So What Did I Miss?

Enbridge: A Short History in Disaster

2012-01-11T00:25:00.001-05:00

Between 1999 and 2008 Enbridge recorded 610 oil and gas spills.

Regarding the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, Gina Jordan, an Enbridge spokesperson quoted a study quite casually stating the chance of a spill was “something like 1 in 15000 years, I don’t know”. An absurd claim, given the company’s recent environmental track record. Given the facts below, a spill near B.C.’s fragile rainforest seems almost inevitable if this pipeline is built. In addition, the company is not financialy liable for any oil spills from oil ships on the ocean.

Occupy Wall Street

2011-10-17T22:35:00.004-04:00

Before Occupy Wall Street, there was clear consensus and proof that Wall Street traders and big bank mortgage lenders were responsible for the debt crisis we're seeing around the world. There were also a lot of people who thought that giving bailouts to the same banks that caused the problem was not okay. There were also a lot of people who were upset when those same banks continued to hand out massive bonuses after taking taxpayer money, setting up the same crisis to happen all over again. And yet when some average citizens finally can't take it any more and decide to protest this corrupt system and pattern, the debate gets totally off track and starts to focus on the people protesting?

Let's focus on the real problem: capital and profits are being kept private, but losses and risk are being shifted onto the public. "We like free markets until we lose money" is a fake free-market where the government exists just to gather taxes that are then funnelled to corporations. And these corporations are run by people who are not being held accountable.

And so it continues... #42: U.S. swayed Canada on copyright bill

2011-09-04T12:57:00.000-04:00

It looks like the next 4 years are going be filled with a lot of banging of heads (not the music-related kind - more like the against-a-wall kind), so I figure I might as well keep the list going of reasons why it's even more painfully obvious why our government does not act in it's own citizens' best interests (even more so than last time). So to kick things off, here's reason #42: U.S. swayed Canada on copyright bill. Stunningly, a policy director for then industry minister Tony Clement suggested it might help U.S. demands for a tough copyright law if Canada were placed among the worst offenders on an international piracy watch list. Days later, the U.S. placed Canada alongside China and Russia on the list.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1048993--leaks-show-u-s-swayed-canada-on-copyright-bill?bn=1

41 Reasons in this 41st Election to vote ABC

2011-05-02T18:16:00.001-04:00

My last political post before the election cutoff. Here's the sum up the current government's ethics (or lack of them). Basically, reasons not to vote for Harper. Thanks to all who checked out this resource and shared it with others - there were over 40,000 views and a ton of tweets on this site in just a few weeks. The most popular post was the one listing the candidates skipping debates - I guess people were checking up on candidates in their own riding. Here's hoping for the best - for us all. (in no particular order):

No. 41: Harper campaigns in support of asbestos exports
No. 40: Harper's former speech writer declares youth bad for vote
No. 39: 57 Conservative Candidates Currently Skipping Debates
No. 38: Harper cuts aid to needy African nations
No. 37: Harper lies about lobbyist reform
No. 36: Harper undoes agreement to improve lives of First Nations
No. 35: Harper doesn't read what he signs
No. 34: Harper's subsidies to tar sands companies
No. 33: Unelected Conservative senators kill climate bill
No. 32: Harper signs up for jets that don't come with engines
No. 31: Harper claims Canada has no history of colonialism
No. 30: Conservatives try to steal the election - literally
No. 29: Harper to create government-run media centre
No. 28: Tories mislead gov't on millions spent on G8
No. 27: Conservative admits Tory ridings favoured with cash
No. 26: Conservatives spending billions on jails as crime drops
No. 25: Economic action plan signs made in U.S.
No. 24: Conservative party redistributes tax payer money with prop cheques
No. 23: Harper buys short range planes built for long range country
No. 22: Canada loses seat on security council due to lacklustre record
No. 21: Harper cuts almost all funding for women's groups
No. 20: Harper admits Conservative party attempted to bribe dying MP
No. 19: Harper limits amount of total questions from reporters
No. 18: Harper tries to control which reporters ask questions
No. 17: Harper falsely claimed on FOX News that Canadians support Iraq war
No. 16: Harper claims Saddam has WMDs and writes US papers to complain
No. 15: Conservative party ejects students for facebook photos
No. 14: Harper condemns coalition, ignoring fact he asked for one too
No. 13: Harper's last minute decision to host G20 in Toronto
No. 12: Harper recites exact speech given by Australian Prime Minister
No. 11: Government hires unlicensed Utah company for security
No. 10: Despite $930 Million in security, cops told to stay away
No. 9: "Conservative" Harper wastes over $1 Billion on G20 summit
No. 8: Government lies about complaints in order to hide evidence
No. 7: Despite stats showing otherwise, government wants more jails
No. 6: Tory handbook on obstructing and manipulation
No. 5: Conservatives charged with breaking election rules
No. 4: Government withholds incriminating evidence
No. 3: Public Integrity Commissioner fails to do job
No. 2: Government found in contempt
No. 1: Conservative Minister lies to parliament

