Bailout pothole

Despite the CBC and many of its commenters being biased to the liberal side, one useful way of probing public opinion is ranking the comments by "Most Recommended".

Read the story on the stillborn auto bailout for Ontario and you'll know the Tories are in for a nasty shock if they go through with the cash handout. You don't need to be logged on to CBC to recommend a comment, and despite the obvious allegations of double voting et cetera the top 20 comments being all explicitly against the bailout does ring a few bells. Many of them are also hostile to the trade unions.

Tories, drop this bail-out nonsense. The US side isn't delivering, and their unions are hostile to making any concessions. It isn't going to go through, and Canadian taxpayer dollars will be wasted.

My suggested course of action would be to strike out the bailout language and go through the banks. Have a board of bankers examine a regular loan application, and if they give the green light forward the banks the money to cover the commitment, with the banks themselves footing a proportion of the bill (15%, say). Otherwise we'll be seen as ready to squander money and go into the red. Not Tory-style, not cool, not wise.

Charest delivers!

Jean Charest wrestled a majority in the National Assembly today. What conclusions can we draw?

1. Support for Pauline Marois' Parti Quebecois has not waned. Conclusion: whetever happens, PQ support is unshakable.
2. Dumont is off the map. Populism doesn't fly in QC. Neither did a local Conservative Party.
3. The sitting government wins during a recession. Conclusion: Charest is a good friend to have.

With this in mind, I believe the (sadly not may) Tories in Quebec should rally behind the one party that can unite the anti-PQ vote and deliver something resembling brindled capitalism to the province. If we are to bring about a paradigm shift in Quebec while keeping the province safely out of sovereignist hands we should work with the LPQ and through policy and initiatives blend moderate Tory and libertarian ideas into LPQ platforms.

I strongly urged my friends to vote LPQ, and I am thus very happy for a federalist majority government in Quebec City.

UK Parliamentary Privilege extinct!

Britain's House of Commons is no longer a safe place to conduct business contrary to the Government's agenda. It isn't a safe place to be an MP anymore, to be blunt. The Independent reports how gradually, since 2000, Labour has eroded the inviolability of Westminster, and how it prepares to deliver its final blow with the new Political Parties and Elections Bill.

[The Political Parties and Elections Bill] would extend the authority of Electoral Commission inspectors – or police on their behalf – to give them access to MPs' offices as part of any investigation of alleged breaches of funding regulations. The only authorisation required would be a "disclosure notice" issued by the commission itself.

The Bill also permits the watchdog's inspectors to enter the homes and offices of MPs and anyone who has donated to a political party, if there is a "reasonable suspicion" of a breach of the rules. A magistrate's warrant is required but no prior notice will be given and parliamentary authorities would not be consulted in advance.

In both cases, it would be a criminal offence not to assist the inspectors or to obstruct entry. The Commons Speaker would thus be breaking the law if he refused entry, with or without a warrant.

Let me get this clear: if you donate to the Opposition the politicized police force can bully you just because they SUSPECT you may have breached the rules. They can bust into an MP's office without a warrant for any reason.

Parliament has to be a fortress. It must have its own police force, accountable to the Sergeant at Arms and Black Rod. No law enforcement officer from outside should be granted access to the premises under any circumstance. MPs should be free to say whatever they want in the House (yes, even if it's false). If an MP used his or her Parliamentary office for anything beyond his scope as MP then he or she should be sacked without further ado. Labour's meddling with Parliamentary privilege spells the end of the Westminster system as we know it.

For God's sake hire a spin doctor!

So we prorogue Parliament and table a campaign budget. It better be good! And we'd better spin it right this time. Look at how the media spun the pay equity issue: CBC and Gazzette.

They accused Harper of doing nothing to address the current economic crisis and slammed what they saw as ideologically driven measures such as [...] limits on the ability of women to sue for pay equity. (CBC)

This will be no surprise to women's groups. Sue Calhoun of Business and Professional Women Canada was already saying of the Nov. 18 statement, "How can we trust this government to weather an economic crisis when its track record shows it opposes measures to advance the economic equality of half the population?" (Gazzette)

So we want to take pay equity out of HRC jurisdiction. I assume it would go to the criminal courts, making pay discrimination an indictable offence. Or it would go into the collective bargaining, thus strengthening the unions. How did we spin it? Did we spin it at all?

The saddest part of it is that we have stumbled TWICE on absolutely minor matters. Arts funding (a few million), the party subsidy (again, a few million). For God's sake, Tories, hire a spin doctor and wage fights people can come out with pitchforks to get involved in. The Wheat board, the other monopolies, the entrenched privileges, you name it.

If I were paid anything above twenty grand after taxes I bet I could do a better job for the Tories. Christ, the communications strategy is frustrating!

Advice to the contrary for the PM

Canadian Cincinnatus recommends falling over a confidence motion on party financing. I digress, because we are the party that made it clear we were focused on the economy and not petty ideology like the carbon tax. If we decide to fall on the financing issue we will lose that credibility. Table a clear and solid economic plan, take the hit, take a bathroom break while the kids throw all their toys (and their support among Canadians) out of the pram.

They're kicking around so desperately they'll end up kicking each other in the nuts. I'd keep mine safe for later.

Dear Prime Minister

Don't dodge the House. The Opposition has been planning this scheme since the last federal election, and is highly determined to set a precedent. As we're faced with the prospect of imminent defeat, I urge You to take the following ten steps:

On the House side:

1. Demand the details of a potential stimulus package from the opposition parties immediately. If they are so adamant to take power, they will already have a draft budget. Let them show the cards.
2. Attempt to find a negotiating point with at least one of the Opposition parties. Make clear what you're willing to concede. A reasonable concession could give us enough breathing space to table a Budget. Also, this would call the Opposition's bluff by showing them for the intransigent power-seekers they are.
   
3. Failing that, table a detailed binding blueprint for the next Budget, making it a matter of confidence. If we have to fall, let us fall over a clear policy rather than an economic update whose alterations would take too long to explain to the average voter.
4. Recommend to the Governor General that she refuse all Senate appointments by the incoming Government due to the lack of a coalition mandate from the voters of either party. Any Senate appointments shall be made after the next federal election.
5. Not ask for the Governor General to prorogue Parliament. Shutting House business is the last thing we need in these turbulent economic times

In other areas:

1. Not be afraid to lose. Minority governments have the tendency to fall, and ours is no exception.
   
2. Acknowledge that this Country has had its fair share of both good and bad Governments, and 13 years of Liberal rule didn't make it into a socialist gulag. Their policies may be wrong, but they're nothing we can't set right with a majority.
3. Talking majorities, double-check the Party's communication strategy.
   
4. Present the Opposition with a copy of the Cencelli handbook, which was instrumental in giving Italy a new Government each year.
5. Remain undeterred as Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada.

Clock ticking for Mugabe?

He may be losing his grip on the armed forces. Unlike ordinary opposition-supporting Zimbabweans, who have been brutalized by the tyrant for years, these guys have GUNS.

I expressed almost no hope for change when presidential elections were held in the country: it could never be a fair ballot and there was no credible way of making the outcome count in case of an opposition victory. This time round there's nothing to pin our hopes up against, except a more civilized dictatorship.

Yes, I expect a military coup to occur should the army not receive a LOT of government money to silence their woes. It probably won't result in a democracy, but anything's better than Mugabe. At some point the system cracks, and we may be approaching the breaking point.