It wasn’t quite MacArthur addressing the Philippines with a promise to return, but Sheila Copps “bid adieu” to Parliament Friday, bringing for now an end to a political career steeped in controversy and celebration.
The Hamilton East MP who was defeated in a bitter riding battle with fellow Liberal Tony Valeri announced she would not be running in the upcoming election in any capacity, putting to rest that she planned on being a thorn in the side of both Valeri and Paul Martin by running as an Independent.
Her teary eyed farewell speech brought back memories of battles fought over the years as the MP for Hamilton East, her days as an opposition Rat Pack member and her various cabinet positions with Jean Chretien. She said she “turns the page at peace – at peace that we’ve built a stronger Canada”. An interesting turn of phrase for while she may be turning the page at peace, she’s certainly going out with all guns blazing.
Her loss to Valeri gave her cause to question where Paul Martin was taking the Liberal party that she grew up in. She questioned the legality of her defeat, suggested some malfeasance in the back rooms and kept the nasty infighting on the front pages far longer than Martin most likely would have liked.
At one point she even flirted with the idea of crossing the floor and joining Jack Layton’s NDP collective, though it’s not really known if that prospect every would have flown. Many NDP followers expressed less than welcoming words at the prospect of a high flying ex-Liberal cabinet minister truly being able to understand the struggles of the average Joe.
As she leaves the halls of Parliament she delivered a sorrowful look at how her party has changed since the Martin forces took charge. Her final day a litany of warnings to the Prime Minister, that his intervention in local riding nominating races is sewing the seeds of failure on Election Day.
She went on to blast the Prime Minister on his handling of the party affairs thus far in his tenure, in a thinly veiled attack she suggested that she wasn’t retiring, rather she was “done in”. She also seemed to hint that not only she, but other high profile Liberal retirees may not be too far from the Hill, should the current Prime Minister not survive the upcoming election. Not the tone of someone who might be willing to help her old party continue on as the national governing party.
Her comments certainly show the state of division in the Liberal party today as Martin prepares to launch his election campaign. His candidates will not be able to count on a large group of normally battle ready Liberal operatives, many of whom are planning on sitting this campaign out in support of their fallen comrades. Or so the muted tones of most of the recently departed would suggest.
As for Sheila, “never, say never” was her final? curtain call. Should Martin not deliver his vote, we’ll no doubt be hearing from the former MP from Hamilton East quickly and loudly right after. She’s made it perfectly clear now that she’s not a Paul Martin devotee. She sits out the current debate until after the anticipated election. Vilification or vindication, the eventual state of her legacy is up for grabs. Whichever way things go for Martin, we suspect she’s only out of the spotlight temporarily. For Sheila going away quietly is just not going to be an option, it never has been and apparently never will be.
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Hammer Time?
Depending on which news clip you viewed, the end of the parliamentary inquiry into the advertising irregularities scandal was either a natural course of action or a complete hijacking of the democratic process. There’s no happy middle ground to land on after Paul Martin pulled the plug on Tuesday on the adscam hearings. No more will Newsworld feature gavel to gavel coverage of our earnest looking parliamentarians searching for the smoking gun. Riveting tales of those hidden worker projects that would make a Mafia kingpin blush in their brazenness, now destined to go unexplained until the next set of hearings in September with Justice Gomery.
Over thirty witnesses have come and gone, former participants going from speaker to suspect with arrests earlier this week. The RCMP providing the needed visual moment with Chuck Guite and Jean Brault doing their best COPS perp walk for the cameras, as they were led handcuffed to their date with a judge. A convenient bit of theatre that for the Liberals seemed to provide the natural ending point for a hearing process that seemed to drag on with little in the way of explanation coming forth. Let the legal system decide if the two are guilty or innocent, for now Guite and Brault provide a wonderful exclamation point for the meandering committee.
A last gasp motion by Conservative MP Jason Kenny to allow the hearings to continue, is destined to be defeated later on Thursday, as the House of Commons begins it’s Spring clean up mode. There’s an election soon to be called, other issues for Canadians to consider, these hearings are destined to be forgotten, like many commissions of inquiry before it. Eventually someone will publish the minutes, conclusions will be provided and the weighty tome will sit in public libraries across Canada gathering dust. It’s the nature of the Canadian way, we examine, we publish, we forget.
With a final press conference Kenny, Bloc MP Michel Guimond and NDP MP Pat Martin gathered together to exclaim Cover UP! The opposition group claiming that the Prime Minister was never really serious about getting to the bottom of the scandal, merely in going through the motions. For them it’s the last chance to get some face time in the media eye, once the writ is dropped they’ll fade from our view, and if the voters find fault in their work at home they’ll fade from Parliament as well.
The Liberals no longer wishing to do battle with their own, have chosen to bring this mess to an end. The Gomery hearings and the Guite/Brault court cases now off in some distant and safe time, long after the expected June 28th election date. For Prime Minister Martin the roll of the dice (to borrow from Brian Mulroney) is probably worth the gamble, if he wins the next election with a majority he can choose to revisit the fight, if he loses it will be a moot point, the Conservatives will no doubt bring forth an investigation to make the McCarthy hearings look to be a PTA meeting.
The required verdict is now needed from the jury; the Canadian public will soon get its chance to weigh in on the handling of this scandal. If they feel it has been properly moved forward then it will be a check mark in favour of the Martin Liberals, if they too believe it’s all been a smokescreen, then some lucky opposition party is closer to wooing a voter. Then again that age old Canadian tradition of holding one’s nose when they vote may come into play.
Which way will the wind blow? We’ll have a better idea as the date of decision is first announced and then draws closer. After all of the talk, the accusations and the days and days of testimony it’s back to us. Are we sufficiently outraged to take out our frustrations on our MP’s? By the end of June we’ll find out.
The above posting first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more postings and links about the government check it out.
Over thirty witnesses have come and gone, former participants going from speaker to suspect with arrests earlier this week. The RCMP providing the needed visual moment with Chuck Guite and Jean Brault doing their best COPS perp walk for the cameras, as they were led handcuffed to their date with a judge. A convenient bit of theatre that for the Liberals seemed to provide the natural ending point for a hearing process that seemed to drag on with little in the way of explanation coming forth. Let the legal system decide if the two are guilty or innocent, for now Guite and Brault provide a wonderful exclamation point for the meandering committee.
A last gasp motion by Conservative MP Jason Kenny to allow the hearings to continue, is destined to be defeated later on Thursday, as the House of Commons begins it’s Spring clean up mode. There’s an election soon to be called, other issues for Canadians to consider, these hearings are destined to be forgotten, like many commissions of inquiry before it. Eventually someone will publish the minutes, conclusions will be provided and the weighty tome will sit in public libraries across Canada gathering dust. It’s the nature of the Canadian way, we examine, we publish, we forget.
With a final press conference Kenny, Bloc MP Michel Guimond and NDP MP Pat Martin gathered together to exclaim Cover UP! The opposition group claiming that the Prime Minister was never really serious about getting to the bottom of the scandal, merely in going through the motions. For them it’s the last chance to get some face time in the media eye, once the writ is dropped they’ll fade from our view, and if the voters find fault in their work at home they’ll fade from Parliament as well.
The Liberals no longer wishing to do battle with their own, have chosen to bring this mess to an end. The Gomery hearings and the Guite/Brault court cases now off in some distant and safe time, long after the expected June 28th election date. For Prime Minister Martin the roll of the dice (to borrow from Brian Mulroney) is probably worth the gamble, if he wins the next election with a majority he can choose to revisit the fight, if he loses it will be a moot point, the Conservatives will no doubt bring forth an investigation to make the McCarthy hearings look to be a PTA meeting.
The required verdict is now needed from the jury; the Canadian public will soon get its chance to weigh in on the handling of this scandal. If they feel it has been properly moved forward then it will be a check mark in favour of the Martin Liberals, if they too believe it’s all been a smokescreen, then some lucky opposition party is closer to wooing a voter. Then again that age old Canadian tradition of holding one’s nose when they vote may come into play.
Which way will the wind blow? We’ll have a better idea as the date of decision is first announced and then draws closer. After all of the talk, the accusations and the days and days of testimony it’s back to us. Are we sufficiently outraged to take out our frustrations on our MP’s? By the end of June we’ll find out.
The above posting first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more postings and links about the government check it out.
Wednesday, May 12, 2004
We've been haaaaad!
Turns out the Governator was an impersonator. A story that quickly made the rounds today (including right here on the HockeyNation) had Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Premier Ralph Klein making one of those political bets, without any need for physical effort at the behest of Klein.
The story had it that the Gov and Premier had agreed to give 1,000 dollars to the charity of the winners choice upon completion of the best of seven series. Klein had even gone so far as to identify the Special Olympics as his charity of choice, one probably that would have met with the approval of Schwarzenegger had he won or even existed as it turns out.
The radio crew at the Bear in Edmonton came clean this afternoon, admitting that they had created and pulled off the hoax, the second time that the station has used a Schwarzenegger connection to pull of a hoax. They pretended to be Jean Chretien last year when they phoned the Governor elect to offer best wishes on his new job. Schwarzenegger chatted for a few minutes before realizing that he'd been had and hung up. Ralph lasted much longer and apparently never knew that he'd been had. Which may be bad news for the folks at the Bear, the Premier is a guy that probably can carry a grudge for a while, the Bear should be thankful that radio is controlled federally in Canada, but one guesses there won't be a lot of Alberta government ads on the air for a while.
Feeling contrite they have cut a cheque for the Special Olympics. Maybe in the spirit of good humour and good sportsmanship the Premier and the Governor might even match the funds.
The above entry first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items and links about hockey check it out.
The story had it that the Gov and Premier had agreed to give 1,000 dollars to the charity of the winners choice upon completion of the best of seven series. Klein had even gone so far as to identify the Special Olympics as his charity of choice, one probably that would have met with the approval of Schwarzenegger had he won or even existed as it turns out.
The radio crew at the Bear in Edmonton came clean this afternoon, admitting that they had created and pulled off the hoax, the second time that the station has used a Schwarzenegger connection to pull of a hoax. They pretended to be Jean Chretien last year when they phoned the Governor elect to offer best wishes on his new job. Schwarzenegger chatted for a few minutes before realizing that he'd been had and hung up. Ralph lasted much longer and apparently never knew that he'd been had. Which may be bad news for the folks at the Bear, the Premier is a guy that probably can carry a grudge for a while, the Bear should be thankful that radio is controlled federally in Canada, but one guesses there won't be a lot of Alberta government ads on the air for a while.
Feeling contrite they have cut a cheque for the Special Olympics. Maybe in the spirit of good humour and good sportsmanship the Premier and the Governor might even match the funds.
The above entry first appeared in my HockeyNation blog, for more items and links about hockey check it out.
Tuesday, May 11, 2004
They'll be baaachk
One can imagine a cigar chomping Arnie issuing his Knute Rockne speech to Ralphie yesterday, as the two leaders got together on the phone to talk a little puck.
California Governor Schwarzenegger challenged Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to a friendly wager as the Sharks and Flames prepared to take to the ice in game two of their best of seven series.
Despite already being behind the 8 ball by one game, the Governator stood by his lads, advising Klein to be ready to forward a cheque for 1,000 dollars for the charity of Arnolds choice. Klein not to be intimidated suggested that the Special Olympics may soon get a surprise donation from a Southern benefactor.
The two leaders chatted for five minutes about the Sharks and Flames and a few other items before they got down to the heart of the wagering. For Klein the monetary wager is just about right, he had earlier mentioned that he wasn't against a friendly wager as long as the net result did not involve physical activity.
A wise decision considering the hmm, shall we respectfully say, difference in exercise regimens the two leaders seem to follow.
The above item first appeared on my HockeyNation blogsite, for other items and links about Hockey check it out.
California Governor Schwarzenegger challenged Alberta Premier Ralph Klein to a friendly wager as the Sharks and Flames prepared to take to the ice in game two of their best of seven series.
Despite already being behind the 8 ball by one game, the Governator stood by his lads, advising Klein to be ready to forward a cheque for 1,000 dollars for the charity of Arnolds choice. Klein not to be intimidated suggested that the Special Olympics may soon get a surprise donation from a Southern benefactor.
The two leaders chatted for five minutes about the Sharks and Flames and a few other items before they got down to the heart of the wagering. For Klein the monetary wager is just about right, he had earlier mentioned that he wasn't against a friendly wager as long as the net result did not involve physical activity.
A wise decision considering the hmm, shall we respectfully say, difference in exercise regimens the two leaders seem to follow.
The above item first appeared on my HockeyNation blogsite, for other items and links about Hockey check it out.
Enter the Horsemen to the Adscam portfolio
Twelve charges of fraud, that's the tally thus far as the RCMP wade into the Adscam scandal, this time in an investigative capacity, not to be confused with their former participatory capacity in the Capital's latest financial scandal.
