CANADIAN LABOUR NEWFOUNDLAND:

TROUBLE IN PARADISE

It is a very old story out in Newfoundland way. Fish processing companies come and go, opening, closing and reopening elsewhere. All, of course, to keep labour costs as low as possible no matter what the effect on local communities.

The Ocean Choice International company is cut from the usual cloth. They have recently laid off 400 workers in Port Union and Marystown. This has come along with a "request" to the Newfoundland government to grant the company permanent exemption to ship fish outside of the province for processing. In return the company "promises" to double the number of jobs in Fortune, another fishing community, and by some miracle make them year around. The likelihood of them holding to this promise is about the same as a snowball gambling in the netherworld.

Laid off workers and their supporters gathered at the Paradise Newfoundland headquarters of Ocean Choice to voice their own demands. The workers are represented by the CAW affiliated Fish, Food and Allied Workers Union. Look to their website for more news of this dispute. Here's the basic story from the CBC. Molly has to say that she is doubtful about the good faith of the opposition politicians who addressed the rally.

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Protesters rally at OCI headquarters
Labour leaders, opposition politicians address crowd
By Rob Antle, CBC News
About 150 protesters gathered at Ocean Choice International headquarters in Paradise Tuesday to rally against the company.

Former fish plant workers bussed in from Port Union and Marystown to hear labour leaders and opposition politicians deliver broadsides against OCI.

George Feltham, an inshore fisherman and a vice-president with the Fish, Food and Allied Workers union, condemned the company.

"This is not only an attack on plants, this is an attack on the fishery as a whole," Feltham said.

FFAW president Earle McCurdy said the industry is at a "fundamental turning point" right now.

More than 150 people, waving placards and chanting slogans, protested at OCI headquarters on Tuesday. (Rob Antle/CBC)He said the fight against plant closures must continue.

"The company, the union and the provincial government have a responsibility to leave no stone unturned to do everything possible to save those jobs, save those plants, save those communities," McCurdy said.

'Moaned, whined and sooked'
Newfoundland and Labrador Federation of Labour president Lana Payne slammed the company, saying Ocean Choice "moaned, whined and sooked" about a request from the provincial government for more information.

On Monday, OCI officials said that critical comments by Fisheries Minister Darin King were hurting the company's reputation with its global clientele.

But Payne said the real damage came when OCI laid off 400 people at its Port Union and Marystown facilities weeks before Christmas.

Workers want the shuttered fish plants reopened. They also want the government to deny OCI's request for exemptions to ship unprocessed fish out of the province.

The company is promising to nearly double the number of jobs at its fish plant in Fortune, and make those jobs year round, if the province grants its request.

The government has already turned down OCI's request for permanent exemptions, but no decision has been made on temporary ones.

Protesters propped placards against the OCI headquarters building at the end of Tuesday's rally. (Rob Antle/CBC)The company is sharing information with the government, and a decision on that could be made within weeks.

Opposition reaction
The leaders of the province's two opposition parties spoke in support of the protesters' cause.

Liberal Leader Dwight Ball accused the Tory administration of lacking vision on the fishery.

"This Dunderdale government has not been proactive, nor have they been creative," Ball said. "They have not been strong advocates for strenghtening our fishery."

NDP Leader Lorraine Michael said Fisheries Minister Darin King took a step in the right direction when he turned down OCI's request for permanent exemptions last week, but pledged to keep his feet to the fire.

"The resource belongs to the people," Michael said.

CANADIAN POLITICS QUÉBEC:

POLITICIANS LEAD CHARGE AGAINST PENSIONS IN QUÉBEC:

It seems that in almost all countries there is a concerted effort to deny workers the pension benefits that they have worked and struggled for. Canada is, of course, no different, and the following open letter from the Canadian Union Of Public Employees (CUPE) speaks of how this attack is playing out in the Province of Québec.

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Politicians attack pension plans and keep Quebecers in the dark

The following open letter from CUPE Quebec was recently published by a number of media outlets (Le Devoir, Cyberpresse).


The end of 2011 was marked by an unprecedented attack against the pension plans of hundreds of thousands of Quebec workers. Quebec City's mayor Régis Labeaume is leading the attack and requesting that the Quebec government change pension plans to cut costs.

Keeping Quebecers in the dark is part of a ploy and an ideological attack on the working conditions of the middle‑class. Countless omissions (presumably intentional) are clouding the issue and making it impossible to hold a healthy debate. Montreal's mayor Gérald Tremblay is threatening to do the same.

It's time to set the record straight so that Quebecers understand what is truly at stake.

The crisis

The financial crisis is largely to blame for the current strain on certain pension plans. Overall, pension plans simply have not perform as well as expected and the cause of this financial collapse is clearly the worldwide financial crisis.

