontario.
One thing about it , whoever pushed this twitter thing on Vic Toews sure helped take the spot light off Justin Trudeau. Good timing for justin.
An astonishing economics lesson given by Craig Oliver today on PP. He seemed to be saying there was no hurry to get the Ont. deficit under control, the time frame could be stretched out. Something which got Ont. into the problem in the first place. He also advocated higher taxes, Ont taxes are not high enough.
Even Simpson and Martin found his economics unorthodox. Maybe it is time for him to retire.
Dalton walks, with his media police(don martin, craig, fife, simpson etc) guarding him.
The red hair dye has affected poor old Craig’s last few brain cells.
BTW,I really love how poor Evan’s polls of the day have NOT gone his way..today it was about immigration changes that Evan was just appalled over.I really enjoy his look of pure sadness that majority of Canadians are such heathens!
BTW,you think you have it bad in Ontario? Check out Wpg Sun re PETA not being allowed to put up a roadside ‘memorial’ E.of Brandon (Carberry area) for a bunch of dead cows! Fay from Brandon,I’m sure this upsets you deeply!! Also,we have an ousted ‘chief’ from Roseau River reserve that wants to get help from IRAN! And some really GREAT news finally from Man Courts,they aren’t letting MGEU (Man Gov’t Union) shut down inquiry into death of a child in ‘care’ of Family Services! See,we have our own nut-jobs here too!!!
Just walking in from my curling game. Lots stupid things happening in Manitoba but the Free Press does its best to bury any bad press on the NDP government.
Something big is going down on Twitter. “House of Commons IP” is trending.
Check it out.
Interesting indeed Jo!! Hmmmm,wonder if it’s the Red or the Orange? Any guesses folks?
Well.. check out BC Blue.
(And then check out the Shiny Pony’s Twitter account.)
Just pieces to a strange puzzle.
Check out Aardvark also. Someone is going to get exposed. Wonder what staff member will take the fall.
National Post is on this too now.
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/02/16/vikileaks-house-of-commons/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Ah yes. It’s the same reporter. Their hits must be in the stratosphere.
On the other hand…
You bet we have guesses but will not name names. Now the the site has been identified, Vic will have to call for an investigation and perhaps charges.
Yes very wise not to name names but the whole thing is rather juvenile, no?
You wouldn’t expect this from someone in the House of Commons – or would you?
Oh yes I do. lol
wouldn’t be the first time someone in the House used twitter to attack
‘MP Pat Martin not sorry for Twitter tirade’
http://www.canada.com/news/Martin+sorry+Twitter+tirade/5726346/story.html
Interesting indeed Jo!! Hmmmm,wonder if it’s the Red or the Orange? Any guesses folks?
James Moore?
This is so bizarre.
Interesting tweet at David Akins: ‘little thread that causes a big unravel’ I can’t wait for msm to dig and find out WHO is behind this..oh..yeah..it’s a Cons.being targeted,so they most likely won’t want that puzzle solved!
They will if they think it’s not a Liberal.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/business/Vikileaks30+linked+House+Commons+address/6165497/story.html
The main digging is being done by Ottawa Citizen. Even from a distance they were able to trace the IP address to an HOC employee who used it to post comments on a Paul Simon site. The Citizen talked to this person by phone and they denied having anything to do with Vikileaks30 twitter account.
So a real sophisicated investigation by security could probably tell which computer it came from, but maybe not exactly who posted it. Probably someone is sweating a bit tonight.
I can’t believe it but the cbc national actually had the story re the Ottawa Citizen and that IP address, and mentioned the NDP slant of some posts.
Maybe they want to get their shiny pony out of the headlines.
A media? We have a media in Canada that will take this seriously? NOT in your life if this is a Liberal, Dipper, CBC or civil servant.
They only attack our Canadian Military and Conservative Govt. The duct tape is ordered!
You bet Bec, I wonder who or what is the msm commander and chief- definitely not the cons gov that’s for sue. To see how the msm come together as one to protect their new found gov the ndp and of course the libs, is something to see.
When you throw enough c**p at a fan it tends to go everwhere, even on you.
