Desi In Toronto

Constitutional crisis!!

Coup d’etat!!!

Backroom politics!!!

Separatists!!!

These are some of the common words being flung around Canada in the last few days. For those of you not following Canadian politics here is what’s been happening :

1) Conservatives claim minority win in the October federal election.

2) Stephen Harper elected leader and hence the Prime Minister of Canada, by the elected MPs of the Conservative party.

3) Harper makes conciliatory sounds in his acceptance speech.

4) Weeks later, conciliatory tone of the Conservatives thrown out the window when Jim Flaherty (finance minister) presents an economic map. An utterly vague economic statement from the incumbent minister with no plan to tackle the current economic crisis. Buried in the statement is the proposal to “save” millions of dollars ($30 Million) by revoking the public financing to political parties (the ones that are not in the pocket of big business like the Conservatives) and to make it illegal for federal employees to go on a strike (for better working conditions, more pay, better contracts etc.)

5) Opposition in furor. More than likely, Jack Layton of NDP takes charge and somehow gets all the opposition together.

6) Opposition announces that it is prepared to bring down the government and works a deal within themselves (all three opposition parties) and presents a model to run the country thereby ensuring that there are no elections (with a cost of about $300 million for each election, 10 times the amount that the Conservatives would have “saved” with their proposal).

7) Harper backs down from the offending proposals. Too chicken to play chicken.

8) Opposition has probably had enough of the pushing around and says – no deal.

9) Now Harper’s true colours come out and he starts lashing out at everyone in the opposition especially the Bloc party with whom his party had tried to make deal in 2004 for doing EXCATLY the same thing Liberals/NDP is doing.

10) Harper presents the alternative – Proroguing to save his skin. Proroguing means, the session in the parliament is declared over, before it’s even begun and all parties will wait for a month or so before voting against the government can begin again. In other words, Harper wants a time out. Unfortunately, history is against him and very few people see how the Governor General will allow proroguing.

Harper, at this moment is with the GG and probably requesting proroguing the parliament. There is no idea how the Governor General, Michaëlle Jean, will proceed but I have a feeling that Harper is probably going to ask her to suspend the parliament and go for another election. In which case I agree with CC – bring it on!!

In all this I think most of the people fail to see a crucial element to the episode.

The opposition is COMPLETELY within it’s rights to bring down the governmentt.

It is the democratic right of the opposition to band together and say “we the opposition, representing 63% of the Canadian citizens, oppose your policies”. It’s as simple as that!!!

I do not understand why in the world are people calling this a coup!! I mean, I can understand that you are upset about this but, damn it, it is the right of the opposition parties to bring down the government. These are your elected MPs acting in unison and saying no to the partisan politics being played by a power hungry Harper.

Yes, it’s true that the elections just happened, but boo-fucking-hoo. The Conservatives, instead of governing Canada through a difficult economic period, are playing politics and trying to kill the opposition. If the Conservatives had succeeded in pushing this proposal through, it would have put a big dent on the grassroot politics that we Canadians have come to depend on heavily. Would you really like to live in a country where there is weak opposition?

It was, simply put, the audicious nature of power grab by the conservatives that really banded the opposition and I say, kudos to them. It’s about time the opposition stood up to a bully.

And look at how the bully is reacting – like a cry baby.

Updated : Oh and I almost forgot. Here is a post that you need to read regarding how desperate Stevie has become.

Updated 2 : And this one too.

Updated 3 : Prorouging it is. In other words, Canada and the rest of the world are in midst of a economic crisis and what does his majesty Stephen Harper do? Take a vacation of a month and half. Of course, he and the Conservatives will not be resting. Now begins the PR campaign to demonize democracy in Canada. E.g. this :

The Tories maintained their vigorous attack on the coalition’s decision to seek formal backing from the Bloc Québécois for its survival in the House. One MP went so far as to accuse the Liberals of treason.

“They’ve actually written a deal giving the separatists a veto over every decision of the Canadian government,” Bob Dechert said. “That is as close to treason and sedition as I can imagine.”