We were falsely promised that the “free market” and “invisible hand” would lead us to an era of unprecedented prosperity, and more market stability and efficiency; when in reality, it brought nothing but confusion, fraud, inequity and crisis.

Workers have consistently stood-up against this financial carelessness, using unions and progressive politicians as their voice.

However, despite the opposition representatives of the 1 per cent have still managed to force the 99 per cent into a corner. And now the blame is being laid on the last bastion of the middle class: unionized workers and their pension plans.

The challenge now is how do we solve the pension plan dilemma?

First, take a deep breath. Second, we need to look at the long-term. We must measure the solvency of pension plans over the span of a career. Yes, there may be losses, but there is also an equal chance of incurring a surplus (which would be higher and more stable if our leaders regulated our financial markets more wisely).

What about surpluses?

For years there was a surplus. However, when that was the case did you ever hear Quebec municipalities offering to lower Quebecers' taxes due to a surplus in their employees’ pension plans? Of course not.

During those golden years when employers were making contributions directly from pension fund surpluses, they argued that they were fully within their rights. They claimed that any surplus belonged to them since they were the only ones responsible in the event of a deficit.

They were quite comfortable sticking their hands in the cookie jar whenever it was convenient. But now that the good days are behind them and pension plans are struggling with deficits, workers expect their employers to do the right thing. It is their duty to take responsibility for the deficits, just as they had promised.

Now we're beginning to see that employers never really thought they would have to deal with deficits and they are doing everything in their power to avoid taking responsibility. At the very least, is it not normal for workers to expect that their employers return the money they “legally stole”?

Possible solutions

Trade unions know that they must take action and that sitting back and doing nothing is not an option. The main objective must be to keep these pension plans, but solutions must be case-specific in order to make them more structurally viable.

Unions are already doing their part by discussing possible solutions with employers. CUPE is committed to a process of lengthy consultations to find ways to secure our pension plans. It is our duty to keep senior citizens above the poverty line to not further the gap between the rich and poor.

In fact, the current struggle for the labour movement is not only to uphold private or supplemental pension plans, but also to significantly improve public pension plans, including the Quebec Pension Plan and the Canada Pension Plan. In turn, this would help protect Quebecers against poverty while reducing the cost of other pension plans.

For the sake of all Quebecers, we must act now. As trade unions that is what we are working towards!

CANADIAN POLITICS WINNIPEG:

HARPER ESCAPES RIDICULE BY THE SKIN OF HIS TEETH:

Here it was last Tuesday, and Molly was zipping along the roads of Winnipeg dodging the spring crop of Grand Canyon sized potholes. It was local news time on the radio, and one item caught my interest, even more than the ever deceptive "puddles" that could easily be a car swallowing shaft entrance to a pit so deep you can see a red coloured guy with horns, a tail and cloven hoofs at the bottom.


Now just for the info of non-Canadians we are into an federal election campaign, and Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative Party, was making a pit stop in this benighted town. Seems Sneaky Stevie was up to having a little star glitter rubbed off on him, and his apparatchiks arranged that he would visit the home of popular culture wonder Maria Aragon in what one media report called "a rough, west-central Winnipeg neighbourhood". Now "rough" and "west central" are largely synonymous in this town.


Aragon is a ten year old girl who went straight to the heart of pop culture celebrity last February when a video posted to her sister's You Tube account of her performance of Lady Gaga's song 'Born This Way' caught Lady Gaga's attention. LG posted a twitter link to the video, and within 6 days it had received over 26 million views (It now stands at about 27.4 million views-Molly ). The rest is history. On March 3 Aragon performed with LG in Toronto. She has also appeared on the Ellen Degeneres show.


What does all this mean gentle reader ? Well...Lady Gaga just so happens to be the most followed person on Twitter in the whole big world. Personally I have little doubt that there are at least ten times as many people in the world who now know of Maria Aragon as compared to people who would know who on Earth Stephen Harper is, let alone pick him out of a lineup of other corporate criminals. This Aragon kid is BIG, and her appearances have probably increased the number of people in the world who know there is a place called Winnipeg by over 50 times.


Well Sneaky Stevie isn't going to let an opportunity like this go by. His local flunkies rapidly contact the Aragon family and "offer" them a media spot of 'Maria Meets Stephen". Now understand that Stevie is known for many things but definitely not for his kind, gentle, forgiving nature. Obvious exploitative political plug or not this sort of thing would be called "Un'offerta che non potrà rifutare" in the mountains of Sicily.


