Guy Boutilier in his Wildrose caucus office in Edmonton back in 2009. Notice Ralph Klein peering over his shoulder. Below: Other Fort Mac politicians Brian Jean, the Conservative Crossword King, and Mike Allen, a saxophonist, in his St. Paul Police mugshot. Guy Boots, Member of Parliament? Why not? When you
Continue readingTag: Canadian Politics
Scott's DiaTribes: Volunteer Positions Open for the OWLC
A friend of mine on the Ontario Women’s Liberal Commission mentioned this, and took me up on my offer to help publicize the fact that the OWLC is looking for some executive positions to be filled: The OWLC has several vacancies on our executive and we are hoping that you
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Dumber than a bag of Anders: Have gun-slingin’ Cowtown MP’s pistol-packin’ pals shot their patron in both feet?
The offending photo of MP Rob Anders and would-be MP Melissa Mathieson, which first turned up on a National Firearms Association Facebook page, then a political blog, then the mainstream media and has now entered the annals of idiocy. Below: the offending target; an example of a target Mr. Anders
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Fair Elections Act would introduce Alberta-style partisan elections officials
TweetA proposed amendment to Canada’s Elections Act would introduce handpicked partisan elections officials into the current non-partisan election process. The ‘Fair Elections Act,’ a sweeping act introduced by Conservative minister Pierre Poilievre, includes an amendment to Section 124 of the Elections Act which would give the incumbent candidate, riding association
Continue readingthe disgruntled democrat: Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer: A Disgruntled Democrat?
In reaction to a government bill that would prevent Canada’s Chief Electoral Officer, Marc Mayrand, from speaking publicly about the quality of Canada’s Electoral System, he went on record to state: “I’m not aware of any electoral bodies around the world who can not talk about democracy” and that “my
Continue readingwmtc: today: call your m.p.! stop the (un)fair elections act!
I trust by now you’ve all heard about Stephen Harper’s latest plan to undermine democracy in Canada, his electoral reform bill that the chief electoral officer of the country has called an affront to democracy. Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand told CBC: “My reading of the act is that I
Continue readingAlberta Diary: That ‘market freedom’? What a surprise, it’s wiping out farmers and enriching the 1%!
Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes a group of Canadians for a ride on his fully privatized model railroad. This doesn’t actually work in real life, though. Actual Canadian prime ministers may not appear exactly as illustrated, although, if I may say so, the number on the engine comes close to
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: A rather obvious observation
When you’re a party and a government that has had numerous election violations and suspicion of other election shenanigans, and you decide to “reform” the process of election writs and the process of what the non-partisan body of Elections Canada can and can’t do, without bothering to consult them, when
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: Predicting a timeline for Senate reform
Historically, big changes in governance often occur in a period of rapid debate and change, following a long period of relative inaction while structural pressures build. For the Senate, the problems regarding the institution have been clear for a long time, but prospects for change have been dim. Complaints about
Continue readingwmtc: myth-busting and truth-telling: challenging the govt’s claims about refugees
The Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers has a great page that counters every single one of the Harper Government’s statements lies about refugee claims in Canada. At the site, click on any of the statements to read more. Challenging The Myths: The Truth About Canadian Refugee Law The Federal government’s
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Harper-&-Rogues Gallery – Part 3 Recent news that the…
Stephen Harper and Brian Mulroney, Canada’s second-worst prime minister (Harper is the worst). Stephen Harper and Silvio Berlusconi, disgraced former prime minister of Italy. Vic Toews and Stephen Harper. Toews is a disgraced former Conservative MP with fascist tendencies and a sleazy personal life. Pamela Wallin and Stephen Harper. Wallin
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Harper-&-Rogues Gallery – Part 2 Recent news that the…
Stephen Harper and Pierre Poilivere, the minister in charge of dismantling democracy in Canada. Stockwell Day, Chuck Strahl and Stephen Harper. Day and Strahl are disgraced former Conservative MPs who now work as sleazy lobbyists. Tom Flanagan and Stephen Harper. Flanagan, who is Harper’s political mentor and former colleague, is
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Harper-&-Rogues Gallery – Part 1 Recent news that the…
Harper-&-Rogues Gallery – Part 1 Recent news that the drummer in Stephen Harper’s terrible cover band was charged with sex crimes re-emphasizes the fact that Harper loves to surround himself with sleazebags, crooks and various ne’er-do-wells. That’s because he is one of them. Here is part one of a gallery
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Gun-toting conservatives take aim at Macleod by-election candidate
Tweet“Just say no-to-Barlow!” was the message broadcast to the 15,941 followers of the National Firearms Association Facebook page. The National Rifle Association‘s Canadian cousins hope to drag down John Barlow, a candidate for the Macleod Conservative Party of Canada by-election nomination who they claim supports the RCMP seizure of firearms from abandoned houses during last year’s
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Liberal Fundraising Up – But Is It At A Cost?
As you’ve seen on here if you follow me, the Liberal Party’s Biennial Convention is coming up this month. As you also know, I’ll be there as an accredited blogger to cover the policy resolutions passed, and the elections, and so forth. Since that has been known, I’ve had some
Continue readingProgressive Proselytizing: A brilliant tactical move: Justin Trudeau kicks out Liberal Senators
Sometimes you have to give credit where credit is due: Justin Trudeau just pulled a brilliant tactical move with his unexpected and unceremonious dumping of all former Liberal Senators from the Liberal caucus. As a political analyst, I often am rather unimpressed by the blunders and lack of political acumen
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Five ways to save the Senate of Canada
Tweet Is the Senate of Canada broken? And if so, is it worth saving? Here are the positions held by Canada’s federal political parties: 1) Abolish the Senate The New Democratic Party of Canada, the official opposition since 2011, are staunchly in favour of entirely abolishing the Senate of Canada.
Continue readingTrudeau Channels Harper on the Senate
Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made a career out of preying on Canadians’ ignorance of our democratic institutions, the Senate in particular. He did so as far back as 2010 when, in an unprecedented move, he used his Senate majority to defeat the Commons-supported Climate Change Accountability Act. He did
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: So this thing happened in the Senate today..
If anyone predicted this was going to happen today, I’m going to them to ask what numbers I should pick for the lottery: Justin Trudeau has expelled from his caucus every single Liberal member of the upper house and has declared there is no longer any such thing as a
Continue readingwmtc: support-the-troops hypocrisy continues; angry veterans call for fantino’s resignation
I am posting this article mainly so the commenter called “conservatives are lying scum” can repost his or her comments here. (You can currently read them on this old post: harper’s support for veterans: wear a poppy. do nothing else.) Veterans who were in Ottawa to lobby against the closing
Continue reading