Former Bureaucrat Chuck Guite faces six charges of fraud, while Groupaction president Jean Brault also faces six charges of fraud, over alleged offences between 1996 and 1999. If convicted of all six charges each could face over 60 years in jail. The allegations of the RCMP are that Mr. Guite awarded five fake or inflated invoices to Mr. Brault for about two million dollars.
Three charges revolve around reports that were billed at 1.6 million dollars but were only worth approximately 460,000 dollars in value to the government.
Another two charges are related to two contracts worth a total of 480,000 dollars invoicing work supposedly done on the Federal Gun Registry program; in the opinion of the RCMP no value was provided on that file.
The final charge of fraud is an allegation that Mr. Guite and Mr. Brault conspired to award a 330,000 dollar contract to Groupaction.
Both men entered pleas of Not Guilty and await a trial date and a chance to explain their side of the story in a legal environment. Having been roasted in a public forum one wonders exactly where they may possibly find an unbiased jury pool for this most heralded of scandals.
The legal maneuvering coincided with some parliamentary moves today as the Liberals began to put in play motions to bring to an end the parliamentary committee exploring the Adscam scandal. The plan is to stop hearing from any further witnesses, draft an interim report and get on with an election, as the Adscam scandal sits on a back burner until the Judicial Inquiry of Judge Gomery in September. The good judge taking some time to collect the staples, paper clips, pens and photo copy paper required for a fine traditional Canadian inquiry. Having previously stated that his sessions are not designed to assign guilt or point fingers, the legal happenings today should not impact on his deliberations, except of course in the area of availability, should his two key witnesses Mr. Guite and Mr. Brault suddenly find themselves occupied with more pressing personal matters, like trying to stay out of jail!
Needless to say the Opposition is up in arms over the move to end the parliamentary inquiry, claiming that with over 90 witnesses to be heard there may be more legs to this story than the Liberals might like. Not to mention an end to those nightly news clips of Tories waving accusatory fingers at their Liberal counterparts. Conservative MP Jason Kenny used Question Period to ask some questions and suggest ulterior motives for the sudden end to the rambling inquiry. No Liberals took the bait, claiming it was the intention all along to issue an interim report so as to keep Canadians fully informed.
Canadians of course have probably nodded off over the last month or so as the two sides traded accusations, charges of stonewalling and of interference. The last month of the parliamentary committee meetings the equivalent of ancient water torture as slowly snippets of information would come out, only to be rebuffed by one side or another. The legal happenings and the political posturing suddenly breathes a bit of life into the tired old scandal. Of special interest will be the charges revolving around the Federal Gun Registry, which should make the Liberals feel just a little bit uncomfortable. Regardless, we are surely nowehre near the end of this yet, the truth somehow a far off option not likely to be achieved any time soon.
Now with two names put into the legal gazette we can all refocus our attention. With Guite and Brault charged and awaiting the wheels of justice we're left to wonder are they scallywags or scapegoats, better yet will we know before an election or far off in the future when their names will become the vernacular of the what ever happened to columns.
Time will tell for them, it will be interesting to wait and see how many other names get added to the list of miscreants before this saga reaches some kind of eventual end.
The above posting first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more items and links about Government matters check it out.
Former Bureaucrat Chuck Guite faces six charges of fraud, while Groupaction president Jean Brault also faces six charges of fraud, over alleged offences between 1996 and 1999. If convicted of all six charges each could face over 60 years in jail. The allegations of the RCMP are that Mr. Guite awarded five fake or inflated invoices to Mr. Brault for about two million dollars.
Three charges revolve around reports that were billed at 1.6 million dollars but were only worth approximately 460,000 dollars in value to the government.
Another two charges are related to two contracts worth a total of 480,000 dollars invoicing work supposedly done on the Federal Gun Registry program; in the opinion of the RCMP no value was provided on that file.
The final charge of fraud is an allegation that Mr. Guite and Mr. Brault conspired to award a 330,000 dollar contract to Groupaction.
Both men entered pleas of Not Guilty and await a trial date and a chance to explain their side of the story in a legal environment. Having been roasted in a public forum one wonders exactly where they may possibly find an unbiased jury pool for this most heralded of scandals.
The legal maneuvering coincided with some parliamentary moves today as the Liberals began to put in play motions to bring to an end the parliamentary committee exploring the Adscam scandal. The plan is to stop hearing from any further witnesses, draft an interim report and get on with an election, as the Adscam scandal sits on a back burner until the Judicial Inquiry of Judge Gomery in September. The good judge taking some time to collect the staples, paper clips, pens and photo copy paper required for a fine traditional Canadian inquiry. Having previously stated that his sessions are not designed to assign guilt or point fingers, the legal happenings today should not impact on his deliberations, except of course in the area of availability, should his two key witnesses Mr. Guite and Mr. Brault suddenly find themselves occupied with more pressing personal matters, like trying to stay out of jail!
Needless to say the Opposition is up in arms over the move to end the parliamentary inquiry, claiming that with over 90 witnesses to be heard there may be more legs to this story than the Liberals might like. Not to mention an end to those nightly news clips of Tories waving accusatory fingers at their Liberal counterparts. Conservative MP Jason Kenny used Question Period to ask some questions and suggest ulterior motives for the sudden end to the rambling inquiry. No Liberals took the bait, claiming it was the intention all along to issue an interim report so as to keep Canadians fully informed.
Canadians of course have probably nodded off over the last month or so as the two sides traded accusations, charges of stonewalling and of interference. The last month of the parliamentary committee meetings the equivalent of ancient water torture as slowly snippets of information would come out, only to be rebuffed by one side or another. The legal happenings and the political posturing suddenly breathes a bit of life into the tired old scandal. Of special interest will be the charges revolving around the Federal Gun Registry, which should make the Liberals feel just a little bit uncomfortable. Regardless, we are surely nowehre near the end of this yet, the truth somehow a far off option not likely to be achieved any time soon.
Now with two names put into the legal gazette we can all refocus our attention. With Guite and Brault charged and awaiting the wheels of justice we're left to wonder are they scallywags or scapegoats, better yet will we know before an election or far off in the future when their names will become the vernacular of the what ever happened to columns.
Time will tell for them, it will be interesting to wait and see how many other names get added to the list of miscreants before this saga reaches some kind of eventual end.
The above posting first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more items and links about Government matters check it out.
Monday, May 10, 2004
The week of essentials
What's that old saying a day late and a dollar short? That's how I feel about this edition of the week of essentials recap. By now faithful readers of Podunk know I'm battling my two computers in a death match of wits, with the computers winning at the moment. We had a melt down of a hard drive which had an awful lot of my blogging material archived on, (yes I know the wisdom of having a back up, no I'm not a wise man). So the first day of last weeks essentials is stuck on a drive that may or may not one day give up its treasure. I'm still battling with the new hard drive to properly install a working program of Windows XP, having gone back to windows 98 temporarily I'm at the mercy of a computer that doesn't always like my suggestions.
With that little preamble done, I have been trying to keep my blogs alive to a fashion on our old faithful ancient puter pulled back into active duty, but like any old soldier recalled to battle it's a tad slower and a little persnickety. I have a mouse that has a mind of its own, an internet connection that is to say the least unreliable and a level of frustration rising with the high tides. However, we slog and blog on, here is a truncated entry for the week past of our finest links. Hopefully in the not to distant future my comfort level on the supposedly spanking new and efficient machine will return. Till then, we blog, we grumble we carry on.
May 4 Losing the Hearts and Minds
May 4 Bombs a blasting in the Olymic city
May 4 Mouse roars at Moore
May 4 Battlin' Reg challenges Pugnacious Pete
May 4 Colin Powell: Casualty of War
May 5 Dalai Lama road show comes to an end
May 5 Medals the least of our concerns in Athens
May 5 The Media discovers a story
May 5 Michael Moore rebuts the Mouse
May 5 Carb Front: the cola wars break out again
May 6 Rumsfeld's not for firing
May 6 Don't come around here no more
May 6 Bin Laden's golden bounty
May 6 Adscam review to carry on until 2005
May 6 Canada is still a target
May 7 Rumsfeld apologizes: warns worst is yet to come
May 7 Lord Black's racket
May 7 Membership has its prviliges
May 7 Late, Late, Late, or Early, Early, Early, show
May 7 BC Leads the way in gas price increases
May 8 Portuguese Fleet in deep
May 8 No wonder they want our cod!
May 8 It's a slow moving read
May 8 Standing up for Rumsfeld
May 8 Nectar of the Gods dwindles
With that little preamble done, I have been trying to keep my blogs alive to a fashion on our old faithful ancient puter pulled back into active duty, but like any old soldier recalled to battle it's a tad slower and a little persnickety. I have a mouse that has a mind of its own, an internet connection that is to say the least unreliable and a level of frustration rising with the high tides. However, we slog and blog on, here is a truncated entry for the week past of our finest links. Hopefully in the not to distant future my comfort level on the supposedly spanking new and efficient machine will return. Till then, we blog, we grumble we carry on.
May 4 Losing the Hearts and Minds
May 4 Bombs a blasting in the Olymic city
May 4 Mouse roars at Moore
May 4 Battlin' Reg challenges Pugnacious Pete
May 4 Colin Powell: Casualty of War
May 5 Dalai Lama road show comes to an end
May 5 Medals the least of our concerns in Athens
May 5 The Media discovers a story
May 5 Michael Moore rebuts the Mouse
May 5 Carb Front: the cola wars break out again
May 6 Rumsfeld's not for firing
May 6 Don't come around here no more
May 6 Bin Laden's golden bounty
May 6 Adscam review to carry on until 2005
May 6 Canada is still a target
May 7 Rumsfeld apologizes: warns worst is yet to come
May 7 Lord Black's racket
May 7 Membership has its prviliges
May 7 Late, Late, Late, or Early, Early, Early, show
May 7 BC Leads the way in gas price increases
May 8 Portuguese Fleet in deep
May 8 No wonder they want our cod!
May 8 It's a slow moving read
May 8 Standing up for Rumsfeld
May 8 Nectar of the Gods dwindles
Friday, May 07, 2004
Here comes de Judge
With the partisan politicians working their magic on the witnesses, media and the one or two folks still watching on TV, the Adscam hearing nears the end of its shelf life. Rumours out of the capital have the Liberal’s hoping to bring the whole unsavoury mess to an end in time to hit the hustings supposedly in late June now. And once the writ is dropped so will be the hearings, as the politicians get on to those important things in life like keeping their paycheques coming.
Having put forward the accountability dog and pony show as the right thing to do, they now get ready to hand out the toe tags for Alfonso, David and a few other bit players. The public long ago lost interest, suffering as we are from glazed eyes and ringing ears as the same old, same old was played out for us. No doubt we will welcome the break from the depressing realization that accountability is a lost art in Ottawa, confirming our worst fears about those who represent Ottawa to the commoners. But as they say when one door shuts, another one shall open, this time in the guise of new player in the "get to the bottom of this" crew.
Quebec Superior Court Judge John Gomery has begun his judicial inquiry into Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s report into sponsorship misdeeds in the province of Quebec. The Judge’s inquiry is a companion piece to the recent Parliamentary hearings into the same scandal, deliberations that haven’t really led us to a smoking gun. However, if Canadians are expecting a hanging judge to watch over proceedings, we had best to think again.
Sayeth the Judge: “The purpose of the commission is not to conduct a trial or to express any conclusion regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization,”
Gomery’s comments make for a wonderful mission statement, but leave one to wonder what exactly will be the purpose of this lengthy investigation. A tribulation that apparently won’t be complete until sometime in 2005.
In fact while it was officially launched on Thursday, the actual work of investigating all the aspects of this Boondoggle won’t commence until September. One assumes the delay is that a well rested inquiry is an attentive inquiry. Maybe the idea is to hold the proceedings after the hot Ottawa summers, otherwise when the witnesses start to sweat it may actually only be from heat exhaustion and not from malfeasance.
None the less, the four month interval should help to put the whole scandal on the backburner for a while, which will be helpful during any election campaign, nothing worse than spreading sunshine when there’s a huge black cloud hanging overhead.
Gomery states that the purpose of his inquiry will be to advise the government, on how to avoid mismanagement of any future sponsorship endeavours. Not to belittle in advance the justice’s intent, but most Canadians could offer up a Cole’s Notes version of his report of 2005. DON’T DO IT AGAIN BONEHEADS. The staff at Boondoggle awaits the government’s cheque for our service to the country.
The above posting first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more items and links about Government matters check it out.
Having put forward the accountability dog and pony show as the right thing to do, they now get ready to hand out the toe tags for Alfonso, David and a few other bit players. The public long ago lost interest, suffering as we are from glazed eyes and ringing ears as the same old, same old was played out for us. No doubt we will welcome the break from the depressing realization that accountability is a lost art in Ottawa, confirming our worst fears about those who represent Ottawa to the commoners. But as they say when one door shuts, another one shall open, this time in the guise of new player in the "get to the bottom of this" crew.