The day arrives, and so does Stevie. The first jolt they get is when the Aragon family insists that everybody, media, flunkies (campaign workers) and even the Harpers, have to remove their shoes before entering. I honestly love these people. Then it's Stephen and Maria at the piano as she sings out her version of 'Born This Way'. Now understand that said song has a very clear and direct point about the acceptability of gay love and sex. It's also, however, the song that made Maria famous so Harper keeps that old fundamentalist concrete plug firmly up his ass and doesn't vary his facial expression one tiny bit. What, after all, is a little fundamentalist so-called "morality" when votes are at stake ? Stevie got through it though I suspect he had to spend two hours on the can that night to finally pass that plug.


Almost done, but then Stevie slips on the banana peel. Somebody from the crowd of media and hacks suggests he take a turn at the piano himself and sing a duet with Maria. "Hot ziggedy zam", thought Harper, a photo-op beyond belief. Understand that Harper fancies himself something of a musician and singer. To be fair he is OK, but a combo of Glen Gould and Pavarotti he is not.


"Do you know any Beetles' tunes says Harper to the little girl. A sweet innocent voice pipes up, "Only 'Imagine'". SLAM; Speaking of Imagine I imagine the sound of the trap closing on Sneaky. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit", he thinks. Now understand that it is one thing to sit quietly through a rendition of a song saying that gay people are OK. It is quite another to have to join in and mouth the words to 'Imagine' which pretty well runs the full gamut of things Harper dislikes. Especially as the song was written while Lennon was in his full lefty phase. Having recovered from an almost terminal case of chintzy new age religiosity, Lennon felt obliged, like an ex-alcoholic or an ex-smoker, to throw his atheism into the song with all the subtlety of a front end loader.


You can practically hears the gears whirling and see the sparks flying off Sneaky's head as his weasel-like brain frantically tries to find a way out of this dilemma. Here's the problem. Singing the actual words of the song will not endear him to other members of the local Ottawa congregation of the Blessed Reformed Pentecostal Evangelical Church of the Holy Inquisitor. Whisper, whisper, gossip, gossip. On the other hand both refusing or actually singing different words in the offending portions will make him a laughing stock not just nationally but probably internationally as well. Stevie can see his brilliant little photo-op circling the drain and threatening to make him a world wide laughing stock.


What to do ? The correct answer would have been to lie and say he didn't know the song and suggest another singer. Stevie, however, panics. First he tries, "do you know any other Beetles' songs ? What about 'Hey Jude' ? "No, only 'Imagine'", says the sweet childish voice.


By this time I'm practically ecstatic. Now I have to admit to a personality fault here. It's the reason why I would make a piss poor smuggler. Lacking a concrete butt plug I suppose that I couldn't equal Stevie in controlling my facial expression. I am, however, pretty good. The problem is that, just after clearing the exit door I would feel an overwhelming urge to turn around and give a combined middle finger and cocked elbow salute while loudly insulting Customs for not catching me. In other words I find "gottcha-now-you-son-of-a-bitch" moments of triumph irresistible. Even if the triumph is somebody else's.


This is beyond belief. I'm listening in as a ten year old girl traps one of the most sly, slippery, conspiring, mendacious lower forms of reptilian life that has ever "graced" Canadian politics. Stevie tries one more tack saying, "I have my own lyrics for that song". Probably true, but he ain't getting Maria to sing them. This bizarre proposal freezes in midair, and Stevie resigns himself to a lot of strange looks at the soul saving gatherings for years to come. Maria sang the first verse :
"Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No Hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today."


And now it's Stevie's turn for verse # 2. His pants ripple as his anal sphincter tightens as hard as possible on that old concrete enema.
"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace."


While singing the "and no religion too" part Stevie's amygdala took over and he had to say "I'm going to get in trouble for that one". One can only speculate if this was actual worry, an attempt at damage control or perhaps a rare sighting of a bird most have thought extinct for decades...Stephen Harper's sense of humour. Who knows ?


While gathering up their shoes and leaving the Aragon household some of the reporters present decided it might be interesting to ask Maria's father if he is a Conservative supporters. This was out of the question, and Stevie's thugs (excuse me, "campaign staff") made it very plain that the media would have no chance to talk to the family.


Thus ended Sneaky's attempt to catch as much of the star dust as possible from the fame that surrounds Maria Aragon. Hardly as successful as he might have hoped. I have to say that my opinion of Maria and her family is that they are some of the smartest people in this city. One thing they may not know, however, is what to do now. My usual advise to anyone who lets such a circus through their door is simple. Phone Poulin's Exterminators, the oldest such company in Winnipeg. Don't think you are safe just because the politician and his gangsters have gone out the door. For all you know they could have laid eggs, and as anarchists through the centuries have found out to their sorrow government pests are harder to get rid of once developed than any other pest on Earth.