No. 42: Harper Can't Stop Lying - Even About What He Did Last MONTH

2011-05-01T10:16:00.007-04:00

In an interview just days before the election, Stephen Harper says: "I cannot go around the country telling people I'm the best guy to have a beer with. That's the other guy."

Which leads one to wonder - when did Jack Layton ever say that? The answer is, he didn't.

Which also leads one to wonder - hey, didn't Stephen Harper also go out on the campaign trail this election and share some pints? Yes, he did. On March 31st he visited both the Alexander Keith's Brewery and the Red Stag Tavern in Halifax, both photo ops to show him serving and drinking beer with the common folk.

This man can't stop lying!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/on-the-campaign-trail-the-daily-photo-recap/article1965719/

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/story_print.html?id=4705554&sponsor=

No. 41: Harper Takes $12 Billion Surplus, Turns It Into $45 Billion Deficit

2011-04-29T17:18:00.016-04:00

The most important fact leading up to the election date is this:

Stephen Harper's ridiculous claim that he and the conservatives are the only ones that can steward the Canadian economy safely, is absolutely false.

In reality, he has added $57 million in new debt on the backs of Canadian taxpayers since his government has been in office. This includes wasting $1 billion on frivolous G20 spending and handing out corporate tax cuts totalling $6 billion while in a recession. When Paul Martin left office, he left Stephen Harper a surplus of $12 billion. The projection this year is a deficit of $45.5 billion.

Worse, Harper's future plans include wasting $24 more billion on jets and $1 billion on jails. In contrast, he only plans to spend $5 million on education. For reducing the deficit, $11 billion in savings comes through yet unnamed cuts to services including $4 billion in reducing "inefficiencies", a suggestion that has been by discredited by leading economists.

From the author:

The truth is, Stephen Harper has not been a good steward of Canadian taxpayers' money, so for him to point the finger at everyone else shows he is either in a state of denial, delusion or just thinks he's way more awesome than he is. Yes, some spending was necessary during the economic downturn, but that's certainly the WRONG time to be wasting wads of cash on fake lakes, gazebos, outrageous amounts of security and continuing to subsidize the tar sands, to name a few things. Further, his solution to get out of the deficit he has created will have a huge impact on most Canadians who are not extremely wealthy.

If history is any indication (and it usually is), the next step after all massive spending by conservative governments is to then demand cuts to social services with the deficit they created as the excuse. When Mike Harris was premier of Ontario, this was called "creating a crisis". When Ronald Reagan was President of the U.S., it was called "starving the beast". Harper has already pledged to cut $11 billion in unnamed services - if he is elected PM, it won't be long before the other shoe drops.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2008/10/28/martin.html

http://www.financialpost.com/news/economy/Budget+deficit+will+shrink+Harper/4458384/story.html

http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/decision-canada/issues+platform+Harper+ducks+questions+deficit+plan/4591491/story.html

Harper's Treatment of First Nations, Inuit and Metis

2011-04-27T21:03:00.004-04:00

Harper's record providing help to First Nations, Inuit and Metis is abysmal. One apology does not make up for destroying their land and livelihood. Setting up a tribunal to deal with their concerns means nothing if not a single case is tried in THREE years. All smoke and mirrors.

