New polling done by Forum released today shows the OLP may only be winning 1 seat of the five byelections this August 1: The Progressive Conservatives are well ahead in two longtime Liberal strongholds — one in Toronto and the other former premier Dalton McGuinty’s Ottawa riding, according to a
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Scott's DiaTribes: Don’t underestimate Jennifer Hollett in Toronto-Center
You may recognize/remember Jennifer Hollett from her MuchMusic VJ days. She has done more then that since then, including a stint as a contributor at CBC Newsworld (Connect with Mark Kelley), did some reporting with CBC Radio, and a ton of other stuff. She’s also a social media guru/geek (and
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: The Conservative-appointed lickspittles who currently control…
The Conservative-appointed lickspittles who currently control Canada’s public broadcaster, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), have refused to air a commercial by Friends of the CBC that criticizes Stephen Harper’s government for directly meddling in the supposed arms-length media organization. The overpaid, ass-kissing CBC executives don’t have a problem, however, with constantly
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: This post is a bit late, but I figure if the politicians can…
This post is a bit late, but I figure if the politicians can take the whole summer off and still get paid, I can take a bit of a break from ranting about them for free. This music video is “If You Tolerate This, Your Children Could Be Next” by
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Impressions of the Ontario By-elections.
My sense of how things are going, based on the brief polls I’ve seen, talking to people and just anecdotal “gut” feeling: The OLP seems to be holding on a slight lead to the Toronto ridings (Scarborough and Etobicoke). They are probably ahead in Mcguinty’s old riding in Ottawa. Windsor
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Stephen Harper has a perverse sense of humour
This is quite a good joke Harper has played. Not only has Pierre Poliviere indeed been named to be a new minister in today’s big cabinet shuffle, Pierre Poilievre has been named Minister of state for democratic reform. One of my Liberal colleagues who is a staffer on the Hill
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Chutzpah and corporate ‘self-regulation’ won’t make Canadians trust our oil-transport infrastructure
Rail tanker cars hang precariously over the Bow River in Calgary before their successful removal from a flood-damaged railway bridge last month. (Toronto Star photo.) Below: Humourist Leo Rosten, who usefully defined chutzpah for English speakers in only 26 words. ST. ALBERT Surely the pipeline advocates who accused New Democratic
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Parliament is about to become even more of a circus…
..if what Stephen Taylor has heard is true that Pierre Poliviere is going to become a Cabinet Minister. The bad news is that with this promotion, Pierre is basically going to dig Parliament and Question Period down into the muck further, given his propensity for answering with non-answers and cheap
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: Canada is an un-developing country. It has been for decades….
Canada is an un-developing country. It has been for decades. Here are some of the signs. * Crumbling infrastructure. * Irresponsible deregulation of industry and cutbacks to enforcement of the few, weak regulations that remain. This resulted – and will continue to result – in otherwise-preventable deaths, injuries and illnesses;
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Making mountains out of molehills on “Royal oath”
There is heated debate going on in the comment thread of the Toronto Star story regarding the court case about 3 long-time permanent residents who want to become citizens of Canada, but who do not want to swear an oath to Queen Elizabeth, and are going to court to argue
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Nostalgia Redux. Rule Brittania!
So as a followup to my last post about the Conservatives hyping up the old British Empire/Commonwealth ties (The War of 1812, ditching the Maple Leaf insignia and going to the British insignias on the Canadian Forces uniforms, and a couple of other moves the past couple of years), I
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Nostalgia can be taken to the extreme
I’m a history buff – in particular a Canadian history buff, so I didn’t mind the Conservatives were trying hard (and still are trying hard) to get Canadians to pay attention to the history of The War of 1812 and how it led eventually to the formation of Canada, but
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Buh Bye Vic
One of the better Mondays I’ve had of late, after hearing good ole’ Vic Toews has resigned/retired: Vic Toews, the gruff,mustachioed minister who was the face of the Conservative government’s tough-on-crime agenda through federal cabinet postings in public safety and justice, has cleared the way for a newcomer to the
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Economic Action Plan 2013 is apparently on track – so says the flyer I got
You’ll all be glad to know that Economic Action Plan 2013 is in high gear/on track according to the pamphlet (otherwise known as a “10 percenter pamphlet) I received from Dave Mackenzie, my MP here in Oxford, in the past couple of days. You’ll also be pleased to know that
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Poor Steve Ryan*
Who is Steve Ryan, you might ask? Up until today, he was the nominated candidate for the Progressive Conservative Party in Etobicoke-Lakeshore, for the Aug 1 by-elections here in Ontario. About 2 weeks ago, Forum came out with a poll saying the Liberal candidate (not even nominated yet) was a
Continue readingMusings on Canadian Politics: Islamic extremism and the power of an idea in the internet age
The comical, if it weren’t so serious, attempt by a couple of disaffected WASPs to murder, Boston Marathon style, Canada Day revellers at British Columbia’s legislature shows the power of an idea in the internet age. The bombing suspects, John Nuttall and his wife Amanda Korody, planned to detonate a
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Belated Canada Day greetings!
Sure its a day late, but better late then never. I hope you all had a Happy Canada Day where ever you were. PS – nothing coincidental about all that blue colouring at the Ottawa Canada Day celebration, right? Surely the Conservative government wouldn’t have been attempting to be using
Continue readingwmtc: happy canada day, a/k/a national stop harper day
This week, pollster Nik Nanos revealed that 51.5% of Canadian voters would not consider voting for the Conservative party, compared to 36.4% only seven months ago. I don’t play the national pastime – election prediction – so I won’t speculate about if or how this poll will translate on the
Continue readingThe Ranting Canadian: For Canada Day 2013. Images from Facebook and elsewhere; text…
For Canada Day 2013. Images from Facebook and elsewhere; text from rabble.ca: The National Stop Harper Campaign presents….”SAVE CANADA DAY.” Join us across the country as we proclaim our distrust in the Harper Government and band together to form a group of True Canadians who really care about this country.
Continue readingScott's DiaTribes: Some more cracks appear internally in the Conservative Party
There are some Conservative Senators who apparently don’t like being parrots for Harper all the time, but I didn’t expect to see a split like this over unions: The already testy relationship between Conservative MPs and the Senate hit more rocks Wednesday, as a group of Tory senators helped to
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