Category — Canada

Today the media ban was partially lifted on the sponsorship scandal. We learned that cash donations were given to the Liberal party and election volunteers were put on payrolls in exchange for sponsorship contracts. Thus the Liberals used this exchange as a way to funnel millions of taxpayer dollars back into their own party. Sure makes funding a large election campaign very easy.

http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/07/domery-ban050407.html

I think this could possibly destroy the Liberal party come next election, which could happen sooner than we think. Now I am not sure who I would rather have in power, a bunch of crooks who steal from the people, or the conservatives. We all know what the conservatives can do in 4 years, but do we really want a bunch of theifs running our government? A government is suppose to look after a countries best interests, and take care of the peoples money (taxes), not put it in their back pockets. Hopefully the NDP can pickup a lot of support from this. To do so they will need to start getting their name out there, and show their integrity, not to mention drop the monkey off their back regarding money management.

Next few months are going to be very interesting seeing how this all plays out.

Canada officially said “no” to the US missile defense system on Thursday. While there was no rejoicing in the streets, or some extravagant party to celebrate Canada ’s decision, I think that those opposed (myself included) are just happy to hear the Canadian government has stuck by it’s people, even if this decision was based purely on politics. Cease Fire is touting a victory on their website saying “We Win” and also sent out a mass email to all the people who signed up for their newsletter. They stated that through their website over 50,000 Canadians sent letters to members of parliament.

A day after saying no to the US we got to hear some of the empty threats from US politicians and media sources. Cellucci said immediately after the decision “We simply cannot understand why Canada would, in effect, give up its sovereignty — its seat at the table — to decide what to do about a missile that might be coming towards Canada.”. In reality Canada would have no real say regardless of if we were a part of the program, and lets get real the only reason a missile would be sent at Canada would be if we were apart of this program. Prime Minister Martin in response to Cellucci had this to say “I don’t think that anyone expected that there would be any other finger on a button than the Americans,” and further went on to say, “But in terms of Canadian airspace, yes we would expect to be consulted. This is our airspace. We’re a sovereign nation. And you don’t intrude on a sovereign nation’s airspace without seeking permission,” Amen Mr Martin.

While many parts of our own media are leading with shocking headlines like “Trade Seen As Casualty of Missile Defense Move” -CTV, I decided to check out the US media for their reaction. The Cleveland Plain Dealer was very civil with the issue with interviews from the current Canadian Ambassador. While the former Canadian Ambassador is behind the decision it appears our new neo-liberal McKenna is seriously “pissed”. I suppose I would be a little upset too if someone made me look like a complete jackass!

So to recap no to missile defense is a good first step in the right direction. Cellucci is still an idiot. McKenna and Cellucci would likely get along quite well. CTV = Fox news Canada.