Turning my attention to my adopted country, what do I see?

The leaders of the three opposition parties presented their plan to topple Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority government at a press conference in Ottawa late Monday afternoon.

The leaders of the Liberal Party, the New Democratic Party and the Bloc Québécois publicly signed a coaltion accord and sent a letter to Governor-General Michaëlle Jean saying the opposition has lost confidence in the Conservatives.

The proposed coalition government between the Liberals and the New Democratic Party would last until June of 2011, but the Bloc is only pledging support for 18 months.

Under the plan, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion would become prime minister until May, when his successor would take over.

Woah!!! Didn’t see that coming. Dion is finally going to be the Prime Minister. I had voted for the Liberal party in the last election and was hoping to see Dion as the Prime Minister of Canada. But there were reasons for me voting for the Liberals. The main motive was The Green Shift. The other was to bring in actual accountability into the government and I saw that in the leadership of Stephen Dion. Unfortunately, not many Canadians agreed with me as Liberals were routed in the election receiving only 77 seats in the house.

But days after the election, I was wondering why the hell is the opposition not banding together against Harper? And I ask again, why exactly could not NDP and the Liberals to band together a few weeks ago? Of course, the latest shit pile from the conservatives is what galvanised the opposition.

The Conservatives are poised to eliminate the public subsidies that Canada’s five major political parties receive, a move that would save $30 million a year but could cripple the opposition.

I don’t really like this new scenario. I mean, Harper’s governance was full of shit, no doubt about it. He called the oppositions’ bluff and they bit him right back. If the current government is bought down, he must resign immediately from the conservative party for this was a shameless act of consolidating his power without giving a thought to the problems of the common man.

I will, of course, support a coalition of the Liberals and NDP. But I would support it only if The Green Shift or it’s variant is included in the mix.

Updated :

Ha ha ha….yes, it’s only the opposition vying for power!!!! These conservatives are so full of BULLSHIT!!!

The prospect of the Prime Minister trying to shut down Parliament to avoid defeat has one constitutional scholar shaking in his boots.

Political scientist Peter Russell said Stephen Harper may have the right to ask Governor General Michaëlle Jean to prorogue Parliament and end the current session but doing so would set a dangerous and undemocratic precedent.

“Of all the things that have happened or have been threatened to be about to happen, this is the most dangerous because it shows the intention of the Prime Minister to govern without Parliament and that is undermining our parliamentary democracy,” said Russell, a University of Toronto professor emeritus.

So much for thinking of the common man. Let’s shut down the parliament and avoid all business until we are firmly in power in Jan. 2009!!!

Now I really want the NDP/Liberals/Bloc to be in power!!

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Liberal Party officials prepared a memo in 2006 warning their incoming new leader to prepare an immediate ad campaign to counter an expected assault from the governing Tories aimed at destabilizing whoever won.

However, Stéphane Dion opted instead to hang onto the bulk of a $4-million war chest he inherited upon taking over the top job, responding to a Tory ad blitz with a limited run of upbeat commercials.

When he announced his decision to step down as Liberal Leader on Monday, Mr. Dion said a Tory onslaught supplemented with substantial amounts of cash helped define him with the public and he never recovered.

So let me get this straight. The “esteemed” Liberal party of Canada wanted to run sleazy campaign ads against conservatives, Dion says no and Dion loses. I don’t understand this. I mean what does it say about us. That we respond to a politician by how much he/she can beat up the opponent in sleaziness? Is that what politics has come down to in Canada?

To be honest, I do not think this is the only reason why Liberals lost. Liberals lost because of lack of direction from Dion and the poor support that the party members gave Dion. Also, the party is moving away from being the party of the people to the party of business just like the conservatives : Maybe it always was the party of the business community but under Dion I thought that this party is very much the party of the people.