No. 40: Harper campaigns in support of asbestos exports despite cancer risks and ban in Canada

2011-04-26T23:20:00.000-04:00

Canada’s leading medical authorities have all pleaded that the export of asbestos is medically and morally indefensible and will lead to an epidemic of asbestos-related disease and death overseas. Harper is the only national leader in the Western world to promote asbestos.

Ironically, asbestos is being removed from schools, the House of Commons and even 24 Sussex Dr., where the Prime Minister resides with his wife and two children.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/980449--harper-defends-asbestos-exports-despite-cancer-risks?bn=1

No. 39: Harper's former speech writer declares youth bad for vote

2011-04-25T10:55:00.000-04:00

I would like to see the research this man bases these comments on - except there isn't any:

"Is it a wise idea to encourage young people to vote who aren't well informed on politics and current events to begin with. For instance, there is a political radicalism among youth -especially the type of youth who would stay home on election day -that could lead to many fringe parties receiving votes. This is good for democracy, but not necessarily for political stability. While no one is expecting all young people to have PhD-level understanding of the Canadian political system, a decent amount of knowledge would be nice.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/decision-canada/Vote+mentality/4659482/story.html

57 Conservative Candidates Currently Skipping Debates

2011-04-25T00:57:00.021-04:00

Either this is a brazen contempt for voters or an attempt to hide an embarrassing ineptitude at public speaking – neither of which is the hallmark of a suitable candidate. One Conservative candidate, Jilian Saweczko said she could not attend due to "planned emergencies". Kind of reminiscent of "unreported crimes"?

Candidates who have missed debates (57 CPC, 5 NDP, 4 Bloc, 1 Lib):
(Click on names to link to articles)

Alberta

- Deepak Obhrai (CPC) - Calgary East

- Rob Anders (CPC) - Calgary West (Radio station launches contest to locate him)

