Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff killed the formal Liberal-NDP coalition upon replacing Stephane Dion.  NDP leader Jack Layton was furious, and still is.  And now Jack Layton is having his revenge.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 06:08 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Scott Brison is mailing people in Newmarket, asking them, and possibly others, about their opinions about the current economic crisis.

This cuts across party lines.  I say we all offer our opinions.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 07:01 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The recent demonstrations of Tamils in Toronto and Ottawa and elsewhere have resulted in some high-level but behind-the-scenes meetings between MPs of various parties and Tamil leaders.

The details of Michael Ignatieff's recent meeting gave cause to the National Post to praise the Liberal Party leader.  I wonder if Jonathan Kay knew the about a very different meeting involving Liberal MPs and Tamils that happened only a few weeks earlier.

I wonder if Michael Ignatieff knew about that meeting.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 11:54 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Remember when Sid Ryan, the head of Ontario branch of CUPE suggested that Israeli academics be compelled to denounce Israel or be banned from Ontario universities?  It caused quite an uproar. 

Well, apparently, the uproar was stage-managed by the Jews.  Shocking, isn't it?

Posted by: Steve Janke at 06:50 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Yeah, I'll catch flak from conservatives on this one, but I just don't see what's wrong with the Harperdex.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 04:20 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Liberal Party leader Michael Ignatieff is having trouble making friends.  Hi problem, of course, is the way in which he will tell you one thing, then another in the space of days or even hours, depending on who he is trying to please.  Asbestos is good.  Asbestos is bad.  Israel was justified in the attack on Qana.  Israel committed war crimes in Qana.  Ignatieff will raise taxes.  Ignatieff won't raise taxes.  Ignatieff is for a carbon tax.  Ignatieff is against a carbon tax.

Michael Ignatieff has got David Suzuki pretty upset about that last one, that carbon tax thing.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 11:03 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Michael Ignatieff, the soon-to-be-official leader of the Liberal Party, is a great speaker who charms his audiences on his way to becoming the next prime minister of Canada.

Or so the media narrative goes.

But not everyone is buying into it.  In this review of Michael Ignatieff's appearance in Niagara Falls, the Liberal leader is described as boring and patronizing.

Maybe this reporter didn't get the memo.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:44 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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A study suggests the obvious.  Being subjected to constant low frequency vibrations, like those that are caused by wind turbines, causes health problems.  Ontario's Minister of Energy, George Smitherman, has already said that the government of Ontario will simply ignore the complaints of residents and put windmills where ever he sees fit to put them.

I'm calling this Smitherman Hum.  Not the low frequency vibrations and constant background noise that might be at the root of the health problems being reported by people forced to live near wind farms, though that would be apt.  To be precise, the Smitherman Hum refers to the loud humming noise George Smitherman makes as he plugs his ears with his fingers so that he can pretend not to have heard Ontario residents who are demanding that their property rights be respected.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 05:57 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The National Post has hit one out of the park.  The brutal lashing delivered to US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been showcased on the Drudge Report, and praised by the National Review.  But I think the National Review makes a mistake when it states that President Barack Obama could have done better than appoint someone as monumentally ignorant as Janet Napolitano to this most important post.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 12:58 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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In a study in contrasts, the CBC, publicly funded broadcaster, is in trouble for what seems to be frivolous and insensitive spending, justified by an inexplicable inability to close the doors at meeting rooms at the CBC.  Canwest, on the other hand, has successfully negotiated past another deadline and continue to operate without government handouts.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 11:38 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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As I've feared, as the Tamil Tigers face elimination in Sri Lanka, their supporters who are protesting in foreign capitals are being more frantic.

In England, several have attempted to immolate themselves.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:27 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Jack Layton surprised no one when he suddenly spoke of working with the Conservative government to make EI work better.  Why isn't this a surprise?  Because of rumours that the Liberals, who are enjoying a jump in polling numbers, want to force an election in the fall.

