But Can Hillary Count to 77???

Saying and doing what Liberal MPs failed to get together on last week. Open nominations might be a good idea afterall.

And why is Taber so pissed at the Madame Secretary? Shill!


ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Ignatieff Had to Give the Speech of His Life

That's what the media has been saying for weeks now.

For many of us, if not all of us, all we wanted to hear was that Liberals had a plan. Some plan. Any plan. You know, an alternative to the one being thrown at us every minute of the day by Stephen J. Harper. Something other than "the Conservatives suck".

Well folks, I don't know what else we have planned, but at least Michael Ignatieff, for the first time since December 2008, has the makings of a plan.
Hallelujah! I'll buy into that.




ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Fresh off the Press: Canada150 "TALKING POINTS"

No need to listen into the conference. Here are the results....

The Canada at 150 conference opens in Montreal today

ISSUE

•The Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge conference opens in Montreal today.


KEY MESSAGES

•This conference is about the future of our country – what kind of a Canada we want on our 150th birthday as a nation in 2017, and what we need to be doing now to get there.
•Canada at 150 rejects a fixation with short term politics in favour of the long-term focus we need for Canada to succeed.
•Canadians are watching the world change right in front of them. The challenges Canadians face are big ones – they’re serious, and they won’t be solved overnight.
•Canadians are worried about their jobs today, and the competitiveness of our economy in the future.
•They’re worried about paying for their kid’s education, saving for their retirement and caring for aging parents.
•Canada at 150 will show Canadians that we’re focused on them and their families, now and over the long-term.

KEY MESSAGES RE. ONLINE ENGAGEMENT

•A national dialogue must include all Canadians, which is why Canada at 150 is accessible online via webcast and social media to everyone, no matter if they’re in Goose Bay, Winnipeg, Nunavut or interior B.C.
•Through over 70 satellite events in 130 ridings across the country, online viewers can participate in the discussion. Many of these satellite events will also feature their own guest speakers and discussion panels on issues specific to their communities.
•Over 2,300 people nationwide registered in advance for the live webcast, and will be joined by many others throughout the weekend to submit their own questions and comments via Skype, online chat, Twitter, Facebook and email.
•To thrive in our ever-changing world, we need to hear the perspective of all Canadians. That’s why our online audience is an active, integral part of Canada at 150.
•Leading up to and after each conference session, our online moderator Randy Boissonnault will present Canadians at home and at the satellite events across the country with exclusive interviews with Canada at 150’s thinkers and doers.

BACKGROUND

•The Canada at 150 conference brings together more than 300 participants to Montreal to hear from more than 50 of Canada’s leading thinkers and doers about where Canada must be in 2017 and what we need to do now to get there.
•Canada at 150 tackles five key challenges:
- Jobs Today and Tomorrow: the Productive Society in 2017
- Real Life Issues for Canadian Families: How do we Care?
- Energy, Environment, Economy: Growth and Responsibility in 2017
- The Creative and Competitive Economy
- A Strong Presence in the World of 2017: Commerce, Values and Relationships

•In the lead-up to Montreal, Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff had been leading broad and open dialogue that included more than 50 public roundtables and town halls.
•In the months ahead, the results of Canada at 150 will lead to more public meetings and regional policy forums as the Liberal Party develops its platform.

There you have it folks.




ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Liberal Thinkers? What's Wrong with Liberal Thinkers?

Many have written about the exclusion of Liberal Parliamentarians and Senators (although I'm sure David Smith will be in attendance) at the Canada150 Conference. It may or may not be a bad idea to keep them home (read Dan McTeague into that one). I don't know for sure. But, having said all that, each of those elected MPs should at least have some onus put on them to attend their local gathering of Liberals to the conference...or, at the very least, help organize a local gathering.

But, I digress...