- Michelle Rempel (CPC) - Calgary Centre-North

- Jason Kenney (CPC) - Calgary South East

- Stephen Harper (CPC) - Calgary South West

- Devinder Shory (CPC) - Calgary North East

- Dianne Ablonczy (CPC) - Calgary Nose Hill

- Jim Hillyer (CPC) - Lethbridge

- Peter Goldring (CPC) - Edmonton East

- Laurie Hawn (CPC) - Edmonton Centre

- LaVar Payne (CPC) - Medicine Hat

Ontario

- Julian Fantino (CPC) - Vaughan

- Peter Kent (CPC) - Thornhill

- Aijaz Naqvi (NDP) - Mississauga-Streetsville

- Terence Young (CPC) - Oakville

- Susan Truppe (CPC) - London-North Centre

- Stephen Woodworth (CPC) - Kitchener Centre

- Diane Finley (CPC) - Haldimand—Norfolk

- Royal Galipeau (CPC) - Ottawa-Orléans

- Theresa Rodrigues (CPC) - Davenport

- Leanna Villella (CPC) - Welland

- Kevin Moore (CPC) - Toronto Centre

- Elie Salibi (CPC) - Ottawa South

- Pierre Lemieux (CPC) - Glengarry-Prescott-Russell

- Terry Anderson (CPC) - Hamilton Mountain

- Marty Burke (CPC) - Guelph

- James McLaren (NDP) - Ottawa South

- Ed Holder (CPC) - London West

- Patrick Brown (CPC) - Barrie

- Peter Braid (CPC) - Kitchener - Waterloo

- Chris Alexander (CPC) - Ajax-Pickering

- Larry Miller (CPC) - Bruce-Grey-Owen Sound

- Corneliu Chisu (CPC) - Pickering-Scarborough East

- Fred Slade (CPC) - Sudbury

- Damian Konstantinakos (CPC) - Ottawa Centre

- Phil McColeman (CPC) - Brant

- Jilian Saweczko (CPC) - York-South-Weston

- Dave Van Kesteren (CPC) - Chatham-Kent-Essex

- Dr. Marie Bountrogianni (LIB) - Hamilton-Mountain

- Terry Anderson (CPC) - Hamilton-Mountain

- Bev Shipley (CPC) - Lambton-Kent Essex

- Kassandra Bidarain (NDP) - Aurora-Newmarket

Manitoba

- Wally Daudrich (CPC) - Churchill

- Rod Bruinooge (CPC) - Winnipeg South

- Bev Pitura (CPC) - Winnipeg Centre

New Brunswick

- Rodney Weston (CPC) - Saint John

- Robert Goguen (CPC) - Moncton-Riverview-Dieppe

British Columbia

- Ronald Leung (CPC) - Burnaby-Douglas

- Dona Cadman (CPC) - Surrey North

- Mark Strahl (CPC) - Chilliwack - Fraser Canyon

- John Koury (CPC) - Nanaimo-Cowichan

- John Duncan (CPC) - Vancouver Island North

- Jennifer Clarke (CPC) - Vancouver Centre

- Ronald Leung (CPC) - Burnaby-Douglas

Nova Scotia

- Gerald Keddy (CPC) - South Shore-St. Margaret's

Saskatchewan

- Randy Hoback (CPC) - Prince Albert

- Kelly Block (CPC) - Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar ("As elusive as Bigfoot")

Northwest Territories

- Sandy Lee (CPC) - Western Arctic

Quebec

- Daniel Petit (CPC) - Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles

- Sylvie Boucher (CPC) - Beauport-Limoilou

- Claude Pilote (Bloc) - Roberval-Lac-Saint-Jean

- Roger Pomerleau (Bloc) - Drummond

- Richard Côté (Bloc) - Portneuf-Jacques-Cartier

- Nicolas Dufour (Bloc) - Repentigny

- Nancy Brassard-Fortin (CPC) - Hull-Aylmer (Missed 3 debates in 3 days!)
- Isabelle Maguire (NDP) - Richmond-Arthabaska
- Ruth Ellen Brosseau (NDP) - Berthier-Maskinonge

http://www.westonweb.ca/
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/apicazo/2011/04/election-2011-debate-absenteeism

Video #1

2011-04-23T23:14:00.008-04:00

No. 38: Harper cuts aid to needy African nations, shifts money to countries that make more money

2011-04-18T20:18:00.000-04:00

“It's very abrupt and sudden, and no proper reason was given,” says Emma Kaliya, chairwoman of an independent Malawian organization that had worked on women's-rights issues with Canadian aid.

Instead of Malawi and the seven other African countries, where most people are so desperately poor that they earn less than $2 a day, a bigger share of Canada's foreign-aid money will flow to middle-income places such as Peru, Colombia, Ukraine and the Caribbean, where Canada's commercial interests are more attractive.

Harper has mandated Afghanistan to become the largest recipient of Canada's largesse. This led world-renowned development economist Jeffrey Sachs to complain, "…the money going to Afghanistan and Iraq is really not development aid but security spending."

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/banned-aid/article1160311/

No. 37: Harper lies about lobbyist reform, as former aide lobbies for Taser

2011-04-18T19:59:00.000-04:00

In 2006, Harper claimed that "politics will no longer be a stepping stone to a lucrative career lobbying government.''

Soon after however, a Tory election strategist and former adviser to both the prime minister and public safety minister became a lobbyist for Taser International - the company who provided the weapons that killed Robert Dziekanski. Boessenkool was a senior adviser to now Prime Minister Stephen Harper and played key strategic roles in the 2004 and 2006 Conservative election campaigns. Boessenkool lists Day's department and the RCMP as potential points of contact in his filing with the Registrar of Lobbyists.

http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20071214/taser_lobby_071214?hub=Toronto

No. 36: Harper undoes agreement to improve lives of First Nations

2011-04-18T19:44:00.001-04:00

The Kelowna Accord was designed to eradicate poverty in First Nations communities and make Canada a better place," Phil Fontaine of the Assembly of First Nations said. "This budget suggests to me that we won't be able to move ahead on those commitments." Even conservative Alberta Premier Ralph Klein expressed his disappointment, saying the Kelowna deal went a long way toward addressing the needs of First Nations and Métis peoples.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/aboriginals/undoing-kelowna.html

No. 35: Harper either doesn't read what he signs, or doesn't know the difference between India and First Nations people

2011-04-18T19:37:00.000-04:00

The mix-up prompted a sharp response from the president of the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres, Rick Lobzun. "This is 2004, Mr. Harper, not 1492 - the last time a man got lost looking for India," he wrote in a letter dated Wednesday.