Now, courtesy of a secret agent the law firm of Molly, Molly, Molly and Mew has placed in the PMO are the actual words of Sneaky Stevie's own version of 'Imagine'. In full. You can see what Harper's version is just as it is sung in intimate moments in the Harper household.. An exclusive to Molly's Blog Enjoy gentle reader:
"Imagine there's no freedom
It's easy if you try.
All proles below us
We can do it on the sly
Imagine all the wages
Much lower than today

CHORUS
You may say I'm a tyrant
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
As consultant 901

Imagine there's no unions
It isn't hard to do
Nothing but planes and prisons
And no high pensions too
Imagine all lower people
Living life in debt

CHORUS

Imagine there's no welfare
I wonder if you can
No need for medicare
Woman once more under man
Imagine all the people
Working for $10 a day

CHORUS

CANADIAN ANARCHIST MOVEMENT VICTORIA:

POLICE RAID CAMAS INFOSHOP IN VICTORIA:

On Friday November 5 police entered the Camas Books and Infoshop on Quadra Street in Victoria BC and removed computer equipment and other documents for which they had obtained a warrant. The statement of the bookstore follows as originally published in the Vancouver Media Co-op.

This raid followed hard on the heels of an incident in the early morning hours where the car and garage of the Mayor of Victoria Dean Fortin was vandalized. the group which did this sent an email explaining their actions as retaliation for the City of Victoria's continuing war on the homeless. You can read their communique here.

Now I can't say that I am much of a fan of petty vandalism as a "political" tactic. It accomplishes nothing, and feeds nothing but delusions of importance amongst both the perpetrators and their supporters. It was interesting, however, to note how quickly almost all of the "poverty industry" organizations in Victoria fell in line to not only distance themselves from the action (understandable) but more significantly to praise the Mayor for being a good friend of the homeless. I wonder if being recipients of government money has anything to do with such loyalty ? The one notable exception was 'Committee to End Homelessness' who actually voiced criticism of the City's policies.

Another significant thing to note is the speed and diligence of the police response in this case. Something about having their boss pissed off I guess, and having to appear to be diligently hunting down the vandals. I would have serious doubts that any incriminating evidence could be found on the computers at Camas Books. At best it is a data gathering operation for names, addresses, phone numbers, etc. of people unconnected to the vandalism. More busy work for Victoria's equivalent of a Red Squad. I wonder if the Mayor is going to fall for it ?

But before we go on to the communique from Camas consider one more thing. I don't know all that much about Victoria, but I do know that in the city where I live the police would be highly unlikely to even show up for a broken window and some graffiti. Let alone go through the motions of pretending to search for the vandals. Once more something about actually personally pissing off the boss. Some are indeed served and protected better than others.

In any case here is the communique from Camas.

CBCBCBCBCBCB
Police Raid Camas Educational Bookstore
by Camas Educational Bookstore


NOVEMBER 8, 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Police Raid Camas Educational Bookstore
Victoria, BC on November 5, 2010: the Victoria Police Department entered Camas Books, 2590 Quadra Street with a warrant to search and seize computer equipment and documents. Four volunteers were detained while officers searched the premise, seizing 2 computers, a Camas Educational Society annual report, and Shaw and Telus account bills.

The Camas Educational Society is a not-for-profit registered society that functions collectively to operate the volunteer run Camas Books and Info. Camas Books first opened its doors in September 2007, with the intention of providing a voice for social justice perspectives, and helping to foster a spirit of solidarity with other such struggles taking place globally. The Camas Collective has a mandate to keep the store and space as accessible and inclusive as possible in order to provide free access to internet and print information that follows our mission statement, akin to a library.

The Camas collective has received no information from police about any incident that the search and seizure may be pertaining to, or what lead police to the book store.

For more information on Camas Books or the Camas Educational Society go to www.camas.ca

Media Contacts: Meaghan MacDonald Email: Meaghan.j.macdonald(at)gmail.com Phone: 250-896-7588

HUMOUR:

HALLOWEEN FUNNY CANDY PART 7:

Politighouls maybe ?

HUMOUR:

HEALTH WARNINGS FOR POLITICIANS:

HUMOUR:

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST:

CANADIAN LABOUR-LANARK COUNTY ONTARIO:

CUPE WITHDRAWS PICKETS FROM LANARK COUNTY GROUP HOMES-STRIKE CONTINUES:

The following from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) tells of how they have withdrawn picket lines from outside group homes managed by the Lanark County Community Living Association. No doubt the bad public image generated by these pickets pretty well required CUPE to pull the picket lines. This, however, leaves a lot of questions unanswered. Strikes at public service workplaces are not like strikes at factories. There is an inevitable third party involved- that part of the public affected by the service that is being delivered. If anything such stokes require a multitude of creative new tactics if they are to succeed. Community outreach is of the utmost importance in such situations, and traditional picket lines are often very much beside the point in whether such strikes are won or lost. This is a humble suggestion, being as the particular situation of certain strikes may make it unrealistic, but the idea of an actual "take-over" of a workplace (once sufficient community links were developed of course) might be an option that would put the onus of continued care on government and management rather than on striking workers. It would depend, of course, and what is happening in Lanark County at the very least points to the need to go beyond "tried and untrue" traditional union tactics. Whatever else one may say it is sure that once one has to depend on politicians that a strike is indeed lost. Here's the story.