Since the coronation of the new "next Trudeau" - Let's call him Michael - the Liberal Party has engaged the grassroots, which I like to refer to as the true core of the party in a series of bold initiatives. There was the immediate call for a "Change Commission". Along side that came the "Renewal Commission". Hand in hand with these two grassroots-engaging commissions came the very bold and innovative "En Famille", a site designed to stimulate internal Liberal ideas and minimize public discrepancies. Bearing in mind that we just had "The Red Ribbon Task Force" 18 months prior to these new initiatives.

The real icing on the cake though was the coronation - er, Biennial convention - in Vancouver. A POLICY CONVENTION!!! That is to say that we Liberals assembled to put forward OUR OWN BOLD IDEAS in a format that had to be accepted or rejected by the voting members and grassroots Liberals in attendance. These BOLD ideas came from all points across this great country of ours. Coast to coast to coast. Many of them were passed in resolutions. Many were rejected. But, all of them were heard and debated.

That's right. Liberals were hearing other Liberals.

To my point? We have great thinkers right here in the Liberal party, but our party leadership has chosen to ignore them. As for the MPs? I would think that Ken Dryden's knowledge of universal daycare might be a BOLD idea. Stephane Dion and David McGuinty's knowledge of the environment and Kyoto might contribute to a BOLD idea. And, whatever happened to Kelowna for Godsake? I would think that a John McCallum might have an idea or two about fiscal responsibility along with the likes of former finance minister Ralph Goodale.

Come to think of it McCallum, may know a thing or to about defense and foreign policy as well. Perhaps teaming him up with a Bob Rae and a Ujjal Dosanjh could have brought out some BOLD foreign policy ideas.

Anywho, here's my bold idea. Let's listen to what our own members of our party are saying for a change. You know, the members that spend countless hundreds of hours forming policy at the local levels to bring them to the provincial levels to bring them to a national convention to have them passed then ignored. You know? Those member?

Say what you want about Paul Martin Jr. or Stephane Dion, but when they became leaders of this Liberal Party, they both had ideas and an idea where their platform was going. Martin with the three K's - Kelowna, Kids and Kyoto. Dion with his three pillars, social justice, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability (clearly a man ahead of his time). Michael? I have his little red book from September, 2006 still. Perhaps he'd like to read it.

What do I know.


ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

What we Really Needed was a DOERS Conference

My invitation got lost in the mail. I imagine 100,000 other invitations got lost too!

Are you one of the lucky 300? Let us know if you are.

Travers has lots to say about the Montreal Conference.

So does Hepburn.




ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Bob Rae: A Trio of Pragmatists

But, what is he trying to say?

Today Bob posted this message on Facebook. Feel free to guess at his message.

Bob Rae: A Trio of Pragmatists

Bob's Notes|Notes about Bob|Bob's Profile
A Trio of PragmatistsShare
Today at 11:38am

The thing to remember about great leaders is they have colleagues and followers. Successful leaders are neither narcissists nor prophets – great dissenters and commentators are not leaders either. Leadership is about vision, persuasion, and being able to get enough done to adjust the vision and add supporters.

It requires courage and determination as well as an ability to listen, to feel the changing pulse. Intellect is required, but so is emotion. Real eloquence and persuasiveness make connecting possible. Failure to implement means followers will drift away.

Leadership is not prophecy, nor is it simple management. Great prophets and good managers are extraordinarily valuable, but leadership is about arousing real, deep support.

Leaders understand themselves and have a self-confidence that is instantly communicated to others.

Canada has had its share of fine leaders: Sir John A. Macdonald took a right wing reactionary rump of a party and turned it into a national coalition. He understood that reconciliation with Quebec was essential to make Canada happen. He saw the possibility of a country from sea to sea, and then came to realise that a national economy required a policy that would sustain both industry and labour. He had flaws and made mistakes. But nothing can take away from his leadership.

Laurier's courage in understanding what it would take to keep Quebec in the federation led him to reject a wartime coalition. It meant a time in the wilderness, where he took some loyal followers with him, but it also meant he kept the country far more united than it otherwise would have been.

At first glance Lester Pearson might seem too collegial to be a leader, but his knack for surrounding himself with the strongest of colleagues, his ability to listen and learn, and his deep political skills gave us a powerful leadership on foreign policy and the most productive and substantive five-year legislative programme in Canadian history.