But if the Liberals are going to attempt to force an election in the fall, they'll need the support of both the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois.  Thanks to Jean Chretien, though, the NDP might seriously look for reasons not to go to the polls.  It comes down to money, and the fact that when it comes to election timing, it is hard to imagine an election that is good both for the Liberals and the NDP.

That's why jack Layton's sudden turn around doesn't come as a surprise.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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That the Tamil Tigers are about to be crushed by Sri Lankan forces is no longer in doubt.  An ultimatum has been issued, and refugees are streaming out of the 20 square kilometers that represent the last holdout of the rebel group.

But the Tamil Tigers have one weapon left in their arsenal, and that is the ability to rally thousands of supporters in demonstrations in places like Canada.  Such a rally is going to happen today.

What is going to happen tomorrow?

Posted by: Steve Janke at 08:05 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Information continues to flow unabated to me from within the Halton Federal Liberal Association.

The latest is a letter from HFLA President Steve Savage asking that Liberals stop sending me information.

I guess that's sort of ironic.

But this letter is a good one.  Steve Savage discusses the internal dispute concerning strategy to fight an upcoming election, and appeals to a sense of Liberal unity to keep the dispute un wraps.

Yeah, too late for that.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 09:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Chrysler Canada is in crisis.  A proposed move by Fiat to save Chrysler could fall apart because of what many see as intransigence by Ken Lewenza, the head of the Canadian Autoworkers Union.

There was another union head who came in to leader his membership to demand the best contract and only the best.  It was Doug Allen of the Screen Actors Guild.  Doug Allen was fired from his position as national executive director and chief negotiator, because his intransigence was seen as an impediment to progress to an acceptable contract by moderate members of the SAG.

So I wonder if Ken Lewenza's furious reaction to management contacting workers directly is rooted in fear.  Fear that he might end up like Doug Allen.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 06:13 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Federal Liberal finance critic John McCallum has been caught in a lie.  No he didn't steal money or fake his resume.  He drives an imported car (a Jetta, to be exact), but when asked, he bumbled and mumbled and said he drove a Chevy.

Pathetic.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 11:56 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Maybe it's a small thing.  Hey, as a website administrator myself, I rarely update this aspect of my website.  But the meta data for the keywords and description of a website ought to be updated when a major change happens.

It's not like it happens all that often.

Losing a re-election bid is the sort of thing that happens only once in a while.  You'd think that would be momentous enough to prompt a refresh of the Halton Liberal riding association website.  But no.  According to the meta data, the website is about Garth Turner, and providing support for him.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 08:11 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Will all due respect to Justice Jeffrey Oliphaunt, the inquiry he is leading into the financial dealings between Karlheinz Schreiber and former prime minister Brian Mulroney is just a big waste of time.

Didn't Karlheinz Schreiber just admit that he can't vouch for the accuracy of the affidavit that is justifying this inquiry?

Posted by: Steve Janke at 02:43 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Within hours, Michael Ignatieff is attempting to clarify his promise to raise taxes.  No surprise there, except perhaps with the speed at which we've arrived at the "clarification" stage.  Usually it takes a few days.

I guess Michael Ignatieff's handlers are getting better with all practise they've been getting.

Posted by: Steve Janke at 06:23 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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When Michael Ignatieff wandered off his prepared text to answer a question on asbestos, he messed up the answer, and had to flip-flop within days.

When Michael Ignatieff wandered off his prepared text to answer a question on Israeli actions in Lebanon, he messed up the answer, and had to flip-flop within days.

When Michael Ignatieff wandered off his prepared text to answer a question on Senate appointments, he messed up the answer, and had to flip-flop within days.

Now Michael Ignatieff is threatening to raise taxes, and did so when he wandered off his prepared text.  Are we going to be treated to another flip-flop in the coming days?

Posted by: Steve Janke at 10:12 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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