CLCLCLCLCLCLCL

CUPE responds to picket concerns, Hillier pushes for settlement - CUPE to withdraw picket lines from group homes but will keep watch for safety ;
Carleton Place, Ont. – The Canadian Union of Public Employees will withdraw picket lines outside Community Living Association-Lanark County group homes in response to community concerns, said Sid Ryan, President of CUPE Ontario, at a joint news conference today with MPP Randy Hillier, who called for a settlement to the strike.

“We are withdrawing our picket lines in response to the concerns of families and advocates because we feel it’s crucial to be responsive to our community,” Ryan said. “We remain alarmed, however, at the number of questionable incidents we have either witnessed directly or have heard about, so we will continue to keep a watchful eye.”

CUPE has recorded a number of safety concerns since “replacement workers” started doing union members’ jobs in early July. CUPE 1521.02, the union representing 90 striking developmental services workers in Lanark County, has reported these incidents to the agency’s executive director, Rick Tutt, who just dismissed them. CUPE has now brought its concerns directly to the Ministry of Community and Social Services.

Member of Provincial Parliament Randy Hillier said he appreciated the union’s move.

“When reasonable people work together, they can find reasonable solutions, and I commend CUPE for leading the way,” Hillier said. “I look forward to seeing the agency following suit, getting back to table and negotiating a settlement. This dispute needs to get settled.”

CUPE thanked Hillier for working to find a solution to the current impasse, and urged the employer to get back to the table for genuine negotiations.

“We thank MPP Hillier for his help getting the two sides back to the table,” Ryan said. “Our priority is making sure the people we support get the care they deserve. Community Living Lanark has to join us now and meet us halfway.”

Members of CUPE 1521.02 have been on strike since early July in an effort to stop the erosion of working conditions and the quality of service delivered to Lanark residents with intellectual disabilities.
Contact:
David Robbins, CUPE Communications

613-878-1431

David Shostal, Executive Assistant to Randy Hillier

613-267-8239

AMERICAN LABOUR:

FREE SPEECH, BUT NOT FOR FIREFIGHTERS:

The following item about the machinations of the Mayor of Providence Rhode Island comes from the AFL-CIO Blog. It seems this good politico thinks that workers have to Register" before they can picket the little party he is throwing for other two bit head honchos (the US Conference of mayors). Nice of the AFL-CIO to notice his party affiliation. Too bad they have such unreserved trust in the federal administration of the same party. One wonders about whether Obama and crew will be any different in situations in the years to come.

LLLLLLLLLLLL

Free Speech in Rhode Island? Gotta Register:
by Tula Connell, Jun 12, 2009
Providence, R.I., wants protesters to register in advance. It even has provided a special online registration form and “Public Viewing Guidelines” (h/t to Pat Crowley).

How thoughtful.

Seems the upcoming U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting set for that city has put the spotlight on Providence Mayor David Cicilline’s seven-year-long battle against union members. Cicilline refuses to bargain a fair contract, forcing the union into arbitration over each contract, and even going so far as to introduce anti-union ordinances and calling for similar state legislation. The Democratic mayor—yep, a Dem—couches his attacks against members of Fire Fighters (IAFF) Local 799 as saving taxpayer money. In reality, as of 2008, Cicilline’s mounting legal bills against the union hit $1 million, with the city losing every court decision.

Now, Cicilline, who lobbied hard for the conference to take place in Providence, has national egg on his face: The White House announced that Vice President Joe Biden and a delegation of top administration officials—including Labor Secretary Hilda Solis—will not cross the Fire Fighters picket line to speak at the conference. Quite a black eye for a city expecting 1,200 people from around the country, including 180 mayors and their families. And for a mayor who’s watching his aspirations for governor’s office tank along with his sinking approval ratings.
And so:

The city, foreseeing a large turnout of picketing firefighters, police officers, and other advocacy groups, is asking protesters to register for the U.S. Conference of Mayors, the annual gathering of mayors that is coming to the city starting Friday.

Payback, anyone?

Lest the public worry about that pesky First Amendment, Peter Gaynor, director of the city’s Emergency Management Agency, assures the public that the city wants to honor the free speech of protesters “while also ensuring the safety of those who live, work and visit the city while the conference is in town.”