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20040227/harper_gaffe_040226?hub=TorontoHome

No. 34: Harper's subsidies to tar sands companies larger than entire Environment Canada budget

2011-04-17T19:12:00.000-04:00

More of our money is going to subsidize oil companies’ destruction in the tar sands than there is in the combined 2008 budgets of Environment Canada ($1.12 billion) and Alberta Environment ($403 million).

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20070302/oil_sands_070302/

http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/Blog/government-subsidies-to-tar-sands-companies-l/blog/28184

No. 33: Unelected Conservative senators kill climate bill passed by elected officials

2011-04-17T19:03:00.002-04:00

The Conservatives have used their clout in the Senate stacked by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to kill an NDP climate change bill that was passed by a majority of the House of Commons.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/ottawa-notebook/tory-senators-kill-climate-bill-passed-by-house/article1802519/

VIDEO: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/video/senate-vote-on-climate-bill-angers-ndp/article1803303/?from=1802519

No. 32: Harper signs up for jets that don't come with engines - cost almost doubles

2011-04-17T18:47:00.002-04:00

The multi-million dollar F-35 stealth fighter that the Conservatives want to purchase comes with all the accoutrements of a high-tech aircraft — everything, that is, except an engine.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Canada+Engines+included/4629251/story.html

No. 31: Harper claims Canada has no history of colonialism

2011-04-15T22:26:00.003-04:00

Stephen Harper claimed at a G20 summit that "We also have no history of colonialism. So we have all of the things that many people admire about the great powers but none of the things that threaten or bother them," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/09/26/columns-us-g20-canada-advantages-idUSTRE58P05Z20090926

No. 30: Conservatives try to steal the election - literally

2011-04-15T21:12:00.000-04:00

Several students and a Liberal scrutineer present at the polling station allege Marty Burke’s director of communication, Michael Sona, attempted Wednesday to grab a ballot box in an effort to stop voting at the U of G polling station.

http://www.guelphmercury.com/news/local/article/517455--elections-canada-rules-votes-stand-from-u-of-g-special-ballot-session

No. 29: Harper to create government-run media centre: report

2011-04-13T19:02:00.000-04:00

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has been working on a secret project to build a $2-million government-controlled media centre, a newspaper reported Monday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2007/10/15/media-pm.html

No. 28: Tories mislead gov't on millions spent for cities far from G8 summit

2011-04-11T18:30:00.002-04:00

The draft reveals that a local “G8 summit liaison and implementation team” — Industry Minister Tony Clement, the mayor of Huntsville, and the general manager of Deerhurst Resort which hosted the summit — chose the 32 projects that received funding. It says there was no apparent regard for the needs of the summit or the conditions laid down by the government.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/972725--tories-come-under-attack-over-ag-s-shocking-g8-spending-report

No. 27: Conservative admits Tory ridings favoured with cash

2011-04-07T20:18:00.002-04:00

It is "normal" for Conservative ridings to receive more cash from Ottawa than those with opposition MPs, a high-profile Tory candidate in Quebec said Thursday.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/canadavotes2011/story/2011/04/07/lac-saint-louis-riding-campaign-liberals-conservatives.html?ref=rss

No. 26: Conservatives spending billions on jails as crime rates falling

2011-04-05T02:12:00.000-04:00

The government says it will spend $2 billion over five years to absorb more prisoners due to stiffer sentencing provisions in new legislation.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/919371--critics-say-harper-government-throwing-prison-expansion-money-away

No. 25: Economic action plan signs made in U.S.

2011-04-05T01:50:00.000-04:00

The signs promote the $8 million federal-provincial economic stimulus plan, which is supposed to provide work for small and medium sized B.C. businesses, said Conroy. Instead the roads signs were made by Zumar Industries from Tacoma, Wash., which has received more than $1 million in work from the B.C. government in the last four years, she said.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2009/11/09/bc-us-signs-canadas-economic-action-plan.html

No. 24: Conservative party redistributes tax payer money using prop cheques

2011-04-05T01:45:00.000-04:00

Everyone likes a big cheque when it comes to handing over money. It makes a dandy prop for MPs to stand beside and take credit for. The practice did not break the ethics code for MPs nor the Conflict of Interest Act, but was deemed "inappropriate."