The next generation of leaders will be able to draw on these examples, and many others, as we face the challenges of today and tomorrow.

ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Today Liberals Failed Women

There's something I never thought I'd never hear myself write. To make matters worse, I had to hear our leader say -over and over again- "it's a 25 year policy". Point being, if we feel that strongly about it, why wasn't this causcus whipped to support our own motion which was non-binding????????????? What a slap in the face to women every where.

Embarassing really.

UPDATE: In case you thought nobody else noticed this ridiculous performance in the HoC today....

Tim Hudak to Save Ontario.....One Brawl at a Time

Oh Tiny Tim, you make a person laugh. Tiny Tim also hates Ontario being a healthier place to live. Atta boy Timmy. Pesticides and trans fats are good for Ontarians, right Little Tim?

"If I were premier, this would have happened by now," he said Monday of sanctioning the sport. "Quite frankly it's an enormous tourism opportunity."

The Tory leader also said the stance on MMA was typical of the premier.

"Dalton McGuinty has shown a peculiar obsession with regulating the pesticides we can use on our lawn, what snacks your kids can take to school, what kind of breed of dog you can own in the province of Ontario.

"He's increasingly turned into a bit of a premier-dad."

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Lawrence Cannon Infers Bloc are Nazi-like

That's some kind of spin there. Wow. And the media appears to have bit on the bait.

...Actually, I think Cannon's referring to the Bloc as Nazi fighters... I'm really not sure what he's.....is he sayin' that his government is......oh, brother...who sits up at night and draws these parallels...what the...

Cannon slammed the comments as both “outrageous” and “desperate.”

“I hope Mr. Duceppe is not stating that the Canadian government in any way, shape or form, has any tendencies towards being a Nazi government,” he said.

ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

CON MP Dykstra Sends Out 3 10%ers in One Week

St. Catharines Conservative MP, taking Michael Ignatieff's motion over cancellation of 10 percenters with contempt, decided to send out not one, not two, but three junk mail flyers to his contituents last week. One was reportedly 16 pages in length metioning the "Conservative Government" 53 times.

Way to go Ricky boy! That's watching the old purse strings!

I have some renditions of posssible 10 percenters that could be circulated to the fine people in the St. Catharines riding. How about these?




H/T to my favourite photographer.


ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

The Boys Are Back in Town

Another season of F1 racing begins. Aloooooooooooooooonso!!!

UPDATER: LIKE I SAID! ALOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSO!!!




ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Harvard Fellow Calls for Palestine Genocide

This kind of statement, on the other side of a coin, would be considered a hate speech and this guy would be under some kind of serious investigation somewhere...if ya know what I mean. I have zero tolerance for such talk.

Harvard should rid themselves of this man sooner than later.

Here's Rosenberg's Article on the issue.

MJ Rosenberg Senior Fellow Media Matters Action Network
Posted: February 24, 2010 03:08 PM
Yes, Kramer Did Advocate Palestinian Genocide

The other day I happened upon a speech delivered by a professor affiliated with Harvard in which he seemed to advocate reducing the Palestinian population through means akin to genocide (and which match the legal definition of genocide).

The speech was delivered at the prestigious Herzliyah conference in Israel earlier this month. The Herzliyah conference, which has a focus on Israel's foreign policy and strategy, is a Middle East version of the Aspen Institute. Everybody who is anybody wants to be seen there.

One of the featured speakers this year was Dr. Martin Kramer. He is National Security Studies Program Visiting Scholar at Harvard University, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy in Washington (the AIPAC-created Middle East think tank) and incoming president of Shalem College in Jerusalem. (Shalem College is affiliated with the neoconservative Shalem Center which is funded, in large part, by Sheldon Adelson, the union busting and very rightwing casino billionaire.) Next month he will participate in two panels at the AIPAC conference, one with uber-hawk Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA).