I think the party members still have not recoganised the fact that the loss was as theirs as much as it was Dion’s lack of “leadership”. To throw hacks like Michael Ignatieff (a torture supporter) and Bob Rae (his one term in office in Ontario is not fondly remembered) in the ring amongst others is basically saying let’s change the wheels of the car even though the engine’s shot. I know the party needs money right away but to go and pander to the businesses for money instead of rebuilding the party from ground up is disingenuous and insulting to the motto of the Liberal party. I fear that that Liberal party will, after Dion leaves, be competing with conservatives for business political dollars while ignoring the common folk.

The only reason why I was all for the Liberal party was Stephen Dion who showed time and time again to be a classy guy and a moral politician (and there are not many of those these days). I will be following the Liberal party’s shanangins to see what happens next but so far it seems that my love affair with the Liberals is over.

Well, we all knew it would happen but this is a disaster. Liberals lost a lot of ground this election and I put the blame squarely on us. Lack of understanding of the liberal platform, overestimation of the conservative platform and vote splitting with the Greens and NDP are primarily the reasons why we did not elect Liberals in power. C’est la vie.

You are now in power, Mr. Stephen Harper. Please keep your eye on the ball and stop telling us to buy stocks in the financial crisis. And, would you please not pay for the bad mortgages. Let the market handle the situation (your vaunted belief, if I may remind you).

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Liberal MP Wayne Easter called for the Agriculture Minister’s resignation Wednesday after he heard about comments made by the minister making light of deaths attributed to the listeriosis crisis, including a PEI fatality he hoped was Mr. Easter.

The remarks were made in a conference call on Aug. 30 at the height of the listeriosis crisis, between Gerry Ritz and members of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Mr. Ritz joked during the call that the crisis was causing the government a death of a thousand cuts “or should I say the death of a thousand cold cuts.”

When informed that one fatality had taken place in Prince Edward Island, Mr. Ritz is reported to have said, “please tell me it’s Wayne Easter.” Mr. Easter is the Liberal agriculture critic.

All right children!!!! Spell it with me – C.L.E.A.N. campaign.

UPDATE : And what does this comment mean?

“In a time of economic uncertainty, I do think the country needs a strong government that’s able to govern,” Mr. Harper told journalists in Toronto. “My concern is that obviously, going forward, that we have a government that’s going to be sabotaged by a bunch of parties who don’t want our economy to be successful.”

What!!?!!! Again Harper proves that he is following the Rovian handbook of campaigning.

In the past few months all opposition parties have time and time again walked in-step with the conservatives. Be it arm twisting or a “dare” by the conservatives but we seen that Liberals, NDP and the BLOC have voted with the Harper government on one issue or the other. And it was the CONSERVATIVES who brought down their own government and not the opposition parties.

What the hell is this guy talking about? Here’s a clear picture of how effective Harper has been :

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives always has such interesting ideas about what we can do other than the status quo. Their document has some interesting facts. After several attempts to get excel to create a pretty graph, I’m going to give you the table and let you take a look. I’d love it if someone had a good graphing program which they could direct me to.

The low scores are mostly conservative governments, and they remain the low scores even when you factor the time in.

Harper really needs to stop wearing these sweaters. They are probably cutting his blood supply to the brain.

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The campaign had another surreal moment when the prime minister was asked by a reporter in Winnipeg what type of vegetable he would be.

Mr. Harper responded that he would rather be a fruit than a vegetable.

“Let me say this, I would choose, if I had to instead, to be a fruit: just what I am, sweet and colourful,” Mr. Harper said.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!

That is the funniest thing I ever heard!!! For his sake I hope he is not stuck with that comment although I am pretty sure that comedians will have a field day with this one. I think it would be like Dion “Do you think it’s easy to set priorities?” comment.

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On the eve of an election call, Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he’s anticipating a “very nasty” campaign from the opposition parties, in an exclusive interview with CTV News.

 

In an exclusive interview with Harper to be broadcast Sunday on CTV’s Question Period, he said he expects the opposition parties to try to demonize him.

