A blog about news and politics by Steve Janke

July 30, 2007

Michael Colle's official Liberal Party biography still needs the truth added to it

Michael Colle's official Ontario Liberal Party biography has yet to be updated. The obvious problem is that it mentions that he was made the Minister of the Citizenship and Immigration, but has yet to mention that he was forced to resign in disgrace.

But besides that obvious correction, his list of accomplishments ought to be carefully vetted. It's more subtle, but evidence of the Grant-a-palooza scandal is there too.

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Posted by: Steve Janke at 03:16 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 The biographies crows, "Delivering Results for Our Community" followed by bullet points of how much money they've handed over to private organizations. 1. They seem to be confusing money with results. How can they possibly say that they've achieved any results simply because they gave $500,000 to the North Haverbrook Men's Softball Association? Aren't 'results' measurable after the program has been completed? 2. From a completely objective viewpoint, why the hell is any government handing money to a private organisation? If the local cricket club wants some money, let 'em knock on my door like every other charity.

Posted by: rhebner at July 30, 2007 04:46 PM (0ORPn)

2 he government cannot give if it does not take from somebody. A subsidy is never paid by the government out of its own funds; it is at the expense of the taxpayer that the state grants subsidies ... Interference with the market, with commodity prices, wage rates, and interest rates as determined by demand and supply, may in the short run attain the ends aimed at by the government. But in the long run such measures always result in a state of affairs which Â— from the viewpoint of the government Â— is more unsatisfactory than the previous state they were intended to alter. But note: when governments ruin that which they claim to be helping this in fact serve's the government's purpose, because they can always disguise their role in the disaster and then claim even more money and power to solve the "crisis". Government makes kids fat by turning their parents into tax slaves and preventing families from spending time in recreational activities, and by using welfare and free needles, crack pipes, etc. to turn public parks into places too dangerous to play in - then the government gives massive athletic subsidies to their cronies to "solve the growing problem of childhood obesity". And so on. All in all, a highly satisfactory outcome for people in government, however badly they leave society as a whole. ... At the bottom of all this fanatical advocacy of planning and socialism there is often nothing else than the intimate consciousness of one's own inferiority and inefficiency. The man who is aware of his inability to stand competition scorns Â“this mad competitive systemÂ” [the free market]. He who is unfit to serve his fellow citizens wants to rule them.Bureaucracy

Posted by: at July 30, 2007 08:33 PM (tgNL5)

3 pls note the 1st and 3rd paras above are from the linked work, the middle para is not.

Posted by: at July 30, 2007 08:34 PM (tgNL5)

4 ..."truth" is a four letter word to Liberals.

Posted by: tomax7 at July 31, 2007 10:37 AM (jHhd0)

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Garth Turner's election team has some Green in it

Reviewing Garth Turner's Board of Director list for the Electoral District Association for Halton, I can't help but note two notable (former) Green Party members on the list.

Well, one is officially on the board. That one is former Green Party strategist Dan Baril who quit the Green Party under less than amicable terms.

The other is the Green Party candidate for Oakville in the 2004 election, Tania Orton. She is listed as requiring "follow up". Still trying to get her to formerly join Garth Turner's team, I guess. Does Orton think that running for the Green Party is less helpful than helping someone else run for the Liberal Party?

I wonder if that attitude is more widespread through the Green Party under Elizabeth May.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 11:39 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 Ya so...........what's your point? And, so what? People changing is nothing new. Why in hell are you always so negative about everything? Have a drink or go for a walk.

Posted by: Sara at July 30, 2007 05:11 PM (BnPhA)

2 Garth who?

Posted by: Laughinghisarseoff at July 30, 2007 06:05 PM (XdF/C)

3 I'm really getting a kick out Sara claiming that every single tidbit brought up about the Liberals is not an issue. Keep it up, kiddo. Sooner or later, someone might pay attention to you instead of looking at all the layers of Liberal crud.

Posted by: Yukon Gold at July 30, 2007 09:08 PM (kOBlk)

4 Isnt it odd that long time federal Liberal in Halton and former candidate for the nomination (until Garth scooped it) is absent from the list. Jose Zlater isnt on that list. Maybe he wasnt part of the "TEAM GARTH" they installed at the last AGM....oh ya, WHAT AGM?

Posted by: Notices some absent names at July 30, 2007 09:55 PM (S9QBT)

5 Sara sounds like another sore head Liberal, can't blame her, it's not easy being Liberal these days. A famous person once said "it's not easy being green", looks like the Garther is taking on a real load, mixing the Reds with the Greenies. He should know mixing red and green gets you blue.

Posted by: Libby at July 31, 2007 07:06 AM (EA+Zb)

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Who brings a pitbull to a gunfight?

A strange story of dogs being used during a fight, and confrontation with police, and the demise of the two beasts.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:02 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Just the fact that shots were fired, will probably result in at least a review by the SIU.

Posted by: Pat at July 30, 2007 02:20 PM (j4tnX)

2 Once again proves how totally useless McAsswipe and his pet poodle Bryant's Bill 132 really is. Dog owners have always said it is the owners not the dogs who should be held resposible. No I don't own a pitbull, in fact I don't own a dog.

Posted by: Pissedoff at July 30, 2007 04:35 PM (YPMte)

3 Ban Pit Bulls. For real. Owning a pit bull is an act of war against your fellow citizens.

Posted by: anon at July 30, 2007 05:40 PM (xZRqz)

4 ok... so... they brought kitchen knives to the appartment and stabbed them to death... BAN KITCHEN KNIVES!!!!! really... how dumb does the government think we are? Hold dog owners responsible, like we do any knife wielding idiot!

Posted by: Evenmore Pissedoff at July 31, 2007 10:32 PM (/IKoG)

5 What I want to know is why did they open the door? Were the dogs and men in stealth mode? I just can't believe that they didnt start out with shotguns? Tasering a dog? Just stupid.

Posted by: YYZinDFW at August 02, 2007 12:42 PM (dmrp6)

6 Pitbull = Small penis

Posted by: Chazz at August 06, 2007 02:12 AM (4z8N5)

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July 29, 2007

A grant-based ministry with a family history of poor management

Dalton McGuinty, premier of Ontario, has a headache with Citizenship and Immigration. The reckless distribution of millions of dollars of year-end grant money with little or no oversight has cost McGuinty a minister.

What if I told you about a ministry that does nothing but give out grants, and that had already been pegged by the auditor-general as having serious oversight problems, and that was being run by the same guy who had told us that there was nothing wrong at Citizenship and Immigration?

Let me introduce you to the Ministry of Research and Innovation.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:01 PM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
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1 If there is anybody in public life who won't play with the public till, it's the Honorable Sandra "Lady Churchill" Pupatello, MPP who led the charge to hold the Tory government accountable for the waste and mismanagement you so eloquently blogged about.

Posted by: Josef at July 30, 2007 01:18 AM (EpYpQ)

2 It is an abomination that any of these high sounding departments exist at all. Why is any level of government involved in business. Their sole purpose should be governance, not choosing which business will succeed or fail. Government should not be in the business of business. The more ethereal the name of a department sounds, more useless it is. Just another adscam? As for accountability--since when has any government heard that word, much less been accountable for anything? Unless there is an audit done to show that money is not being wasted and that there is a substantial benefit to the taxpayer for this highsounding department, the moneylaundering must stop. Today we are being told that the Ontario Liberals have increased the meal allowance for nursing home residents to $7/day. How gracious of them. I bet one golf pass for one MPP costs more than that. Then remember Volpe's $200 pizza? Talk about innovation!

Posted by: George at July 30, 2007 05:43 AM (xkjup)

3 How else to feed $$$ to cronies? Screw the sheeple serfs.

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 30, 2007 06:02 AM (GN3Xe)

4 Take a look at MUNICIPAL Adscams, like the aldermen in Thunder Bay, who get $$$ for useless studies, purposely designed to keep the goofs fed and watered, 'til their election day. And the local morons up here are too ignorant and unwashed to even ASK to review the results....

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 30, 2007 07:46 AM (GN3Xe)

5 It is really interesting that Premier McGuinty and Minister of R and I McGuinty, is handing out fat cheques prior to the next provincial election. Steve, I think you are doing a great job exposing this transparent attempt to once again buy votes with taxpayers' money. We should call on the Ontario Provincial Auditor to investigate this Ministry. I suspect there are many recipients like the famous Cricket Club which received a million without asking for it or without providing proper documentation or follow up. If there is fraud or incompetence, or mismanagement, Premier McGuinty and his brain trust of AG Bryant and Minister of Finance Sorbara should all take the fall. The Provincial Auditor should be investigating the recipients of these grants under oath to determine the validity of these grants. Keep up the good fight. Maybe the opposition Tories and NDP will get their acts together and investigate this matter as well. These are disasters in the making. Lowell Smith

Posted by: Lowell Smith at July 30, 2007 10:02 AM (txK8R)

6 A bunch of government types with no experience in the private sector, no business knowledge, no marketable skills at all - dudes who probably were attracted to government because they couldn't handle simple jobs like shovelling snow and babysitting - somehow we think that these people can decide where money should go in the private sector and determine which business ideas are good and which are bad? The Provincial Auditor should be investigating the recipients of these grants under oath to determine the validity of these grants. There is nothing valid about government grants to businesses. By definition they are the confiscation of money from successful people - people who serve the public intelligently, diligently and honestly - and the redistribution of the money to the less intelligent, less diligent and less honest. You and the AG will not be able to audit your way out of this pickle. You either love politicians and bureaucrats and you hate freedom, or the other way around. You have to choose. There is no middle ground - only a squishy swamp of hypocrisy in which you pretend that freedom is only sort-of good for people, and that despite all the backwards incentives politicians and bureaucrats are only sort-of incompetent and crooked, and they'll handle all the money you give them appropriately as long as you let them appoint other bureaucrats to keep an eye on it for you.

Posted by: at July 30, 2007 08:51 PM (tgNL5)

7 A view from inside... Things changed markedly when Alastair Glass was brought in. MRI structure is greatly improved, and there is a clear focus on demonstrable economic benefits to Ontario. The programs with which I am familiar/involved require financial backing by industry (somewhere around a third of total project costs, a mixture of cash and inkind services). Out of the cash MRI provides (at least through OCE), 35% of project cost is overhead the university takes off (an indirect way to add some "competition" and capitalistic struggle to the universities), the remainder pays for the research (none goes directly to the industry partners, although there are commercialization schemes for creating startup companies). Research costs are principally the salaries and stipends for graduate students and research assistants, since the emphasis is on training "HQP" (highly qualified personnel). You want a competitive workforce? You pay for it. As for McGuinty running MRI, the previous program was very Toronto-centric. It's more balanced now. Of course, if you think that the government ought not be involved in this sort of thing at all, then objecting to the whole scheme is perfectly sensible. However, you then must be consistent/realistic - the gov't then should stop funding university research entirely. The entire higher education system would collapse (at least on the engineering and hard sciences side) as all the research-active profs would leave in disgust. I could go one, but thereÂ’s no point. Is the current scheme perfect? No. But to insist on demonstrable perfection before getting on with the job is, at the least, very naÃ¯ve.

Posted by: Tenebris at July 31, 2007 07:45 AM (4CfoK)

8 Thunder Bay BORROWS $45 million. WE MUST OPERATE OUR OLD FOLKS HOMES MUNICIPALLY, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR OLD FOLKS...then, minutes within getting the LOAN, they decide to let the ONTARIO GOV'T run the homes....DO THEY RETURN THE LOAN? No. What do they do with the $$$? They spend it on a MOLLECULAR MEDICINE CENTRE and who knows what else? Is this legal? Isn't that called CRIMINAL FALSE PROSPECTUS?

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 31, 2007 08:31 AM (GN3Xe)

9 Sandra Pupatello is a joke, plain & simple. While in opposition, here most significant contribution to the house was to introduce a bill banning dwarf tossing from Windsor stripclubs. A sharp and penetrating mind to focus on such weighty matters, indeed. mhb23re at gmail d0t calm

Posted by: mhb at July 31, 2007 12:44 PM (2/Us5)

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A chance to start cleaning up the mess left by Michael Colle

A charitable organization with tight ties with the Ontario Liberal Party was a recipient of once of largest grants tagged as suspicious in the auditor-general's report.