Quebec Superior Court Judge John Gomery has begun his judicial inquiry into Auditor General Sheila Fraser’s report into sponsorship misdeeds in the province of Quebec. The Judge’s inquiry is a companion piece to the recent Parliamentary hearings into the same scandal, deliberations that haven’t really led us to a smoking gun. However, if Canadians are expecting a hanging judge to watch over proceedings, we had best to think again.
Sayeth the Judge: “The purpose of the commission is not to conduct a trial or to express any conclusion regarding the civil or criminal liability of any person or organization,”
Gomery’s comments make for a wonderful mission statement, but leave one to wonder what exactly will be the purpose of this lengthy investigation. A tribulation that apparently won’t be complete until sometime in 2005.
In fact while it was officially launched on Thursday, the actual work of investigating all the aspects of this Boondoggle won’t commence until September. One assumes the delay is that a well rested inquiry is an attentive inquiry. Maybe the idea is to hold the proceedings after the hot Ottawa summers, otherwise when the witnesses start to sweat it may actually only be from heat exhaustion and not from malfeasance.
None the less, the four month interval should help to put the whole scandal on the backburner for a while, which will be helpful during any election campaign, nothing worse than spreading sunshine when there’s a huge black cloud hanging overhead.
Gomery states that the purpose of his inquiry will be to advise the government, on how to avoid mismanagement of any future sponsorship endeavours. Not to belittle in advance the justice’s intent, but most Canadians could offer up a Cole’s Notes version of his report of 2005. DON’T DO IT AGAIN BONEHEADS. The staff at Boondoggle awaits the government’s cheque for our service to the country.
The above posting first appeared in my Boondoggle blog, for more items and links about Government matters check it out.
Wednesday, May 05, 2004
Smugness rebutted!
Ok great gods of kismet, I surrender! Having declared my smug victory over the forces of big oil, I quickly find myself humbled at the Gods of Microsoft and their assorted peripheral attendees.
The evening up of the odds came this morning when I went to turn on my computer. Power Button ON, Monitor ON, Computer well not so fast.
When trying to boot up our just over a year old computer I was greeted with the black screen motif combined with the always popular start up screen that never gets past the point of syscheck. No amount of attempts to reboot would bring success, each successive foray met with refusal, and an ominous click, click clicking sound from somewhere deep in the tower.
Oh Great Microsoft Gods why dost thou mock me in me hour of need!
After about an hour of pointless turning on and off of my computer, staring blankly at my blank screen, I admit defeat and take it in to the local computer techs for their grim faced analysis. DEAD HARD DRIVE is the verdict, interestingly enough two months after the warranty had run its worthwhile course, now a worthless piece of paper, just a painful reminder of happier computing days.
As they explain the situation my eyes glass over, lost in the mumble jumble of the truly proficient as I try and calculate just how long its all going to take me to rebuild my lost links, lost files and assorted other artery clogging additions I have made over the last year. Have I mentioned that I'm possibly the most computer illiterate person ever placed in front of a monitor? No well lets just say that near as I can tell all that stuff that happens inside that little tower is nothing but voo doo, somewhere someone is sticking needles in a replica of my computer I just know it.
I dithered through the afternoon over whether to buy a new hard drive or not, but finally realize that my ancient Fujitsu backup computer just won't carry the weight anymore and alas late in the day I give the go ahead to my new found friends in tech land and await my new hard drives installation. Then I shall muddle my way through re-installing my XP, my Word, My Excel and all of the games my son just has to have back on the computer. And no for those that wish to tsk tsk, I had not done a recent back up, laziness having taken over from practicality,
And so a valuable lesson has been learned by your erstwhile reporter, the next time I beat the price at the pump I'm keeping it to myself, the planets can turn fast it appears. My computer born under a bad star with a blue moon in its drive, is a testimony to the rebuttal to smugness!
The evening up of the odds came this morning when I went to turn on my computer. Power Button ON, Monitor ON, Computer well not so fast.
When trying to boot up our just over a year old computer I was greeted with the black screen motif combined with the always popular start up screen that never gets past the point of syscheck. No amount of attempts to reboot would bring success, each successive foray met with refusal, and an ominous click, click clicking sound from somewhere deep in the tower.
Oh Great Microsoft Gods why dost thou mock me in me hour of need!
After about an hour of pointless turning on and off of my computer, staring blankly at my blank screen, I admit defeat and take it in to the local computer techs for their grim faced analysis. DEAD HARD DRIVE is the verdict, interestingly enough two months after the warranty had run its worthwhile course, now a worthless piece of paper, just a painful reminder of happier computing days.
As they explain the situation my eyes glass over, lost in the mumble jumble of the truly proficient as I try and calculate just how long its all going to take me to rebuild my lost links, lost files and assorted other artery clogging additions I have made over the last year. Have I mentioned that I'm possibly the most computer illiterate person ever placed in front of a monitor? No well lets just say that near as I can tell all that stuff that happens inside that little tower is nothing but voo doo, somewhere someone is sticking needles in a replica of my computer I just know it.
I dithered through the afternoon over whether to buy a new hard drive or not, but finally realize that my ancient Fujitsu backup computer just won't carry the weight anymore and alas late in the day I give the go ahead to my new found friends in tech land and await my new hard drives installation. Then I shall muddle my way through re-installing my XP, my Word, My Excel and all of the games my son just has to have back on the computer. And no for those that wish to tsk tsk, I had not done a recent back up, laziness having taken over from practicality,
And so a valuable lesson has been learned by your erstwhile reporter, the next time I beat the price at the pump I'm keeping it to myself, the planets can turn fast it appears. My computer born under a bad star with a blue moon in its drive, is a testimony to the rebuttal to smugness!
Smugly my tank sits full
Every once and a while I'll catch a break, it doesn't happen often mind you, but on the odd occasion my planets will align and fortune shall smile. Tuesday was one of those times. While returning home from dropping the young one off at school I pulled into the ole Petro Canada to fill up the A-B transporter.
Much clunking of gas as my near empty tank replenished itself to a full capacity, separating me and my wallet from close to fourty dollars, my tank gobbling up litre after litre of regular Petro Can fuel at the rate of 83.9 a litre. Little did I know that my timely arrival at the station would let me sit smug by the end of the day.
Flash forward to 7:30 pm and the trip to the soccer field, same Petro Canada station, same gas in the pumps now ringing in at 91.9 on the big board in front of the station. Whew, close call that was, normally I'm the guy that pulls in just as the register is going ca ching ca ching with a spiraling upward change of price per litre. So to whatever Gas God smiled down on my poor little car today, thank you. I'm going to milk this full tank as long as possible, though by all accounts things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
I'll never figure out how a country that is a net exporter of gas, ends up paying more for gas than the country that imports our product. Something just doesn't make sense. All that tax collected where does it go? Talk about the house always winning. The Gov't has no incentive to bring our gas prices down, as they receive such massive injections of cash for their spendthrift ways. One wonders why the gov't is such a fiscal mess, when the big board in your neighbourhood just keeps going up and up and up. With our contribution to the treasury simply by filling up, we should truly expect a better return for our investment. I see King Ralph of Alberta is toying with the idea of gas rebates for those subjects of his realm, the downtrodden of the rest of the land can only dream of such a benevolent ruler.
Much clunking of gas as my near empty tank replenished itself to a full capacity, separating me and my wallet from close to fourty dollars, my tank gobbling up litre after litre of regular Petro Can fuel at the rate of 83.9 a litre. Little did I know that my timely arrival at the station would let me sit smug by the end of the day.
Flash forward to 7:30 pm and the trip to the soccer field, same Petro Canada station, same gas in the pumps now ringing in at 91.9 on the big board in front of the station. Whew, close call that was, normally I'm the guy that pulls in just as the register is going ca ching ca ching with a spiraling upward change of price per litre. So to whatever Gas God smiled down on my poor little car today, thank you. I'm going to milk this full tank as long as possible, though by all accounts things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.
I'll never figure out how a country that is a net exporter of gas, ends up paying more for gas than the country that imports our product. Something just doesn't make sense. All that tax collected where does it go? Talk about the house always winning. The Gov't has no incentive to bring our gas prices down, as they receive such massive injections of cash for their spendthrift ways. One wonders why the gov't is such a fiscal mess, when the big board in your neighbourhood just keeps going up and up and up. With our contribution to the treasury simply by filling up, we should truly expect a better return for our investment. I see King Ralph of Alberta is toying with the idea of gas rebates for those subjects of his realm, the downtrodden of the rest of the land can only dream of such a benevolent ruler.
Tuesday, May 04, 2004
Lame Duck becomes Cooked Duck
The Brian Burke era of the Vancouver Canucks has come to an end; team owner John McCaw issued a brief news release over the lunch hour on Monday, advising that the Canucks would not be renewing the contract of the combative President and General Manager. In a follow up press conference, Orca Bay CEO Stanley McCammon held court with carefully parsed words, never really explaining why a man that Orca Bay credited with building a winning franchise on and off the ice, suddenly was no longer the proper fit for the team he designed. For those who wish to study the art of talking and saying absolutely nothing, check out the CKNW archives for Monday at 2 pm, McCammon’s press conference offered no answers and provided no indication of where the franchise is going.
Burke took over the team in June of 1988 taking a non performing group of highly paid players and beginning the task of re-designing not only a struggling franchise but instilling a work ethic where none had existed for a couple of years.
Burke’s years in Vancouver showed steady growth each year, when he took over they were a fourth place team with total points of 58 during the season, strangers to the playoff race. By the team he was handed his pink slip his team had reached the 100 point a year plateau, been a steady participant in the playoffs and had become a poster child for NHL cost certainty. Burke made this franchise his own; he was loyal to his players and his coaches. Going to bat for them frequently with the bean counters in the Orca Bay offices, his gruff manner with the media was the stuff of legend.
The always excitable Vancouver press would split down the middle in their opinion of Burke, his respectful fans like Neil MacRae and Gary Mason countered by Tony Gallagher, who carried on a feud with Burke going back to his days as Pat Quinn’s assistant. Burke was good for a quick quote, a bombastic statement or a lucid analysis of any hockey situation. He was also short tempered, dismissive and occasionally rude. He was always entertaining and knew more about hockey than John McCaw or Stanley McCammon can ever hope to know. The Vancouver media may not realize it yet, but their jobs just got a lot harder to do. They need look no further than today’s non information session with McCammon for a glimpse of their future.
As the Burke situation festered over the last three months HockeyNation suggested in multiple postings, that the Canucks put this distraction behind them and do it quickly. Well time passed by, the Cancuks stumbled through the playoffs and Burke twisted in the wind. He described himself as a lame duck GM, and it proved to be an accurate description, but one that no doubt did not endear himself to the McCammon/McCaw axis.
During one of our earlier posts we pointed out that Burke had improved the franchise on the ice making it one of the most entertaining hockey clubs in a stale and listless collection of teams. There would be no trap in Vancouver, no dump and chase, Vancouver teams would skate hard, hit hard and score goals. They may not have reached the Stanley Cup in the last six years, but they provided some damn fine hockey at GM place, a night at a Canucks game for the most part was a guarantee that you would have an enjoyable experience. With sell outs a regular feature of Canuck’s hockey, Vancouver sports fans must have agreed.
The short sighted McCaw and McCammon seem to have forgotten that it wasn’t all that long ago when getting a ticket to a Canuck game was as simple as asking a scalper to hand one over at a loss. Crowds of less than 10,000 were common in the Keenan experiment years; Burke rebuilt the image of the team not only on the ice but in the community. The Canucks became the hot property in Vancouver, business executives wanted to partner with them, hockey fans idolized them. Pay TV added to their bottom line, ratings on Hockey Night in Canada and Sportsnet made them the darlings of the networks. That wasn’t any genius from McCaw or McCammon that was all Burke.
For taking a laughingstock of a franchise into the top echelon of NHL clubs he was left to ponder his fate, treated as though he just happened to luck into his success. The handling of the Burke contract through this year in my opinion had a more detrimental effect on this team than any injuries to Naslund or Cloutier. The slump just after the mid way point coincided with the rumours that he was on the bubble soon to be fired. The fact that management had no faith in their President and GM seeped into the dressing room, a place where loyalty was given lip service but seems to have disappeared when the going got tough.
From the suddenly quiet Crawford who hasn’t said one word since his team was eliminated, to a less than ringing endorsement by Captain Markus Naslund the Canucks were strangely non-communicative when it came time to discuss their GM. He may have battled for them but they weren’t going to be caught in a foxhole with him this time. Todd Bertuzzi, who may have inadvertently done more damage to Burke than anyone this year, never spoke up in support of the guy who made him very rich and came to his defence in his darkest hour.