“To be really honest, I anticipate a very nasty, kind of personal-attack campaign,” he told Lloyd Robertson, CTV’s chief news anchor and senior news editor, at Harrington Lake.

“That’s just what I’m anticipating; that’s what the opposition’s done in the past. I think that whether Canadians agree with what we’re doing or not, I don’t think they’re going to believe the kind of personal attacks and scare tactics that we’ve seen in the past.”

And here is the clean “campaigning” from the dip shit himself. 

Less than 24 hours into the Oct. 14 federal election campaign, senior Conservatives came out swinging before dawn today at Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion, painting him as someone whose policies will devastate Canadian families and “make everything more expensive.”

At a 6 a.m. ET news conference — so the party can try to set the news agenda as early in the day as possible — high-profile Tories Jason Kenney and Lawrence Cannon attacked Mr. Dion for what they called his “triple threat” to Canadians.

The Conservatives say the Liberal Leader wants to raise the GST, claw back a $1,200 child-care benefit and impose a carbon tax.

Mr. Kenney said Mr. Dion’s “half-baked risky schemes” are devastating to families on their own. But, taken together, it’s “three strikes and you’re out.”

This is the reason why I hate, detest and loathe the uber conservatives. Hypocrite little shits.

Update : For more BS from Stephen Crapper.

Asked whether he saw his chief rival as a family man, he said: “I don’t know Stephane Dion all that well. I presume that he’s been married a long time, has children. I presume he’s a family man also.”

Dion has a wife and daughter.

“I Presume him to be a family man”???? That’s the best soft side you got, Stephen? You have got to be kidding me about this.

Why was it so difficult to say that “yes, despite our political differences, Stephen Dion is a family man”. This is the reason why conservatives are so full of bull shit. In an unguarded moment, with no script lying in front of him, the prime minister of Canada  ”presumes” his rival to be a family man. 

Excuse me, I need to go an hurl.

There is this :

Here is a primer for those of you who still don’t understand how global warming works:

• The dinosaurs came, but they got too big and fat, so they all died and they turned into oil.

• We drilled for oil, and used most of it to spray on ducks, and the rest we turned into carbon dioxide.

• Carbon dioxide is a hot gas, and it’s making the Sun hotter, which is making the Earth hotter, which makes polar bears sweat, and that’s a bad thing.

• To make the Earth cooler and make polar bears happy, Canadians will pay money to Stephane Dion, who will give all of it back.

• The exchange of money will cool the Earth (ok, this part is a bit vague).

• Farmers are worried that they won’t get enough back after all of it is given back (clearly they are confused, because everyone is supposed to get all their money back, a process that results in global cooling in a way that is not entirely understood by non-Liberals).

• Liberals who are worried that farmers won’t vote for them are complaining loudly, which is generating even more hot air (which warms the Sun and makes polar bears sweat even more, and that’s a bad thing).

• Stephane Dion is going to change the plan by making the carbon tax even stronger, making farmers happy so that they stop bothering Liberals.

• This results in less hot air and comfortable polar bears.

• The happiness of farmers who might vote Liberal will cool the Earth (ok, this part is a bit vague too).

and then there is this :

The ice shelves in Canada’s High Arctic have lost a colossal area this year, scientists report.

The floating tongues of ice attached to Ellesmere Island, which have lasted for thousands of years, have seen almost a quarter of their cover break away.

One of them, the 50 sq km (20 sq miles) Markham shelf, has completely broken off to become floating sea-ice.

Researchers say warm air temperatures and reduced sea-ice conditions in the region have assisted the break-up.

“These substantial calving events underscore the rapidity of changes taking place in the Arctic,” said Trent University’s Dr Derek Mueller.

“These changes are irreversible under the present climate.”

And this is the modus operandii of the moronic-right here in Canada. Make fun of an issue that would be crucial to our children and their children. “Hell, if it does not affect me, then it is not my fucking problem”. That’s how these morons think.

I find it distasteful to call these people fellow citizens of the world. I mean does it matter at the end of the day if global warming is a science. Does it?

