Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy

Wells goes over the top, and I guess he did it on purpose, because look, I’m writing about his ridiculous comparison. To compare one of Canada’s leading environmentalists, and the leader of the Green Party to traditionally pro-establishment/NDP and environment-ambivalent Buzz Hargrove, is frankly absurd.

Channeling my inner-Wells, let me just say that Stephen Dion is Canada’s worst hybrid nightmare because it would never call an election, but if it did, it’d be sure to let other MPs vote about it while it leaves the room.

There’s also a whole schwack of commenters on Wells’ blog who seem to think it’s a good idea to exclude smaller political parties from televised debates. If televised time isn’t going to swing an election, why did the Conservatives try so hard to cheat an extra ~$1.2 worth of airtime out of the last election? Do the mainstream parties have buddies running defense at the head of the TV and media stations running the next televised debate? They’ll keep May out of the spotlight for those short hours, because they know it will strengthen the slide of voters away from the Conservatives, Liberals, and NDP.

New York Times bestseller Paul.
At least he’s at the top of some list.

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Hat tip to Zaphod

This is a subject of great importance — political party donations. Do they belong in a democratic society? Probably. Who and what should be able to give, and how much?

“The NDP also received about $586,000 from corporations, $165,000 from trade unions,…”
As a member of a union, I find that to be a big misuse of dues. There are few exceptions that I’d personally agree to allowing money to be spent in that manner.

Also problematic, and more offensive, are non-democratic businesses giving money to the Sask Party.

This year, some of the biggest corporate contributors to the Saskatchewan Party include:

* The Concorde Group Corp., a Saskatoon commercial property company that gave about $52,000.
* Alberta-based property company Millennium III, which contributed about $79,000.
* Calgary-based oil company EnCana, which contributed about $26,000.
* Companies connected to the Rawlco radio station companies and the Rawlinson family, which contributed about $102,000.

If businesses are to be allowed to give, I think there ought to be a cap at around $1000. Money spent on campaigns are inherently dangerous to democracy. It allows for the new golden rule to take effect: Those with the gold, make the rules.

Missing from the CBC and Mandryks columns were the money raised by other parties such as the Sask. Liberal Association, and the Green Party of Saskatchewan.

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Hat tip to gfr.

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Meanwhile, the Conservatives make it harder for journalists to do their job…

Calgary Grit and Nose Hill demonstrates just how crooked the Conservative Party has been, using the Nigerian scam letters we get in our inboxes every day to illustrate it.

From: Conservative Headquarters
To: Conservative Candidates
Date: December 2, 2005
Subject: Urgent Request

Dearest Candidate,

Good morning, how are you and your family? I hope fine. Please, I am sorry to bother you with our problem.

Please know that it’s not by mistake I am contacting you but by the special grace of God. Let my start by introducing myself. I am writing from Stephen Harper’s Conservative Party with this urgent request from Party Headquarters.
[…]

LKO explains how the “in and out” scam that the Conservative Party of Canada used last election, was bilking taxpayers by incurring refunds for ineligible election expenses.

What you CAN do: Transfer money from the national party to local candidiates so that the local candidates can spend that money on local advertising.

What you CAN’T do: Buy a national ad campaign, and then temporarily (and I mean for mere hours here in some cases) transfer money from the national party to the local candidates and RIGHT BACK AGAIN to make it SEEM as though the candidates had paid for local advertising within their local spending limits, when we all know what happened was that the national party exceeded the national spending limits and then tried (incompetently to boot) to cover their tracks.

The score so far:
Liberals: 1 Adscam
Conservatives: 1 ConAdscam
other parties: 0 scams

As usual, the Liberals and Conservatives win again. Or is that lose… no, only taxpayers lose.

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Hat tip to The Jurist

This is a bit of good news for the province of Saskatchewan. Wall’s government has set an expiry date. We’ll see if they go sour before then; it’s looking likely, especially after the ridiculous Bill 5 and 6 pass and make legal strikes impossible.

The Gift Card expiry date outlawing is a great move. We spend money on a card, so it can be used like cash, and it shouldn’t go away at the whim of the company. Yet once you’ve given your money to a business, honestly you’re taking your chances. They don’t have the backing of the government. Perhaps there should be some kind of bank-government backed secure money transfer in portable format invented. I don’t know… maybe we could call them cheques?

The Wheels really fell off for the Conservative Party of Canada on the weekend. It’s their own doing to. Journalists don’t make things like this up (they aren’t writing for Air Farce after all):

“Instead [the Conservatives] scurried for a nearby exit and beat a hasty retreat down the fire stairs.”

I was listening to Monty Python Sunday evening, and I think they would have had a hard time coming up with the kind of humour in that public/media relations fiasco. Why not also garnish their heads, and jump into crocodile mouths while they’re busy being eaten alive?

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This will be the talk of the town for a while yet, unless something even worse happens (and it’s possible there will be fines or arrests over the election scandal, if not Cadscam).

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Driving back from Winnipeg, the roads were terrible coming into Regina. Freezing rain coated the highway, and windshield, making visibility and traction things of the past. It was perfect all the way to the border though.

Rick Mercer does a number on the old political parties in Canada. He compares them to diarrhea-inducing menus, when all you really need is breakfast. Not surprisingly, he has positive things to say about Elizabeth May. Could it be a bit of a pro-Maritime bias showing through? Possibly, but I think it has more to do with the fact that she’s the only party leader with credibility. Why’s that? She’s the only one who hasn’t had a chance to prove the corrupting nature of politics yet, the cynic might reply.

I think her positive leadership has more to do with the fact that she has a life of work under her belt that backs up what she talks about in her party’s platform. She practices what she preaches. She doesn’t own a car or cell phone. Many Canadians would find that baffling (heck, many Africans would find it baffling to hear that a Canadian doesn’t own a cell phone). I don’t think it’s so strange, having just joined cell-users less than two years ago. I also haven’t owned a car more than 4 years of my adult life. Wouldn’t you want a politician who knows how to ride the subway, bus, or train like you do? Someone who isn’t afraid to walk (especially since she got a new hip ;-).

May may be seen as an outsider, or a “fringe party” leader by a lot of Canadians right now. Most Canadians probably don’t even know her name, and that worries me. Because, if the best person in Canadian politics from her generation is shunned into obscurity, this country will be much worse off because of that. If a principled, and caring star like her can’t be chosen by a majority of voters, for public representation, what chance do the rest of us nice guys have? Would you like something besides eggs?

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