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/660206

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/politicalbytes/2009/10/big-cheque-big-logo.html

No. 23: Harper buys short range planes built for aircraft carriers for the 2nd largest country in the world that owns no aircraft carriers

2011-04-05T01:24:00.000-04:00

It's not clear that fighter jets should be at the top of Canada's procurement list. The CF-18s were acquired to intercept Soviet bombers during the Cold War; today, Russia is a member of the G8, the Arctic Council, and a soon-to-be member of the WTO. It's largest trading partner is the European Union, which is made up mostly of NATO states. Canada's most desperate procurement need is for fixed-wing search-and-rescue aircraft that could be built in Canada by Bombardier.

http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorialopinion/article/836959--16-billion-for-the-wrong-planes

No. 22: Canada loses seat on security council due to lacklustre record, Harper blames Ignatieff

2011-04-05T01:07:00.000-04:00

Despite pouring money and countless hours into the election effort, Canada failed to win a seat at the security council for the first time in history. Afterward, the Harper government placed the blame for the loss in a seemingly strange place: on Michael Ignatieff.

The suggestion was bizarre. Several ambassadors who emerged from the vote made no mention of Ignatieff's remarks; one had never even heard of him. Instead, the loss was perhaps due to Canada's recent move to freeze all aid to Africa. Or maybe, it was because Canada has reduced its UN peacekeepers to a historic low to pour resources into Afghanistan. Or it could have been due to Canada's lacklustre performance at December's climate conference in Copenhagen, and its failure to meet its Kyoto protocal obligations.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/13/canada-michael-ignatieff

No. 21: Harper cuts almost all funding for women's issues, ironically named chair of UN Women's Health Fund

2011-04-05T00:59:00.000-04:00

Since Canada’s Conservative Government took power in 2006, significant budget cuts have been made to Canadian gender equality, political justice, social policy and research programs including the virtual elimination of a Canadian government department devoted to Women’s equality and women’s issues.

http://aprilreign.breadnroses.ca/politics/were-in-safe-hands-with-stephen-harper-and-other-conservative-lies/

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20100504/Harper-womens-funding-100504/

http://www.pacificfreepress.com/news/1/7900-canadas-harper-to-chair-un-womens-health-fund.html

No. 20: Harper admits Conservative party attempted to bribe dying MP

2011-04-05T00:43:00.000-04:00

Harper was Opposition leader when two party operatives offered Cadman, who had terminal cancer, a million-dollar life insurance policy.

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/307996

No. 19: Harper limits amount of total questions from reporters to 5

2011-04-05T00:37:00.000-04:00

B.C. Conservative staffer Tony Phillips says limiting the PM’s media questions to five a day is “stupidity.” Phillips, communications director for Surrey North MP Dona Cadman last election and a staffer on her re-election campaign this time around, has openly questioned the scheme to limit Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s media entourage to just five questions a day.

http://www.theprovince.com/news/Harper+question+limit+stupidity+says+Conservative/4557956/story.html

No. 18: Harper tries to control which reporters ask questions

2011-04-05T00:34:00.000-04:00

Soon after taking control of the Government of Canada, Harper tries to control the media. By demanding that he select who asks questions (and thus what questions are asked), the Press Gallery rejects him, and so Harper refuses to answer any questions at all. Then he lies to Canadians about the whole issue.

VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jvE9EN4YPGM

No. 17: Harper falsely claimed on FOX News that majority of Canadians supported going into Iraq

2011-04-05T00:12:00.000-04:00

In an interview with the American TV network, Harper said he endorsed the war and said he was speaking "for the silent majority" of Canadians. Only in Quebec, with its "pacifist tradition," are most people opposed to the war, Harper said.

http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20030404/harper_fox_interview_030404/

http://25461.vws.magma.ca/admin/articles/torstar-24-03-2003c.html

No. 16: Harper claims Saddam has WMDs and writes Wall Street Journal to complain about Canada not being in war

2011-04-05T00:05:00.000-04:00

Harper stood in the House of Commons in January 2003, to remind MPs that as early as the previous October, "I noted that there is no doubt that Saddam Hussein operates programs to produce weapons of mass destruction. Experience confirms this. British, Canadian and American intelligence leaves no doubt on the matter." Yet as soon as the Iraq adventure went sour, Harper put as much distance as he could between himself and his erstwhile allies, Bush, Tony Blair and Australia's John Howard.