This twitter IP thing is going to be very interesting.
The best bitch slappin’ tune up I have seen in years thank you Rex!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gICU8rpsmLM&feature=player_embedded
I saw that Rex Murphy piece last night. Great to have it on YouTube!!!
I hope it goes viral.
Pingback: Trudeau could support Separatism | Blue Like You
The free haircuts cometh.
…-
“Parliamentary budget faces Tory axe”
“OTTAWA – Every bit of spending is on the table in a top-to-bottom review of parliamentary budgets — “everything from the cost of coffee in committee rooms to the cost of airfares,” QMI Agency has learned.
“They’re serious,” said one source. “They’re going through everything.”"
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Politics/2012/02/16/19390381.html
Re: Ontario and the Drummond recommendations.
I think Craig Oliver is right actually. It does give McGuinty a reason to delay action.
I also think that the Terence Corcoran piece is dead-on. The Drummond Report opens the door widely for McGuinty to raise taxes and then do his usual “it’s because we know what’s good for you” routine.
The report also give both the Ontario PCs and the federal CPC lots of potential strategy considerations IMO.
Right. Anyone thinking that McGuinty will hesitate in raising taxes, just has not been observing the man. Beer and liquor increases are a given, first with price increases already announced for Mar 1, followed by alcohol tax at budget time. Smokers can also expect to pay more. There are lots of remaining service fees and taxes for him to work with.
You need to read the posts again Martin. The delay to which Oliver was speaking, and which I was addressing was McGuinty being able to delay acting on ANYTHING in the Drummond Report because we are NOT in as dire straights as we’ve been hearing. Drummond said that right out of the gate. Given that delay inch, I expect that when it comes to acting on any recommendations McGuinty will stall, because Drummond supports their notion, as strange as it is, that we’re not really as bad off as we though…..Drummond says so.
re: raising taxes – I explained also that the report leaves that door wide open and we know well how much Dalton like to tax us to death.
Reply to Liz J @ 7:37 am and richco @ 8:55 am:
You’re right, Liz, about the call for “socialization” of our children, as though it’s impossible to socialize them if they’re not in daycare or school with children their own age. When I stayed home with my children until they entered kindergarten at five years old, I often had “progressives” ask me how I socialized my children. Duh.
I pointed out that I didn’t nail their feet to the floor of their bedrooms but took them out and about with me — and challenged their assumption by pointing out that my kids got together with “kids” from two to 92 (church, visits to older people’s homes, etc), whereas daycare kids were ghettoized with people their own age and rarely interacted with any other age group: That’s called peer orientation and it’s a huge problem. Kids not able to relate to anyone older or younger than themselves has created deep dysfunctions within our society.
http://www.gordonneufeld.com/book
Another issue in throwing large numbers of three-year-olds together is the incubation and contracting of communicable diseases on a wide scale. To bring up a rather unsavoury topic: In this age group you have a lot of random bodily fluids being passed around, one way or another. Harried daycare workers and/or teachers don’t have a lot of control over these things, despite their wearing latex gloves (the kids don’t) and trying to ensure that all their charges/students wash their hands with soap and water every time they go to the washroom. Depending on the ratio of caregivers/teachers to students, monitoring little ones washing their hands, etc. will likely be random and incomplete.
This is an initiative of the teachers unions, richco, and has very little to do with the well-being or early education of our children. As though Ontarians can afford any more teacher-union salaries and benefits. McGuinty’s living in la-la land and is dragging the rest of us down Alice’s rabbit hole. As I said earlier, he and his government are a disgrace.
wanting what’s best for the adults in the public education system applies to most things educational batb. Nothing new there. It’s always been the case IMO.
I am against children attending a school program before age 5
the early years are informative years and should if possible be under the care of the family
with both parents working this has become an impossible task
extended families are a better answer but often Grandparents are working and not able to provide baby sitting
we need to take time to asses our priorities
I do not have the answers but am just thinking and hope others will start to give some thought to these pressing concerns
fh
the most ironic thing in Ontario is that Kindergarten is still non mandatory. My kids went in to Grade one with kids whose parents didn’t send them to Kindergarten and they did just fine.
