Life Without Borders

Merci Quebec

Well the election is over and Harper won more seats then most sites projected, taking them mostly in riding-rich Ontario; however he failed to reach the golden number of 155 which would give him a majority government, at the end of the night it broke down like this:

CONSERVATIVE	LIBERAL	NDP	BLOC	GREEN	OTHERS
38%	26%	18%	10%	7%	1.0%
143	76	37	50	0	2

His fuck up came in Quebec where he went on a the campaign trail and talked about cutting the arts, and sending 14-year old's to prison for life for serious crimes; that went against the very fabric of Quebecois society and they voted for the Bloc and the Liberals instead of the Tories saving us from a Harper majority (4 years of unchecked rule.)  Now I understand when people tell me that while Ontario might be the economic engine of Canada, Quebec is its soul. Time and time again it seems Quebec grabs hold of the wheel and steers the country away from the gutters of the right.

I have to admit, Canadian politics baffle me; this country and it's voters have to be some of the pickiest bunch who during an election can have outright mood swings. In 1984, the Liberals were decimated with a loss of 107 seats, and in 1993 it was the Conservatives' turn to get spanked and they lost 167 seats.  In that election, I can understand why after Mulroney's gaffes with Quebec the party peeled off and created the Bloc and started having referendums on independence - if I had to deal with a crazy right wing nutjob, I'd do that too.

So to me this is a "correction" is a continuing punishment for the Liberals in choosing an unsuitable candidate for Leader after the sponsorship scandal.  Dion needs to step down, a new leadership race has to be done, and hopefully someone with charisma and leadership can step up to lead the party back to it's natural role. 

In essence, this was a loss for Harper too; he has no mandate when 62% of the country voted against him, and he couldn't even beat a weak and ineffectual leader like Dion during a fiscal crisis; it shows that even when it's bad, people still don't trust him.  This  election was a $300 million mistake, and with the lowest turnout EVER in Canadian history (59%) it is a sad state of affairs for Canada.

The only way to fix this, and get people back interested in politics is to reform the electoral system; proportional representation at a Federal level in the House of Commons really needs to be discussed, and maybe that means a compromise and making the Senate elected in a way that the Conservatives want.

Now, on to November 4th.

VOTE!

My fellow Canadians, please don't forget to vote today!  Many of us (me included) don't have the privilege yet of being able to cast a ballot in this election; so please don't pass up your opportunity to do so.

...and please don't forget it's as simple as ABC :-)

Strike Two

A few weeks ago I spoke about Mr. Layton’s behaviour during the debate about letting Ms. May into the debates; he and Mr. Harper were opposed to her participating and threatened to pull out if she was let in. The Canadian public responded overwhelmingly, and both Harper and Layton backtracked and agreed to have her participate; however, the damage was done. Mr. Layton came across as hypocritical; at a time when he should have stood up for Ms. May and encouraged her involvement (as is his history for fighting for democracy and the little guy) he opted for partisanship and the selfish needs of his own party. He apologized and moved forward and I appreciated the sentiment and went back to supporting the NDP.

Yesterday however, was Strike Two for Mr. Layton. In Canada you don’t “run” for Prime Minister like you run for President in the United States; the party that receives the most votes is offered the privilege of forming a government, if you get over 155 votes you get to automatically form a majority government. Mr. Layton has taken the last 30-days and pursued a one-man crusade to win 24 Sussex Drive, or at the very least, form the Official Opposition, but you see you have to win your own riding first….

Mr. Layton is my MP (Member of Parliament - in the states he would be considered my Representative) for the riding of Toronto-Danforth. To make it to Parliament you need to win your riding, and as with any riding or election there are times when you will have to debate other candidates even when you’re the incumbent.

The candidates in Toronto-Danforth (Green, Conservative & Liberal) agreed to defer to Mr. Layton’s schedule and found a time that worked best for him, which was last night at Riverdale Collegiate Institute….problem was, Mr. Layton didn’t show up.

You see, he was too busy in British Columbia trying to win votes and become Prime Minister, instead of being at the debate, answering to his constituents; he opted to send the Ontario MPP of the same riding, Mr. Tabuns to fill in for him, but the crowd wouldn’t have it voting democratically to refuse Mr. Tabuns to participate in the debate.

Somehow, Ms. May found time to debate Mr. MacKay, I can’t read French so I couldn’t check on Mr. Dion or Mr. Duceppe’s riding debates, but it seems like you and Mr. Harper have more and more in common than I wouldn’t like (i.e. not debating local candidates).