A team that suffered under the dictatorial reign of Mike Keenan didn’t reward Burke for his loyalty, he built a team that came very close, and his biggest crime was not changing the deck chairs at the crucial moments. He believed in his core group, feeling that they were a close group that had bonded well together and would fight for each other; little did he know that when it came time to support him, he would be left alone to face the rumours, the snubs and the questions. Accountability in Canuckland began and ended in Burke’s office, there was none in the dressing room and none in the executive offices, and that is why this team stumbled. His biggest disappointment may be the feeling of a job left undone. He should have been given the chance to re-tool this group, instead that job will be left to someone else, it’s doubtful that the spirit of the current line up will ever reach that which these last few years have given Vancouver.
Brian Burke will be a GM again one day, perhaps not very far down the calendar. Boston, Chicago even the New York Rangers would be infinitely better teams with Burke in charge. If it weren’t for the bad blood between he and Colorado, Burke would be the perfect choice to turn that talented but underperforming team around. His answering machine will soon be full of offers; he can pick and choose his next assignment. While he may miss Vancouver he’ll quickly take on a new challenge and get results.
As for the Canucks, the halcyon days of sell outs and rabid fans will carry on for a bit. But this was Burke’s team, he had the vision for it, the concept of what to build. It seems hard to believe that it will stay whole, a new GM will bring in his “core group” it may work, and it may not. But with a quickly improving Calgary and Edmonton coming on strong, the division is all of a sudden a tougher place to be. A couple of years wandering the wilderness and the Canucks may not be too far off from those 10,000 a game nights.
The Canuck management has shown a terrible inability to make decisions this year, by removing the only anchor they had in place, they now run the risk of drifting off course. A team which has a history of making the wrong decision, at the wrong time has struck again. Long suffering Canuck fans won’t be thrilled with John McCaw’s decision today, Burke was the face of the Canucks in Vancouver. McCaw is just a faceless corporate suit, he may hold the wallet, but he doesn’t hold the heart, that was Burke's! The fans will remember, of that McCaw and McCammon can be certain!
The above posting is from my HockeyNation blogsite, for more items and links to all things hockey check it out.
Burke took over the team in June of 1988 taking a non performing group of highly paid players and beginning the task of re-designing not only a struggling franchise but instilling a work ethic where none had existed for a couple of years.
Burke’s years in Vancouver showed steady growth each year, when he took over they were a fourth place team with total points of 58 during the season, strangers to the playoff race. By the team he was handed his pink slip his team had reached the 100 point a year plateau, been a steady participant in the playoffs and had become a poster child for NHL cost certainty. Burke made this franchise his own; he was loyal to his players and his coaches. Going to bat for them frequently with the bean counters in the Orca Bay offices, his gruff manner with the media was the stuff of legend.
The always excitable Vancouver press would split down the middle in their opinion of Burke, his respectful fans like Neil MacRae and Gary Mason countered by Tony Gallagher, who carried on a feud with Burke going back to his days as Pat Quinn’s assistant. Burke was good for a quick quote, a bombastic statement or a lucid analysis of any hockey situation. He was also short tempered, dismissive and occasionally rude. He was always entertaining and knew more about hockey than John McCaw or Stanley McCammon can ever hope to know. The Vancouver media may not realize it yet, but their jobs just got a lot harder to do. They need look no further than today’s non information session with McCammon for a glimpse of their future.
As the Burke situation festered over the last three months HockeyNation suggested in multiple postings, that the Canucks put this distraction behind them and do it quickly. Well time passed by, the Cancuks stumbled through the playoffs and Burke twisted in the wind. He described himself as a lame duck GM, and it proved to be an accurate description, but one that no doubt did not endear himself to the McCammon/McCaw axis.
During one of our earlier posts we pointed out that Burke had improved the franchise on the ice making it one of the most entertaining hockey clubs in a stale and listless collection of teams. There would be no trap in Vancouver, no dump and chase, Vancouver teams would skate hard, hit hard and score goals. They may not have reached the Stanley Cup in the last six years, but they provided some damn fine hockey at GM place, a night at a Canucks game for the most part was a guarantee that you would have an enjoyable experience. With sell outs a regular feature of Canuck’s hockey, Vancouver sports fans must have agreed.
The short sighted McCaw and McCammon seem to have forgotten that it wasn’t all that long ago when getting a ticket to a Canuck game was as simple as asking a scalper to hand one over at a loss. Crowds of less than 10,000 were common in the Keenan experiment years; Burke rebuilt the image of the team not only on the ice but in the community. The Canucks became the hot property in Vancouver, business executives wanted to partner with them, hockey fans idolized them. Pay TV added to their bottom line, ratings on Hockey Night in Canada and Sportsnet made them the darlings of the networks. That wasn’t any genius from McCaw or McCammon that was all Burke.
For taking a laughingstock of a franchise into the top echelon of NHL clubs he was left to ponder his fate, treated as though he just happened to luck into his success. The handling of the Burke contract through this year in my opinion had a more detrimental effect on this team than any injuries to Naslund or Cloutier. The slump just after the mid way point coincided with the rumours that he was on the bubble soon to be fired. The fact that management had no faith in their President and GM seeped into the dressing room, a place where loyalty was given lip service but seems to have disappeared when the going got tough.
From the suddenly quiet Crawford who hasn’t said one word since his team was eliminated, to a less than ringing endorsement by Captain Markus Naslund the Canucks were strangely non-communicative when it came time to discuss their GM. He may have battled for them but they weren’t going to be caught in a foxhole with him this time. Todd Bertuzzi, who may have inadvertently done more damage to Burke than anyone this year, never spoke up in support of the guy who made him very rich and came to his defence in his darkest hour.
A team that suffered under the dictatorial reign of Mike Keenan didn’t reward Burke for his loyalty, he built a team that came very close, and his biggest crime was not changing the deck chairs at the crucial moments. He believed in his core group, feeling that they were a close group that had bonded well together and would fight for each other; little did he know that when it came time to support him, he would be left alone to face the rumours, the snubs and the questions. Accountability in Canuckland began and ended in Burke’s office, there was none in the dressing room and none in the executive offices, and that is why this team stumbled. His biggest disappointment may be the feeling of a job left undone. He should have been given the chance to re-tool this group, instead that job will be left to someone else, it’s doubtful that the spirit of the current line up will ever reach that which these last few years have given Vancouver.
Brian Burke will be a GM again one day, perhaps not very far down the calendar. Boston, Chicago even the New York Rangers would be infinitely better teams with Burke in charge. If it weren’t for the bad blood between he and Colorado, Burke would be the perfect choice to turn that talented but underperforming team around. His answering machine will soon be full of offers; he can pick and choose his next assignment. While he may miss Vancouver he’ll quickly take on a new challenge and get results.
As for the Canucks, the halcyon days of sell outs and rabid fans will carry on for a bit. But this was Burke’s team, he had the vision for it, the concept of what to build. It seems hard to believe that it will stay whole, a new GM will bring in his “core group” it may work, and it may not. But with a quickly improving Calgary and Edmonton coming on strong, the division is all of a sudden a tougher place to be. A couple of years wandering the wilderness and the Canucks may not be too far off from those 10,000 a game nights.
The Canuck management has shown a terrible inability to make decisions this year, by removing the only anchor they had in place, they now run the risk of drifting off course. A team which has a history of making the wrong decision, at the wrong time has struck again. Long suffering Canuck fans won’t be thrilled with John McCaw’s decision today, Burke was the face of the Canucks in Vancouver. McCaw is just a faceless corporate suit, he may hold the wallet, but he doesn’t hold the heart, that was Burke's! The fans will remember, of that McCaw and McCammon can be certain!
The above posting is from my HockeyNation blogsite, for more items and links to all things hockey check it out.
Monday, May 03, 2004
Stepping away from Anarchy
Future students of British Columbia history will apparently be denied stories of the Great General Strike of 2004. At least the version that talks about the shut down of the province of May 3rd. Government officials and Union representatives met for most of the day Sunday to try and head off a showdown between the Liberal government and the British Columbia Labour Movement. For the most part it is expected that Monday will dawn with full bus service, garbage collection, school openings andother government services. The call for an escalating show of force cancelled, as terms of the arrangement started to leak out to the media late Sunday evening. With the events of the last three days Bill Good and Rafe Mair are each going to have a hell of a show for Monday morning at 8:30.
The government and union meetings coincided with a rare Sunday hearing of the BC Supreme Court which met to rule on the legality of the Health Employees Union’s decision to ignore a back to work order of last week. Union members had reacted angrily when the government imposed a settlement on them that included; a reduction in wages and a retroactive requirement to pay back wages collected that were no longer part of the bi monthly pay packages.
That one ingredient of Bill 37 set the stage for what would have been the beginning of days of chaos starting May 3rd as public sector unions across the province had promised to stay off the job until the offending clause was stricken from the record. As the deadline for action neared, Gov’t and Union negotiators continued their discussions. By 6 pm BCTV had declared the pending job action was off, and while it has yet to be officially confirmed in the media by labour organizers, all indications are that the Day of Protest is not going to happen.
The expectation is that the retroactive wage payback is off the table now and the job loss aspect of the Bill has been reduced and capped to 300 jobs lost in each year of the two year contract. With 43,000 employees certified as HEU members 600 jobs lost should easily be achieved thru attrition. No word has leaked out yet about the wage concessions, but one assumes that the union would have had to give in on something and that most likely is one category that they lost out on.
For Gordon Campbell it was a tense 48 hours as his government faced the prospect of a lengthy and noisy week of discontent. The days of the Solidarity movement from the 1980’s were being presented as the template for the protest, with one difference the union rank and file suggested that they would not back down as the unions of the 80’s did. A recipe for a week of anarchy.
The HEU dispute marks another badly handled situation by a government that seems incapable of presenting its case in any coherent fashion. Considering the speed in which they tossed aside their requirement for reimbursement on the rolled back wages, one wonders why they used it as a club in the first place. The capping of job losses again provides a win for the HEU, yes there will be some positions eliminated, but the whole agenda of contracting out seems to have been discarded now. It was an agenda that the Liberals were treating as a holy grail not more than a few weeks ago. Being a bargaining member of the Health Employers association must be the most frustrating job going at the moment, as the Liberals keep changing their plans on the fly.
The ham handed efforts of the Liberals, galvanized the union movement into action on the May Day weekend. They quickly organized forces that could have had as many as 200,000 people off the job by the end of the weekend. The apparent mean spiritedness of the Liberal’s bill 37 causing even the weakest union link to stand ready to strike. If the plan was to try and split the union movement it was a terrible failure.
The Campbell government has legislated ends to disputes involving teachers, nurses, doctors and forestry workers in the last three years, ferry workers and government workers have been sent back to work with little to no increase in their paycheques, but yet the union movement seems stronger than ever with the strident and largely ineffective tone this government has taken.
The puzzling approach this government takes in every negotiating session causes one to wonder if they really do have a plan in place for where they want the province to go. Previously high profile disputes gave the government an opportunity to flex its muscle with a minimum of impact on many British Columbians, yet when they did lower the boom it was in the one area that could cause the most havoc. The strategy makes no sense.
Last year the Government had promised to privatize the Liquor distribution system, reducing the unionized payroll by eliminating government stores and replacing them with private enterprises which most likely would pay significantly less wages than the BCGEU employees at the Government outlets. To a casual observer this would have seemed the perfect opportunity to send a message to the labour force and the public of a new way of doing business. Yes there would have been disruptions but with private stores in place the public would have had an option, either abstain from purchasing alcohol (most unlikely) or move their allegiance to the private stores.
While some folks may have grumbled it seems unlikely that the population would have stood up and demanded a settlement with the liquor clerks. Buying beer and spirits certainly is not an essential service. Now I’m in no way suggesting that the Liquor distribution system in place should be eliminated, but had this government truly been serious about its plans to change the nature of labour disputes in the province that was a golden chance to begin its labour engineering project. Instead, they settled with the union and in fact will be creating more jobs in the industry, the privatization plans seemingly tossed aside, much to the chagrin of those small businessmen that had already begun to make plans to jump into the promised new opportunities. The expected showdown with labour then never took place.
Then there was the BC Ferry dispute, with countless thousands of Vancouver Island residents left to feel as though they were hostages in that dispute. Again many commentators speculated that the Ferry workers had stumbled into a government trap, their job action causing the average citizen to question the wisdom of a right to strike on what they believe to be an essential service. As that strike took flight emotions ran high, talk of replacement workers was bandied about. The union movement again formed up their battalions and set up the pickets. Within days of the dispute starting all had quieted down, the Government for the most part dispensing of its rhetoric of the early stages. David Hahn, the hired gun brought in to run the Ferry Corp left standing on the pier with his tough stand flapping in the wind, his political masters changing direction on the grand plan of restructuring. Instead of staring each other down on the picket line, the two sides ended up in binding arbitration.