Though the minister responsible, Michael Colle, has resigned, the aftermath needs to be dealt with. Already there are rumblings of tryng to recover the money.

And in that lies an opportunity.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:15 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 I'm sick of agendized "social" agencies and gov't created culture and cultural events. I just want to go drink beer around a bonfire in a gravel pit. But the cops around here don't like anyone smiling or having fun. Not much cultural freedoms for WHITE CRACKERS like me.

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 29, 2007 06:47 AM (GN3Xe)

2 This isn't fair! Do you think its easy to be ethical?

Posted by: Eric-Vancouver at July 29, 2007 10:12 AM (wAU9K)

3 'Charities' suck up taxpayer's money like there's no tomorrow - so of course they lobby for the kind of government corrupt enough to find them even more money - Liberal governments. The tens of thousands of 'charities' in Canada cost every taxpayer a lot of money since 'charities' have tax free status - which means that all the rest of us have to pay more, even though some of these 'charities' collect money to fund fighting in other countries. Corrupt Liberals know that ethnic kingpins will whip their communities into voting Liberal, and they know that a lot of people will vote for Liberal corruption despite the fact they can't get real services from the government, like a family physician. Liberals will promise their voters a lot and screw them over accordingly, again.

Posted by: philanthropist at July 29, 2007 05:41 PM (7pBiD)

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July 27, 2007

Michael Colle's largesse overwhelmingly benefited Liberal ridings

Though Liberals reeling from the resignation of Citizenship and Immigration Minister Michael Colle are quick to point out that the auditor-general's report that cost Colle his job did not conclude that the cash the ministry was recklessly distributing amounted to a slush fund, I decided to look at the distribution of the disbursements.

I found that Liberal ridings overwhelmingly benefited from the grants, both in number of grants and in the total cash given out.

Though some skewing is expected, that itself suggests an interesing question.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 08:36 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
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1 Liberal MPPs sure seemed to benefit the most from the government largesse from the Citizenship and Immigration. Yep, the government sure seems to be stealing money to buy elections. Not sure how you're going to be able to vote your way out of this one - the election racket sure seems to be rigged by losers and weasels for the benefit of same. Perhaps a boycott of elections by honest people would at least remove the smug certainty with which the losers and weasels rifle the honest people's pockets.

Posted by: at July 27, 2007 10:18 PM (tgNL5)

2 Corrupt Liberals, again.

Posted by: philanthropist at July 27, 2007 10:40 PM (7pBiD)

3 Ya'll wanna bet that the recpients of that $ would get a KNOCK on their door when it is time to start donating cash to the liberal run-ups. The Irani dude that netted $200,000 turned around to run for Liberal nomination...guess who has the cash to lend for his campaign? I smell a scam!

Posted by: at July 27, 2007 10:47 PM (DBGL0)

4 I'd done a study on HRDC grants federally; the working paper is available here: http://www.econ.canterbury.ac.nz/personal_pages/eric_crampton/HRDC2.pdf Can you get census data on the proportion of immigrants in each district? I'm really curious to know what happens when you control for the MPP's margin of victory in the previous election -- does money go to safe ridings or to marginal districts? I'm also really curious about how funding skews to cabinet ministers. In my study, I found massive distortions towards Cabinet Ministers' ridings, especially where those ministers had won by narrow margins of victory. I also found money skewed away from members of opposition shadow cabinets. However, on the whole Liberal districts did worse than others. Send me an email if you want me to run things through Stata and see whether there are significant effects here. Eric Crampton Department of Economics University of Canterbury (but formerly from Manitoba)

Posted by: Eric Crampton at July 27, 2007 11:37 PM (ldFY6)

5 "does money go to safe ridings or to marginal districts" I had the same question... I was also wondering if the money that went to PC and NDP ridings went to ridings where the Liberals came a close second... perhaps trying to boost their numbers? Janke, if you have a list of the grant recipiants and their Postal codes, I'd be happy to run the numbers myself. e-mail me.

Posted by: Christian Conservative at July 28, 2007 09:28 AM (YFe3R)

6 I'd wager that we're not seeing 1/10 of the cash-iceberg, that these crooked scambag "politicians" have created for their cronies....

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 28, 2007 09:55 AM (GN3Xe)

7 It's a handwritten list. I'll transfer it to a spreadsheet and make it available for download to anyone interested.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 28, 2007 02:59 PM (CQjzv)

8 The burning questions will be: "Will the $32 Million buy the election for the Liberals, and if it does then they will escape any retribution for their corruption? How easily can Ontarians be bought off .. as easily as Quebecers ??"

Posted by: Observer at July 28, 2007 04:41 PM (YfamX)

9 I found that Liberal ridings overwhelmingly benefited from the grants, both in number of grants and in the total cash given out how very odd.... one would think there was a majority government in ontario. when you're done with your latest bit of dim-wittedness, why not investigate brian mulroney? for the intrepid ~~blogger~~ reporter, there must be much to look at.

Posted by: jeff davidson at July 28, 2007 07:35 PM (TWMPa)

10 What the media should do: - get the names of the principals and members (as many as possible) of all the organizations that got grants; - get the lists of the Ontario Liberal Party donors during the last 2 years; - compare the two lists

Posted by: john at July 28, 2007 08:50 PM (37DyJ)

11 I found massive distortions towards Cabinet Ministers' ridings, especially where those ministers had won by narrow margins of victory. Good golly gawrsh perfesser! Im guessin whatcher tryin ta say is POWER CORRUPS. Ain'tcha! The govmint dont steel stuf cause they's lib-a-rals, theyre a steelin cause they kin. Gawd-dam yoo ar a smart one. Now tell mee doc in yer grand-fandangled durn computer con-trapshun kin yoo figger how ta stop'em from steelin? Ah'm thenkin like we mebbe gotta stop em fum gettin thur cotten-pickin hands inta other folks pockits in the fustest place. A dont wanna sownd stoopid er nothin but that kinda sounds lak its gotta work. Jest given em haf yer mony every danged week ta spend for yoo with THEM not bein too smart or honest er nothin in the first place dont really make a lick a sense when yoo reely set down an thank abowt it an all. Course ifn yoo reely think all them whatya callem polly-tishuns reely is all that smart an all an the rest of us is so doggone dum that we dont no what ter do with arselfs er nothin then HELL YES - yoo gotta give em ALL yer mony not jus haf of it. So - ar we fit fer ta be nothin but fee-yoo-dul surfers or wat? Dont nevur dew nothin by hafs thas wat my grampy alays tol me.

Posted by: at July 28, 2007 09:47 PM (tgNL5)

12 Not quite sure how to respond to the guy above. What I'd found interesting wasn't so much that there were distortions but that there were fewer of them than I'd expected. When I started looking at the data, I was expecting to find that Liberal districts on the whole (recall that this was mid to late 1990s) did very well relative to Conservative/Reform/Bloc/NDP districts. Instead, when you correct for unemployment (the basis on which the grants were meant to have been made), Liberals did worse than others. But, Cabinet Ministers did very well indeed -- and not just because they're better MPs. We'd expect that the best MPs make it into Cabinet, so it could be argued that Cabinet Ministers simply are better MPs on all margins and just work harder in supporting grant applications from their districts. I controlled for that, though, by comparing allocations to Cabinet Ministers' districts to allocations to members of opposition shadow cabinets -- also the top tier of opposition MPs. The other fun bits were that Chretien's riding did exceedingly well, but that the model didn't particularly explain much of what else was going on in Quebec. I suspect that allocations there were targeted towards Liberal donors, but I haven't the army of research assistants that would be needed to back out who owns the numbered corporations that made donations to the Libs, and how those people then correspond to people in the firms getting HRDC grants. How to "stop'em from steelin"? There are lots of things that make it harder to steal -- public service reforms like those undertaken in New Zealand. Here, government agencies are headed by managers who sign performance agreements with their Ministers; the head of the bureau can be fired if performance is poor, and the Minister stays out of the day to day operation of the bureau. The bureaucracy remains reasonably non-partisan, or at least much more so than in Canada. In fact, the Minister for the Environment here just got the sack essentially for interfering in the non-partisan status of his bureau.

Posted by: Eric Crampton at July 28, 2007 10:37 PM (ldFY6)

13 New Zealand has tighter reins on government because it's a smaller and much more vulnerable economy. Rampant governmentopianism can (and almost did) bankrupt them in a relatively short amount of time. And being a very small country it's hard for Kiwi politicians to hide out in exclusive clubs and at exclusive resorts with their corporate cronies - the Kiwis who get out of line will definitely get told off by their countrymen at every opportunity. Canada with a much larger and more diverse economy provides a lot more playing room for the typical gormless nitwits who are attracted to political life. They can skim enormous amounts of money off the backs of taxpayers, and still there will be (or at least there have been) a reasonably large number of relatively well-off industries whose royalties, taxes and spin-offs will keep the ship (mostly) afloat. That doesn't make Canada better off in the long run - it just delays the inevitable socialist crack-up because one after another the viable industries simply run out of steam or get tired of being squeezed like pimples by ethically-challenged government demagogues and bureaucratic knobs. Manufacturers are saying bye-bye to southern Ontario. They gave the Trudeau salute to Quebec some time ago. Oil is booming for now, but this has always been cyclical. Fisheries are pretty much dead, forestry is OK but needs fewer and fewer people to process logs. God and John A. MacDonald gave you a very long rope to hang yourselves with, but that's really nothing to brag about. The smearing of fiscal and political responsibility for the delivery of our "sacred" government welfare programs all over three or more levels of government is at an all-time high. You know that things are approaching a gooey meltdown when bumpkin mayors and city councillors are in a three-way pissing match with both provincial and federal politicians and ministries over who's going to pay their constituents to do nothing, or to live in a lifestyle far beyond their capacity (or willingness) to earn. Another attempted stalling tactic which will only accelerate the decline in responsibility and ethics. As for "Cabinet Ministers simply are better MPs on all margins and just work harder in supporting grant applications from their districts." BAW HAW HAW! Cabinet ministers are supposed to be people who have an extremely solid background of achievements in the non-governmental world, and who are supposedly worthy of being trusted with large amounts of other people's money, and not simply steal it or give it to their friends. They're supposed to be above all that because they're so smart and experienced that they could easily go back to earning a good living without needing a government job. Only a loser who couldn't earn a good living anywhere else will get into cabinet and then start pumping millions of dollars into his home riding just so no one will want to vote him out. And only a riding filled with losers would vote in a guy so he can bring home the pork. It's ye olde vicious circle: socialist government kills industry, people feel less self-sufficient so they vote in a more socialist government, which kills more industry, which makes people into bigger losers, which ... Don't expect to see anything resembling Kiwi common sense anywhere in what is now Canuckistan until fiscal failures have left it broken up into smaller, Kiwi-sized, independent chunks.

Posted by: at July 29, 2007 02:38 PM (tgNL5)

14 "Canada with a much larger and more diverse economy provides a lot more playing room for the typical gormless nitwits who are attracted to political life." ...totally agree with that. Our size is a blessing and a curse. The mentality between regions is almost country like. North America is becoming more polarized (excuse the pun) of North/South channel of commerce and thinking. Basically Canada has more room for someone to hide. What fascinates me is the amount of money that is flowing around and we still have a viable economic engine. What I can't grasp is the economic might of the US. California alone is Canada's population, and ironically even has a city called Ontario. Sure they have scandals, but somehow those meet justice. In Canada? They do teaching circuits how to conduct ethical business...

Posted by: tomax7 at July 29, 2007 04:29 PM (jHhd0)

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Stephane Dion's apology for the Douglas Jung gaffe

When Stephane Dion addressed the Chinese Canadian Liberal Association, he spoke to the contributions of Chinese Canadians. He spoke in particular about Arthur Lee, whom he identified as Canada's first MP of Chinese descent. Lee was elected as a Liberal MP in 1974 in Pierre Trudeau's government.

The problem, of course, is that this was utterly wrong. Douglas Jung, a Chinese-Canadian, was elected in 1957 to sit as an MP in John Diefenbaker's Progressive Conservative government.

None of this is difficult to find out.

Now the Sing Tao Daily, Canada's largest circulation Chinese language newspaper, has reported on this gaffe. The article ran in the Toronto and Vancouver editions. I've got an English translation of the article, approved by the author, and I've been given permission to reprint it in its entirety.