Frankly, I don’t care. I do not care if global warming is a science or not.

We make it our right to pollute the air, sea and land; We make it our right to gouge at earth and we make it our right to dump on mother nature all the time which doesn’t make any sense because we are only hurting ourselves in the process. So why not do the right thing and actually implement policies that do irreparable harm to earth whether they affect global warming or not? I am willing to pay my share.

But, no. This somehow does not sit well with the wingnuts. Any idea where you as a person need to make a sacrifice for the good of the planet and the generations to come, is thrown out the window before you even consider it.

Case in point, the Green Shift. I think if this was a plan from Harper’s government, the moronic right would have endorsed it whole heartedly.

BTW, “Angry White Thing”, the dinosaurs didn’t die because they got too fat and they definetly are not the only source for oil. If you want to attempt humour while dissing an opnion, first get a funny bone and then try it.

Looks like the prospect of me voting Liberal in the fall election (if Stephen “firm election date” Harper has the guts to call) are increasing day by day. I like this.

Stephane Dion has challenged the prime minister to clarify his view on abortion, threatening to reignite the debate as Canada careens towards an election.

The Liberal leader threw down the gauntlet while answering a question at a town-hall meeting on Wednesday night in Oakville, Ont.

The event was billed as a discussion of the Liberals’ carbon tax plan, but a member of the audience instead asked Dion’s views on the Unborn Victims of Crime Act. The private member’s bill would make it a criminal offence to harm an unborn child during an attack on its mother.

Dion said he opposed the proposed legislation because it might infringe on women’s access to abortion.

“We need to protect everyone against crime but, at the same time, it happens that I believe in the rights of women to choose and I have a lot of respect for the people who have a different view,” he told the crowd.

Dion then called upon Stephen Harper to state his own position on abortion.

“I think all Canadians have the right to know what the party leader thinks,” he said. “I gave my opinion. I want to hear the opinion of Stephen Harper.”

Now that’s a smack down!! We will eagerly wait for Stephen “yes there will be fall election/no there will not be any elections in the fall season” Harper to respond.

Do you want to see racism in action in Canada? This is an Olympic themed ad campaign from Bombadier.

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And these are some of the colourful comments from one of Canada’s premier bloggers.

Comments

The Song is called Oh Canada, not Oh Kanada. It is sung in either English or French, or both. Those renditions are merely multi-cultural plagiarism wrapped in lefty feel good politically correct nonsense.

Posted by: Zip at August 20, 2008 2:23 PM

I have been finding myself changing the channel every time this crappy commercial comes on. Turns me off, big time. One of the corniest I’ve ever seen. Future Liberal voters?

Posted by: Soccermom at August 20, 2008 3:18 PM

screw Bombardier – their creepy ads make me wish I was living in Texas

Posted by: Brad at August 20, 2008 3:34 PM

That commercial represents the future of Canada: Various Third Worlders butchering our anthem in a cacaphony of foreign tongues. Funny that the only white person shown was on a grainy, black and white TV–representing the past.

Posted by: JP at August 20, 2008 5:26 PM

Hmmm. Even my teen daughter can’t stand to watch that commercial; she said it makes her cringe.

Posted by: Soccermom at August 20, 2008 8:23 PM

Kate, I surprised you don’t recongnize the citizenship test when you see it. If you can hum the tune for a few bars you are in. Immigration officials are roaming the world, camcorder in hand, to find future citizens.

Posted by: Trailer at August 21, 2008 3:38 AM

Answer? Margeret Wente.

More than half of all Canadians think we should. “Legalize, then tax the hell out of it,” says Senator Larry Campbell.

Sounds swell — until you think about it. Then the problems start. Here’s one. What about the kids? Do we really want a lot more 15-year-olds getting stoned? Okay, we could prohibit pot for minors. Can you explain why that would work any better than it does with booze and cigarettes?