http://www.macleans.ca/columnists/article.jsp?content=20070129_139786_139786

No. 15: Conservative party ejects students for facebook pics

2011-04-04T23:55:00.001-04:00

About 30 minutes after arriving and signing in, the two girls were asked by a man to follow him out of the rally, Aslam said. Though confused, they complied. In a back room, Aslam said he ripped off their name tags, tore them up and ordered them out. "We were confused. He said, 'We know you guys have ties to the Liberal party through Facebook'. He said ... 'You are no longer welcome here.'"

http://www.torontosun.com/news/decision2011/2011/04/04/17873621.html

No. 14: Harper condemns coalition, ignoring fact he pushed for same in 2004

2011-04-04T23:45:00.000-04:00

When Conservative leader Stephen Harper arranged a private meeting in a downtown Montreal hotel about two months after the 2004 election, he asked his counterparts from the Bloc Quebecois and the New Democratic Party to sign a letter.
Addressed to the governor general of the day, the letter reminded Adrienne Clarkson that she didn't need to dissolve Parliament and call an election if the newly minted minority government of former prime minister Paul Martin lost the confidence of the House of Commons. Harper, along with Bloc leader Gilles Duceppe and NDP leader Jack Layton, eventually signed the document, which noted there were alternatives to holding another general election.

http://www.canada.com/news/Harper+Layton+Duceppe+sought+opposition+2004+letter/4511865/story.html#ixzz1Htw6yDVP

No. 13: Harper's last minute decision to host G20 in downtown core costs Toronto

2011-04-04T23:39:00.000-04:00

Harper made a last-minute decision to include the G20 in downtown Toronto (he gave the City all of 15 minutes’ notice before the public announcement) and then refused to consider options, even after Toronto itself expressed major concerns about costs, loss of revenue, security, and a multitude of other real problems for Torontonians.

http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/torontog20summit/article/830274--toronto-s-advice-ignored-on-g20-miller-says

No. 12: Harper recites exact speech given by Australian prime minister

2011-04-04T23:28:00.000-04:00

A Conservative campaign worker has quit over damaging revelations that a major 2003 speech by Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then leader of the Opposition calling for support for the Iraq war, copied almost word-for-word a speech just two days earlier by Australian Prime Minister John Howard.
Hours after the Conservative campaign had refused to deny or rebut the charge of plagiarism, or acknowledge who wrote the speech, a statement released by Owen Lippert, a former foreign policy advisor in Harper's OLO office at the time, admitted the speech was ripped off.

http://www.thestar.com/article/508742

Video montage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h87Z9uM8KXI

No. 11: Government hires unlicensed Utah company for G20 security, eventually charged

2011-04-04T23:25:00.000-04:00

“Any of our security companies could have completed this contract for half of the cost paid out to Contemporary,” he said. “Why was double the amount was paid when it did not have to be? Heads should roll but we need to find out which heads?”

http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2011/04/01/17845816.html

No. 10: Despite $930 Million in security, cops told to "stand down" and not stop vandals

2011-04-04T23:15:00.000-04:00

Police officers were trained to stop the Black Bloc anarchists, were appropriately equipped and massively manned. Yet as downtown Toronto witnessed burning police cars and a small group of thugs on a rampage, a police source says the only thing that stopped the officers from doing that was an order telling them not to. They say they could have rounded up all, or most of them, in no time.
An officer said that eventually there was "a clear order from the command centre saying 'Do not engage' "and, at that point, smelling weakness and no repercussions, the downtown was effectively turned over to the vandals while police, up to 19,000 strong, were ordered to stay out of it.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/columnists/joe_warmington/2010/06/30/14564416.html

No. 9: "Conservative" Harper wastes over $1 Billion of Canadian taxpayer money on the G8 and G20 summits

2011-04-04T22:52:00.000-04:00

The G-20 and G-8 financial summits leave taxpayers footing a whopping bill. A report released says the two summits are expected to cost Canadians C$930 million (US$893 million) in security alone, including more than C$500 million for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Together with other hosting costs — including nearly C$2 million for a marketing and media pavilion in Toronto that includes a "fake lake" — the total tab will run well north of C$1 billion.