Even the bit about Jason Cherniak.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 02:37 PM | Comments (30) | Add Comment
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1 This story just keeps giving and giving! Hopefully, now that the story has been written in a Chinese paper, it will be followed up by the MSM. The Liberals really have turned into a version of amateur hour. What a pathetic bunch! Can't wait to see how Cherniak is going to spin this one!

Posted by: Barbara at July 27, 2007 02:48 PM (XBHNV)

2 Jason is a flyweight who thinks he is a heavyweight. Just another wannbe . . . a legend in his own mind.

Posted by: Fred at July 27, 2007 03:25 PM (tlZTB)

3 Haha Waterhead Jason gets a kick in the pants.. Congrats, Steve. Good blogging has brought this story about.

Posted by: Levesque at July 27, 2007 03:57 PM (jQxJp)

4 Now that that's dealt with - will we be hearing from Harper with an apology? You see, Larry Miller, CPC MP, during a Statement of Members in the HofC was remarking on Agnes McPhail's birthday (she was from his riding) claiming she was the first woman in parliament and was a Conservative - duh - she was "CCF (now NDP)". The NDP rightfully corrected him - he sat there looking dumb - but hey, no apology. Another CPC MP (can't remember the name) did the same thing - no apology. Perhaps you could contact PMSH's office requesting such apology. It would be appreciated. Thank you

Posted by: Sara at July 27, 2007 04:52 PM (BnPhA)

5 Sara, why don't you start your own blog and write about it. Get back to us when you do that. Until then..stfu, teaspoon.

Posted by: Lemmy at July 27, 2007 05:29 PM (jQxJp)

6 let's be honest...just like your tooth-paste obsession, this story was over 30 minutes before you heard about it. you, mr. janke, are a very dull man.

Posted by: jeff davidson at July 27, 2007 05:33 PM (9SLNh)

7 I may have been wrong about Douglas Jung, but I wasn't wrong about you. Once again, you misreport words like "origin" and "decent". Don't you even care about the truth?

Posted by: Jason Cherniak at July 27, 2007 05:43 PM (9v8vq)

8 I may have been wrong about Douglas Jung, but I wasn't wrong about you. Once again, you misreport words like "origin" and "descent". Don't you even care about the truth?

Posted by: Jason Cherniak at July 27, 2007 05:43 PM (9v8vq)

9 Dion and Cherniak have just committed political hara kiri .. they have spilt their guts out publicly ..!!

Posted by: Observer at July 27, 2007 06:04 PM (hsGX8)

10 I'll let you worry about the how legitimate the ethnic claims are of people who use the word "origin" and "descent". Personally, I find that sort of thing distasteful. Arthur Lee and Douglas Jung were both born in Canada, but Dion gave the "first MP of Chinese origin" credit to Lee, though Jung preceded him by 17 years. I called him out on it, and now he's issuing corrections and apologies. Took him long enough. In the meantime, you worry about who counts as "Chinese" or "Polish" or "Aboriginal" or whatever, and see how many more Liberals rush to say that you don't speak for them or the party. Funny thing to say about a riding president, eh? He doesn't speak for the party!! No, really he doesn't! Sheesh, if a riding president can't be expected to speak on behalf of the party on a webpage on which he identifies himself as a riding president, well, I guess "riding president" doesn't count for all that much.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 27, 2007 06:04 PM (CQjzv)

11 First, Jason Cherniak blogged that being of "Chinese origin" depends on birthplace, not on race or ethnic background. "If you read Mr. Jung's biography, you will immediately learn that he was "born in Victoria, British Columbia". At the very least, it is debatable whether this constitutes "Chinese origin"." When Moebius asked: "Splitting hairs, aren't we?" Cherniak pontificated: "When the split is relevent, then why not?" But when Cherniak learned that his scissors are dull, it suddenly all became irrelevant: "In any case, none of this matters. I think the very notion that a minor error like that might be national news is, itself, splitting hairs." That Cherniak quickly flipped his comb-over to cover his shining bald spot when blown away only means that "slitting hairs" about "splitting hairs" is merely "splitting hairs", right?

Posted by: Librano Splitano at July 27, 2007 06:53 PM (AgfK3)

12 I still don't understand why something being posted on my blog counts as "national news".

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 27, 2007 07:02 PM (CQjzv)

13 haha at Davidson. You complain about how boring Steve is...and then you make your own blog post about it. Will Steve be able to sleep knowing that waterhead Davidson won't drink with him? haha Davidson is just another dull witted degenerate.. Quick worrying about who you would drink with and put something good on your blog. It flatout stinks. It's probably one of the most tedious blogs I have ever seen. You shouldn't complain about Mr. Janke....you should be taking notes from him. I see Jason Chernobyl is having a meltdown. haha Dissed by the liberals and still clinging to his sophomore comments. Jayjay, you could benefit from the advice I just gave Davidson. Read more and post less.

Posted by: Levesque at July 27, 2007 07:15 PM (jQxJp)

14 Sara - Sorry, wrong. Agnes MacPhail was never elected as a CCF or NDP MP. She was elected and sat in the House of Commons first as a member of the Progressive Party (hey! guess what Party they helped form???) and later as a member of the United Farmers. The United Farmers did briefly flirt with the CCF, but it was quite short lived once they realised they were a bunch of bloody commies and not good old salt-of-the-earth populists. So, like Cherniak, perhaps you should check your facts before you throw around silly accusations and come off looking like a fool.

Posted by: mike at July 27, 2007 07:21 PM (gfECs)

15 Isnt it rather strange how Jason always falls back on "it's irrelevant", or, "it doesn't matter"? Even when excised by his syndicate, he goes to his old standby of pretending something doesnt exist. Even more strange than that is the fact that he refers to himself as "elfin", when he more closely resembles a garden gnome. Not to be too personal, but he said it, therefore the statement invites critique.

Posted by: DavidA at July 27, 2007 09:53 PM (hn6Lk)

16 don't understand why something being posted on my blog counts as "national news". slow down spunky...it's not.

Posted by: jeff davidson at July 27, 2007 10:10 PM (9SLNh)

17 I agree with you, Jeff. One of my critics seem to think that, though, and so takes special offense at the things I decide to write about. I just like blogging.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 27, 2007 10:31 PM (eGtvb)

18 Although I commend you, Steve, for pointing out Dion's gaffe, I wish all sides would stop demanding APOLOGIES, which have now become a dime a dozen. Would it not be more appropriate for whoever misinforms the public, whether wittingly or not, simply own up to it and face the consequences? Breast-beating and mea culpas are so passÃ©. And SO insincere! Just read Kinsella's apology for HIS recent gaffe, and you'll know whereof I speak. What next? Rehab?

Posted by: Gabby in QC at July 28, 2007 12:16 AM (CwAx9)

19 This is a horse that must be beaten because there is a larger point to be made. Jason Cherniak said: you [Steve Janke] misreport words like "origin" and "decent". Assuming that Jason meant descent rather than decent, and that he meant use rather than report, what is the distinction that he is looking for between origin and descent? This story began with Stephane Dion's chosen words: "Do you know who is Arthur Lee? Arthur Lee. He has been the first MP of Chinese origin." Lee was not born in China and yet he is of Chinese origin. Does that not suggest that Dion referred to Lee as a descendant of ancestors from China? If so, as Steve has already pointed out, there is no difference between one Canadian-born person of Chinese origin and another Chinese Canadian so born. In fact, Dion did not distinguish between Chinese born and Canadian born persons of Chinese origin. But there's more to this as readers no doubt suspected ... Dion's list of eight notable Chinese Canadians includes two people born in Canada and another person whose father is from Australia. Guess who? I'll tell you in due course. Recently, in a press release, the Chinese Canadian National Council (C.C.N.C.) said that today there are five Chinese Canadian MPs. It turns out that three of them were born in Canada and each of them descended from mixed parentage, ancestory, or origins. BQ member Meili Faille was born in Montreal; her mother is from Taiwan and her father is from Montreal Quebec. Conservative Mike Chong was born in Windsor and his parents come from Holland and China. Liberal Lillian Dyck was born in North Battleford; her father came to Canada from China and her mother is of Gordon's First Nations in Saskatchewan. Of the thirteen people mentioned by Dion and by the C.C.N.C., six (about 50%) are Canadian-born or are descendants of non-Chinese parents. Now, Jason's nitpick regarding descent v. origin ... As Steve has already reported, two MPs marked the 50th anniversary of the election of Victoria-born Douglas Jungs by speaking briefly in the House of Commons. Jim Abbot described the Canadian-born Jung as a Chinese Canadian, a Chinese veteran, and an Asian Canadian. Remember, Dion also referred to Canada as a window to Asia. Meili Faille used the phrases 'of Chinese origin' and respectfully called Lung a Chinese lawyer. The Sing Tao Daily's used the following: Chinese descent, Chinese origin, Chinese Canadians, Chinese-Canadian community. Dion's press secretary's clarified that when Dion said 'of Chinese orgin, he meant 'of Chinese descent'. That was decent of him. Some of the persons named by Dion and by the C.C.N.C. use these terms interchangeably on their websites and in their biographies or profiles. For instance, Michael Chang's site says that he "is originally from Hong Kong." Does that mean he is of Chinese decsent or Chinese origin? Meanwhile Liberal Senator Vivienne Poy is of Chinese descent/ancestory and her origins are in China. She is "the first Canadian of Asian descent to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. She was appointed to the Senate in 1998. [...] Born in Hong Kong. She is the first Canadian senator of Asian ancestry." She was the first, man or woman. Maybe she words it that way because the first Senator with Chinese origins (i.e. born in China) was Consevative Pat Carney who was appointed in 1990. Interestingly, Carney goes unnoticed as one of the "first Chinese-Canadians" even though she was the first woman (China-born or otherwise) to serve in several Cabinet posts and, indeed, was the first person (man or woman) of Chinese origin to become a Cabinet Minister in Ottawa. Senator Vivienne Poy has referred to Douglas Lung as "the first federal representative of Chinese-Canadians in Canada." That is a little odd because he was elected as the representive of Canadians of all origins in his local riding. Senator Poy's sister-in-law is Adrienne Clarkson who can claim two firsts. She was the first person of Chinese origin to become the Governor General and she was the first Canadian of Australian descent to serve as Governor General, too, and at the same time no less. Senator Lillian Dyck is a Chinese-Canadian who has been "honored by the Saskatchewan Legislature for achievement as a female Aboriginal scientist." A few years before being appointed to the Senate, she received "the award for Science and Technology from the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation." Does that not make her an Aboriginal Chinese person of Canadian origin? Jason pointed to a difference without a big honking distinction. Afterall, there are Chinese Canadians in this notable bunch who also descend from Australian, Dutch, Quebecois, and Aboriginal origins. They are all Canadians from somewhere. Some of them are even from here, Canada.

Posted by: F. Rottles at July 28, 2007 03:45 AM (GaN3Q)

20 What do you not understand about "progressive"? She was never a conservative. This all happened in the early days prior to CCF - but she was socialistic - not conservative. sigh.........

Posted by: Sara at July 28, 2007 09:33 AM (BnPhA)

21 Dion is atypically gaffe-prone, even for a liberal. Kind of like chretien without the mean, vindictive streak. He's truly an asset to the CPC. jason cherniak: why is it that only liberals & left-wingers obsess on splitting hairs on ancestry and origin? The same sort of brainless thinking has a "reverend" al sharpton opining that barack hussein obama isn't "black enough" to be president. Why do those on the left worry about this stuff? jeff davidson - assuming you find this blog so dull, you must be even duller to lurk here and huff about its perceived dullness, eh? Don't let the digital door whack you on the way out, sweetie. Lemmy at July 27, 2007 05:29 PM - funniest smackdown I've read in months. Almost sprayed coffee on the keyboard when I read it mhb23re at gmail d0t calm

Posted by: mhb at July 28, 2007 11:14 AM (2/Us5)

22 Sara, time to go back and do your homework. Progressive Conservative party, former Canadian political party, formed in 1942 by the merger of the Progressive and Conservative parties. Wanna try again or just admit you are wrong?

