Peter Milliken: Job Well Done!

I, for one, will miss the familiar sight of Speaker Milliken presiding over -- some would say tending -- to the scrappy children. They say patience is a virtue, and Peter Milliken would seem to be the living embodiment of that!

We owe him our thanks for the excellent job done over these many years.

But you know me, I can't conclude without hoping that we will eventually be hearing from Mr. Speaker about the so-called Afghan Document "Agreement". Something tells me Milliken will have more to say than the mere fact that he happens to agree with the three-party agreement.

Of course, I could be wrong, right!?

Why The G20 and G8 Costs Aren't Sticking.

What should be a spending outrage is nothing more than a passing blurb. Some may wonder why. Not yours truly. Most Canadians consistently vote against this government and yet it remains in office. Perhaps that has something to do with the limp-along strategy favoured in the OLO. You remember that one: yeah, yeah, just you watch, Harper will explode any day now -- then the fruit will be ripe for an election and back to power we go. Or so the delusion goes.

Our last chance to defeat this government (and I mean that quite literally) comes this fall. Our platform will be in place and it will be time for the rubber to hit the road. The present crowd has some serious reassessing to do. If it doesn't look really good poll-wise, they will do what they do best and more than likely retreat, once again.

Canadians, by and large, can barely stomach this Prime Minister but they will continue to vote for him unless the OLO finally gets its act together. That means a couple of things: firstly, Michael has to come to terms with the concept that he won't drop dead if somehow he doesn't become prime minister. It won't be the end of the world either, should it happen.

Secondly, I don't know about you but I want him to realize that fact and then to find the intestinal fortitude to risk it anyway. The best interests of Canada must come before those of any particular leader or politician. Can any of you honestly say that this country is being slowly transformed for the better under the stewardship of this Prime Minister? One need only look at the conduct of the PM to confirm my argument -- why did he reportedly almost bust a gut when Flanagan spilled the beans about the continued success of "incremental" Conservatism. Stephen Harper does best when the Canadian people are as close to comatose as possible. Failing that, as long as they are mostly distracted or uninterested, that default strategy continues to work for him thereby returning another Conservative minority government.

Fake outrage from Liberals hasn't done it, so far. Neither has the scandal-of-the-week. Time to move on to something else that most Canadians can relate to -- a principled belief that this government is no damned good for the kind of Canada most of us happen to believe in. Canadians have to come to the realization that the road we're painfully travelling on now only leads to a dead-end where Canada will ultimately no longer be recognizable as a true liberal-democracy.

Afghan documents, individual accountability of ministerial exempt staff, Freedom of Information requests, the fuck parliamentary committees manual, you name it -- the well established pattern continues as long as this government stays in office.

We can't wish Conservatives away. Our fate quite literally as a nation will rest on whether the three opposition parties respond in tune to the doorbell of political destiny. Time to suck it up -- put away each of our own petty political considerations and vote this government out of office at the earliest opportunity.

Some of us may go down in that election, but Canadians will thank us for doing what had to be done. Some will have died a heroic death on the political battlefield -- but even those will be fondly remembered, for fighting the good fight and paying the ultimate personal cost in pursuit of a just and noble political end. Canada awaits. It needs a reason to bestow its full confidence in us. Are we up to that challenge? For this country's sake, I hope to hell that we really are.

Nothing Quite Like "Guest" Posting!

Letting Conservatives Speak...

Posted at Threehundredeight.com:

Shadow said...

Don't let Quebec separate, it would give Harper a comfortable majority !!

Hmm ...

Could this be why a lot of western Canadians want Quebec kicked out of Canada, where as Liberals are fighting for it to stay ?

Interesting to think about.

12 June, 2010 17:26

And I was worried about those guys being Canada's worst nightmare. What was I thinking?

Nikki Yanofsky : I Believe!