See, the thing is Jack, if you don’t address of the needs of the people who put you into office in the first place, and maintain your ethics and values of representing the people who you care so much about then you risk the chance of not being sent back there – remember that ALL politics are local.

And with that, my Jack Layton lawn sign is coming out of my front yard.

Palin around with Terrorists indeed

First there was this video on You Tube which shows Governor Palin providing an introdiction and welcome to the Alaskan Independence Party's (AIP) Convention last year.  The MSM seemed to ignore the fact that her husband was a member for years, and that she herself attended past conventions and was involved in a organization that wants to secede from the United States, and then there is this little jem of a video that explains it all much more clearly.

Over the years, Palin has actively courted the AIP; to be clear, we're not necessarily talking about friendly secession either: As the AIP's founder, Joe Vogler, told an interviewer in 1991: "The fires of hell are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred for the American government. ... And I won't be buried under their damn flag."

From Daily Kos:

Before his strange murder in 1993, party founder Vogler preached armed insurrection against the United States of America. Vogler, who always carried a Magnum with him, was fond of saying, "When the bureaucrats come after me, I suggest they wear red coats. They make better targets. In the federal government are the biggest liars in the United States, and I hate them with a passion. They think they own. There comes a time when people will choose to die with honor rather than live with dishonor. That time may be coming here. Our goal is ultimate independence by peaceful means under a minimal government fully responsive to the people. I hope we don't have to take human life, but if they go on tramping on our property rights, look out, we're ready to die."

Vogler's greatest moment of glory was to be his 1993 appearance before the United Nations to denounce United States "tyranny" before the entire world and to demand Alaska's freedom. The Alaska secessionist had persuaded the government of Iran to sponsor his anti-American harangue.

That's right ... Iran. The Islamic dictatorship. The taker of American hostages. The rogue nation that McCain and Palin have excoriated Obama for suggesting we diplomatically engage. That Iran.