Well, that might be because alcohol and cigarettes are LEGAL!! And they are TAXED!!! And their sale to minors is monitored very CLOSELY!! She is not done yet. Here’s more :

That’s just one of the vexed questions raised by UCLA professor Mark Kleiman, one of the more thoughtful experts on drug policy today. Basically, he’s a liberal. “Criminal punishment of marijuana use does not appear to be justified,” he maintains. But legalization has big problems too. “Full commercial legalization of cannabis, on the model now applied to alcohol, would vastly increase the cannabis-abuse problem by giving the marketing geniuses who have done such a fine job persuading children to smoke tobacco, drink to excess and super-size themselves another vice to foster,” he argues.

Okay, so the government could regulate it. And how would that work? Would we have CCBOs or B.C. Cannabis Stores? Would they hand out a glossy magazine with alluring product shots? Would unionized clerks dispense advice on the best bong for your buck? Or maybe they’d run it like the lottery, and hire really good ad agencies to produce compulsive gamblers.

OK, she makes it very clear that this professor is a “liberal” so his views are obviously to be paid attention to……of course what he then goes on to say is complete BS. “Commercialisation of Pot”!??! What the hell does that mean? There is no commercialisation right now and the pot use is pretty high among teenagers. And how exactly is pot commercialised in Holland and Switzerland? Do they have huge billboard everywhere proclaiming everyone should use pot? No. Pot there is used discreetly and within the law.

Wente is obviously a really dumb woman who has no time for facts as she vomits out her brains on paper. Legalising pot will bring growth, distribution, sale and profits under the control of the government. And the sale to young people will be controlled through government channels just like alcohol and cigarettes are. Margeret, please limit your dope intake to one a day. Please, for our children’s sake if not for yours.

Well, well. Stephen Dion finally shows some spine and comes out swinging. I had thought that he was going to be a foot note in history books but looks like he is fighting to be on the front pages.

I read the plan (PDF) and on paper it looks like a bold initiative and seems do-able. Here is my take on the plan:

WE NEED LEADERSHIP TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE AND STEPHEN DION PROVIDES IT.

I was once part of a focus group where environment was the focus. I remember one of the questions was, how much would you be willing to spend more per month to help pay for the environment. And it was obvious right away that the younger crowd (less than 40 year) was willing to put in more money than the older crowd (a couple of the oldies actually said “the environment can go to hell”). This was a couple of years ago and environment is not on top in the minds of fickle minded Canadians. However, what we need desperately is leadership in fighting global warming. And for my money, Stephen Dion has come up with a very good plan. Will I have to pay for it? Of course, the gas prices will go up, the food costs will go up, the manufactured items will go up and jobs will be lost. So, I and millions will have to pay for the cost in some form. But if it’s good for the economy in the long run and helps my kid, I will pay for it.

I think that this plan is revolutionary and very helpful to the environment and the economy. That’s right, the plan helps save taxes for individuals and the industrial sector. Do not be sucked into this belief that the plan is going to hammer the economy. The industrial sector (the largest polluters) will be getting major tax breaks from the plan. The small businesses will get larger cuts from the plan so it’s win win for all parties concerned. The plan proposes to set up auditing to make sure that each dollar earned from the polluters will go to the Canadians in form of tax breaks and credits.

Politically, this plan will be a hard sell. I mean, Alberta and Saskatchewan would be violently opposed to the plan. Ontario’s manufaturing sector will be opposed to it as well. But if the message can be streamlined by the Liberal party and can elucidate the key points of the plan, majority of the Canadians will go for it. And the Liberal, once in power, can cajol and negotiate it’s way to implementation of the plan.

I intend on watching the Liberals very closely on this. If they ho hum their way through the PR campaign of the plan, I am going to assume that they have every intention of loosing to the Conservatives and vote another way. If they take the fight to the Conservatives, I will be a big proponent of the Liberals and talk to all my friends and acquaintenances to vote Liberals.

Next few months would be interesting.

………but gets away with it.

An Ontario Superior Court judge has chastised General Motors Corp. for announcing the shutdown of a truck plant in Oshawa, Ont., two weeks after signing a new contract with the Canadian Auto Workers that contained commitments that the plant would be kept open.