Posted by: paulsstuff at July 28, 2007 03:55 PM (Cpdi7)

23 Does no one else find it amusing that Dion & the Liberals are making such a distinction between "origin" and "descent" when they are supposedly the face of multiculturalism in Canada? It just goes to show how divisive hyphenating Canadians is and how the left likes to keep Canada divided. Hey Liberals: if your charter of human rights is so great why don't you want the natives to be covered by it's umbrella? Also, are we surprised by Jason's claims about being the official this or that for the Liberal Party? He did afterall nominate himself for a best political blog award.

Posted by: Reid at July 30, 2007 11:22 AM (kSy1A)

24 The Liberals are keeping the gaffe going and going and going. Apologizing in this case doesn't do squat except show how out of touch with CANADIAN history Professeur Dion really is. The adjective "progressive" is much coveted after by the Left since the Federal Conservatives dropped it.

Posted by: Libby at July 31, 2007 07:24 AM (BH8rw)

25 You should call yerself the Wanker Caucasian of the North. Mountains outta molehills, and the such. Yawn. Although your wankiness seems make you feel good about yerself for some reason. I'll never come to this dive again. SHC

Posted by: at August 02, 2007 04:41 PM (mMFtd)

26 You should call yerself the Wanker Caucasian of the North. Mountains outta molehills, and the such. Yawn. Although your wankiness seems make you feel good about yerself for some reason. I'll never come to this dive again. SHC

Posted by: cool runner at August 02, 2007 04:41 PM (mMFtd)

27 of ALL the posts that we have the pleasure of reading twice... cool runner?

Posted by: Jace Anderson at August 02, 2007 09:04 PM (nye5L)

28 Just for chuckles ... From 1921, when MacPhail was first elected, to 1965, when the first NDP candidate was elected, thirteen female Members of Parliament served in the House of Commons. 46% were Conservatives 31% were United Farmer-CCF-NDP 23% were Liberals In that same period of time, women won 30 local elections (in both by-elections and general elections for the federal parliament). 53% won by Conservatives 17% by MacPhail (as an independent-voting parliamentarian who did not vote adhere to any party line and who voted with the Conservatives on several issues big issues) 20% won by Liberals (who could hardly be considered socialistic at that time considering the on-and-off coalition governments they forged with the Conservatives. 10% won by CCF-NDP. Also of note -- again for chuckles -- the frontrunner of the Communist Party was the Labour Progressive Party which first fielded female candidates in 1945 and in this period elected none. The CCF put forth female candidates 33 times and didn't win its first seat until 1945. Most of the women who had ran as Progressives or were elected as Progressives -- i.e. as independant parliamentarians who did not vote a party line -- did NOT join up with the CCF/NDP and did NOT run for the socialistic parties. In the meantime, 24 Conservative candidates ran in federal elections from 1921 to 1965 -- the first ran in 1925 and the first was elected in 1935. If a woman wanted to be elected, she had better chances running as a Conservative than under any other banner. In the next generation it was a Conservative who became the first female member of a federal Cabinet. The first Canadian government to propose Long after she had left federal politics, MacPhail ran for the CFF and won a seat in the provincial legislature in Ontario.

Posted by: F. Rottles at August 03, 2007 02:10 AM (pBxZb)

29 Sorry for the typo .... Conservatives ran the first federal government to propose a more progressive taxation system, a maximum work week, a minimum wage, closer regulation of working conditions, unemployment insurance, health and accident insurance, a revised old-age pension and agricultural support programs. The revisionist NDPers would like to claim these as their own iniatives but these proposals predated the 1935 election in which the CCF fielded candidates for the very first time.

Posted by: F. Rottles at August 03, 2007 02:25 AM (pBxZb)

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Let's not blame China for everything...but if it is China's fault, then blame away

Lyn Cockburn, writing for the Edmonton Sun, argues that too much effort is being expended on demonizing China. She proves her point on China not being the source of all ills by bringing attention to a toy recall unrelated to China, and to international incidents that are unrelated to China. Having established that the press is suffering from tunnel vision, she wants more focus on Darfur and less on China.

Problem #1: The toy she discusses in detail is manufactured in China.

Problem #2: Those international incidents involved China.

Problem #3: China in primarily responsible for the lack of action in Darfur.

Problem #4: The editor at the Edmonton Sun seems to have gone missing.

I can infer the last one based on the sad lack of factual correctness in this column.
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1 Edmonton's Sun Lyn Cockburn - on China's Damage control system payroll. The first words 'Edmonton' tells it all. When will they shed their Liberal leftist mentality and join Alberta?

Posted by: tomax7 at July 27, 2007 07:52 AM (jHhd0)

2 Reported this news earlier, now starting to get bigger coverage: WASHINGTON (AP) -- Cans of recalled food are bursting, swollen with bacteria that cause botulism. The bursting cans were among those being held by Castleberry's Food Co., which last week announced a massive recall that now includes more than 90 potentially contaminated products, including chili sauces and dog foods. BumbleBee's owned partly by Canadians... http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Bumble-Bee-Seafoods-LLC-Company-History.html -------------------------------- BumbleBee closing New Orleans shrimp cannery after Katrina. Bumble Bee is considering using the plant for a new process for canned protein products, Stiker said in a telephone interview. He said it's a secret and wouldn't be more specific. ------------------- "secret canned protein products"??? Soylent Green, where we come...

Posted by: tomax7 at July 27, 2007 08:16 AM (jHhd0)

3 Heres hoping the ships Martin / CSL is having built sink in drydock. Or blow up near his head, causing deafness.

Posted by: DrWright at July 27, 2007 08:39 AM (sf7h6)

4 Classy group you hang with... Way to go DrWright - brilliant insight.

Posted by: canadian_2 at July 27, 2007 11:44 AM (tos+u)

5 I agree with canadian_2. DrWright's comment was somewhat over the line.

Posted by: Brian in Calgary at July 27, 2007 12:33 PM (g7gYB)

6 tomax7: you mean "Redmonton"? Dr Wright: I hope you are joking. Bad joke. Show a little creativity. Angry: keep the heat on China. The communist mentality is that ends justifies means--they are not quite ready yet for prime time (capitalism), which presupposes values.

Posted by: murray at July 27, 2007 02:20 PM (dw9A3)

7 Yet another MSM waterhead polluting a newspaper with her vapid thoughts. I guess she'll get a free trip to Hong Kong for that propaganda piece.

Posted by: Levesque at July 27, 2007 02:39 PM (jQxJp)

8 ...bottled water? Why yes. Spring fed? Why no... c nn.com/2007/HEALTH/07/27/pepsico.aquafina.reut/index.html NEW YORK (Reuters) -- PepsiCo Inc. will spell out that its Aquafina bottled water is made with tap water, a concession to the growing environmental and political opposition to the bottled water industry. According to Corporate Accountability International, a U.S. watchdog group, the world's No. 2 beverage company will include the words "Public Water Source" on Aquafina labels.

Posted by: tomax7 at July 28, 2007 12:32 AM (jHhd0)

9 Ms. Cockburn is one of those columnists you read if you want to see how arrogant, uninformed and downright mean-minded liberals can truly be. The one where she was positively gloating over the Richmond Fire Department's adoption of discriminatory hiring practices (you guessed it - white males need not apply -literally) is a good example. Or the one where she was writing about four (Edmonton-based !) soldiers who were killed in Afghanistan -but she couldn't be bothered to get the cause of their death straight. Or her outright lying about reader responses to a column she wrote about gun control. Or her smug references to world leaders trying to fight a war against terrorists as "boys with their toys". And so on...

Posted by: up north at July 29, 2007 10:58 AM (8E2tY)

10 ...i'm waiting for South Park to come out with a new song "blame China".

Posted by: tomax7 at July 29, 2007 04:36 PM (jHhd0)

11 * Oops... they did it again. " -- WASHINGTON -- Toy-maker Fisher-Price is recalling 83 types of toys - including the popular Big Bird, Elmo, Dora and Diego characters - because their paint contains excessive amounts of lead." *

Posted by: neo at August 01, 2007 08:03 PM (CVx2m)

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July 26, 2007

The Liberal Party history with diverted funds

If history is any guide, Suzan Pawlak has nothing to worry about. The story of Jesse Davidson suggests that the Liberal Party has a lot of tolerance for people who allegedly steal from them -- as long as they're Liberals.

In the end, what really mattered was avoiding any embarrassment.
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1 Train 'em young, eh

Posted by: at July 26, 2007 09:16 PM (gtPYZ)

2 Do you suppose that is why no one will donate to the liberals? You would have to have an iq in the single digit range to even consider giving them $5.00. I do believe that is why people, such as Frank McKenna, would not get involved in the leadership of the liberals. He realized how corrupt they were and didn't want any part of it.I believe we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg as far as money stealing goes amongst the liberals.

Posted by: Honey Pot at July 27, 2007 05:42 AM (DuKau)

3 This story is absolutely amazing. Thanks for bringing it to our attention, Steve. I'm speaking as a mother of two, and can't BELIEVE that Jesse Davidson's lawyer, Jack Siegel, appeared to be letting this guy off the hook because "...the forgery allegations...[were] errors of youth and perhaps indolence." Good GAWD! If all young people were excused for their misdemeanours (and Davidson's are SERIOUS and illegal), what kind of society would we be living in? One worse than the one we already live in. Fortunately for us, most young people are not let off the hook so easily, because their parents call them to account for infractions of the family's/society's behaviour codes. I guess if Jesse Davidson isn't old enough to shoulder the responsibility of the charges of fraud and forging 23 signatures, he's not old enough to either vote or drive a car. If he's too juvenile to be accountable for his actions, he should have certain privileges of being a useful member of society retracted.

Posted by: 'been around the block at July 27, 2007 12:59 PM (3Q/as)

4 ...just like the Mafia...keep it in the family.

Posted by: tomax7 at July 27, 2007 02:13 PM (jHhd0)

5 All that our local loser Librano MPP does, is HIDE. But what does HE care? No-one in HIS family works in the dying Forest industry.

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 29, 2007 03:44 PM (GN3Xe)

6 The most telling aspect of the whole affair, of course, is the continuing deafening silence from the Liberal sycophants in the MSM.

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David Pretlove's offer mixed hardball bargaining and a hint of undesirable consequences

I have more direct quotes from the offer LPC(O) Financial Director David Pretlove made to the London riding association to replace the money allegedly stolen by Suzan Pawlak, his staffer.

It is interesting because he offers to cut a cheque from the LPC(O) to cover half of the amount alleged to have been stolen, and seems to be challenging the other amounts.

The cheques he was willing to cover were made out to Suzan Pawlak.

Except for one...that was a hotel bill. [Update: Turns out it was for a riding event at that hotel that might or might not have actually taken place.]

The message to the riding association? Take the $7,200 I'm offering and clean up the rest of the $15,000 mess, or else you'll miss your Elections Canada deadline, and we wouldn't want that to happen.
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1 "I'd be curious to know why Pretlove was willing to pay for that hotel bill, though." Wasn't Pawluk working under Pretlove in Toronto as reported recently in the National Post thusly?: "By then, Ms. Pawlak had already moved to Toronto, where she was a political operations manager for the federal Liberal party's Ontario wing. This was where she first met Mr. Pretlove, then the party wing's interim executive director. Mr. Pretlove was also serving as its interim financial director."

Posted by: Observer at July 26, 2007 11:50 AM (/3oB9)

2 Yes she was working for Pretlove. I actually broke that element of the story by finding archived website pages that showed Pawlak on Pretlove's staff list. That revelation is what really jolted this story.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 26, 2007 12:09 PM (eGtvb)

3 So paying back the money is supposed to be the end of the story?

Posted by: Libby at July 26, 2007 02:09 PM (TLG+t)

4 It seems that paying back was supposed to keep the story from ever starting.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 26, 2007 02:28 PM (eGtvb)

5 It just gets curiouser and curiouser...

Posted by: Joanne (TB) at July 26, 2007 02:42 PM (yFyI/)

6 Adam Radwanski is field-testing the "he was too nice a guy" defence here ... Not your standard Liberal scandal

Posted by: Calgary Junkie at July 26, 2007 03:02 PM (g7gYB)

7 Well, it appears Adam is now among like minded folk in the Grope and Flail Liberal apologist rag. McGuinty's immigration minister resigned, let's see how much hurtin' the Grope and Flail will share with us on that one. It's a lot easier being Green than Liberal of any stripe these days.