AIP leaders allege that Vogler, who was murdered that year by a fellow secessionist before he could give his speech at the UN, was taken out by powerful forces in the U.S.  "The United States government would have been deeply embarrassed," by Vogler's U.N. speech, darkly suggests Clark. "And we can't have that, can we?"

~~~
So let's see....we have a woman running for Vice-President who less then 10 years ago attended an AIP convention, just this past year welcomed their convention with open arms, and whose partner was an active member of said party (the one that aligns itself with Iran) less then 3 years ago; and they want to try an connect Obama to a hippie from the 1960's when he was 8?

Who's the real threat here?

What if?

L-Girl over at WMTC got me turned onto Democratic Space where I can get my visual fix on the Canadian Election, much like Electoral-Vote does it for me for the American one.  The Graphic below is from DS's website showing the current polling numbers and how it turns out in the number of seats in Parliament.

Update 10 (28 Sept)
CURRENT PROJECTION / NATIONAL

CONSERVATIVE	LIBERAL	NDP	BLOC	GREEN	OTHERS
36.7%	24.5%	19.6%	9.4%	8.9%	1.0%
140	82	35	49	0	2
155 SEATS REQUIRED FOR MAJORITY GOVERNMENT

Now, if Parliament allotted seats on proportional representation, this is what the seat distribution would look like:

IF IT WAS PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION

CONSERVATIVE	LIBERAL	NDP	BLOC	GREEN	OTHERS
36.7%	24.5%	19.6%	9.4%	8.9%	1.0%
114	76	61	29	28	2

Think about that for a moment

Your Turn!

Since moving to Canada one of the things I truly enjoy is watching the CBC; while I know that some Canadians see it as stodgy and a relic of the past to me it always comes across as neat and crisp with a touch of class, especially the news.  Unlike CNN, or MSNBC, or *shudders* FOX, the CBC still has that little thing called journalistic integrity. There were times in Denver when Mason and I would stay up late past our own evening news just to be able to have the chance to watch The National and hear Peter Mansbridge's melodic tones about the country we were striving to move to. As an extra special bonus feature we'd also get the ocassional videotape from Bobby on some CBC special in the mail.

We are here now, and the days swing by like they did in Denver and we take the CBC for granted as it's always within reach of the remote.  It's still somewhat of a ritual for me, that I love to sit with my coffee, Toronto Star and watch CBC Sunday Morning, or the occasional special by good ole Peter.  Tonight is one of those occasions as Peter has been starting to interview each of the Party Leaders on a segment known as "Your Turn: Elections" in which the candidates sit in a studio and they answer ordinary Canadians' questions...no script, no prep, just honest answers from the public.  Last week was Jack Layton (which I missed) and tonight was Elizabeth May of the Green Party; I have to say she rocked!

She's articulate, intelligent, and answered her questions directly and honestly.  I know the arguments people will make against her, but tonight she spoke like a true citizen and steward of good government then any of the other 4 could.  Stephane Dion is on next week, but we will never hear from Mr. Harper.

Bush Jr. (as he will now be called) is using a Republican playbook and has told the CBC that he cannot participate in the current format and will not appear on the show.  The Prime Minister, running in a re-election campaign that he called will not appear on the most respected news program in Canada? Um, what wrong with the current format - oh, that's right...you have to actually answer people's questions and face your critic.  What a complete and utter asshole, you hear that Mr. Harper, YOU'RE AN ASSHOLE!

All I can say for those of you out there who can vote, it will be "Your Turn" on October 14th, please make sure to tell Bush Jr. how you feel.

Burning Times Redux

So apparently since they weren't able to get rid of us the last time they've now decided to get someone into power that might be able to finish off the job.  The Burning Times refers to the hundreds of years between 400 to 1738 when Witches were burned at the stake (or hung, pressed, shot, etc.).  This is actually where the term faggot comes from, as a faggot in olde English was a bundle of sticks made for kindling.  Gay men were identified by local villagers, tied together and lit on fire at the feet of the bound witches...I guess hate had a two for one special back then.

There are various different opinions as to how many people died in this holocaust; some people say it was as few as 40,000 individuals, while other figures go as high as 9 million...all in the name of Christianity and the Catholic Church.  Well it seems that the brief respite we've had in which paganism has started to make a comeback is going to be quashed again if Ms. Palin gets back into office.

Yesiree! She's back in the news and this time she's got prayer on her side!

Ms. Palin's Church, the Wasilla Assembly of God, has praised Pastor Thomas Muthee because "He has established and pastors hundreds of churches in Kenya." According to reports "When Palin was beginning her campaign for Governor of Alaska, she had Muthee pray over her, asking God to make her Governor. On her June 8, 2008 speech at the Wasilla Assembly of God church, Palin suggested that she believes that Muthee's prayer is responsible for getting her into the Governor's seat."

Seems that Pastor Muthee got some direct communication from God telling him that he needed to cleanse the nation of Kenya of witches and started going after a local woman in town because *gasp* three car accidents happened near her home and she was a fortune teller.....she must be a witch!  After some harrassment, threats, and the killing of a pet python she was run out of town.

Yea, she seems like a sensible choice for President Vice-President.

Miss #3

In Canada instead of political districts they have ridings; in each riding the party nominates a candidate and in this election all four parties (five in Quebec) are fielding candidates, but in the country's largest city, in the heart of the gay village, at it's very centre really, the Conservative Party just lost their candidate.

It seems Mr. Chris Reid (the self-proclaimed Gay Conservative...I'd link you to his blog, but it has disappeared) who was running for the Conservative Party had to "voluntarily" withdraw his Candida because of some comments in his online blog that the media caught whiff of. Earlier yesterday, Tory spokesperson Deirdra McCracken said Mr. Reid resigned because he couldn't commit to serving four years in government, but the Liberals insisted it was due to controversial comments in his blog, which included musings on women, gays, native protesters and hate-speech laws.