We always here Finland as being the poster-child for being the best education system in the world. Kids in Finland don’t start school until they’re 6yrs. old.
One of the cons got up to accuse a ndp no name mention of dirty twittering.
John ‘Bulldog’ Baird has been hammering the Dippers on this in QP! Go get ‘em John Boy!
Almost every conservative getting up to answer a question mentioned this. Chris Charlton is rising on a point of order re the accusation. That stmt she read had to have been prepared before QP today, so what did she know and when did she know it. Why would she have that typed stmt ready for a point of order.
Regardless, the Speaker will be looking into the matter.
This morning CBC the Current carried discussion of the Vikileaks30 twitter account story. Unfortunately, the segment focused on the private lives of politicians and what was acceptable to publish. Obviously it had been planned before the Citizen story broke last night, so it was only mentioned in passing, no discussion of the HOC address being the source of the postings, or any other revelations.
The last word went to ToStar’s Susan Delacourt who predictably mentioned it was “payback time” for a government that was trying to control the news. The implication being that Towes had it coming.
Martin “Susan Delacourt who predictably mentioned it was “payback time” for a government that was trying to control the news. The implication being that Towes had it coming.”
Uh??????? Excuse me!!! I think she has the wrong party.
Well,Craig Oliver basically said the same thing on ctv this a.m. Somehow,it’s all Toews fault??? BTW,Oliver also said,that there are lots of Libs/Dippers that have ‘personal’ issues they might not want ‘out there’ either…..uh,yeah,like the msm would even think of exposing their ‘friends’
Sammy, it will always be the cons fault. Dalton screwed and messed up ontario and his citizens and guess who is to blame-MIKE HARRIS.
The media can’t bring themselves to ask the liberals nor the ndp any damaging questions and Delacourt said the cons want to control the news.
e.g., Robert Fife asked Bob Rae and instead of responding Bob Rae now a liberal then told Robert Fife ‘SHUT UP’ which he did instantly. There was no whining nor gnashing of teeth, hateful words or complaint- fromRobert FIFE. He did as he was told period. And Delcourt makes a comment that the cons want to control the news.
It is the liberals the media are afraid of; afraid of what Chretien might to them. Afraid of Dalton. This no secret nor is it news it is plain and openly seen regularly.
Speaking of CBC, Pres and CEO Hubie Lacroix’s term is ending, he wants to stay another term. Anyone think he has earned a renewed contract for that highly paid posting?
Not in my books. Send him on his way without a dime of severance and privatize the whole state broadcaster. That’s my two cents!
O/T – Please vote for my town because Goderich IS Hockeyville
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4XMQUe06-c&feature=youtu.be
Apparently voting starts in 15 days, remind us again and we will vote.
Checking in briefly here. Apparently the NDP is behind the assault on Toews according to Tories via National Post.
I find a lot of new people posting when i visit this NP column comment section. A lot of them are declaring they are long time conservative supporters and defending the twitter attack.????
Sounds like pure bull to me Fay.
It’s also an old trick to phone talk shows and declare themselves to be long time Conservatives and say they’ll never vote for them again because of whatever the issue being discussed happens to be.
Well, let loose the blood hounds and find out who it was and demand they resign, this cannot be tolerated.
O’s Solyndra AGW fraud.
No different from Liberal McGuinty’s frauds.
O = M = clones.
…-
“Solyndra in Grand Jury Crosshairs: Documents”
“A grand jury has been convened in what appears to be the next significant step of the federal criminal investigation into Solyndra, the politically-connected and now bankrupt solar firm that received a half-billion dollar loan guarantee from the government, according to court documents.
The role of the grand jury was revealed in documents filed in bankruptcy court last week by K&L Gates, a law firm retained by Solyndra reportedly just weeks after the FBI raided Solyndra’s California headquarters in September. The documents give a daily account of K&L Gates’ employees activities in reference to Solyndra and often refer to communications concerning a “grand jury subpoena”.