Mr. Justice David Salmers granted an injunction yesterday ordering the union to end a blockade of the company’s Canadian head office and limit its pickets to 20 people, but said the auto maker “should not be rewarded for improper conduct.”

An end to the picketing. Isn`t that what GM wanted all along?

The corporations that rule Canada and US are completely oblivious to the pains and aches of the regular hard working people who actually help the economy. This really bugs me to no end. GM lied out right and the judge admonishes the company and does absolutely nothing about it. This is pathetic. Good ole corporations win all the time.

……why do we have a prayer in the legislature?

McGuinty’s move has left more than a few citizens and politicians peeved. Reactions ranged from those advocating that the prayer should be kept not necessarily as a nod to Christianity but in recognition of Ontario’s heritage; to those who would outlaw religious expression in the public square altogether; to people who believe Canada is a Christian country that must retain its Christian flavour.

Some would alternate the prayer with invocations from other faiths, while others have wondered whether the Lord’s Prayer is ecumenical in spirit. How can anyone object to its universal teachings and ideals?

First, from this article check out the picture on top :

“In the service of peace 1947 – Present”

and here is the oxymoron…...

Canada’s military exports have soared in the past decade, a CBC News investigation has found, yet the federal government has not released an annual report on exports of arms and high tech military goods for four years.

CBC News found that military exports rose 3.5 times between 2000 and 2006. And according to the most recent report by the U.S. Congressional Research Service, Canada was the sixth biggest supplier of arms to the world in 2006.

So, we are a nation that upholds peace and then sells weapons of war? so much for the label “peacekeepers of the world”. From CBC here is the part that forever puts to rest the fairytale of Canada’s peaceful role in the world :

Critics say the government’s silence is troubling at a time when the defence industry is growing so rapidly.

“We have not had data in four years — that is surprising to the point of astonishment,” Janice Stein, director of the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, told CBC News.

“In its public foreign policy, Canada calls for transparency on this issue. It has supported an arms register, yet our own government hasn’t released good, reliable data about who it’s exporting to.”

A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade blamed the delay on “technical glitches” due to a new online reporting system for companies that export military goods.

Ken Epps, of the arms control watchdog group Project Ploughshares, scoffed at that response. He’s been asking about the missing annual reports since Paul Martin was prime minister.

Officials in the defence industry have no answers as to why the government is so far behind in releasing information about Canada’s military exports.

“Beats me,” said Jeff MacLeod, the general manager of Colt Canada, which manufactures semi-automatic firearms and grenade launchers in Kitchener, Ont. “We report annually to both the Canadian government and the U.S. State Department, so it must be an internal issue with Foreign Affairs.”

Hmmmmm…..$3.6 billion pouring into the country on account of an industry that implicitly supports wars around the world. Why should the Canadian government give details? Their image may be tarnished…….oh wait…..

The situation has become an international embarrassment for Canada, Epps said.

The Geneva-based Small Arms Survey recently dropped Canada’s transparency rating because the reports aren’t being released. “Canada’s rating is 11 on the scale out of 20 this year, and the rating for Iran is 10.5. What does that say to you?” Epps said.

Why not actually release the figures and destinations? What is there to hide about? Is the weaponry going into hands that the public need not know about?

Munch……chomp….swallow…..munch….munch.

That’s me eating my words. I had said earlier that there is no way that the Stephen Harper is going to respond to the challenge by other countries to claiming land on the Arctic circle.

I was proven wrong. Today the Canadian prime minister said :

As the race to back up claims over the resources of the Arctic Ocean heats up, Canada has said it will build two new military bases in its far north.

Mr Harper said a cold-weather army training base would be set up at Resolute Bay and an existing port at a former mine at Nanisivik would be refurbished to supply Arctic patrol vessels.

I just hope that like some of this administration’s other promises (Ice Breakers for the Arctic region, Income Trust, Accountability etc.) are not empty words.