The mayor’s draconian measures continue his long line of attacks against union workers—the same workers who, by the way, believed his promises to negotiate a fair contract and so helped elect him in his first run for mayor. Yet, since that 2002 election, Cicilline consistently has opposed fire fighters. As IAFF points out:

Local 799’s last contract expired in 2005 and Providence fire fighters have been forced to arbitrate their last seven collective agreements. Mayor Cicilline has fought Local 799 in arbitration and lost nearly every battle. The mayor has fostered additional ill-will by introducing state legislation and city ordinances against Providence fire fighters.

Kudos to the White House, where press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters:

Because of the circumstances surrounding the conference, administration officials will not be participating in this year’s meeting….We have always respected picket lines, and administration officials will not cross this one.

IAFF General President Harold Schaitberger said:

We appreciate the Obama administration’s support of fire administration’s unqualified support for workers and organized labor.

Local 799 President Paul Doughty says fire fighters and other local union members plan to picket throughout the four-day Mayor’s conference.

We tried to settle our differences with the mayor, but he continues to antagonize the hard-working fire fighters of Local 799, so we will use this opportunity to shed light on the mayor’s epic mismanagement and his disdain for workers.

In 2008, 114 on-duty firefighters died while doing their jobs, up from 102 on-duty firefighter deaths in 2007, both sharp increases over the 89 firefighter fatalities in 2006.

It’s real easy to throw the power of the mayor’s office around to stall public employee contracts. Not so easy to get up and do a job where your life is at risk every day.

This is a cross-post from the Firedoglake blog.

CANADIAN POLITICS:

STEPHEN HARPER'S TACTICS:

The following is a reprint from the Harper Index,(by the way, subscribe to this excellent list-Molly) devoted to keeping a close eye on our shifty Prime Minister. What it shows is a pattern of behavior that will undoubtedly be exasperated should sneaky Stevie ever achieve majority government. This pattern is highly authoritarian and anti-democratic. Read on....

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INSULTS, DISCOURTESY AND DISRESPECT MARK HARPER TEAM'S BEHAVIOR:

Targets have included AIDS activists, Nobel Prize winners and Road to Avonlea star.

OTTAWA, April 21, 2008:

A big reason many Canadians are uncomfortable with Stephen Harper may be the vindictiveness with which he and his team snub political adversaries and others with opposing views. Last week it was Elections Commissioner William Corbett. Before that it was multiple Genie and Gemini winner, and Oscar nominee, Sarah Polley.

News reports last week carried excerpts of a Conservative news release which attacked Polley for her advocacy against Bill C-10, which would give the federal government opportunities to censor artists by retroactively withdrawing previously approved tax credits. "... During the 2004 Federal Election, Sarah Polley was an active member of the 'Stop Harper' campaign, even attaching her name to a news release attacking the now Prime Minister." read the release, which quoted Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre as saying, "Individuals with vested personal and political interests should be honest with Canadians on what their true intentions are." These are tough words to choose for a Canadian cultural icon best known as Sarah Stanley in the TV series Road to Avonlea, based on a character in L.M. Montgomery's "The Story Girl".