For the Campbell government tough talk doesn’t always translate into tough action. Two battles in which they might have found public support on, passed by without their agenda being put in place. Instead they decided to draw their line in the sand on the one service that all British Columbians would be impacted on, Health Care. Thousands of people have had their medical requirements disrupted, their lives put on hold because this government does not seem to have any idea on how to achieve its goals. The population asks themselves if the last two weeks of health care anarchy really was worth it all.
Instead they lurch and stumble from one crisis to another. Hyperbole and vindictiveness the marching orders, instead of sensible management principles. Whatever happens next in this province one thing is seemingly sure; this government seems incapable of putting its position to the public in a clear and achievable way. Whether that’s leadership from the top or a collective incompetence, they continue to leave the public with a perception of a rudderless ship of state. Many more sailings like this and one suspects the captain will soon be removed.
The government and union meetings coincided with a rare Sunday hearing of the BC Supreme Court which met to rule on the legality of the Health Employees Union’s decision to ignore a back to work order of last week. Union members had reacted angrily when the government imposed a settlement on them that included; a reduction in wages and a retroactive requirement to pay back wages collected that were no longer part of the bi monthly pay packages.
That one ingredient of Bill 37 set the stage for what would have been the beginning of days of chaos starting May 3rd as public sector unions across the province had promised to stay off the job until the offending clause was stricken from the record. As the deadline for action neared, Gov’t and Union negotiators continued their discussions. By 6 pm BCTV had declared the pending job action was off, and while it has yet to be officially confirmed in the media by labour organizers, all indications are that the Day of Protest is not going to happen.
The expectation is that the retroactive wage payback is off the table now and the job loss aspect of the Bill has been reduced and capped to 300 jobs lost in each year of the two year contract. With 43,000 employees certified as HEU members 600 jobs lost should easily be achieved thru attrition. No word has leaked out yet about the wage concessions, but one assumes that the union would have had to give in on something and that most likely is one category that they lost out on.
For Gordon Campbell it was a tense 48 hours as his government faced the prospect of a lengthy and noisy week of discontent. The days of the Solidarity movement from the 1980’s were being presented as the template for the protest, with one difference the union rank and file suggested that they would not back down as the unions of the 80’s did. A recipe for a week of anarchy.
The HEU dispute marks another badly handled situation by a government that seems incapable of presenting its case in any coherent fashion. Considering the speed in which they tossed aside their requirement for reimbursement on the rolled back wages, one wonders why they used it as a club in the first place. The capping of job losses again provides a win for the HEU, yes there will be some positions eliminated, but the whole agenda of contracting out seems to have been discarded now. It was an agenda that the Liberals were treating as a holy grail not more than a few weeks ago. Being a bargaining member of the Health Employers association must be the most frustrating job going at the moment, as the Liberals keep changing their plans on the fly.
The ham handed efforts of the Liberals, galvanized the union movement into action on the May Day weekend. They quickly organized forces that could have had as many as 200,000 people off the job by the end of the weekend. The apparent mean spiritedness of the Liberal’s bill 37 causing even the weakest union link to stand ready to strike. If the plan was to try and split the union movement it was a terrible failure.
The Campbell government has legislated ends to disputes involving teachers, nurses, doctors and forestry workers in the last three years, ferry workers and government workers have been sent back to work with little to no increase in their paycheques, but yet the union movement seems stronger than ever with the strident and largely ineffective tone this government has taken.
The puzzling approach this government takes in every negotiating session causes one to wonder if they really do have a plan in place for where they want the province to go. Previously high profile disputes gave the government an opportunity to flex its muscle with a minimum of impact on many British Columbians, yet when they did lower the boom it was in the one area that could cause the most havoc. The strategy makes no sense.
Last year the Government had promised to privatize the Liquor distribution system, reducing the unionized payroll by eliminating government stores and replacing them with private enterprises which most likely would pay significantly less wages than the BCGEU employees at the Government outlets. To a casual observer this would have seemed the perfect opportunity to send a message to the labour force and the public of a new way of doing business. Yes there would have been disruptions but with private stores in place the public would have had an option, either abstain from purchasing alcohol (most unlikely) or move their allegiance to the private stores.
While some folks may have grumbled it seems unlikely that the population would have stood up and demanded a settlement with the liquor clerks. Buying beer and spirits certainly is not an essential service. Now I’m in no way suggesting that the Liquor distribution system in place should be eliminated, but had this government truly been serious about its plans to change the nature of labour disputes in the province that was a golden chance to begin its labour engineering project. Instead, they settled with the union and in fact will be creating more jobs in the industry, the privatization plans seemingly tossed aside, much to the chagrin of those small businessmen that had already begun to make plans to jump into the promised new opportunities. The expected showdown with labour then never took place.
Then there was the BC Ferry dispute, with countless thousands of Vancouver Island residents left to feel as though they were hostages in that dispute. Again many commentators speculated that the Ferry workers had stumbled into a government trap, their job action causing the average citizen to question the wisdom of a right to strike on what they believe to be an essential service. As that strike took flight emotions ran high, talk of replacement workers was bandied about. The union movement again formed up their battalions and set up the pickets. Within days of the dispute starting all had quieted down, the Government for the most part dispensing of its rhetoric of the early stages. David Hahn, the hired gun brought in to run the Ferry Corp left standing on the pier with his tough stand flapping in the wind, his political masters changing direction on the grand plan of restructuring. Instead of staring each other down on the picket line, the two sides ended up in binding arbitration.
For the Campbell government tough talk doesn’t always translate into tough action. Two battles in which they might have found public support on, passed by without their agenda being put in place. Instead they decided to draw their line in the sand on the one service that all British Columbians would be impacted on, Health Care. Thousands of people have had their medical requirements disrupted, their lives put on hold because this government does not seem to have any idea on how to achieve its goals. The population asks themselves if the last two weeks of health care anarchy really was worth it all.
Instead they lurch and stumble from one crisis to another. Hyperbole and vindictiveness the marching orders, instead of sensible management principles. Whatever happens next in this province one thing is seemingly sure; this government seems incapable of putting its position to the public in a clear and achievable way. Whether that’s leadership from the top or a collective incompetence, they continue to leave the public with a perception of a rudderless ship of state. Many more sailings like this and one suspects the captain will soon be removed.
Sunday, May 02, 2004
The week of essentials!
Seven days where did they go, here's the Daily Essentials that you should know.
April 25 What do the people know anyways
April 25 Quarantine numbers grow in Chinese Sars outbreak
April 25 Up in Smoke; Vancouver marijauna cafe destroyed in fire
April 25 Bringing down the House Billy Joel style
April 25 Eye D please
April 26 The anarchy known as BC healthcare
April 26 Galbarith weighs in on Bush and Iraq
April 26 Fine dining and election timing
April 26 Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes
April 26 Mona Lisa shows her age
April 27 A secret for flight 109
April 27 The Ghost of Jean Drapeau rises in Athens
April 27 Village Voice to Democrats: It's not too late
April 27 US Army wants its guns back
April 27 IOC hedges its bets
April 28 The coach gets shown the door
April 28 Nortel implodes, gets called "Enron of the north"!
April 28 Bush by the book redux
April 28 Radio gaga, British radio's top ten ever
April 28 Goldilocks meets the prez
April 29 Paul Martin protection buster
April 29 Whispers of a General Strike
April 29 Bush and Cheney behind closed doors
April 29 China ponders Sars as Mayday holiday nears
April 29 The world needs an accord on force
April 30 Bill 37 chaos: Day of protest looms for Monday
April 30 Beef and Bouquets in Washington
April 30 We pay at the pump, they collect at the till
April 30 Procrastinators beward: your tax clock is ticking
April 30 Cowabunga dudes and dudettes, they got more d'oh
May 1 The Whisper grows to a yell
May 1 Paul Martin's mixed messages on the UN
May 1 Brutal on ice attack could lead to criminal charges
May 1 Sell, Sell, Sell, Buffet bets against the greenback
May 1 Paul Martins albatross
April 25 What do the people know anyways
April 25 Quarantine numbers grow in Chinese Sars outbreak
April 25 Up in Smoke; Vancouver marijauna cafe destroyed in fire
April 25 Bringing down the House Billy Joel style
April 25 Eye D please
April 26 The anarchy known as BC healthcare
April 26 Galbarith weighs in on Bush and Iraq
April 26 Fine dining and election timing
April 26 Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes
April 26 Mona Lisa shows her age
April 27 A secret for flight 109
April 27 The Ghost of Jean Drapeau rises in Athens
April 27 Village Voice to Democrats: It's not too late
April 27 US Army wants its guns back
April 27 IOC hedges its bets
April 28 The coach gets shown the door
April 28 Nortel implodes, gets called "Enron of the north"!
April 28 Bush by the book redux
April 28 Radio gaga, British radio's top ten ever
April 28 Goldilocks meets the prez
April 29 Paul Martin protection buster
April 29 Whispers of a General Strike
April 29 Bush and Cheney behind closed doors
April 29 China ponders Sars as Mayday holiday nears
April 29 The world needs an accord on force
April 30 Bill 37 chaos: Day of protest looms for Monday
April 30 Beef and Bouquets in Washington
April 30 We pay at the pump, they collect at the till
April 30 Procrastinators beward: your tax clock is ticking
April 30 Cowabunga dudes and dudettes, they got more d'oh
May 1 The Whisper grows to a yell
May 1 Paul Martin's mixed messages on the UN
May 1 Brutal on ice attack could lead to criminal charges
May 1 Sell, Sell, Sell, Buffet bets against the greenback
May 1 Paul Martins albatross
Saturday, May 01, 2004
BC on the Brink
May Day arrives in Canada’s most dogmatic province and one doesn’t expect Premier Gordon Campbell to be attending any functions in person, not that he would have been invited anyways. His appearances may be limited to effigies and posters expressing anger at him and his government. For this May Day, finds the BC union movement mobilizing in numbers not seen since the Solidarity marches of 1983.
21 years after BC workers last took to the streets in large numbers; the scene is set for large scale job action on Monday morning, as Labour responds to the challenge of the Campbell governments Bill 37. The Liberal government’s answer to the Health Employees Union job action of the past week, which resulted in cancelled surgeries and confusion at hospitals across the province.
Bill 37 is a contentious piece of legislation that not only orders the roughly 43,000 Health care workers back to work, but retroactively reduces their salaries by 15%. Leading to the possibility that the unionized workers in the labs, the kitchens and housekeeping to name a few, may have to write a check for money received, now wanted back. Labour analysts observe that this is an unheard of twist in the world of labour negotiating.
With the imposition of Bill 37, HEU workers refused to report to work on Thursday, to help make their point they were joined on their “protest lines” by large numbers of sympathetic union workers on Friday morning. Effectively launching May Day one day early as civic workers in Vancouver, teachers in Victoria and scattered other unionized workers took to the streets in a show of encouragement. As the support for the cause spread, the promise of even further disruptions were promised for Monday, setting the stage for yet another historic day in British Columbia history.
Monday’s walkouts are expected to include the over 70,000 CUPE workers both provincial and federal in BC, the 50 odd thousand BCGEU membership, the large BC Teachers federation will be there, as will workers for BC Hydro, BC Rail, Ferry workers and any other unionized worker that falls under the umbrella of the BC Federation of Labour.
In a bid to defuse the escalating situation Gordon Cambpell and his cabinet members hit the airwaves on Friday to try and get their message across. The bone of contention of the wage rollbacks was reworded, with the premier suggesting that if the HEU membership were to make some other concessions the issue of money wouldn’t necessarily have to be addressed. His comments were not particularly well received, the momentum of the protest seemingly taking on a life of its own.
Union leaders were revising a schedule of escalating protest for the next thee days, the public sector unions leading the way on Monday, with hotel workers and cruise ship attendees hitting the streets by Wednesday, stretching out into the private sector to show business leaders how the union movement views the damage of the Campbell agenda.
The government may have overplayed its hand in its quick and harsh imposition of the Bill 37 points. Had they ordered the workers back onto the job without the retroactive pay cut, perhaps the massive reaction would have been blunted. Instead of laying out a timetable of wage rollbacks and benefit reductions, as well as a hard number on potential job losses giving the workers some control over their destiny, the gov’t used the stick in the eye approach to negotiating. What we saw Friday is the expected reaction.
The workers in the eye of the storm are in areas the government has claimed are departments that they plan on privatizing in the health sector. The government intends to privatize the housekeeping, kitchen services and other non medical types of occupation. Private Companies that pay significantly less than the HEU rates of pay. All part of the government’s agenda to spend more on patient care and less on ancillary services. The plan is a debating point that has led to the confusion and near anarchy of health care in BC these days.
While there are plans on trying to negotiate a solution to the situation by Monday, it’s generally expected that Labour will use the HEU dispute to send a message to the government. Having been involved in a number of skirmishes with the government over the last two years, this may finally be the incident that galvanizes the union movement. The union leadership voicing the theory that if the government will do this to the HEU, how long before they move on to other unions.