"There's a nagging sense police, public servants and politicians are wallowing in a bottomless trough they figure Canadians will constantly replenish," columnist James Travers wrote in the Toronto Star, the country's biggest newspaper. Bruce Schneier, an internationally renowned security technologist and author of several books on the topic, calls the security bill for the three-day affair "ridiculous."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37901237/ns/world_news-americas/

No. 8: Government lies about complaints in order to kill long-form census

2011-04-01T23:15:00.000-04:00

Industry minister Tony Clement has repeatedly said that the threat of imprisonment for not filling out the mandatory long-form census played a large part in the government’s decision, even though a Canadian has never been jailed for refusing to fill out the form.

He then argued that Canadians believed the form was too invasive. This was not borne out by Canada’s privacy watchdog who reported that it had received just three complaints about the census in the last decade.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/census/article/918433--conservatives-relied-on-a-few-complaints-to-scrap-the-census?bn=1

No. 7: Despite stats showing otherwise, government claims crime rates actually rising due to "unreported crimes"

2011-04-01T23:07:00.000-04:00

Harper government suppresses research that contradicts ideologically-driven policy, for example data that show crime rates to be fallingin order to justify spending on prisons.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/crunch-the-numbers-crime-rates-are-going-down/article1913808/

No. 6: Tory handbook on obstructing and manipulating Commons committees leaked

2011-04-01T22:59:00.000-04:00

Having come into office on campaign promises of greater transparency and accountability, Harper has silenced civil servants and diplomats and cynically published guidelines on how to disrupt hostile parliamentary committees.

http://www.thestar.com/article/215532

No. 5: Conservatives charged with breaking election spending law

2011-04-01T22:44:00.000-04:00

Four conservatives were charged with exceeding campaign spending limits in the 2006 election that put Harper into power. A minister used public office and material to pursue party-political goals of courting ethnic vote banks for the conservatives.

http://www.canada.com/business/Conservatives+charged+with+breaking+election+spending/4343480/story.html

No. 4: Government withholds incriminating evidence of human rights violations - suspends parliament to avoid issue

2011-04-01T22:37:00.000-04:00

When a foreign service officer blew the whistle on the Canadian military handing over detainees to Afghan security forces, in likely violation of international humanitarian law, the government tried to destroy him and refused to give documents to a parliamentary inquiry. The Speaker reminded the government parliament controlled cabinet, not the other way round.

After the last elections, when the opposition parties were close to agreement on a coalition majority government, rather than face the house in a vote of confidence, Harper talked the governor-general into shuttering parliament for a month until he shored up his own support.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/04/27/afghan-detainee-documents-speaker-milliken-privilege-ruling.html

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2009/12/30/parliament-prorogation-harper.html

No. 3: Public Integrity Commissioner fails to do job, rewarded with $500,000 to go away quietly

2011-04-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

During her three years as public integrity commissioner, Ouimet investigated only seven of the more than 200 complaints her office received and never found any wrongdoing against whistleblowers. That is, a public servant paid by the taxpayer was financially gagged by yet more taxpayer money to stop taxpayers finding out what was going on.

http://www.globalnews.ca/aboutus/Integrity+commissioner+failed/3951821/story.html

http://www.therecord.com/news/canada/article/497558--outrage-grows-over-integrity-commissioner-s-severance-package

No. 2: Government found in contempt for refusing to disclose information about big spending

2011-04-01T22:11:00.000-04:00

Following rulings by Speaker Peter Milliken, for the first time in Canadian history, the government and a minister have been found to be in contempt of parliament for withholding information and misleading the house.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/957379--committee-finds-harper-government-in-contempt

No.1: Conservative Minister lies to parliament - and is supported by the government

2011-04-01T22:03:00.001-04:00

A minister told parliament she did not know who had altered a document that cut funding to a foreign aid group. Later, she admitted to ordering the changes, but did not know who had carried out the order. Lying to parliament, a cardinal sin of Westminster-style democracy, has become a political tactic.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/cida-memo-doctored-on-ministerial-orders-bev-oda-admits/article1906584/