It may save lives so it’s ethical and hence why we call it “Ethical Torture” I really wanted to blog about heart disease champion Leona Aglukkaq deciding that reducing the amounts of trans fats in the Canadian food supply – which increase the risk of coronary heart disease more than any other macronutrient – was out
Continue readingTag: Vic Toews
RedBedHead: Psst…Torture’s OK. Pass It On.
Vic Toews, Minister of Torture and Morality We’ve always known that the Tories mission is to makeover Canada into a far-right Republican spa resort by stealth, since most Canadians hold values to the left of their lunacy. So, they change tax rules for film financing here and chip into same
Continue readingVic Toews A-OK with torture interrogation
The government has directed Canada’s spy agency to use information that may have been extracted through torture. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews has told CSIS the government now expects the spy service to use information derived from torture in cases where public safety is at stake. In related news, a
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Monday Morning Links
Assorted content to start your week. – Tim Harper comments on the Harper Cons’ collusion in a war against Canada’s middle class: Under the Investment Canada Act, (foreign) takeovers are supposed to demonstrate a “net benefit” to Canada, but, in fact, are acting as an anvil on wages, living standards
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: Undue undiligence
On Friday, CBC News highlighted another example of the Harper Tory Government not sharing publicly available information with Parliamentarians. In this case, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews’ written response stated that the RCMP uses 12 fixed wing aircraft for surveillance but that he could not release any further data about
Continue readingVic Danger – Third Eye. Toews doesn’t know ‘statistics’. But he sure knows fear.
Vic Toews doesn’t let reality get in the way of a good ideology (emphasis mine). “I don’t know if the statistics demonstrate that crime is down,” he said. “I’m focused on danger.” Toews said his concern is that the public is in danger as long as criminals walk the streets. The government’s crime .
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading. – Carol Goar notes that the Cons’ decision to mess with retirement security may be just the type of issue to rouse voters who had been lulled to sleep by promises of stability – which seems more plausible than Chantal Hebert’s theory that
Continue readingVic Danger – Toews doesn’t know ‘statistics’. But he sure knows fear.
Vic Toews doesn’t let reality get in the way of a good ideology (emphasis mine). “I don’t know if the statistics demonstrate that crime is down,” he said. “I’m focused on danger.” Toews said his concern is that the public is in danger as long as criminals walk the streets. The government’s
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: Giving credit where credit is due
Yesterday, the Harper Tory government was finally forced to announce the membership of its radical anti-gun control committee (Question 364). It’s only five or six years after the committee was established that a written Parliamentary question shone some light on the rocks under which the committee lives. Review of the
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: When is OK to compare Canadian police to the SS?
In April 2011, a handpicked member of the Harper government’s radical anti-gun control advisory committee, compared Canadian cops to Hitler’s notorious SS. In the midst of an election campaign, such comments had the potential to be explosive and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews former Director of Parliamentary Affairs lept bravely
Continue readingImpolitical: Vic Toews will get way more than your phone number
John Ibbitson had a piece last week, Tories Have Yet to Prove Case for E-Snooping, that raised the temperature on the lawful access debate. A key excerpt was this quote from the federal Privacy Commissioner: “there is not even a requirement for the commission of a crime to justify access
Continue readingThe Sixth Estate: Sixth Estate Announces Inaugural Weekly Flack Award for Worst Government Press Release
Government press releases have probably never been, shall we say, the go-to source for reasoned and well-informed commentary on the issues of the today. They are, rather, propaganda, pure and simple. But they have taken a definite turn for the worse under the Harper regime. This turn isn’t merely a
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: When unicorns are as real as Tory spin lines
In June 2006, Stockwell Day tabled the Harper government’s first bill to repeal the long gun registry. As this blog pointed out a couple of days ago, Day’s bill required gun sellers to actually check whether the buyer was licensed before selling a long gun. At the time, the Canadian
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: That was then. This is now. We liked then better.
In June 2006, Stockwell Day introduced the Harper Tory government’s first bill to repeal the long gun registry. At the time, the government emphasized how the bill would help keep guns out of the hands of “individuals who should not have them, such as convicted criminals,” and how making businesses keep
Continue readingCowboys for Social Responsibility: The factualy flawed and incorrect Vic Toews
If I was the Minister of Public Safety, I would want to make sure that my answers to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Public Safety and National Security were well rooted in fact. Others, it seems may not share that passion. Responding to a question from Liberal MP
Continue readingPushed to the Left and Loving It: Why Does the Right Hold the Left to a Higher Moral Standard?
Despite the allegations of sexual misconduct, Herman Cain continues to poll high with Republicans.And yet they wasted millions of tax dollars in an attempt to impeach President Bill Clinton, because of a sex scandal. Clinton’s was consensual…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: Thursday Morning Links
This and that for your Thursday reading.- Stephen Maher nicely summarizes Tony Clement’s sad committee appearance yesterday:The evidence shows that Clement chose the projects himself, in some kind of mysterious process in his riding office. He has stea…
Continue readingDavid Climenhaga's Alberta Diary: Tory recipe for happiness: save money and gain self esteem by scrapping the gun registry!
Why should I have to register my flying car? I’m a law-abiding driver! Civilian variants of the $100-million-plus F-35, without working radios, may not be exactly as illustrated. Below, Edmonton St. Albert Member of Parliament Brent Rathgeber. Really…
Continue readingDestroying long gun registry records could wake up Canadians to Cons’ petty and authoritarian nature
In a perverse way, I do hope the Conservatives destroy the long gun registry records. Vic Toews’ reasoning for the move says everything Canadians need to know about the majority party (emphasis mine):Public Safety Minister Vic Toews (Provencher, M…
Continue readingAccidental Deliberations: A need for debate
It’s been pointed out elsewhere that the Cons are invoking closure on multiple difference types of legislation in order to ensure that their sweeping changes aren’t subject to proper public debate. And in most cases, their excuse is that the bills have…
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