The Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL): Closed

The Arctic is something that I am passionate about. It is a treasure that Canada has stewardship over and it is our duty to protect it environmentally and territorially from those who would destroy it or claim it for themselves. That is why I was shocked when it was announced that a facility that servers both purposes PEARL will be closed April 30 2012 and have its equipment and staff evacuated.

The Robogate Saga Continues: Pierre Poutine Edition

"If the NDP actually has any information, we challenge them to give that information to the authorities. We have yet to see it and no reason to believe them," Harper said during today's question period in the House of Commons. Prime Minister Harper is standing firm denying any guilt in the ever expanding Robogate controversy.

But is the Conservative party innocent? Let's review the facts at the time this post was written, asked and answered.

Q: Who admittedly used Racknine robocalls in the 2011 federal election?

A: The Conservative Party of Canada.

Robogate by the Numbers, the Ridings, the Election Results

Updated : added 6 more ridings for B.C.

Here it is the info you have all been waiting for: A list of the 39 ridings hit with fraudulent robocalls, how many votes were cast per party both in raw numbers and percentage for both the 2011 and 2008 elections.

Some results are so close that these robocalls could very well have tipped the balance in favor of the conservatives granting them majority status. This election was stolen by the liars, cheaters and thieves that make up the Conservative Party of Canada.

1. Sydney-Victoria (NS)

• 2011
• CON 14,805 - 40.50%
• LIB 13,945 - 37.70%
• NDP  7,050 - 19.06%
• 2008
• CON 17,353 - 49.93%
• LIB  8,563 - 24.63%
• NDP  7,224 - 20.59%

Robogate: How to Violate the Principals of Democracy

Boy, Harper and team just can't catch a break, from the OAS scandal / backlash to every time Vic Toews opens his mouth and past election scandals that will certainly come back to the forefront due to Robogate, the new scandal that everyone will soon forget about, allowing Stephen Harper to win his second majority in 2015. During the May 2011 election, the Conservative Party of Canada hired a company guilty of fraud, Racknine/2call.ca, to robocall liberal Canadians in battleground ridings on "behalf" of Elections Canada to purposely misdirect voters to incorrect voting stations so that they may be frustrated into not casting a vote.


Voters in Guelph, Ontario, Winnipeg South Center and 16 other ridings were victim to misleading and fraudulent calls with the purpose "to undermine a person’s right to vote," said NDP Pat Martin. Martin also asked and answered, "How is this different from a bunch of goons with clubs blocking the door to a voter station as we’ve seen in Third World countries or the deep south of the United States? Because the net effect is the same."

The Arctic is the Great Game of the 21st Century

A map of the arctic including territorial claims, disputes and resources

"This isn't the 15th Century," Then Foreign Minister Peter MacKay stated, "You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say 'We're claiming this territory'," he said, however, in August 2007 that's exactly what happened when Russian explores planted their country's flag 4200 meters below the north pole on the arctic seabed. In my opinion this marked the beginning of new chapter in history; 'The Great Game in the Arctic' a race to stake a claim to a vast wideness and riches of the north.

The players involved are diverse and include, Canada, The United States of America, The Russian Federation, The People's Republic of China, Denmark and Norway. Traditional alliances are thrown by the wayside (NATO) and old rivalries have been rekindled. Any pretense of following international law was dropped when the Russian flag was planted and the scramble is on.

Vic Toews: Guilty of Violating the Tackling Violent Crime Act

Ever since the advent of Bill C30, the conservatives and it's brain child Vic Toews have been taking criticism, however, this week a new player appeared on the scene and vanished just as quickly. @vikileaks30 an anonymous twitter account posted details about Vic Towes' divorce. All of the posted information was part of the public record, obtained through the freedom of information act.

Some interesting tidbits include:

• Toews had an affair with a babysitter under his employment
• Toews changed the locks on his home effectively evicting his wife.
• Toews did not meet his alimony obligations.

Vic Toews is Just Plain Awful

"He can either stand with us or with the child pornographers," Minister of Public Safety Vic Toews said regarding opposition to his 'lawful access bill' which will soon be reviewed in parliament. The bill includes provisions requiring ISPs to

• Provide personal information to police and other agencies with no warrant
• Provide makers of technology to provide a "back door" to make communications accessible to police.
• Allow police to get warrants to obtain information transmitted over the internet and data related to its transmission, including the locations of individuals and data transmitted
• Allow courts to compel other parties to preserve electronic evidence, such as the gun registry database that conservative wants to un-preserve

Not to be confused with bill C11, The Copyright Modernization Act, Toews is willing to sink to the lowest of the low by comparing being against the above bullet points with child pornography, in order to pass his bill. This is ignorant at best and virulently vicious at worst.

Christy Clark's Big BC Gamble

The BC Liberals are in trouble and Christie Clark an unelected former AM talk radio host and Premiere of BC aims to change her party's fortunes ahead of the next provincial election. Drawing on her strengths, Clark is going back to her roots, the demagoguery and browbeat of AM conservative talk radio to bring her message to the masses.

NDP Leadership Debate Fails to Impress: French Edition

What do I think of the NDP French leadership debate?  Unfortunately not much. Most of the candidates do not speak French very well outside of Thomas Mulcair and Brian Topp. Martin Singh's French was laughably bad to the point where I could not understand what he was saying


Most questions and answers were vague and vaporous, one question however, was interesting to me: Why did the Quebecois vote for the NDP in the last federal election. The answers were meek:

Liberals For Life: Special Interests Intent on Hijacking the Federal Liberals

If you are pro life - fine, it's your belief and I respect that, though I do not agree. But if you are pro life then you are not a liberal. So when I read that Trifon Haitas was on a track to win a nomination in the Toronto-Danforth by-election to run as a Liberal pro life candidate I flipped my lid.