It’s a tricky situation for both government and unions alike. For the government coming across as vindictive and spoiling for a fight may end up costing it support from those British Columbians who voted Liberal, but may now become uneasy with the belligerent tone of the agenda. They may believe that changes have to be made to the atmosphere of public service in BC, but steamrolling legislation through the assembly without first setting out an alternative course is a recipe for the kind of action we have seen today and what we are promised for next week.
For the unions the task is equally daunting, a massive show of force may make for great television optics and certainly will send a message. But should the protests continue over any length of time, a massively inconvenienced public may turn on them giving the Liberals another opening to reign in the militants.
Lost in the bombastic nature of both sides are the patients, folks waiting for cancer tests or children at Sick Kids hospital who have had their surgeries cancelled find themselves in an unsettled situation, made even worse as they end up held hostage to two sides that seemingly want to prove points. It’s an uneasy time for those that might be sick in BC at the moment, unknown when you may receive your treatment, realizing that in some cases time works against you with each days delay. While both sides posture over agendas and point accusing fingers at each other, perhaps a few moments of solidarity with the folks caught in the middle through no fault of their own would be a guiding hand in the dispute.
Unless saner heads prevail on both sides of the dispute, Monday will loom large in historical significance for BC. 21 years ago the Solidarity marches took the province into uncharted territory only to fizzle out as Bill Bennett met with Jack Munro and Art Kube, the rhetoric of the day similar to that of today but in the end the unions went back to the job, the protests eventually cooled down as quickly as they were heated up.
21 years later everything old seems new again. Will BC step across the abyss, or will it once again take a step back. The expectation is that on Monday the heat gets turned up, by Wednesday British Columbians will know if this is the long awaited battle for BC. Ever since the Liberal government took power it’s been an underlying theme of the province’s governance, the collision of ideologies. The Liberals have avoided the clash in previous disputes; they may not be able to put off their destiny much longer.
21 years after BC workers last took to the streets in large numbers; the scene is set for large scale job action on Monday morning, as Labour responds to the challenge of the Campbell governments Bill 37. The Liberal government’s answer to the Health Employees Union job action of the past week, which resulted in cancelled surgeries and confusion at hospitals across the province.
Bill 37 is a contentious piece of legislation that not only orders the roughly 43,000 Health care workers back to work, but retroactively reduces their salaries by 15%. Leading to the possibility that the unionized workers in the labs, the kitchens and housekeeping to name a few, may have to write a check for money received, now wanted back. Labour analysts observe that this is an unheard of twist in the world of labour negotiating.
With the imposition of Bill 37, HEU workers refused to report to work on Thursday, to help make their point they were joined on their “protest lines” by large numbers of sympathetic union workers on Friday morning. Effectively launching May Day one day early as civic workers in Vancouver, teachers in Victoria and scattered other unionized workers took to the streets in a show of encouragement. As the support for the cause spread, the promise of even further disruptions were promised for Monday, setting the stage for yet another historic day in British Columbia history.
Monday’s walkouts are expected to include the over 70,000 CUPE workers both provincial and federal in BC, the 50 odd thousand BCGEU membership, the large BC Teachers federation will be there, as will workers for BC Hydro, BC Rail, Ferry workers and any other unionized worker that falls under the umbrella of the BC Federation of Labour.
In a bid to defuse the escalating situation Gordon Cambpell and his cabinet members hit the airwaves on Friday to try and get their message across. The bone of contention of the wage rollbacks was reworded, with the premier suggesting that if the HEU membership were to make some other concessions the issue of money wouldn’t necessarily have to be addressed. His comments were not particularly well received, the momentum of the protest seemingly taking on a life of its own.
Union leaders were revising a schedule of escalating protest for the next thee days, the public sector unions leading the way on Monday, with hotel workers and cruise ship attendees hitting the streets by Wednesday, stretching out into the private sector to show business leaders how the union movement views the damage of the Campbell agenda.
The government may have overplayed its hand in its quick and harsh imposition of the Bill 37 points. Had they ordered the workers back onto the job without the retroactive pay cut, perhaps the massive reaction would have been blunted. Instead of laying out a timetable of wage rollbacks and benefit reductions, as well as a hard number on potential job losses giving the workers some control over their destiny, the gov’t used the stick in the eye approach to negotiating. What we saw Friday is the expected reaction.
The workers in the eye of the storm are in areas the government has claimed are departments that they plan on privatizing in the health sector. The government intends to privatize the housekeeping, kitchen services and other non medical types of occupation. Private Companies that pay significantly less than the HEU rates of pay. All part of the government’s agenda to spend more on patient care and less on ancillary services. The plan is a debating point that has led to the confusion and near anarchy of health care in BC these days.
While there are plans on trying to negotiate a solution to the situation by Monday, it’s generally expected that Labour will use the HEU dispute to send a message to the government. Having been involved in a number of skirmishes with the government over the last two years, this may finally be the incident that galvanizes the union movement. The union leadership voicing the theory that if the government will do this to the HEU, how long before they move on to other unions.
It’s a tricky situation for both government and unions alike. For the government coming across as vindictive and spoiling for a fight may end up costing it support from those British Columbians who voted Liberal, but may now become uneasy with the belligerent tone of the agenda. They may believe that changes have to be made to the atmosphere of public service in BC, but steamrolling legislation through the assembly without first setting out an alternative course is a recipe for the kind of action we have seen today and what we are promised for next week.
For the unions the task is equally daunting, a massive show of force may make for great television optics and certainly will send a message. But should the protests continue over any length of time, a massively inconvenienced public may turn on them giving the Liberals another opening to reign in the militants.
Lost in the bombastic nature of both sides are the patients, folks waiting for cancer tests or children at Sick Kids hospital who have had their surgeries cancelled find themselves in an unsettled situation, made even worse as they end up held hostage to two sides that seemingly want to prove points. It’s an uneasy time for those that might be sick in BC at the moment, unknown when you may receive your treatment, realizing that in some cases time works against you with each days delay. While both sides posture over agendas and point accusing fingers at each other, perhaps a few moments of solidarity with the folks caught in the middle through no fault of their own would be a guiding hand in the dispute.
Unless saner heads prevail on both sides of the dispute, Monday will loom large in historical significance for BC. 21 years ago the Solidarity marches took the province into uncharted territory only to fizzle out as Bill Bennett met with Jack Munro and Art Kube, the rhetoric of the day similar to that of today but in the end the unions went back to the job, the protests eventually cooled down as quickly as they were heated up.
21 years later everything old seems new again. Will BC step across the abyss, or will it once again take a step back. The expectation is that on Monday the heat gets turned up, by Wednesday British Columbians will know if this is the long awaited battle for BC. Ever since the Liberal government took power it’s been an underlying theme of the province’s governance, the collision of ideologies. The Liberals have avoided the clash in previous disputes; they may not be able to put off their destiny much longer.
Tuesday, April 27, 2004
"Don't force us back to bombing!"
Well now isn't that a nice sentiment. Is that an olive branch or a club in your hands sir? Muammar is back and he's not exactly reciting an act of contrition, for the murder of hundreds of his fellow human beings over the skies of Lockerbie. Nor is he providing a mea culpa for the assorted bombings, murders and thuggery of the past. And about that financing and supply of countless terrorist groups over the years, well you know how it is, let bygones, be bygones .
But now that he's on the "A list" with George Bush and Tony Blair, Muammar Gaddafi fancies himself to be a statesman. Today Gaddafi made his first appearance in an international gathering since he provided compensation for the Lockerbie murders and turned over his weapons of mass destruction for inventory and maybe destruction. With followers chanting and drummers drumming he took to the stage to harangue the gathered EU apostles and a waiting media (one which was not allowed to ask any questions, a free press a somewhat unwanted inconvenience at the EU it seems).
Accompanied by four blue clad female body guards, (giving the presentation, the appearance of a Robert Palmer video, "I didn't mean to blow you up") Gaddafi spent a bit over 30 minutes in a rambling defense of his past support of militant third world "freedom fighters". He then went on to issue a declaration the he hoped that "we shall not be prompted or obliged by any evil to go back or look backwards". He further added that he hoped that they did not have to return to the days where they bomb their cars or strap explosives to their bodies. Old addictions are hard to break one assumes.
While the European Union welcomed him back to their gathering for the first time since 1989, not everyone was overwhelmed with enthusiasm. Protestors from Amnesty International were offering a dissenting opinion during his appearance, reminding anyone who would listen, that Gaddafi still routinely jails and tortures those Libyan citizens who may not see the world with his grand vision.
With his return to the international stage after his laying low period, one wonders if the world is truly a safer place with his new found activism. One greets his conversion to the cause of world peace with just a bit of cynicism and suspicion. What do they say about the leopard? Something about how he rarely changes his spots?
This is one leopard the world should keep its eye on. And a very short leash probably wouldn't be a bad idea other.
But now that he's on the "A list" with George Bush and Tony Blair, Muammar Gaddafi fancies himself to be a statesman. Today Gaddafi made his first appearance in an international gathering since he provided compensation for the Lockerbie murders and turned over his weapons of mass destruction for inventory and maybe destruction. With followers chanting and drummers drumming he took to the stage to harangue the gathered EU apostles and a waiting media (one which was not allowed to ask any questions, a free press a somewhat unwanted inconvenience at the EU it seems).
Accompanied by four blue clad female body guards, (giving the presentation, the appearance of a Robert Palmer video, "I didn't mean to blow you up") Gaddafi spent a bit over 30 minutes in a rambling defense of his past support of militant third world "freedom fighters". He then went on to issue a declaration the he hoped that "we shall not be prompted or obliged by any evil to go back or look backwards". He further added that he hoped that they did not have to return to the days where they bomb their cars or strap explosives to their bodies. Old addictions are hard to break one assumes.
While the European Union welcomed him back to their gathering for the first time since 1989, not everyone was overwhelmed with enthusiasm. Protestors from Amnesty International were offering a dissenting opinion during his appearance, reminding anyone who would listen, that Gaddafi still routinely jails and tortures those Libyan citizens who may not see the world with his grand vision.
With his return to the international stage after his laying low period, one wonders if the world is truly a safer place with his new found activism. One greets his conversion to the cause of world peace with just a bit of cynicism and suspicion. What do they say about the leopard? Something about how he rarely changes his spots?
This is one leopard the world should keep its eye on. And a very short leash probably wouldn't be a bad idea other.
We watch and then we talk
One of the few shows left on television that can still elicit conversation the next day continues it’s second to last season on Movie Central every Sunday night. The Soprano’s is a finely crafted drama about the life of a New Jersey Mob boss and the underlings, sycophants, opponents and family members who complicate the life of Tony Soprano.
Featuring an extremely well cast collection of characters, the profane, violent and addictive show has held a large audience and collected numerous awards in its run thus far. Cleverly filmed and with a great soundtrack to go with each episode, it’s a show that keeps pulling you back in.
As David Chase winds his morality play towards it’s final season next year, fans of the Soprano’s hang on every episode, looking at each one for subtle (or on some occasions not so subtle) hints as to how things will all finish up when Tony walks off the screen next year (If indeed he’s allowed to walk off).
Everybody seems to have an opinion on how Tony is coping with the pressures of running a crime family, how his own family life (both criminal and personal) is impacting on his health and happiness. From Television without Pity to Slate magazine everybody has something to say.
Slate has come up with an interesting approach to reviewing the program, basically providing a Monday morning quarterbacking club to recount the happenings of the night before. Three critics review the show and pass judgment on its bona fides in the world of organized crime. Last year Slate utilized the services of psychiatrists, this year they approached three guys who know their mobsters well.
Jerry Capeci the columnist with Gangland for the New York Sun, Jeffrey Goldberg who has been a crime reporter for New York Magazine and Gerald Shargel who teaches Law at the Brooklyn Law School, he’s also represented John Gotti in some of the late mobsters’ legal troubles.
The rapport between the three is quite lively and entertaining as they bring their extensive knowledge of the real criminal element to our computer screens, comparing the real criminals to the television ones. It’s a nice companion piece to one’s weekly Soprano’s fix.
For those that haven’t seen the program yet or are latecomers to the parade, Seasons one through four are available on DVD and Video at your local video store or on line for purchase. Give yourself a weekend to trace the beginning of the saga; it helps to be able to desensitize yourself, for the violence while not overly graphic is brutal and constant through the various seasons. A steady weekend of exposure could make you a tad hard to be around for a bit, not to mention seeing your vocabulary degenerating into vulgarities with each successive episode. But to fully appreciate where the Sopranos are heading you have to go where they’ve been.
Once you’re up to speed you’ll be surfing the various sites that offer you more Soprano background. And before you know it you may end up contributing to the numerous bulletin boards and forums which have sprung up over the years. You will end up taking time to Offer up your own theories, suppositions and character developments. It’s a rare show that can conjure up such fanatical involvement, but Soprano fans know that they have to share! Once you're hooked you go for the ride, wherever it's taking us we have to hop in and go.
