He's a bigot, a bully, a boozer, a beast. He's shaming us in the eyes of the world. Each time Ford appears in the media, it's another eerie reminder of what we've become: crude, swaggering, bungling, irrational and mendacious. We've reached that staggering moment in a brilliant horror film when
Continue readingTag: Jason Kenney
The Liberal Scarf: Focused on the economy? Finance Minister Flaherty and "Minister of Jobs" Kenney nearly "come to blows" over Toronto politics
CBC reporting, and Conservative MP’s and Kenney himself confirming. “In a voice loud enough for several of their cabinet colleagues to hear, Flaherty told Kenney to “shut the f–k up” about Ford. Kenney responded angrily in kind, and although the two men were separated by four other ministers, alarmed caucus colleagues,
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Scramble for federal nominations begins in Alberta
TweetIt’s a fight – or at least it could be if two southern Alberta Conservative Members of Parliament seek their party’s nomination in the same riding. Boundary changes in the next federal election will mean that Lethbridge Conservative MP Jim Hillier will find himself living within the boundaries of the new Medicine Hat riding.
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Is Stephen Harper About to Pay for the Senate Scandal?
Well now we know why Stephen Harper has been looking so pale and so fearful. Or just so pathetic. Because he just may be about to start paying for that sordid Senate scandal. The federal Liberals maintain a lead in three of four ridings up for grabs in Monday’s byelections,
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Has the Time Come for Stephen Harper to Resign?
I like the look on Stephen Harper's face these days. He's starting to look like a deer caught in the headlights. For the first time you can see fear in his eyes. The man who likes to scare and bully others is now scared himself.Read more »
Continue readingAlberta Diary: 70%? 66.9%? 55.9%? 50%+1 good enough for Alison Redford this evocative weekend
Alison Redford, ready for her endorsement vote tomorrow, as rendered by Edmonton artist William Prettie. Below: former Canadian prime minister Joe Clark, late U.S. president John F. Kennedy, both of whom figure in this blog post about Alberta politics for some reason. Was it insularity and tone deafness, or Machiavellian
Continue readingAlberta Diary: Ford Nation dumped? Stay tuned for more program changes at Sun News Network
Toronto City Hall. Actual city halls in Canada’s largest city may not appear exactly as illustrated. Below: Rob Ford, Doug Ford, Kory Teneycke and Ezra Levant. Does anyone seriously believe Sun News Network cancelled Ford Nation after its inaugural show on Monday because of Rob and Doug Ford’s “relative inexperience
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Tuesday Morning Links
This and that for your Tuesday reading. – Angella MacEwen rightly slams the Cons’ attempt to use Employment Insurance funds as a subsidy for employers at the expense of workers. And Don Lenihan sees the Cons’ structure as a cynical means of trying to claim success by ignoring the actual
Continue readingAlberta Diary: How will we get back to the 19th Century without Stephen Harper? Why he should go, and won’t
A forlorn Richard Nixon waves goodbye to Washington for the last time from the steps of the presidential helicopter on Aug. 9, 1974. Don’t count on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to do the same thing any time soon, even if it destroys his party. Below: Stephen Harper looking appropriately gloomy
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Moore is More
To win the leadership, Moore will need to court red Tories in Quebec. Partly due to his one-man government, and partly due to a series of spectacular flame outs among heirs apparent, there hasn’t been a lot of leadership speculation during the Harper era, beyond the occasional question about how
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Who Will Replace Stephen Harper?
When the history of Duffygate is written, I wonder if people will say look back and say Oh! So that’s Industry Minister James Moore’s website looked so much like a campaign-for-leader site. Others have already speculated that he might be the Tory’s next one, although no-one really saw the transition occurring
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Wednesday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material for your mid-week reading. – Frances Russell laments the state of Canada’s Potemkin Parliament (and the resulting harm the Cons are inflicting on our political system and our country alike): Poll after poll show a majority of Canadians regularly confuse their parliamentary system with the American presidential-congressional system.
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Jason Kenney and the Octopus Monster
OMG. Run for your lives. It's the octopus monster from outer space, or the Creature from the Con Lagoon. And it seems like NOTHING can stop Jason Kenney !!!!Two weeks ago I told you how he was refusing to give up his old job, and humiliating not one but TWO new Con
Continue readingdaveberta.ca - Alberta politics: Who is driving the conservative agenda in Canada?
TweetIn America’s Forbes Magazine this week, Alejandro Chafuen praised the leadership of the conservative policy think-tanks that helped set the stage for the election of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative majority government in 2011 and the success of conservative politicians across the country. This apparatus of conservative special interest groups, think-tanks and news
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Sunday Morning Links
This and that for your Sunday reading. – Peter Buffett rightly questions the trend toward making the provision of basic necessities subordinate to a corporate mindset, rather than putting human needs first: As more lives and communities are destroyed by the system that creates vast amounts of wealth for the
Continue readingMontreal Simon: Jason Kenney and the Two-Headed Monster
I always knew Jason Kenney was a man of many faces eh?Some hidden and some not.I always knew he was extremely vain and incredibly ambitious.But who knew he was so inflated with his own sense of self importance, that he would steal another Minister's portfolio? Read more »
Continue readingBigCityLib Strikes Back: Bernie Farber Has Advice
Now that Jason Kenney has left his position as Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Bernie makes some suggestions to his successor, Chris Alexander: Refugees – Remove Hungary and Mexico from the Designated Safe Country list. This can be done immediately and without legislative reform. These designations impact vulnerable communities
Continue readingMontreal Simon: The Incredible Hypocrisy of Jason Kenney
Ever since Justin Trudeau became Liberal leader, Jason Kenney has gone after him like a rabid hyena.He has attacked him for missing votes in the House of Commons.He has questioned his values, suggested he is soft on terrorism. Read more »
Continue readingCalgary Grit: Oh my God – they shuffled Kenney! Those Bastards!
New Title, Same Job The much-hyped Cabinet shuffle was about what you’d expect: retiring Ministers swept aside, talented backbenchers and Pierre Poilievre promoted, and a few big names swapping portfolios to give them a fresh start. The opposition will argue this is very much the same government as before, and
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Miscellaneous material to start your week. – Murray Dobbin writes about the crisis of extreme capitalism: (T)he “free economy” romanticized by Friedman and his ilk is anything but. Completely dominated by giant corporations whose wealth outstrips all but the richest nations, economic freedom does not exist for anyone else, including
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