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David Pretlove was going to use Liberal Party funds to cover up a criminal act

The National Post is reporting on the case of Suzan Pawlak, who allegedly stole $15,000 from the London riding association of the federal Liberal Party, and the attempt by David Pretlove, the financial director of the Ontario wing of the party, to hide what happened.

The bombshell? David Pretlove was going to use party funds to cover up the alleged crime.
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1 It is amazing to watch the MSM close ranks around the Liberals on this one. Not one mention in any other major news source.

Posted by: john g at July 26, 2007 09:32 AM (HUK2l)

2 If this were the Conservatives trying to pull this shenanagins, the MSM would be all over it for a month 25/7. You'd hear the outcry from Dion and Layton and all their ilk too. The MSM are just disgusting!

Posted by: frmgrl at July 26, 2007 10:02 AM (ZGGD8)

3 As I said earlier, there are more skeletons in this manure pile. Good to see the spotlight being turned on. Let's hope this story gets legs. As was stated earlier, Dion is the gift that keeps on giving.Right now he is our biggest asset. The people in the CPC better keep all these gaffes on file so they can be used against the Liebs in the election whenever it comes.

Posted by: Dave from Campbell River at July 26, 2007 10:45 AM (5o2L5)

4 Now with this new evidence there might be a case for criminal charges against Pretlove. The fact that the money was party money lends me to think some sort of attempted fraud or misappropriation charge. We need a legal expert on this one.

Posted by: Reid at July 26, 2007 11:15 AM (kSy1A)

5 Now with this new evidence there might be a case for criminal charges against Pretlove. Depends. Essentially the Liberal Party is a private organization and it can use the money it has as it sees fit. Having said that, did David Pretlove overstep the bounds of his authority? Did the Liberal Party take appropriate action? Is the party membership (essentially the shareholders) happy with what happened? Remember too, that the offer was never accepted, so no money actually moved around.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 26, 2007 11:24 AM (eGtvb)

6 Remember too, that the offer was never accepted, so no money actually moved around Yes. That's why I said "attempted." Even though he didn't follow through, just "attempting" it could be a crime.

Posted by: Reid at July 26, 2007 12:17 PM (kSy1A)

7 Yes. That's why I said "attempted." Even though he didn't follow through, just "attempting" it could be a crime. Sideshow Bob: Attempted murder, now honestly, what is that? Do they give a Nobel Prize for attempted chemistry?

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 26, 2007 12:47 PM (eGtvb)

8 What is your problem? You need a sedative or something. The money was stolen FROM the Liberals and it was the Liberals THAT CALLED IN THE POLICE. You overreact so much on everything that it's laughable. Go for a walk and settle down. It's being dealt with - what more do you want other than the usual trash and bash. By the way, you are the self-imposed detective here - how's that legal matter going for Jose Venier? Oh, and ya, how's the court case stand regarding Harper showing up about the sleazy nomination processes (i.e. Rob Anders)? Just wondering - as you seem to be obsessed with legal stuff.

Posted by: Sara at July 26, 2007 05:03 PM (BnPhA)

9 Errrmm, thanks for all the diligent reporting but if it's OK with you, instead of spending the next 10 years figuring out what sleazy, filthy tricks the political rat-furkers have been up to - in just one nomination for one party in one single riding - I'd just as soon remove the bait (billions of dollars of taxpayer pork) so the rats stop trying so hard to get into the house and stop breeding so fast. A bonus side effect of giving the lolly back to them 'as earned it is that they will create all kinds of new, legitimate jobs for those would-be political rats. Stuff that is suited to their intelligence and abilities, like lawn maintenance, snow shoveling, scraping barnacles off of fishing boats, and the like. Hokey dokey?

Posted by: at July 26, 2007 07:34 PM (tgNL5)

10 Yes, Sara, we shouldn't "overreact" to anything done by the Liberals, in fact it we should forgive them. If they get caught, they'll pay back any stolen money and that will make everything OK, right? It's nothing to be proud of, having to call in the police on yourself or any one else when we're talking about politics, it's money that came from the public in good faith. Pretty pathetic to try to defend the indefensible.

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July 25, 2007

If Stephane Dion can't say it in French, who can?

A little gem from the video of Stephane Dion addressing the Chinese Canadian Liberal Assocation is how Stephane Dion struggled with the French translation of the name of the group, and listening to someone's comment on Dion's fumbling in French get picked up by the camera microphone.
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1 I never thought it possible that a time would come when someone could make me long for the days of listening to Chretien garble a speech in English or French. Congrats Dion.

Posted by: Reid at July 25, 2007 01:41 PM (kSy1A)

2 Dion speaks like this all the time, even in the House. It's just the first time I've noticed it in his native tongue. It's the awful language skills AND the lack of personality that goes with it. He reminds me of the special ed students we had in class growing up. Every time it's their turn to participate in a class exercise, everyone gives them a helping hand then applauds in relief when it's all over. This is how the leader of the once great Liberal Party of Canada gets through question period every day.

Posted by: Dennis (Second Thots) at July 25, 2007 02:58 PM (7BC6m)

3 This video is the gift that keeps on giving. Dion reminds me of Alec Baldwin's French teacher from Saturday Night Live... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ9zzM3bLM8 I can't believe how condescending Dion is to his audience.

Posted by: alan at July 25, 2007 03:43 PM (2bEDO)

4 Dion is a bit slow in the intellectual department (and his language skills are poor in any language).

Posted by: Werner Patels at July 25, 2007 04:32 PM (mR4Oq)

5 ...le dog chaud?

Posted by: tomax7 at July 25, 2007 05:08 PM (jHhd0)

6 Dion is actually quite good in his native tongue. Language problems never stopped Chretien from winning majority after majority, and it is certainly not helping Harper in the polls.

Posted by: at July 25, 2007 05:32 PM (PMzux)

7 Chretien won majorities because of the fractured right. I feel the polls will improve in the fall. Warren Kinsella's screw-up may even help.

Posted by: Louise at July 25, 2007 05:49 PM (yJVvk)

8 "I can't believe how condescending Dion is to his audience." First thing I thought too! It's like was leading a kindergarten class. Boy I wish I was as smart as Dion... er ..scratch that.

Posted by: at July 26, 2007 01:07 AM (L8rVF)

9 The proof is the proof and the proof will be proven.....same linguistic teacher as the little guy...

Posted by: Squiggy at July 26, 2007 07:34 AM (j36eV)

10 Yes, Dion is extremely condescending. Notice how he was, as The Teacher, making them 'sing along' and repeat after him? He was behaving towards them as if they were a groupo of 'lesser intelligences', speaking slowly and in simple words. His focus was on them as a group (Chinese) not as individuals equal to him. And he was only interested in their vote, as Chinese, Not as Canadians.

Posted by: ET at July 26, 2007 09:19 AM (L4J7T)

11 He's not ready for Prime Time any time soon with that pathetic display. Watched it twice and still can't didn't get his message aside from his acting like a kindergarten teacher, repeat after me act. Wonder how many there could understand what he wanted them to repeat or sing? In the end the message was most likely Liberals love Chinese people, vote for us.

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Posted by: outlet at December 19, 2012 04:07 AM (oSFVT)

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Tory pledge drive at the office just adds to the stress

Some observations on the story being reported that senior political staff are being asked to donate to the Conservative Party, and the bad feelings that have allegedly been expressed.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:37 AM | Comments (9) | Add Comment
Post contains 1172 words, total size 7 kb.

1 Mr Harper is a control freak. His cabinet are trained seals, his MPs are nobodies in the House. (At least with Chretien and PET MPs didn't become nobodies until they left the House) Like most control freaks Harper demands tangible demonstrations of loyalty, working 24/7 for the clown just wont do it. So pony up boys and girls. Harper is so not a leader.

Posted by: da prince at July 25, 2007 10:42 AM (ry7L0)

2 Yes, we get United Way'd here and PAC'd also. I don't mind the PAC nearly as much as UA. The PAC attempts to mitigate legislative damage to the industry which is a good thing. Senior levels here also were asked to contribute to the last conservative presidential campaign. I was glad to do so and didn't hear many complaints. The amount was on a sliding scale relative to rank. There was a fun reward later. I doubt wholeheartedly any repercussions occurred due to noncompliance. Even here there are very vociferous left wingers. The difference in this case, besides the fact this is a public company and not the political leadership is that our leader was confident his minions would want to give while Mr. Harper may have had other motives. Is that likely? Ego's are always an issue in politics but he seems to fly under the radar generally.

Posted by: iowavette at July 25, 2007 11:02 AM (0p4xh)

3 da prince - One would take from your comment that you are a total insider and one of those "tapped" for a contribution! As you are "in the know", please enlighten the rest of us as to the details.

Posted by: DWT at July 25, 2007 11:16 AM (DFwV1)

4 I agree with you completely on this Steve. One thing stood out for me at the end of the G&M article, that the total to National and a candidate combined cannot exceed the yearly total limit. I thought they were seperate, that you could contribute the maximum to both. Was I misinformed or am I confusing this with donating to a local association? Not that I am in any danger of donating too much, lol! I find all these new laws confusing.

Posted by: Anne at July 25, 2007 11:43 AM (0WF3Y)

5 Specifically "who" approved and asked for the contributions? What was the justification to ask for the contributions? Is the CPC short of funds to ask for the added contributions? I think this matter has to be fully investigated and resolved.

Posted by: Observer at July 25, 2007 01:18 PM (sxy05)

6 It is my understanding that the $1000 is for membership in the Laurier Club. The invitation to join was for key political staffers such as communications directors. One would think the rationalle is so these staffers can attend Laurier Club events to network with other key Conservative supporters. Since the payer of this membership receives benefits I don't think this is considered a political donation. I could be wrong there.

Posted by: Lorraine-Marie at July 25, 2007 01:40 PM (rp6r3)

7 Lorraine-Marie, the Laurier Club is for Liberals. I don't know that the CPC has an equivalent way of identifying big donors, or if the big donors automatically get special access to events. In any case, I would expect having access to these staffers at an event is the reward for people like you and me to donate, so it doesn't quite make sense that those same staffers would have to donate themselves.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 25, 2007 02:16 PM (eGtvb)

8 Their salaries are 100% derived from the public treasury so technically this is a shakedown of the taxpayer and not of the staffers. The more generous (and compliant) among them may expect to be eventually rewarded with promotions or reassignments to juicier and more secure jobs. Government is full of them ... this is its specialité and raison d'âtre. While similar shakedowns can take place in the private sector, for example soliciting and then rewarding donations to the boss's favorite charity, such annoyances and corrupt behavior are minimized by the need to keep everyone happy in their job (so they won't go over to the competition) and to manage money well (so profits won't be impaired). That's in the competitive marketplace. In uncompetitive industries (i.e. heavily regulated/protected/subsidized) you would probably find the atmosphere significantly more ... governmental.

Posted by: at July 25, 2007 06:22 PM (tgNL5)

9 The elephant in the room, so to speak, with regards to this story is the complete lack of named sources. This is a non story to start with so for the Globe to run it above the fold is ridiculous. This kind of unamed source reporting on stories with negative Conservative ramifications is commonplace at the Globe. As far a journalistic standards go, its becoming a laugher.

Posted by: ward at July 27, 2007 10:11 AM (B5aoZ)

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July 24, 2007

Stephane Dion doesn't need this sort of help

Once again, Steve Janke of Angry in the Great White North got the facts wrong.

Now read the post. Then come back. I have three observations to make:

Anyone can make a mistake in research. But it's fun to watch Liberals do it. They admit to being mistaken about the "fact" that was central to their argument, and then say "none of it matters".

If I was Stephane Dion, I'd ask Jason Cherniak to stop helping.

As for Jason's closing point on apologies, he just shows what a class act he is.

That's it.

Check out other posts from the Douglas Jung category
Results will open in a new window.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 08:10 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
Post contains 126 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Remember, Cherniak Speaks for Dion

Posted by: lemon at July 25, 2007 10:32 AM (xC/kj)

2 ...steve I think you spelled it wrong class act should be spelled crass act.