The K&L Gates documents, first reported by The Washington Times, also show the attorneys had more than two dozen interactions with the U.S. Attorney’s office and the FBI. The first mention of a “grand jury” came on Oct. 9.
The criminal investigation into the failed solar power company has become a political lightning rod as Republicans in Congress have suggested undue political influence affected the Obama administration’s decision to award Solyndra a $535 million loan guarantee in 2009, despite early warning signs the company could be heading for trouble.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/solyndra-grand-jury-crosshairs-documents/story?id=15155125
Trying to catch up again here. Was it just my imagination or is the scuttlebutt that the ‘bureaucrats’ in Toews’ ministry were pushing for the legislation that’s got everyone’s shorts in a knot? And if so, why would they be pushing it?
Rex Murphy calls it right in today’s NP column “Ontario’s sham election”
He opines we should have had the Drummond report prior to the election.
The way Ontario loves McGuinty I’m not so sure it would have mattered, for anyone paying attention there were lots of red flags to spot but the majority decided to go with something stupid, “the devil we know”. Helluva way to choose a government with the potential to tax us out of our homes.
It is a good column Liz. It also says that none of the three parties were equipped with plans that addressed Ontario’s ills.
I’ve heard many people (even Conservatives) that had there been a “none of the above option” on the ballot they would have chosen it.
Actually he Murphy makes a terrific point that the Drummond Report timing was wrong and should have been presented BEFORE the election. The outcome and likely the campaigns would have set up much differently. I do believe it would have been an easy win for Hudak had that been the case.
I also like Corcoran’s column in the NP that Joanne links to. He’s right when he suggests that for McGuinty to act on the Drummond recommendations would be an admission that he and his gov’t have done nothing wrong over the last years. Shell game it is, and the big losers are Ontario taxpayers.
Margaret Wente’s column in the Globe and Mail’s worth a read too, where she talks about the glut of spending more for less on education and the teacher union spin that’s already started.
“Education – the Premier’s pet portfolio – provides a snapshot of the challenge. Mr. McGuinty’s aim for education was to buy labour peace and improve outcomes. Noble goals, providing you can contain costs. Ontario did not. Over the past decade, student enrolment shrank by 6 per cent, but education staff grew by 24,000. Most of those are non-teaching jobs. The combination of increased funding and declining enrolment means that per-pupil funding has soared by 56 per cent – from $7,201 to $11,207. Special education funding alone went up by $893-million, or 55 per cent. Fourteen per cent of Grade 12 students spend an extra year in Grade 12 – for free. Teachers’ entitlements include up to six months of unused sick days when they retire. Teachers’ retirement benefits will have to be reduced. And so on.
Not surprisingly, teachers unions have already started to bite back. The Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation has pronounced the recommendations “extremely confrontational,” and warns that if implemented, they will do irreparable harm to our children.”
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/margaret-wente/can-dalton-mcguinty-morph-into-mr-mean/article2342608/
19 Feb 2012
The Drummond Report outlined ways Ontario can reduce the deficit. The elephant in the room that he failed to speak of is the duplication of tax money paid to two (two!) school systems. Obviously, catholic schools must be defunded. In the province of Ontario, Canada, tax money is given to catholic schools that indoctrinate students and discriminate in hiring, while also draining funds from public schools that badly need them. By giving money to religious schools, the Ontario government effectively forces taxpayers to subsidize religion. Not only is this practice of funding a religious school system financially wrong, it is morally wrong.
May I quote Leonard Baak of Education Equality in Ontario:
“According to the Reform Commission’s web page, they were to identify “Areas of overlap and duplication that could be eliminated to save taxpayer dollars.”
How is it then that the Drummond Report contains absolutely no mention of the massive duplication and overlap in the education sector, where two school systems (one English and one French) could do the job currently done by four (English and French public and English and French Catholic)?
It would appear Ontario’s sacred cow is still sacred — and Drummond has either betrayed his mandate and the Ontario people or he has given in to political interference behind the scenes.
Before any more of our truly essential services take a hit and before any civil service layoffs or wage rollbacks, Ontario should defund its Catholic school systems and move to a single public school system for each official language.”
HK