The personal nature of the attack on Polley brought to mind the Harper team's lengthy record of personal or ad hominem attacks going beyond civil requirements of discussion and debate, some of which are listed, in alphabetical order, below. HarperIndex.ca encourages readers to submit their own examples, with references if possible, to HarperIndex list entries. As more are received, we will add them to the list.
*AIDS activists felt snubbed and embarrassed when Harper refused to go to the International Aids Conference in Toronto.
*Bains, Navdeep [reader-contributed] is the Liberal MP for whom Harper claimed the Liberals voted against the extension of two clauses in the Anti-Terror Act in order to "protect". (His father-in-law is a potential witness at investigative hearings to advance the Air India criminal probe.)
*Bono, the international rock star and AIDS activist, was snubbed by Stephen Harper at the G8 summit, who said he was too busy to discuss the African AIDS crisis with him. "Meeting celebrities isn't my shtick," Harper said. "That was the shtick of the previous guy."
*Black History Breakfast Clubs were snubbed by Harper on a scheduled visit to Ottawa in February, 2007. While students from an inner-city breakfast club in Toronto had the opportunity to tour Parliament, Harper stayed far away from the quick, scheduled hello. He failed even to send an MP in his place to the event, scheduled as part of Black History Month. Every other political party with seats in Parliament sent a representative to greet the visitors. Present were the deputy leader of the Liberal opposition party, Michael Ignatieff, and prominent NDP MP Olivia Chow, who is the wife of NDP leader Jack Layton.
*Calvert, Lorne, at the time premier of Saskatchewan, was not alerted by Harper of a major federal-provincial announcement in that province in 2007, presumably because Harper was miffed about Calvert's strand on equalization, nor was he invited to it. Not inviting Calvert violated well-established protocol in a way clearly intended to humiliate.
*Casey, Bill, is the Conservative MP from Nova Scotia who was dumped from the Conservative caucus over his dispute with Harper over federal equalization payments, and the ownership and taxation of underground oil and gas resources from his province. During the same week in October 2007 that Stephen Harper and Peter MacKay announced the Atlantic Accord would more or less stay in force (details have yet to be provided), Harper said Casey would not be allowed to run for the Conservatives in Cumberland-Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, against the wishes of the local riding association.
*Climate scientists. Nobel Prize-winning scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were snubbed by the Harper government when it boycotted a celebration for them staged in February 2008 on Parliament Hill, hosted by the Swedish ambassador, and featuring speeches from all party leaders except Harper.
*Dion, Stéphane, the current Liberal leader is being routinely subjected to the same sort of graphic mockery (see the Conservative Party website) as Jean Chrétien, the former prime minister - which they only get away with because he isn't disfigured. (Chrétien, turned the tables on the Conservatives, long before Harper, in the 1993 federal election, in part by making the most of a Conservative campaign ad that appeared to exploit his facial disfigurement.)
*Hawkes, Jim, was the Conservative MP who was Harper's first political boss and the person Harper defeated to first win a seat for the Reform Party in 1993 in Calgary Southwest.
*Ipsos-Reid, the polling firm, was blasted by Harper in 2002 for having Liberal leanings, an accusation he was forced to retract.
*Johnson-Sirleaf, Ellen, the Liberian president and the first woman elected as a head of state in Africa, and who Time Magazine named as one of the top 100 people shaping the world today, got passed over for an official welcome from Harper when she visited Ottawa earlier this month. She met with foreign affairs minister Peter MacKay, but was overlooked by Harper, who met with Russian goalie Vladislav Tretiak the same day.
*Keen, Linda, chair of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, was attacked personally in terms of partisanship and competence in the House of Commons by Stephen Harper and natural resources minister Gary Lunn, producing a chill in the civil service.
*Leadbeater, Alan, second in command at the Canada Information Commissioner's Office, was quietly let go in May 2007, only months after he criticized the Conservative government for reneging on promises to strengthen Access to Information laws. Robert Marleau, a former Clerk of the House of Commons, had recently been hired to replace John Reid, the outspoken former commissioner. Marleau claimed he needed a "flatter organization" and did not need a second in command. Leadbeater, who had worked in the office for more than 15 years, was told he was no longer needed and was immediately escorted from the building.
*MacDonald, Rodney, Nova Scotia's premier, was snubbed in July 2007 when Harper went to Halifax for a funding announcement without informing him. The scheduling "problem" occurred a few weeks after the two engaged in a public feud over offshore resources and the distribution of transfer payments handed out to have-not provinces like Nova Scotia. Harper was eventually forced to feign agreement to Nova Scotia's terms, largely because of pressure led by Bill Casey (see above).
*Manning, Preston, founding leader of the Reform Party, was criticized as being unable to attract a national majority by former ally Harper, leading to Harper's giving up his House of Commons seat in 1997 and taking a job at the National Citizens Coalition.
*McGuinty, Dalton, the Ontario premier, came under unprecedented attack this year, with Conservative house leader Peter Van Loan calling McGuinty the "small man of Confederation", and finance minister Jim Flaherty taking the extreme step of holding a news conference to attack the 2008 Ontario budget the day before it was read.
*Measner, Adam, president of the Canadian Wheat Board and a Board employee for 20+ years, was forced to resign when Harper's government fulfilled the dreams of early Reform members by stripping the Canadian Wheat Board of responsibilities and putting people in charge who want to destroy it.
*Okulitch, Andrew, a scientist emeritus with the Geological Survey of Canada, was relieved of his duties in 2006 after refusing a directive to refer to the federal government as "Canada's New Government". Later he was reinstated after the controversy attracted international attention.
*Ontario, Province of. [reader-contributed] Never has a prime minister unilaterally declared ideological jihad against an entire province, yet this is essentially what Harper has done. When finance minister Jim Flaherty blatantly called into question the intelligence of any company or business considering investment in Ontario, it was more than a partisan attack on a provincial liberal leader recently rewarded with another majority government; he was also calling into question the intelligence of Ontario voters as a whole (who had summarily dismissed his government from running Ontario in October 2003).
*Opposition parties [reader-contributed] were labelled Taliban supporters for asking questions about Afghan prisoners.
*Parliamentary Press Gallery. Stephen Harper has always seen the national media corps as the enemy. His mentor Tom Flanagan clearly instructs that reporters are left-leaning and eager to punish Conservatives for small errors. As a result, Harper never lets down his guard with veteran national reporters, preferring staged photo ops with local media, and internally-produced video and news releases. Stephen Harper refuses to do scrums unless he can control who asks questions. He has security officials escort journalists and camera people away from the hallway outside cabinet meetings and refuses to attend Press Gallery dinners.
*Polley, Sarah. See above.
*Riddell, Alan, a lifelong Conservative, was bullied out of his long-nurtured candidacy in Ottawa South in favour of the whistleblower Alan Cutler. His libel suit against Harper - whose public denial of a deal with Riddell was contradicted by court documents - was settled out of court.
*Williams, Danny, Newfoundland's premier, was an attempted victim of snubbing who turned the tables on Harper, whom he has battled over equalization payments and oil revenues. In a news conference, Williams repeatedly called Harper "Steve" and won an overwhelming victory in the subsequent provincial election as a result of his confrontations with the Prime Minister.