Featuring an extremely well cast collection of characters, the profane, violent and addictive show has held a large audience and collected numerous awards in its run thus far. Cleverly filmed and with a great soundtrack to go with each episode, it’s a show that keeps pulling you back in.
As David Chase winds his morality play towards it’s final season next year, fans of the Soprano’s hang on every episode, looking at each one for subtle (or on some occasions not so subtle) hints as to how things will all finish up when Tony walks off the screen next year (If indeed he’s allowed to walk off).
Everybody seems to have an opinion on how Tony is coping with the pressures of running a crime family, how his own family life (both criminal and personal) is impacting on his health and happiness. From Television without Pity to Slate magazine everybody has something to say.
Slate has come up with an interesting approach to reviewing the program, basically providing a Monday morning quarterbacking club to recount the happenings of the night before. Three critics review the show and pass judgment on its bona fides in the world of organized crime. Last year Slate utilized the services of psychiatrists, this year they approached three guys who know their mobsters well.
Jerry Capeci the columnist with Gangland for the New York Sun, Jeffrey Goldberg who has been a crime reporter for New York Magazine and Gerald Shargel who teaches Law at the Brooklyn Law School, he’s also represented John Gotti in some of the late mobsters’ legal troubles.
The rapport between the three is quite lively and entertaining as they bring their extensive knowledge of the real criminal element to our computer screens, comparing the real criminals to the television ones. It’s a nice companion piece to one’s weekly Soprano’s fix.
For those that haven’t seen the program yet or are latecomers to the parade, Seasons one through four are available on DVD and Video at your local video store or on line for purchase. Give yourself a weekend to trace the beginning of the saga; it helps to be able to desensitize yourself, for the violence while not overly graphic is brutal and constant through the various seasons. A steady weekend of exposure could make you a tad hard to be around for a bit, not to mention seeing your vocabulary degenerating into vulgarities with each successive episode. But to fully appreciate where the Sopranos are heading you have to go where they’ve been.
Once you’re up to speed you’ll be surfing the various sites that offer you more Soprano background. And before you know it you may end up contributing to the numerous bulletin boards and forums which have sprung up over the years. You will end up taking time to Offer up your own theories, suppositions and character developments. It’s a rare show that can conjure up such fanatical involvement, but Soprano fans know that they have to share! Once you're hooked you go for the ride, wherever it's taking us we have to hop in and go.
Sunday, April 25, 2004
Go with the Devil we know!
So ok, it’s not exactly something we’ll be seeing on a campaign poster, or as a closing line in one of those sentimental TV commercials with Paul Martin walking through a throng of children. But as far as endorsements go, it’s about as warm and fuzzy as Joe Clark is going to get.
Clark today decided that revenge best served cold, is better is served lukewarm. Just a few months after his brand of Conservatism, was hijacked by the forces of Harper (should Clark acolytes call him Dr. Evil?) Joe has offered up his opinion on who should best lead the nation after the next election. And Clark has decided that he’s more comfortable with four years of Paul, than a sentence of four years with Stephen.
Appearing on CTV’s Question Period, Clark said that he believed that Martin was a less dangerous choice to lead the country than Harper would be. Clark’s main concerns about Harper were a lack of leadership potential on the issues of health care, the role of women, gay rights, environmental concerns and foreign affairs. Clark is fearful of the agenda that the hard-line Reform/Alliance types are bringing to his old party, with the old line Tories being tossed aside on the sidelines, as the new hybrid gets ready for any election.
While Clark didn’t express any ringing defence of the Prime Minister, he effectively gave him a backhanded compliment with his comments on the current scandals enveloping the Liberals. In the end he says “he’s very worried about Mr. Harper. Personally preferring to go with the devil we know.” Clark’s comments make for a nicely worded placing of the knife, right into Harper’s ribs. To his credit Clark has been upfront all along about his dislike for Harper, though the timing of his comments may be considered to be sour grapes. He followed up his analysis of the leaders with some political suggestions for the Canadian voter.
He advised Canadians to consider the best candidate in their local race, avoiding the desire to vote just on the party line. Perhaps it was his version of a way to combat the “democratic deficit.” It will be interesting to see what Harper makes of Clarks latest broadside targeted at his leadership. The newly united right seems to still have a few recalcitrant converts to the cause. A lower level civil war than the one which Liberals are presently waging, but things aren’t that quiet on the center-right front either!
For Martin it’s a double edged sword, it’s always nice to get a high profile endorsement, lukewarm or not. But the devil comment is one that could cause havoc with his campaign. We can’t wait for the first poster, billboard or lawn sign to get its “devil horns”. Send the bill to Joe, he’ll dance with the Devil and clean his signs as well.
Clark today decided that revenge best served cold, is better is served lukewarm. Just a few months after his brand of Conservatism, was hijacked by the forces of Harper (should Clark acolytes call him Dr. Evil?) Joe has offered up his opinion on who should best lead the nation after the next election. And Clark has decided that he’s more comfortable with four years of Paul, than a sentence of four years with Stephen.
Appearing on CTV’s Question Period, Clark said that he believed that Martin was a less dangerous choice to lead the country than Harper would be. Clark’s main concerns about Harper were a lack of leadership potential on the issues of health care, the role of women, gay rights, environmental concerns and foreign affairs. Clark is fearful of the agenda that the hard-line Reform/Alliance types are bringing to his old party, with the old line Tories being tossed aside on the sidelines, as the new hybrid gets ready for any election.
While Clark didn’t express any ringing defence of the Prime Minister, he effectively gave him a backhanded compliment with his comments on the current scandals enveloping the Liberals. In the end he says “he’s very worried about Mr. Harper. Personally preferring to go with the devil we know.” Clark’s comments make for a nicely worded placing of the knife, right into Harper’s ribs. To his credit Clark has been upfront all along about his dislike for Harper, though the timing of his comments may be considered to be sour grapes. He followed up his analysis of the leaders with some political suggestions for the Canadian voter.
He advised Canadians to consider the best candidate in their local race, avoiding the desire to vote just on the party line. Perhaps it was his version of a way to combat the “democratic deficit.” It will be interesting to see what Harper makes of Clarks latest broadside targeted at his leadership. The newly united right seems to still have a few recalcitrant converts to the cause. A lower level civil war than the one which Liberals are presently waging, but things aren’t that quiet on the center-right front either!
For Martin it’s a double edged sword, it’s always nice to get a high profile endorsement, lukewarm or not. But the devil comment is one that could cause havoc with his campaign. We can’t wait for the first poster, billboard or lawn sign to get its “devil horns”. Send the bill to Joe, he’ll dance with the Devil and clean his signs as well.
The week of essentials
On a weekend more suited to sitting in a nice warm home, posting mindless items on one's blogsite your faithful correspondent was out getting soaked. A weekend expedition to a nearby historical site with a group of local Cubs, was spent mostly getting drenched by monsoon like rain and trying to keep cabin fever from infecting eighteen, ten and unders . With that explanation for a missing Daily Essential posting we bring you the week in review. The items that caught our fancy in the week gone by.
April 18 Three wise men (or is it wiseguys) to testify
April 18 Shopping with Svend
April 18 Wait until they get their website up and running
April 18 2 out of 3 of us needs to get away from the computer
April 18 Suddenly the bus wanted to drive upstreet
April 19 A government that doesn't govern
April 19 Powell stands alone
April 19 Out of a Grisham novel: hockey, a gal and a hitman
April 19 Jesus says swap that file
April 19 What's up in the darkened Manitoba skies
April 20 A jury of his peers
April 20 The rail deal that keeps giving and giving
April 20 But Paul! Going to work can be such a drag
April 20 Air America loses its voice
April 20 PM the PM's paper trail of woe
April 21 Damn you Democratic deficit
April 21 Senator Kerry locks up the NRA vote
April 21 Straight from the horse's mouth
April 21 Back of Beijing
April 21 The ghouls of CBS news
April 22 Helping Paul get out the word
April 22 Sheila Fraser just didn't understand
April 22 Sars raises its ugly head again
April 22 Not the teachers pet
April 22 da da da da dum, da da da da danna
April 23 Chuckie says "that meddlin' Paul"
April 23 A bad week ahead to be sick in BC
April 23 The inclusive tent of Paul Bremer
April 23 Reclusive Korea asks for help
April 23 Playing pesticide roulette with your lawn and your life
April 18 Three wise men (or is it wiseguys) to testify
April 18 Shopping with Svend
April 18 Wait until they get their website up and running
April 18 2 out of 3 of us needs to get away from the computer
April 18 Suddenly the bus wanted to drive upstreet
April 19 A government that doesn't govern
April 19 Powell stands alone
April 19 Out of a Grisham novel: hockey, a gal and a hitman
April 19 Jesus says swap that file
April 19 What's up in the darkened Manitoba skies
April 20 A jury of his peers
April 20 The rail deal that keeps giving and giving
April 20 But Paul! Going to work can be such a drag
April 20 Air America loses its voice
April 20 PM the PM's paper trail of woe
April 21 Damn you Democratic deficit
April 21 Senator Kerry locks up the NRA vote
April 21 Straight from the horse's mouth
April 21 Back of Beijing
April 21 The ghouls of CBS news
April 22 Helping Paul get out the word
April 22 Sheila Fraser just didn't understand
April 22 Sars raises its ugly head again
April 22 Not the teachers pet
April 22 da da da da dum, da da da da danna
April 23 Chuckie says "that meddlin' Paul"
April 23 A bad week ahead to be sick in BC
April 23 The inclusive tent of Paul Bremer
April 23 Reclusive Korea asks for help
April 23 Playing pesticide roulette with your lawn and your life
Saturday, April 24, 2004
Are we there yet?
Like an anxious nine year old waiting to get to the destination on a road trip, the Canadian public grows weary of the never ending examination of the Adscam scandal, without any sense of progress to be seen.
Since Prime Minister Martin vowed “to get to the bottom of this”, we’ve watched a parade of middle managers, slick looking ad execs, bombastic bureaucratic minions and combative ex cabinet ministers weigh in with their two cents worth.
And all we’re left with thus far is the belief that somebody, maybe everybody, isn’t telling us the truth. Pick your witness, everyone covers their butt, no one comes clean and we just sit back and wonder how we let things get to this state.
The Prime Minister at the start of our journey said that Canadians wanted to hear from Mr. Guite and so did he. Well Chuckie spoke and for the most part tried to drag Martin’s name and office of the day into the pit of political interference, all the while claiming innocence of any wrongdoing.
His two days of testimony a classic example of sandbagging. Mr. Guite did his best to deflect any criticism of his work, at the same time as he pointed the finger at the Prime Minister and his inner circle from the days of Finance.
Martin’s closest aide of the time Terrie O’Leary has responded to Mr. Guite’s broadsides, basically advising one and all that his recollections of events of the day are rather suspect.
It was a theme that seemed to run through the committee as they wrapped up yet another interminable week of posturing and pontificating. For the first time since this dog and pony show got under way both Liberal and Conservative members agreed that perhaps Mr. Guite’s testimony was a tad self serving and really hasn’t addressed the issue of the sponsorship scandal. In fact all that Guite did was to deflect attention from himself and the Chretien era onto the shoulders of Prime Minister Martin. By taking the approach of recounting moments of interest by Martin’s team at Finance on matters pre dating the sponsorship scandals, Guite has taken two days of testimony to gain a measure of revenge on Martin.
Rather than getting to the bottom of the scandal at hand, we instead are treated to a skirmish or two in the Liberal party civil war. Each day of the hearings seemingly resulting in yet another drop in the popularity of the Liberal party in the polls, giving Martin and his handlers a huge migraine of a headache in deciding whether to face a testy electorate or not.
The hearings which have drifted on and off message for weeks now, have occasionally deteriorated into nothing but partisan sniping and televised electoral posturing. They were saving the country by spending millions, at times we heard rumour of drugs, witnesses afraid for their lives, you never knew where the road would turn, only that it seemed endless. Finger pointing is the order of the day, an observer to CPAC wonders when they’ll break to go do some finger painting in the corner, right after their cookies and milk.
Sadly all this exercise has shown is that, elected MP’s will always return to their partisan roots, to expect that this would lead to any kind of closure was to live in a fools paradise. It will be interesting to see what the final bill will come to for this display of democratic principle in action. Perhaps later on we can have hearing into the expense of the hearing; it’s almost the Canadian way.
As Paul drives us down the road we’re hoping we get there soon. Then again, maybe that was the strategy all along, a lengthy exercise in self interest never actually coming up with any answers. Instead we end up with more and more questions about the regime of the past. As if we haven’t been tortured enough, they now plan on calling back many of the key witnesses, like ghosts they’ll haunt us a little more. Alfonso, Sheila and Ran we need a little more, regale us with your tales of woe.