Posted by: tomax7 at July 25, 2007 05:12 PM (jHhd0)

3 I left a more detailed and opinionated comment at Jason's bog, but here I'll point out that in 1984 Brian Mulroney brought Pat Carney into the federal Cabinet. She was born in Shanghai, China. Also, a Tory. That would make her the first MP of "Chinese origin" (male or female) to become a member of the Cabinet and, later, to be appointed to the Senate in Ottawa. Dion could have included in his list the federal MPs of "Chinese origin" from all of the other major parties: Conservative, NDP, and the Bloc Quebecois. Afterall, they each have been first in their parties.

Posted by: F. Rottles at July 27, 2007 12:56 AM (GaN3Q)

4 I like it very much.564651321348545 http://www.cleatsforsale.com

Posted by: predator lethal zones at December 03, 2012 07:08 PM (3Rosp)

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Liberal fundraiser nets $750 per leadership candidate

In what can only be described as pathetic, all the leadership candidates met in Halifax to hold a fundraiser. Sixty guests shelled out $250 each to attend.

Total take: $5,400 after expenses, to be split between the seven leadership candidates.

That's $750 for Stephane Dion to pay down $850,000 in loans. Just another thousand fundraisers to go.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 07:11 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 722 words, total size 5 kb.

1 LOL, thats hilarious! Sure made my night.

Posted by: Lycan Stark at July 24, 2007 10:14 PM (6GTZb)

2 $5,400 - is that gross or net? Do they need to pay for the hall and the food out of these proceeds or is that after expenses, excluding airfare of course. ROFL

Posted by: joe at July 24, 2007 11:31 PM (t07u5)

3 How about a piece on Harper's new fund raising scheme. "Senior political staff in the Harper government say they have been asked to donate $1,000 to the Conservative Party, a move that has sparked resentment among some of the most stalwart supporters of the Prime Minister's Office."- Globe 25 July Loyalty tests are the hallmark of isolated, insecure leaders. Stephen Harper is not a leader.

Posted by: da prince at July 25, 2007 04:55 AM (ry7L0)

4 Uh, Prince? Principles are also the hallmark of political parties. At least the Tories are asking for money from their own Party, and not stealing it from the taxpayers like a certain Party did in order to buy loyalty from Quebec.

Posted by: Lycan Stark at July 25, 2007 07:42 AM (6GTZb)

5 Yeah, life's a bitch when you're a Liberal.

Posted by: Werner Patels at July 25, 2007 09:07 PM (mR4Oq)

6 "Stephen Harper is not a leader" How original!!!Is that your best shot Prince??? Stephen Harper is running circles around your glorious leader and leaving him in the dust...The Conservative Party under the leadership of this Prime Minister has done more for Canada in one term than the Liberanos for the past 13 years.....p.s. Did you attend the fundraiser for lost causes?? Harper will probably raise more money in his office than the whole bunch of Liberanos did in Halifax

Posted by: Squiggy at July 26, 2007 07:48 AM (j36eV)

7 $5,400 between seven Liberals? It's more than pathetic; it's meltdown. So how come this political party still has the ear of the MSM? How come this political party isn't a total laughing stock all across Canada? How come this political party has ANY credibility at all? 'Looks like the only way they can collect money for their politicking is to steal it from hardworking and hardup Canadians. As a poster at Blogging Tories puts it so well (LOL!): Once a Liberal, Always a Thief... Tha...tha...that's all folks!

Posted by: 'been around the block at July 26, 2007 06:23 PM (Nrf+r)

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Liberal blogger says no apology necessary for ignoring Douglas Jung, because Jung wasn't a Liberal

According to this Liberal blogger, Stephane Dion's gaffe at the Chinese Canadian Liberal Association dinner when he said that Liberal Arthur Lee was the first Chinese Canadian member of parliament, elected in 1974, is not really a mistake at all. The first MP was really Douglas Jung in 1957, but since Jung was a Conservative, and since Stephane Dion was speaking to a roomful of Liberals, it was understood that the only MPs that count are Liberal MPs.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:23 AM | Comments (18) | Add Comment
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1 Who's writing Dion's speeches? They're obviously not adept at history or research. Arthur Lee was the first "leader of a political party" of Chinese origin. Certainly something of note.

Posted by: Kitchener Conservative at July 24, 2007 10:41 AM (E5pP8)

2 Slow news day, right?

Posted by: bigcitylib at July 24, 2007 10:48 AM (zlkxG)

3 Bigcitylib: Dion said he doesn't lie. He lied here. What else is he lying about? just asking....

Posted by: jeff at July 24, 2007 10:57 AM (qt+7e)

4 bigcitylib: I should have said: What eslse is Dion lying about? We don't know...we can't understand him!

Posted by: jeff at July 24, 2007 10:59 AM (qt+7e)

5 Ah, when are you going to write about some important issues? Your latest sleuth/rants have been silly and not terribly interesting. Running out of real material to discuss? I just can't believe the garbage lately.

Posted by: Sara at July 24, 2007 12:02 PM (BnPhA)

6 Hey Sara - You can't intelligently discuss an issue, so you turn to insults. How typical. How Liberal.

Posted by: Barbara at July 24, 2007 12:16 PM (XBHNV)

7 Haven't all fascist organizations tried to rewrite history to suit their Â‘progressiveÂ’ agenda?

Posted by: missing link at July 24, 2007 12:21 PM (IOnyD)

8 From George Orwell's 1984 "If the Party could thrust its hand into the past and say this or that even, it never happenedÂ—that, surely, was more terrifying than mere torture and death." Â—pg 32

Posted by: Calgary Junkie at July 24, 2007 12:55 PM (g7gYB)

9 Sara/bigcitylib: Dion says he doesn't lie! Now he is caught lying. Please explain. Was Dion lying about lying? Please answer....someone?anyone? Where in the hell is Cherniak when you guys need him....

Posted by: Jeff at July 24, 2007 01:31 PM (qt+7e)

10 Let's not blame Dion. He's exhausted. I heard he nodded off into a bowl of steamed rice.

Posted by: Levesque at July 24, 2007 02:15 PM (jQxJp)

11 And what was P.E. Trudeau doing during WW2 when Douglas Jung parachuted into Borneo?

Posted by: D.G. Topping at July 24, 2007 02:20 PM (DDK60)

12 Dion and Liberals consider Chinese-Canadians who are also Conservatives as sub-human, and not worthy of mention. Only Liberal Chinese are good Chinese according to Dion. Canada doesn't need somebody like Dion.

Posted by: Wing at July 24, 2007 02:49 PM (zG34G)

13 Red Tory's take on this - "Okay, I went and checked it out. Well, it was certainly a boneheaded mistake/oversight on his part and that of his staff, but it seems like a bit of a stretch to claim that he insulted all Canadians, all Chinese and all veterans in the process. So now we have another Liblogger stating that this was "a bone headed mistake". Maybe he didn't insult all Chinese Canadians. Thats up for them to decide. But what is insulting is this "leader" deliberalty ommitted a historical fact for partisan political gain, or because of sheer ignorance just because the MP in question wasn't a Liberal. Who would have ever expected a Political Science teacher like Dion to have a working knowledge of Canadian political history? Yet more proof that Dion isn't a leader.

Posted by: Forsooth at July 24, 2007 03:07 PM (6GTZb)

14 Why is everyone so shocked? Dion's so delusional he actually thinks people believe he's Canada's Kyoto saviour. Can we just have the election ASAP so we can turf the twit.

Posted by: at July 24, 2007 04:05 PM (lM2N6)

15 Forsooth Â— You neglected to convey the whole conversation: Me: Gee Forsooth, didn't Stephen Harper send a letter to the Ontario Federation of Indian Friendship Centres (OFIFC) wishing them greetings on the celebration of IndiaÂ’s Republic Day in 2004? Why yes, I believe he did. Was that an insult to aboriginal peoples, to south Asian immigrants, to people of Indian decent and to all Canadians? What kind of "leadership" was that? Where was his research? You: ...you are absolutley correct. That was an insult to all of the above. And Harper's leadership ability and research was thus sorely demonstrated that day. Context, my sonÂ… context.

Posted by: Red Tory at July 24, 2007 06:13 PM (Hpefv)

16 And RT, you still have no excuse for Dion, other than to say along the lines that "everyone makes mistakes". Of course Harper was wrong in that case, as is Dion here. If this had been Harper, Liberals everywhere would be storming the castle. Have the integrity to admit that much at least. Semantics, Dad...semantics.

Posted by: Forsooth at July 24, 2007 06:52 PM (6GTZb)

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Posted by: cleats on sale at December 03, 2012 07:41 PM (bl+Zi)

18 Thanks for the information provided! I was researching for this info for quite some time, but I wasn't able to see a dependable source.

Posted by: outlet at December 19, 2012 03:16 PM (N5vhi)

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July 23, 2007

Stephane Dion reaches out to Chinese Canadians with an insulting ignorance of history

Stephane Dion succeeds in ways few Canadian politicians ever can. All the Liberal Party leader had to do was say a few words to the Chinese Canadian Liberal Assocation about how great it is to be a Liberal. But he decides to give a history lesson -- and in doing so, besmirches the memory of a great Canadian.

Why would he do that?

Maybe because that great Canadian, Douglas Jung, was a Progressive Conservative.

And so Stephane Dion wipes him from history.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 05:30 PM | Comments (35) | Add Comment
Post contains 1067 words, total size 9 kb.

1 It's the Dion equivalent of the Gong Show. Someone better either inform him or GONG him off stage. There is no excuse for these errors and omissions, unless he has no access to information or people who he relies on are embryos at the job. It could be the latter, all the old stalwarts have bailed, including in the back rooms.

Posted by: Libby at July 23, 2007 05:57 PM (Ldmsz)

2 Can you imagine the media reaction if Harper made such a mistake? They crucified Day because he was wrong about which way a river flowed!

Posted by: Cool Blue at July 23, 2007 07:13 PM (mOowv)

3 Yes, but poor Stephane is suffering from exhaustion! It's not easy being green and right too. Don't forget he was talking to Liberals and how dumb do you have to be to be a Liberal?

Posted by: George at July 23, 2007 07:27 PM (vmaKn)

4 Being a Liberal means never having to say your sorry.

Posted by: Mike S at July 23, 2007 09:46 PM (y8ZXS)

5 Nice. I'm proud to be a Canadian Conservative w/ part-Asian ancestry and I didn't know about Douglas Jung. It makes me even prouder of this great country. Imagine that: Dion insulting veterans and minorities at the same time. But then again, he's a pretty b***ard anyways.

Posted by: Ace at July 23, 2007 10:10 PM (QhrOZ)

6 Sorry that's supposed to read - Dion hates both veterans and minorities since he's a scudsy Liberal.

Posted by: Ace at July 23, 2007 10:17 PM (QhrOZ)

7 Outstanding column. Brings a great quote to mind: "It's not that our liberal friends are ignorant. It's that they know so much that just isn't so." Ronald Reagan

Posted by: Bob Cooper at July 24, 2007 01:09 AM (d1deK)

8 Thanks, Steve, for bringing this to our attention. I don't suppose the MSM is reporting Dion's major faux pas, as they have to protect their turf, even when it's/he's a turd. It's astounding that a klutz as breathtakingly incompetent--and unphotogenic, to boot--as Dion is still being protected by the MSM and touted as their "leader" by the Liberals. For their sake, and that of Canada, he needs to be mothballed, the sooner the better. Stephane Dion is an absolute disgrace, a total laughing stock. He needs to pack it in and go back to his ivory tower in academe where his ignorance will impact only his students not the whole of Canada. What a Mickey Mouse outfit the Liberals are. Only their being propped up by a majority of the MSM keeps them "legitimate" in the eyes of many Canadians. To the rest of us, who have our eyes wide open, the MSM must be held accountable for their lamentable shilling for this two-bit, dishonest, snivelling, power-at-any-cost excuse for a political party.