The offensive quote in general had to do with the abhorrent incident this summer in which an innocent man was killed and beheaded on a greyhound bus in Manitoba; he criticized passengers on the bus this summer who "stood by and watched" as a man beheaded a fellow passenger, "and couldn't muster up any courage or self-sacrifice to intervene." He went on to state that "this is where socialism as (sic) gotten us folks, a castrated effeminate population," he wrote on August 10th, more than a week after the young man's death.

Mr. Reid also called for debate on the right to carry a concealed weapon, an end to abortion and official multiculturalism, an elected Senate, and closing the CBC because of its "far left-wing bias." He said gay advocates in his riding tolerate the promotion of "promiscuity, drug usage and prostitution;" and I'll spare you the rest of his hate about Native Canadians.  I guess it shows that gays in Canada have come a long way when they can stand on a soapbox and cry out for the reduction of their own rights.

You see Mr. Reid, the problem (really it is one) you have is something called Internalized Homophobia. Basically, you hate yourself for being gay and you want to be in a position of power to disenfranchise and drag down all those happy queer folk out there because how dare they enjoy their freedoms (like sex, family, sex, marriage, sex, love, sex, job security, sex, pension benefits, sex...) when you can't stand the thought of all those Canadian laws protecting you.

By definition Internalized Homophobia, "causes severe discomfort with or disapproval of one's own sexual orientation. Internalized homophobia is thus a form of cognitive dissonance; the individual cannot reconcile the conflicting conscious or unconscious sexual desires with values and tenets gained from society, religion or upbringing. This can include extreme repression and denial coupled with forced outward displays of heteronormative behavior for the purpose of appearing or attempting to feel 'normal' or 'accepted'."

Calling the Canadian people a "castrated effeminate population" and your fellow queer community members as tolerating "promiscuity, drug usage and prostitution" sounds more in line with the Republican party; maybe you should grab a McCain-Palin button and do some phone banking in rural Kansas...I hear they really like gay boys down there. in either case you are yet another shining example of what is wrong with the Conservative Party in Canada, and what has been achieved in the past 20 years by all those wonderful socialist thoughts Canadians drempt up....the ability to run for office and fight against all the rights protecting your very existence.

Conservatives 0, Common Sense & Decency 2

First, the Conservative Minister of Agriculture makes jokes about the Listeriosis outbreak, including hoping out loud that the victim from PEI was his Liberal rival; this after over a dozen Canadians, most recently an infant in Manitoba, died from what seems to be a lack of governmental oversight....

Then today, they are back at it when a Conservative Candidate in Quebec makes the assumption that a First Nations Protester heckling her must be drunk....because all Indians are alcoholics right?

Again, do you really want these people in charge? Is this the type of people you want representing our country?

You Really Want Him To Run the Government?

From In Their Own Words

"The establishment came down with a constitutional package which they put to a national referendum. The package included distinct society status for Quebec and some other changes, including some that would just horrify you, putting universal Medicare in our constitution, and feminist rights, and a whole bunch of other things."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"For taxpayers, however, it’s a rip-off. And it has nothing to do with gender. Both men and women taxpayers will pay additional money to both men and women in the civil service. That’s why the federal government should scrap its ridiculous pay equity law."

- Stephen Harper on pay equity, NCC Overview, Fall 1998.

"Then there is the Progressive Conservative party, the PC party, which won only 20 seats. Now, the term Progressive Conservative will immediately raise suspicions in all of your minds. It should... They were in favour of gay rights officially, officially for abortion on demand. Officially -- what else can I say about them? Officially for the entrenchment of our universal, collectivized, health-care system and multicultural policies in the constitution of the country."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"Withdraw from the Canada Pension Plan... Collect our own revenue from personal income tax... Resume provincial responsibility for health-care policy. If Ottawa objects to provincial policy, fight in the courts... [E]ach province should raise its own revenue for health... It is imperative to take the initiative, to build firewalls around Alberta... "

- Stephen Harper in an "Open letter to Ralph Klein," January 24th 2001.

The NDP could be described as basically a party of liberal Democrats, but it's actually worse than that, I have to say. And forgive me jesting again, but the NDP is kind of proof that the Devil lives and interferes in the affairs of men."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"It was probably not an appropriate term, but we support the war effort and believe we should be supporting our troops and our allies and be there with them doing everything necessary to win."

- Stephen Harper supporting the US-lead war on Iraq, Montreal Gazette, April 2nd 2003. Harper also called then-Defence Minister John McCallum an "idiot."

"If you've read any of the official propagandas, you've come over the border and entered a bilingual country. In this particular city, Montreal, you may well get that impression. But this city is extremely atypical of this country... So it's basically an English-speaking country, just as English-speaking as, I would guess, the northern part of the United States."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"It will come as no surprise to anybody to know that I support the traditional definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others, as expressed in our traditional common law."

- Stephen Harper, Hansard, Address in the House of Commons on Bill C-38, February 16, 2005.

"In terms of the unemployed, of which we have over a million-and-a-half, don't feel particularly bad for many of these people. They don't feel bad about it themselves, as long as they're receiving generous social assistance and unemployment insurance."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

"A culture of defeat..."

- Stephen Harper, describing the Atlantic provinces, May 2001.

"[Y]our country [the USA], and particularly your conservative movement, is a light and an inspiration to people in this country and across the world."

- Conservative leader Stephen Harper, then vice-president of the National Citizens Coalition, in a June 1997 Montreal meeting of the Council for National Policy, a right-wing American think tank.

Remember that last one when you think of the last eight years...