Buzz Hargrove - More Intelligent Than You Think?

"Mr. Harper doesn't have a sense of Canada and its communities," the union leader said. "His sense is about Alberta. The wealth of Alberta everybody recognizes is much greater than it is anywhere in Canada. Those principles that he is brought up with and believes in coming out of there don't sit well with the rest of Canada."

Let's do some deconstruction:

1. doesn't have a sense of Canada and its communities

Well, he was born in Ontario and moved to Alberta. Both are still part of Canada (last time I checked) and he seems to have a pretty good sense of what Canada is - especially considering he was all over the country in the last few weeks.

2. The wealth of Alberta everybody recognizes is much greater than it is anywhere in Canada

Well. He certainly hit the nail on the head here. Alberta is wealthy. True. Much greater than anywhere else in Canada. True.

How many unions are in Alberta?

What proportion of the population is unionized?

What is the average household income in Alberta?

Answers:

Less than any other jurisdiction.

Lower than any other jurisdiction.

The highest in Canada.

Thanks Buzz... go build a car.

Majority Minoratives...

This morning was the same as any other - Shower, Shave, Tim Hortons then to work. In fact, it was so unusually normal that I even had time for my morning smoke and read without a single issue presenting itself.

Then - It Happened.

Not one but two people from my workplace (the ship, of course) came up to me and said that the new polling numbers came out and they didn't look too good for the Conservatives. I put my smoke out and went to check the news online. Sure enough it was there. After digging a little deeper though I found out that there were a few other polls out - and they showed drastically different figures. I began to question how it was possible for one poll to show the Conservatives with only a 6 point lead and another to show a 12 point lead. Even the margins of error couldn't explain it. Then it struck me - The Polls are innacurate as they are in any election. The most reliable source of polling information, in my opinion, is the UBC Election Stock Market. It showed little difference from my last viewing the night before. Odd.

Then around lunch I hear the Supreme Court Of Canada is going to hear a case of a woman who was paralysed by a drunk driver. Read the story here. What I don't understand is how a homeowner is responsible for the actions of this particular driver. In fact, if the SCOC is bold enough to side with this woman, I don't think I'll have any more house parties - EVER. Now, you might be asking yourself, "Doesn't this apply to bars?". Yes it does. Let me tell you why:

A licensed establishment is just that - Licensed. Part of being in the BUSINESS of alcohol distribution is an inherent duty to ensure your consumers are being practical and not getting smashed and driving home. Prudence, certainly in business, demands that you at the very least attempt to ensure your clients aren't intoxicated. The LAW also says that people cannot be served if they are clearly intoxicated.

A homeowner however isn't in the BUSINESS of selling alcohol. In fact, most people nowadays host BYOB events where people bring thier own stash of booze to get faced with. My question to the SCOC is this:

"How can an individual be held responsible for the consumption of alcohol that they didn't supply, purchase or distribute?"

Indeed.

Imagine this scenario: I have people over for a BYOB event - let's say the Grey Cup or Stanley Cup Playoffs. People show up with cases of beer and bottles of booze they have purchased. Being somewhat intelligent I buy disposable cups they can use so I don't have to do dishes the following day. The game runs on and people continue to drink. At the end of the evening I call those who drove taxis and ensure those who spend the night have a place to sleep. I collect car keys from those too drunk to drive. One person goes to sleep (as do I) but wakes up two hours later and decides to drive home. They do so, and plow into another car on the way home.

In the opinion of this woman - *I* am responsible. Why? Well it must be because I supplied the cups for the booze, the electricity for the fridge and the salted munchies that made people drink more. To prison I go.

Anyone else see the problem here? I'll tell you what is going on here. This woman collected insurance money from the person who actually did the driving and that individual is now bankrupt. More money options needed to be opened, so she went after the next person in line who could, under our glorious system, possibly be responsible as well.

This may be oversimplifying things - but it really just goes to show how absolutely ridiculous our system has become.

It also goes to show how money hungry people really are sometimes.

To the crew of HMCS Calgary - Happy sailing folks, see you soon.

Attacking the Armed Forces the Liberal way...

Fear is a powerful tool.

Apparently the Liberals are scared of the military. Of the many people I know in the military a few were going to vote Liberal

THIS

may change minds...