Posted by: 'been around the block at July 24, 2007 05:56 AM (Nrf+r)

9 Hey 'been around the block, "THAT'S NOT FAIR"!

Posted by: Libby at July 24, 2007 06:15 AM (+nCXa)

10 To everyone who is beating on the mainstream media, lighten up a bit. I just posted this last night. His appearance at the dinner and the video was not widely reported to start with. That he got his facts on Douglas Jung completely wrong is not obvious (I had to look it up myself). Today will be the first chance for the media to cycle this in as news. First step is for other politicians to call Dion out on this. That creates the conflict that becomes part of the story. Then the media can report on it.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 24, 2007 06:30 AM (HwPRv)

11 Well Steve, the Media are not reporting much on Dion because there is nothing of substance to report, they're acting as a shield for the little fart. One old adage the Left leaning media hold true to, if you can't say something good, say nothing. Someone once said "Hell is a half filled auditorium", maybe Dion is going through Hell.

Posted by: Libby at July 24, 2007 07:40 AM (Y/pm4)

12 Geez, we already know the way Stephane D. eats a hot dog. What more is there to say about the guy?

Posted by: Phil in Ottawa at July 24, 2007 08:25 AM (xUjnI)

13 Excuse me? You have the nerve to tell me what me, my family and friends should be offended by? Now that's ignorant. You're not the 老板 of me 老外!!!

Posted by: Yao W-M at July 24, 2007 08:36 AM (iSwJB)

14 I know it doesn't add much to the conversation, but watching the video, all I can think of is that this man is odd. Dion is seemingly a strange man. I'm not sure why the Liberal party would post this video - it doesn't portray Dion in any sort of a good light. He just appears awkward and odd.

Posted by: alan at July 24, 2007 08:55 AM (2bEDO)

15 I agree Alan. I would think someone with half a brain in the Liberal brain trust (is that an oxymoron?) would have spoken up and said that video was too embarassing to post. Someone save a copy quick before they yank it.

Posted by: Reid at July 24, 2007 09:15 AM (kSy1A)

16 Steve, I disagree somewhat with your analysis of media coverage. Ideally, it shouldn't be politicians who create the conflict, since they then become a part of the story themselves, and become open to the criticism of engaging in partisan bickering. If the media was doing their job, they'd ask Dion to explain, then get reactions to the explanation, or lack thereof, from others such as partisan opponents.

Posted by: Dennis (Second Thoughts) at July 24, 2007 09:31 AM (adFkk)

17 Sometimes reporting is like telling a story. A plot is driven by conflict. In any case, if the Liberals don't say anything, the story is too short. The press can't directly criticize Dion, but they can report on someone else's criticism. So getting that criticism from the other side allows them to explain just why this is so bad by proxy.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 24, 2007 09:40 AM (eGtvb)

18 CP and others run short stories at first all the time. You tell of the incident, you provide the background with Jung's story and the House speeches Â— like you did. You then fill the blanks with reactions from partisans, historians, professors, and others as the story develops. The story is Dion's faux-pas. That some media have to wait until partisans jump in suggests to me that they're slow. They also might make the critics the story. CP engages in hit pieces on Harper all the time without waiting for partisans to jump in. So, why are they waiting now? There might be a good reason, but I'm just not seeing it at the moment.

Posted by: Dennis (Second Thoughts) at July 24, 2007 09:46 AM (adFkk)

19 Canada's MSM is truly a goebellian institution. This "Jung" story is only one of many that the Liberal-biased MSM has ignored when a Liberal politician has stuck his foot into his mouth. This is a serious situation that diminishes our so-called democracy, and something must be done about it. Perhaps this expose by Steve should be emailed to those journalist-reporters who have their pov published by the owners of the MSM, and let's see what happens. Shove the story down their throats, and then wait to see who picks it up. I don't hold much hope, but it's worth a try.

Posted by: Observer at July 24, 2007 10:52 AM (zG34G)

20 Janke -- purely excellent catch and post. Notify the National Post; they have a penchant for highlighting this sort of stuff.

Posted by: mark peters at July 24, 2007 11:40 AM (PN+yN)

21 Did I hear him call the group les chien??

Posted by: OMMAG at July 24, 2007 11:49 AM (GL4I6)

22 Steffi is obviously suffering from the effects of high levels of CO2 and the resulting catastrophic rise in temperatures that are frying his brilliant academic's mind. Poor Steffi, can't handle heat. There's the kitchen door, dude .. help yourself to an exit.

Posted by: Fred at July 24, 2007 12:29 PM (tlZTB)

23 All Canadians are slighted when our most senior politicians seem ignorant of our history, or worse, are willing to rewrite it for political expediency. Oh, settle down, ya big fat bitch.

Posted by: Angry on a great white toilet at July 24, 2007 01:43 PM (HDLv0)

24 Just emailed the story to a few Chinese Canada News medias. Hopefully, if enough of us email them about it, may be they will pick it up and then the Canadian Media will pick it up. editor_toronto@singtao.ca newsroom@fairchildtv.com editor@CanadaChinaNews.com

Posted by: hdom at July 24, 2007 03:34 PM (6yPp5)

25 What amazes me is that there is such a thing as the Chinese Canadian Liberal Assocation. Did they both turn up?

Posted by: Pissedoff at July 24, 2007 05:09 PM (+43Jg)

26 Don't forget Canada's first black MP, cabinet minister, and vice-regal: Lincoln Alexander. Not Grit; but Tory! Same old story!

Posted by: groovy-on-granville at July 24, 2007 05:12 PM (es7hi)

27 Excellent work. But still, who gives a damn who the first Chinese-Canadian MP? I thought a Canadian was a Canadian. Why do the Chinese feel the need to hyphenate and create these racist and segregated communities and distinctions for themselves? So my family came from Anglo-Scotland 200 years ago. Do I still call myself Scottish-Canadian? Pure rubbish!

Posted by: Raphael Alexander at July 24, 2007 05:58 PM (8trXA)

28 "Don't forget Canada's first black MP, cabinet minister, and vice-regal: Lincoln Alexander. Not Grit; but Tory! " And http://canadaonline.about.com/od/womeningovernment/p/ellenfairclough.htm "Ellen Fairclough became the first Canadian woman federal cabinet minister when she was appointed Secretary of State by Prime Minister Diefenbaker in 1957."

Posted by: Gabby in QC at July 24, 2007 07:42 PM (CwAx9)

29 Last year, Jason Kenney said in a speech that the first Chinese Canadian Cabinet Minister was a Conservative and that's false. Raymond Chan was the first. I didn't see you jump all over Kenney and call him arrogant and ignorant to Canadian history.

Posted by: Bailey at July 24, 2007 10:07 PM (jaABU)

30 I wonder if the you tube entry was from someone in the liberal party who realizes what a moron Dion is and hopes to see his demise. I say lets not see the end of Dion. He is a gift that keeps on giving.

Posted by: eyesopen at July 24, 2007 10:35 PM (Evomf)

31 Was Chan a member of the cabinet, or just a junior minister? Ministers of State generally aren't, and I seem to remember that most of Martin's Ministers of State (as he appointed so damn many of them, just so that he could make sure no one felt bad about not having a car and driver) were just Secretaries of State in almost everything but name.

Posted by: poster at July 25, 2007 12:04 AM (gfECs)

32 Dion mentioned Adrienne Clarkson, too. She was the first Canadian of Australian descent (on her father's side) to serve as Governor General of Canada. It took time, eh? Only 1999, the first one. Tut-tut.

Posted by: F. Rottles at July 26, 2007 10:11 PM (GaN3Q)

33 Bailey and poster: Raymond Chan became a Cabinent Minister (multiculturalism) in 2004. His previous post as Secretary of State (for Asia-Pacific) in 1993 was a junior ministry position and did not make him a member of the Cabinet. His area of responsibility was represented in the Cabinet by the Minister of Foreign Affairs. About twenty years earlier, Pat Carney became a member of Multroney's Cabinet in 1984. She was born in Shanghai, China. Carney became the first woman appointed to several of the cabinet positions in which she served. Later, in 1990 she was the first person (male or female) born in China to be appointed to the Senate. Some purists may dispute counting her as a Chinese Canadian (i.e. in terms "visible minority"). I haven't seen nor heard Jason Kenney's speach of last year so I don't know what he said or did not say. But by birth she came from China. Three years after Carney's appointment to the federal Cabinet, Bob Wong became a cabinet minister in the Ontario government. He was appointed the Minister of Energy when the Liberals formed the government of Ontario in 1987. While Bob Wong was not a federal cabinet minister, he did serve as a member of the Ontario provincial cabinet before Raymond Chan was even elected to the Canadian House of Commons. Dion could have mentioned a broader list of federal MPPS of the other parties: As already mentioned, Douglas Jung of the old federal PC party; Arthur Lee, Liberal; Raymond Chan, Liberal, Sophia Leung, Liberal, Inky Mark, the Reform/ Alliance/ Conservative parties; Mike Chong, Conservative party; Meili Faille, Bloc Quebecois; and Olivia Chow, NDP. But Dion was speaking to a Liberal organization about the first Liberal elected to the House of Commons in 1974. He mangled the english and that led to his embarrassing mistake.

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Some thoughts about private restitution

David Pretlove has been quoted (allegedly) as saying he was trying to help out Suzan Pawlak when he offered to pay back the London riding association of the federal Liberal Party the $15,000 that was missing from the bank accounts, on the condition that the police not be called.

If true, this means that he had reason to believe that she would be held responsible for the missing money. Pawlak was the riding treasurer until August 2006. At the time the money was found to be missing in January 2007, she had moved on and was working for Pretlove, the director of the federal Liberal Party's Ontario wing.

Was this a simple matter of restitution? I guess it depends on what constitutes true restitution.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:13 PM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Yes ... good point , but consider what the MSM would do if it was Mike Harris , Harper or any Conservative party official in that position.

Posted by: Brian at July 23, 2007 01:04 PM (lJSn/)

2 Indeed, the silence of the MSM on this issue is deafening, although not at all unexpected.

Posted by: Jon at July 23, 2007 03:10 PM (aZei4)

3 ...hmm, would the Liberals consider 'restituting' me after all these years of gouging UIC payments?

Posted by: tomax7 at July 23, 2007 04:14 PM (jHhd0)

4 If it's down to making private restitution and all is forgiven, expect more of the same, that will be only those who get caught of course. Not a peep of interest in this story in the MSM. Do we need more proof of their bias?

Posted by: Libby at July 23, 2007 04:39 PM (i7Vsv)

5 First, the child is severely scolded. You may be correct with your psychoanalysis of this case but ... were the memberships that were sold by the riding association genuine? Or were they a fiction concocted to stack a nomination meeting, and was the money not stolen as such but simply returned to whoever bankrolled the process? I speculate that this could explain why someone might be anxious to avoid a criminal investigation and to get an underling off the hook. Unless the person who is alleged to have committed the crime is publicly tried, the truth is not likely to come out, and other hurt parties, if there are any, are likely to suffer more out of ignorance of what might have happened to them. There is a reason we have forgone private justice in favour of public trials. People haven't foregone private justice. I think you would find that in the vast majority of cases of theft, especially white-collar theft such as relatively small-potatoes breach-of-trust cases in non-profit (ahem) organizations like a political party, the crimes are dealt with privately through negotiation and restitution, or failing that by shunning the perpetrator and making sure everyone in town knows (who needs to know) what happened. If my theory is correct then the real victims are the people who may have participated honestly in the nomination process and the management of the association. The lack of a public trial and conviction will not prevent them from quitting in disgust and telling everyone they know what a corrupt crock of B.S. is our political system. Who knows, if enough of you dabblers in politics figure out that the system is stacked by and for weasels against the property and freedom of ordinary, honest folks, maybe we'll finally start to get somewhere in the mammoth task of wrenching power and money out of politicians' hands and giving it back to the people to whom they rightfully belong. That's justice.

Posted by: at July 23, 2007 05:28 PM (tgNL5)

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Posted by: outlet at December 19, 2012 10:23 AM (aznfO)

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Cialis (tadalafil) warning from Health Canada targets all-natural male potency product Zencore Tabs

The latest Health Canada warning is one of a long line of warnings targeting male potency products. Marketed as all-natural, Health Canada seems to repeatedly find that these products contain medically significant concentrations of sildenafil (Viagra), vardenafil (Levitra), and tadalafil (Cialis). These compounds are effective, but also require a prescription, since they all have serious side effects and interactions with other drugs.

Checking out a bit about this industry, I wonder if these health industry manufacturers routinely spike their male potency products in order to make they work. I say routinely, because I found a scientific paper on how to efficiently check for this problem, suggesting it is a widespread problem.