Related individuals, organizations and significant events

"Muzzling" strategy could be turning off the public

WEDNESDAY'S THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:

Q: "What is the difference between a porcupine and politician's limousine ?"

A: "The porcupine has the pricks on the outside."

MANITOBA'S PROVINCIAL ELECTION: JUDGING THE LEADERS BY HOW THEY PICKLE:

Come next Tuesday at least some of Manitoba, Molly excepted, goes to the polls. The general opinion is that Gary Doer's NDP will cruise into a third term if for no other reason than the fact that their opponents are so obviously bad. Now, Molly doesn't vote even for such an obviously good guy as our local MLA Jim Maloway who has always worked harder and been more honest than the average. Unfortunately no fringe candidate is running in this neighbourhood of a forest of NDP signs. But Molly suggests that a good way to judge the party leaders at least is by what sort of drunk they would be. Molly has personally had her own experience of Gary Doer when she followed him around the Irish Club on St. Patrick's Day trying to buttonhole him into declaring St. Pat's day as an official provincial holiday. A conversation with other club members reinforced her opinion. Mr. Doer is a happy, joyful, sociable drunk without a mean bone in his body.

This is more than can be said for the Conservative leader, Hugh McFadyan. Now Molly can hardly afford the price of high end liquor that Mr. McFadyan probably drinks so she has no direct experience of his alcoholic attitude. The NDP, however, managed to snag a photo of him being an aggressive idiot out of the door of a car that they use in their propaganda, and it really says it all. Neat photo. This character is angry when he is "presumably" sober. God only knows what he is like when he is drunk. The guy practically oozes anger whenever he isn't oozing "sneaky"- some photos of him bear more than a slight resemblance to a weasel. No chubby and cute there. All hard, nasty and vicious. Molly feels sorry for his rich friends who have to deal with him when they hit the Chivas Royale and the $70 bottles of wine. Mcfadyan looks like the sort of person that bars put up the sign "No Knives or Gang Colours" to try and prevent from entering. Without money he'd show up in the 'Most Wanted' list. No wonder he's so prolific at promising to spend other people's money.

Then there's the Liberal leader, John Gerard. He comes across as not capable of being a drunk at all, probably due to a lifetime of weekly sessions of concrete enemas. No fun from him. When the party would be in full swing and polite people go outside to catch a smoke Gerrard would follow them, glass of ginger ale in hand, to give them an extended lecture on the evils of smoking. Nobody could ever get him to shut up short of physical assault. It's the "socially responsible" thing after all. Put this guy in a skirt and he'd be the "Nanny State" personified. Ichhhh !

Looks like Doer gets the "good times vote".

Overheard Joke:
Q: What's the definition of a politician ?
A: A man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it.

More From Scientific American, July 2006
1)Michael Shermer in his "Skeptic" column discusses political views as compared to scientific views. His conclusion is that political opinions are very much subject to the "confirmation bias" whereby we pick the evidence that we want to hear and ignore the rest. Interesting sideline is that he mentions MRI studies of an equal mixture of "strong Republicans" and "strong Democrats" presented with OBVIOUSLY self contradictory statements by both Bush and Kerry. Not surprisingly the subjects picked out the problems with the candidate that they opposed and ignored those presented by their favourite. The interesting part, however, is that the scans showed that the part of the brain most associated with 'reasoning', the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex', was inactive during this evaluation while the orbital frontal cortex (associated with emotional processing), the anterior cingulate (associated with conflict resolution) and the posterior cingulate (associated with judgements about moral accountability) were most active. Once the subjects had arrived at a conclusion the ventral striatum, associated with reward and pleasure, lit up.
2)'Hubble's Top Ten' is a collection of what are the probable greatest accomplishments of the Hubble Space Telescope. Wonderful photos of such things as the Cat's Eye Nebula, the impact of Shoemaker-Levy 9 on Jupiter and much more.
3)'Stem Cells:The Real Culprit in Cancer'. Article on how not all cancer cells are "loci of regrowth" and how only a small proportion of cancer cells are involved in expanding and spreading the tumour ie "cancer stem cells". Gave me a different perspective on tumour growth and metastasis.