When the scandal broke we were up in arms over the revelations, looking for heads to roll. Since that burst of activism we’ve long since lost our outrage. Nine weeks have gone by and we have nothing. As we sit eyes glassy with day after day of testimony running together, we think enough. The weather is warming, the sun is shining and summer beckons not too far down the road. Do we really want to waste our time anymore on what we cynically believe is just business as usual?
For the Prime Minister there may be no better time to jump into an election and clean the slate. The Prime Minister is most likely hoping that on Election Day we think back to the testimonials from the old hands. He can claim to have tried to get the facts but hey, too many of the old timers hold to the old ways. He’ll offer up new faces, new agendas and new ideas. A populace tired of this drive will gladly take the rest stop. It may be a gamble, but its one that may work.
The above item is taken from my Boondoggle blog, for more items and links about government check it out.
Since Prime Minister Martin vowed “to get to the bottom of this”, we’ve watched a parade of middle managers, slick looking ad execs, bombastic bureaucratic minions and combative ex cabinet ministers weigh in with their two cents worth.
And all we’re left with thus far is the belief that somebody, maybe everybody, isn’t telling us the truth. Pick your witness, everyone covers their butt, no one comes clean and we just sit back and wonder how we let things get to this state.
The Prime Minister at the start of our journey said that Canadians wanted to hear from Mr. Guite and so did he. Well Chuckie spoke and for the most part tried to drag Martin’s name and office of the day into the pit of political interference, all the while claiming innocence of any wrongdoing.
His two days of testimony a classic example of sandbagging. Mr. Guite did his best to deflect any criticism of his work, at the same time as he pointed the finger at the Prime Minister and his inner circle from the days of Finance.
Martin’s closest aide of the time Terrie O’Leary has responded to Mr. Guite’s broadsides, basically advising one and all that his recollections of events of the day are rather suspect.
It was a theme that seemed to run through the committee as they wrapped up yet another interminable week of posturing and pontificating. For the first time since this dog and pony show got under way both Liberal and Conservative members agreed that perhaps Mr. Guite’s testimony was a tad self serving and really hasn’t addressed the issue of the sponsorship scandal. In fact all that Guite did was to deflect attention from himself and the Chretien era onto the shoulders of Prime Minister Martin. By taking the approach of recounting moments of interest by Martin’s team at Finance on matters pre dating the sponsorship scandals, Guite has taken two days of testimony to gain a measure of revenge on Martin.
Rather than getting to the bottom of the scandal at hand, we instead are treated to a skirmish or two in the Liberal party civil war. Each day of the hearings seemingly resulting in yet another drop in the popularity of the Liberal party in the polls, giving Martin and his handlers a huge migraine of a headache in deciding whether to face a testy electorate or not.
The hearings which have drifted on and off message for weeks now, have occasionally deteriorated into nothing but partisan sniping and televised electoral posturing. They were saving the country by spending millions, at times we heard rumour of drugs, witnesses afraid for their lives, you never knew where the road would turn, only that it seemed endless. Finger pointing is the order of the day, an observer to CPAC wonders when they’ll break to go do some finger painting in the corner, right after their cookies and milk.
Sadly all this exercise has shown is that, elected MP’s will always return to their partisan roots, to expect that this would lead to any kind of closure was to live in a fools paradise. It will be interesting to see what the final bill will come to for this display of democratic principle in action. Perhaps later on we can have hearing into the expense of the hearing; it’s almost the Canadian way.
As Paul drives us down the road we’re hoping we get there soon. Then again, maybe that was the strategy all along, a lengthy exercise in self interest never actually coming up with any answers. Instead we end up with more and more questions about the regime of the past. As if we haven’t been tortured enough, they now plan on calling back many of the key witnesses, like ghosts they’ll haunt us a little more. Alfonso, Sheila and Ran we need a little more, regale us with your tales of woe.
When the scandal broke we were up in arms over the revelations, looking for heads to roll. Since that burst of activism we’ve long since lost our outrage. Nine weeks have gone by and we have nothing. As we sit eyes glassy with day after day of testimony running together, we think enough. The weather is warming, the sun is shining and summer beckons not too far down the road. Do we really want to waste our time anymore on what we cynically believe is just business as usual?
For the Prime Minister there may be no better time to jump into an election and clean the slate. The Prime Minister is most likely hoping that on Election Day we think back to the testimonials from the old hands. He can claim to have tried to get the facts but hey, too many of the old timers hold to the old ways. He’ll offer up new faces, new agendas and new ideas. A populace tired of this drive will gladly take the rest stop. It may be a gamble, but its one that may work.
The above item is taken from my Boondoggle blog, for more items and links about government check it out.
Grooving on the vibes, diving for the floor
It's been many a year since I've attended anything resembling a rock concert. I think I can stretch my grey matter back far enough to Steve Earle in the late eighties in Brandon, Manitoba. There may have been some kind of music festival things happening since then, but they would have been your genial folksy love the one your with kind of affair. But as far as a bona fide rowdy crowd kind of event, that was it.
And you know I don't think I'm missing anything. At least not if the story from CFRA is any indication. There's an artist out there called 50 cent, he's all the rage at the moment as they say. (or whatever it is the kids use now to describe the happening thing). Mr Cent or 50 to his friends I guess, is presently on a tour of Canada to bring his tunes and tude to the millions of Canadians buying or downloading their music.
Thursday night he played Ottawa, Friday night Montreal. Ottawa went smooth, Montreal not quite so.
Montreal Police reported that a man in his 20's was shot outside the arena the concert took place at. Police credit the fact he was wearing a bullet proof vest for his luck in avoiding serious or mortal injury.
A bullet proof vest? Good God, is it really that bad out there? Am I really that out of touch? Sorry if you have to suit up as if on patrol in the streets of Kabul just to go see a concert, then pencil me out.
While I'm sure that once the full story comes out, we'll learn that the victim was involved in something he or she shouldn't have been involved with. The shooting probably just an incidental event at the concert. But just the fact that this kind of thing is happening where our kids are gathering, is a cause for concern.
I guess this is why I'm a homebody these days, the worst thing that could happen to me is getting stuck on the Lazy Boy chair, while I struggle for the DVD controller to watch my Springsteen or U2 DVD's. No spraying gunfire, no slashing knives. And I manage to stay away from the grape Kool aid.
We'd best try and figure out what's going on with our kids, cause wearing a bullet proof vest to a rock concert is just not normal. And if it becomes a requirement for a safe night out, we'd best be asking some questions and asking them fast.
And you know I don't think I'm missing anything. At least not if the story from CFRA is any indication. There's an artist out there called 50 cent, he's all the rage at the moment as they say. (or whatever it is the kids use now to describe the happening thing). Mr Cent or 50 to his friends I guess, is presently on a tour of Canada to bring his tunes and tude to the millions of Canadians buying or downloading their music.
Thursday night he played Ottawa, Friday night Montreal. Ottawa went smooth, Montreal not quite so.
Montreal Police reported that a man in his 20's was shot outside the arena the concert took place at. Police credit the fact he was wearing a bullet proof vest for his luck in avoiding serious or mortal injury.
A bullet proof vest? Good God, is it really that bad out there? Am I really that out of touch? Sorry if you have to suit up as if on patrol in the streets of Kabul just to go see a concert, then pencil me out.
While I'm sure that once the full story comes out, we'll learn that the victim was involved in something he or she shouldn't have been involved with. The shooting probably just an incidental event at the concert. But just the fact that this kind of thing is happening where our kids are gathering, is a cause for concern.
I guess this is why I'm a homebody these days, the worst thing that could happen to me is getting stuck on the Lazy Boy chair, while I struggle for the DVD controller to watch my Springsteen or U2 DVD's. No spraying gunfire, no slashing knives. And I manage to stay away from the grape Kool aid.
We'd best try and figure out what's going on with our kids, cause wearing a bullet proof vest to a rock concert is just not normal. And if it becomes a requirement for a safe night out, we'd best be asking some questions and asking them fast.
Friday, April 23, 2004
Do as they say, not as they do!
Well we can already hear the rhetoric from the Senate hearings into Pro-American driving habits, circa 2006.
Sen. Foghorn ( R - anywhere) Have you now, or have you ever owned or driven an SUV.
President Kerry: Yes senator I do, but it belongs to my family, I only rode in it as a passenger.
(Much murmuring of Senators, aides and reporters, digital cameras whirring)
Earth Day 2004 and the Democratic Party candidate for President, Senator John Kerry was on the stump in Pittsburgh and Houston, shaking hands, making speeches and taking questions. Kerry took some time to answer a few conference call questions from reporters about his upcoming Jobs and more Jobs platform, which he plans to present to Rust Belt states shortly.
One enterprising reporter taking note of the fact that folks were celebrating Earth Day inquired as to whether the Senator indeed did own an SUV. Kerry said he personally did not, preferring to tool around in his Dodge 600 and Chrysler 300M. The Chevy Suburban is wife Teresa’s, they use it when they visit their second home in Idaho.
When asked about the Chevy, Kerry thought for a moment before answering and then declared in the best Clintonish fashion ”the family has it, I don’t have it”.
The candidate quickly turned the conversation around to being dedicated to buying American, claiming that it’s important that his family buy American vehicles and vowing to keep manufacturing jobs in the USA if elected. (Note to Paul Martin, prepare to worry about auto jobs in Ontario, protectionism is just around the corner!). The folks at Ford and GM might quibble with his personal tastes, as Chrysler is part of the Daimler family of industries in Germany.
Perhaps the Kerry's use the Suburban as part of his research on fuel consumption. Kerry has come out in the past in favor of higher fuel efficiency in order to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. He would like to see fuel economy standards reach 36 miles to the gallon by 2015.
Kerry did manage to find an environmentally friendly moment out of the hulking vision of gas guzzling SUVS and three car families. Kerry claims to have approached Ford to let him use a hybrid car as his campaign vehicle. At least until he gets to use that shiny black number that George is using right now. I can already here the defense if anyone questions the gas mileage on the presidential motorcade, “I don’t own it, but my employer does, have to drive the company car you know”
This incident brings back memories of Canadian Environment Minister David Andersons troubles with his fellow cabinet ministers. At the same time as he was chastising Canadians about their wasteful ways, his counterpart Herb Dhaliwal was motoring around Ottawa and Vancouver in not one, not two, not three but four vehicles, two Volvo's and two Chevy SUV's. The optics of it all lost on the government of the day.
After all it’s an age old adage in Politics “we should do as were told, not as they do”
Sen. Foghorn ( R - anywhere) Have you now, or have you ever owned or driven an SUV.
President Kerry: Yes senator I do, but it belongs to my family, I only rode in it as a passenger.
(Much murmuring of Senators, aides and reporters, digital cameras whirring)
Earth Day 2004 and the Democratic Party candidate for President, Senator John Kerry was on the stump in Pittsburgh and Houston, shaking hands, making speeches and taking questions. Kerry took some time to answer a few conference call questions from reporters about his upcoming Jobs and more Jobs platform, which he plans to present to Rust Belt states shortly.
One enterprising reporter taking note of the fact that folks were celebrating Earth Day inquired as to whether the Senator indeed did own an SUV. Kerry said he personally did not, preferring to tool around in his Dodge 600 and Chrysler 300M. The Chevy Suburban is wife Teresa’s, they use it when they visit their second home in Idaho.
When asked about the Chevy, Kerry thought for a moment before answering and then declared in the best Clintonish fashion ”the family has it, I don’t have it”.
The candidate quickly turned the conversation around to being dedicated to buying American, claiming that it’s important that his family buy American vehicles and vowing to keep manufacturing jobs in the USA if elected. (Note to Paul Martin, prepare to worry about auto jobs in Ontario, protectionism is just around the corner!). The folks at Ford and GM might quibble with his personal tastes, as Chrysler is part of the Daimler family of industries in Germany.
Perhaps the Kerry's use the Suburban as part of his research on fuel consumption. Kerry has come out in the past in favor of higher fuel efficiency in order to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. He would like to see fuel economy standards reach 36 miles to the gallon by 2015.
Kerry did manage to find an environmentally friendly moment out of the hulking vision of gas guzzling SUVS and three car families. Kerry claims to have approached Ford to let him use a hybrid car as his campaign vehicle. At least until he gets to use that shiny black number that George is using right now. I can already here the defense if anyone questions the gas mileage on the presidential motorcade, “I don’t own it, but my employer does, have to drive the company car you know”
This incident brings back memories of Canadian Environment Minister David Andersons troubles with his fellow cabinet ministers. At the same time as he was chastising Canadians about their wasteful ways, his counterpart Herb Dhaliwal was motoring around Ottawa and Vancouver in not one, not two, not three but four vehicles, two Volvo's and two Chevy SUV's. The optics of it all lost on the government of the day.
After all it’s an age old adage in Politics “we should do as were told, not as they do”
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