Kramer's speech (which was well received) was delivered as part of a panel on "Rising To The Challenge of Radical Indoctrination." Each of the speakers addressed the question of how Israel (and the West in general) could prevail against the terrorist threat, with specific reference to the threat posed by radical Islam.

Kramer's speech was devoted to utilizing demography to defeat terror.

His point is encapsulated here:

"Aging populations reject radical agendas, and the Middle East is no different. Now eventually, this will happen among the Palestinians too, but it will happen faster if the West stops providing pro-natal subsidies for Palestinians with refugee status. Those subsidies are one reason why, in the ten years from 1997 to 2007, Gaza's population grew by an astonishing 40 percent. At that rate, Gaza's population will double by 2030, to three million. Israel's present sanctions on Gaza have a political aim to undermine the Hamas regime but if they also break Gaza's runaway population growth and there is some evidence that they have that might begin to crack the culture of martyrdom which demands a constant supply of superfluous young men. That is rising to the real challenge of radical indoctrination, and treating it at its root."
Writing here at The Huffington Post, at Media Matters Action Network (where I work) and at and Talking Points Memo, I characterized Kramer's remarks as tantamount to a call for genocide.

Here is my logic. Kramer first states the obvious. The populations from whom terrorists arise are usually young men without economic prospects. Kramer calls them "superfluous young men," a repulsive term but accurate in its own way.

Palestinian children, growing up under occupation in the West Bank, or locked in the Gaza ghetto by Israeli and Egyptian border guards and robbed of life's necessities by the Israeli blockade, are more likely to become radicals or terrorists than kids with some hope for the future.

People like me, who support ending the occupation of the West Bank and the blockade of Gaza and implementing the two-state solution, often cite the need to give these kids something to live for.

Repression, occupation and joblessness breeds fanaticism and terrorism. No doubt about that. End the occupation, subsidize economic development, and you start defeating the radicals.

But Kramer, who supports the occupation, does not favor reducing the appeal of radicalism by improving the lives of Palestinians. He believes the solution is ensuring that there are fewer Palestinian boys who might grow up to be radicals. "Aging populations reject radical agendas, and the Middle East is no different," he said.

How do we accomplish this aging? "Now eventually, this will happen among the Palestinians too, but it will happen faster if the West stops providing pro-natal subsidies for Palestinians with refugee status" (i.e., all Gazans and most West Bankers). He says that it is those "pro-natal subsidies" that are why the Palestinian population has grown.

But what are "pro-natal" subsidies? They are, one can assume, the aid provided by international organizations that keeps Palestinians alive and thereby enable to produce and sustain children.

Kramer elaborates in a subsequent piece. In response to the argument that the international community does not provide Palestinians with "pro-natal subsidies," Kramer explodes: "This is a lie. UNWRA (the United Nations agency that provides support for Palestinian refugees) assures that every child with 'refugee' status will be fed and schooled regardless of their parents' own resources...."

So the "pro-natal subsidies" to which he refers are food! That explains why he points to the success of Israel's current sanctions. "Israel's present sanctions on Gaza have a political aim-undermine the Hamas regime-but if they also break Gaza's runaway population growth-and there is some evidence that they have," that will break the back of radicalism.

Of course, there is only one way that the blockade can break "Gaza's runaway population growth." It is by denying Palestinians the wherewithal to live, to reproduce, and to keep their babies alive.

Genocide?

Is suppression of a particular population in this way genocide? Or must that term be reserved for the mass murder of grown adults and their children?

The answer can be found in the Geneva Convention on Genocide, to which Israel and almost every other country in the world is a signatory.

The Convention on Genocide bans "bans killing of members of any racial, ethnic, national or religious group because of their membership in that group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, inflicting on members of the group conditions of life intended to destroy them, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, and taking group members' children away from them and giving them to members of another group."

And it is that -- withholding aid to prevent births within the group -- that Kramer advocates. He even calls the birth of Palestinian babies "extreme demographic armament."

Is he advocating genocide? Imagine if he called for eliminating subsidies (food stamps, etc) to prevent live births of African-Americans, Latinos or American Indians. Would it be considered advocating genocide then? To ask the question is to answer it.

ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Reasonable Accomodation For Jaffer

David Akin tells us the story.

Jaffer judge is a Tory
by DavidAkin on Tue 09 Mar 2010 04:40 PM EST | Permanent Link | Cosmos
My colleague Linda Nguyen reports:

Former Alberta MP Rahim Jaffer plead guilty on Tuesday to one count of careless driving and was fined $500 in an Orangeville, Ont., courtroom.

Mr. Jaffer, 37, was initially charged with cocaine possession, impaired driving and speeding stemming from an incident last September in Palgrave, Ont., about 60 kilometres north of Toronto. Those charges were withdrawn Tuesday by the Crown, who said that there was no reasonable prospect of conviction.

"I'm sure you can recognize a break when you see one," Judge Doug Maund told Mr. Jaffer before fining him . . .

Jaffer's former caucus colleagues immediately tried to distance themselves from the decision and the case. The line from all Conservative MPs, when asked, was that it was a provincial matter, that the prosecutor in the case was a provincial appointee. Public Safety Minister Vic Toews even went far enough to point out that it was a Liberal administration in Ontario responsible for the case.

Well, turns out the judge in the case, Doug Maund is a long-time Tory:

*When Brian Mulroney was prime minister, Maund was the chief of staff to Mulroney's health minister Perrin Beatty.

*He backed Kim Campbell in the leadership race to succeed Mulroney

*He was appointed to the Ontario bench in October, 2000 by the Ontario attorney general of the day, none other than current federal finance minister Jim Flaherty.

ONTARIO! Ours to Recover

Our Condolences to the Dion Family

Subject: Denyse Dion (née Kormann) 1929 - 2010
[ENGLISH TEXT FOLLOWS FRENCH TEXT]



C’est avec tristesse que nous avons appris la nouvelle du décès de Mme Denyse Dion (née Kormann), mère de Stéphane Dion, député de Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

La famille recevra les condoléances le vendredi 5 mars, de 14 h à 17 h et de 19 h à 22 h ainsi que le samedi 6 mars de 9 h à 10 h 30 au

Centre funéraire du Plateau

693, avenue Nérée-Tremblay, Québec

Les funérailles auront lieu le samedi 6 mars à 11 h en l’église Saint-Yves (2470, rue Triquet, Québec).

Vos témoignages de sympathie peuvent se traduire par un don à la Société canadienne du cancer, 1040 avenue Belvédère, bureau 214, Québec, (Québec), G1S 3G3. Les enveloppes seront disponibles au salon.

La direction des funérailles a été confiée à la Coopérative Funéraire des Deux Rives (Anse et Plateau). Renseignements au 693, avenue Nérée-Tremblay, Québec, G1N 1R8. Téléphone : (418) 688-2411. Télécopieur : (418) 688-2414. Courriel : residence@coopfuneraire2rives.com.


*******************



It is with sadness that we learned of the passing of Mrs Denyse Dion (née Kormann), mother of Stéphane Dion, MP for Saint-Laurent—Cartierville.

Friends may pay their respects Friday, March 5th, from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., and from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., as well as Saturday, March 6 from 9 a.m. to 10:30. p.m. at

Centre funéraire du Plateau

693, avenue Nérée-Tremblay, Québec

The funeral will be held Saturday, March 6, at 11 a.m. at Église Saint-Yves (2470, rue Triquet, Québec).

In remembrance, contributions to the Canadian Cancer Society (1040 Belvédère Ave., Suite 214, Québec, Québec, G1S 3G3) would be appreciated. Envelopes will be available at the funeral home.

Funeral arrangements are being made by the Coopérative Funéraire des Deux Rives (Anse et Plateau) : 693, avenue Nérée-Tremblay, Québec, G1N 1R8 Téléphone : (418) 688-2411 Télécopieur : (418) 688-2414 Courriel : residence@coopfuneraire2rives.com.



ONTARIO! Ours to Recover