Of course, having had absolutely no reason whatsoever to have used any of these products at any time, I have had to depend on what I could find out on the internet.
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:03 AM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
Post contains 1630 words, total size 12 kb.

1 "Of course, having had absolutely no reason whatsoever to have used any of these products at any time..." When I showed my wife this line, she said "get real". Now I don't know if she's talking about you Steve or me... ;-) hehehe

Posted by: tomax7 at July 23, 2007 10:11 AM (jHhd0)

2 LOL

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 23, 2007 10:13 AM (eGtvb)

3 This is an incredible find, an herbal supplement that works!

Posted by: jonny_eh at July 23, 2007 12:17 PM (ZQ7AG)

4 As I have made it clear, I have no idea if it actually works. None whatsoever. In any case, the herbal supplement to the tadalafil analog is just as likely to do nothing at all, or else why would the tadalafil be there. The problem is, of course, that the herbal supplement portion is the only thing listed on the box.

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 23, 2007 12:21 PM (eGtvb)

5 There is an alarming trend among young healthy men who don't need these "enhancements" to take them in the mistaken belief they take an already normal...performance... and turn it something extraordinary. I was recently offered some at a bar by a drunk who wanted me to slip it to my husband to increase my own fun. When I explained my husband didn't need it, he replied he didn't either but it made great even greater. I watched him and he was doing a very brisk business at $20/pill among men and women. Someone is going to die from this stuff.

Posted by: Judith at July 23, 2007 12:50 PM (47ktC)

6 ...my how times have changed. I remember as a teen, the only "natural potency product" we needed had a middle picture folding out...

Posted by: tomax7 at July 23, 2007 04:10 PM (jHhd0)

7 Those Chinese pharmacists know no bounds, now they're playing tlicky with the dickies , all for import of course.

Posted by: Libby at July 23, 2007 04:48 PM (i7Vsv)

8 Living dangerously for pleasure for today is what economists call a high time preference. It's a matter of personal choice, like everything else in life, and government should just butt out. But it raises the question - are more and more people nowadays exhibiting a high time preference, choosing to spend their money on risky pleasure today instead of being more cautious, saving their money, and maximizing pleasure over the long term? And if so, why? Government has their fingerprints all over this one. The average real return on financial savings is extremely low (i.e. after taxes and government-created inflation). Creating a small business built for long term profits is generally not a worthwhile option to pursue, because of inflation, taxes and high regulatory barriers. Government nanny-state policies promise that even you live your life like a reckless idiot, you'll still get welfare and unlimited free health care for life - and the less money you earn and save, the more free assistance your children will get. In other words, your government is entirely built around the idea that people are like stupid, hedonistic teenagers, and every policy they implement simply rewards and reinforces this behavior. People in government award themselves lavish, inflation-protected salaries and gold-plated benefits in return for the humble service they perform as the nannies of all these hapless fools. But even they are guilty of high time preference, because eventually there will be so many unfit, barely-working, stupid, useless ninnies in their care that the tax base (in real wealth, not in nominal dollars) will dry up and sooner or later they'll be left looking like fools. So instead of more zealous oversight by Health Canada, it's a lot less oversight that you want. People with a solid stake in the future and who acquire property with their own work are unlikely to risk everything for a four-hour, um, election.

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July 22, 2007

The unintended consequences of non-lethal police encounters

With the recent spate of incidents in which police used non-lethal means against suspects and were roundly criticized, I wonder if there an unintended consequences to these new police tools. Are we increasing the frequency of violent confrontations by making those confrontations less lethal?
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Posted by: Steve Janke at 08:45 AM | Comments (16) | Add Comment
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1 Of course all that needs to happen is for people to obey the law. The propensity to get into the face of a police officer, then cry foul if someone gets hurt, is too stupid for words. And by the way Steve, the officers did not pepper spray that baby. They were trying to subdue someone else and this silly woman brought her baby into the middle of the melee. I do not think the Police should have apologized for this incident.

Posted by: Lee at July 22, 2007 09:09 AM (CcZc7)

2 * Steve... a small point. You're misrepresenting the BC incident. The RCMP were in the process of arresting the woman's husband and she tried to stop them... with the baby in her arms. She was warned and kept fighting. Note also, the RCMP officers were being mobbed by hostile aboriginals at the time. They apologised simply because of the optics and the way the media portrayed them as baby abusers. At the public meeting afterwards, the natives again went apeshit... I saw the video. A no-win situation. In other, less reported, soccer news... Apparently in Iraq, simply cheering for your team is somehow considered inadequate... true sportsmanship requires suppressive fire. shsshhh... we don't report on non-anglo insanity. *

Posted by: neo at July 22, 2007 10:12 AM (+pcgo)

3 As I said, the truth in these situations is still being determined, and if I quoted an incomplete report or an inaccurate account, oops. But it is almost obvious to say that these things happen in part because pepper spray is used liberally. People might not respect pepper spray the way they do a gun, and do stupid things (I made that point).

Posted by: Steve Janke at July 22, 2007 10:18 AM (HwPRv)

4 Good topic, Steve. I have felt this was inevitable for quite some time........

Posted by: ZiLLa at July 22, 2007 10:41 AM (tXHC0)

5 * you're being mobbed by dozens of hostile people... the first time someone tries to overpower you, or wrestle your gun away, you have a choice to make. without pepper spray... one half of the existing choices is to pull your glock and shoot someone in the face... before they get the gun and shoot you. taser, pepper spray or a bullet. at that point, that's the whole menu. you choose. *

Posted by: neo at July 22, 2007 11:09 AM (+pcgo)

6 The only way government can become bigger is by taking power and wealth from ordinary citizens. The more continuous and unrestrained the growth of government the more friction it causes, which results in confrontations between the enforcers of government power and the enforcees. But the use of violence on behalf of allegedly benign and pragmatic government policies is a bit of a public relations problem, so the boffins have to come up with kinder, gentler ways of imposing themselves on their, ah, wards. "We're not brutes, we're only enforcing the new government ban on [insert some recent scare-story here] with rubber truncheons and plastic handcuffs." This helps them to shut up the smart-alecky civil liberty cranks for a while, until another crisis comes along giving them an excuse to pass another whole raft of laws and proclamations. And they thought of a great cover story for the violence - this ain't tyranny, this here is the RULE OF LAW.

Posted by: at July 22, 2007 11:32 AM (tgNL5)

7 I think a lot has to do with the type of people being hired in the RCMP and other police agencies. More book smarts then street smarts. More worried about how high up the ladder they can make it. Need to get back to training police officers. No more equality crap. Get the right people for the job.

Posted by: Brandon at July 22, 2007 06:34 PM (+TMdE)

8 I've already remarked on tasers on my blog. I'll add the following: Tasers are used when the altercation is going to require force to bring the person into custody. In many cases suspects do not resist arrest, and no force is required. However, when force is required to enforce an arrest, a taser SHOULD be used. The taser makes any person instantly compliant. While they are very painful in the moment, the pain is over almost instantly, and the biggest risk in most cases is the suspect hitting their head falling to the ground in compliance (something police are trained to prevent from happening). Its better than pepper spray because some people will go into anaphalactic shock if they are allergic, which is not common, but has happened. By contrast, a taser is extremely unlikely to cause a permanent injury. Compare that with the other methods of gaining control: 1) using physical force (grabbing them and wrestling them to the ground), which is very likely to result in at least one party getting injured. Someone is going to get punched, or elbowed, or have their head hit the pavement. Someone is likely going to get some injury requiring medical attention. 2) using a baton, and basically beating them into submission. Less risk to the officer as above, but much riskier to the suspect. 3) using a firearm. Obviously, the most potential for serious harm. Tasers are a good weapon to use to gain compliance with the minimum of risk to both suspect and officer. They work regardless of whether or not a suspect is seriously intoxicated or drugged (fighting a suspect on meth or PCP is pretty much a lost cause since they don't feel pain). In the vast majority of cases the use of a taser results in a suspect being placed safely into custody without injury to anyone. Tasers save lives.

Posted by: Paul M. at July 22, 2007 07:01 PM (a462E)

9 When I was growing up you had to be five foot ten to be a cop. And male. Being 5 foot 9 I wasn't bent out of shape, I found some thing else to do. Now, thanks to affirmative action, we have female police officers who are five foot three, maybe 120 lbs. You can't tell me with a straight face that this "innovation" hasn't resulted in significant changes in rules of engagement. When I was 17 and was leaving a party that was getting busted up I asked a cop if I could go get my beer. He told me to f off, then pushed me down the stairs, not an option to a smalller, more female cop who might've pepper sprayed me instead. Anyway, great post Steve.

Posted by: Reno at July 22, 2007 07:21 PM (4qXXH)

10 I'm just curious: How is a police officer to talk through a possible problem with a soccer team member who's hot under the collar, having just lost a game, and whose mother tongue is Spanish not English? To further compound the problem the Toronto police had on Thursday night, how do you talk down a crowd of juvenile soccer players, whose handlers think it's OK for them to behave any way they want: they're "just playing a game, after all and they're under 20"? If people are going to break the law, then they'll have to deal with the consequences, whether pepper spray, Tasers, or guns. I agree that guns are going a little too far, in most cases, but to do nothing and let hoolgians and law breakers get away with their brawling and causing civil disorder is, actually, going even further, and no good can come from it.

Posted by: 'been around the block at July 22, 2007 08:49 PM (Nrf+r)

11 What ever happened to the good, old, dependable BILLY CLUB? WHAP! WHAP! WHAP! ...a few good shots to the head would subdue most suspects, and would provide the Bulls with their pleasurable, tactile feelings, by literally beating on someone's face....

Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 23, 2007 06:24 AM (GN3Xe)

12 People might not respect pepper spray the way they do a gun, Thieves either. Maybe they need trigger locks on their pepper spray?

Posted by: DrWright at July 23, 2007 08:42 AM (sf7h6)

13 Steve: Two of the elements that has made seemingly mundane public contacts with police into potentially violent confrontation are: 1) The militarization of police forces who are being indoctrinated in military/martial mindset, tactics and hardware. The purpose of martial forces is to control the public not protect them. You "take" objectives...you bark out "orders" and you intimidate...citizens become objectified as the "enemy" in these new martial policing techniques. 2)Besides being over-bearing in a martial manner, police increasingly are charged with enforcing a litany of bad laws which are at best marginally civil/constitutional. This raises the ire of people and when this is combines with police militancy, the probability of a confrontation escalates. 3) The deep politicization of the police forces by this new trend in neo-statist integration has them working for politicians who have them enforcing regime policies and not law. Ya I can see confrontaions....you have to be an aggressive steroid-driven, tattooed, shaved head "enforcer" to justify the crap police have to do these days...that's why the old styled Robert Peel cop is few and far between in the blue ranks these days.

Posted by: WL Mackenzie Redux at July 23, 2007 10:51 AM (INHn8)

14 "No more equality crap. Get the right people for the job" Interesting article by Ted Byfield in the Calgary Sun. "Don't misunderstand me," he said at last, "but I think it started with the women. I think when we took women into the force, that began a major change. And that change has led to what we have today. "You don't mean to say," I said, "that women caused all the problems that the Mounties are now confronted with.?" "No, no, not at all," he said. "Women make very good officers, much better in some ways than men." "Then how did they start the problem? He then explained that up until women began to appear in the Mountie uniform, the RCMP was very much like a military unit. It had a kind of regimental discipline. A code.

Posted by: at July 23, 2007 04:17 PM (jHhd0)

15 "No more equality crap. Get the right people for the job" Interesting article by Ted Byfield in the Calgary Sun. "Don't misunderstand me," he said at last, "but I think it started with the women. I think when we took women into the force, that began a major change. And that change has led to what we have today. "You don't mean to say," I said, "that women caused all the problems that the Mounties are now confronted with.?" "No, no, not at all," he said. "Women make very good officers, much better in some ways than men." "Then how did they start the problem? He then explained that up until women began to appear in the Mountie uniform, the RCMP was very much like a military unit. It had a kind of regimental discipline. A code.

Posted by: tomax7 at July 23, 2007 04:17 PM (jHhd0)

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Posted by: Feldwebel Wolfenstool at July 23, 2007 07:40 PM (GN3Xe)

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