A self styled group entitled Liberals for Life issued the following 'urgent' message to Toronto Danforth Liberal members, "Trifon Haitas is the only candidate who is committed to stop the slaughter of unborn children in Canada."  Haitas was also endorsed by the campaign for life coalition, known for their liberal and progressive views.

Holy Housing Crises

OK, let's get something straight. When a one bedroom 650 square foot condo costs over $500,000 to own, you have a housing crises. When there is a waiting list to rent an ~ $850/ month ~ 256 square foot apartment, you have a housing crises. 

The ITC Construction company along with architect Bruce Carscadden, seem to be downsizing living space to keep up with tumbling net worth in an overheated housing market. The company markets the veritable closets to urban dwellers but no one wants to live in a space comparable in size to a jail cell. This is just the latest symptom of a much larger problem:

UPDATE : National Parks Should Not be Privatized

An artist's rendition of the now approved Glacier Discovery Walk

On January 28, I wrote a small piece about the potential privatization of a section of Jasper National Park. Unfortunately the project was approved today which will allow the Brewster Travel company to operate a private, for profit tourist contraption in our national park

Loblaws CEO : Farmers' Markets Will Kill People

Pot calling the kettle black

Galen Weston CEO of Loblaw and wanna be TV star stirred up a controversy when he gave a keynote speech at the Canadian Food Summit, stating that "Farmers' markets are great . . . One day they're going to kill some people though." Mr. Weston is well ahead of the curve because the antibiotic resistant chicken his company sells probably already has killed someone. 

Get Ready for Bill - C11 - The Copyright Modernization Act

Take 39% of the popular vote, add 75 parliamentary speeches, one opposition motion to block legislation, several false starts and you have the recipe for bill C11 - The Copyright Modernization Act.


Copyright law is in desperate need of an upgrade and has not been updated since 1997 but there are several items in bill C11 that are contradictory and alarming along with the debate surrounding the bill itself.


Let's start with the problems surrounding the debate of bill C11, there is none. House Leader Peter Van Loan decided Tuesday night that there was no further need to continue debate and stated that the NDP "wouldn't commit to any reasonable, cooperative approach." Perhaps the NDP are intransigent due to the contradictory nature of the bill outlined below.

It's Official: Leona Aglukkaq: Worst Health Minister Ever!

Minister of Health?

Ever wonder what it would be like to have Grimace or even Ronald McDonald for a Minister of Health? Well folks, fantasy is fast becoming reality in Canada McDonaldland. 


When discussing the pressing issue of trans fats, health minister Leona Aglukkaq stated "I have instructed my department to continue its engagement with stakeholders to identify the challenges and how best to overcome them without adding a regulatory burden."


Aglukkaq continues: "Our government continues to make prevention and health promotion a priority — that includes reducing trans fats in foods."


It's a wonder that anyone in this country could make an informed choice when it comes to their food with anything goes labeling and poor safety standards.

Why must the Gun Registry Data be Purged?

Soon legal to own in Canada,  no registration required

Many issues divide Canadians such as the gun registry. For years the Conservatives have campaigned to scrap the bill, citing a waste of money. Since the Conservative triumph in the most recent federal election, almost everyone expected a swift motion to scrap the bill.


In late October 2011 however, it was decided that all records would be purged as well. If the gun registry was such a waste of money as the conservatives claim, why would they want to purge all of the data surrounding it? At the very least the data could be studied as how to better control the costs of future government programs.

The Politics of Food in Canada

One of the sentinel sites part of C-Enternet: Our best bet in food safety.  Two sites exist, Conservative government refuses to fund the other 3.

There is a common misconception that Canada is a leader in the world when it comes to food safety and accountability. The truth however, is unfortunately quite the opposite. Canada rates as the second worse country belonging to the OECD when it comes to pathogens in our food, with only Ireland ranking worse. Those who would presume to protect Canadian citizens are apathetic at best and in the industry's pocket at worst.


Take Maple Leaf foods, one of Canada's largest agribusinesses, in 2008 they were directly responsible for the death of 23 people during the now infamous listeriosis outbreak. Several reports and investigations were commissioned by the government, including the "lessons learned" memorandum, however, four years later the situation has since deteriorated.

Daily Show/Colbert Report: Weekly Wrap up 01/30/12 - 02/02/12

Writing posts is hard work, so on Fridays for the time being, I am going to let John Stewart or Stephen Colbert do the work for me since I could never hope to match their eloquence.


This week's clip features Daily Show host Aasif Mandvi who interviews several Florida law makers and questions the wisdom of force drug testing welfare recipients.


Video after the jump

BC has the Second Highest Level of Income Inequality in Canada

Should we be concerned that BC has the second highest rate of income inequality in Canada? BC Liberal finance minister Kevin Falcon doesn't think so. “We want to have a high-wage-earning economy in B.C. In Cuba, they don’t have any income inequality because they are all poor. We want to have an economy that is giving the people the opportunity to advance,” Said Falcon.

There are two points that disturb me despite Falcon's hubris. 

For Some, Life Begins at Conception and Ends at Birth

Justice?

Social Conservatives have always made their stance clear when it comes to the sanctity of life. The comments of a certain Canadian Conservative senator however, have been making headlines around the world. Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu stated "Each assassin should have the right to a rope in his cell to make a decision about his or her life."  on the record in defense of the questionable omnibus crime bill.