Thanks to bourque.com for that link

I've been surfing around the sites monitoring progress on the french debates. Overall? Not quite as stimulating as last night's but good nonetheless.

For a liveblog look at the debates (and some good cynical summary) check out Andrew Coyne's blog.

Debate - Part 2 (Notwithstanding this debate)....

Okay... I'm not going to go on for hours here. I will simply put things like this...

THE LIBERAL PARTY OF CANADA WILL REMOVE THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT'S ABILITY TO USE THE NOTWITHSTANDING CLAUSE

If those words didn't scare you, maybe this will... PAUL MARTIN said them!!!

I'm not the biggest fan of the Charter. Nor am I the biggest fan of the unilateral patriation of the Constitution of 1982. I am, however, a very large supporter of the idea (a provincial one, negotiated by Alberta, Ontario AND Quebec) of the Notwithstandign clause. What it provides, essentially, is the ability for governments to rule that decisions made by the courts are out of line with the "moral fabric" of Canada. For example - The courts could rule tomorrow that Caucasian males should be taxed at a higher level because thier incomes are generally higher than other "minority" groups (to this end, keep in mind that traditionally the courts have ruled in favour of minority groups rather than the collective good due primarily to Trudeau's Charter of Rights and Freedoms - also take into account that this is a purposely extreme example). If, for example, this decision was made at the SUPREME COURT OF CANADA the Federal government, Liberal or otherwise, could overrule it using something called the "Notwithstanding clause", out of a simple realization that this could (and would) polarize the nation against the ridiculous power of the Charter.

Paul Martin, the prime minister of Canada, wants to remove this ability.

It is now obvious where the Liberal Party of Canada would like this nation to go. All Canadians should be subject to law as INTERPRETED by the courts. In fact, the people of Canada should be subject to the whims of appointed officials over the ones they ELECT to government. This is simply ridiculous - and downright frightening.

The objectives of a democracy include the ability for PEOPLE to make the calls on where the laws of this nation are going. People, by the way, do so through voting in elections. We like to call this idea, Democratic representation. I don't care if you're a Libertarian, Conservative, Liberal, Red Tory, Hippie, Socialist or otherwise... we MUST all value our ability to elect people to represent us. We DO NOT elect judges in Canada. It is perversely abhorrent to me (and to many people I would imagine) that the current Government of Canada would remove the only ability for a government to OVERRULE the decisions made by appointed officials. It is simply ridiculous, shameful and, quite frankly, ludicrous.

Paul Martin can have his vision of Canada. It is a Canada where LIBERAL appointees to the courts can decided OUR fate. Let's get down to brass tacks here people, the Liberal government has just sold out EVERY Canadian who didn't vote Liberal in the last election. Need I remind you that WE (those who voted for another party) represent the MAJORITY in this country. It is not a vision that I share. Even though less than 60% of the Canadian populace came out to vote in the the last election one out of every three Canadians just got the good ol' Liberal finger from the back of the train. I don't care if you live in Kenora, Charlottetown, Toronto, Winnipeg, Calgary, Saskatoon, Victoria, Halifax, Moncton, Montreal or St. John's - You have to realize how bad of an idea this really is. I emplore those of you who didn't vote to do so in the upcoming election. Canada has been sold out to what amounts essentially to bureaucrats (and the worst kind - appointed bureaucrats).

I will vote Conservative - this much is sure. But even those of you out there who may vote NDP or even Bloc... DO NOT VOTE LIBERAL. At this point, fuelled by anger and a feeling of shame brought on by a PRIME MINISTER who is willing to sell out what amounts to the only legal protection for US - The Electorate - I emplore you to vote for ANY party except the Liberal Party of Canada.

Even if you belong to a minority group, no matter how described. Do not vote Liberal.

I'm reminded of something. Something that we could very well be even more dangerously close to than any Canadian could've ever imagined:

"First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me."

Rev. Martin Niemoller, 1945

An extreme example it may indeed be, but WAKE UP. Who will speak for us (The Electorate) if even our elected representatives are left without recourse?

I hate to do this, but:

STAND UP FOR CANADA - VOTE (for ANY party other than the Liberals)