There comes a moment when my heart must stand alone
On this lonely path I've chosen
Like a house thats not a home

Sometimes when I feel I've had enough
And I feel like giving up
You willed me to be all I can be
Now nothing can stop me

I believe in the power that comes
From a world brought together as one
I believe together we'll fly
I believe in the power of you and I

This is the moment we have dreamed of all our lives
We'll be the change we wish from others
We'll stand tall for what is right
And in my heart there'll be no doubt
The arms of the world will come reaching out
And embrace me to be all I can be
Now nothing can stop me

I believe in the power that comes
From a world brought together as one
I believe together we'll fly
I believe in the power of you and I
I believe in the power of you and I

I believe, I believe, I believe in..
I believe, I believe in you
I believe, I believe, I believe in..
I believe, I believe in you
I believe, I believe, I believe in you

I believe together we'll fly
I believe in the power of you and I
I believe the time is right now
To stand tall and make the world proud
I believe together we'll fly
I believe in the power

I believe in the power that comes
From a world brought together as one
(Of you and I)

I believe together we'll fly
I believe in the power of you and I
(Power)

I believe the time is right now
(Of you and I)
Stand tall and make the world proud

I believe together well fly
(Together we'll fly)
I believe in the power of you and I
I believe in the power of you and I

Putting The Senate Cork In On Supreme Court Bilingualism?

Funny, every time I turn around it seems we are assisting at the birth of another Conservative senator. Fart and you might have missed it! And they said the Conservative gene poll was losing its potency.

What I wouldn't give to tally the votes of Quebec Conservative Senators when the crunch comes -- or to put it more accurately, when divine inspiration (along with explicit directives) descends from on-high, otherwise known as the PMO.

As Eastwood would say: "Do you feel lucky," Senator?!!! Can you spell political retribution for any brave, roaming upper-class-person? Talk about being between a rock and a hard place for French-speaking senators, especially those hailing from Je me souviens. Indeed.

My friend, Michel Rivard, is about to have the most interesting time since being called to the Red Chamber. Will he be instrumental in fellow Conservatives toeing the line or will he and others break ranks as unequivocal expressions of La nation québécoise?

I know him pretty well (by now) even if we haven't spoken since his appointment with destiny. I think I know which way he'll go. The fun in it all will be seeing whether he's predictable. Stay tuned!

NOTICE: ATTENTION CONSERVATIVES!

What an idiot I've been, toiling in relative obscurity with a rather low pay grade to show for it. Going from the relative drudgery of one working day to another -- when I could have made a mint -- training successive Conservative COS!

When I look at what they've been up to until now, I can't help but smile. Funny, but adroit somehow does not come to mind regarding their conduct.

We could start with the basics: getting along with others without really having to try! Then, we could deftly move on to other more pressing matters: the art of letter writing, the knack of knowing when to butt-in and when to stay the hell out. Basics, really.

However, I can sympathize. It ain't an easy run when the boss is known for multiple fingers in a panoply of puddings...the Harper pressure cooker has been known to move rapidly from slow to roaring boil.

All of this to say that my shingle should be up and running as soon as destiny shows a hand. Who would have thought it -- little old me, capital wring-maker.

What Jeanne Said...

Jeanne Sauvé was an exceedingly wise person. You may remember what she said to her husband, Maurice, at the time of the patriation of the Constitution. In short, it translates into "What have we done?"

I won't even go there to repeat what Jean Marchand allegedly called his old friend, Pierre Trudeau, after that blessed Canadian event...

Canadians from coast to coast have a lot of soul searching still to do. Do they like Canada just as it is, even at the eventual risk of dismemberment? If that's the collective will of English Canada, so be it. It will be respected in French Canada, more particularly in Quebec, but it will have dramatic consequences.

And then there is the issue of the perennially "present" Bloc Québécois, the legitimate representatives of much of the Quebec electorate. Their presence in Ottawa does have its benefits -- chief among them, the so-called watchdog tempers the fervour of the sovereignty movement by creating in the minds of some Quebecers a false sense of political security.

But for those of us interested in supplanting the Bloc (probably later rather than sooner) that means looking for a deal with Ottawa, the provinces and territories. That my friends is the road to increased federalist seats in the province. Nothing else will do the trick as all parties in Ottawa are already aware.

Convenience dictates burying this old hot potato. Electoral smarts suggests another course of action -- that is, if the sovereignists are to be truly and finally vanquished.