Friday, January 29, 2010

Vic Toews, Hard At Work

What a busy guy - denying Mikhail Lennikov's appeal to stay in Canada. Lennikov, an ex-KBG agent, & his family have lived here for more than a dozen years, never been in trouble & have lived an exemplary life. Hard-working, industrious. Another example of how shameful & unjust this Con Govt. is with human rights.

By Norma Greenaway with CanWest News Service:

The Harper government's new public safety minister has rejected a fresh appeal to stay in Canada from a former KGB agent who has been holed up in a Vancouver church for the last seven months.

Vic Toews, who took over the portfolio last week from Peter Van Loan, said Thursday the government is not prepared to budge in the case of Mikhail Lennikov, who was ordered deported because he once worked for the Russian secret service.

"The Immigration and Refugee Board and the courts have determined that Mr. Lennikov is not admissible to Canada under our laws." Toews said in a statement.


Read the entire article here.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Canada's Worst Politicians of 2009

From the Wasaga Sun:

What do Prime Minister Steven Harper, Springwater mayor Tony Guergis and Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai have in common?

They all made the Creemore-based Mad River Institute for Political Studies’ list of Worst Politicians of 2009.

Springwater mayor Tony Guergis, the Warden of Simcoe County until he stepped down at the end of his term in December 2009, was named the Worst Municipal Councillor.


Guergis is the brother of Con MP Helena Guergis.

Ignatieff made the list “for failing to make his party the real Official Opposition,” the institute said, adding that early “in the year he had his Liberals simply back Conservative actions while criticizing but not offering alternatives.”

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Today Is My Birthday

And in honour of all those other boomers who are, or will be, the same age as me this year here's a little tune for us. ;)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Kate McGarrigle Feb 16, 1946 - Jan. 18, 2010



Sadly, Kate passed away yesterday from cancer. She & her sister, Anna, were a big part of the folk music scene in the 1960's, before they became known, playing in small coffee houses in Montreal as well as other Canadian cities & in New York State.

She will be missed by many, many people. My condolences to her family & friends.

Go here to see a montage of photos & listen to one of their songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FQCmQz474

RIP Kate...

For more info on Kate please go here.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Cons Win In & Out Court Case

How depressing. Now they can do the same thing again in the next election - cheat the taxpayer & use more money to run their campaign.

Read it here from Kady O'Malley at CBC.

More Double-Talk from a Con Minister

This time from Vic Toews who was in the Middle East for 5 days. He says one thing when out of the country & something else here at home. Hmmm...just like Jason Kenney. What is it with these Kons? Do they think no one in Canada is paying attention when they are on foreign trips? Why are these fools still in Govt.?

From Mia Rabson at Winnipeg Free Press:

Manitoba's senior cabinet minister Vic Toews was able to escape the winter and the flurry of post-prorogation reaction last week for a trip to the Middle East.

However, stickhandling accusations his party is undemocratic has probably been easier than the delicate task of wading into Middle Eastern politics.

Toews's five-day tour included stops in Jordan, Israel and the West Bank.

Following his trip, a number of Middle Eastern news outlets, and even B'Nai Brith Canada, reported Toews used the journey to announce Canada was yanking its funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The UNRWA runs 59 Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank, Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

In 2008, Canada was the eighth-largest donor to the organization, which receives 97 per cent of its funding from foreign governments.

Critics, including B'Nai Brith, accuse UNRWA of being infiltrated by Hamas and terrorists.

Toews was quoted in several newspapers, including the Jerusalem Post, as saying Canada's aid for Palestine is being "redirected in accordance with Canadian values." Instead of funding the camps, Canada is going to pay for projects to train Palestinian justice officials like judges, police and prosecutors and build courthouses, something Canada began doing in 2007.

Certainly, paying for police and courthouses is in keeping with the government's anti-crime agenda at home.

The news was well-received by B'Nai Brith Canada, but when the stories were checked with Toews's office, it seems there isn't much changing at all. Christine Csversko said the stories were "inaccurate," including the suggestion that Canada's funding to UNRWA goes to the Palestinian Authority's general revenues. She said UNRWA manages its own accounts and Canada continues to give it aid money.

Friday, January 8, 2010

Con Ministers Abusing Challenger Jet

Translation from Le Devoir:

The Harper government ministers regularly use the luxurious type aircraft Challenger improperly, causing unnecessary costs for taxpayers. Une enquête du réseau TVA montre que ces voyages injustifiés ont coûté 236 000 $ durant les 30 premiers mois du règne conservateur à Ottawa. A survey of the TVA network shows that these trips unnecessary cost $ 236 000 during the first 30 months of Conservative government in Ottawa.

In French here.

Monday, January 4, 2010

Canadian Cover Up?

This is about our latest losses in Afghanistan. From Michael Yon:

"A reporter at Canwest News Service, emailed Saturday asking for information on the four Canadian soldiers and the journalist who were killed on December 30 in Afghanistan. I supplied a portion of the unpublicized information, and the reporter emailed Sunday that the Canadian military is “trying to suppress our telling of your information.”

Read the entire, interesting, article here.